#and the two main character duos really are like. peak 'do not separate them but also they would NEVER date each other' | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

m1ckeyb3rry · 3 days

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AIKU AND PROF BIRCH THEY BOTH HAVE THE MF STUBBLE LMFAOOOOOOO

LMAOO no wait that’s so real Karasu being like “maybe *I* need a ground type then I can compete with yuki and show him I’m the man”

Oh yeah huh I didn’t even register that LMAOSJ er anyways HAHAH wait this can be fake death instance #1 Karasu scared shitless like “oh fuck no is she dead where’d she go damn where’s staraptor when I need it” LMAO the way we both thought about the death instance is so funny I hadn’t even read that part of your response yet truly on the same wavelength!! Bro that’s fr me we keep talking about Karasu and I have to keep reminding myself that hes not the love interest in pursuit

LMAOA I imagine them standing outside the base for the abusers or sth getting ready to go in and otoyas like “woohoo a date with nurse joy here I come!” And readers like “we’re so cooked” but in the end they somehow succeed time to cook up what Tullia and Karasu are doing LMAO wait imagine idk like a sorta filler ep moment maybe when you don’t feel like writing/posting something that super central to the main plot and we get the team split up first we see otoya reader then we get a snippet of Karasu tullia LMAO truly dumbass x dumbass chemical reaction there’s no strong duo than that!!! HAHAH another tally already this is so funny maybe he sends his staraptor out like usual but no one can find them fast enough to help them and they’re just like “hey guys!” Cue the “ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE” LMAO

REAL early gen art >>>> im never getting over the scovillain jumpscare it fr haunts me like what the hell is that…

Omg gojo dynamic from pi I agree that was peak (watch me be one of those people swerving to Karasu)

Ok circling back to birch because I saw the separate post first SO REAL ITS REALLY IS GIVING BIRCH??? Bro even his shirt and pants are kinda reminiscent of aiku colors and like I said the fuckass STUBBLE and the vibes just match too well he definitely would get chased into a tree by some runt pokemon LMAOOOOO retired soccer player Aiku is just Prof birch fr

Yeahhh I thought legendaries might’ve been too much which is why I only kinda considered it as a side plot only but when I was thinking of that I fr thought yk zekroms head is kinda giving karasus hair LMAOOO zapdos also gives really strong chigiri vibes but RAYQUAZA I love rayquaza I remember using its mega really often LMAO

Real an iPad is a more convenient size wise also I’m ngl I am a Google office (??) HATER I remember having to move a doc from word to gdocs and the entire formatting got fucked up and I was like what the fuck just happened????? Like the margins and spacings doubled and shit but wtv….i don’t use it unless i have too google sheets is also ASS bro my dumbass just said “wait is pages not on apple comps/macs” then I remembered that you said you have a windows….the way I already forgot that info from like two seconds ago….

JJK BORUTO crying lowk unless the sequel directly address and includes the current characters I probably won’t bother with anything beyond whatever makes it to my social media feeds either

LOOKING FORWARD TO IT aikulations or not I’ll be ready to laugh

YOU DESERVE IT you truly at the goat of goats wait that’s also so cool that’s essentially what I do when I read (except in reverse order) I lowk wonder how many things we imagine are the same (like small details yk) like I have a very clear visual of what the restaurant they sat in looks like and the outside and the parking lot (buildings and architecture are my greatest enemies in terms of drawing and layout though so I fear I won’t be able to draw it out but maybe I can find a similar looking place?? We’ll see LMAO) but yeah that essentially happens whenever I read stories and books too it’s kinda funny when I see cover art for a book and I’m like oh that’s not what I imagined but ok go off

But OMG???? I will keep my eyes peeled fs but if you’re saying it’s something insane it’ll definitely be something where I lose my mind over so now I’m even more curious LOL also that’s so me I definitely unintentionally pass out more than I should only to wake up and be like haha oh shit

LMAOO tiktok please send a hot audio Mira’s way!!! Im still amazed by bfb though 41k is actually insane for a one shot if anything I feel like that just means your next long fic is just gonna be HUGE wait actually speaking of assuming pursuit is like the pi long fic equivalent for bllk where do hollyhock and peregrine fall on the scale? Just kinda curious LOL not sure if you meant for those to be of the same length or if they’re not like long long if ykwim

Also I’d like you to know that right as I was about to hit send i select all’ed (??) this entire ask and almost deleted it I think if that happened I would’ve passed out

- Karasu anon

THE AIKU BIRCH PARALLEL I WAS CRYINGGGG it was too good 😭 the vibes match up SO well too i can just see niko rescuing him with a random starter pokémon so well LMAOAOA niko the true protagonist of pursuit boruto nagiy/n daughter charles and kurona are just side characters in his adventure

okay ykw is hilarious i just checked yuki’s team and he has an electric type too (manectric) so karasu DEFINITELY needs a ground type because of his electric type ptsd 😭 once he gets garchomp and lucario though he honestly has a good shot at beating yuki just in terms of type match ups though…like talonflame easily takes breloom, honchkrow can deal with alakazam, lucario packs up steelix, garchomp beats noivern and manectric, so the only one left is azumarill and ngl i think one of the birds like staraptor or pidgeot has a decent chance against that KFFJDJSJ so at the end of the day karasu does clutch up 🤩

LMAOO the funniest thing is like because she gets deino relatively early (i think it’ll be her third pokémon??? she’ll catch joltik beforehand) none of karasu’s birds have fully evolved yet so he’s just like WHERE IS MY DAMN STARLY in my mind his birds don’t evolve until he runs away because they need that freedom and consistently tough battling to really be pushed into evolution yk?? but no you’re so right pursuit karasu is so ideal man like nagi’s lucky reader brotherzoned karasu immediately or else he’d be in trouble (jk)

LITERALLY bro otoya’s just thinking about how nurse joy will love him after his (she won’t) meanwhile reader’s like yeah we’re done for but somehow they pull it off (probably thanks to joltik aka undisputed goat of reader’s team) but omg imagine it’s like reader and otoya going through hell trying to save all of these pokémon and then the chapter just cuts to tullia and karasu trying on clothes FJSKDJSJ infernape’s getting a massage karasu’s buying treats for starly it’s truly such a contrast 😭 HELP reader and otoya are subject to an entire lecture from karasu afterwards (mostly otoya because reader told karasu it was his fault) they’re just sitting there like niko after the game against team z LMAOAOAOA

IT HAUNTS ME TOO DW I THINK ABOUT IT QUITE FREQUENTLY AND NEGATIVELY HAHAAHA the early gen art with the water color vibe is so pretty though i love it!!

please it’s okay i’m doing my best not to swerve myself 😟 it’s fine though as long as i give a pi gojo vibe to him too it should be okay i hope…like this is our stressed out bird obsessed big brother DJFJSJS we have to lock in and go crazy for nagi fr

okay wait imagine that pursuit is kind of like a prequel to the main games?? in the sense that reader and nagi and all fix training and the perception of trainers so it’s closer to what it’s like in the game series…and then niko is the protagonist of the games themselves (i can def see him w one of the little zygarde cells as well as zygarde itself) with nagiy/n’s daughter, charles, and kurona as the little trio of rivals ☝🏻 nagiy/n’s daughter getting yveltal (taking after her mother in terms of looking sweet but having demonic team members), kurona getting xerneas, and charles getting nothing (him with a legendary is TERRIFYING)

brooo google suite sucks but it’s more convenient than word because i can access it on my phone without any extra effort 😓 so a bit more convenient than word for that reason but it’s so glitchy and annoying that i just switched to pages straight up LMAOAOAOA

i feel like everyone must picture smth different!! especially because i don’t describe settings to the point that it’s very obvious what you’re supposed to be imagining just general vibes yk…i feel like it’s probably based on your prior experiences?? but if you ever draw or find reference images do send them in hehe i will appreciate it 🤩

AAHHH I’M ASSUMING IT LIVED UP TO THE HYPE pursuit drop last night was crazy fr 😰 given that the mini prologue was 2.5k words alone i think we can predict that the word count is going to be insane 😭 peregrine if i had to guess would be in that 80-100k word count range and hollyhock could be more or less than that really depending on how deep i decide to go with the lore and how much of the in between i decide to show!! if that makes sense LMAOO

#answered asks #pokémon au

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lonelylonelyghost · 20 days

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Aozora no Tamago - a little gem of a jdrama that you've never heard of

a.k.a do not separate them. They won't be able to breathe by themselves.

"... After I became friends with Tori, I was the center of his world for a long time. He, as one might put it, regarded my unconditional existence as that of a god. He was a passionate monotheist."

****

The story is told from the perspective of Sakaki Tsukasa. He is just a normal guy. He had a regular childhood, he went to a regular school, and now works at a regular insurance company. There is nothing special about him, he tells us. He doesn't tell us about his own kindness, his positivity, his enormous empathy, which draw in all the people around him. He does tell us a lot, however, about his friend, Tori.

Tori Shinichi is a hikikomori. He works as a programmer. He's extremely observant and smart. He's mentally ill. He likes to cook strange food, the recipes for which he finds on the internet. He has awful social skills and will not hesitate to tell you to stfu and gtfo no matter your age, gender or political affiliation. The only exception, the only person for whom Tori has patience and kindness, whose opinion matters to him, is Sakaki. He's the only one to whom Tori can't deny anything, the only one who can make him go outside of his apartment.

These two are... something else.

It's hard to categorize their relationship by any standard metric. It's not romantic, but it's not exactly platonic either. It's a friendship, a childhood crush, an all-consuming codependency.

They are connected by a red string, but fate has nothing to do with this. Sakaki and Tori wove the thread themselves and then voluntarily wrapped it over both their souls until it was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began. The thing that I said about not being able to breathe without each other? Not an exaggeration.

****

Ah.

And it's also a detective story, by the way.

Sakaki and Tori solve cases together... Well, it's more like Sakaki would periodically just stumble upon someone and drag the unsuspected victim of his endless compassion to Tori's place, and then Tori would have to figure out what the hell to do with all that mess, because he would like to get those strangers out of his house and turn his friend's attention back to him again, thank you very much.

There are only three cases in total:

“A trio in the moonlit night”,

“The footsteps of a mermaid”,

“The child with wings”.

Firstly, I think that the names are sick.

Secondly, those cases are quite unusual. The problems that our duo has to resolve are the kinds that many regular people are forced to deal with, and they're not overly intricate or mind-bending, but they are shown from unique angles and are always not quite what you would expect.

(Sakaki is seen here doing... whatever it is he's doing, while Tori is grumpy because he was forced to go outside for the first time in forever)

****

Japanese dramas, as at least I have noticed, tend to be quite specific. It can be seen as a disadvantage because many of them don't have the mainstream appeal. But on the other hand, if you find a show that matches your vibe, if it hits, then it HITS.

I discovered Aozora No Tamago I-don't-remember-when but definitely a long time ago and got hooked instantly. There was something raw, something visceral in those main characters, in the relationship between them. In the cases that seemed mundane and bizarre simultaneously, but was told with such warmth and understanding. Something that put a mirror to some of my own behavior and thought process and made me go, huh.

Not many people know of this drama. It's made back in 2012 and was relatively obscure even back then. And now it's already 12 years old (oh my god), but if my review/recommendation/unhinged rambling will peak the interest of at least one person, then I'll be really happy

(●'◡'●)

#Aozora no Tamago #A Budding Blue Sky #jdrama #Japanese drama #japanese bl #kinda #jql #ghost's tales from the abyss #ghost.fm

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introvertguide · 4 years

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15 Badass Movies for a Fun Time at Home or with Friends

There is a buzz in the air as COVID-19 vaccines are rolling out and the hope of having a movie night with friends is again becoming a reality. Watching alone isn’t as fun because I want to talk to somebody about what I have just seen. A full theater does not agree with my introvert nature because somebody screaming or laughing or talking on their phone will ruin it for me. Watching with a fellow cinephile or two is perfect. But what to watch first? People have been stuck inside, so fantasy and alternative worlds have been overly popular. All I do is talk over zoom for a living. I think what I need most right now is a movie about realistic people with realistic skills that go into a situation and just wreck house. I need a badass movie. What is this “badass” movie you might say? Well, here are some basic criteria: 1) There must be a tough lead character who kicks butt while spouting one liners and doesn’t need superhuman powers (high levels of peak skill with speed, aim, or strength is OK if they are plausible in the real world), 2) most of the characters (good and bad) must be likable, admirable or at least memorable, 3) the lead must face and defeat overwhelming odds against them, and 4) extra points for memorable one liners. Also, I am only dealing with human protagonists (sorry Terminator), but slightly superhuman opposition is acceptable. This list is by no means exhaustive, it is just an example of some badass movies. So in no particular order:

1) Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

To start off the list, I want to mention the most well known American badass. Indiana Jones is a smart guy with a gun and a whip. He is rugged and punches guys in the face. He has weaknesses but works through them to get the job done. Harrison Ford was in his early 40s for this role and had this tough-as-nails and seen the world kind of feel while still being young enough to fight hand to hand. Any of the first three films featuring Indiana Jones would work here, but this is the original and it started the fun. Easy to watch. Easy to cheer for. Great movie. You can’t really go wrong with any age or group with this one.

2) 13 Assassins (2010)

This movie is extremely badass but not for everyone. This is one of the goriest films I have ever seen as 13 warriors kill off a couple of hundred soldiers and the evil leader that they guard. The movie was directed by Japanese extreme horror icon Takashi Miike if that means anything to you (hey made Audition and Ichi the Killer). The movie has gallons of blood, but also an amazing story of redemption and honor. There are tons of scenes of a single warrior taking on dozens of soldiers and managing to overcome. Not for everyone, but still very much a badass movie.

3) The Raid (2011)

This is an Indonesian action thriller with the word action in bold. The film is directed by Gareth Evans and stars Iko Uwais as part of a small police force that tries to take down an old building that houses a drug lord and his violent gang. It has a lot of what I like in badass movies: one-on-one fights between the lead and almost superhuman villains, long well-choreographed scenes, a banging soundtrack, ridiculous weapons, and ridiculous gore. The fight scenes in tight places and the use of the environment for weaponry is amazing and the sound design makes sure you can feel every punch. The lead character should have no chance, but he makes up for it with skill and being a pure badass. This movie is one of the few that I would describe as having non-stop action.

4) Jon Wick (2014)

When did Keanu Reeves become so cool? I grew up with him being part of the Bill and Ted duo. He decides to learn martial arts and play a god-like being in the Matrix movies and then becomes a one man wrecking crew? I guess he is a badass because he does it so well. Keanu plays a retired hitman who is wronged and decides to go back to work for vengeance. He just won’t stop coming and seems to constantly survive out of pure hatred alone. There are 3 films in the series and any one of them will impress. Pure fun too watch.

5) Casino Royale (2006)

When I was asking around, there were many people who thought that James Bond was the ultimate badass. I disagree in that many of the older films show Bond as overconfident with the assistance of many people. In fact, Q is more of a badass in many ways than James Bond. However, when the series was taken back to its roots with the last book that had not been made into a serious film and made darker, it reached badass levels. From the parkour chase to a poisoning to an extreme torture scene, this was not like any James Bond movie before it. Roger Craig plays a much colder lead who gives no quarter, much more like what the greatest secret agent would have to be. Heavy on violence but light on gore, this film is more for all audiences than other films on this list.

6) Desperado (1995)

What makes this movie is not all about Antonio Banderas and Selma Hayek. It is that every other character is memorable and badass as well. The street standoff with Bucho’s men versus El Mariachi, Quino, and Campo is iconic. El Mariachi murders everyone in a bar with precise skill. The rogue assassin Navajas with all the knives played by Danny Trejo. Nothing but extreme shoot outs and fight scenes with a ridiculous variety of guns and explosives. I think what makes this movie so amazing is that all these amazing assassins are incognito and, when they suddenly produce an arsenal out of nowhere, it is always a pleasant surprise. Quino and Campo are amazing when they bring their guitars.

7) Pulp Fiction (1994)

Truly the role that made Samuel L. Jackson into the ultimate badass. He and his partner Vincent are hitman that keep running into the worst situations. The thing about the film is that everybody is so cool. The characters are cool, the music is cool, the dialogue is cool, hell even the diner featured in the movie is cool. The movie only spans a couple of days (in completely separate segments shown out of order) but packs in 7 distinct situations that are all berserk. From the mind of Quentin Tarantino, this movie is dripping with the best characters traveling through the best story. Highly recommend.

8) Leon: The Professional (1994)

Also known simply as The Professional in the U.S., this film features the debut of Natalie Portman. It is directed by Luc Besson at his best period, right between La Femme Nakita and The Fifth Element. The lead is actually a quiet hitman who reluctantly takes a little 12-year-old girl on as an apprentice to become a paid assassin. Her parents were killed by a corrupt cop and she wants Leon to help her exact revenge. He is an absolute badass and somewhat of a caring surrogate father to the girl. Unlike a lot of the films on this list, the premise is not simply kicking butt in a bad situation. There is serious character growth. Apparently you can be a caring parent and a cold-blooded murderer...and that is badass.

9) Kill Bill (2003)

Being a badass is not exclusive to men and The Bride is a prime example of this. She survives a shot to the head, kills deadly assassins, slaughters a gang, and takes on a crazy school girl bodyguard. She is tougher then any lead I can think of and she has the bad attitude and sense of vengeance that makes for a badass. Combine this with the soundtrack and beautiful cinematography associated with director Quentin Tarantino and you have a beautifully violent movie in which the hits keep coming. Even on this list, the fight scene between the bride and Gogo Yubari is insane. Also note the nod to Bruce Lee with the bright yellow motorcycle suit. Beautifully badass film.

10) Aliens (1986)

In nature, there are few things more dangerous than a mother protecting their young. A mother will fight you to the death and make sure that, at the very least, you won’t be able to go after her kids. Now imagine an alien planet covered with hostile beings created in the mind of James Cameron and Stan Winston and you have a setting made to create a real badass. In the beginning, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is just desperate to survive and barely knows how to use a weapon. She meets a little survivor named Newt and then has a real reason to become aggressive. She and a group of marines fight through a station filled with super destructive xenomorph aliens made straight from nightmares to save this kid. The transformation is truly amazing and culminates in a mech suit versus a giant queen alien and it is extremely badass.

11) Army of Darkness (1992)

Far and away the funniest movie on this list, this is the third film stemming from Evil Dead and again stars Bruce Campbell taking on the deadites that were raised by reading from the Necronomicon. The opposition is the undead evil that faces the world which makes the violence very unrealistic. This was early work from Sam Raimi and features a variety of different shots done to the extreme. What really makes this film stand out is how Bruce Campbell is amazing at delivering a one liner. His classic quips have been used as fun Easter eggs in video games like Duke Nukem and World of Warcraft for decades. The quintessential horror comedy and a perfect example of a badass.

12) Die Hard (1988)

Apparently, I am a big fan of single characters that need to work their way through a building of villains using mostly intelligence and the element of surprise. Throw in some one liners and I am all for it. That is exactly what this is with Bruce Willis crawling barefoot around a 40 story building and fighting off a gang of villains. The movie also has Alan Rickman as the main bad guy and he is chewing the scenery. This is a great example of being a badass, but it is too bad that the follow up sequels were so poor. Definitely stick to the original and let the rest pass by.

13) The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1966)

An OG of the badass movie genre, this is some of the best of Sergio Leone and the spaghetti western. Instead of one badass, this movie has three different leads that are all amazing. You have the good, Clint Eastwood, who is an amazing shot and a heart of gold under a rough exterior. You have the bad, Lee Van Cleef, playing an conniving assassin that will kill anyone that he doesn’t have a use for. Finally, you have the ugly, Eli Wallach, as a desert rat that will do anything to survive. They all gain information about a gold stash and need to work together to get it, but this creates a vortex of cheating, undercutting, and straight up murder. Clint Eastwood is more of the classic badass with his cigar, hat, and poncho, It is an iconic look on an iconic character in an iconic movie. That is what I call badass.

14) Ong-Bak (2003)

This less of a badass movie and more houses some of the most amazingly badass fight scenes that can only be described as badass. This movie introduced the great Tony Jaa to the western world and showed the high flying nature of Thai boxing and Muay Thai in general. The main character is entered into a street fighting tournament and the moves include a flying double knee drop and a full splits kick. If the whole movie was the tournament, it would be the best movie that ever existed. The variety of opponents makes the fighting even better and the cinematography is top notch. Tony Jaa is truly badass in this film.

15) Dredd (2012)

Not the crappy version with Stallone, this movie is seriously badass. It features Karl Urban who is helmeted for the entire film (as Dredd would be) taking on a 200 story mega slum filled with residents that want to shoot him dead. There is a drug dealer high up in the building and she locks down the entire compound with instructions to kill Dredd, who only has his rookie partner to help. He takes on random resident mobs, groups of gang members, and even a trio of mini guns that have bullets that can rip through walls. He has a smart gun with a bunch of ammo that he uses judiciously to kill everybody. This movie was seriously underrated since it had not been that long since the garbage Judge Dredd came out in 1995. The 2012 is a far superior movie, being much more violent and dark instead of having Rob Schneider as the comedy relief (not badass).

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I know there will be a lot of opinions about what makes a badass film and what movies i didn’t add. Feel free to add your own movies or critique my choices. I will stand by my choices, however, and recommend any of these films for a night of cheers and badass action.

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thebrotherscupheadandmugman · 6 years

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Threatenin’ Zeppelin! With Hilda Berg!

Before you read: This is a rewriting of the main game Cuphead. Characters, certain dialogue, music, and locations obviously do not belong to me. This is best read with the OST playing over it. And before you start reading, remember that reblogs > likes! That being said, enjoy!

Blogs with Hilda Berg as a Muse: @a-threatenin-zeppelin @fatalefrenzy @starry-eyed-blimp (that’s me!)

Cuphead and Mugman felt bad about going back to see Cagney so soon after they walloped the poor carnation, but with no other leads to the last debtor of Isle One, what choice did they have? The cups slowly approached the other from behind, his stem still as thorny as it had been after he transformed for the first time. It would seem as if he went right back to taking care of the flowers in the meadow, almost like nothing ever happened. “Hey, uh, Cagney?” Cuphead asked. Cagney turned around, looking down on them with a somber and slightly bitter expression. “What are you two doing back here?” “I- first of all, s-sorry, Cagney.” Mugman started, “s-second, um, we're looking for someone named Hilda Berg, and we thought maybe you would know?” Cagney's eyes widened at the name as he glanced up towards the sky for a second, before looking back into Mug's eyes. “I...” Cagney broke eye contact with Mugman once again, his head turned to the right to look up at the sky towards the observatory. “N-no! I-it's one thing to take my contract! I made my own flowerbed, and now I have to lay in it. But I will not betray her like that!!” Cagney growled, looking back towards the brothers, almost as if he were suddenly ready for a round two.

“Woah, woah! Cagney, calm down!” Cuphead pleaded, putting up both his hands up defensively as Cagney loomed over him. “Y-yeah, w-we'll leave, okay?! We're going!” Mugman satisfied, giving the aggressive flower a nervous smile as he took his younger brother by the shoulders and ushered him away.

“Well that didn't go as planned.” Cuphead huffed once they were a safe distance away from Cagney. Mugman however, caught Cagney's gaze just before they left, and was deep in thought. “Hm?” Cups turned his head at the silence. “Mug?” “He was looking up at the sky...” “Hey! Mugman!” “Let me think! He looked over to the right...Isn't that where the observatory is?” “What's an observatory?” Mugman face-palmed. “What?” “An observatory is a place where scientists study stars.” “Ew, a science lab?! Whadda they doin' out here?! Shouldn't they be in th'big city?” “They need a secluded area to be able to see the stars properly. Too much light blocks out the light of the stars.” Mugman looked towards the direction of the observatory, but he could just barely see the top of it from below the forest's trees. “Hang on, let me try something.” Mugman removed his straw from his head and put it up to his right eye, closing the left one. He twisted his straw, as if he were adjusting a telescope, trying to get a closer look at the observatory. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to see anything useful from the ground. “Ugh. Too many trees in the way.” He groaned, placing his straw back into his head. “Maybe if we go to the treetops, we'll have better luck.” Cuphead gave a nervous smile at that, one that only a trouble maker would give. “Cuphead, you didn't do anything to provoke the woodpeckers again, did you?” Mug asked sternly. “Define 'provoke'.” Mugman groaned. “Cuphead, we can't waste time, remember?” “Look, don't worry about it Mug. I didn't do nothin' to tick 'em off.” Cuphead didn't think it was really lying. It was a fun, harmless little prank about four weeks ago, so he was positive the whole thing would have blown over, and wouldn't cause problems. “You didn't do 'anything'.” Mugman corrected. “And, good. We don't have time to mess around with some over-sized birds.” The older took the younger by the hand, “let's get going.”

The brothers quickly moved past the swamp and made their way into a large, hollowed-out oak tree. “Let's make our way to the top to see if anyone's by the observatory.” Mug planned, before Cuphead suddenly pointed ahead at two orange ladybugs bouncing and rolling their way towards them! “Duck! I mean, jump!!” As the first bouncing beetle sailed over them, the other merely rolled their way. The brothers jumped over him to avoid any sort of collision, before turning back to face the other. “Sorry!” “Mug, another!” Mugman turned around to find a pink one bouncing towards them now! “Ah!” The two ducked, avoiding her once again. “What's with all these bouncin' beetles?” “Cuphead!!” A deep, yet shrill voice spat out. “Wuh-oh.” A large woodpecker with a yellow beak, red feathers on his head, and green feathers along the neck and body peaked down from a hole above their heads. “Long time, no see, eh pally?! Don't think we haven't forgotten what you did!!” “Heheheh...Heeeeyyy.” “Do you honestly think you can just come back here after that?! Think again!! Further more, who invited you into our tree? Only members welcome, ya see?” “Huh? But I thought the treetops were open to all!” Mugman reminded. “Not anymore!! Take this, pills!!” The woodpecker suddenly slammed his beak into the wood below in an attempt to hit the duo. “Woah!” “Ah!” Cuphead and Mugman both fell back as the beak drilled between the two of them, separating them as they sat on the floor of the tree. “Cuphead, what did you do?!” “Nothing!! Not recently!!” When the other finally stopped his drilling, the brothers both stood, and began running further into the tree. “Well don't think recently! What. Did. You. Do?!” “Just a harmless little prank!!” The boys continued to argue as they ran past more rolling ladybugs. “What was it?!” “I just set off a few firecrackers nearby! No harm done!” “Firecrackers?! In a tree?! Cuphead, that could have started a forest fire, what were you thinking?!” Mugman glanced ahead as he scolded his little brother, before finding a hole in their path. “Jump!” The brothers jumped over the hole, only to be met with another beak. “Ah!” Mugman was unable to stop himself, and slammed right into the obstacle. “Owww.” Satisfied, the woodpecker retreated back outside of the tree. “C'mon!” Cuphead knew better than to stay in one place for too long, and grabbed Mugman's wrist as he pulled him forwards, until he caught sight of a shiny coin. “Mugs, gimme a boost!” “What?” The coin caught Mugman's attention now as well, but he merely groaned in annoyance and proceeded to pull Cuphead away. “No, we don't have time to go out of our way! We're already wasting time just fighting our way through here!” “But-” “No! And don't make me have to throw you across this hole!” Cuphead turned to look ahead, only to see another hole they'd have to jump over. Upon crossing over, another woodpecker stuck his head inside to glare down at the mugs with icy-blue eyes. “Ahh!” The brothers rushed past him, just barely getting past the attack.

The boys continued to run forward, quickly approaching the end of the horizontal tunnel. “Get ready to climb!” Mugs called, before a loud buzzing filled his metaphorical ears. “Wasp!” Cried Cup, before he pointed his finger and snapped, shooting the large, incoming bug. “That's a beetle!” Said Mug as he began jumping and climbing up the wooden ledges inside the tree. He saw a coin hidden in the corner, so he decided to snag it and give it to Cuphead later. “And I don't think they're going to-” Suddenly, another beetle propelled forward and slammed into Mugman from behind, pushing him onto the ground. “So, ya think it's funny t'play with fire, eh? This'll learn ya!” The beetle began punching the poor boy in the back without mercy. “Ow! Ow! Stop it! Get off! Ouch!!” Before Cuphead could react, Mugman snapped his fingers, and fired a Roundabout shot, letting it circle forwards, then over him, hitting his attacker. The beetle disappeared with a puff of smoke and stars, allowing for Mugman to get back up. “Ouch, that really hurt.” He whined. “Can you climb?” “I mean, we can't go back now, the woodpeckers will catch us. Let's just keep going.” “Right.” Cuphead nodded. The boys kept jumping up and making their way to the top, up until a pile of stumps blocked their path. “This is as far as you two go!” “You little brats will climb back down if ya know what's good fer ya!” “What's yer problem?!” “Please let us through, we just need to get a bird's eye view!” “You set off a bomb in our house, and ask us what our problem is?!” The stump on the bottom said nothing, and spat out a pink spiky ball. “Ah!!” Mugman squeaked, but Cuphead was quick to react, he jumped up and parried the spiky ball, saving his brother from another hit. “Whew.” “You stacks o' wood ain't gonna stop us!! Megablast!!” Cuphead fired an Ex Move out both his fists, blasting the stumps into mere splinters. However, the force of the blast pushed him back, and had Mugman not been there to wrap an arm around him, he would have fallen down. “Thanks, pal!” “We'll call it even. But do you really ha-” “Yes! Speaking of signature moves,” Cuphead started, already jumping to the next ledge, “you should really call that green one fer th'Roundabouts the 'Jumbo Rebound'!” Mugman hopped up next to him. “'Jumbo Rebound'?” “Doesn't that sound nifty?!” “It sounds like a load of hooey.” “Yer just jealous you didn't think of it first.” Cuphead looked up to the next platform, and frowned. “Aw come on!” “Where we going?” “Mugs!!” Mugman snorted, then catching sight of the next ledge. “I can't jump that high.” “I think I might be able to.” Mugman bent down, then quickly jumped up, landing perfectly on the higher ledge. “Well look at that. Hahahah! Here,” Mugman knelt down and extended his hand for his little brother. “Grab my hand.” Cuphead jumped up and latched onto his brother's hand so that Mugman could quickly pulled him up. However, Cuphead nearly slipped out from Mugman's grip, and grabbed onto some red curtains with his free hand for support, before Mugman was able to pull him up. It was only then, staring down at his brother did he realize just how high up they were. “Oh gosh. We'd better be careful.” “We're at the top now.”“ Right, let's head out.”

Our heroes walked outside the tree, only to be met with a culex of mosquitoes. “Cuphead!” They cried. “Hey, Marvin.” Cuphead waved to the one in front. “Whaddya doin' here?! Boss is real mad at ya!” “We can't head back down now!” Mugman confessed. “Here!” The mosquitoes flew down below, and each one returned with a leaf, freshly plucked from the tree. “We'll help you two across! Do whatchya gotta do, before Daniel comes back!!” The brothers jumped across the makeshift bridge formed by the mosquitoes, making their way towards the cliff on the other side, up until a mosquito behind them suddenly let out a brief grunt in pain, then disappeared into a puff of smoke. “Ahh, it's Daniel!” “He knows!” “Run away!” “No don't! We still need to get across!” Cuphead begged, but the remaining mosquitoes had already fled. “Cupheeeaad!!” A loud voice roared. “Ahh!” “Whadda we do, Mugs?!” “Don't worry! We'll stay with you so you have something to stand on!” “Thanks! That means a lot, Micheal!” Mugman said.

A ginormous dragonfly flew in front of the duo, glaring at Cuphead with intense hostility. “Mugs?!” “We're trapped, we have no choice but to fight back!” The pair opened fire, and shot at Daniel before he began preparing some sort of attack. However, Mugman's Roundabouts only circled back and behind him, before they came near their foe. “Mug, you're too far, your shots aren't hitting him!” “I know!! Ugh! Cover me, I'm switching back to the Peashooter!” Mugman took off the glove on his left hand, ready to take off the ring, but before he could, Daniel made a loud roar, his mouth opened wide, and he spat out a yellow fire attack. “Mugs, look out!” Mugman turned around and jumped back, the fireball clipping Micheal's wing, causing the mosquito to plummet. “No!!” Mugman cried as he watched their friend fall. “Mug, he's rearin' up again!!” “Hang on!” Mugman rushed over towards Cuphead, just to get a little extra height before he dug into his pockets and pulled out the Super Coin. “Bwar!!” The giant dragonfly spewed out another fire attack, Cuphead jumped down, getting closer to Daniel as the mosquito he was standing on dropped as it was hit. “Mayday! Mayday! Going down! Going down!!” “Martin!” Cuphead turned to face Daniel. “What's wrong with you?! Don't you realize yer hurting them?!” Daniel just growled, glaring daggers at Cuphead. “I think it's safe to say he's in a blind rage!” Mugman flicked the coin with his thumb, watching it carefully as it flew through the air, just to make sure he was able to catch it in his head. “Woah!” Mugman could feel the magic connecting with his soul and growing stronger. He gathered the magic in his body, and jumped up, cracking a large, confident grin. “Haaaaaah!!” Mugman suddenly blasted Daniel with the milk in his head, the force of the mighty blast being enough to damage the dragonfly's wing. Daniel spun, completely out of control as he too, began to plummet to the earth below. “Aaaand stay down!” “Oh, wooaahh...” Mugman swayed just a little as he landed, spirals replacing the pupils in his eyes. “Pfft!” Cuphead snorted, ��Ya alright there, pal?” “I'm...really dizzy now...” Cuphead hopped over to his older brother, steadying him to make sure he wouldn't fall before Mugman shook his head, seemingly curing his dizzy spell. “Anyway, since we're up here, let's do what we came to do, since we don't have to worry about him anymore. Or, at least for now.”

Mugman removed the straw from his head to use it as a telescope, once again. He gazed over to Inkwell's observatory, looking all around the building before he finally spot a pink woman with a red and pink dress who seemed to be repairing the telescope. The woman had short, brown hair fashioned into a curly bob style, a long and pointed nose, and a wind vane for a hair accessory. “See anything?” “There's a woman there for sure...And since Cagney looked this way when we mentioned her name...It's likely to be Hilda.” “Cuphead! Mugman! You did it! You defeated Daniel!” A mosquito popped up, with an obvious white bandage over the injured part of his wing. “Micheal!” The boys chimed. “We're so glad you're okay!” “We thought that jerk killed ya!” “Aw shucks, fellas! Nothin' I couldn't patch up! Anyway, you've brought the treetops back to peace for now, take these for yer troubles!” Micheal handed the brothers one coin each. “Golly!” “Thank you!!” “Don't mention it, boys! Say, if ya two are lookin' to visit that observatory up there, the path over there on that cliff should lead you two right to it!!” “Alright! Thanks!” Mugman nodded. “Cuphead, you go first! You can jump further.” “Got it!” Cuphead lunged and dashed across to the land, then helped Mugman get across himself. “So how's that Roundabout workin' fer ya?” “You want to give it a shot?” Mugman asked, handing his little brother the green ring. “Huh? Really?” “Yeah. I thought it'd be useful for being able to do more damage, and being able to focus on constant firing and dodging. At least some shots would hit the target. But I usually just hang back and give cover fire. And I think at least one of us should use it.” “Yeah, I'll give it a shot.” Cuphead smirked, closing his fist around the ring.

The brothers ran towards the observatory, up until they were stopped by the canteen pilot of Inkwell Isle, otherwise known as Floyd the Fly Boy. “Woah, woah, woah! Cuphead, where you headed off to in such a rush?” Cuphead worked many odd jobs around Isle One, and he'd done more than a handful for Floyd, so the two got to know each other fairly well. “Ah! Floyd! We need to talk to Hilda Berg, and we're kinda in a hurry!” Cuphead explained. “Oh? The woman that works in the observatory? What for?” “Ugh! Long story short, we need to get her Soul Contract!” Mugman said, not wanting to waste any more time than they had already. “Woah! Her what now?! Now I don't know Hilda personally, but I know she'd dogfight with ya before she'd ever give something as important as that to anyone!” “Dogfight?” Cuphead wasn't quite sure what the term meant, but Mugman had done plenty of reading to know, himself. “That's like...plane combat?” “What's so plain about combat?” “Oh Cuphead! Not plain as in simple! Plane as in Aeroplane!” Floyd clarified. “Oh!” “We don't have any way to fight against that! What are we gonna do, Cuphead?!” “What about those two spare planes you've had me clean and polish?” “What?” “Good idea, Cups!! 'Floyd,' was it? May we please borrow your Aeroplanes?” “Yeah! We need to fly like you do!!” “What's that? You two want to fly in a plane like I do?” The brothers nodded with hope. “Ha!!” “Please! We'll be careful! We need them, it's only for two days!” Mugman begged. “Oh no, I never use those two planes. I'd just give them to ya!” “Huh? Then why are you laughing like that?” Cuphead huffed. “You're not sitting in any cockpit 'til you study those blueprints!” Floyd smiled generously as he handed the brothers two sets of blueprints to learn from. “While you're reading those, I'll get your aircrafts ready for launch.” “Oh, thank you, Floyd!!” Mugman beamed.

“Now remember, steering is the opposite of what you think it should be! If you want to move your Aeroplane up, you pull the stick back!” Floyd yelled over the two engines of the red and blue planes. “If you want to pull down, you push the stick forward! It's all inverted!” “Right!” Mugs nodded, “thanks again!” “Use these goggles for safety!” Floyd told them, handing the brothers each a special pair of goggles. “The last thing any pilot needs is to go blind because a bug flew into their eye!” These aren't exactly made for dogfights, but the buttons on the stick should connect with your magic, and allow for gunfire!” “Got it, Floyd!” Cuphead nodded, letting his safety goggles smack over his eyes. The canteen spun the propellers on both of the Aeroplanes, then stood back to make sure the boys were ready for takeoff, looking back to make sure the grassy runway was clear. “Red Casablanca and Blue Bomber, you are clear for takeoff!” The brothers moved their planes forward and after getting up to speed, pulled the aircrafts up and took to the sky.

The brothers flew up to the observatory and found the pink woman from before asleep on a cloud. “Excuse me, miss?” Mugman called, waking the other up as she opened an eye. “Are you Hilda Berg?” “Huh? Why do you ask?” “Well...There's no easy way to say this, but...Hmm...W-what would it take for us to convince you to give us your Soul Contract peacefully?” Hilda's eyes popped open at that. “My what now?!” “Look, lady! We don't wanna fight! But we've got a job to do, whether we like it or not!” “Please, Hilda! We can do this without fighting!” “Tough! I'm not just gonna give you that!! If you want it, you'll have to take it from my cold, deflated body!!”

Hilda took a deep breath, sucking up the cloud she was lying on as her body swelled up to resemble the shape of a zeppelin. The golden bracelets around her gloves jingled as she threw her left hand up, and her right hand out. “Khah!” She exhaled, pedaling the unicycle she was suddenly on. “RT-001, bandits at my twelve!” Cuphead quickly opened fire as a small, purple toy zeppelin flew up next to Hilda and shot a small, black bullet before Cuphead managed to destroy it. “Heheheh!!” Hilda laughed, a 'HA' in black flew out of her mouth and at Mugman. “Ahh!” Mugman just barely managed to bring his Aeroplane into a short nosedive to dodge it. “RS-001, you are clear to engage!” Another purple toy zeppelin came forth, and fired another bullet before turning around and retreating. “Heheheh!!” Once again, a 'HA' left her mouth and soared right to Cuphead. “Wuh-oh!!” Cuphead tried to pull down, but he only pulled his Aeroplane up, which allowed the words to scrape the undercarriage of his plane. Hilda took another deep inhale and her body expanded with the air like a balloon, before she released the pent-up air inside, propelling herself at the boys with a, “Pppthththtphtphthpthtb!!” Hilda left a trail of clouds in her wake, as well as a formation of golden stars. “What was that?!” Cuphead asked. “I don't know. Do you think we should go back for her?” Mugman looked behind, and saw Hilda was slowly flying her way back towards them. “Cuphead, watch your six!!” “Huh?! I thought it was close to one!” “No, not- just pull up!!” Cup was quick to react, and pulled his plane up, just as the blimp moved back into view, chanting, “RT-002, RG-001, RS-001, you are clear to engage!” As she finally reached the spot in the air she was at before, her body became engulfed in a sudden puff of clouds.

When the smoke cleared, Hilda had been replaced with a pink, cloud-like bull with golden glowing horns and yellow, starry eyes. “A bull?!” Mugman questioned, pulling his plane up to aim between the bull's eyes. “Mug, don't worry about resolving this! Just shoot!!” Mugs reluctantly began firing, hitting the cloud bull right between the horns. The bull suddenly bucked at the brothers, and both were just barely able to pull up and avoid the hit. Another purple toy zeppelin flew in, but before it could fire, Mugman shot it down, earning an angry snort from the ox. “Wait, is this bullfighting, or dog fighting?” Mugman wondered. “It's bulldog fighting!” Another purple toy zeppelin appeared. “Cuphead! Twelve-o-clock!” “I thought you said it was six!!” “Right in front of you!!” The zeppelin fired at Cuphead. “Look out!!” Cuphead managed to roll out of the way, but the toy got away as well. “Never mind! You focus on the bull! I'll give you cover fire when I have to!” “Sounds like a plan!” The ox lunged forward at the pilots again with a loud snort, just before one of the purple zeppelins came back. “Oh no you don't!!” Mugman was quick to fire at the toy, destroying it before it could shoot again. “Bullseye!” “Did you really just-” The bull bucked once, and our heroes dodged it, but then it suddenly bucked once again, before disappearing in a puff of smoke. “You twits!! Don't you know that was a flippin' Taurus, not just 'a bull'?!” “What the heck's a Taurus?” “It's a constellation, Cups!” “Raahh!! Time to send you both back to the tax payers!! RT-003, engage red bandit! PG-001, engage blue bandit at vector 2-7-0!” “W-w-wait!! We can still talk this out! W-we don't have to fight!! I, um, I'm really good at baking!” Mugman pleaded, watching as a purple toy zeppelin and a green toy zeppelin flew in, the green one coming in from the west. “I-I can make you brownies if you want!” “I don't want your darn brownies, kid! Open fire!!” The two zeppelins shot at the brothers, the purple one firing out a pink bullet. Cuphead was close enough and did the first thing that came into mind, he let the end of his straw close up as a white glove formed, his Aeroplane looped forward as he parried the bullet successfully.

However, the green toy zeppelin fired four bullets at Mugman, trapping the poor mug. Wishing he could dash, Mugman tensed up, bracing for impact just before he and his plane shrunk down, allowing him to narrowly maneuver his way in between the bullets. Once he was out of danger, he breathed a sigh of relief, growing back to his normal size as he did. “What was that?!” Cuphead asked. “I don't know, but am I glad that it happened!” “Grrr! Take this you little--!” Hilda threw her arms out, then in a sort of spiral motion as a small tornado formed in front of her. “A tornado?!” Mugs gulped. Hilda then threw her hands forward, pushing the whirlwind towards the cups. “Break, break, break!!” Mugman pulled his Aeroplane up, where as Cuphead pushed his nose down, successfully dodging the attack. “Break?! You want me to break?! Some brother you are, ain't that a little extreme?!” “Not what I meant!” “Darn it!! PS-001, engage!” “Mugman! Shoot her!!” “There's no reasoning with her...again!” Mugman continued firing, shooting down the green zeppelin that appeared. “Grr!! PT-001, RG-001 engage! Shoot! Them! Down!!” Once again, a purple and a green toy zeppelin flew in and fired at the brothers. “Ahh!” The two screamed, Mugman's right wing getting clipped. “Hmhmhm. Fitting isn't it? I'm a blimp – you're a wimp!” She cackled, just before the pair shot the zeppelins down. Hilda frowned, glaring at the brothers before taking in another deep breath. “Cuphead, look out!” “Pfftphtphtphtpthtphtphtb!!” Hilda propelled between the ceramic duo once again, leaving a trail of clouds and stars in her wake. Anyone could easily recognize the shape to resemble two stick-figures holding hands. “RT-003, RG-002, RS-002, PT-002, PG-001, PS-002, you are all clear to engage!!”

Once again, Hilda disappeared behind a thick veil of clouds, and transformed into a twin-set of pink women covered only by clouds. The women circled around a glowing gold crystal-like ball, glaring back at the boys as various toy zeppelins flew in, ready for attack. “Uh, Mugs?!” “Just keep firing, and focus on dodging for now!!” The twins suddenly cackled. “You won't get too far...” One spoke in a higher voice, “it has been foretold in the stars.” The other grinned, almost singing in a lower voice. The two suddenly sang a very short song, which summoned a golden fireball-like vortex right in front of the brothers. Mugman had already shot down two of Hilda's toy zeppelins, where as Cuphead ended up destroying one more.

Suddenly, the vortex before them began shooting, going in a counter-clockwise motion. “Wha? Cuphead, pull up now!!” “Aaaahh!!” Cuphead yelped as he did his best to avoid the attack, but for a moment, he stopped moving, thinking he was safe. Cuphead focused some of the magical energy in his body outwards, spinning his Aeroplane into an aileron roll as he released a black rocket with red tail fins and teeth at the pink twins. The rocket slowly began to pick up speed, and the jaw clamped open and closed as it chomped down at anything in its path. “Ouch!!” The women shrieked. Cuphead watched the Chomper Missile curiously until Mugman flew past him. “Keep moving!!” Cuphead didn't hesitate, and followed after his brother as the trail chased after the two, just barely clipping Cuphead's tail. “Woah!!” “You're fine, don't start panicking on me now!” “I- right!” Cuphead was starting to get overwhelmed, but for his brother's sake, he did his best to keep his cool, and shot down two more zeppelins. “How dare you?!” The twins growled. As the fire of the vortex made a complete rotation, it disappeared back into the sky. “Hmm? You survived the Twin's Fire? Well, you've already survived the Bull's Horns and the Laughing Luna-tic...Perhaps it's time we must switch tactics.” The women thought out loud just before Cuphead shot the left one in the right eye. “Augh!!” The women transformed back into Hilda with a puff of smoke, “RT-004, RG-003!” She didn't need to give them orders at this point, only call them. Two purple zeppelins quickly fired at each of the cups before quickly retreating. Our heroes dodged, focusing their efforts on Hilda herself. “Ouch! Ow! Ow!!” Hilda was starting to feel her injuries from the brothers' combined firepower, and began desperately calling her toy zeppelins. “RT-004, engage! RS-002, engage! RG-003, engage!!” Three more purple zeppelins appeared, and opened fire, and one by one, Mugman shot them all down. “No, no, no!!” Hilda suddenly took several bullets to her chest, and started groaning in pain as she grabbed both sides of her head. Her arms and legs began flailing about, as the sunlight suddenly drained from the sky, becoming dark enough for stars to come into view. “The sun's setting?! But it's only 1:30!!” “I thought you said it was twelve!!”

“Raaaaaahhh!!” Hilda raised her arms up, then her whole body curled down as she suddenly changed into a giant pink and red mechanical moon. “Heh heh heh heh...” Mugman was utterly speechless. “M-Mugman!!” “Uhh- keep firing!! Sh-she must be getting desperate!!” The brothers continued their fire, as gold and pink stars flew towards them. Hilda began to laugh psychotically, as her face lunged outwards, releasing several UFO saucers that flew out. A brown and gold UFO suddenly fired a red lazer beam that turned yellow right in front of Cuphead, forcing the child to pull back. “Aaah!” Mugman glanced over at Cuphead for a moment, worried he might have been in serious trouble, but he appeared to be just fine, so he inched his Aeroplane closer to Hilda, watching as another brown UFO fired in front of him, forcing him to dodge as well. Cuphead began to focus completely on Hilda, thinking the UFOs would only fire in front of them, which would give him enough time to dodge. He was unfortunately wrong, and a red and gold saucer that he hadn't noticed suddenly hit him with it's lazer. “Aaaahh!!” Cuphead screeched in pain, tears welling up in his eyes. Without anything covering him above, Cup had felt the full-force of the attack, leaving both him and his plane steaming. Mugman rushed over next to his little brother. “Cuphead!!” “I'm fine!” Cuphead lied, slowly becoming more and more overwhelmed. He pushed it all aside however, and focused on Hilda once again. However, it wouldn't take long for his focus to be broken again, as another lazer hit him from above, severely damaging his left wind and engine. “Augh! Ow stop it!! Aaah!!” “Cup!” “M-Mugs, I-I can't do this! I-it's too much! I-I can't-” “Shh, don't talk like that! You can do this, I know you can! Alright?! Do you have enough for a Super?” “Um...Not a full Super, just a few Ex Moves.” “Alright...” Mugman thought for a moment. “Let's unleash everything we've got and end it quickly!” “B-but what about the UFOs?” “It seems to me that the red ones fire when they're right above you, and the brown ones shoot when they're in front of you. Just keep firing, and focus on drawing out their fire when you need to!” Mugman began to fly closer to Hilda. “What about you?!” “I'm going to hit her with everything I've got!!” Mugman released the magical energy from his full Super Meter, his body melded with his Aeroplane as the two morphed into a Super Bomb. Mugman soared up close and personal to Hilda, smashing right into her forehead. “Yeowch!!” Mugman was suddenly back to normal, plane and all, as he drifted back to Cuphead, smirking from the adrenaline rush using the Super gave him. “Now, Cuphead!!” Hilda's face lunged out again, showcasing the golden gears inside the moon as they turned, and releasing more UFOs out into the sky. Cuphead took a deep breath, and expelled the built-up magical energy from his body. His plane went into an aileron roll as a large Chomper Missile was shot out from the plane, hitting Hilda right in the top crescent of her moon body. “Yah! Raarrgg!!” She growled, glaring up at her now bent-up crescent. Cuphead glanced up, and noticed an incoming red UFO. He inched his plane forward, triggering the red saucer to fire, but quickly pulled back in a Split S maneuver, flipping and moving a half-loop down. The milk inside his head spilled out as he turned upside down, but as he rolled and flipped back to facing right-side-up, he managed to catch the milk he spilled, and his straw, back inside his head. Now on a lower plane, Cuphead fired off another Ex Move, releasing another Chomper Missile that smacked Hilda in the lower crescent, crinkling it up upon impact. “Ouch! Why you little-!” Cuphead looked up again, and caught sight of a brown saucer above. Before the UFO could fire, Cuphead pulled back in a loop, causing it to fire long before the lazer would make contact with his Aeroplane. Cuphead pulled his plane up, staring Hilda right in the eyes just before he released one last Chomper Missile that crashed right into her nose and teeth, breaking her nose in several places as well as some of her teeth. Hilda began making various moaning and groaning noises as her eyes spun around in pain. “You did it!”

Hilda transformed back into her normal form with a puff of smoke, the sun and sky turning back to normal as she did. She had her left arm in a sling, her right forearm wrapped up, a white bandage was on her left cheekbone, and her nose, which was still bent at the tip, was wrapped up in white gauze. “Ugh...I...can't believe this...” Hilda fell back from the sky, landing on a patch of thick, fluffy clouds. “It's over, Hilda!” “Please. Just hand it over to us, Ms. Berg.” Mugman asked sweetly. Hilda sighed, pinching herself between the eyes. “Fine, fine!! Just take it!!” Hilda pulled out a scroll from inside the cloud, and quickly folded it into a paper airplane. She threw it to Cuphead, hitting him right in the chest. Cuphead unfolded the scroll, checking the seal, before shoving it somewhere in the cockpit of his plane. “I just...all I wanted was to do my job...None of this was ever supposed to happen...” The brothers looked over to each other, then back to Hilda, guilt evident only in Mugman's eyes. “Hilda...? Will you be oka-” “Just go!! You got what you came here for! Now leave!!” The brothers looked at each other again before turning around to land their Aeroplanes.

Hilda looked down to the ground, tears in her eyes. Her gaze wandered to a specific meadow, biting her lip as she forced herself to hold back her tears. She was still so close to the observatory, and she refused to cry in sight of her coworkers. Lest she prove those jerks right...not jerks...she loved all the scientists... “This...can't be happening...right?” Hilda tried to get up, but a sharp pain in her chest where she was shot was all the proof she needed. This wasn't a nightmare. This was real. “I've got to record all my findings for them...I've gotta give them the blueprints for the zeppelin drones...” The last thing Hilda was going to so was let all her work and research be for nothing, just because she was dragged down to Hell. Hilda got back up, and called two more zeppelins. “P-PT-003, PG-002...” Two green toy zeppelins appeared. “H-help me back to the lab...There's a lot of work I have to do before I'm taken...” The toy zeppelins both frowned, but adjusted themselves between her arms, then flew her back into the observatory.

#Cuphead and Mugman: Don't Deal with the Devil #Threatenin' Zeppelin #Cuphead #Mugman #Hilda Berg #Cagney Carnation #Treetop Trouble #Word on the Wind! {Rebloggable Content}#Drabbble #Rewriting #You're Supposed to Hit the Queue Ball!

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sleepingsun-m · 6 years

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"All of the love we threw away, making the same mistakes again"

(or Why I am upset for Klance)

You know, I don't use to call myself a shipper, because I don't really enjoy ships for fun or in fanon... I've always started to ship two characters because of their writing. Klance is not just shipping. I am a graduated screenplay writer myself, I know what I talk about (even if there's no need to be graduated, honestly, to recognize some things).

I am sad because all the premises and all the development between Keith and Lance has been literally thrown away, has been totally forgot. The two even seem to going to opposite direction from the point they reached, losing along the way all of that development.

If you intertwine two characters from the very start, if you depict them as The Duo, narratively and visually, if you design for them the "rivals to friends" trope... you need to cultivate these planted seeds, you can not just forget them. I'd want to trust the writers because we have still 13 episodes but it's very difficult now to explore all that could be explored. I trusted them till season 6 that was a very well-written season, a masterpiece, but now you know why I can't trust them anymore? Because they gave us suddenly A//ura's crushing on Lance, after six season of no signs of romantic attachment from her. I know, feelings can develop with time, but if they wanted to tell this kind of story, than it was made very, very poorly, in a way that do not recognize at all why A//ura should be starting to develop feelings for Lance. Because the truth is that you do not develop feelings for a person only because they like you.

On the other side, they built Lance's and Keith's arcs to mirror each other and they did so many things to emphasize it. K/L reached a peak in season 3 that was, like JDS himself said, a natural and beautiful progression. Even their separation from season 4 was emphasized and was necessary for their personal arcs.

I am not saying that Keith and Lance must have been canon as a couple. It would have been amazing, ground-breaking, but I don't want it necessarly. This is not my story, I can't expect nothing. What I'm saying is that Keith and Lance deserved to reunite properly, with another emphasized moment, or at least addressing all that they had, all that tied them, their feelings before and after the separation.

All the very little tiny hints we had (I'm talking about Lance reaction to Keith saving Ac/xa and the "you ran away" line) might be important, might be a very subtle way to keep their dynamic alive... but even in this case it's useless if it'll never explode in a certain moment.

Mostly with all the Lance's self confidence thing, that is strictly related to Keith (!!), they created and are still creating a lot of material that could have matured from this season on out. Season 6 was great because it ended a circle between two main characters, Keith and Sh/ro, concluding their dynamic, but more importantly explaining the very link between the two of them. Lance's self confidence is strictly related to Keith and placed the ground for their early relationship. Lance is still not confident in himself, they showed it to us, and it's not fair if his awareness will come from the acceptance (that is not even immediate, but is coming as a rebound) of another character (A//ura). It would be fair if Keith was an asshole or someone not deserving Lance's maturation. But Keith is not. Keith once helped Lance, he demonstrated to be the right person to make Lance feel accepted, valuable and self assured. I am not speaking from a ship pov, I am not discrediting A/L, I truly believe that any characters could have been the right choice to Lance. But, speaking of what the writers actually have written, speaking of facts, Lance's insecurities are connected to Keith from the very start, and they deserve to be solved by Keith and Lance only.

Speaking of Keith, it's just pointless and hurtful to not see him recognize properly Lance importance and value, most for what Lance did in the past, during Keith's bad times. Even in this case, we had some little hints to Keith's attachment (he chooses Lance to escape the game, he trusts him to lead the team and so on) buuut... Keith's arc is based not only on self assurance, but mostly on breaking his walls and accepting sentiments, accepting to love and to be loved, to express his feelings. He do it very well after he has resolved his issues, now he can properly communicates with every single member on the team but what about Lance? The only one that previously Keith opened up to?? What's the point of making Keith closed again just with Lance?? Just to keep up an useless bickering?

So yes, even if I enjoyed season 7, I think the writers have been very lazy and obvious with these two, throwing away the best well-written relationship, the most intriguing, and also the most passionate (after the brotherly one between K/S). Am I sad? Yes. Am I disappointed? Maybe a little, but we still can see if a little of all that will be bringed up. Maybe we still have a little chance.

#vld season 7 #vld spoilers #voltron season 7 #klance #keith and lance #vld keith #vld lance #klangst #sorry if my english is bad

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softfics9 · 7 years

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Easy Love - Chapter 1

Fandom; SF9

Main Pairing; Kim Youngkyun|Hwiyoung/Yoo Taeyang

Side Pairings; Kim Youngbin/Kim Inseong, Kim Seokwoo|Rowoon/Baek Juho|Zuho

Genre; Angst, Unrequited Love, Mutual Pining, College AU

Trigger Warnings; Mentions of alcohol

Word Count; 3,167

Rating; Teen and Up

Beta’d; No

Cross- Posted; AO3

Other Chapters; Chapter 2, Chapter 3

Author’s Notes; OK so yes while in real life Hwi is only just 18 in this AU they are aged up to 20/21 so it’s not underage drinking. Just had to get that out of the way first! I have been meaning to write this all summer, and I wanted it to be a cute fluffy one-shot of these two getting together but...nope, it’s a big ol’ angsty mess. I’m sorry. Unlike my other fics, I’m posting the first chapter without actually finishing the whole thing so I apologise that I don’t know where it’s going. I hope you all enjoy though!

Kim Youngkyun did not believe in love at first sight. It was just something made up by film and tv writers to allow for the instant beginnings of a relationship between two characters. Call him a cynic, and his oldest friend Baek Juho certainly did, but he was not about to go around thinking it was possible to see someone for the first time and hear violins playing or see stars twinkling around their head. So he scoffed at rom-coms and laughed when people cited it as how they knew their partner was “the one”, and he would proudly tell anyone who listened how ridiculous he thought it was. To put it simply; the sky is blue, water is wet, Juho is the most handsome guy he knows, and Youngkyun did not believe in love at first sight.

Until he met Yoo Taeyang. And suddenly he wasn’t certain of his own convictions anymore.

Sure the sky was still blue and water was still wet, at least most of the time in his experience, but his last two certainties were being called into question. Because this Seokwoo guy was more handsome than Juho, just by the slightest of margins, and when he saw Taeyang for the first time he heard music playing and his head was spinning and he found it hard to breathe. If he were to really think about it, he would have realised the music was coming from Youngbin’s speakers just behind him, and the ball that was kicked at his head was probably the cause of his shortness of breath and head trauma. But in that moment where he was falling to the ground thanks to the force of the football hitting the back of his head, he was sure that Yoo Taeyang was sunshine personified and he was in love. He tried to deny ever thinking such things at first, only to no avail, because Taeyang was the first one there to help him up and ask if he was ok, and there were butterflies in his stomach that he had no explanation for unless he blamed it on his head trauma.

It might not have been such a big deal in any other situation, if Taeyang was just some random stranger who he met on one occasion, and would have had ample time to get over him and recollect his thoughts. Except that was not the case because the “cold-city duo” was now a sextet, incorporating Youngbin and Chanhee the “brother-from-another-mother” pair and the heavenly vocals that were Seokwoo and Taeyang. Youngkyun was not opposed to having more friends, in fact, he rather enjoyed Chanhee’s evil tendencies and ability to make fun of everyone in the group, and Youngbin’s dad like presence which kept them all in check most of the time. And there was no way he could deny he greatly appreciated Seokwoo’s MasterChef cooking abilities which made him sigh with bliss over group dinners. It was merely the presence of Taeyang that was throwing his life off balance. Because Taeyang sat beside him in class and made it hard to focus on lessons, and his laugh made Youngkyun’s stomach flip and his heart flutter. But the worst part was, he felt himself falling more for him every time he learnt something new about him, and as their friendship grew, so did Youngkyun’s pining.

The older members of the group moved on to university, and while they still made time for the younger three, it wasn’t the same. Youngkyun now had no one to bounce off when he felt himself getting nervous around Taeyang. Juho had acted like his buffer when he was lost for words and shrunk in on himself, making sure to fill in his silences and protected him like he had always done. Youngbin had been the perfect person to turn to when his awkwardness was reaching its peak, always accepting cuddles and knew exactly what to do to ease the tension. Now there was just Chanhee left, and while they were very close, he was not capable of saving Youngkyun from himself.

Finally after their last year in school was over, and they were moving on to university with the rest of their friends, Youngkyun thought he might escape from the burning ache he felt in his heart from seeing Taeyang every day, knowing he didn’t feel the same. They were doing different courses entirely, their buildings were completely separate and everything. He could meet new people and perhaps learn to get over his first love. Of course, that never happened, since it only made sense for the three same-aged friends to get an apartment together, saving on living costs and not having to worry about roommates who might clash with their personalities. Youngkyun could have said no, come up with an excuse about wanting to get out of his shell and meet new people, but he would never do that. Call it selfish or even stupid, but Youngkyun didn’t really want to be separated from Taeyang. There was a warmth in his presence and comfort in knowing where he was and making sure he was eating and sleeping well. Staying so close was not going to help his heart to move on, but Youngkyun couldn’t help but feel the smallest bit of hope that maybe someday, Taeyang would finally see him in the same light.

The thing about loving someone for so long and believing it to be unrequited is that you become blind to changes in their behaviour. Youngkyun had spent 5 years of his life hopelessly crushing on his close friend, and so when Taeyang started to be more affectionate towards him, he simply put it down to their friendship getting stronger. He wrote off the constant skinship as Taeyang being comfortable around him and cursed his heart for hoping it meant more. Youngkyun was certain he had hidden his true feelings for Taeyang from his group of friends, surely Juho would have said something to him otherwise since he knew him so well. That illusion went out the window though, after one particularly excessive night out with his classmates.

He woke up in Juho’s apartment at 1 in the afternoon, with a splitting headache and a disgusting taste in his mouth. He had stumbled into his oldest friends kitchenette to find him cuddled up with Seokwoo drinking coffee. The sight of his two friends together made his heart wrench, knowing that was something he could never have with Taeyang. He sighed, knowing he had to continue to pretend he had nothing but platonic affection for Taeyang, and the couple looked up at him. Originally he thought the pitying smile on Seokwoo’s face was for the awful hangover he had, and he was too tired to try to decipher the look Juho was giving him. After they gave him a mug of black coffee - obviously cheap stuff from the supermarket, it was too bitter for his refined barista taste buds, they sat him down and the questioning started.

“Soooo, do you remember anything from your night? About how you got here or the things you said?”

Seokwoo was playing the responsible mom role, looking at him with concern in his eyes when he shook his head and said he didn’t remember much after doing a round of shots at the bar with a few people from his course.

“Shots!? Dude, you hate spirits what were you thinking? It really isn’t like you to drink so much that you don’t remember your night.”

“Yeah it’s very out of character for your Kyunnie, you’ve been out with your course friends before and took very good care of yourself. Did something happen that made you want to drink to forget?”

He was expecting this honestly - if it had been Youngbin who he went to it would have been a whole lot worse. But it was the last question from Seokwoo that sent up warning flags in Youngkyun’s head. It was loaded with an underlying emotion that he couldn’t pinpoint exactly, but he got the feeling it would be dangerous to answer. The truth was, he originally hadn’t planned to go on the class night out, preferring to stay in and watch a movie and eat junk food. But that morning as he was walking out of his 9 am Criminology lecture, he had seen Taeyang surrounded by four really pretty girls, laughing and looking so happy. Youngkyun had felt a twist in his gut. Of course Taeyang was happy with all those girls paying attention to him, there was no way he could ever look that happy with Youngkyun around him. There was a dark voice in his head berating him, making him feel small and stupid for loving one of his friends when there was no chance of him ever feeling the same. So he quickly found Lee Jeno, the guy from his class who was organising their night out- and looked better in bleach blonde than he did- and told him he wanted to go with them.

Of course, he couldn’t tell his friends his reasoning, they would worry far too much and as much as it hurt him, Youngkyun didn’t want anyone to know about his feelings for Taeyang still. He didn’t want them to tell him that he should try move on, the selfish part of himself wanted to keep holding on despite all the pain it caused him. While he was lost in his own memories, he didn’t notice Seokwoo and Juho sharing a knowing look.

“Kyunnie, you really don’t remember what you said to us when you got here?”

The tone Seokwoo used was disconcerting, it was sickeningly sweet and yet laced with worry too. It made Youngkyun feel more than a little dread in his stomach wondering what he could have said to make them talk like this. He shook his head very slowly, and Juho sighed before moving to sit beside him and put an arm around his shoulders. Seokwoo leaned back a little, knowing this was something Juho was in a better position to deal with since he had known Youngkyun for so much longer.

“Listen Hwi, we’ve known each other for so long yeah? And you know I promised I’ll always look after you, so you can trust me and tell me when things are bothering you. I don’t want to have to wake up at 1 am to Jaeyoon frantically buzzing our bell because you were so drunk you couldn’t even remember your name and he didn’t know what else to do with you.”

Youngkyun felt a shameful blush spread across his cheeks, he didn’t realise he had been that bad - although the headache he woke up with should have been an indication. His original intentions when he went out with his classmates was just to drink enough to give him a gentle tipsy buzz, and hoping he might let loose enough to get close to someone else there. He wouldn’t deny there were plenty of cute guys in his class, surely one of them could help him get over his useless love for Taeyang. But after two shots he went straight from sober to drunk and was no longer able to remember what happened. Probably the only reason he had been stopped before he passed out was Jaeyoon discovering him and being responsible enough to get him out of the bar.

He realised he hadn’t answered any of Juho or Seokwoo’s questions and instead was lost in his own mind. There was nothing he could do to fix his drunken mistakes, but he needed to know what they were so he could deal with them.

“I’m really sorry that I caused you two and Jaeyoon-hyung such an inconvenience. I didn’t really mean to get so drunk but I must have lost control. Law students can be very persuasive you know? But I am really sorry, I don’t remember anything I said or did last night. Was it bad?”

Youngkyun asked the last part very hesitantly, he needed to know what happened but at the same time, he wasn’t sure he wanted to. The conflict must have been clear on his face because Seokwoo sighed again and got up off the floor. He walked into his and Juho’s shared bedroom and shut the door behind him. Youngkyun was confused now, and he looked to his left to see Juho staring at him. He hadn’t seen this much concern since the first day they met, and the older male had protected him from bullies in school.

“You were spouting all sorts of nonsense at first when Jaeyoon- hyung brought you in, law terms and other stuff I didn’t understand. I made up the bed on the floor but you just wouldn’t lie down, you started talking about how Chanhee was going to miss you when he woke up this morning and then kept trying to leave. Then after I said we would text him and Taeyang to tell them where you were, you just burst into tears. Hwi - why didn’t you tell me before that you liked him?”

There it was, Youngkyun felt his breath hitch and he started to panic. He had obviously told Juho, and indirectly Seokwoo, about his feelings for Taeyang. He felt a lump form in his throat and just buried his head in his lap. This was probably the second worst thing he could have done, the first being telling Taeyang himself how he felt. Juho wrapped his arms around his younger friends middle and pulled him up into his own lap. Youngkyun was in tears now, sobbing into his tall friend's shoulder. He was very glad Seokwoo left because this was embarrassing enough without another witness. Juho was the only one who he fully broke down his walls for, and he was so grateful he had a friend like this. He heard the deep voice murmuring calming words into his ear as he rubbed gentle circles on his back. Juho knew just what to do to calm him down when he got like this, and after a few short minutes, Youngkyun felt like he would be able to talk again.

“Hyung - I’m really messed up aren’t I? I’ve been in love with Taeyang for so long and I’ve never been able to say anything. Every day it hurts seeing him, being so close but knowing I can never be like you and Seokwoo-hyung, or even Youngbin-hyung and Inseong-hyung. He doesn’t like me back, not in the way I want him too, and I just - I don’t know how to get over him.”

His voice cracked a few times, and he had to keep stopping to take deep breaths, but his confession was finally out there. His hyung knew, and now all he could do was wait to see what he would say.

“You’re such a dummy, you do know that right?”

That wasn’t what Youngkyun had been expecting. He looked up to meet Juho’s eyes and he was smiling sadly. Shrugging his shoulders, he wasn’t sure how to reply to that. His friend rolled his eyes and squeezed him a little tighter to his chest.

“You really had no reason to keep this from me, or any of the group really. We weren’t going to be mad or judge you or anything. I mean, Seokwoo and I were friends before we started dating, there’s nothing wrong with that at all. All I’m curious about is why you think Taeyang doesn’t feel the same way you do?”

Youngkyun blinked rapidly at the unexpected question. He thought he would have gotten some comforting words, advice on what to do or even just be told to try move on. But Juho had surprised him, why would he ask such a thing? Of course Taeyang didn’t feel the same, he liked girls who were small and pretty and good dancers, he laughed and always looked so comfortable talking to them. He voiced all this to his friend, finally feeling more confident talking about it now he didn’t have to hide anymore.

“Just because Taeyang is friends with a lot of girls doesn’t mean he likes any of them, it also doesn’t mean he can’t like you too. Now I will admit I have never seen him when he is with those groups, but I do know that whenever he is with you his smile is brighter than the actual sun. And I mean, he is always putting his hand on your arm or resting his head on your shoulder. You guys are so comfortable together, Seokwoo actually thought you two were dating before last night, and most of the others agreed.”

The younger’s head shot straight up, and he almost choked on his own spit at that. Most of his friends thought he was dating Taeyang? How was that possible? Sure they were pretty close and cuddly, but that was just Taeyang being his normal friendly self. Had his crush been so glaringly obvious that the whole group had picked up on it? If so, did that mean Taeyang knew about his feelings too?

“Dude calm down, I don’t want you dying on me right now. Before you ask, and I’m sure you want to, it’s only the older members who discussed it. Chanhee and Taeyang weren’t part of it, you were all doing some first-year orientation thing when the rest of us met up for coffee.”

Youngkyun felt relieved at that, Taeyang knowing would be the worst possible outcome, but if Chanhee knew his life would be a living hell. He settled his head back into his friend's shoulder. The fact they all knew about his feelings in some way lifted a bit of the weight off his heart. Obviously, he wouldn’t just go to any of the others to just casually talk to about this, but since they knew maybe he could start acting a little more normal around them now. He promised that he would tell Juho everything from start to finish, and would come to him about any new things. But the positive reaction he got made him feel a little more hopeful about everything. Surely if six of his friends thought he was dating Taeyang, then there must be something going on he wasn’t seeing.

Much happier than he had been for a long time, Youngkyun got up off Juho’s lap and stretched out. He went and released Seokwoo from his self-imposed solitude and gave him a big hug. Slightly shocked, Seokwoo hesitated to hug him back at first, but as the good mom friend, he smothered the younger in affection once the situation was cleared up. The shortest of the three friends went to shower, he wanted to scrub away all of last nights bad memories, this was going to be his fresh start. With the support of his hyungs, he would either work up the courage to confess or at least get on the road to moving on.

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