#anyway i remember very little about 90% of this series but i DO remember how disappointed i was at THIS

[bozepomagaj]

ATINY/MOA/CARATS vs Made in Abyss was the last thing I expected and its hilarious

feel like I need to say something since twitter absolutely loves spreading misinfo and just accusing people of shit, how have you people not LEARNED your lesson yet? Since when is twitter such a trusted source, especially gossip accounts?

And before you braindead stans start calling me a d!ckrider, I promise you I do not care about these men cuz I've got better things to focus on and I'm making this because people are overreacting and it's getting annoying. It's so obvious 90% of you haven't watched the anime (and thats completely fine, I get you) and then ended up listening to someone who made stuff up and overexaggerated. I'm not here to defend the author because I hate him as much as you do and can absolutely recognize the dude is into some weird shit but saying people are ONLY interested in this series because of r@pe and p€dophilia is INSANE. So let me answer some questions as a Made an Abyss reader (not calling myself a fan because you'll catch me DEAD before you see me buying any merch or manga despite my love for the series), kpop fan second.

Does Made In Abyss contain p3d0ph1l1c themes, gore etc.?

There absolutely is because the author is a creep (refering to the nsfw however, most of the times it's very easily skippable. As someone who hates l0l1con cuz it creeps me out, I can tell you that I really didn't have a hard time skipping said scenes even in the manga which is far more explicit than the anime (Prushka asking about Bond's 'stick', Faputa looking into Regs pants, Vueko's weird comments) and sometimes, they're even added as extras (0.5 chapters) which certain sites that contain scans don't even include. I didn't even know about the existence about a few of these chapters BECAUSE they don't include them.

The OVA is a nightmare to watch and was not only unfunny but creepy as fuck especially when they try to boil down such an amazing character like Ozen into 'I like seeing little kids in pain'. Now I have no idea if this was made independently but I don't remember the author making any spin-offs that they could base this on so I can't tell you who wrote it but even then I doubt that the author minded it since the man himself had to include that Faputas behind smells like the 'Sun' so again, not here to defend him cuz he most definitely is a weirdo, no doubt about it.

Is Made in Abyss torture p*rn?

If MiA is torture p*rn then AoT is military propaganda and supports child labor, TPN is also torture p*rn, JJK promotes violence, Berserk excuses r*pe and Evangelion is also p*do bait. See how stupid that sounds? Just because an anime INCLUDES something, does not mean it necessarily supports it. Yes, r*pe is mentioned but it's not even SHOWN, and it's a cruical part of a characters backstory. The torture that happens, happens only once if we exclude Riko's 'experiment' at the very beginning of the manga. And Mitty's transformation can't even be classified as torture cuz it's a.... transformation. Prushka's death is very censored so its not like you can jack off to that anyways. Now the piss thing is something I have noticed but haven't really payed attention it because bffr why the hell would I so idk, maybe the author is trying to tell us something or the guy thinks pee pee poo poo funny🤷‍♀️.

Is there any plot besides the weird stuff?

See now this is the part that gets me most because the reason why a majority of people nowadays got into MiA in the first place is BECAUSE of the amazing plot. The world building, the mystery, the fight scenes, etc. It's amazingly drawn, nicely paced and unique in its own way. But of course, it's manga&anime and what's anime without fanservice? I already explained that in manga, said scenes can be easily skipped and the anime thankfully doesn't include a lot of these. I do have to admit thag I dropped the manga for now since the chapter where they were in a bath cuz it was another one of those 'here we go again' moments where it made me roll my eyes and just close the tab so I don't really know what's been happening recently and if things go weirder.

I'm also gonna tell you honestly that yes, the fandom is filled with sweaty dudebros itching to see these kids half naked and the author is aware of them and pondering to them because he too is one of them. But a large majority is back from when the anime originally came out and are mostly hiding on twitter so it's easy to avoid them and they've been pretty rare ever since people with actual interest in the series have begun watching it. A reason why back in the day I didn't wanna interact with the fandom at ALL was because the moment I tried to have a normal conversation about the plot and what might actually be going on, I instead get bombarded with "UWAAAA😭😭😭" and 'c*nny' comments. I also cannot defend and don't even plan on defending the fact that Faputa is pretty much naked the entire series. I get that she lives in the literal wilderness, but the very least you could do is put a cloth on her y'know. And mind you, I'm talking about the manga. The anime is a LOT more heavily censored, and from what I heard, even MORE censored in Korea.

To sum it up:

Do I think Mingi/Soobin/Woozi are p*dos cuz they watched the anime? Absolutely the fuck not. Considering Mingi is a big CSM fan, I can see why he watched Made in Abyss because I was in that same pipeline. I think some of you are going way too far with these comments, if you wanna call them weird, creepy, wanna unstan them for reading stuff like this go ahead, not gonna stop because in the end no one can but accusing people of crimes isn't funny and never will be. If they were exposed for watching shit like Kodomo no Jikan then that most definitely IS eyebrow raising. Maybe I'm slightly biased due to me only enjoying MiA for the plot so seeing people say the fans are p3d0s when the first time I watched this was when I was freshly 15.... yeah idk abt that one. Whether they liked the weird and questionable scenes, I have zero idea I'm just here to say that you can enjoy said anime without being a weirdo and you shouldn't begin jumping to conclusions and start calling people straight up criminals. If anyone wants to have a productive conversation and ask questions abt said anime cuz I doubt you're gonna go watch an anime over a Twitter drama, go ahead and ask. If you wanna insult me and call me a d!ckrider then go ahead and do that too, who am I to stop you?

[bitimdrake]

Do you have fic recs by any chance? You really seem to have a lot of comics knowledge so I trust that you know what’s accurate to the source material and what’s not :)

you know I've gotten a few asks about this and I never quite manage to answer them, because I'm always convinced that I will somehow end up with a perfect and complete rec list if only I wait to reply just a little longer.

SO I'm gonna try cutting myself off at the head this time, and not giving you a prefect list by any means, but at least giving you an answer:

Here is a collection that I'm slowly forming for fics that really feel like they're actually based off comics. It is currently very small and people are welcome to bookmark to it if they find other very comics-based fics, but it's a start.

And a couple random recs as I scroll through my personal bookmarks:

Redrawing the Lines (11k) is fantastic Batman Reborn era Dick & Tim & Damian fic, and it continues as a series after.

also the second before the other shoe drops (8k) about the same trio. AU where Damian makes a murder attempt in a subtler way--but most important, is not demonized by a narrative that instead gives everyone a fair shake.

will we ever get to the other side? (5k) Dick & Tim in a very specific era where Dick's life is falling apart and filled with trauma, and Tim has just been hit with a huge smack of grief and also trauma, and neither is at their best but they're trying.

Everything by @silverwhittlingknife is ideal Dick & Tim content, and all deeply rooted in comics. I will call out:

The Return (11k), which is Dick's pov of Tim coming back to Gotham after Brucequest

only you will have stars that can laugh (9k) which is sad and loney but also sweet on Christmas

Red Letter Day (42k, wip) in which god Dick is trying his fucking best to hold it together okay. (aka everyone is kind of prickly, Dick is stressed, there's a Mysterious Wednesday of unclear importance, and I love them sm)

@flybynightwing has equally comics-based and also absolutely fascinating and compelling fics. I'll call out:

How Far Love Goes (99k) a case fic that draws in everyone in the bat family, with a tilt towards Dick (although the Steph is also fantastic), and turns into a reflection on Bruce as a parent.

goal-oriented mindset (5k) Catalina's pov, meeting Dick again well after everything went down. Subject may not be for you, but I find it SO interesting and roll it around and around in my head. (And it is of the very very rare selection of actually comics-based fics about that arc.)

It's a Wonderful Earth-218 (7k). A thoroughly depressed Dick goes to a world where he was never born, it's a wonderful life-style.

(And carrying on with various authors again:)

Hate and Love are Two Sides of the Same Coin (5k + 13k sequel) every member of his family is forced to say what they like least about Dick. The fic makes no secret of its thoroughly contrived premise and doesn't particularly care to justify it either, but still comes out with great characterization and relationship reflections.

Mikey Dies At The End (4k), outsider pov centered around Jason as the Red Hood, which is so very confident in its characterization of him and has zero considerations given to fanon and it's an excellent read.

A Meditation on Railroading (24k), a Tim-centric fic that deals heavily with his relationship with his dad. This one is not really canon at all, but it is good, and its version of the relationship is compelling.

Young Justice Visit the Suez Canal (3k) look this one is pure 90s-style Young Justice humor. We're here for a good time.

Aaand I know there are many more good fics, but I have run out of steam and I am trying so so hard to remember that some answer is better than no answer. Though I am very sorry to all my beloved writers & mutuals who have written excellent comics fic.

Anyway final tip is when you find an author who knows what they're talking about, go through all their fics, and then go through all their bookmarks.

[mrawkweird]

My history with the X-men is very limited, only catching reruns of the trilogy on FX, having that bootleg of X-men origins Wolverine that had the unfinished visual effects, First Class, Apocalypse, Days of Future Past and of course Logan. A film so sad it was engraved in my mind and I no longer will ever feel the need to watch it.

The only X-men comic I remember reading was some story where Logan got mindfucked into acting like a little bitch, here's some some pages/panels without context

And when it comes animation, I saw like one episode of the OG 90's show on xfinity on demand and a handful of X-men Evolution

All this to say I have very little attachment to the X-men brand so believe me when I say with no bias X-men 97 is fucking amazing and 100% worth your time

Just one episode in and immediately understand why people love not just the X-men, but why they love superhero stories. The crazy exaggerated powers and characters that can be silly but still have heart and real stakes. All that without some snide remark about how some other series or movie got it wrong. Like I know My Adventures With Superman was great but sometimes it does feel like it's trying to overcorrect for the Snyder Superman. X-men '97 just simply is.

Also, HOLY FUCKING SHIT, it looks amazing.

Like damn, if Invincible looked as half as good as this show has looked every episode so far it would be perfect. It's the quality I expect outta western shows now that they cost so damn much. This show much like Monkie Kid (there I go mentioning Monkie Kid again) looks like I imagine 90's kids felt when they watched it. Cause when you watch the OG show outside of the intro the animation is super stiff but in '97 when the action picks up it's on the level of high tier anime ova, like film quality good. And even then just the shot composition and direction is great almost never flat.

My only gripe was that at first I thought because the show wanted to resemble the OG that it used really flat colors to make it look like it was from the 90's without doing something like Megalo Box which lowered the resolution to feel like a 90's anime. But by the third episode I got used to it.

Anyways yeah, this shit's amazing, fantastic, astonishing even. And if they cooked this good for the X-men, then I got high hopes for that Spiderman show, should it still exist.

You know, there's a lot to be said about how My Adventures With Superman needed to make sure they let several people that's been covering the character for the last decade know he doesn't have to become an op in order to be interesting but that's a whole conversation for another day.

One of the cool things I noticed coming out of X-Men '97 is it reminded some people that before there was ever a whole Avengers craze X-Men was the ultimate team of superheroes for Marvel to a lot of people growing up. It's why it has so many projects and connections or why MCU wants to cap now and say Ms. Marvel is a mutant instead of an Inhuman. Everyone wants to sit with the cool kids. There's actually several things I want to say about this show but I'm going to wait till the end of the season.

Also, with the character designs of that Spider-Man cartoon they almost have a responsibility to release the series just so everybody can see what that looks like in motion.

[arlecchno]

mission accomplished [ scaramouche x reader ]

twenty-five | viktor and yun jin

prev masterlist next

as the plot thickens with a new victim, you were dead set to catch viktor stepanov, once and for all. you didn't know this would end up way different than what you had imagined.

warnings: use of scaramouche's, childe's and signora's real name, death and killing mentions, breaking in, kinda fluffy in the middle, kidnapping¿, very suspenseful at the end (i think)

a/n: i'm incredibly sorry for the long delay of this chapter, been a bit busy last weekend. but it's here now, and i hope everyone enjoys the suspense as we're nearing the end of the series. 7k+ words. 90% proofread so please lmk if i've gotten anything wrong.

grammatical errors may occur so please let me know if i've made any mistakes!

“so…” you started, hurriedly scanning your eyes to your surroundings, checking if someone was near you. seeing that no one was in sight, you continued. “what do you want to talk about?”

childe cleared his throat on the other line. “we found a new victim.” he dropped, causing you to let out a short gasp.

it had been… how long now?

two months. it's been two months since you've last heard of a new victim, and now the killing is happening again.

wait, but…

“but viktor's been with me the whole morning? i don't understand.”

“anastasia obolensky. familiar with the name?”

you took a moment to think, recalling where you had heard of the name. if memory serves you right, that'd be…

“the university's chancellor?”

childe hummed. “she was found dead at her home this morning.” he informed, and you gripped your phone a little tighter.

going for the higher ups of the campus? you wondered to yourself. isn't that too far?

anastasia was one of the campuses most respected chancellors, and had contributed a lot to snezhnaya university. if word got out that she's dead, who knows what hell would break loose.

but viktor… he has been with you all night, right? would that even make sense for him to head out and kill people whilst being drunk?

“i don't understand.” you replied, still in disbelief. “he's been with me all night.”

“what were you two doing?”

“well, it was actually the four of us.” you awkwardly let out a chuckle, causing childe to usher you further on the information. “him, yun jin, scara and i. yunjin invited us to dinner, they got drunk, bla bla bla, you know the basics.” you didn't bother fixing him up with the details. knowing childe, he probably knew the rest of it already due to experience.

you peered over your surroundings once again, this time trying to find a seat. you walked over to a small park bench once you've caught glimpse of it, relishing a sigh of relief after standing for so long.

after a moment, you continued. “anyways, i don't think he'd have the time to go out and kill people. i stayed up for an hour or two after they passed out, trying to clean up everyone's mess. if he had gone out, i'd have noticed it right away.”

“what time did you sleep?”

“around twelve or one, why?” you asked.

“report says that the estimated time she was killed was at two in the morning.”

widening your eyes, you left your mouth agape. so he went out after you were asleep?

you shook your head. “no, wait, this is confusing me.” you replied, squeezing your eyes shut before opening them once again. “he passed out after a couple of drinks, there's absolutely no way he'd wake up in less than an hour after that. i remember him telling me that he couldn't hold his liquor well.”

“also.” you continued, already scoffing at the thought. “where the hell have you been?! you can't just disappear on me for two months and then finally show up just to tell me someone's dead!” you shouted into the phone, resulting in childe wincing at the tone of your voice.

he sighed, and you heard sounds of rummaging in the background. “i'm sorry, y/n. i still can't disclose the details to you.”

“what details?” you asked coldly. “what the fuck are you doing around behind my back?”

childe groaned. “look, it's nothing that you should be concerned about. just… focus on your case right now, i'll tell you once everything's calmed down.”

“what?” you questioned further. “you're not doing dirty work now are you, ajax? you know i hate those kinds of people. i'm gonna fucking kill you when i get back.”

childe chuckled from the other line. “of course not, y/n. i'd get fired if i'm working with people that aren't from the department.” he said.

from the tone of his voice, it seemed that childe was telling the truth. but somehow, you don't trust him, not even a single bit.

it's the first time that's ever happened to you.

on most occasions, you fully trust childe. you had never doubted his words, because he was always telling the truth, and never once broke a promise. he is one of your best friends after all, you'd never doubt him.

you still remember the day you two promised each other to never go behind each other's backs, and to always go to one another for help, no matter how dire the situation is.

but now, you had an inkling that he had just broken that pact. for whatever reason, you wouldn't know, and not that you would pry on it either.

you'll just have to confront him once the case ends, whenever that is.

sighing, you changed the subject. “so? what do i have to do now? this is his seventh victim, i think.” you said. “i can't just let him get away with this.”

“have you… ever considered looking for other suspects?”

you blinked. “are you telling me that viktor has accomplices?”

“most serial killers need accomplices to continue on with their crimes, sometimes they're also just cover ups for the actual serial killer.” childe informed.

you hummed, thinking of the possible accomplices he could have at the moment.

to be honest, you've never really seen him hang out with anyone during your stakeout times, and have never seen him interact with people other than yun jin.

“wait.” you blinked once again, the cogs in your brain turning. “you're not suggesting it's yun jin, are you?”

childe merely chuckled. “you'll never really know unless you look further into it. anyone who is close to him can be possible suspects or accomplices.”

“but yun jin is innocent. i see her every other day, and the killings never happened during the night before our classes together, unlike viktor, when all of the victims were found the day we do have classes together.” you countered, defending your dear friend.

there was no way a sweet person like her could be someone looking out for blood.

childe shrugged, but stopped when he realised he was talking to you over the phone, opting to let out a huff instead. “like i said, you'll never know unless you look further into it. it could be anyone at this point, and i'm also sure you're smart enough to figure everything out.” he tried convincing, and you took a moment to make a decision.

“...fine. i'll look into it.” you finally decided, heaving out a breath soon after. “i'll see you after i'm done with this case. don't do stupid shit while i'm not there.”

hanging up the call, you stared at your phone screen, looking at your call history. you don't really call people much, well, not that you have that many contacts saved in the first place. childe's name, ajax was at the top, as you had just hung up on him a second ago.

the second one was yun jin from a few days ago, when she had forgotten to turn off the oven and asked for you to do it for her.

the third was from viktor, when he was asking you if you could write up some notes from mass communication class since he was absent on that day.

the fourth was signora, or as you had saved her name, rosalyne. she had face-timed you around a month ago to check up on you after your fight with scaramouche, along with the incident from the night before.

the last one that was visible on your screen was the one and only scaramouche, who's name is written in red, meaning that you didn't pick up his call the time he had dialed for your number.

it was the first and only time he's ever called you after the fight happened. you didn't bother picking up his call, nor did you even bother blocking him. knowing scaramouche, he's not exactly someone to be on his phone that much, so you don't think it was any use to block him anyways.

and you were right, he never bothered you after that.

though you won't deny that sometimes, you kinda wished his name would pop up on your screen.

you still had his name saved as scara, the name you had always called him since forever. you thought of changing the contact name after finding out his real name, but you didn't have the time to do so, definitely not after everything.

a smile ghosted your face as you clicked on his contact information, the picture of you and him from a few months back on display as his profile. hovering your fingers over your screen, you made some adjustments to his contact details.

“what're you smiling at?”

snapping your head upwards, you look at the person who approached you, who turned out to be viktor.

you quickly widened your eyes, standing up abruptly. “o–our class finished already?!”

viktor shrugged, slinging his bag over his shoulder properly. “it was only a thirty-minute class since it isn't from our usual schedule. what took you so long?” he asked.

“oh…” you flickered your eyes elsewhere, gripping your phone to your side. “a friend called me, and i kinda got distracted, haha…” you muttered awkwardly, rubbing the back of your neck.

the tall brunette looked at you skeptically, before sighing. “i can give you the notes later. i have to run to the psychology department right now though, i have class soon.” he informed, and you turned your head to look at him.

“thanks…” you mumbled. “i'll uh, i'll head to yun jin's dorm then. see you?”

“yeah, see you later.”

you watched as viktor walked away, heading towards his destination. sighing, you brought up your phone to look at the screen once again.

the picture on display as scaramouche's profile had changed. now, it was a picture you had taken with him the night before the incident occurred, the one at the balcony.

although the picture you took was in a rush, you could still see most of it clearly. it was a selfie of you and scaramouche, you had one hand holding your phone, the other holding up a peace sign over scaramouche's head, presenting them as bunny ears.

and even though scaramouche was forced to take this picture, he reluctantly followed suit, a soft smile plastered on his face, one that was only presented to you. one of his hands was holding onto the railing of the balcony, the other wrapped on the side of your waist.

smiling giddily once again, you stared into the picture for the next few seconds, before flickering your eyes to the contact name, that was also changed earlier.

the name is now changed to the one you had heard just recently, the one that he had buried deep within him, the one that he never revealed to anyone, except for you.

kunikuzushi.

with a purple heart beside it.

you've convinced yourself the emoji you had added was only for aesthetic purposes. no other reason behind it whatsoever.

stepping inside yun jin's dorm, you peered over the living room, that is now all cleaned up, all thanks to you. if it weren't for your work last night, this place would be a total mess, with bottles of beer and vodka scattered throughout the small area.

you landed yourself on the small couch, staring up at the ceiling.

it was a thursday, meaning that you had no classes for the day. scaramouche and viktor would have their psychology class by now, you figured.

you're not sure if yun jin has gotten home or not, so you decided to stand up, sauntering over to her room.

you knocked on her door a couple of times. “yun jin? you there?”

no response came.

“yun jin?”

again, no response.

you huffed, hand on the knob. though when you brought it back to your side, you accidentally twisted the doorknob, causing the door to open slightly.

raising a brow, you looked at the door confusedly. huh, she didn't lock her door, you think as you peeked through the small gap between the door and door frame.

you know this might sound crazy, borderline creepy even, but you felt like investigating yun jin's room. sure, you had entered it just last night to take care of both yun jin and viktor, but you didn't have the time to look at her room properly, given how it was late and you had other things to do, such as taking care of scaramouche.

furrowing your brows in contemplation, you recalled back to your and childe's conversation from an hour ago.

“you'll never really know unless you look further into it. anyone who is close to him can be possible suspects or accomplices.”

well, it wouldn't hurt to just take a quick look, no? you asked yourself.

you supposed it would be for a good cause. seeing how long this case is taking to end, you would do anything to solve it.

and if it meant sneaking into your friend's room, then so be it.

yun jin's room looked exactly like what most fashion students' rooms would look like, except for the fact that she's a criminology student.

you stood in the middle of the room, scanning your eyes to every single detail of her room. papers that were sketched out with designs scattered throughout the room, with some plastered on the wall, some placed on her desk, some on the floor, and whatnot.

it wasn't anything bizarre nor uncommon to you. maybe it was due to the fact that your old roommate from a few years back was also an art student, pursuing their passion in painting. to say that their painting supplies were clumsily placed everywhere would be an understatement.

and honestly, it shocked you how yun jin did not pick fashion design as her major, not even as her minor, too.

what could possibly be so interesting about criminology that she'd just throw away her passion in fashion design?

you scoffed at the thought. it was hypocritical of you to say such a thing, when you yourself were exactly the same when you were her age. your love for wanting to become a police officer had overthrown every other interest you had, leading to you choosing criminology as your major, and soon landing yourself in the police academy the second you graduated.

yet, you had no regrets, for if you didn't choose criminology, you wouldn't have gotten into the police academy, if you didn't choose criminology, you wouldn't have gotten your dream job in the most prestigious precint, and if you didn't choose criminology, you wouldn't be standing here today, working on a big case.

sighing, you continued on with your investigation in yun jin's room.

this is not the time to be pondering on useless topics.

—

after what felt like an eternity, you practically gave up on searching around her room. no evidence nor leads in sight. there was absolutely nothing that you should take note of, let alone be suspicious.

you think this was a waste of time.

sighing, you turned to head towards the door, before stopping yourself in front of a corkboard that was plastered on the wall near the bed.

the corkboard in particular did not catch your eye, however, the pictures that were pinned there did.

it was a picture of yun jin, and someone beside her, hugging yun jin tightly at a restaurant. the young woman was around her age, and you figured they were close, given hoe the picture is on the corkboard. though, the details wasn't what piqued your interest.

you recognised that face.

but somehow, you couldn't pinpoint it.

the polaroid beside it caught your attention too.

it was yun jin with two other women now, with yun jin being in the middle, hugging the others at what you assumed was at a park, dated a few months ago, as what it had been written on the white frame of the polaroid.

once again, you recognised those two faces, yet you couldn't figure out how you did, or where you have seen those faces.

there were other pictures pinned on the corkboard, and most of the people in the pictures made you realise that you quite literally recognised each and every one of them, which made everything more confusing than it already is.

how did you recognise these people?

where have you even seen them?

have they gotten arrested before for you to be familiar with their faces?

your thoughts were cut off when a notification came in from your phone, causing you to fish it out from the pocket of your pants to read the new notification.

yun jin

hey luna!

sorry but i might arrive home late today

please don't wait for me! >-<

you smiled at the messages she sent, momentarily forgetting about the familiar faces you saw earlier.

it's fine, take your time! ||

sighing for the umpteenth time that day, you shoved your phone back into your pocket, walking away from the corkboard until you reached the halls, closing yun jin's door shut.

the last picture in the corner of the corkboard went unnoticed by you, which had a photo of yun jin and the chancellor of snezhnaya university, anastasia obolensky, eating out together.

you hated how awfully silent the dorm is right now.

it was currently late at night, and yun jin still hasn't gotten home. you didn't mind it of course, yun jin is a grown-up, and you're not someone who had the authority to keep her away from doing things, but you always enjoyed yun jin's company.

she was always someone who could make the whole room light up, she was someone who could brighten up someone's day, and she's one of the few people who knew about your problems with scaramouche.

so with her being absent in this dorm makes the atmosphere really… dull.

you had spent the evening eating some takeout as dinner, too lazy to even get up and cook up something in the kitchen. if scaramouche were to hear about this, he would've whipped out a full course meal, nagging at you for eating unhealthy and greasy food.

the thought made you let out a few laughs, remembering how scaramouche would always cook up food for you, no matter what circumstances may arise.

as your laughter died down, you bit your bottom lips, before shaking those thoughts off your head.

this is definitely not the time to be thinking about him.

you were in your room at the moment, sitting at your desk as you had just finished doing some work around ten minutes ago. you had been cleaning up your desk for the rest of it, decluttering the many papers on the wooden surface.

a brown a4 sized envelope tucked in your mess on the desk caught your attention.

you picked it up from between the files on your desk, opening the manilla up. a set of pictures and other written details were inside, making you recall back to when scaramouche had given you this the other day as you took out the contents.

“everything in that envelope are new evidence i've gotten, and all of it leads to a whole different person.”

right, you haven't gotten the time to check out the new evidence scaramouche had gotten, from where, you don't even want to question. it's not like he'd ever give you the answer anyways.

the first photo that greeted you was a picture of a wooden cabin, the least of evidence you had expected.

why is there a picture of a cabin? was this mixed up by accident?

you furrowed your brows, ignoring the picture as you continued looking at the next few papers in hand. they however seemed as though to be completely useless, as they were only printed details on the purchase of the cabin, with receipts and purchase history.

though, you stopped when you read the name of the bank account's transaction history.

you blinked once, twice, before scanning your eyes on the paper once again, reading each and every syllable there is, in sheer disbelief with what you're looking at right now.

----------------------------------------------------------

snezhnaya bank

yun jin

date: 11/17

description: cabin in the woods

withdrawal: XXXX

----------------------------------------------------------

you widened your eyes.

no.

impossible.

you flipped through the other papers in hand, scanning your eyes and stopped every time you see the same name, over and over again.

what?

did viktor rope yun jin into buying stuff under her account to avoid himself from being caught?

“most serial killers need accomplices to continue on with their crimes…”

you groaned in frustration at the conversation with childe from earlier that played in your mind.

there was no way the ever so innocent yun jin, would be an accomplice to viktor's crimes, especially when she was so passionate about becoming a police officer.

you tossed the papers on the table, pinching the bridge of your nose as you grumbled.

this is giving you a headache.

and you're sure as hell viktor had snuck behind her back to purchase a random cabin in the woods. it's not her doing.

yun jin was still nowhere to be found in the dorm the next day.

you figured she slept over at viktor's dorm, given how she'd do that occasionally. though, she'd usually inform you first, but the last thing she did was leave your text message on read, which was yesterday.

you didn't bother on messaging her, seeing how you have a criminology class together. you'll just ask her later on.

but it became a problem when yun jin didn't show up to class.

your professor had just dismissed your class, yet yun jin still hasn't shown up, making you worried. where could she possibly be to miss out on class?

for the duration of your time being friends with her, she has never, ever, skipped class. no matter how busy she was, she'd always make time to show up to class, even if it was only for a few minutes. so for her to skip class was something unusual, especially to you.

she probably overslept, right?

you grabbed your phone and clicked on yun jin's contact name, hitting the call icon. but after a moment, it went to voicemail.

you raised a brow. strange. she always answers her calls, no matter the situation.

huffing, you clicked on viktor's contact name and called him next, and once again, it went to voicemail after a few seconds of waiting.

you can't be serious, you thought to yourself.

did they both oversleep?

sure, it is understandable that it could be pretty hard to wake up early, especially for a class that starts at eight in the morning, but can't they even hear their ringtones ringing throughout the room? unbelievable.

and to make things worse, someone plopped on a seat beside you, causing you to turn your head to look at them. once you did, you yelped.

“w–what… what are you doing here?!”

scaramouche merely rolled his eyes, before placing a plastic container full with food in front of you on the table. the action made you raise a brow in confusion as you stared at the lunch box.

you looked at him again. “what's… this for?” you asked confusedly.

“you're really stupid, huh.” the sudden jab of insult as his first words to you made you glare at him. “we share the same food delivery account, remember? i saw you buying takeout last night.”

you still had a perplexed look plastered on your face, making scaramouche turn his head elsewhere, too embarrassed to look at you in the eye as he mumbled out his next words.

“i… made extra food this morning. i didn't want them to go to waste, so i'm giving them to you.” he nervously said, cheeks burning up. “d-don't think i did this willingly! i just didn't want to waste the leftovers!” he exclaimed.

as he finished his sentence, your confused expression slowly changed, and before you know it, you're hugging scaramouche.

burying your face to the crook of his neck, you smiled. “thank you, kuni! i've kinda been craving for your home-cooked meals for a while now.” you muttered, voice muffled as you wrapped your arms around him tighter.

scaramouche was taken aback for a few seconds, before he hesitantly reciprocated your hug, engulfing you with his arms. you two stayed like that for a moment, until you slowly detach yourself from him.

“do you…” you stopped yourself before you could even finish your sentence. no, you shouldn't do that, not after what happened the other day. “ah, nevermind.” you mumbled.

you don't want him to have high hopes for this... whatever relationship you two have right now. it's just too risky, especially now, when you both are burdened by the big conflict that is the incident.

“spit it out.”

you widened your eyes in shock. “what?”

“did you not hear me?” his grip on your waist tightened as he brought you closer. “go ahead and spit it out. now.” he repeated, words venomous.

you blinked, confused as to why he was acting so bold all of the sudden, when he was quite the embarrassed mess just a second ago.

scratching your temple, you reluctantly continued on with what you were gonna say, as scaramouche watched you with narrowed eyes.

“well, do you, uh, want to...eat this together?”

eyes wide, scaramouche was, shocked to say the least. even if he was the one who insisted you to continue on with your sentence.

scaramouche quickly turned his head sideways to hide the blush on his cheeks, causing you to gaze at him confusedly.

the ravenette slowly nodded. “that…that'd be nice, i guess.”

you did not expect this to be the most awkward moment you've ever had with scaramouche.

hell, you didn't even expect to be back at his, no, your shared dorm.

you and scaramouche were on the small couch, the lunch box sitting on your lap just nicely.

to say that you were too scared to make the first move would be an understatement.

“aren't you gonna eat that?” scaramouche was the one to break the deafening silence.

you twisted your head to look at him. “well, i uh…” turning your head back to stare at the container on your lap, you slowly grabbed it, opening up the rectangle-sized container in hand.

utensils were already there as a set of the lunch box, and the sight of the cooked meal before you made your mouth drool in delight. the aroma of his home-made meal made you want to munch it all up more than anything right now.

you picked up a spoon, and quickly shoved it in the food before picking it up once again, bringing the utensil to your mouth, swallowing the delicious meal.

you sighed in contentment, the food tasted heavenly, just like every other meal scaramouche has made. you won't deny that you had missed this, missed his very delicious meals, missed the way he'd always cook up extras for you, and definitely missed the way he'd always look at you with a fond look as you tried out his meals.

you glanced at him, and without a doubt— scaramouche still had that same expression plastered on his face, looking at you so fondly as you had your first bite of the meal he made.

picking up a spoonful of food once again, this time, you brought it over to the front of scaramouche's closed mouth, your other hand beneath his chin.

“what the hell are you doing?”

“you said you wanted to eat together.”

“i didn't say that. you did.”

you grumbled. “okay, sure, but you were the one who said ‘it'd be nice’, so i'm just doing what you agreed upon.” you insisted, resulting in scaramouche's cheeks to flare up once again.

the ravenette was about to say something when you suddenly shoved the spoonful of food into his mouth, leaving him no choice but to eat the meal you had fed him. after the spoon was empty, you brought it back to the container on your lap, scaramouche taking a few seconds to swallow up the food in his mouth.

“tastes good?” you asked.

scaramouche quickly looked away, the tips of his ears turning red. “it– it's my cooking, obviously it'd taste divine.”

you scoffed, picking up the spoon to eat the rest of the meal.

what a stupid guy, you thought to yourself.

the afternoon continued on with you eating the meal scaramouche has made whilst talking with the ravenette, occasionally feeding him a spoonful once in a while. you absolutely paid no attention to the relentless refusals of his, saying that 'he has his own hands to feed himself', yet still accepting the meal you spoon-fed him.

“can't you stay longer?”

you sighed, shaking your head as you stood at the front door.

it was almost evening now, and you two were currently standing by the front door of his dorm, ready to part ways.

you don't think either of you were ready.

“just for the night? it's getting late.”

you shook your head once again. “sorry, kuni. i have to head back to yun jin's to check up on her, she hasn't gotten home since yesterday.” you said, eyes looking into his indigo ones. “i might have to visit viktor's dorm too to see if yun jin's there.”

“viktor?”

“yeah, why?”

“it's just that...he wasn't in class yesterday.”

your forehead wrinkled in confusion. “what do you mean?”

scaramouche shrugged. “i didn't see him during class the other day. he'd always insist on sitting next to me whenever we had class together, but he wasn't there.”

“that's… strange.” you commented, twisting the doorknob. “i'll have to check up on them at their dorms.”

scaramouche stopped you, hand grabbing your wrist, causing you to flicker your eyes to him. “i'll accompany you.”

you shook your head for the third time that night, making scaramouche furrow his brows.

“no, you should stay here. i'm sure they're just busy with whatever they're doing right now.”

“but what if you get in danger?”

sighing, your free hand reached out to grab his hand that was holding your wrist. “look, i'll… call you when i get home, okay? just to assure you that i'm fine.” you caressed his knuckles, hoping that'd ease out whatever worry he had in mind.

scaramouche huffed, looking down to the floor.

“okay...fine.”

you smiled, holding his hand as you opened the door. stepping out to the halls, you turned to look at him for the last time that evening.

“then, i'll get going now.”

“but…”

you rolled your eyes playfully, amused with the expression scaramouche had right now. he was pouting, hand holding onto yours tightly, as if he really didn't want you to go.

“i'll be fine, kuni. stop worrying about me.”

“promise you'd call me?”

you smiled, nodding as you do so. “yeah, sure, i'll call you.”

before you even got the chance to walk away, scaramouche engulfed you in a hug, knocking the breath out of your lungs.

he wrapped his arms around your figure, just like he did earlier this morning. you grumbled, but reluctantly did the same, hugging him with your bundle of layers of clothes and jacket.

you were the one to pull away first, hands falling to your sides. scaramouche however, still had his arms wrapped around your hips, causing you to blink up at him. scaramouche made no move to remove his hold from you.

“hm? is there anything else that i forgot?” you asked, referring to him still holding you.

scaramouche looked like he was in deep thought, given how he did not bother answering your question with his words.

but after a second, he answered you with his actions instead.

the hurried movement made your eyes widen, as you hesitantly brought up a hand to brush over your forehead, the spot he had just left a quick peck. it was only for a fleeting second.

did he just… kiss your forehead?

flustered, you quickly snapped your head to him, wanting to say something before it died in your throat, as the sight of scaramouche's flushed face greeted you.

even though it was a simple gesture, it still made you… shy and awkward. you've never really gotten a forehead kiss before, especially by someone like him, so for scaramouche to do such a thing would be a total shock to you.

you still remembered when he'd never fail to jab at you with his insults and degrading words, and you still remembered when you'd always reply back with snarky remarks just to spite him back.

but right now, you two were way far from being enemies. you don't even think you two are friendly colleagues at this point, because you're absolutely sure this is not something that co-workers do with each other.

co-workers wouldn't hug each other at the most random times, co-workers don't give you extra home-cooked meals, co-workers don't feed each other food, co-workers don't share the same food delivery account.

and co-workers definitely do not kiss you on the forehead as a goodbye gesture.

the moment was unfamiliar, yet you had a feeling it'd be engraved in both of your minds tonight, or until forever, even.

“be safe, y/n.”

“...yeah. i'll see you later, kuni.”

you left your shared dormitory with a fond smile, and flushed cheeks. the warmth of his lips still lingered around the spot on your forehead, making you ten times more flustered than anyone else in the building.

and scaramouche had the same embarrassed expression once he closed the front door, leaning against it as he hovered a hand over his mouth, in disbelief with what he just did a second ago.

the trip back to yun jin's and viktor's dorm building was quicker than you thought, and before you knew it, you were already in front of viktor's door.

you heaved out a sigh.

you've never gone inside viktor's dorm, so this would be a first. would a serial killer's dorm look the same as your average-college-guy dorm?

the answer is just right behind this door.

readying yourself, you built up the courage to finally knock on the door, waiting for it to open.

and when the door finally opened, someone… unfamiliar greeted you instead.

“huh? d'ya need anything?” the stranger asked, making you sweat. you don't remember viktor having a roommate.

“is uh, is viktor here? i need to see him.”

the stranger raised a brow. “that weird guy?” they asked, pointing a finger towards the dormitory beside him. “his dorm is that one. think you got the wrong place.”

“oh.”

you bowed down profusely. “s–sorry! i thought it was this one!”

the stranger laughed. “'s fine. go on now, i got a show to catch up.” they said, closing the door.

groaning, you smacked your forehead in embarrassment. archons, how did you even got it mixed up?

you sauntered over to the dorm the stranger had pointed out, heaving out yet another sigh.

well, here goes nothing.

knocking on the door once again, you waited for viktor.

yet no one opened the door.

you frowned, knocking on the door once again.

and yet again, no response.

surely, they'd be up by now, right? there was no way they were still asleep.

you fished out your phone from your jacket to dial his number, and waited for him to pick up the call.

it went straight to voicemail.

“what in teyvat…” you mumbled, looking at your phone screen. you clicked on yun jin's contact details, and called her.

it also went straight to voicemail.

“you've gotta be fucking kidding me.”

you snapped your head to stare at the door, contemplating with what you're about to do right now.

it's okay, you assured yourself. this is for the case, there's absolutely nothing wrong with trying to break into your suspect's dorm.

you held your guard up, and grabbed onto the knob of the door, crouching down until you were face to face with the lock.

you've had your fair share of practice at picking locks, so this wouldn't be a hassle for you.

you quickly rummaged your bag for a paper clip, and once you found it, you looked to your left and right, making sure no one was in sight, before averting your attention back to the lock.

yet as you twisted the doorknob by accident, it opened.

“it's… it's unlocked?”

you stood up properly, pushing the door.

the dark living room greeted you, with no signs of viktor nor yun jin whatsoever. you raised an eyebrow as you reached for the switches on the wall beside you, and when the lights finally turned on, the empty room still greeted you.

you scanned through the room confusedly. where the hell are they?

quickly walking over to one of the closed doors in the dorm, you twisted it open, and yet another empty, dark room laid in front of you.

the other room was empty too, yun jin and viktor were nowhere to be found.

you scratched your head. where could they be?

are they at yun jin's dorm?

—

but as you entered yun jin's dorm after that, you were still greeted with silence, no sign of them occupying those two dorms, which made everything more confusing than it already is.

are they out watching a movie?

no, impossible. yun jin would have notified you further.

are they having a date?

no, she also would have notified you earlier, and she wouldn't have her phone turned off.

so, where were they?

sitting at the dinner table in yun jin's dorm, you took a moment to think. maybe they're at either of their parents'? you thought to yourself, shifting your eyes from your lap to the wooden surface of the table.

a piece of paper there caught your eye.

huh, that was never there before.

picking it up, you quickly scanned your eyes over the paper, and a small note was written there.

find me, before it's too late.

your eyes went wide as you read the short message, gripping onto the paper tight.

what did the message mean? find me? where?

and what did it mean before it's too late?

is… yun jin in danger?

you quickly got up, scrambling to your feet to piece the puzzles together. you fished out for your phone once again to call yun jin.

the familiar melody of yun jin's ringtone rang in the dorm, and you twisted your head to the living room, eyeing her phone on the coffee table as you quickly walked over to pick it up.

impossible. you were sure her phone wasn't here the last time you were sitting on this very couch, which was just last night.

did she come back here while you were gone, and left her phone here?

shit. you placed her phone back on the coffee table. she's definitely in danger.

you hurriedly made your way to the front door.

find me… you repeated the same words over and over again as you headed out to the halls, slamming the front door shut.

find where? where can you find her?

yun jin's and viktor's dorms are empty, so they would be crossed out from the list of possible places you could find her.

you sweat, the thought of yun jin being in danger frightened you. is viktor really going as far as to harm her girlfriend just for the sake of luring you in his trap?

wait.

does he know you were a cop?

and if he does, does that mean your cover is blown?

you gritted your teeth. no way. you had done everything in order to not get your cover exposed, so how in teyvat did he even figure it out?

you ran down the halls, heading towards the elevator. once the elevator doors closed, you continued on piecing the puzzle.

find me.

find me.

find. me.

your eyes widened upon realisation.

as the elevator dinged and slowly opened its doors, you hurriedly ran outside, before forgetting that your car was still at the workshop, meaning that you had no transportation to get there quick.

groaning, you think of another solution to quickly get to your destination.

a light bulb popped over your head, but was dismissed when you let out a sigh. no, you shouldn't trouble scaramouche by driving you there.

hell, you don't even want him to know that yun jin and viktor were gone, and that you couldn't find them.

you grumbled frustratingly. there's no other way.

viktor's frat house isn't that far off from campus, and you haven't ran in a while.

surely this quick trip would strengthen your muscles.

as you almost reached your destination, you were already out of breath.

archons, you've forgotten how tiring running would be, especially when you haven't worked out in so long.

with ragged breaths, you made your way towards viktor's frat house. you had left your bag back in the dorms, along with your bundle of scarves and layered clothes, so that you wouldn't have to carry so much stuff on you. and yet without any of those distractions, you were still tired as ever for running such a long distance in a time span of five minutes. you don't even have an ounce of idea how that's possible, but what's important is that you made it here in time.

once you reached the doorstep, you paid no mind to even think if the door was unlocked as you swiftly twisted the doorknob, causing the door to open. you were thankful that you didn't have to pry out yet another paper clip, if you had one with you in the first place.

the sullen interior of the frat house greeted you.

you turned on the lights, heading towards the living room.

if you remember correctly, viktor had a hidden basement somewhere in the living room. you stood in the middle of the area, peering over your surroundings until you finally saw the hidden basement in the corner of the room.

the rug that was covering the plank was already flipped, just enough access for someone to open up the plank to the basement.

you raised a brow.

so they really are here.

you breathed in deeply, before exhaling.

this is it, you think. it's time for you to save yun jin.

without any weapons whatsoever.

you grumbled. you really weren't prepared for this, huh.

it's fine, you thought to yourself. your never ending physical combat trainings back in the police academy would do you justice.

pulling up the plank, you eyed the entrance down to the basement, a ladder attached by the wall.

the distance from the floor of the living room to the floor of the basement was suitable enough for you to jump right in, and you did just that, landing yourself professionally on the concrete floor.

you hastily stood up, turning yourself to look at the basement.

it was empty.

what?

you were sure this was the right place.

the only stuff that filled the basement were a bunch of useless junk that were thrown out for parties, and a random table in the middle of the basement, with yet another note placed on top of it.

you quickly walked over to the table, snatching the paper to read the contents.

you got the wrong place. think again, y/n.

eyes wide, you stared at the paper in shock, sweating.

he knows your name?

archons, your cover really is blown.

but most importantly, you went to the wrong place? how could this even happen? you wondered to yourself as you crumpled the piece of paper in your hand, too frustrated with the events happening as of now.

you're sure… you're really damn sure this was the right…

you blinked, before your eyes went wide once again.

fuck, of course.

tossing the now crumpled paper to the side, you quickly went back up with the ladder, scrambling to get out of the stupid frat house that was no use to you.

once you got outside, you ran to your next destination, pulling up your phone to call for the one person you needed at the time. how can you be so slow on catching up with his clues?

of course it'd be the cabin.

the exact cabin you found in the evidence scaramouche had given you.

the exact cabin under yun jin's name.

how could you even miss out on such detail?

the frat house was just a distraction to mess with you. the basement you and scaramouche had thought preserved the most darkest secrets of viktor stepanov was only filled with a bunch of junk for parties and such.

viktor knew you were headed for the frat house first. he knew that you knew about the secret basement he had there. and he absolutely knew that place would be your first target.

the tall brunette had tricked you from the very start.

viktor already had you wrapped around his finger from the very beginning of this case, trapping you in with the many tricks up his sleeve.

and the worst thing is that he is winning.

you hurriedly ran for your life, not even minding the numb and tiredness you're getting from using the strength of your legs for the past ten minutes. yun jin's life was in serious danger by the hands of a serial killer, and you're not going to let anything happen to your new friend.

the call rang for a few seconds, until it finally went in.

“y/n? you got home safe?”

you didn't answer for the next few seconds, only the sound of wind crashing through the mic of your phone.

“y/n? you okay?”

“call–call the squad, now.” you said through heavy breaths, continuing on running.

“what? are you okay? why are you running?” scaramouche asked worriedly, and you didn't answer immediately. suddenly, it dawned on him. “wait, you're not–”

“just fucking call the squad and tell them to head for the cabin! yun jin's in danger!”

the sound of rustling can be heard from the other line, until you heard the sound of the door closing. “y/n, don't go there by yourself. wait for me.”

“there's no time! she–she could be hurt any second now!”

now, the sound from his line was matching yours, as scaramouche was currently running too. “you're unarmed, y/n! stop running and–wait for me to come and get you!”

“no use, i'm almost there now.” you were right, the cabin was a few hundred meters away from you now, you could practically see the small roof of the cabin from here. you were thankful the woods isn't far off from viktor's frat house.

“y/n. stop, please. don't you dare go in until i get there!”

“no. i–i need to save her. just–call the squad and tell them to barge into the cabin. we're gonna close this case tonight— once and for all.”

“y/n, you're going to die if you go there alone. how many times do i have to keep telling you to stop being the stupid fucking hero you think you are?! was that fight not enough?!”

you morphed out a small smile, stopping yourself just right in front of the cabin.

“i won't–i really won't mind dying in the line of duty, as long as i get to save people.” you mumbled through heavy breaths. “and–this people in question just happened to be one of my closest friends.”

scaramouche started up his car, the sound of his engine filling up his line. “y/n, just wait until i–”

you hung up, turning off your phone for good.

this is it, you think through batted breaths.

if yun jin and viktor aren't behind this door, then you've completely fucked up this case.

but if they are, you've got to prepare for the worst.

there's no other solution behind this.

you're unarmed, you have absolutely nothing to shield you from being attacked, and to be honest, you're not ready in the slightest, yet you had a feeling that you just had to do it now, or else you'd be scarred for life.

holding onto the doorknob, you braced yourself for what you're about to face behind this very door.

you've reassured yourself from the frat house all the way here that nothing bad would happen, and that you would stop viktor before he could make things worse, but the way your body is shaking and trembling right now was saying otherwise.

you gripped tightly onto the doorknob, your shaky hand making it continuously rattle like a madman.

no. you have to do it now.

before it's too late.

just like what the note had said.

viktor had waited for you to crack this case. he had only mentioned your name in the paper, and he had left these notes for you to find.

he was anticipating for your arrival, not anyone else's.

there was no time to wait for scaramouche, let alone wait for the squad to arrive. the precint to here is at least a fifteen-minute drive. you could try stalling some time until they get here, but that'd take too long, and you're not sure if you'd be alive by the time they arrived, so you have no choice but to finish this off yourself.

you sighed for the hundredth time that evening.

the memory of scaramouche vowing to protect the people of snezhnaya played in your mind, and you smiled to yourself with gritted teeth.

yeah. ready or not, you had made an oath to protect the citizens of snezhnaya, in any sorts of circumstances, deathly or not.

there was no other way for you to prevent this from happening.

the only thing you could do now was stop viktor, save yun jin, and get out of this mess.

even if it meant sacrificing your own life.

slowly twisting the doorknob, you heaved out yet another warm breath, the cold weather hitting you like a brick. the winter season was close, and it could snow anytime now.

you hoped you'd have the time to witness the snow after this, at least for one last time.

as the door opened rather quickly and harshly, you hurriedly slammed it shut, peering over the inside of the cabin. it looked like any other cabin you've seen off the internet, except that instead of a cozy atmosphere, it was only filled with despair.

someone was tied to a chair in the middle of the room, their hands and ankles being restricted to a tight rope. you couldn't make out on who it was due to their head hanging low, so you decided to do what any other person would do when they're curious.

you slowly walked closer to the person tied to the chair to see them clearly, but when you finally got to see who it was, you furrowed your brows in confusion.

“viktor?”

a reminder that this exists and there's a very slim chance that is the ending, but who knows, haha!

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[leafostuff]

A very cheerful Halloween (Ft. Yabuki Nako)

Note: So i finally had the bright idea to do a smut, mostly it just came to see if I had the talent to write this type of oneshot (I don't) and honestly Even if i was good at writing those i will continue to only be a fluff writer due to this actually being very hard mentally to write, but i hope yall will enjoy my first ever smut for My favourite Iz*one member

Thanks for: @torotauri21 @erospandemos for editing and suggesting help with this, I couldn't do this without them

tags: anal, clothed sex, blowjob

words: 3.2K (the most i ever written)

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

"Well…its not like I have anything else better to do,” you thought to yourself as your eyes gazed upon the house. The techno music could be heard from the inside and the lights couldn't shy away, and even though you weren't much of a party animal, if you were asked if you would rather stay at home and play stupid games or come to your college’s Halloween party, the priorities were fairly obvious.

As you finally find a spot to park your car near the house you get up and look at yourself, Wearing a simple black suit and followed by grey jeans such as when being asked about your costume, you could excuse a random movie or TV series that people wear suits and you forgot your black glasses at home finishing the look of the badass with a suit. On the outside, you could spot some people dancing, probably already drunk.

Finally, you take a deep breath and enter the party. The first scan of the room and it came to your senses how big this place is since even with a party of around 80-90 people, there was a ton of space to walk around the dancing crowd, I guess when your parents are rich, Hosting parties this size isn't much of a problem to you.

A peek at your phone reveals the hour is 9:30 PM and remembering how the host announced the party was starting at 8 PM, you could confidently say you were late to the party, another scan of the crowd and you manage to find your friends, dancing wildly in the center of the floor, their faces red from the alcohol however from where you were standing it was hard to recognize their costumes.

“God, this gonna be a mess of a party huh?” you think to yourself like a radar trying to look for airplanes, you start another scan of the room to find anywhere to be safe from the chaos as suddenly a face you didn't expect at the party shows itself on the bar chairs that were on the side.

“Nako? what is she doing here?” you thought to yourself as you could spot the small girl with the blonde hair sitting happily and looking at the people dancing, she wore a cheerleader outfit with A small tank top that left little to your imagination, and the skirt, well… you wouldn't even call it that, as her legs were on full display, however as you look at her face you could notice some red spots and scars on her face, making you confused but you quickly noticed that those were fake, and still you had to agree that she was attractive

Yabuki Nako was quite a weird case since even when being one of the more popular Cheerleaders in the college with a record of almost every guy asking her out, her shy demeanor could only keep those relationships for a couple of days before breaking up with them, saying she didn't feel the click with them.

Suddenly the thought of maybe walking over to her and maybe striking up a talk seemed more appealing, “it's not like I have had much to lose talking to her anyways” the thoughts came as you couldn't notice a guy holding a plate full of glasses of beer as you take and drink it quickly, giving you that extra boost of confidence to walk over and talk to her.

As you get closer to her she notices you and looks at you, her brown eyes locking on with yours as you go over to sit near her, “Pretty loud here, isn't it?” you ask however it seems that the music seems to blow your question as she leans closer to you. “It's pretty loud in here isn't it?” you ask again, this time loud enough for her to finally hear you.

“Yeah, but you get used to it” she explains while scanning your clothes, “What costume are you supposed to be in?” she asked, a cute smile escaping her mouth trying to analyze you.

“Uhh…Agent K from Men in Black?” this is the first thing that comes to your mind

“So…you are Agent K…but again?” she jokingly said as you can't help yourself but laugh as Nako joined you,

“Well, what are you supposed to be anyway? if it wasn't for your fake scars and blood spots, I could swear you came to a Halloween party without a costume” you say teasingly as Nako couldn't help but giggle cutely, resulting in both a seductive but cute look.

“Well…no, I am a zombie cheerleader, all the cheerleaders decided to do a group costume,” she said turning her look to the crowd as you join her, helping you notice the similar costumes as Nako with the same scars and fake blood spots on their face.

“Anyways what do you think? doesn't it look cute?” she asks as you turn your gaze at her body again, now being closer you could notice her curves closer, with her chest being surprisingly curvier than expected from her height, and thighs that guys could only dream about.

“Uh yeah, it looks really cute, suits you very well,” you say, trying to avoid saying anything too inappropriate for the moment as Nako seemed to blush a little from your compliment

“Your name is Eunwoo right? from history?” she asks.

“Yeah, second year” you reply.

“Cool, my friend is also majoring in history, I assume you know Minju? she is also in the cheerleading squad” she asks, and…well when every class she enters every guy can't help himself but look at her with awe it's hard not to know the girl, luckily since she does have a boyfriend, looking at her was the only thing they guys could ever do.

The rest of the party went pretty much the same for the both of you, talking about your life outside of college and overall having fun, and once in a while taking another round of alcohol, you learned how Nako was majoring in Pedagogy and was planning to be a teacher in the future, you also learned she was in the same year as you, which caught you by surprise since her height fooled you

During the conversation, you could notice Nako getting closer to you and her hand even closer as it was crawling up your thigh, however, you stopped yourself from doing something too hasty, since you didn't know if Nako was flirting with or just being nice and this was the way she was always with people but then…

“Hey, want to like…get out of this party, we could still hang out if you want” She was saying as a shy smile escaped as you knew what the signs, and well…

“Sure, I don't see why not” you reply while returning the smile to her, the two of you stand up from the bar chairs and head out of the house with nako following you, you could feel the eyes of the entire room following you as finally, you get out of the house as you suddenly feel the silence of the outside since the music got weaker and people starting leaving.

As you take a look at your phone again the hour was 11:30 PM, you didn't expect two hours to pass by so fast, but as people always say: when you have fun, the time always seems to move faster, as after a couple of minutes Nako gets out of the house as well, since she was probably telling her friends she was leaving.

“Wanna go over to my place? it's very close to here and with how much we drunk, I think its best for us if we didn't drive right?” she asks, at least she was not enough drunk to stop thinking rationally, you nod and the two of you start walking with nako in the front and you following right behind her.

The more you were looking at her from behind you couldn't lie to yourself that your eyes were fixated on her cute ass, and how it was swaying during her walk, as finally after 10 minutes or so of walking you get to her building and soon after a 2 minutes travel in the elevator you get to your apartment.

“Listen, I'm going to the bathroom to take off the make-up, the remote of the TV is on, so feel at home,” she said, walking toward the bathroom and closing the door, leaving you at the entrance of the apartment, the place itself wasn't too huge as expected from a college student but it wasn't small either as you find yourself sitting on the couch and turning on the TV, with the channel being on the romance movies.

A couple of minutes later Nako gets out of the bathroom, now with her face clean of the fake scars and blood spots, her cheerleader outfit was still on her however her blonde hair now tied to a ponytail instead of the long hair from before. “What are you watching?” she asked, walking around you to the couch, sitting near the left of you.

“I don't know, some romance movie? you can change the channel if you want” you reply as she just shrugged her head and joined you. As the movie hits the 50-minute mark the inevitable Sex scene comes as in all of the romance movies in the last decade or so, maybe it was their way of making people watch the otherwise mediocre movie but since you didn't have anything else to do you continued to look at the screen.

Suddenly you could smell the scent which was Nako’s perfume feel closer to you, and as you look to the side of you, Nako’s face was leaning closer to you with her eyes laser-focused on your lips, maybe the alcohol started affecting you since instead of backing away you lean into her, capturing her lips, her eyes do look shocked but right after they close, letting the kiss flow.

you couldn't be sure if Nako added any more lipstick on her lips since even by normal standards, Nako's lips were very sweet as slowly you could feel how the small girl climbed your lap and stayed there, as after a couple of seconds you release from the kiss, looking each other with pants

“Someone ever told you you are a good kisser?” she asks shyly however her smile shows a deeper desire, and the followed wink doesn't help her look any purer

“You’re…very hot” this is all you can say between the gasps for air as she leans in closer and takes off your glasses and puts them on the coffee table.

“How about we make it hotter then?” she asks as she takes your hands and put them on her waist and quickly dives in to kiss you, slowly but surely your hand slowly move lower and lower which by the end magnetizes toward her perky ass, you give it a small squeeze which in reaction result in Nako’s cute yet seductive moan, giving you enough time to let your tongue meet hers, turning the kiss into a passionate makeout session.

“Mmm…the bed,” she says between moans, as it was a demand by her as even without answering you pick her up from the couch and pin her to the wall, Nako in the meanwhile had the time to put her hands around your waist as suddenly the two of you release from the kiss and the moment becomes very awkward.

“You don't know where the bedroom is?” she asks you as all you could do in that situation is laugh, making her a bit confused.

“What do you expect, it's my first time in this house” you answer as Nako joined in the laugh as her hands get to your chest and give you a small kiss on the cheek

“God you are so cute, my bedroom is the last room on the right, now what are you waiting for? it's not polite to let a girl wait, and from feeling how hard you are, I don't think your little friend wants to wait as well” she said with another wink as you picked her up again and started walking toward the bedroom.

As you enter the room the two of you fall to the bed as Nako’s hand travel toward your jeans as slowly but surely she undoes the belt and the buttons and takes down your jeans, revealing your boxer with a tent to make nako gasp “Mmm, even harder then I expected” she said.

“You sound like you are experienced in this stuff, is there a chance you lie about your status?” you ask

“I may be single, but I'm not a virgin, but can I say the same about you?” she asked teasingly as now her hands were on your boxer, slowly slipping it off your legs to reveal the treasure as some girls would call it was in full display.

Nako’s face leans closer toward your member as her tongue slips out of her mouth and gives it a small lick on the tip, which gave you the chills.

“Mm…your tongue…so good,” you say between moans quietly as her smile grows larger while her licks become way more aggressive, now starting from the base and to the tip, resulting in more moans coming from your mouth.

“Aiwish” she says, it's hard to understand with her tongue out as finally, she opens and mouth and slowly but surely takes it inside, “so goowd” she mouthed as she bobs her head on your member while you tried your best not to moan too loud. you couldn't lie that It did catch you off guard that a shy girl like Nako was so good at bed but it made the moment much hotter.

As the blowjob continues the situation becomes much steamier when Nako starts to sometimes look up at your pleasured face as she winks and she even sometimes stops sucking, instead kissing your length as in the meanwhile your hand gets toward her skirt, trying to get closer to her ass and more specifically toward her panties, managing to take them off even with her skirt trying to stop you.

“That eager huh?” she says as she releases her mouth from your cock, now sitting on the bed with her knees as you could swear her breasts were more bustier then before. “if you wanna fuck me that bad, just take my outfit off,” she said, almost starting to take her tank top off as you stopped her, taking her body and instead seating it on your naked lap as you lean into her ear.

“Actually, how about we keep this outfit on?” you whisper in her ear while taking your hands and letting them fall on the exposed belly, rubbing it slowly as Nako smiled, as she took her hands, putting them on her skirt’s edges and took them up.

“Well then…what are you waiting for? my ass can't wait any longer” she teases, wiggling her ass from side to side like a Matador, playing with the bull to try and exhaust him. In her eyes you were the bull as it seem to work since right after you had enough as you finally thrust your member into her ass, making her gasp in surprise.

“Ohh yes” she moans as she arched her head back in pleasure as you continued to thrust in a moderate pace while your hands roam over her belly as slowly but surely they get over to her busty chest, you give it her right breast a small squeeze, resulting in a moan as like a loop you thrust your member into her ass and right after squeezing her tits.

“FUCK FUCK FUCK, YOU ARE SO GOOD” she shouted, “PLEASE GO FASTER, IM SO CLOSE EUNWOO” she demands as her body start moving up and down, her request driving you forward resulting in your faster pace with the thrusting and the squeezing of her tits to be stronger.

“IM CLOSE NAKO,” you say loudly as finally after enough thrusting and squeezing, after all of the pleasure both of you went through, you finally give in, finally cumming in her ass, as both of you feel the sense of relaxation as right after Nako falls into the bed, her face was tomato red from as not soon after you fall as well, finding yourself looking into her eyes.

“Wow…” you say, panting from exhaustion as Nake seemed to smile as with the little power she had she scooted closer to you with her hands crawling around your neck and pulling closer to her slowly.

“Yeah?” she asked, beaming a smile that was so bright that even the light of the moon coming from the window couldn't stand a chance against Nako.

“I…don't know if i can really judge only the sex as an experience but…i think i…love you?” you manage to ask as she looked at you with a smile and a blush, but unlike before it was much less red as she moved her hair around her ear.

“Awww, I love you too,” she said as she leaned her nose into yours, nuzzling it in the process. You really had a hard time believing that a girl this cute could be this hot and so good in the sheets, the Dichotomy sometimes is just amazing.

“Okay be honest, you didn't expect to have sex with a girl on Halloween right?” she asked as you couldn't help yourself but nod, giggling cutely as Nako joined you. “If it makes you feel better i didn't really expect to find myself a boyfriend on Halloween” she adds.

“Am i your boyfriend?” you ask as she slowly lets her hands cup your face

“Mmm maybe, i mean you are cute, funny, got the bod, and honestly I am not lying by saying you don't complain about dating a cute girl like me right?” she asks and before you can even answer she continues speaking

Suddenly she was standing up and going toward the bathroom “well I'm gonna clean myself and get some new clothes, I really suggest you will take a shower as well after me,” she says as she gets inside the shower.

~-~-~

1 hour later and the both of you finish your showers, and luckily enough besides some stains of cum over your undershirt your clothes were very clean but due to the smell you had to put in the laundry, leaving you shirtless. the two you lay near each other on her bed, sheets under you.

You two wanted to keep talking, wanted to talk about what it meant between the two of you but when the hour is 1 AM and there was a long night of sex, not a lot of people can stay up and talk. Nako soon enough fell asleep on your chest, feeling the warmth of it as you couldn't help but smile at her

“good night” you whisper, planting a kiss on her forehead and two cheeks as you two as well started drifting off to sleep, thinking about the wonderful time you had and hoping to get more in the future.

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

So...thanks a lot for reading this, i really hope the tags make sense (again new to smuts) and yeah...uhh don't expect more smuts from me, anyway seeing you next update

Edit: i am aware there is a chance I didn't really match the clothes in the pic with the clothes in the oneshot, so sorry

[paperandsong]

I present a list of 16 Underappreciated fics with recommendations in the authors’ own words, taken from responses to this post: Unloved Fic Tag Game. Most are Phantom of the Opera fics, but there is one from Rebecca and another from Elisabeth. Take a chance on these hidden gems - many authors say these are their best work. They were written with love. 

Remember that it is never, ever too late to give kudos and leave comments on fics - no matter how old they are!

All Imaginable Pangs by @les-gnossiennes-fantomatiques​: It’s a pre-canon Leroux fic set towards the end of the 1860s, told from the point-of-view of a well-to-do Parisian courtesan. Do you like people talking about art and the nature of creating things? Do you like angst about growing older and not feeling at home in your own skin? Do you like lots of incredibly awkward smut and romance?

Annard Noz by @paperandsong:  Little Christine and Raoul roam around Perros-Guirec collecting stories until a vexed old woman frightens them with the legend of the Laveuses de nuit. I wrote this for the Légendes rustiques project which uses French legends recorded by George Sand and reimagines them as stories Christine and Raoul may have heard as children. If you like folklore you might be interested in this series. 

Beneath the Winter Snow by @pianomanblaine​: I wrote this story for the Advent Calendar a few years back. It was the first fandom event I participated in after picking up writing again a few months before, and the response I got made me feel very welcome here. It’s a simple and very fluffy oneshot, and I had a lot of fun writing it, so I hope people will have fun reading it as well.

The Day My World Crumbled by @nerdywriter36​: It’s a Nadir/Rookheya fic, which is definitely a rarepair only familiar to those who know Susan Kay’s book. It was basically just a way for me to flesh out part of their story that had been plaguing my mind for a while that needed to get let out.

The Dead Are Gone, They Don’t Come Back by @conquerthenight​: (Mind the tags) Normally I cringe when reading my own writing, but I have yet to do so for any of this series. I would recommend this series to: anyone who wants a reason for Ileana to be so unconfident and scared other than “she just is”, anyone who either wants Maxim redeemed or wants any insight into his POV because the fourth work in this series explores his POV, anyone who wants to read from Rebecca’s POV (the second work in the series is from her perspective), anyone who read the novel Lolita who would’ve rather read from Dolores’ POV instead of Humbert’s, and anyone who believes recovery fics help them cope with trauma.

Digging into the Youth that is you by @enigmawritesstuff​: What you get is a dynamic that deals with trauma in a healthy, heartfelt and loving way, that makes you feel seen and touched. It helps me feel that there is hope that one day you'll be understood as you need, or want, to be, and that's okay. To need someone to help you stand sometimes. Which is why this phic is actually quite dear to me.

A Fierce Inequality of Love by @shinyfire-0​: My most underappreciated fic is the first fic I ever wrote. I wrote it in the late 90s or early 2000s, back when fandom was brutal and people gave vicious reviews if they didn't approve of a fic. This was one was castigated because (spoiler!) Christine does not stay with Erik. I love the tragedy of the man, and so I LOVE a tragic ending for him. And maybe, despite the fact that she escapes him, it's a tragic ending for Christine, too.  Anyway, this one came straight from the heart.

Les Flambettes by @textsfromthefifthbasement​: I think it's probably not as popular due to the archive warning and the fact that it sounds like an R/C fic. But it is a horror story involving the trio with a braided structure alternating between past and present. Part of the Légendes rustiques project. 

Mirrorverse Addendums by @sarcasticdolphin: I know it is a bit dense - there’s a lot of history to cover, and I want to do it correctly. Elisabeth das Musical fandom as a whole lends pretty well or being fandom-blind as it is quite close to historical fiction. 

Notre Dame des Lorettes by @catcorsair​: This is a short prequel story centered on Erik that takes place during the paused construction of the Garnier amidst the fall of the Paris Commune of 1871. Just give it a shot! It’s such a short little one shot, and frankly, I think it’s probably my best fic in terms of writing.

Our Love Brings Ruin by @battydings​: For anyone who wants to read a story about the complicated feelings that revolve around validation and being wanted/needed, but don’t mind a bit of death, this story is for you. Because more than being a story about a couple who are complicit in murder together, it’s about a woman who is willing to step over her own personal values in the name of validation.

Phantoms of Paris by @lincolnlogger​: If you're looking for a story where Andre, yes Manager Andre, gets a lot of narrative POV privileges, you've come to the right place. If you want Erik facing his past head-on via therapy sessions, you've come to the right place. If you want Nadir hanging on by a thread, you've come to the right place.

Philia by @brendadaaedestler: One of the main characters featured in the one shot is a character from Susan Kay’s novel, which [you] not many have read, though you don’t need to have read Kay’s novel to understand the one shot. You would probably like [it] if you enjoy reading fluff content.

Unexpected Variables by @meilas​: Beauty and the Beast 2017. I thought it was funny when I came up with the idea. I actually don't care if anyone else reads it or not.

Vainement, ma bien aimée by @illuminaughti-online​: I think "Vainement" might be my best-written from a technical sense. Also? I genuinely like these kids, as well as the folklore and a nice creepy setting. Give Baby Raoul a chance and you might wind up rooting for him after all as he tries to come to terms with the fact that the world is a terrifying place and that Christine intends to plunge into it headfirst regardless. Part of the Légendes rustiques project. 

You are Music by @apileofpans​: If you like E/C/R getting together in a healthy way with a healthy dose of communication and understanding between the three of them, this is the fic for you! There is a scene between everybody one on one and I just… GAH!!!! It’s like a wonderful hopeful fic with promises to come, it’s just like. Comforting in a way!!!

photo by @shinyfire-0​

[monsteroftheweekpodcast]

Hi! I've been listening to ya'll since my first day of nursing school. I remember using the podcast as a way to quiet my brain when I was having text anxiety. Anyway, I'm officially out of school and have been a nurse for a whole year. So thanks for helping me get through it. (also my fav is how in S1 ya'll were like "eh destiel, I mean I just don't see it." And the last episode I just listened to was titled something Destiel. (s6 finale) Converted so quickly.) Anyway, ya'll are great.

I think about those early days a lot (in fact it came up in conversation in this week's episode). Chris and I really just reacted to the things we were seeing on the screen and came to the most logical conclusion: those two men are super in love with one another. It's hard for me to even take other reads of it seriously at this point.

Something similar happened to me this week with Justified, believe it or not. It's always been one of my favorite shows, mostly because of the incredibly satisfying dialogue which is 90% rednecks sassing one another with overly flowery language. (One character remarks of Boyd Crowder, the series' villain: "I just love the way you talk; using forty words when four will do.") The two main characters of the show are at opposite ends of the moral spectrum (or are they????) but are drawn to one another just the same. Despite having seen all five seasons twice already, this time I started seeing a bit of attraction in the overly polite up-front but sarcastic underneath dialogue between the two. I mean, that's basically what flirting is right? A little bite and a little fright?

Anyway, I'm rambling because I've had a large amount of coffee and I'm killing time. Thank you for listening the show, and I'm very happy we could help with your anxiety but becoming Destiel-pilled in real time over he course of 250 episodes of a podcast.

[kuwdora]

I always have thoughts about book-to-media adaptations running in the back of my mind these days since it’s part and parcel of our fannish landscape. There’s just so much that goes into translating something from book to a visual medium. And then the adaptation fails in some small and/or large way and it ends up being a disappointment. (I think there’s also a lot to be said about adaptations that are more Successful than not and what success means in an adaptation…but I think that deserves its own post.)

I’m often considering a person’s entry point to adaptations, whether it’s through the media or the original source, and how that plays into people’s reactions about failures of adaptations or—like, what each person is wanting to get out of the adaptation if they know the original source material. And what they’re happy with when they’ve just discovered it through the adaptation.

Just gonna ramble a little bit about my own experience with being a book-to-adaptation person. I think even when writing and production circumstances are the most ideal, it’s still fucking hard as hell to adapt complicated narratives to the screen. Still. I’m not immune to heartbreak about seeing something play out badly because I had been so attached to the original book material.

When I was a little girl I picked up a fantasy book featuring a little girl protagonist. This main character was living in a foster situation, had dead parents, and a wishy-washy background she didn’t know much about. She was a little bit of a ruffian and kind of defied everybody and everything because she had a very strong sense of self and moral code. She is, of course, a child of prophecy and has a lot in store for her.

Over the course of the first book she ends up embroiled in some social and political intrigue and ends up going on a grand adventure. She meets an outcast who is is hated by humans but they use his services anyway because he’s good at his job. He ends up becoming her protector and guardian and would do anything for her.

She eventually crossed paths with a world-traveling misfit with who brought levity and a heart of gold to every scene. She also ended up meeting a very old, very beautiful witch also fell in love with this child and would move heaven and earth to protect her and help her survive and thrive.

The whole series deals with a lot of complex issues of the moral and social variety, and there’s a running theme about how men and institutions headed by men wield their power and try to impose their vision of the world on everyone. Particularly on women.

The little girl also eventually found out that her dad isn’t actually dead like she was told. The dad is alive and well and he’s asshole, also a bad guy. But he has the MOST CHARISMA EVER, holy fuck.

I ate these books up as a kid and reread them over and over and my brain and heart totally grew around them. I admired the protagonist and her sharp wit and mouthiness and determination. Her resiliency and perseverance to do what she knew would be right and just. As I got older and I reread the books and absorbed the more complex issues about personhood and agency. I thought more about how you can resist a bad situation or person when the world/person is trying to change you to fit their ideal. (That part was particularly important to me when I was young). But also the themes of good and evil, etc. I started seeing the politics and then understanding it more with every reread over the years when I started reading more history, more politics. It had always been there in the books but I could finally SEE it. It felt like a revelation.

A dozen or so years later it turns out someone was going to going to adapt these books! It was much discussed and heavily anticipated. These were well-known, beloved fantasy books from the 90s. Amazing characters and great scenes! Fascinating themes.

God I remember being so excited when I heard about the adaptation. And then I got to see it. It was the most confusing and disappointing experiences of my life. What I ended up seeing was pretty. Great costumes, CGI. Amazing actors! But everything that made the books interesting and magical and profound had been watered down, elided over the moral complexities. Or it outright changed things that would have fundamentally shifted the events of the rest of the books and make the adaptation even MORE incomprehensible.

I’m talking about the 2007 film adaptation of The Golden Compass from Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials. A lot of this probably sounds familiar to my Witcher mutuals, right?

Anyway.

The film had so many boycotts by the Catholic Church and other churchy groups in the United States for its depiction of institutionalized religion in Lyra’s world. So on the studio-side they made so many changes and demands that fucked the movie. So much doesn’t make sense or is just pales in comparison to what was actually originally intended.

After the film’s flop even more articles and reviews came out talking about Tom Stoppard’s original draft of the film and the director’s first take on the screenplay. Vulture read both versions and it's really illuminating what they discovered. The film was indeed supposed to be significantly longer but the studio wasn’t having it because they wanted kids to go and see this film and 2+ film wasn’t gonna be it.

Like. The studio was really hoping for another Harry Potter franchise and were treating this book-to-film more like a YA fantasy type of thing. When in reality someone wrote a sanded down version of the story for the screenplay that left me and a whole bunch of other people fucking jaded as hell. Because damn. Way to miss the fucking mark on an amazing fantasy series. 10000% missed it. I’ve blacked out most of the actual film from memory because I just could not believe it. The disappointment. The heartache of not doing the story justice.

But yeah…just… someone really thought The Golden Compass was gonna be a huge fantasy action/adventure hit because there were really cool talking animals.

It’s so fucking hilarious to me in retrospect. When you realize these books are Phillip Pullman’s AU fanfic/fix-it of Paradise Lost where Lucifer gets to have his revenge on the kingdom of heaven, there was noooo way that original film was going to even begin to set up a 3 or 4 film franchise. Nooo way.

The first book ends with an absolutely heartbreaking and horrific scene that is the catalyst for Lyra and what motivates her for the next 1500 pages of the series. I was there opening weekend in that theater for The Golden Compass. I have never been more confused in my LIFE while watching a film because they ended the film like 5 chapters before the end of the book. They lopped it off and made the first film a very strange Cliffhanger for a sequel that would absolutely never get made. I was flabbergasted.

The disappointment. The confusion. The despair. I was fucking depressed about it for a good long time. I had been so excited and been brimming with anticipation because I loved the books so much and I wanted it to be good and then what I got was….absolute garbage. To me. I mean maybe if I had been a little girl watching the film for the first time it would have been better. But as an adult who had spent the better part of my life immersed in Lyra’s character arc… I just. Could not feel more betrayed.

I can’t even be that upset anymore because I’ve had enough time to grieve and leave it behind. Then somehow the universe came together and HBO let Jack Thorne and company re-do the books as a series. It is a much more faithful adaptation. I’m too close to the book source to know if people who don’t read the books will get the same kind of experience out of seeing the show play through Lyra and Will’s experiences in the show.

The final season of His Dark Materials was also probably the most philosophical and abstract season of fantasy television I’ve seen. I fucking loved it. I don’t think it was perfect, but it was really enjoyable and did more to soothe my soul than I thought possible. It’s not a show for everyone—and I’m still not sure how it got made because HBO the last few years had been going through some changes. Maybe I’m very sentimental and forgiving, I don’t know. The narrative pacing was a bit weird to me in places and some of the dialogue was hit or miss but overall, I could not have gotten a better time from it.

That experience with the film a has made me much more intentional about managing my expectations of how I approach media adaptations.

Where am I starting with an adaptation? What am I hoping to get out of this? Who is making it and what are the production constraints working against it? How do I manage my expectations if I know the original source and what do I want from the visual media and acting? Etc etc. Do I want to go and read the original if I don’t know it already because I want to see what changes they made?

I keep thinking about everything with The Witcher Netflix. It’s so fucking difficult to get anything made through studios and networks (especially now, but even then in the late 2000s)… And when you’re trying to appeal to the widest audience possible, you’re only going to get so far when you’ve left the rest of the source inspiration on the table. And didn’t bother to make up for the difference in what you left there.

We all know how depressing it is. The streaming model has fucked television over completely. The depreciation of writers rooms… we had 20 and 22 episodes, and then 15 and 12 episodes. Filler episodes with great character moments. Space to flesh out complex narratives with nuance. And now 8 episodes as a standard runtime. The lack decent amount of time for production (including pre and post) to actually set things up in a way that serves the media narrative.

It’s so hard to cater to everyone when you’re drawing from a book/comic book. Also harder to cater to your specific audience. But when you’re trying cater to enough people so you don’t get cancelled and keep going to try and tell the story you’re trying to tell, that’s fucking hard and shitty and I don’t begrudge them for that. Even though it sucks.

Even though I can hate it as much has I can understand it. Wish it was different. Even though it can be a fucking travesty of epic proportions because these writers/showrunners/directors don’t get the space to actually flesh out what they’re trying to do.

Even if people are writing a very different iteration of the story that I don’t like/want/agree with/understand/etc.

That doesn’t even go into the issue of when showrunners and directors don’t understand the characters they’re working with or make fundamental changes because of their own vision, production constraints, and everything else. You might see a lot of this going around again with Red, White, and Royal Blue and what the director had changed in his film adaptation. People are worked up into a froth for very valid reasons. It’s all exhausting but this is all nothing new. Still demoralizing when people so attached to the original material.

Anyway. That’s….just some thoughts that have been sitting with me for awhile. Could probably ramble more if I can get the brain cells together.

Fun fact: George RR Martin looked at the 2007 The Golden Compass film and said (paraphrasing here): “I am never, ever fucking EVER letting anyone make my books into a film. A television show is the way to go.”

Fun fact #2: James SA Corey (Daniel Abraham and Ty Frank) worked with GRRM extensively over the years and I think others have written more extensively about GRRM’s influence the way they wrote sprawling narratives with multiple POV characters. Anyway they developed a tabletop RPG that they eventually turned into novels that became The Expanse.

Which eventually got adapted to television. SyFy network was in a bidding war with Netflix for the show and out-bid Netflix. This was a show adaptation that did not hold your hand whatsoever. Fascinating, new, interesting. Faithful adaptation. Still got cancelled after two seasons. Even though both authors had become producers on the show and were learning more about production and writing teleplays from experienced sci-fi showrunners/producers/television writers.

Show was later picked up by Amazon to finish out the last few seasons. But I would bet my bottom dollar that both these authors watched how the Game of Thrones adaptations went and probably went “we’re not gonna let this happen to us.” And I think that’s reflected in the way they and their team were able to adapt the story faithfully with multiple huge and small changes specifically so it would work with the television medium.

[bookwyrminspiration]

In Flashback Gethen says Lady Gisela is preparing Sophie’s replacement it hasn’t came up in the books since. What do you think he meant?

Excellent question! So, looking at the scene, the exact thing he says is "the only reason we haven't taken you out is because Lady Gisela is still clinging to her hope that you'll prove yourself useful, especially with her son. But her patience will only last so much longer. In fact, she's already preparing your replacement" (90).

So the purpose Gisela sees in Sophie is to aid Keefe to some extent--which reminds me of what she said about intentionally keeping Sophie awake at the end of Legacy. Sophie is both incredibly talented and important to Keefe, and they can be used against each other. Sophie cares about Keefe and so, if the cards are placed right, will play into Gisela's hands to make sure he's okay (e.g. staying mentally with him as Gisela has him blasted). Additionally, there is very little if not nothing Keefe wouldn't do for Sophie; via Sophie, Gisela can get immense leverage to get Keefe to go along.

However, these attributes would be difficult to replicate. Creating/finding someone they're willing to do practically anything for doesn't seem like a solid plan, so what other use does Sophie serve? It makes me think of the line where, I believe it was Ro, tells Sophie that the Neverseen would probably also love to convert her to their cause. (Yes there's a similar one from Alden about the black swan, but I know there's one about the Neverseen even though I don't remember specifics atm).

Gethen specifies Keefe as being a main motivator, but not the only one. In which case, we'd be looking at Sophie's immense power and influence--which Lady Gisela could feasible replicate/replace. Via Keefe. At this point in the series he hasn't been blasted yet, Lady Gisela's still doing preparations. There's been a pretty big parallel growing between Sophie and Keefe, so Lady Gisela would be preparing to replace the freakishly powerful good little rebel who's rocking the whole world with one of her own. It may seem obvious in hindsight given 8-9's events, but at this point in time we didn't know anything about that.

Just in case that is too obvious, though, we can circle back around to the guaranteeing his good behavior via Sophie thing. The replacement wouldn't have to be another person, though it is what my mind first went to. In this situation, Gisela has eliminated Sophie and instituted something else, so the question becomes what does she think he would care about enough in her absence to listen to her. Now I'm not convinced with Sophie gone Keefe would have anything to lose, but Gisela's not aware of just how much her son is going to continue fighting her. It's possible Sophie's memory/something she left behind could be used, but that doesn't feel much like a replacement. I don't have a good answer for this one--maybe she could prey on his guilt related to Ethan and Eleanor, or other things related to lost memories we have yet to recover. Promising information, or implying certain things (that he was, in fact, at fault for example) to break him down. It's hard to guess because, like I said, this is where I think there's a flaw in Gisela's plan; she thinks there's something that can replace Sophie to Keefe, but there isn't, so any attempt will be doomed.

Anyway, that jumped around a little, but my guesses with this are either that 1. Keefe is meant to be Gisela's replacement for Sophie, or 2. she intends to try (and fail) at replacing the leverage Sophie gives her over Keefe. But I may be entirely off, who knows!

[bookaddict24-7]

REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

Books I’ve read so far in 2023!

Friend me on Goodreads here to follow my more up to date reading journey for the year!

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237. The Woman in Me by Britney Spears--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I will admit that I'm one of those people who sometimes turns on an audiobook and just lets it play, my attention coming in and out of focus depending on how invested I am. THE WOMAN IN ME had my full attention. I think, in part, this is because it brought back so much nostalgia for me.

Britney Spears's very first album was my very first cassette when I was a kid. To this day, I will never NOT sing to any of the songs playing in that album. I was the kid in the 90s who laid out with her walkman, listening to the words over and over again, pretending that I knew how to sing. I loved Spears and her music was one of my introductions to North American English music.

Of course, being a kid I had no idea of all of the things she was going through and how obsessed the media was with her. I remember the buzzcut incident, the hounding of her while she was out with her babies, and how tumultuous her love life. But a lot of it didn't hit until I was older and reading THE WOMAN IN ME, I'm reminded that what we see in the media is always going to be through a particular lens--what do they want us to see? What do they want us to be entertained with? Britney's life is falling apart? Perfect, that will get page clicks and sell magazines. The dehumanization of Britney and the sexualization of her portrayed innocence by the media put her on a nearly impossible pedestal, opening the gates for her family to take advantage of her. She's not falling in line with what's expected of her, so of course it means she's out of control.

Anyway, I loved that she was pretty candid about a lot of the pivotal moments in her life. I AM sad, however, that she didn't go as into detail about certain things, but I know a lot of that is also because of the cease and desist letters she must have gotten prior to the publication of THE WOMAN IN ME.

I wanted to cry for her while I listened, and I felt so much anger for her, too. I loved that she referred to herself as weird because there's a certain kind of pure honesty with that. There's also the topic of JT and every time I talk to someone about it, they say there are "two sides to every story", which is true, but I find it always entertaining how convenient it is to say that when it is a man being accused of something less than desirable. But you know, that's just me. *shrug*

Anyway, this was an insightful and heartbreaking read and while I wish we'd gotten more, I appreciate what we COULD get.

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238. The Bungalow Mystery by Carolynn Keene--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I think this Nancy Drew story MIGHT be my favourite one so far. As the series progresses, the themes are seemingly getting a little darker while still maintaining the fun and lightness of Nancy and her mysteries.

THE BUNGALOW MYSTERY held a little more insidiousness, since it features some themes of kidnapping, grief, and greed. I've only read a few of the books in the series and this one kept my attention the most. I wanted to know what would happen next and though the twist and mystery were easily guessed, it was the journey there that was the most entertaining.

Onto the next one!

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239. Pestilence by Laura Thalassa--⭐️⭐️⭐️

While I will most likely never read the rest of this series, I am content with PESTILENCE. I loved the angst between the characters and how they grew through each others' influences. And while it wasn't a perfect read for me, it was enjoyable and I'm a simple girly sometimes.

The reasons why I'm not giving this five stars are the morality of this particular concept--I kept asking myself how the MC was going to connect with the love interest when he is the literal harbinger of pandemics and sickness; the sometimes repetitiveness of the conversations had regarding the aforementioned topic; and how religious this book was. Yes, this is a book about the four horsemen but the conversation made me feel a tad uncomfortable.

To be honest, now that I'm not in the fog of reading this book and the immediate dopamine hit of finishing it, a lot of it is making me question how much I actually enjoyed it while writing this review. I think it fed this particular craving I had after reading a book like BOUND TO THE BATTLE GOD and I was hooked. But I started reading the second book in this series and it dealt with a very timely topic...and not in the best way.

So, now that I've gone off on a diatribe, I will say that I enjoyed this for what it was but I'm realizing that it could have been MORE or just dealt with some of the topics better. I'm just going to leave it at that.

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240. The Android by K.A. Applegate--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When I started reading this series, I had heard that it was very anti-war and while I've seen this in spurts here and there throughout the last few books, THE ANDROID is where I have truly seen the full extent of it (so far).

Applegate tackles this topic so powerfully in this--especially the idea that just because you can doesn't always mean that you should. The guilt and ghosts of war will follow you and change you for the rest of your life, no matter your intentions and the outcome. ANIMORPHS was truly ahead of its time.

I liked THE ANDROID, too, because it introduced us to something a little different from the at-times repetitive topics and fights that the kids face. I liked that they got to meet more beings fighting (in their own way) for survival in a universe fraught with dangers.

Onto the next one!

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241. Go Eat Worms by R.L. Stine--⭐️⭐️⭐️

I won't lie, of all the GOOSEBUMPS books I've read, this is one of the ones that has genuinely creeped me out. The story actually felt like it had a backstory AND there were some serious creepy crawlies haunting the story.

I think kid me would have loved this one for how gross it was. I feel like I would have been itching my arms and hair, afraid that a worm would be there to greet me. I would have disliked the MC's sister and occasionally the MC too for being so callous towards living things. Did he deserve what happens to him? Absolutely. Leave the poor worms alone, my dude.

Again, I'm hit with that sense of loss I sometimes get while reading these books because I know I would have loved them as a kid.

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242. My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine--⭐️⭐️⭐️

Listen, this book was FUN. It was adorable and a little silly and just pure fun.

While we don't get to see the story from the perspective of the love interest, the author gives us snippets of his thoughts and his side of things at the beginning of each chapter. I particularly loved those bits and looked forward to them.

The MC's artwork that is described sounds questionable, but I can't fault her her excitement and eagerness when she's creating it and talking about it.

Was this a work of art? No, but it was a surprisingly addicting read that kept me wanting more. I wanted the MC to find out her roommate's secret, and I wanted to see how she would deal with it all. I also wanted to see how their love would develop.

The story in itself is a bit simple and the conclusion was quicker than a two pump event, but I had fun. Like I said before, it was silly and fun. And honestly, sometimes, that's all I need.

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243. The Cuckoo Clock of Doom by R.L. Stine--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I think this is probably the most thought out GOOSEBUMPS book I've read so far. It wasn't scary at all, but it had a pretty great storyline. Of course, it had the awful parents and the morally questionable sibling.

I think though, that my favourite thing about this, was the dedication to actually give us different phases of the MC's life and in a fun and intriguing way. This one, in my opinion, is one of the better GOOSEBUMPS out there.

I especially loved that ending.

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244. Away Game by Ella Kade--⭐️⭐️.5

Was AWAY GAME slightly problematic? Yes. Did I devour the hell out of it all the same? Yes.

But listen, this was the kind of read that pulls you into a bubble but you can still see the pointy parts of the story fighting to pop said bubble.

What I enjoyed that kept me so hooked: ● I love bully romances because watching two characters get together when they hated each other is something I have a hard time saying no to. I love watching that character development and seeing that tension. ● How one character fell completely for the other. ●The sports aspect because I love a good sports romance.

Issues that I had with this book and why I probably won't read this author past this book:

● Who told this white author that she could write a mixed character and write about how hard it is to be mixed? As a mixed person, I could relate to the character but I found it kind of icky that the author used conversations like "will your father not like me because I'm half Black?" Like, in theory, I appreciate it, but it felt weird. Like, the topic of him being Black was brought up more than once and again, while I appreciate the representation, it felt tokenizing and just...not right? This was my major ick for this book. ● Also, adding to my comment about the mixed character's race being mentioned: the author kept referring to him as mocha-skinned. Like. Multiple. Times. White authors of course can write Bipoc and Black characters, but do it with respect. I was so uncomfortable. ● The romance was so quick--I love when there's a build up, but one moment one MC hates the other and all of a sudden, they're making out. It felt messy and a little too insta-lovey. ● The MC who's being bullied has no backbone. ● This needs a lot more editing. I know it's indie, but I've read a ton of indie romance and the editing in this one was distracting. ● The father confrontation was comical. I'm sorry, it's built up so much during the majority of the book and THAT is how he finds out/how the MC deals with the aftermath?

There's a few other things that irked me, but I don't want to say because I'm not educated enough in the topic to touch on it without potentially saying the wrong thing. I wish I could have loved this book, but alas, it was not for me.

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245. Lie With Me by Philippe Besson--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book. Omg this book. My heart wasn't ready AT ALL for this book.

Sometimes it's the smallest books that give you the biggest heart aches.

I see this story as a cautionary tale, but also the heartbreaking reality so many queer people may experience in their lives (and societies). Not everyone has the freedom to be who they really are and a lot of the times it can destroy them.

While LIE WITH ME deals with a forbidden and often chaotic teenage love at its heart, it is a story of the power of memories and experiences, as well as the decisions that may haunt us for the rest of our lives. Just thinking about this aspect of the book makes me want to cry all over again.

God, this book is beautifully heartbreaking. Especially when it explores the dark underbelly of what it means to hide who you are for the majority of your life.

Please read this book, but bring tissues. Definitely a favourite of the year.

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246. Never Have I Evan by D.J. Jamison--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

NEVER HAVE I EVAN took me by complete surprise! I was craving a story that would captivate me fully and this one definitely did it for me in the most unexpected way. I loved these two men from the moment the story started.

We get complicated backstories and a lot of character development, along with fantastic tension. One of my favourite things about this book is the level of communication and the maturity of the two characters. I often forgot that one of the MCs is only 19 because of how he navigated the harder hurdles in his relationship with the other MC. I just loved their dynamic so much and how they overcame their pasts and the hardships they might face in their futures.

I also LOVED the small town aspect and how everyone is trying to set the one MC up on dates because they just want him to find the perfect guy for him. The grannies of the town LOL.

I definitely see myself re-reading this in the future. I loved it so much!

___

Have you read any of these books? Let me know your thoughts!

___

Happy reading!

[the-7th-heart]

Inatober day 2!

I swear I wrote them on time, I'm just posting them now cause my anxiety was eating me up about anything I do online-

Anyway, I love this one personally. I looooved the prompt, it fit right in for me.

This includes a great deal of personal headcanons that I would love to elaborate on!

2 - constellations / darkness of space

I can feel it on my tongue

Brick and mortar as thick as scripture

Midorikawa didn’t struggle when they threw him into the dark room of what they knew as “The Hotel”. He knew it would be useless, he was done for. Might as well make it easy for them. Why should they try to break an already broken canvas of a being?

For the first week he didn’t move, he didn’t have the strength. Detoxing from daily radiation was worse than drugs. They had to connect him to some weird IV thing to just keep him alive until he could move his arms and eat.

Stuck in one place, for a week. Not moving. Not doing anything really. But thinking. Reviewing. Where did he go wrong? What has he calculated wrong? How could he disappoint Father like this? How could he disappoint… him… like this…?

Who was… he? He lingered in his memory, the very back of it. He brought colors to his sepia-colored dreams. But… where was he now? Was it all Midorikawa’s fault? Why was he always abandoned?

Drawing lines in the sand and laying borders as tall as towers

I babble on until my voice is gone

After 7 days people in suits came and disconnected the IV. They left Midorikawa a tray with some bread and butter and a flat butter knife and called it breakfast. He ate. He didn’t have a choice. After he had finished, he finally assessed how the room looked. It was dark, the walls were… weird… and only a tiny window near the top let him count the days he’d been left there.

Something touched his soul and made him do it. The little marks on the floor. They were days, for sure. All 7 of the ones he’s spent here already. But they were… in a shape, a familiar one. A one that brought… him… back.

Midorikawa sat back on the floor. His eyes flashed with images of something he knew he must know. It was a meeting. They were talking, more people than him and… him… Midorikawa was talking, or rather his mouth was. He was talking about his parents. His first abandonment. His first failure. One of them, a warm presence, said something about hoping they “got what they deserved” and everyone nodded. Midorikawa’s head did too.

“If they haven't yet, they will soon.”

He didn’t know if he said it in the past, in his head, or aloud. It wouldn’t be the first conversation he had in the past where he wasn’t sure. His throat was weaker each time.

He knew soon he wouldn’t be able to speak if he continued.

Memories made his head spin. And while the room was dark as night, there were no stars to trip over except the ones he marked on the floor. He had to get some rest…

This hill I'll die on is about 90 meters of bricks

Colored indigo, inscribed with my name, and lined with cedar

4 days after he got his line disconnected he completed another floor decoration. It was another series of day markers, but these were red, desperate strokes of a desperate person. It looked like a bird in his tired eyes, used to living in the dark after all the time spent there already. His voice was dying with every line he said to his shadow. That didn’t stop him from singing songs from his memories before falling asleep.

He didn’t know how long he’d be locked. His food was steady, but small, not enough to keep him full, but enough to keep him alive.

He wondered if he’d make it out alive.

He marked another day without a blood spill on the wall this time and went to sleep.

But the words fall flat like cymbals crashing

Like molars gnashing

On day 14 more people were brought in. He recognized the voices. All the voices. His head was clearer now, but his memories still remained in pain. But he remembered one name.

Epsilon.

“What do you mean we tied and we still have to come here?!”

“Because Father said so. Apparently, this can help us prepare for his further plans.”

“Bullshit not plans! This is a prison for losers, not us. We got off scot-free. Unlike the rest of suckers locked in here.”

“Underestimate our opponent and you may end up being locked up here as well. And when that time comes, I will not help you.”

“But-”

“And calling Gemini Storm “losers” would be highly inaccurate considering Raimon took 4 attempts to even score them a point and they only won because of that new striker of theirs.”

“You’re defending them?”

“Gemini Storm?” A short moment of silence fell, as Midorikawa felt the gaze of the… The captain stop at his door. He nudged himself over closer. “Yes. They are exceptional players.”

“And Raimon beat them.”

“There will come a time when Raimon will beat Genesis. That’s all I’ll say.”

Midorikawa wanted to scream. He wanted to shout, to make his presence known, but he killed his voice some time ago. And even if he could shout, he couldn’t be heard. He never was. But this time he had the room to fight with.

Because the room was empty, but not in a way an empty room is empty. In an empty room, the echo is unbearable, the only way for it to stop is to fill the room.

This room was so empty even the echo wasn’t there, taken away by the soft material in the ceiling and stripes on the walls.

Midorikawa slid down the door and cried.

All he could do was cry these days.

They gave him more water when he cried.

And the water kept him full.

'Cause like constellations a million years away

Every good intention, every good intention

Is interpolation, a line we drew in the array

Looking for the faces, looking for the shapes in the silence

He walked now. He would get sick when he stood for too long, but he could walk now without pain.

On day 24 he finished another piece. A huge bird that brings thunder and flames. It took up the smaller wall, the one with the window, opposite the door.

At night, he got more and more images of… him… and the Others. He still didn’t remember their names. He couldn’t remember why it hurt to see them all happy. He didn’t recall why he was so scared of them the closer to the Day it got. He didn’t know what happened on the Day, yet, but it was the day when he knew something changed.

He only remembered… him… telling Midorikawa it will all be good. That Father said they will help the world. That it all is done in good faith.

How foolish can a child be to believe an empty promise of a broken man?

Day 25 brought the voices again.

Midorikawa heard another one too. It was sharp, melodic, once again familiar. And it was hostile.

“Get them into separate cells.”

“Desarm, do something! We’re supposed to just stand down?”

“Good little soldiers follow Father's orders without missing their cue.”

“Desarm, will you just let them lock us up?! We did everything he asked for!!”

“And apparently it wasn’t enough to keep your spot above~”

“SAGINUMA WILL YOU JUST SAY SOMETHING!!!”

“Sagi…numa…” Midorikawa rasped out. His throat was getting better after his head got clear enough to talk in it. “Saginuma.” He said again under his breath. He knew they wouldn’t hear him, not like they cared anyway, but he didn’t think his voice could handle loud noises yet. Suddenly he went on autopilot while the voices waited for an answer.

“Saginuma Osamu. 19 years old. Supposed to finish high school but dropped out due to personal conflict. Forward working as a goalkeeper and captain of the Epsilon team of the Aliea Academy. Switched between numbers 1 and 11 due to the previous. Oldest in the Sun Garden orphanage to date. Joined after his… his parents… went their separate ways, the court said he would be better with… us… in the Sun Garden…” Tears came. Typical. He finished and continued listening.

“DESA-”

“I already told you, I won’t help you when Raimon finally beats us. Where to, Gazel?”

“Right, up ahead.”

“Hope you’ll handle your loss better than my team did.”

“We won’t lose. Not to them, not to Gran.”

“We all will eventually…”

All that's left for me to climb to the heavens is

The chasm of the night and a matter of time

After the Epsilon came the nights got loud. They had more power and more strength, their detox went… differently.

Gemini Storm suffered alone in silence.

Epsilon Kai suffered together, their whales breaking through the usual silence of the Hotel. All except Saginuma whose voice remained hidden, silent.

Midorikawa wished he had that power in his voice. The power to shout.

But he never had, not even in the past, much less now.

He ripped the soft material from the wall to the right of the door. He needed space for more days, another picture for his eyes.

He walked so much recently the red he used for his second work faded away. He never wanted to repeat that. little crosses on the concrete made with the metal tool they’d given him beginning week 2 was enough. He was running out of ideas anyway.

The room was still dark. That remained a constant. The perspective from which Midorikawa saw it changed, but the darkness prevailed. Darkness and memories. So many new memories…

Of himself.

Of… him…

Of the Others.

The names started coming back too. Gradually. He knew Saginuma, very well in fact. And not just the formula from the register the Father had. He knew he loved honeydew softbread. He knew where in the orphanage he kept his private box of souvenirs. He knew he played Pulitzer in their low-quality version of orphanage Newsies. He said he wasn’t happy about it, but Midorikawa remembered how much fun they all had back then. Back when things were good…

Before the other kids from the Sun Garden started gradually disappearing. It started the day before Valentine's Day when he was young, maybe 11? On the actual day… he… was summoned by the Father. He was supposed to go. Midorikawa didn’t let him, nobody let him, and the 6 of them all left together.

The rest of that day is pure pain. And darkness…

But I hear the rumble

As the tectonic plates start to shake

And I feel my blood pounding like the beat of a drum

He finished his biggest work on day 37. Or was it 38? Did he lose a day? It might’ve fallen out of his head, it was pretty busy there recently…

The counter took up the whole wall to the right of the door. The cupbearer. Where did he get all of this from? Why did he know precisely where to put the next part? Why was his mind prevailing as a minefield even when he’d run around in it multiple times before? What else was he yet to trigger?

He got used to the noise after a few days. Relatively fast. There was some comfort to waking up and not feeling the overwhelming emptiness right away. He felt bad for Epsilon, he thought. He wasn’t sure, he could never be sure. He was sure of one thing and that is he had one more to do. One more image.

The day after that was violent.

“Let GO of me!! Get your hands OFF!!!” Yet another voice Midorikawa recognized. He knew him by a different name, but he was going by Burn now which seemed fitting. He was the one to be mad about how their parents treated them before Sun Garden. He was almost as mad now.

“If you resist it will only be more painful.” That was one of the guards. “And half of your team is already in pain.”

The half was brought to the Hotel a few days prior, but they were immediately taken to a different part of the building. Midorikawa heard some other people being moved from this part to a different one that day too. Most of them were from Epsilon but members of his own team were there too. After that, the empty felt even more… empty, for a lack of better word.

He was left in the corridor. He wondered if they had just forgotten about him again. They did that sometimes with food.

They abandoned him again.

He knew Saginuma or Desarm, or however he chose to call himself now, was still there. In his corridor. Midorikawa knew that after the renovations he made to make space, if he shouted loud enough he could reach him. Maybe?

He forgot what the corridors looked like out there…

“I’ll let you go for now, so play nice or play dead, not like they pay us enough to worry about one kid going missing.” Midorikawa heard the jingling of keys right under his door.

“GAZEL, NOW!!”

“WHAT ARE YOU-”

A flash outside. So bright it seeped under the door. The temperature drop came simultaneously with the light and the noise.

Struggle. Somebody got thrown at Midorikawa’s door. He fell to the floor, safely tucked into a corner so just if they broke it he’d be safe. Sort of.

“Burn, WATCH OUT-”

More crashing. Noise. Worse than the noises from Epsilon kids.

Prominence and Diamond Dust sure knew how to make an entrance.

“SUZUNO, NO! DON’T YOU FUCKING TOUCH HIM!!!”

Flames. There were flames in the corridor. Fire, flame, warmth, heat-

The metal door stood. Barely. But it stood. It looked hot to the touch so Midorikawa got closer. He didn’t have a blanket in the room to warm up after the sudden drop so some heat was a welcomed friend.

Then with a buzzing noise, it all fell silent for a second. Then the Guard from the beginning said “Take the other one to the east wing. We can’t risk them hearing each other, we don’t know how much these guys are actually worth.” and that’s how the day fell to night.

Midorikawa knew that Nagumo was locked in the room next to him. They were separated by a wall. The one with the newest picture.

He didn’t try to get close.

He avoided that side of the room as much as he could.

He was scared that if he got too close he'd get burned.

'Cause like constellations a million years away

Midorikawa couldn’t sleep that night. He got the worst amount of memories so far. All of them. Their faces were now connected to their names connected to their characters. Their characters - connected to years upon years of pain. Constant pain.

He didn’t want to feel the dread he felt when he remembered them now.

He didn’t want to be scared for his life remembering they were in the same building as him.

He just wanted to be able to call them home again.

Every good intention, every good intention

Is interpolation, a line we drew in the array

The crashing of doors woke him up. He was disoriented, what was even going on?

He looked at his final counter on the biggest wall for some information - the day, the day that was before.

His door opened. He bolted to the corner, pushing his back as much against the wall as he could.

It was an older man in a trenchcoat with a beard. He looked angry and sad and tense, but he had kind eyes.

Midorikawa could trust kind eyes.

“You’re alright now, we’ve destroyed the meteorite and the guy is going to be in our custody as soon as we get you all out of here.” He said, his voice rasp. Natural or a smoker? He didn’t smell of nicotine…

Midorikawa took a few shaky steps and leaned out at the corridor. He squinted his eyes, it was much brighter than in his room.

The corridors were thin and there weren’t a lot of doors. As soon as the old man moved on to the other doors with a crowbar to open them, Midorikawa ran.

He saw a flash of red hair. That’s why he ran.

He ran after him to see if he was real.

Clinging to the faces, clinging to the shapes in the silence

He was running after a voice. It kept calling a known name.

“SUZUNO!!!”

Midorikawa hadn’t seen him yet. But he was close behind.

The cold voice Midorikawa heard before rasped something from somewhere and the speed of footsteps increased.

Midorikawa turned the corner and he was in another part of the Hotel. The wall said “East Wing”.

It was a little bit of an open clearing. The floor was covered in carpets.

In the middle of it all were two boys, on their knees as if they just fell, clinging to each other like the world was ending. Their clothes were loose after the diet in this place, the palms of their hands griping at the fabric as if the other was about to fly away.

The rest of the world didn’t exist for them. It didn’t need to when they had one another.

They were hugging, 2 hearts beating as one, their heads fitting perfectly over their shoulders.

“I thought they…”

“I’m here, I’m here,”

“... they came and threatened you and I…”

“I’m here, I’m real, I’m right here”

“I never want to lose you like that again”

“You won’t, I won’t let them”

Suzuno extended his arms a little so he could look into Nagumo’s puffy eyes with his own glassy ones. And then he brought their faces together for a kiss, a promise to never let go. Nagumo looked startled but joined in it and when they pulled apart, they just sat there, crying, holding their faces, touching their foreheads for support.

Midorikawa left. He felt like he violated something sacred. But somewhere deep, something told him he would keep what he saw. “For later”.

He ran again.

He ran with the noise.

He ran towards where the rest had to be.

He ran towards the sun.

Like constellations imploding in the night

Everything is turning, everything is turning

They were free.

All of them.

Back at Sun Garden.

Back at home.

But Midorikawa didn’t feel safe there anymore. Not just now anyway, after all that’s happened.

So he came back. He kept coming back.

He didn’t want to so he didn’t tell anyone.

But he didn’t know any other room of his own.

And he needed to finish his work.

And the shapes that you drew may change beneath a different light

And everything you thought you knew will fall apart, but you'll be all right

19 stars. Perseus. The hero.

Yagami Reina.

13 stars. Aquarius. Cupbearer of the gods.

Suzuno Fuusuke.

10 stars. Aquila. Eagle thunder-bringer.

Nagumo Haruya.

4 stars. Corvus. The crow.

Saginuma Osamu.

7 stars. Ursa Major. The big bear.

…Him…

Hiroto.

Kiyama Hiroto.

Midorikawa Ryuuji sat on the floor he knew oh, so well. They were all there. They were always there. He knew they were and would be even if he didn’t let himself recognize their faces.

He wasn’t crying, he was just sitting with tears streaming down his cheeks.

He couldn’t see around him.

He was drowned by the silence.

He didn’t hear the door or the footsteps.

He felt support, light pressure applied all around him.

“Sorry.” filled the void the silence masked all this time.

They were still there. And they were more than scratches on concrete.

His home was there and he knew, deep inside he always knew, that they would never let anyone abandon him again.

[joculine]

DIE Issue #2 Reread (Gillen & Hans)

I was pretty hooked on DIE from the concept alone, but this issue is what showed me the story itself would be something special. Sir Lane, the knight of kisses wraps up everything special about this comic to me into one, horrible little story. I love it. Let's dig in.

Art

Eyes are a big deal through the series, but they're an especially big deal in this issue. Hans is really killer at showing emotion through them here, the guilt Ash feels, the anger Sol & Matt feel, and of course the hate from Sir Lane.

I especially love her fight scenes. They move in broad strokes, not focused on any specific sequence of action, but the specific moments of victory and defeat that occur through the fight.

That's important when you're dealing with a cast as large and unique as the party. Everyone has these super powerful attacks with over the top video-game flairs, so she has to make sure to draw your eye with color and shapes.

I especially like how red is used in this scene, a strong color associated with violent magic from just about everyone. Historically, I've associated the red licks of fire with Ash and her dictator powers, but I think that applies to all members of the party here. Perhaps we are meant to see red as the color of violent magic? Or perhaps just the party's magic?

Isabelle's talks with her gods are another standout for me. These panels are always so interesting, I love to see how each one speaks, how they treat Izzy, and how little she seems to care about them. She keeps her back to them, refuses to meet their eye, but is still shadowed in most interactions. It also looks like a persona summoning scene, which is fun to me.

A special shout out to the cartoonish look of Ash's memory of Sir Lane. So idealized & flat, the perfect way to do this childhood flashback. Everything was so much simpler then... NOT. We'll get into it further on.

Actually, why wait?

This is up there for my favorite moments in the comic. Like I said, this is where I realized what DIE was doing—this is a story about careless people ruining their lives and the lives of others for the sake of "fantasy." And it's a story about the logical conclusions of those fantasies crawling back to you and covering you with awful worms.

What's incredible is the conciseness here. In just 8 panels over 2 pages, we see the entire tragedy. Sir Lane, the Angrian knight of kisses, was a fling for young Ash back in the 90s. Maybe even her first fling as herself:

It's an exciting thing for her, to be kissed as a woman. To be wanted as a woman. But Ash barely remembers this guy. She does recall their last meeting—he joked he wouldn't rest until he saw her again, asked her to use her power to make it true. She did. He died. He never rested. His eyes rotted. A lover's joke became a never-ending curse.

We see here how careless Ash has been with a very serious power. As the Dictator class, she can speak things & feelings into being. If she isn't careful, this power will rewrite reality to make her words true. Sir Lane is only the first casualty of this we see. What other horrors are waiting for them in this world, still reeling from the fickle whims of teenage demigods?

House Rules & The Fallen

Isabelle tells us the party takes this world seriously. They can't know how "real" Die is, so they have to treat it like it is real.

I don't think anyone in this party is actually playing this way though. The proceeding bit with Sir Lane is strong evidence against it, but even just moments before this interaction, we have the party going all out on the Fallen and this nice little explanation from Ash:

You know, some people would call me a trap with legs, but I hope there'd still be moral question to killing me. Anyway.

I was really mad the first time I read this, back in 2018. Orc discourse wouldn't hit its stride for a few more years, but even then I found it frustrating. If we're supposed to believe that these characters are treating Die as real, why are the Fallen different? Are "orcs" not people? Are they not conscious? Perhaps are used as unquestionable fodder in early D&D and LOTR, major influences on DIE, but I feel like we're past that now. The easy answer for the moment is that they are more like zombies than orcs, but that's still not satisfying for me. This whole scene appears to be a weirdly out of place statement for the comic.

Let's hold onto that feeling of dissonance—it feels bad for a reason. Without spoiling too much, Ash & the party's knowledge of the Fallen is pretty sparse at this point. They know them as hungry, diseased automatons. There's a lot more to them. A lot more. As we'll find later, this statement is just wrong.

This is a really important theme for the comic: The party is often wrong in what they think and what they do. Their attitude as 90s gamers will keep butting heads against more modern TTRPG ideas. This past thoughts/present thoughts conflict will continue not just with the Fallen, but in pretty much every aspect of the story.

So What's Up With Sol?

You've gotta love this guy—the dramatics, the get up, the ambush, it's all classic GM shit. Look, he's even having to stop himself from spoiling things here, he's just so excited to see his friends again!

Okay, maybe there's something a little worse than that going on here. Sol is (obviously) a really bad friend here. He's stating that he wants to bring the party back for another game—the war is over, now we're here for fun.

Ash reads this differently. She sees him as furious, furious beyond the point of sanity.

The other players have their own ideas. Isabelle, it seems, might be taking Sol at his word, but she's trying to talk him down. Matt is, pretty rightfully, furious. He's been brought out of his normal life into the worst place in the world. Angela bargains. Maybe she thinks Sol is crazy enough to fall for it.

So what's really going on here? Why did Sol bring them back, why now? We don't get an exact answer here, but I don't think it's anything put forth in this scene. Or maybe a bit of all of it. We'll learn more the next time we see Sol.

Other Thoughts

Well, here we go. We've got our quest, we've got a combat in, even some roleplay. A pretty good first session! I do like how these early bits are all structured like standard D&D sessions.

I already gushed a bit about the art in this issue's action scene, but I also want to call out the way Ash's narration works there too. Everyone's role in the party and their powers are very clear. It's a good set piece to show what everyone can do and why they're cool.

If you're considering reading DIE, I'd try to get through at least these two issues. If you like the tone and the characters, keep going! It just gets better from here.

In fact... next issue introduces one of my favorite bits of world-building in the series... but we'll save that for later.

[aquadestinyswriting]

Hi Aqua! How does your writing reflect and/or challenge the values you grew up with? These could be cultural, family, and/or personal values and beliefs.

Hi friend, thank you very much for the ask. Answer is under a cut since this is definitely going to get quite long.

I had to give this question quite a bit of thought because there's a bit to unpack here. I'm a 90's kid (born mid-80's but obviously cannot remember much of that time period as I was far too young). I think most of my writing reflects the values I ended up with, with only a few coming from the time I grew up.

The values I did grow up with that I've kept in my writing include:

Being kind to people, no matter their circumstances. This was partly instilled by my parents, and partly through the intense observation I did in order to attempt to fit into my peer group. Both Selene and Meredith (being roleplay characters and, thereby, extensions of parts of myself) both try to embody this. Meredith is much more successful at it.

Family is more than the people you share blood with. I was fortunate enough to have a close relationship with the family on my mum's side as I grew up in the same town as the majority of them. However, my parents also had myriad friends that they remained close to that I considered aunts and uncles throughout my childhood. Pretty much all my characters maintain close friendships that become found family at one point or another, though the format of a D&D campaign lends itself very well to this concept to begin with.

The sins of the father are not the sins of the child. My parents did their best to halt the cycles of generational trauma that haunt both sides of my family. They weren't entirely successful, but I did grow up with the idea that mental health problems were just as serious as physical ones and that they deserved treatment and compassion and that I also held no responsibility for the actions of my parents or grandparents. I also learned that it's perfectly okay to cut out the toxic people in your life. The value above is far more apparent in Meredith's side of the story than Selene's, mostly through the lens of Yoruk's relationship with his mother, though it also applies to Meredith's family history. This is also a thing I explore in The Ouroboros of Destiny series through the viewpoint of Llachlan, Meredith's youngest son

There are some values I do challenge in my stories as well. Mainly through Selene, though Meredith gets subjected to some of this as well.

If you're not busy with something you're being lazy. It's not obvious in my writing (I probably do need to hint at it a little more tbf), but part of the reason Selene burns out so hard towards the end of the first half of her story is because she subscribes to this philosophy. I was only recently diagnosed with ADHD, and have come to realise it's pretty prevalent in my family. Unfortunately, the above was my mum's mantra when I was a kid. It kind of still is for her. I'm digging into challenging this through Edwin's relationship with Selene and his attempts to help her through her issues.

It's okay to disagree with my decisions. Until it isn't. The embodiment of this kind of thinking in my stories is Schreiber. I despise arbitrary social rules even today, and I'm having a lot of fun unpacking that through this medium that I love. Now, to be fair, Schreiber's rules of social engagement make complete sense to him and most of the council of Toreguarde. They don't to Selene. So most of her time around him is spent trying to figure out what is okay to disagree with him about that day since, to her, that changes every time she has a Triumverate meeting and is entirely at Schreiber's whim. The only thing she knows for certain that is not okay to disagree with him on is the Edict (and she does anyway, because Fuck The Edict). All else is, apparently, up to chance. What do you mean I'm projecting onto my characters.

That's all I can think of for the moment, honestly. I'm not the best person at seeing all the values and themes I write about, but the above are probably the most obvious ones to me.

[greaseonmymouth]

Sooo, regarding your tags on that last post, do you have recs for old gay books, by any chance?

yes and no - as a teenager I read what I could get my hands on in the library and it was all in Danish and some of those books I don't know if were translated or not, and by that I mean translated from another language into Danish, or vice versa. One of those books I'm pretty sure was actually translated from Swedish because I remember the author name sounding Swedish and the characters were Swedish and Danish... lots of formative old gay books that had been sitting on the shelves since the 70s, 80s, 90s, that I can't find again.

anyway, one of the books I read as a teenager that was very formative for me was an Irish novel, When Love Comes to Town by Tom Lennon. the main character is a teenager, gay and struggling to come to terms with it, gets a boyfriend (bisexual, he fucks off to Belfast and cheats on him with a girl, classy - there's a fair amount of biphobia in the book, which I remember because I remember thinking it was weird how so many of the characters were warning him off bi guys when it was just this one guy being an asshole) but he also has a girlfriend because he's trying to keep up appearances and it's all a huge mess. he makes other queer friends. some of those queer friends he makes are transvestites, and there was a HIV positive guy who passed away. this book was formative for me for many many reason but the stand out elements were the found family and queer community, how they stood together and supported each other in the face of a lot of hate and discrimination and rocky family relationships and friendships. they found joy together. also I might be misremembering but the main character was like, really good in English class and was friends with his teacher and I could relate, lmao.

I read these two a bit later, in my early twenties, but Faggots by Larry Kramer and Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg. I actually need to read Stone Butch Blues again because I remember very little about it, but Faggots made a huge impact on me, it was written in the late 70s or early 80s and takes place in new york and while much of it is satire, satire is built on truth, you know? and it showcases such a range of queer experiences and characters, exaggerated and over the top, but with a very real core of human emotion and struggles. it is also a criticism and I've since read that this book was very controversial within the queer community at the time

Dream Boy by Jim Grimsley also comes to mind, it's a 90s novel but fuck me if I can remember the plot

I also want to briefly mention the Astreiant series by Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett - written in the 90s by queer couple Melissa and Lisa, this is a fantasy series where the world-building has queerness built in and while I love it just for what it is, I also think it's fascinating from a sociological point of view because you can infer a lot about their priorities but also what (American) society was like at the time. for instance this is a matriarchal society and it has queer relationships nobody bats an eye at, but yet there isn't marriage equality?

for recent books (er, say published in the last ten years ish? or let's just say in this century) written by people older than me, I want to recommend:

Less by Andrew Sean Greer - this is a love letter

Mr. Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo - this is a beautiful book and love story but it will also show you what it's like to be somebody who's been a closeted gay and black man since his early teen years in Antigua and move to the UK and now as an old man in London still in a relationship with the same man

Closet Case by Robert Rodi - this is one of those general fiction novels where the main character gets themselves into absurd situations and if it were heterosexual, it would've been a comedy, a romcom even, and adapted for screen. but it's gay. this author has written many more gay novels (and also! a very gay graphic novel about Loki for marvel, illustrated by Esad Ribic) but this is the only novel I've read by him

A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif I also read in my early twenties and it's one of those books I Think About A Lot because it's kind of an absurd book but the plot entirely falls apart without the gay relationship at the core. I didn't know it was gay when I picked this up (in a secondhand bookstore in Edinburgh, in 2011), I just read it and the plot unfolded and unfolded and then the revelation? I Think About It Often.

[selfindulgentsillinessbracket]

Why Each Character(s) Were Chosen, or, Why These Sillies Are Special To Me - CHAPTER 1 of ??

This is a series of posts documenting why each silly in this bracket is in this bracket & why they're each special to me.

These will be getting fairly personal & I may ramble on too long but I want to be sincere so I won't hold back my overly silly manner of typing if need be.

These will be covered in order of appearance on the brackets from first to last contestant(s).

#1. Wario & Waluigi

Wario is straight up my favorite mario character. No cap. He's number 1. His character, his games (Wario Land is peak 2D platformer with the only series beating it in existence being Donkey Kong Country), his moveset. He's a king if you ask me. Waluigi is by all accounts my other fav. I'm so mad they refuse to use him in the Wario land games. The one series he SHOULD be in. I demand they treat him better. Anyways love these two goofballs & they've always struck a chord with me. I'm all about the goofy rivals. Wario & Waluigi are just pure fun. Love em. Also play Wario Land 4 because it's literally peak. I promise you it's worth your time.

#2 Calvin & Hobbes

Back when I was a wee lad, the thing that made me wanna do art in the first place? That was comic strips. In particular, Calvin & Hobbes, & Garfield. These two series are why I'm an artist. I owe it all to these two along with that fat orange cat. But we'll get to Garfield later, for now, let's focus on Calvin & Hobbes. They were the first ones I was introduced too. I didn't read Garfield til a few years after I met Calvin & Hobbes. I loved these two. And their comics are timeless. The writing is just out of this world with how smart & hilarious it is. It doesn't matter that it's from the 80s or 90s, they still ring true now. They're still God damn hilarious. These guys made me wanna make my own comics. Which led to me making my own characters. Which led to me becoming an artist. Thank you Calvin & Hobbes. Thanks for shaping who I am today.

#3 Squeek

Ok so there's not much to cover here. Squeek here is from a game called Oddworld: Squeek's Oddysee. Never heard of it? Yeah of course not, it was canceled. Like many Oddworld games sadly are. See the teason I have SO MANY oddworld reps on this bracket is 1. Yeah oddworld is extremely special to me. But 2. I'm hoping it'll cause more people to give the oddworld games a shot. They're so underrated. Legit my favorite story, world, lore & narratives in all of gaming. Squeek is a character who from what little we know, he's got so much potential. His lore is tragic and depressing but that makes you want to see him beat the odds like how Abe & Munch did. Squeek was meant to be our third protagonist. And maybe someday he'll get that chance again. Anyways please I implore you guys to give this series a shot. They're not perfect, but there's so much to love.

#4 Zoey

Ok Zoey is a character who I need to get personal to explain why she was a special enough OC to be in this bracket. So this is gonna be a long one. Zoey has been around for a while now. I mean like a while. She was created back in March of 2016. Yes I actually remember the exact time she was made. So yeah, that's her origin. The very first artwork of Zoey ever made has the original time saved on the upload date. Lucky us, bc we know her time of creation.

Zoey was officially created on March 3rd, 2016. Here was the first drawing of her. Comparison to her current look included :)

Now I know what you're thinking, yes this does look awful. I was not nearly as good at art back then. 2016 was a terrible time. But after that Zoey was just left forgotten, never had a real idea what to do with her. Until this past year, I uncovered her. And with a new design and finally having a solid personality to give her, she was given life. My life. Because the personality she ultimately found was just mine. She is quite literally the definition of a self insert. When I write Zoey I am literally just writing myself. Or to be more accurate, I'm writing a very cartoonishly exaggerated version of myself.

The fact people vote for her at all, it genuinely got me to cry more than once. It means so much to me. Bc Zoey means so much to me. So, thank you. And Zoey thanks you all too, she's humbled & would hug all of you if she could (and if we both were more open to physical contact but autism yknow yeah)

Next Chapter of this coming idk anyways Polls are still open so voting is still here for group 1 & 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[symptoms-syndrome]

do you wanna rate different sonic designs? like when you put 'sonic designs over the years' in google images the third one (for me) is an image with different sonic designs and the year that one's from haha, i'd be really curious to hear your opinions!!!

I FORGOT TO FINISH THIS anyway here it is now. I have a 10 image post limit tho booooo.

HELL YEAH I DO I'm bad at ratings but I'm going to give my opinions!!! Under a cut bc. Long AF. The Sonics I chose are somewhat arbitrary TBH, and mostly focusing on box art and drawings instead of in-game models

Classic 1991 Sonic Box Art Sonic (Japan)

Fun little guy!!! Adorable! Not my favorite and I think the airbrush style isn't really my thing, but it's very Of The Time and I can respect that. He looks like what he was made for, a mascot for kids! Very friendly

Classic 1991 Sonic Box Art Sonic (USA)

Not gonna lie. Least favorite Sonic design. He looks kinda mean. I don't like his mohawk thing going on. IDK he just looks mean to me and I don't like him very much, I don't see why they had to change the design for America. They didn't change the sprite in the game. He doesn't have the same friendly and fun vibe. Why is his belly shaded like that.

Sonic Adventure/Adventure 2 Box Art (1998-2000)

This guy fucks and I love him. What is that pose? Cool as fuck!!! No respect for staying on model or whatever simply Vibes. He's so stretchy and I think I remember hearing this style was inspired by graffiti, which I can absolutely see. It's iconic, it's cool, it's dramatic, 11/10 all around. It's such a distinctive style and very, very On Brand for Sonic in the late 90s/early 2000s. He's just a cool cool guy!!!

Modern Sonic (general 1998-2000s/today)

Diehard Sonic fans are killing me w their mind RN. If ur not in the Sonic fandom u may not understand, but diehard Sonic fans have extremely strong opinions about their Favorite Modern Sonic or How Modern Sonic Should Look and will start a riot at Sega headquarters over them changing the hex code of his blue or the length of his spikes or legs or what the fuck ever. I'm not even joking people got SO MAD over this change:

Anyway I'm not one of those people. Modern Sonic is just. This guy! You look at him and he's Sonic. To me he's the Base Sonic, the Default Sonic, and I love him a lot! He's my favorite mostly just because I have the most associations with him. He's the Sonic that was in almost all the games I played. He's cool!!! Recognizable from classic Sonic while still looking different, has a lot of personality, distinctive silhouette, all that art school design stuff. But also he's just Sonic! He's cool he's simple. I don't have strong opinions about his design vs others because to me he's just Sonic and I love Sonic very very much.

Sonic Boom (2014-2017)

This guy was REALLY controversial, mostly because it's the biggest design change for Sonic that isn't like, a conditional thing (werehog, Excalibur Sonic, etc.) I really like his design though! They were going for a like, all the Sonic characters are very nature-y (the tape, live on a beach/island in grass roof houses, that kind of thing) and Eggman is very modern and robotic. I think it's cool to give them such distinct looks, also the redesigns to the rest of the cast really emphasized their skills and differences so they didn't look as alike as before, which I like.

I didn't like the Sonic Boom series TBH, it felt too self-deprecating and shallow compared to what I'm used to. A lot of the characters felt very flat, which was disappointing for such a cool redesign. I also hated Sticks (the character on the right) in general, I found her annoying and her character was just kind of a joke on paranoia and stuff like that. But strictly design speaking, I really like Sonic Boom. Not more than regular modern Sonic, but I think it could've been a cool side franchise type thing if they'd like. Been better about it. I also love his neck scarf it gives him puppy vibes to me. Like a golden retriever fresh from the groomer.

Movie Sonic (2020-)

I LOVE THIS GUY!!! He's just a kid! They did a good job of making him look a bit younger than regular modern Sonic, which fits his whole Vibe. I like how they gave his spikes that cool texture while still keeping the shape of Sonic, I was concerned about how they'd do that when the movie was first announced.

He's adorable! I wanna hug him!!! He gives me little brother energy! You look at him and you know what he's about, he's a kid who likes fun!

Okay now getting into some specific designs because! It's my blog and I want to.

Sonic Riders (2006-2010)

This fucks severely. I love the really cool shading style and outline! And the animation for it is sick as hell too!

IDK it's just super fucking cool I love his shoes and his goggles. He just looks extremely cool, like a big brother in the 2000s.

Sonic OVA (1996)

He's so cute! I like him, he's a little less chibi-esque than classic Sonic but still very cute. I think it fits his attitude, like he's sort of childish in the OVA and he looks like a young teen to me.

Werehog from Sonic Unleashed (2008)

FUCK YEAH MONSTERY SONIC he's so cool. He's so tough looking and I like how they made him really different while still being distinctly Sonic. His arms are stretchy too! I wish Unleashed had polished his gameplay more so he'd be more appreciated.