#but it's useful to distinguish 'i find this guy entertaining' from 'i think he was in the right'

[just-late-roman-republic-things]

One of the biggest influences on how I view Julius Caesar is my belief that unchecked power is inherently unjust. Even if a dictator only created laws in favor of causes I agree with, the mere idea of a dictator who cannot be held accountable would be horrifying.

Accountability means free elections, fair trials, and distribution of power between institutions that can check each other. It means abuses of power can be addressed without resorting to mob violence, vigilantism or civil war. You can't fix the system just by ensuring the "right people" have all the power - that's authoritarian thinking. Bad actors are very good at saying the right lines to appeal to you, and good people may change their views, make mistakes, or die.

Caesar's popularity appears to have declined during his dictatorship, particularly after 45 BCE, when people expected him to step down after he stamped out the last band of Pompeian holdouts in Spain. The civil war was over; there was no remaining crisis that needed a dictator to enforce order. His decision to hold onto power - and in fact, to pre-arrange sham elections for his supporters up to three years in advance - made both senators and the public nervous. And angry, because it denied the people their voice in government. It's really no surprise that a group of senators decided to stop him with the only way they still saw: death.

We can argue about Caesar's policies, and reforms, and how the republic was corrupt and unjust. But for me, the ultimate form of corruption is the ruler who cannot be held accountable. And it's pretty damn unjust, too.

[artistmarchalius]

Innit VS In’t - a PSA

I’ve seen some confusion in Hobie fics around the word “innit” and I think I’ve figured out why: aside from general confusion about the use of the word, I believe some people are occasionally mixing it up with “in’t”.

So let’s dive into it!

Innit - isn’t it

Can be used at the end of a sentence to make it a question or for emphasis.

E.g. “That’s a load of rubbish, innit?” Or “I’m Spider-Man, innit.” (The latter is an example of emphasis. It’s not grammatically correct but using slang isn’t always about being grammatically correct).

“Innit” can also be used in the middle and at the beginning of sentences (in place of “isn’t it”).

E.g. “Innit lovely out here?” Or “You told me that a Vulture variant was loose in Holborn, but innit true you’ve been tellin’ porkies?”

In’t - contraction of “isn’t”

You can use “in’t” in place of “isn’t”.

E.g. “In’t that the guy who was in here earlier?” Or “That’s a metaphor for capitalism, in’t it?” (You could also use “innit” in the second example).

It can be a bit confusing to a non-English ear to distinguish between “innit” and “in’t”, especially when they’re spoken quickly. For example: if you think you’re hearing someone say something like “Innit that right?” (which would be saying “Isn’t it that right?”, then you’re probably actually hearing them say “In’t that right?”

But wait!

Couldn’t you just use “ain’t” instead of “in’t”?

Sure!

“Ain’t” is a very versatile contraction. It can mean: am not, are not, is not, have not, has not, do not, does not and did not.

E.g. “I ain’t a liar!” Or “He ain’t done his homework.” Or “Ain’t that the truth.” Or “It ain’t right.”

Fun facts:

The earliest records of “ain’t” are from the 1700’s but it was popularised by Dickens’ representation of Cockney dialect.

“In’t” originates from Northern England.

So why use “in’t” instead of “ain’t”?

Personal preference, innit?

And there you have it, a dive into the world of “innit”, “in’t” and “ain’t”!

As always, I’m not an expert, I just wanted to share the knowledge that I do have. There may be other ways to use these words, depending on what part of the country you come from, but this should cover the vast majority of them (if not maybe all of them)! Hopefully someone will find this helpful, informative or entertaining at the very least. I know a lot of this seems basic, but there are a lot of non-native English speakers in the fandom so I wanted to cover all my bases.

Let me know if there’s anything else you’d like me to cover and I’ll see what I can do! If you’re using “innit” or “in’t” in your writing but aren’t sure if you’re using it right, I’m happy to look over any sentences you’d like me to!

Happy writing!

[sailortongue]

You Callin' Me a Liar?

pairing: eddie munson x reader

summary: eddie tells the boys that he has a girlfriend, but they don't believe him. eddie vows to make them eat their words

wc: 2.5k

part 2

——————

“No can do, boys. I’m driving my girlfriend home today.” The freshmen had barely gotten the question out when Eddie shot them down.

“Girlfriend?!” exclaimed Dustin. “Since when do you have a girlfriend?!” To say he was shocked was an understatement. His eyebrows shot all the way up to his hairline and his jaw might as well have been on the floor.

“Dude, if you don’t want to drive us then just say that,” said Mike.

Eddie looked at the boy incredulously. “You callin me a liar, Wheeler?”

“I mean, not in those words…” Mike quickly looked down, uncomfortable with the glare that Eddie was directing at him. The dungeon master was usually pretty chill, but god he could be intimidating.

Eddie scowled before staring at the other two boys, “And what about you two? You don’t believe me either?” The look on Dustin’s face was answer enough, as was Lucas’ awkward smile. “Just you three wait. I have the most gorgeous girl in Hawkins High and I’m gonna prove it.”

“Yeah, right,” started Mike before looking over at Dustin and Lucas. “Next thing we know he’ll be telling us his ‘girlfriend’ is a cheerleader, too.”

“As a matter of fact, she is,” huffed Eddie. If he was being honest with himself, it kind of stung how none of the boys believed he was capable of being in a relationship.

“Whatever you say, Eddie,” said Dustin placatingly, obviously still believing Eddie to be lying so he didn’t have to drive them home.

“Y’know what, I’m gonna bring her to Hellfire this week and all of you will eat your words.”

——————

Hellfire wasn’t for another two days and Eddie was becoming more and more short tempered at constantly being the butt of the joke at the table. Not a single one of his friends believed him. This is what he gets for not wanting the relationship to be public. He’d been so worried about how the rest of the squad would treat you if they knew, but he didn’t even consider how his friends would react, especially without proof.

“So, Eddie, which one is it? It can’t be Chrissy since she’s dating Jason, and Kelly is with that Daniel guy. Is it Lisa?” teased Gareth. After that, the rest of the guys started taking turns poking fun at him, trying to guess the cheerleader that Eddie was supposedly dating.

“No.”

“Jennifer?”

“No.”

“Beth?”

“No.”

“Yn?”

Your name obviously caught Eddie’s attention, the rest of the table erupting into a cacophony of shouts and laughter that couldn't be distinguished from one another.

Jeff’s voice cut through the noise, still laughing, “Dude, there’s no way you got a girl like Yn Y/l/n to go out with you. She’s, like, the golden girl of Hawkins High. It’s been a fun joke, but I can’t even entertain it anymore.” His broad smile was a harsh contrast to his words. Jeff didn’t realize it, but Eddie was both offended and hurt by his words. 

You were at your usual table with the rest of the squad when you saw your beloved boyfriend storm out of the cafeteria. A frown tugged at your lips, wondering what had upset him so much. You waited a few minutes before excusing yourself from the conversation to go after Eddie, knowing exactly where you would find him.

He was already at the picnic table when you arrived. He had his head in his hands and his back to you. “Eddie?” you called out. He lifted his head and turned to you. “Yeah?” he croaked.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” You approached the table and sat next to him, pulling his head into your lap. He sighed, “It’s the guys. They think I’m lying about you.” He was full on pouting now. You knew he was upset but damn he was cute when he did that.

You gazed down at him and smiled, running your fingers through his hair, “So what? At the end of the day I’m still your girlfriend, whether they believe it or not.” Your words finally got a smile back on his face as he sat up and pulled you next to him, pressing his lips to yours in a brief kiss before pulling back. “Thanks, sweetheart. You still comin’ to Hellfire this week?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” you said with a cheeky grin. “Can’t let the party think their dungeon master is a liar, now can I?”

“Oh, but of course not. My honor will be restored and the princess of Hellfire will put her subjects in their place.”

“Princess of Hellfire? Eddie, they’ve never even met me,” you chuckled, Eddie joining you. His theatrics had always been a source of laughter for you and oh how Eddie loved the sound. When the laughter died down the two of you were left in a comfortable silence until Eddie checked his watch and hissed. “What is it?” you asked.

“Lunch ended 10 minutes ago.”

——————

One day to the Hellfire meeting and the club was still not dropping the subject. The three freshmen had finally told the others that Eddie planned to bring you this week, and they were determined to hold him to it. Not that he had any intention of backing out.

“So, Eddie, why don’t you tell us about her? Since y’all are dating you should know all about her, right?” Lucas was being a bitch and the whole table knew it was intentional. He was trying to get under Eddie’s skin and it was working. “So, how did you meet?”

Eddie remained silent, opting to ignore the nosy question in favor of eating his lunch.

“Oh, c’mon, man. Just answer the question,” chimed Gareth.

Eddie huffed, practically throwing his fork onto his plate. “We met at a music store. She was looking for some Ozzy and I helped her out. Got to talking about music and we hit it off.  Turns out we listen to a lot of the same stuff.”

“You really expect us to believe a prep listens to the same kind of music you do? You sure you didn’t dream this?” said Lucas skeptically, his expression one of total disbelief. The rest of the guys murmured in agreement.

“First Wheeler and now you’re callin’ me a liar, too?”

“Look, man, no one’s calling you a liar right now,” objected Dustin. “ We’re gonna wait to see if she shows up to Hellfire.” He glanced around the table at each of the club members, “Right, guys?” There was a chorus of half-hearted acceptance. Not wanting to go too far and piss off Eddie even more, the subject switched over to complaining about classes and teachers and annoying classmates.

——————

Today was the day. You were finally going to join Eddie in one of his Hellfire meetings. You were nervous about making a good impression. You knew how important the group was to him and you were terrified that they wouldn’t like you. He’d nearly laughed at your concern when you brought it up during one of his late night visits, but was quick to reassure you when he realized you were serious.

“Sweetheart, you are the most amazing person I know. You’re sweet and talented and you have great taste in music,” he comforted, voice taking on an airy quality as he leaned in closer to you, lips brushing but not quite connecting. “And we can’t forget how you look in that cheer uniform, especially that little skirt.” He’d laughed against your lips before finally melding his lips to yours. The lazy kiss quickly turned heated as he dragged his hand down your side to grip your hips, pulling you onto his lap. He withdrew to leave a trail of kisses down the column of your throat before finding the spot he was looking for; the spot that made you gasp out his name so prettily. 

He brought his sinful mouth up to your ear, biting and sucking all the way back up your neck and nipping your earlobe before whispering, “You couldn’t be any more perfect unless you were God himself.” He placed one more chaste kiss against your lips before resting his forehead on yours. “You have nothing to worry about, I promise.” That night, you fell asleep with Eddie’s arms wrapped around you. He was gone when you woke up, of course. If either of your parents saw you sleeping with a boy in your bed, they would have blown a fuse.

The school day was dragging and your nerves were making it worse. Despite Eddie’s reassurance, you still had your doubts. By the time lunch rolled around you were practically shaking with anxiety, so wrapped up in your thoughts that you didn’t hear Chrissy calling your name.

“Yn!” she said loudly, finally gaining your attention.

Your head jerked up in her direction, “Yeah?”

Chrissy laughed at your distractedness, “Just wanted to let you know we’re practicing a new routine today. What’s got you so distracted?” You didn’t answer and she gasped dramatically. She leaned over the table and whispered conspiratorially “Is it a boy?!” You blanched. “I knew it!” she squealed, delighted that her best friend was finally showing interest in someone. “You have to tell me all about him!”

“Okok, but not here.” Eddie had been adamant about being hush hush with your relationship. He was so worried that you would be ridiculed just for dating him, and he didn’t want to see you go through the same torment he did. But Chrissy was your closest friend and there was no doubt in your mind that she would be over the moon for you as well as keep your secret. You got up from the table, Chrissy following suit, and led her to the girl’s locker room in the gym, which was thankfully empty.

Chrissy was immediately bombarding you with questions, too excited to wait for you to answer before asking another one. “So, what’s his name? What’s he like? Oh! Is he on the basketball team? I could get Jason to help set you up!”

You waved your hands in front of you, quickly denying her offer. “He’s not on the basketball team. He’s not on any team, actually.”

“No? Well, who is it then? C’mon, the suspense is killing me! Best friends are supposed to know everything, and you’ve been holding out on me!”

“Alright!” you wheezed out in between your laughter. “It’s Eddie…”

“Eddie Munson?” she said, stunned. You nodded in affirmation. She seemed to roll the idea around in her head before seemingly making up her mind, exclaiming, “You two would be so cute together! Have you talked to him?”

“Chrissy, we’re already dating,” you informed flatly.

“Oh my God, Yn, how could you not tell me?!” she whined. “You have to tell me everything, now.” She crossed her arms and tried to school her face into as stern an expression as she could.

“We met at a music store. I was looking for an Ozzy Osbourne cassette but I couldn't find one. Eddie was there and helped me out. We talked for a while about music and it just kinda went from there.”

“Aw, that’s so cute! We should totally do a double date!”

You looked at her like she had grown a second head. “A double date? With Jason and Eddie?” It dawned on Chrissy that there was a serious flaw in her plan: your respective boyfriends hated each other.

She let out a loud laugh and looked at you, smiling. “Wouldn’t that be something? Pretty far fetched, huh?”

“Yeah, no kidding. They’d be at each other’s throats the whole time.”

You and Chrissy spent the remainder of lunch talking in the locker room and telling her all about your plans with Eddie later. It was relieving to finally be able to tell her about him.

Meanwhile, Eddie was bragging up a storm at his lunch table. He couldn’t wait for the guys to meet you and especially couldn't wait to prove them wrong.

“Eddie, if you say one more word about her, you’re gonna be one party member short tonight, whether she’s coming or not,” warned Lucas. Eddie held his hands up in surrender.

“I still don’t think there’s any possible way you got with a girl like Yn,” said Jeff around a mouthful of food.

“Just you wait until tonight. You’ll all eat your words.”

——————

Hellfire had started 30 minutes ago and you were still nowhere to be seen. The guys were throwing him pitiful glances and whispering amongst themselves. They still hadn’t started the session, and it was clear that Eddie was on pins and needles waiting for your arrival.

Dustin was the first of the boys to give him the benefit of the doubt, “Hey, man, maybe she’s just running late? The cheerleaders practice after school, so she’s probably still in the gym.”

The others weren’t convinced, but it was enough to satisfy Eddie, who was no stranger to how hard you worked for the squad. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re probably right. So, what do you say, gentlemen? Ready to fight some monsters?”

——————

That new cheer routine turned out to be much harder than anyone was anticipating, and practice ran for much longer than it typically did. You were supposed to be at Hellfire 45 minutes ago. You didn’t bother to change out of your cheer uniform, rushing out of the gym doors, hoping that yelling bye on the way out was good enough. You ran through the corridors to the drama room, barging in without so much as knocking. “Eddie, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to be late but cheer practice ran overtime-”

“See, Eddie, I was right! Cheer practice!” interrupted a boy who could be no older than maybe 15 or 16. Eddie wasted no time introducing you, “Guys, I want you to meet my lovely girlfriend, Yn. Yn, this is the sorry bunch of freaks I play DnD with every week.”

You gave a small wave to the group. “Sorry I didn’t knock. Was in a bit of a rush,” you chuckled awkwardly, growing increasingly embarrassed by the open-mouthed stares of the boys. They recovered quickly when Eddie cleared his throat a little too aggressively to be genuine. Within seconds the room was filled with questions being directed at both you and Eddie, not that Eddie was answering any of them. He was too busy admiring you in your uniform.

He continued to ignore his club in favor of looking at you. When you finally turned your gaze back to him, he pushed his chair away from the table, an obvious indication of what he wanted. Without any hesitation, you made your way over and plopped yourself into your boyfriend’s lap, not caring about the club still being present. Eddie instantly wrapped his arms around your waist from behind to secure you as he nuzzled his face in your neck. You giggled at his actions before addressing the other boys, “I think you all owe Eddie an apology.”

[mrsbuckybarnes1917]

FINDING YOU Chapter 6

Summary: You're in a relationship with Steve Rogers, but his best friend just always seems to be around!

Word Count: 1.7k

Warnings: Girl talk and guy talk

MASTERLIST

CHAPTER 6

Bucky wandered into the large hall looking around nervously as a multitude of people scurried around him. He glanced around looking for his best friend. Bucky finally spotted him with Peggy standing near the stage. He sauntered over feeling apprehensive about the mayhem that surrounded him. He loitered close by, not wanting to interrupt Peggy and Steve's discussion.

"It's not going to work, Steve." The frustration in Peggy's voice was unmistakable.

"Why not? I'm sure the band is happy to play anything you want. They seem pretty talented."

Bucky noticed one of the band member's eyes light up by Captain America's praise and he chuckled quietly to himself. He remembered a time when women wouldn't even look in Steve's direction, now he was the social pariah. Not that he minded, he was glad people now saw everything he had already known about his best friend. 

“When the gala was announced, we specifically said we would have live entertainment,” Peggy argued, looking harassed and frustrated.

“The band will be live!” Steve countered.

“We need someone to sing. That’s what they are expecting.”

“Why is this so important?”

“Steve, these people are the ones funding our endeavors. Without their financial backing, we’d have nothing to work with.”

Bucky could see how fed up Steve looked. He had never enjoyed being used as propaganda, which is exactly what Peggy seemed to be doing for this fundraiser. Bucky pitied his friend in that moment and the words that came out of his mouth were not ones he had planned. In fact, he regretted them as soon as they had left his tongue, but there was no way to take them back.

"Why don't you get Ace to do it?"

Peggy and Steve rounded on him, slightly surprised by his presence.

"Ace?" Steve asked, looking perplexed.

Peggy, on the other hand, seemed angered by his suggestion. "Bucky, we need a professional for this event."

"It sounds like you're pretty desperate from where I'm standing." Bucky couldn't keep the venom out of his voice and he was thankful that Steve didn't seem to notice.

"Ace can sing?" Steve asked.

Bucky frowned, had Steve never noticed?

"Are you kidding? She used to sing in the shower all the time."

Peggy frowned at him. "Why are you listening to her sing in the shower? And why would Steve have heard her?"

Bucky watched a pink tinge appear on the tops of Steve's ears. Had he not told Peggy about his relationship with you?

"The walls of your building are pretty thin. And we have great hearing." Bucky’s eyes flicked to Steve, trying to gauge his reaction. “Plus, I spent too much time listening to her sing in the car when we went to the Catskills.”

Normally Bucky was pretty good at being able to read Steve’s expression, but today he couldn’t quite distinguish whether his best friend looked ashamed or grateful.

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask her. Have a backup plan in case we can’t find anyone else,” Peggy sighed.

Bucky felt furious at her attitude. He glared at Steve wanting him to say something.

“I don’t think that would be fair to her,” Steve mumbled.

Bucky rolled his eyes at his friend’s lack of conviction. He didn’t want to hear anymore. “I think you guys are busy. Steve, why don’t we do this another time.”

Bucky started to walk away without waiting for a response. He knew he hadn’t been friendly to you while you and Steve had been together. It was a defense mechanism for him, cutting himself off from any emotional connection that might hurt him. It was only now he was realizing how much of an impact it had had on you. He vowed that he would do everything to make up for his behavior.

Steve caught up with him as he made it out of the door to the hall.

“Buck, hold up!”

Bucky slowed down so that Steve could fall into step beside him.

“So you went to the Catskills with Ace?”

Steve’s tone was neutral but he knew his best friend was surprised and possibly jealous.

"Yeah." Bucky resorted to his monosyllabic demeanor.

"How is she?"

Bucky shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Maybe you should ask her."

"Are you angry with me?"

"No." He wasn't, not really.

"You obviously have something to say, Buck. So spit it out.'

"Do you think it's fair to them?"

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't told Peggy about her. It's been months!"

"What am I supposed to tell her?"

"How about the truth, pal? Look I know I wasn't exactly supportive of you and Ace, but-" Bucky sighed. "This seems really unfair."

"Do you think I'm happy about this?" Steve asked, a hint of defensiveness creeping into his tone.

"I know, bud, I know." Bucky put a consoling hand on Steve's shoulder.

After a few moments of silence, Steve spoke again. "So you two really went to the Catskills?"

"Yeah. Felt a bit like I was being held hostage," Bucky joked, a hint of a smirk on his lips.

"We were supposed to go together. It was on the list." Regret and sadness were etched across the blonde's face. 

"List?" 

"Things we both wanted to do. We promised that we'd do them together."

"I- I'm sorry, I didn't know." 

"I can't exactly expect her to not do them because of me."

"I know I'm the one who suggested this but… maybe asking Ace to do this isn't a great idea."

"Why not?"

"She'd do anything for you."

Steve rubbed the back of his neck, at a loss as to how he should respond. 

"It's not a bad thing, but-"

"But?"

"Maybe it would be kinder to … let her go."

"You two seem to be fast friends all of a sudden."

Was there a hint of jealousy in Steve's voice? Bucky couldn't quite tell.

"The shrink said I don't have enough numbers in my phone. And she seemed like she wouldn't object to- I haven't been very friendly before and-" He decided to stop talking, not quite able to express his feelings without sounding like his behavior was out of pity for you.

He couldn't quite put his finger on it but the fear he had felt that you were another person who would judge him had long since evaporated. He had been afraid that you might come between him and Steve, now he regretted that he had often been the one who had come between the two of you. He didn't want to admit how drawn he was to you, secretly craving your non-judgmental company. You made him feel comfortable, unquestioning of his thoughts or demanding updates on his progress. 

"You're a good man, Bucky."

Bucky scoffed quietly.

"I hope you start believing it soon. How are things going with Dr Raynor?"

Bucky shrugged noncommittally.

"Still getting nightmares?"

"Sam said something to me a while back that's actually been helpful. But they're still there, maybe a little less intense."

"Why did you move out, Buck?" 

Steve's question caught him a little off guard, but Bucky smiled sadly. "I don't want to burden your relationship with my problems."

"Buck, you're not a burden. Never."

Bucky kept walking silently, just not quite able to believe his best friend's words.

"Come on," he said eventually. "I'll text Ace and tell her we're coming over. Peggy seems pretty desperate."

Steve looked like he needed a win.

Sitting on the chair in your makeshift dressing room, you adjusted your dress for the umpteenth time. You'd been cursing yourself all day. Why did you agree to doing something so stupid? Yes, you'd been told that you could sing, and yes, you could belt out a good tune in a karaoke bar, or in front of your friends, but a banquet gala in front of hundreds of people? What had you been thinking?

Well it was obvious what you'd been thinking. That stupid part of your brain which would do anything for Steve. That wasn't helping your nerves at the moment.

A knock on the door paused your spiraling thoughts.

"Come in?" You called out, wondering who was here to see you. 

Peggy popped her head around the door with a bright smile, her lips sparkling.

"I just wanted to say thank you again for doing this."

"It's no problem." It certainly felt like a problem.

"It's a pretty impressive skill you have hidden away."

You shrugged, not quite knowing what to do with her praises. You hadn't spent much time with her, mostly because you'd done your best to protect yourself from the pain of her presence. It was unsettling to find her here now, engaging in conversation.

"What made you do this?"

"You needed help, I- it's a good cause."

"Not because Steve asked you?"

You frowned at her. "Well he did ask me."

"You care about Steve."

You shrugged again. "We're neighbors, friends."

"I think it's more than that." Peggy's tone was soft, contemplative, almost questioning.

Was Peggy threatened by you? You stayed silent, feeling anxious. 

"You love him," she concluded.

You didn't know why your heart was thumping so hard. Why did her words frighten you so much? You hadn't done anything wrong but she made you feel like you had.

"There isn't anything between us now."

"But there was?"

Steve really hasn't told her? Never had you wanted the floor to open up and swallow you more than you did now. Your silence told her everything she needed to know.

"He chose you, you know? There wasn’t ever really a question."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, you haven't done anything wrong."

"Steve never had a very good understanding of women."

"He didn't tell you, did he? About us."

Peggy shook her head.

"I think he didn't want to hurt you, or me. Not that that's an excuse. He struggles a bit to express his emotions."

Peggy chuckled appreciatively at your analysis.

"Look, I know I've not been that approachable. It's not because of you."

"I understand. And I appreciate you doing this. Even if it was for Steve."

"It's for a good cause."

"I should let you finish getting ready." Peggy rose from her perch. "Good luck out there!"

"Thanks!"

[autisticempathydaemon]

Hi hello !!! I'm here for the Redacted Audios match-ups, sooo Here ya go !!!

Punching Bag by Set it off, I love that band. I've been listening to them since middle school. I like when it says, “So say goodbye to your Mr.Nice Guy you got your wish, he’s rotting in hell..”, cuz that’s when the beat drops and I just like how it sounds. 

So I took the test just for this and apparently I’m type 5 “the investigator”. I don’t really know much about this but hope that tells you whatever you need to know. 👁👄👁👍

Not really, but I do love watching movie and drama video essays as background noise while I’m doing something else.

I didn’t have an imaginary friend...so…💀👌. Nah you know what let me make up one. His name was Bob the builder and he was the filler for my absent father figure. 😀👍

I usually end up falling asleep while listening to ASMR, I mean one of the reasons I love ASMR is cuz its great background noise.

I’ve never really wanted to change my name, but I think names like Hyacinth and Rain are pretty cool. They sound like character names and also I love nature so it’s like the perfect match up.

At the moment I really like listening to Milo’s play-through of the Mortuary Assistant. I just find it entertaining to watch and, again, I like to put it as background noise.

Ollie (sorry), I just don’t really find him interesting at all. Which I get he isn’t trying to be a super complex character, like that isn’t his purpose, but because I just don’t have much feelings for him.

H2O just add water and Mako Mermaids were my shit when I was little, and even now I still go back from time to time, I’ve watched all the seasons of both series multiple times over and to this day I continue to be a mermaid fanatic.

I LOVE HUXLEY WITH ALL MY HEART !!! LIKE HE IS SO WHOLESOME AND COMFORTING I JUST WANT TO HUG HIM.

Not really, at least not that I know of, but I do love knowing random fun facts about miscellaneous subjects. More specifically about Greek mythology, space, and folklore.

Gatorade with a ham sub sandwich.

I don’t really know if you are asking about music or ASMR so I will give you both. I’m currently obsessed with ‘EPIC the musical’ . It's a musical about the Greek poem ‘The Odyssey’.

My guilty pleasure is, very predictably, ASMR. I just find it relaxing and I love the stories that can be told through. 

Other stuff about me: I’m a Taurus and my mbti is INTJ. uuh I don’t really know what else to say so I hope this is enough info about me. This was pretty fun. I felt like I was having an interview about myself. :]

Ahhh, a Type Five, INTJ, oh, that is fun (and the same stats as Sherlock Holmes probably). Intellectual, curious, thoughtful, always thinking, always learning… I think a little serenity might do you some good.

Something about the way you talk about background noise while you work and relax makes me wonder how busy your brain must be; does that make sense? (I’m the same way, like I need mental fidget toys to focus properly?) I imagine Cam would be so helpful in that respect, with his even voice and his soothing demeanor.

You know what would be so lovely that I could absolutely imagine? Cam strikes me as a pretty old daemon, not as old as Vega but older, distinguished… the type to love Shakespeare, Dickens, the classics. Just imagine leaning your head on his shoulder as he reads to you, whatever book of whatever country’s lore your heart fancies that day. You get a nap, he gets a snack, everybody’s happy~!

Song:

When your legs don't work like they used to before/ And I can't sweep you off of your feet/ Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love/ Will your eyes still smile from your cheek

I don’t know how I feel about mixing Cam with Ed Sheeran either, I’ll admit, but it’s the vibes. Man strikes me as a romantic who likes a slower, sweeter kind of song- the kind you don’t necessarily dance to but hold each other and sway, you know? (Also, to throw a little bitter in with that sweet, he would actually love you until your legs don’t work like they used to before… and then some. Probably forever.)

Runner-Ups:

Lowkey, I like Morgan for you because he gives off a lot of the same vibes as Cam: sweet, understanding, a good listener. Elliott, I like for you because he would have lost his mind at your absent father figure joke. Don’t ask me how I know that, but he just would definitely have that sense of humor. It would make him literally lol, and that’s just fun /pos

Note: I feel you I’ve had Warrior of the Mind stuck in my head for weeks

Tell me about yourself, answer some fun questions, and I’ll match you with the Redacted boy I ship you with the most! 💌

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | Fearless Hyena (Chan, 1979)

Like many classic kung fu movies and certainly some of the others Jackie Chan directed, the plot can be described as a transparent clothesline for action scenes, all of which are very entertaining. But this does give its hero something of an arc. Jackie (and yes, I’m gonna call him by first name) initially is forbidden by his grandfather to reveal his kung fu skills, but not taking this warning seriously, decides to use it for profit as part of a martial arts school scam. His displays attract the attention of the villain (whose brutal handiwork is seen at the very beginning), who then kills his grandfather. Jackie, facing personal tragedy, learns to take matters of kung fu seriously and trains with a friend of his grandfather until he can defeat the villain and avenge his grandfather. Kung fu goes from fun and games to a matter of personal honour, of life and death. On the surface, its a pretty straightforward arc of personal growth to line up with the overarching conflict, but it does lend itself to interesting reads in light of the state of the genre and Jackie’s career at the time.

I think the very broad significance attributed to Jackie’s rise as a martial arts star is the introduction of comedy to the genre. More specifically, I think there’s an irreverence in his view of martial arts that distinguishes him from the respect that someone like Lau Kar-Leung treats them even in comedic efforts. (Differing philosophies on the subject led the two men to butt heads during the production of Drunken Master II.) In Lau’s movies, particularly The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, you can see how each training sequence helps the hero work on a specific skill and translates to personal growth. Here, the training sequences are impressive physical feats, but also seem parodically, sadistically difficult, like when Jackie’s grandfather leaves him maintaining a difficult position while he runs off to use the bathroom, or pure goofs, like Jackie turning the tables on his grandfather by saddling him with all sorts of pots and bowls.

And there’s the fact that Jackie is forced to hide his abilities, and that using them invites threatening elements, and it isn’t until the end that he’s able to have full agency over his abilities. Jackie at this time was under the thumb of Lo Wei, a producer and director who had mostly been forcing Jackie into roles that were awkward fits for his specific charisma, and wielded over him a restrictive contract and probably mob affiliations to enforce it, and it wasn’t until Jimmy Wang Yu got involved until Jackie was freed from his contract. (You can see the results of the split a few years later in Fearless Hyena 2, which had to be cobbled together from recycled footage and a Jackie impersonator with a red nose disguise after Jackie left during the production, as well as Jackie’s cameos in Fantasy Mission Force and The Prisoner, which he did to repay Jimmy.) So it isn’t hard to find parallels in the movie, Jackie’s grandfather evoking Lo Wei’s control over his him, the villain representing the threat of the mob. The movie ends on a note of uncertainty, suggesting the possibilities open to Jackie should he be able to take control of his own career. (I also think the lingering threat of the villain represents a strain of handover anxiety, although I babble on about that in every other review I’ve ever written about Hong Kong films, so I’ll leave it at that.)

There is also an interesting element of deception that runs through the whole movie. Jackie has to pretend not to know kung fu. Jackie looks for work with a coffin seller who seeks to rip off his customers. Jackie gets work helping the owner of a kung fu school run a scam, even disguising himself as a woman to fight an unsuspecting challenger. (The guy keeps trying to grope Jackie and gets his ass thoroughly kicked, meaning that it’s a substantially easier watch than the interminable groping scenes in the Lucky Stars movies.) This foregrounding of deception as a means of getting ahead would feature again in Miracles, where the cynicism of the material mixes interestingly with the light comedic touch of the direction.

And as for the fight scenes, like I said, they’re extremely entertaining. To an extent that’s a given when watching classic Hong Kong action movies, as things like amazing stuntwork, clean camerawork and coherent editing were pretty much standard even in flimsier efforts. But what you can see in these fight scenes early in Jackie’s career as a director and performer is a synthesis of the palpably rhythmic, back-and-forth choreography by Yuen Woo-Ping in Drunken Master and the “all props are fair game” style that would largely define many of Jackie’s later fight scenes. And it isn’t just throwaway objects that he uses in the action. He’ll use their own bodies against them, weaponizing the size and weight of his larger opponents against them, or even weaponize his own body, hitting them with unexpected parts of his body, sometimes to comedic effect (a gong sound plays when he butts an opponent with his… butt), sometimes less so. Jackie in his later movies is usually covered up by outfits that mask his physique, but here the camera gazes lovingly at his impressive musculature.

The re-entry of the villain late into the movie fundamentally changes the overall energy from goofy fun to brutal and harrowing, and the final fight scene, which acts as a culmination of several of these ideas, gets an added charge. Jackie’s gimmick here is to psych out his opponent by leaning into the full range of human emotion, with shifts in fighting style to match: happiness, sadness, anger and joy (okay, two of those are kind of the same, but they have different moves). It keeps the scene nice and spontaneous, the fight choreography as malleable as the hero’s emotions, and offers a concise expression of the tonal whiplash you sometimes get in classic Hong Kong cinema. And maybe it’s also a message to Lo Wei: if you stop restricting Jackie and let him break out of the box you’ve kept him in, this is what he can do. In any case, it’s a great fight scene and a terrific capper to a very fun movie.

[laurenceslife]

Chapter 18

            Next morning, he was having breakfast with Emily, in their suite, and told her everything about what happened yesterday, and that he already thought he wasn’t in love. In the beginning, the girl was indignant that he believed Francis more than her because of his age only, but they soon made peace with each other, and then the filming began.

On the way there, Larry told Francis his conversation with Emily, and on the way back, they were talking about the movie with the others.

One of the actors was having his birthday so some of them and Francis went to a place of entertainment from the quarters. Larry’s teenager desires about amusement, also took him there of course.

- What a shitty thing it was that we bombed the civilian inhabitants too! – one of the actors continued the subject about the war, sitting at a table at the bar with the others, and having a drink or two – It’s a lucky thing I wasn’t drafted…

- Yeah, it can be hard to look in the mirror being such a man like that… - another one said.

- Are you stupid?! It wasn’t even possible to distinguish who was the enemy from who wasn’t! Evidently that was the reason.

- And anyway, how many people died of us! Many of us didn’t even wanna go into the war because of it, but it was obligatory! – the fourth one stood by him.

- Don’t you guys know some more cheerful subject that appropriates a birthday?! – the fifth one began to speak in a bored manner.

- It’s not even a party. It’s freaking boring. Mine’s evidently gonna be better – Larry said.

They were talking, guffawing and having a drink or two, for two more hours and a half, in the musical place of entertainment, then had to go back to the hotel because the filming was going to continue next morning like every day with the exception of Sunday, and they had to perform well so they couldn’t drink too much, not to be hung over, and they couldn’t sleep too little, not to be sleepy.

They were going back to the quarters by the rented bus which they were also going by on the way there. Larry was looking at the night city, and making plans for and daydreaming about his birthday he wanted to have with Jenny, Emily and some actors of the movie. He wanted a real, youthful party. He was already famished between those many much older men, to enjoy himself as a teenager. His mother and Jack were out of the question, even Francis, because he was like his godfather to him, what usually came in handy, but not at a party.

After he had arrived in the suite, first, he took a shower to sober up and so his sleepiness would be over by the time he would call Jenny. During it, he was thinking up everything about how to word; he already only had to wait for the effect of the water, that when he would complete taking the shower, he would be in such a condition that he could direct his voice enough.

He dried himself with his dark blue towel, took it up onto the clothes line, took his dark blue and white patterned pajamas on, and called the girl already before cleaning his teeth.

- Hello – Jenny said cheerfully.

- Not that I’m in love with you but we’re already been kept waiting for such a long time, and I freaking miss you; we haven’t met for so much time, and we’ve been kept in doubt for so much time! – Larry said in a complaining voice – You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve seen, and here, I don’t find one more such girl like you, in America either; your parents can’t part us, nobody else either since we’re already dating, this is only our business!

- I kind of miss you too – the girl said enthusiastically, cheerfully and a bit shyly, and they were talking on for a half an hour.

            Next day, in the afternoon, after filming, Larry read a comic while listening to the radio, then saw science fiction on TV. Then he called Jenny, to ask if her parents had decided on anything.

They liked that this boy was ready to pay for the flight for his girlfriend and her family, they thought Jenny was important for him and gave her every due, and they already liked that he kept them coming, so they agreed to the trip.

So her parents believed he was in love with her – Larry thought – but he wouldn’t risk, as an addition, he wouldn’t make Jenny’s traveling there impossible, either; Emily already caused enough risk, and by the way, the girl’s parents didn’t have to know where their relationship exactly was, so he wasn’t going to tell them – Jenny would tell them if she wanted to, but they would have been stupid if they would spoil everything with it; she surely didn’t want to tell them, either, anyway; Jenny knew that he didn’t want to use her, and her parents evidently wouldn’t have understood it; parents constantly worry unnecessarily – he thought. He was rather happy that he could see Jenny again, and he was happy that he didn’t lose this „number”. The youngsters were annoyed because they still had to be waiting for so much time, so they already really wanted to meet immediately, so talked through one hour and a half after the girl had told him the good and the not that good news. But she was telling him about her grandma and granddad, their house and the animals they kept there why she and her sister liked to go to their house, but this time she would go to the boy as soon as possible. Larry told her that he already missed his relations and friends, he told her how good friends he was with his cousins and what they did at his grandma’s place, in Augusta. He was also telling her about the filming, Francis, Emily, his parents and Emily’s father, and Jenny was telling him about the school, her friends and parents. They had never talked about school before but they hadn’t even talked about their family and friends either.

After replacing the receiver, Larry told the news to Emily and Francis, and in the evening, he was having dinner together with his mother, Jack and Emily, and told the girl’s arrival to Hattie too. She thought this relationship wasn’t that serious because the children were still very young, but she was still curious about who her son’s first girlfriend was, so she looked forward to meet with her, and then, when she already knew that she was surely going to come, she worried a little bit about what like girl Larry’s first girlfriend could be, so wanted to meet with his family too, to know according to what like maxims she had been raised. She knew she would have put him in an awkward situation if she would have told him in Emily’s and Jack’s presence, so she did it in the doorway of the boy’s room, when the girl and her father had gone in their own rooms already.

First, Larry hit the roof, but then her mother said that Jenny’s parents surely also wanted to meet with him and his mother since they were already going to fly there from so far away because of him.

Larry was studying with his mother, then watching a western movie before taking a shower and cleaning his teeth, then went to sleep.

He was dreaming about Jenny, that he introduced her to Emily and his fellow actors to show them what a good girl he had, and they were having a huge party. He was kissing her in the place of entertainment before everybody’s eyes, enjoying the pride and the girl’s kisses and embrace.

He looked forward to seeing Jenny again and to introducing her to his friends. Since they were talking so much yesterday, he even more liked the girl - she was so sweet when she was talking about her grandparents and about she and her sister how much liked their dog, cats and rabbits, and he already even more wanted to meet with her – he thought while changing after he had gotten up next morning – He wanted to acquaint his beloved girlfriend with Emily, Francis, as an addition, even with Hattie and Jack.

He was having breakfast in the dining-room with Emily and Francis, and already started to tell them about Jenny.

- And what did your mom say to you last night after dinner? – the girl asked, smiling and leaning her chin on her fist.

- She said Jenny’s parents surely wanna meet with me and her since they’re gonna come here from so far away because of me, and she also wanna meet with her and with her parents – the boy said, and there was a bit of excessive boredom in his voice that was concealing his embarrassment.

- Ouch, and do you let her do it?!

- I can’t shake her off. She came here by definition to look after me – Larry’s voice a little bit showed that he was ashamed of it.

- It’s so awkward!

- We adults can see that you two are still too young for life without your parents! – Francis said.

- If you think I’m too young, don’t employ me in this brutal movie! – Larry was indignant.

- I said you two were babies only to live without adults! I only mean the given situation! – the man said in a conciliating voice.

- OK, he’s right about minors not living alone – Emily said.

- OK, I know, I couldn’t have come without my mother, either! – the boy said.

They were also chatting about acting, which was their common subject, then went back to their own rooms.

Larry called his friends who stayed in America, and was talking with them too. That day, the filming was going to begin at one in the afternoon, at least for him because Francis allowed him to be only going to the set to shoot his scenes, in exchange, if he would tell some things about Jenny to him too.

- That filming’s a laugh! – he said, laughing when he was talking to Jenny on the phone – First, the co-star guy appeared completely unprepared, then the soldiers who wage war not far away, even borrowed one of our machines from us, and one of the actors covenanted some local tropical illness; he’s completely laid low!

- Then you can covenant it, too! Isn’t it dangerous? – the girl asked worryingly.

- Only one actor’s gotten it!  How much chance is there of exactly me being the one who gets it, too? – the boy asked, laughing.

- So that’s OK – Jenny said in a sweet voice.

- I like your voice – Larry said, smiling, and lying on his stomach, on his bed.

- And what other things do you also like about me? – Jenny smiled, too, lying the same way on her own bed in America.

- Everything’s so sweet about you – the boy smiled on – And what do you like about me?

- I don’t know… Everything – the girl said, daydreaming – I look forward to meeting with you! – she continued enthusiastically – And till then, don’t ring me up that some snake bit you in that jungle or something!

            During the last two days until Jenny’s arrival, Larry, Hattie, Jack and Emily began enthusiastically talking about Jenny’s and her family’s arrival, during every meal together who Larry happened to be eating with. Larry also talked to Francis about Jenny’s arrival when they happened to be going to the set.

He was already excited about meeting with the girl, and could hardly concentrate on the work by the exultation inside him; he had seen his girlfriend so long ago that tomorrow's day was special for him.

When he was going to the suite, he was considering what to talk about and what to do with Jenny when she would arrive from America.

When he had arrived at the beautiful, red carpeted stairs what’s banister was gilt and consisted of patterns, that came into his head that he could show her this luxury hotel from inside because she and her family were surely going to stay at a cheaper place - But then they should be eating there, in its restaurant what he would pay if it would be necessary – came into his head – and he could also show her the neighborhood, they could spend the whole day there what the girl would surely love, just they wouldn’t have a whole day continuously. They were surely also going to go to the beach together; that came into his head because of it that he also looked forward to seeing her in a bathing costume.

When he had arrived at his room, it came into his head that they would also need to be alone in a room to be able to kiss without there being hoopla because of the color of their skin.

When he was going to his wardrobe to take his pajamas out, it came into his head that then, when the weather was hot there, Jenny was surely going to wear little clothes so when they would kiss and embrace each other, he would also be able to feel her skin on her arms and back.

When he was going to the bathroom to take a shower, it came into his head that he was also going to wear little clothes so he would also feel the girl’s touch on his skin.

When he was going to sleep, towards the big double bed, it came into his head that he would like Jenny to be that girl who he would lose his virginity with one day.

In the bed, he was planning how to receive her when he would go to meet with her at the airport, and was considering whether Hattie would come to meet with Jenny and her parents already there too. He didn’t want her to burn him before them but it was probable that his mother was going to be waiting for them already at the airport, and he knew it.

            Next day, he was even more rejoicing inside. While having breakfast, he was only talking about Jenny to Francis and Emily.

- It can be crass, meeting with your girlfriend after so much time – Emily said – It’s like a distant relationship during the filming.

- Except while they will be here – Larry added because he hanged on that some days.

- This is one of the reasons why actors start relationships almost only with stars. When the actor can’t leave the filming location, the other one needs to be rich enough to travel to the filming location, several times, if one’s partner’s not staying there – Francis said – But enjoy these days, think of it like I didn’t say anything! – he noticed that the boy became sad.

            While four in the afternoon was approaching when Jenny’s plane was going to arrive, Larry was more and more only dealing with the forthcoming days, and was mostly thinking of the moment of the meeting. He was happy again because he could see the girl again, and was more and more excitedly waiting for the meeting.

During lunch, when he was talking with his mother, she reminded him that he had to meet with the girl’s parents too. The intoxicating waiting was so much taking his thoughts and heart up till then that it hadn’t even come into his head till then that he should make himself appear as a nice guy for Jenny’s parents - They may forbid her to meet with him in the end, who knew how critical and paranoiac they were. Maybe they only accepted some perfect dude, although he’s not an especially problematic bloke either – he thought after the conversation, during going to his room.

Then he changed to the clothes he had to wear in the movie, then they were already going to the set, into the jungle, to the ship. It was an odd feeling for him that he also felt that day special during that thousandth-time routine.

On the way, in the car, he was chatting with some actors about that day’s scenes but he was hardly paying attention to it.

On the way back, Francis was happily talking with Larry about the meeting with Jenny, but after it, they were talking about meeting with the girl’s parents too.

- Do they know at all that you only meet with your father once a month? – the man asked seriously – And do they know at all that your parents got divorced, and you don’t live with him?

- Why should they know it? – the boy asked with a surprised face.

- They are coming here that way that they don’t even know anything about you??? If you grow up without your father, it could be pretty different from other teenagers! Maybe they have objection to it, and maybe they disapprove if their daughter is with such a guy who’s raised alone – Francis continued objectively – They’re getting to know it at the „right” time, when they’re coming here to spend days together with you… - he finished, startled.

For a long while, Larry was only watching him, frightened. He knew that he needed his father, he felt that he always also needed an adult man who he could talk with, and when they met once a month, he was angry with him for leaving his mother because that little time was few for him. He had always known, felt, that one day, it was going to be a disadvantage to him. But he didn’t think that he would have to worry about it because of his girlfriend’s parents.

- You’ve already coached me for everything, and I’ll tell it to them – came into his head - When I was a kid, I also lived with my father, and since I’ve been a private student, I’ve been spending lots of time with adults, with male actors, instead of school.

- You’re still a kid – the man said seriously – But when you lived with your dad, you were still a small child, and you’ve hung out with those actors as an equal adult, and they haven’t taught you a lot of things about life. I don’t say you’ve learnt the most from me, because altogether, you’ve surely learnt from them as much as you’ve learnt from me – he smiled – And you’ve surely also learnt some things from your dad and godfather, and there are also some things what you’ve learnt from your mom, moreover, maybe that's the most. But in the adult life of relationships, it’s hard to understand women, and besides it, there are some things, too, that you can’t talk over with your mom – he said when they had arrived at the hotel already, and were going upstairs – Can I go in? – he asked when they were before Larry’s suite.

- Yeah – the boy said in a natural voice.

- There are some things that your mom doesn’t know about adolescent boys.

They went into Larry's room, and sat down to his bed, Francis mainly turning towards the boy.

- And there are some things that it’s awkward to talk about to both of you and her – he said, then sighed because he felt embarrassed, too - How much has your father told you? – both of them knew that he was talking about sex education.

- He’s said I’m still young to lose my virginity, at least most people haven’t gotten it over in my age. Some people think this is except for the poor ’cause they only have occasional pleasures like that, but if I still do it, I’ve got to use contraceptives.

- You know what using contraceptives is, don’t you?

- Aha...

- Is it true?! – Francis asked, looking tensely.

- Of course, I know! – Larry said angrily, knitting his brows – Everybody knows that... – he was indignant at the man so much considered him a child.

- I only wanted to help you but if you’re this hysterical, I can even go away! – the man was offended and his voice was furious.

- You don’t have to safeguard me against everything, here’s my mother to do that! – Larry shouted, raging.

- I’ve already said that you still can’t talk everything over with your mother, like some things about this subject either – Francis convinced his truth in a sullen and furious voice – Or do you rather wanna have an awkward conversation with her?! I think she doesn’t wanna do it with you, either!

- We’ve talked everything over what’s important, and it wasn’t necessary, anyway ’cause I already knew it, and anyway, I don’t plan to do that with Jenny nowadays when we’ve hardly known each other in person! – the boy finished, knitting his brows.

- And in her age, she’s not even ready for that psychologically – the man said in a warning voice – So in your age, don’t even give it a try.

- I still don’t even know what I feel for her; I’m gonna wait in any case until I know that this is real love and that she loves me that way, too, then at most I’ll ask her if she’s ready for that…

- I think you’re not ready for that, either, psychologically, at your age, but you know the best… And when you know what you feel, what can whenever happen, and when if you love her and she loves you too, and you two are ready for that so… you two do it, then be very careful with her because the first occasion is important, particularly for girls, psychologically, so that she gets even more ready for that, and physically it’s also very important to be very careful with her, especially with short and thin girls.

- OK, I see – Larry said.

- By the way, that's also true in the daily moments that they like when we praise them. That how beautiful they are or how much their clothes suit them. They hate it when we don’t notice their new hair or new clothes – the man said in a nettlesome voice because of his own experiences.

- I have to memorize all her clothes?! – the boy was indignant.

- Only look at her clothes when it comes into your head, and you’ll remember after a while – Francis said loosely.

- OK – Larry said with relief, and resigned to the situation.

- I’m leaving now, you’ve got to be meeting with the girl at the airport – the man stood up from the bed.

The boy looked up at him, frightened.

- Already that’s the time? – he stood up from the bed, too.

- Laurence, come on now, we’ll be late! – Hattie appeared in the doorway excitedly while Francis was leaving.

- You’re coming, too???! – the boy said furiously – Don’t do it, it will be like we’re kids! – he knitted his brows.

- Cool it, I'm going, too! – Emily appeared next to her, too, grinning - Then we will be like a group on a holiday.

- Then it’s OK – Larry said seriously – But your dad isn’t coming, is he?

- Certainly not! Then it would be like every kid brought their parents! Besides, why would he be coming?

- So that’s OK – the boy said again, and they set off - What are we going by? – he asked in the corridor, on the way.

- The hotel’s driver’s gonna take us there – Hattie said.

The car was standing there, before the hotel; the woman got in beside the driver, and Larry and Emily got in behind Hattie.

[devilslinks]

# 𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗔 !

— 𝗖𝗟𝗨𝗕 𝗙𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 | 𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗔, 𝗧𝗢𝗣 𝗠𝗔𝗟𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗥.

wc; ( 3.2k )

synopsis; your best friend, raihan and you find yourselves eager to get intoxicated in one another's company. what better place than a night-club, dim lights, the overwhelmin' musk of the various alcoholic beverages; it's every guy pairs wet dream. that is until raihan gets shit-faced and excuses himself to the restroom while he pukes up his spiked guts. only to return to watch his sister take you balls deep, down her throat.

a/n: no brain, only nessa and her magical throat 🤝

warnings. MINORS DNI, NSFW CONTENT, family!au, raihan and nessa are siblings, club sex, intoxication, dirty talk, the name princess, deep throating, oral (m receiving), throat bulge, throat fucking, cum eating, flirty!nessa, jealous!raihan, exhibitionism, voyeurism.

euphoria.

that was the only word that came mind when raihan and you got involved in recreational activities like you did. galar was a go big or go home type of region, and the two of you stayed true to that motto. the itchy, messily thrown together suits that matched all the way down to the type of socks you had on— the overexcessive amounts of booze, and the loud music which just barely drowned out the fits of laughter and discussion littered throughout the packed club. as soon as the doors opened, flooding your senses with nothing but the sickly sweet, aroma of sex and other intoxicating chemicals; that's how you knew the had night begun.

the two of you had been indulging, before you arrived on the scene— time seemed to blur together with head-spinning speeds or come to a full halt at the worst of moments. you don't even know how long you'd been locking eyes with the transparent shapes and manufactured blurbs dancing across the wall a good, twenty, maybe thirty feet adjacent to your seat at the drink counter. the weight of something too heavy for your alcohol infused mind to register until the bar hostess was practically brewing with irritation at your non-compliance with her attempts to have you regain control of your dazed state; sat lazily in-between your pointer finger and thumb, respectively.

hell you don't even remember waddling over to the bar with the company you had brought with you. but you didn't mind, the painfully challenging to recall memories mattered not when there was already another drink swirling around the rim of your shot-glass. raihan's shifty frame wiggling in and out of your peripherals as you tug the half-empty cup to the skin of your lips, craning your head back to knock down whatever liquid remained at the bottom. the delicious burn of toxins coated the lining of your throat, trails of steamy fluid leaving their mark as the mystery liquor made it way down your esophagus. whatever it was, it packed a punch and wasted no time forcing your lips to curve into a bitter sneer— eyebrows shadowing your face in a sour demeanor, as you used the hem of your suit sleeve to whisk away any spilt mixture that tarnished your cherry red lips.

you hardly have the chance to open your mouth for a second time to address the swaying body, huddled closer the counter than it is to your own. raihan is a total mess, loopsy, and feverishly hot skin to compliment— he's stained a harsh, sickly green against his natural melanin tone. doubling over in either pain or the sudden flow of too many drinks pooling in his system; whatever the emotion he was enduring was, he wasted not a second longer before hustling off into the large gathering of people. disappearing before his lips could slur the final word, missing from his dialect.

“hh..h fuck- my stomach is gonna explode, i'll catch you-” his gravely tone churning into the backdrop just as quickly as he initiated the conversation; the familiar hum of lyrics to a song you couldn't quite place your finger on replaced whatever words raihan had previously gargled out before dashing off towards the public restrooms.

your head feels like it weighs a metric ton this late into the night, threatening to tumble forward as if your neck had lost any and all of it's support. your eyelids pulling down roughly over your eyes like window shades before the sudden wave of loneliness hit you like a truck. fiddling with the collar of your dress-shirt was entertaining enough to fill the void that was the now empty stool, where your best friend once resided. but that quick fix subsided rather easily and the once overwhelming presence of boredom had returned to take a seat.

and then, so did she.

“shit, rai- back so soon? you alright?” your vision was foggy and adorned with blurry bits here and there— but it was still evident enough to make out that, whoever was indeed now in your friend's seat, was not the person you had chauffeured to the club with.

“damn, do i really look, that bad? it's me, y/n. the painfully better looking sibling. what did that idiot put in your drink?” the speech is followed by a laugh. it was a warm and inviting chuckle, one that seemed to relax every muscle in your liquor tense body the moment she parted her spit silken lips. you had been in her company earlier that evening, which made it a tad easier for your incoherent mindset to process it. but nevertheless it was hard not to distinguish who the women paying you a visit was at this point, even if you hadn't engaged with her previously; nessa was infamous for those enchanting looks. and in your dumbified state, those gorgeous navy locks tied together by aquamarine highlights were one of a kind and stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the room of normal presenting citizens. though your brain didn't want to pick-up any of your surroundings, you found it quite easy to fawn over her in that ebony dress and the way it hugged her curves in all the right places.

“fuck.. nes' when'd you get so.. so.” you couldn't even find the energy or hell, the words to cough up the remainder of the sentence, you were so taken aback by how stunning she was, even behind your bleary, drunk eyes. but nessa wasn't oblivious— you were sure she had picked up the hint you had layed out so bluntly, and the warm palm slowly inching up your clothed thigh secured that suspension for you.

“not even so much as a greeting? you didn't even buy me a drink first; asshole.”

her words are firm, yet so light hearted at the same time; but just enough to set your arousal over the edge. your headspace so vulnerable to teasing that you're certain she knew what she was doing to your conflicted mind and body. her sly fingers are enough to coax you to shuffle your bar-stool closer to her's— not a single word wriggled around your throat in response, instead the tangy after-tase of alcohol still heavy on your tongue distracted you and you were sure the whole bar could acknowledge your intoxicated musk.

her features held so many different emotions at once, as she pryed you for a reply— trying to tell you each one obscured behind that pretty face, way too quickly for you to decipher. her brows furrowed quizzically, one tilted slightly higher than the other as her half lidded doe-eyes stared up at you like prey at a final stand off with their predator; just humbly surrending their body to the circle of life.

“hah, you're one to.. talk, nes' just because 'm out of it- doesn't mean my numb skin can't feel your heavy hand toying with my waistband.” the both of you swiftly changed direction, heads leering down at nessa's free hand. you were infact correct, you observed as the woman swirled shapes into the expensive leather of your belt. pulling bits between her fingers now and then as she silently struggled with the metalic buckle. your groin swelled tightly, gripping your boxers closer to the fat bulge behind your suit pants; it would take an idiot not to take notice of the wrinkled fabric secured around your aching dick. her skin felt like a furnace, contrasting your slightly cooler temperature— but with her body pressing so desperately to yours, you were sure the warmth from her melted over onto your feverish flesh. the damp, sheen of anxious sweat made the fabric of your suit, dewy. sticking slightly against your hellish skin.

“mm, i guess i was wrong about the greeting part— hello there, you look happy to see me.” not a hint of shame obscured her voice, you're miserably watching nessa shift her weight as she now palms at the mound between your legs. you've seen countless renditions of this night loop in your head, but now that the scenario is a reality; it's agonizing to try to contain your primal urges, face to face. it's a chore not to profess all the vile things you wanna carry out with her, but she's already one step ahead. that glare is dangerous, it makes you feel like she's trying convey that the two of you are already in on something devious.

“let me take care of you.. y/n.”

“let me treat you, nessa.”

the both of you drawl out in what would be perfect unison if your mind wasn't foggy and running slower than usual. you had both finally voiced the elephant in the room, the one which was just positively dripping with thick tension up until this moment in time. you're still squirming under nessa's grip, she can feel you whine and pant everytime she gives your cock a light squeeze between her fingers and it's not long before the two of you are absent from the bar and clawing at one another's linen around the corner. closest to any vacant area within eye-shot. well, as vacant as a small room seperated from the bustling club-life can get.

did you think the night would come to a close with your friend's sister skillfully sucking the soul out of your sloppy cock? not in a million years, but you'd be damned if you didn't want it to end on any other note. nessa fell to her knees before the two of you even made it out of view— planting herself in-between your thighs like she was a trained professional; no flaws in her technique as her tongue slid obediently from her mouth and latches onto the moist fabric masking her mouth's destination. nessa's fingers are long and slender, as they snake up your hips and meet at the belt tangled around your waist. you can feel your cock pumping against the seams of your pants, the uncomfortable sensation making it appear as though you'd rip through the cloth if your cock was imprisoned a second longer.

with the head-splitting atmosphere of the club playlist stretching and stuffing your ears to the brim with fast pitched edm that made your skull pound and jitter. as well as the added hum of the gym leader whispering inaudible nothings against your bulge as she at last pushed your pants down, and past your ankles; material getting caught on the fancy design of your shoes. you felt like you were on the brink of death, but the enticing appeal of hooking up with your best friend's relative kept your iron-will alive long enough to rough it out and pass the irritation that came with being black-out drunk.

your storm of worries fizzled just as quickly as they sprung up, maybe it was the alcohol but you swear this girl had the hands of the divine; you were washed away into infatuation once more. nessa's teeth hike up your boxers until they meet the waistline, pulling down on the hem with a familiar aggressiveness as she relishes in the way your big dick pops to life and looms over her lustful features; all chubby 'n decorated with veins fer' her viewing pleasure.

“shit.. i'm gonna have so much fun with your cock. you wanna make your stupid slut already? my mouth is just asking for it.” the first piece is low and almost voiced as if it was meant for her ears only— but the second half is most definitely directed at you; as she tilts her head to plant a few delicate lovebites along the base of your shaft. fingers looping gracefully around your hilt as she admires the girth you carry.

“fuck..” you hiss, cock twitching violently as you pleaded with sinful eyes. she had barely started her reign over your dick before guttural groans and mewls slid past your lips. the sensation of her tiny tastebuds as they trailed over the little glob of pre-cum that drooled from your cockhead was insatiable. the sudden action sent your hips forward almost automatically, like they instinctively acted on impulse; it felt so right. merely a few inches breached past her lips but there was enough speed and prowess in your thrust to drag a surprise gag from the mouth attached to your dick.

impatience was on the horizon, the buzz from copious amounts of alcohol had knocked down a few pegs. you were now fully aware of the figure positioned at your feet like she was praying for a god, and soon you'd make her chant like she was being fucked by one as well. broad fingers clamped down, squishing both sides of her jaw while simultaneously easing your length deeper, and deeper down her gullet like your dick was her last meal on earth. you throw your head back before letting it fall forward against the wall, watching those desperate dark iris' pool with puddles of lust that seem to be neverending.

“come'on princess, you know how badly you want this-- you gonna let me ruin this pretty throat?” you thumb over her warm cheeks, eyes glossy and threatening to ruin the simple makeup she applied before she arrived. the uncomfortable stretch of her esophagus molding as your cock fills the empty gaps in her throat with every inch you have; is one that isn't unfamiliar to her. dragging your pulsating veins along the dip in her mouth, her tongue greedily laps up any and all of the skin yet to be consumed by her.

“jesus.. fuck, oh fuck. take it, nes'. shit.” your cock fully slips into her, heavy and swollen as it spears her right down the middle; eyes rolling back into her skull as it's just too fucking big. bigger than anything she's previously had inside of her, anyway. your core bleeds with spots of warmth as you take the time to bask in the way every individual wall in her mouth feels as it constricts you almost painfully. sucking you in before she slides you back out of her throat once more; repeating the tedious cylce that has the two of you in a heated frenzy.

despite all the sudden and erratic pain, nessa bobs her head in sync, coaxing you to go as deep as humanly possible. rocking your hips as they snap against her face with every good fuck you give her— watching yourself grow rapidly from the outside of her neck, the moist skin now holding a curved bump near the middle. nessa takes the initiative. removing a hand from one of your thighs, she uses four fingers to lightly push and stroke the bulge; almost as if she was jerking you off while you ravaged her inards.

she knew exactly what she was doing, and it had you riled the fuck up.

you picked up the pace, delirious from the amount of stimulation your precious cock was receiving. with your erection fully encased by her face and your dick bouncing off the gummy walls of her gullet, you could tell her throat was already forming bruises with a throbbing soreness to compliment, time come the morning. your rough hands dig behind the back of her head, hands feeling lost amongst her ocean of hair— beautiful locks just perfect for pulling. you yank her face forward, lowering yours as well to not only established authority but to get your point across to the cockdrunk slut mindlessly slobbering all over your messy shaft.

“mfph-- please, cum.. i want- all!” you can just barely string together what sounds like whines for more— i guess she can sense just how close the knot in your stomach is to bursting because she grips the back of your thighs and tugs them forward with whatever coherent muscle strength she has remaining. just in time for the tension in your core to coil tighter and tighter, the lowerhalf of your body trembling with all the signs of an incoming orgasm.

“does my dumb little girl wanna be fucked, that, bad? hah, fuck nes' what would your brother think?” you mock so cruelly, totally disregarding the fact that there is a slim possibility, raihan is searching for the lost pair. and it just so happens that nessa's poor little brother had been observing for a little over half the engagement. fist wrapped around his pathetic cock, suit collar pulled between his fangs, ocean blue eyes fixated on you; your hip strength, the way you rolled and plunged balls deep into his sibling. his body felt so empty, only riding his high off the two of yours', praying he'd finish before you caught him lurking like a sleaze. it was so unfair, why did nessa get to taste your sultry cock before he did?

you can feel the bass reverberate in nessa's throat as her lips nip at your hilt, impatiently trying to babble out a response adequate enough to your liking. her mind is flying, no correct sense of direction as it attempts to form a reply, but all that breaks past the barrier is a few pitiful mewls. her nose is burried in your pubes and she's lost all feeling in her throat, only motivating her to show off the lump on her neck even more. you watch as your length disappears into the depths of her mouth for the hundredth time that night, hands pushing down the lacy strap of her dress in a last ditch effort to find something other than her hair to latch onto for support. her scalp is on fire and she can only accept the stinging sensation as the roughness of your thrusts increase in magnitude.

the club is filled to the brim with lewd moans and needy pants; those of which included raihan's. every inch of her esophagus is being used— you happily ram your cock down her throat a few more times, your balls were quivering wildly. contracting and spasming, boiling with a fat wad of potent seed all ready to venture inside of her. nessa squeals, feeling a thick bulge travel up the length of your cock, up to the head and straight on her tongue; some spurts flowing down her neck while the rest collected in her mouth. painting her insides a translucent white that would surely stain.

just for good measure, nessa deep throats your empty dick with a few simple strokes; a white, sticky ring forming around the base of your shaft after she detached from your dick. a lewd pop, followed by a line of stringy saliva connected her lips to your bottomed out cock before she ruined the trail by letting her tongue lull from behind her teeth. letting you get a nice overhead view of her empty mouth, watching as the last bits of your load traveled down her throat and out of sight for good.

“god.. such a g'girl. you sucked on my cock so nicely, princess. wasn't that a way to end the night?” a blissed out smile creeps over your face, marveling in the aftermath you caused. you gave the right side of her face a few taps from your cock— dried tears and sloppy makeup tainting her cheeks. cum dripping from the corners of her mouth, as a cocktail of her own spit and your semen coats the back of her throat. it was all one big look of;

euphoria.

[straighttohellbuddy]

📓 !!

Okay im so excited please know I think about How The Light Gets In's world every day still, and so anyways here is a side story I want to write but there's a lot of set up regarding the reader and eef becoming friends again. For context, they were incredibly close around 2014-2017, but people were getting creepy and invasive and demanding about their friendship (think 2012 toxic side of the Phandom, if that makes sense), and a lot of the reader's relationships were strained at that time because while they had been successful before, they were absolutely blowing up after their first album released and they became far more mainstream. They felt like they were bothering the people they had become closest to, both because they're worried that they're a bother, and because gossip rags and paps would harrass their friends looking for a scoop, and so they ended up just completely cutting off contact without warning one day right before they went on their first tour. the start of HTLGI is about 3 years since they'd been in proper contact with any of the creators they were close to at that time.

DON'T LOOK AT ME on their 2017 ep Hyperfocus was a more general song in response to everything that had been happening in their life around that time, with a focus on how they stop associating with anyone for a while, without outright addressing it, but on their latest album n o s t a l g i a, read at 5am ft. Troye was specifically written at the start of quarantine, when the reader was getting back into YouTube, about their feelings regarding how their friendship with ethan ended, as they spent a lot of this time looking back of their YouTube career, and he was the person they were closest to for a very long time, before they iced everyone out.

OKAY SO THERES MORE OF THE BACKGROUND OF THE WHOLE FIC AND THE READER BUT

Werewolf Ethan & Mark. I'm sorry I don't make the rules. They have golden retriever energy you cannot change my mind. But also because this is the HTLGI you know that supernatural characteristics are able to be activated rather than just triggered by the full moon. What I'm trying to say is since this is set in the year of Unus Annus, they film a video together that's like, you know that show where a person has to try and outwit a professional tracker? Except its the reader being tracked by two werewolves at night in a national park. Reader is wearing some sort of night vision camera on themselves so whenever it cuts to them the audience can't actually see how they're using their powers, if that makes sense.

Also the reader agreed to this knowing it would probably be when they ended up telling Mark and Ethan about them being a demon.

Video is titled Hunting Down An Old Friend

A few Moments that the boys edit out:

The reader using their stupidly sharp prehensile tail to swing from tree branches, though they leave in shots where the reader's tail can't be seen.

Knowing that with the werewolves having advanced hearing, the reader would give themselves away by talking to the camera, they take a few minutes having flown up to a high tree branch, to pull out a notebook and do a little sketch of how Mark and Ethan appear in their Demon True Sight, and holding it up to their camera.

Werewolves being one of the animals who can kind of sense demons without being able to identify them, essentially like dogs can sense natural disasters and are often good judges of character, this can be heightened on command for werewolves. There's about 15 minutes of footage cut out of the boys discussing or mentioning how this place has awful vibes and that they should have done this during the day. It gets worse as they get closer to the reader, who didn't realise that the boys hadn't thought to ever use that particular power around them before.

("I say this with so much love and appreciation for you, dude," Ethan yells, looking up at you from the base of the tree they'd finally found you in, "but I- this is making me anxious I feel like something terrible's gonna happen, and we should probably get out of here and film the rest of the video back at Mark's." And behind him, Mark's nodding, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, eyes scanning the trees for whatever was most likely the cause of this terrible impending doom.

Oh. It's you. And they don't know its you.

Now or never, you suppose.

"Can you cut the cameras for a second? You're going to be fine I promise," you called back, and though they obligingly did, they both seemed antsy. You cleared your throat awkwardly, "that... that terrible feeling, that's not the park or anything in it- well I mean, it is, but it's just- it's me."

and later

"Dude your wings smell like rotten eggs."

"To YOU Ethan! And no they don't!"

"If it makes you feel better they smell like burning and rotten eggs."

"It does not."

(for reference, when enhancing their sense of smell werewolves can kind of distinguish various supernatural creatures, or parts of supernatural creatures. Some creatures have an inherent scent, but some, like angels and demons, only have distinct scents when they've activated certain attributesor abilities; demon wings smell like fire and brimstone, which unfortunately means burning and rotten eggs. I like to think angels wings are like the love potion in Harry Potter that smells like the things you love the most. Mark and Ethan usually don't enhance it around each other because they smell like wet dog to the other)

This gets about 2k notes on tumblr. The reader likes it:

Ethan finally finding Y/N at the end of Hunting Down An Old Friend (2020) Colourised.

Other things to note regarding all this:

It takes a while to rebuild their friendship to the point where they're comfortable enough to be on camera together (eef and reader specifically).

However, the Unus Annus video is the first thing they properly do together, and the reader, in an effort to connect more and make up for the past, will join in multiplayer gaming streams if asked.

Impromptu duet in proximity Among Us of Young Volcanoes by Fall Out Boy, which has their respective chats and fandoms losing their minds, except it stops abruptly after the first chorus as they both remember the opening lines of the second verse (make it easy, say I never mattered -- those lyrics hit a little too close to home)

But also the reader convinces him to join him for a proper cover in like, February of 2021, and it's something deeply sappy (I'm thinking Bon Iver by mxmtoon because I think its sweet and fits them well)

Also Ethan being reminded that the reader is kind of a much bigger deal than when they'd been friends before.

designed to hurt (touch me) from their ep Working On It is nominated for a Grammy for Track of the Year, and n o s t a l g i a wins Best Pop Album (because it's my fic and I said so)

FIRST OF ALL designed to hurt (touch me) is a beautifully produced song about Corpse (which people do not know) and the title itself is literally making fun of something he said IMAGINE his reaction to it being Grammy Nominated 😂😂😂 God he'd be proud but lowkey fuming, meanwhile the moment the nominations are announced the reader tweets:

me: here is an album where I processed my entire world view including heartfelt explorations of the trauma of existing and oversharing in the public eye from a young age without the traditional barrier between audience and entertainer

the grammys: that's cute BUT you know the song you wrote to bully your boyfriend and also be horny on main for him before you guys were even dating? THAT deserves its own recognition.

meanwhile Ethan's like..... this is the same person who I filmed a video with playing cards against humanity, and you laughed so hard you almost threw up. I am very proud but deeply confused.

The Hot Meme of Late April 2021 is "2 time Grammy Award Winning Artist Y/N" with a gif, still, or quote from the reader where they're just being an absolute chaos gremlin.

Of course we have "If I bleached my asshole for charity I'd do it tastefully."

2 Time Grammy Award Winning Artist Y/N speaking to their actual boyfriend in the year of our lord 2020: You are being executed for Clown Crimes.

ethan posts a short video to twitter simply of his screen where he's renaming a folder from "Never Before Seen Images of Grammy Award Winning Artist Y/N" simply changing it to 2 time Artist. The reader responds specifically to his tweet with a video of themselves asking Google how to hard reset someone else's computer.

So many screenshots from old videos surface that week.

I miss this world. Sorry this is rambly!!

[wingz-of-shit]

Adorable abnormal

This one shot was inspired by this post by @free-pancakes

Summary: This is how the survey corps reacts to Hange being five after one of her experimentation went wrong :) 

2k words

.

.

CLANK! BOOM! FIIZZZZZ

It had been precisely twenty-seconds since Levi heard the blast coming from the other side of the building. If he had no idea what had been going on before, the way in which people were going gave him enough evidence to know it was coming from the devil’s lab. What the fuck did you do again? There were at least five people that were hurrying to the lab with him, among them, Erwin. 

« What happened? » he asked the blond-haired man. He had an obvious scowl on his face, Erwin spent the entire morning dealing with taxes and expenses… nothing could make him happy, while anything would irritate him. 

« I don’t know Levi. I don’t know. » 

They reached the corridor leading to the lab, it was filled with an overwhelming smell of burn and… something Levi didn’t even want to think about such it was abhorrent. Erwin entered the lab first, he deadpanned at the scene. 

« Erwin? »

Levi peeked his head inside being careful to breathe with his mouth, whatever had Erwin so astonished had to be abnormal. Abnormal. It was the perfect word for it. Levi was staring at a cloud of dark smoke that engulfed Moblit and… and a child. 

« What the fuck? » Levi mumbled while getting closer to Hange’s right arm. Moblit was curled around the kid protectively, whatever fluid had exploded must have been toxic. 

« What happened here? » Erwin asked while pushing the rest of the curious gazes away from the door. After closing it, the Commander came to kneel in front of the kid… kids weren’t allowed here. Why would there be a kid? Levi kept wondering how the kid came to be here, deep down he had a feeling he knew exactly who that kid was. 

« Berner. What happened? » 

For a second Levi thought Moblit would faint, but he quickly composed to talk to Erwin. « Commander… I … I’m not entirely sure. But… Hange-San, she experimented, and then, BAM, and smoke, lot of smoke.. » 

« Did that exposition blow your brain too? » Erwin darted a glance at him « What? You understood something? » Erwin sat Moblit on a chair while keeping an eye on the kid. Suddenly that very kid launched herself at Levi which provoked a gasp from the people in the room.

« Levi!!!!! » 

Levi stared at the squirt that was crawling up his leg with big brown eyes. For a second he allowed his gaze to linger on the figure. It couldn’t be? But yet… the brown eyes, the wide grin, the messy hair… even the same damn glasses. Could it be she has a kid? « Levi! Levi! Hold Hange on shoulders!!» *gasp *

« Moblit would you care to explain, please! » The vein on Erwin’s temple grew larger. 

« Well… Hange-san was trying to find a formula to make titan less aggressive. It somehow made sense given the plants she put in that potion. But then she added some kind of powder… Neither Nifa nor I saw what it was but it just went … BOOM! And next thing there was a huge vapor in the room, we could barely breathe. When it dissipated a bit we saw Ha - … what we think is Hange- San sitting in her place. I mean, the potion obviously took her back to a certain age. It has to be her. »

It was her, Levi could tell. No kid had ever reeked so badly. 

There was a knock on the door. Eren peeked his head inside and with all the subtlety that distinguished him and he ran to Hange. « Captain!!!! Is that Hange San? What happened!» 

« Shut up. » Eren dropped his eyes at the sound of his frigid tone. Surprisingly, when Levi looked down, Hange was still clinging to his leg. « Levi! Shut up! » She repeated happily. He groaned but lifted the kid nevertheless. She’s cute. 

« Berner do you know how we can fix this? » Erwin asked while he took a closer at Hange’s face. Suddenly Levi saw something change in Erwin’s eyes, there had been annoyance and weariness, now there were… stars, awe? 

« Aw, she’s so cute! She hasn’t changed!! Look at these chubby cheeks! » He kneeled to level her. « Hello Hangeee, do you remember what happened to you?? » Levi felt his lunch gather in the back of his throat… he’d never seen Erwin so sickeningly sweet. 

« Erwin!!! » Hange beamed extending her tiny arms to him. He gathered her in his arms. « Erwin!! Shut up!! » Time stopped for a second, if Levi knew how to laugh he would have, instead a weird sound that reminded him of a dying titan came out of his throat. The shock on Erwin’s face would be forever carved in his memory. « Erwin big eyebrows!! » 

In a matter of seconds, Erwin had left the lab obviously vexed, Hange was standing confused in the middle of the room with Jäger and Berner holding back laughs. « Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings come grains of truth.» 

After some time Levi decided he had to go to town to gather ingredients that would bring Hange back to her normal form. Hopefully, it would take the confusion away from him. For the past hour, he’d followed Hange around the entire building, scared she’d hurt herself. He’d never cared for kids before. With a deep breath, he entered the drugstore Hange was so fond of. He gave one last thought at the 104th kids whom he had entrusted Hange with. 

* Eren and Mikasa *

« What?!! Why me? » Eren pleaded the rest of the crew when they all left running away from the room the Captain had just left. He looked back and forth between the kid and Mikasa.

« Do you honestly think that its squad leader Hange here? » Mikasa asked while sitting on the couch near the kid. 

« Well, Moblit said it was. And so did Captain. » Eren groaned and dropped heavily on the other side of the kid. « Did you ever babysit? » Mikasa shook her head. « No. Can’t be that hard, right? » Eren thought for a second. « It’s Hange-San we’re talking about here. » 

After a few minutes, Hange asked the two teenagers to play, it had to happen at some point. So they led the five-year-old to the training grounds, they’d find entertaining things here.

« Look over there, behind this wall, there are giant titans which you usually love Hange San! » Eren smiled at the sun brightening the sky - and Mikasa’s smile -  « We always go out to fight them, and you are always getting in dangerous situations but you’re very good at coming out of them safely! » He turned around to look at the five-year-old

… gone. « Hange-San? » 

« HANGE SAAAAN! MIKASA! We have to find her!! Captain will kill us! » They both began to search around, on second throughs, the training grounds had been the worst idea. There were weapons, thunder spears, 3DMG… He gaped at the park, people were flying around, cutting fake titan’s neck… 

From afar he saw a small figure getting its head cut clean by a younger recruit. Eren fell to his knees sobbing. « Mikasa… what have we done. We’re doomed. We killed Hange-San. » 

Mikasa scowled at him and hit his head. « Are you dumb? This is a fake titan marionette Eren.» 

They kept searching for the next ten minutes until they met with a soldier who said saw a small kid running toward the wall. The wall. Of course. They hurried there to find Hange digging the foot of the wall with her small hands. It shouldn’t have been shocking, yet both Eren and Mikasa stood stunned at the sight.

« I wanted to see titans. » She wailed as they carried her back to the SC building.

* Jean and Armin*

« Why us? » Did Jäger want to get on his nerves? He had other things than to care for a small kid, no matter if it was his superior or not. « We made our shift. Your turn. » 

Jean stared at the small kid climbing on Armin’s lap. The sight wasn’t surprising at all. Armin had always admired Hange-San, he treated her with so much respect it was suspicious. But there, with the roles reversed, it totally made sense. The blond grinned brightly at the small brunette who was trying to push the hair off his forehead. 

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. 

He went to sit beside the pair and stared at the squad leader. « She’s so cute. » He said before he could hold it back. The girl shot daggers at him. « I am not cute! I am Titan!! Can we play titan? » It didn’t surprise any of them. 

They stood and went into the garden. Hange San stood on the bench as if it would make her look taller. « Armin is Levi! And Jean is the Titan! »

« Levi? » 

« Humanity’s strongest!! And you have to save me! And Jean is the bad guy! » 

The two boys exchanged a knowing look, maybe they could get information out of this tiny version of their superior… they’d always been wondering what was going on. Jean crouched in front of her. « Hange, if you answer one question I will be the best scary titan for you. » She titled her head expectantly. « Why would humanity’s strongest save you? Why not… the Commander or… Mister Berner? » 

« Because Levi will be my husband when I am tall!!! » Both boys nearly choked at the words. Had they… heard well? « Wait what? » Jean replied.

« That’s two questions. You said one. Bad titan now. » Damn, as smart as ever. 

« Hange, if I ask you one question again, I’m taking my 3DMG to be just like Captain Levi. » She nodded eagerly. 

« Does Levi want to be your husband too when you’re tall? » Hange grinned sheepishly, her cheeks reddened.

 « Yes! Short stack is Hange’s boyfriend! … Let’s play now! »

* Nanaba and Mike*

« It had to happen at some point. » Mike said as Nanaba lifted Hange on her hip. All of Jäger’s friends had kept an eye on her, they’d come to them frantically and exhausted claiming that there was no way someone could muster this much energy. Mike took a look at his supposed friend. 

« What did she even do to end up like this? » Nanaba gave the girl a glass of water.

« Don’t know… Moblit said it was a failed experiment. I hope we can get her back to her normal form. » He didn’t like the idea of people changing forms like this, it was unnatural… but then again titans existed too, so why not age-reversing potions. Mike relieved Nanaba from the weight and placed Hange on his shoulders.

« Whoaaa! I’m as high as titans! » 

He chuckled. « Last time she said this was because she smoked a blunt. » Nanaba slapped him on the shoulder.

« What? This is still Hange. I’m sure if you hand her booze now she’ll happily have it. » 

Apparently not interested in joking, Nanaba went through the books on the shelves to read a story. There were funnier things to do with a kid than read a story. « Hey, Hange, what do you want to do? » 

« Can we mess with big eyebrows? » It took Mike a second to understand she was talking of Erwin. « Did… I hear that rightly? » Apparently yes, because in a matter of seconds Hange explained a destructive plan on how they would piss the commander of the survey corps off. In any normal situation, Mike would have refused but he had a good cover… a five-year-old Hange. This could explain anything...

« So… you want to … command tons of candies with the survey corp’s funds…? » Nanaba asked again, unsure. « Yes! And then Erwin will be really angry! It’ll be fun! » 

« We sure don’t have the same perception of fun. » The blond woman looked up at him. « We can’t do that Mike. You know we can’t. » Hmpf responsibilities. 

« Okay how about instead we put mud in Levi’s room? Is that good enough for you? » The smirk that spread on Hange’s face terrified him just as much as it amused him.

*Levi *

He held the handles of the bags tighter. For some reason, Levi was frightened to go back to the SC building. He left Hange almost all afternoon with immature teenagers, this couldn’t be good. 

He pushed the door of the mess hall open, the sight that welcomed him was beyond was he had imagined. Everyone was slumped on the tables, seemingly exhausted, or almost snoring. Erwin was drowsing, his head barely supported by his hand, Mike was facing him, muttering.. curses maybe? His eyes lingered on everyone until they fell upon small Hange. She was braiding Historia’s hair with frightful focus.

« What the hell is going on here? » 

Nanaba answered him. « She… she killed us. How is she not sleeping yet? She’s a monster.» Levi approached the said monster.

« Hey there four eyes. » 

Her eyes lighted up when her eyes fell on him. She muttered his name in a whisper, holding her arms out to him. He lifted her and walked to Moblit who had… paint on his face… gross. «Here, got all you wanted for the potion. » Hange laid her head against his shoulder, he wondered then how all of them ever considered her a monster. 

« I’ll put her to sleep. » 

« Yeah yeah, we all tried, good luck. » 

"I'll scare her to sleep then." 

Levi left the mess hall to Hange’s room, it couldn’t be hard to put her to sleep, she was drowsing on hi… drooling, she was drooling on his shoulder already. He tucked her in bed with a care that surprised himself.

« Levi, stay? » she murmured when he turned the light off. « Mh, no? »

« Please? Nightmares… » 

Tch. He sighed and sat on the bed beside her, she curled up against him and fell asleep right away. We all tried they said. Morons.  

…

The first rays of light woke him up. Had he? Slept? He found himself being very warm and unusually well-rested. Hange. Right, he had to help Moblit about Hange. He inclined his head to the subject that was spreading so much warmth and nearly gasped when he saw a full-grown Hange resting her head on his shoulder. 

Her breathing was soft, her face as smooth as that five-year-old that had terrified the entire survey corps the day before. 

Glad you’re back four eyes.

.

.

.

yeah so this was my very first Levihan one shot, thanks @free-pancakes for the support! 

[spectrumed]

7. identity

The aesthetic of suffering, the allure of victimhood, it’s important to acknowledge that to many people, the idea of struggling with mental illness is hot. A common trope in teen dramas is the existence of the sexy bad boy haunted by demons of depression or addiction or some other psychological malady. Women with mental illness tend to be sexualised, less, but then again, women are most typically always sexualised, no matter the state of their mental health. But it’s not just a case of some people finding mental illness to be attractive in others, many see mental illness in themselves as something to take pride in, to celebrate and nurture. To seek out a diagnosis, to infiltrate communities that exist to provide support to those in need, and to declare themselves as being special. Fakers, you could call them. Yes, we’re going to be entering into dangerous grounds here, talking about a potentially incendiary topic that might feed the flames of controversy, but it’s a topic worth discussing. Self-diagnosis. Is self-diagnosis valid or not? Should one self-diagnose? Is it ableism to be against self-diagnosis? Is it ableism to be for self-diagnosis? Is it ableism itself ableist? I don’t know, sweetheart, you are asking a whole bunch of questions and I am hungover… But let’s go on rambling about what it means to be labelled neurodivergent.

Do you have an identity? Do you root for a particular sports team? Do you like a particular kind of music? Do you dance a lot? Are you a dancer? What are you? Simply stating that you’re just “a human” probably won’t do. Sure, it’s correct, but I am also a human, and we could be two very different kinds of people. Your identity should be that certain something that makes you stand apart from the rest, that distinguishes you from the squirming mass of flesh that is the whole of humanity. There are plenty of things about you that do figure in your identity, even though you wish it didn’t. You’re black, you don’t wish to always be “that black guy over there,” but you’ve come to realise that’s just how society views you. Maybe you are a transwoman, and you very eagerly want your friend to stop introducing you as her “trans bestie.” You’re just a woman, you don’t need her to keep labelling you as trans, even though that's what you are. There are many ways we can change our identity through direct personal action. Maybe you could start wearing a hat, and be known as “that hat guy” to the people you work with. Maybe you could embrace a punk aesthetic, looking like young Johnny Rotten stepped into a time machine and got transported to the current day. Actions like these can have a big or small impact on how others see you, but it feels good to be able to make a decision like that and get a response. This is me, this is what I am. I’m the guy who wears bow-ties, don’t I look cool? If only shaping your sense of self always came down to personal decisions like that. You don’t always have a choice.

I’ve lately been watching some Conan O’Brien (American TV talk show host who’s recently decided not to be a TV talk show host) clips. I am sure I don’t need to explain who Conan O’Brien is to my readers, but just in case this is being read by aliens ten-thousand years from now, what I can tell you is that Conan O’Brien is well known for being freakishly tall. Like, really tall. He’s an elongated leprechaun. He’s turned being tall into one of his trademarks. Like many comedians, he’s come to use his corporeal form as a source for levity and fun. While, naturally, the man did not choose to grow as tall as he did, he’s come around to use his height not as a hindrance to success, but rather as an asset. He’s “that tall irish guy on the TV,” and he’s been that person for nearly thirty years. It pays to have some distinguishing feature if you wish to be distinguished. Mr. Joe Average might be perfectly funny and charming, but being an average-looking guy can be wholly detrimental in making a career for yourself as a funnyman. At least get yourself some weird voice, or something. Maybe pretend to be some foreigner and put on a fake accent. As a comedian your job is to be exploited, you wish to be made into a commodity to be sold. People will want to watch your special because of that funny face you pull in the thumbnail. To be different can be financially lucrative.

What’s the best approach in turning something that could be perceived as an abnormal feature into something that is beneficial to you? To make jokes about it? Certainly, if I were to meet a man with a heavily scarred face, I feel there’d likely be a tension between me and him that could be dispelled if that man with the heavily scarred face made some little joke about his appearance, some little quip. “I’m sorry, I cut myself shaving this morning,” would do. The person isn’t obliged to justify his existence to me, he does not have to go out of his way to make me feel less uncomfortable. I am the one in the wrong, certainly. I shouldn’t look at a person with a heavily scarred face and feel uncomfortable, that’s me letting prejudices get in the way, I know that. But, it is what it is. If you’re looking for a practical solution, telling people to simply get over themselves and learn to not be so awkward around folks with physical deformities won’t do. It may be the right thing, but it’s not going to happen any time soon. I am sure that the man with the heavily scarred face isn’t interested in being defined by his heavily scarred face. He's probably sick and tired of that little joke, and wish he didn’t have to make it. But it does the job. Suddenly, you are not looking at something to be feared, the other, you are looking at a person, and someone with a sense of humour. The importance of humour in eradicating stigma, making it possible for the ostracised to enter in society, cannot be understated. Through humour, you can convince most everyone that you are someone worthy of inclusion, because… well, you’re just a funny guy, who doesn’t wanna hang out with you?

For those who have grown up not feeling normal, worrying that there are aspects of your character that others may perceive as unwanted, the yearning to be liked can at times become excruciating. I like to consider myself a funny person, while this blog isn’t intended to be a humorous one, occasionally small little jokes will squirm their way to the top, like worms coming up to the surface during a rainstorm. I am also a cartoonist, and produce a new cartoon every other day. My humour isn’t universal, no good humour ever is universal, but it’s done good in getting some folks to like me. Some people want to be admired, some people want to be feared. I only want to be liked. The one thing I absolutely do not want to be is pitied. I don’t want your pity, I fear your pity.

You’re probably familiar with The Sims, right? It’s a life simulation game, where you control a little digital human, known as a sim, and try to help them make the right decision through life. Each sim has a number of meters that measures their current needs. Hunger, hygiene, energy, if they need to urinate or defecate (though, frankly, the distinction between the two isn’t made in the game, so one can assume that sims are like birds and have just one cloaca that does both,) and so on. One of these meters is for social activities. If a sim hasn’t been social in a while, they go nutty. What’s interesting here, the reason why I bring it up, is that in real life, though we all (to a lesser or greater degree) crave to socialise with others, what kind of socialising you do is of a very big importance. There are a myriad of ways in which one can be social, and depending on your needs at the time, one kind of socialising may not do, whereas another kind of socialising may be just what you need. Do you want to hang out with your pals, cracking jokes and maybe drinking a couple of beers? Do you want to have a serious conversation with your partner about what you wish to accomplish together? Do you want to play with your dog? These different social situations scratch different parts of your mind, and you can’t just substitute one for the other and think that’s all alright. A person may have tonnes of friends, lots of buddies to spend their time with, but they may still desperately be yearning for another kind of social interaction, one that none of their friends can deliver. The human need for company is more complex than how it is depicted in The Sims… which, to be fair, probably shocks nobody. The Sims doesn’t pretend that it’s some highly realistic simulation of real life, it’s a game meant to be played for fun. But what’s important here is the fact that while humans do have a need to be social, how that need is fed changes dramatically on the person, and their conditions. Socialising that may bring comfort to one person, may bring discomfort to another person.

I don’t want you to pity me. I may list my diagnoses, I may tell you of the difficulties that I face in life, but I do not want you to feel sorry for me. I want you to be entertained reading this, I don’t want to make you weep thinking about how cruel life can be. I don’t want you thinking I’m special, or different, because of my diagnoses. I want you to think I’m special and different because of my writing. Sure, this blog is about living with autism spectrum disorder, but I don’t want you reading this blog just because it’s about autism spectrum disorder. I want you to read this because, while it is about a diagnosis you are interested in learning more about, you also find what I write to be well-written and at times, mildly humorous. This blog isn’t my rabid manifesto detailing all the ways my life sucks, and what must be done by society to appease me. Nah, I’m doing relatively fine, don’t feel bad for me, please. I don’t want that kind of attention. I do want attention, I won’t lie and tell you that I don’t have an ego, or that I don’t get pleased seeing people like the things I put out there. I do have a social need, it’s just that being pitied does not do it for me. It doesn’t make me feel good. It makes me feel bad. It makes me feel sad. It really makes me feel mad.

We’re finally getting around to the topic I promised I would discuss. Self-diagnosis. A principal concern people have with self-diagnosis is that people only self-diagnose in order to receive pity from others. The difference between someone like me, who’s got a proper official diagnosis, and someone who is self-diagnosed, is that I don’t want your pity. I don’t want you to fetishise my diagnosis, this thing about me that I did not choose to be. I don’t want special favours just because of my diagnosis, I don’t want to be known as “that cartoonist with autism.” I am autistic, I’ve come to accept that, but I don’t want anyone to introduce me as “their friend who’s on the spectrum.” Some may accuse me of self-loathing, treating being autistic like some bad thing that I am ashamed of. But that’s not it. After all, I did start this blog to discuss what it is like. I just don’t want to be defined by this certain something that lies outside of my control. I don’t want it to be my “thing.” I don’t mind being referred to as a hairy cartoonist, because I am pretty hairy. I don’t want to cut my hair any time soon (especially with this plague going around.) No-one would pity me just because I am hairy. At most they may regard me as a good-for-nothing beatnik, and I’m okay with that. Ideally, I still want to be liked, but anything is better than being pitied. To be pitied is to be robbed of your own agency, your own potential. Sure, it gets you that attention you may be craving, but at the cost of infantilization. Autistic people often struggle with being infantilized by society, to the point where some folks don’t even realise that there are autistic grown-ups in the world. Anyone who would voluntarily seek out a diagnosis just to be pitied, well… it doesn’t sit right with me. It makes me, quite frankly, feel demoralised.

But not all people self-diagnose just to get pity from others, right? For some it’s genuinely their only option, likely living in a barely-functioning country like the United States where receiving psychiatric care is expensive and it’s just not something they can afford. It’s unfair of me to phrase self-diagnosing as just a quest to receive pity, it’s way more complicated than that. And yes, I’d have to agree. To know all the reasons why a person may self-diagnose, you have to go personally ask them. Even if it is possible to highlight a few certain trends, things that they all have in common, it’s bound to be impossible to make this one sweeping generalisation to explain everything. All I am saying is that there absolutely are those people who do self-diagnose with the explicit goal of getting pitied. Whether they are knowingly faking their condition or not, to them, being pigeonholed as a person with autism isn’t at all a negative. It’s their identity. It is how they have chosen to let the world see them. They made a choice. They chose this label. This is why many people who have official diagnoses are sceptical of those who've only got a self-diagnosis. Whether your self-diagnosis is accurate or not, in the end, you chose to identify yourself with it. You made a decision, oblivious of the fact that many people don’t get to make that kind of a decision, and they may bear resentment for how you are turning something they’ve faced ostracization for, into what is potentially on the same level as listening to a certain kind of music, or being a supporter of a sports team. A diagnosis is not something you should choose to have.

There are other things to say about self-diagnosis. First of all, it can be dangerous. Some of the diagnoses I’ve seen people give themselves are really serious, things like personality disorders or psychosis. Psychiatrists are very careful when putting these kinds of labels on people, knowing the harm that it can do. A diagnosis is meant to only be given after careful deliberation, and after long conversations with the patient. Psychiatrists know that reducing a person to a set of symptoms can have detrimental effects to that person’s sense of self. If you’re trying to cling on to a diagnosis, seeing it as a major part of your identity, then that may hamper any attempts you make to become a better person, to improve your mental health. You will feel as if you need to correspond to the exact specifications of the disorder, and you will not allow yourself to grow naturally as a complicated human being, a human being whose internal life is far too vast to be fully rounded up with some psychiatric jargon. There are plenty of things about me that do not line up with the diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder, and guess what, that’s quite good actually. It doesn’t mean that I don’t have autism, I very much do, but I realise that as a person, I am more than just my diagnosis. The diagnosis does not define me, I define the diagnosis. If you self-diagnose, do you comprehend all that you are getting yourself into? Are you going to find yourself in psychological traps that will only serve to worsen your mental health? It’s hard to look at yourself objectively, you could easily be misrepresenting yourself inside your own mind. You may effectively be locking parts of yourself away, making it so you are no longer able to see the full you. You will no longer be all there, you will be segmented in favour of upholding the defining marks of a diagnosis that doesn’t suit you.

Instead of self-diagnosing, try doing a self-assessment. Keep in mind that, while you may have this diagnosis, it’s too early to say for sure. You’re going to need somebody else’s input. You’ll need to sit with it for a while to see if it sticks. Keep an open mind, realise that there’s no easy way to explain exactly who you are, or what you are like. It’s very possible that you will come to realise that you are in fact autistic, or have whatever other diagnosis you may suspect describes you. I, after all, came to the conclusion that I was autistic before I got the diagnosis (though, I was going to therapy at that point, and I was on the way to undergo a neuropsychiatric evaluation.) It’s not bad to try and get to understand yourself, don’t come out of this thinking that self-reflection is only possible with a psychiatrist looming over you, telling you how to think about things. We all need to come to certain conclusions over how we self-identify, and sometimes you need to take mental leaps to explain certain things. Just don’t feel as if your best option is to put a label on yourself that can potentially negatively affect your psychological well-being. If you are truly searching for understanding, if your goal is to find out more about yourself, you should act with caution and concern for what you are doing. If all you are looking for is to have people pity you, then… well… I don’t know what to say, really…

[the-nysh]

Have you ever taken a look at One Punch Man's TV Tropes page? In particular, at Garou's character trope? Do you agree with some of the comparisons/theories/general trope assignments there?

Yup I have in the past for the lulz. :D Cause I find the tv tropes entries/speculation/ymmv stuff more entertaining/interesting to me than the fanwiki, which seems to have most stuff referenced for powerscaling feats, instead of theory/analysis based info, which is what I personally find more useful. Anyway, it's been a while since I've been there (since the site's become one of those that dings you for using adblocks, gah!) so if more recent stuff's been added then hold on, let me check...*one moment please*

Oho~ It’s actually pretty accurate! :O I can see it’s been well-maintained since some old ones were removed (like Walking Spoiler when most stuff was still wc-only). And what’s written in the hidden spoiler parts clarifies stuff well. What I also like is how you can tell whoever wrote the entries is passionate about it as a fan of him. :3 Good! However, there’s a few points I don’t quite agree with.

The biggest one is them assigning him the trope Anti-Villain, which is what the lads on reddit often say (and jump on anyone who thinks otherwise to ‘correct’), so I think one of the guys from there may have written this entry, which sounds good/logical enough, except for one glaring problem, Word of God, ONE himself, has already debunked that in the s2 interview booklet:

(Transcription)

Let’s discuss the anti-hero Garou. How was his character created?

Garou is an “anti-hero,” but I thought he should be more “anti-Saitama” – otherwise, he’d be the same as the other monsters. I didn’t want to show the limits of his potential. He might not be able to win now, but I wanted people to think that if he continues to grow as a monster, he might just be able to fight on the same level as Saitama. The anime emphasized his viciousness, his youth, his whimsical kindness, and his recklessness, which made me look forward to his future.

Just look how ONE describes him! :’3 So I think the tvtropes writers need to recheck/edit this entry, or even just use this, as the evidence to show how ONE himself categorizes him as an Anti-Hero. (And in opm’s specific context, an Anti-Saitama.) :O And ironically, not once does he ever use the term ‘villain’ for him. This becomes the biggest eye-opening piece of info that can completely change one’s reading of him, so it’s important to get right. Without the entry enforcing/spreading misinformation. Thankfully ONE answers the age-old question for the fans and describes Garou in a way I can trust. :’3 (Aka I will take ONE’s word over any fanwiki/trope entries.)

Some other entries are just a matter of semantics, like calling him a Hero Killer, when...yeah, he doesn’t. He’s not Stain from b/nha. However, the hidden text clarifies this so it’s cool.

Another one that kinda makes my eyes twitch is when they describe his wc monster form as ‘going bald’ with horns, when eugch, no that’s a Saitama thing! :O Garou’s ‘hair’ remains (as the horns) so this is also why I’m glad Murata’s new version keeps his iconic hair intact! (At least for now?) To distinguish their characters from each other.

There’s also more entries I would add (it seems the list used to be longer and was edited shorter?) like Big Damn Heroes, which is literally the precise trope Garou performs when he busts through walls at the perfect timing to rescue Tareo from Royal Ripper. :’D Many moments like that! Which it seems his page doesn’t fully capitalize on or mention to make reading thru it even more fun (like Mr. Fanservice is there and pretty funny, heh.)

Anyway, there’s my take. In general the whole thing’s pretty good and worth checking out for fun, but yeah there’s just a few details I’d probably change. :’3

[schrijverr]

The Media in a Quirk Society

An essay or more a thought piece about how the media adapted to the appearance of quirk. How genres changed and how the media influences and is influenced by society.

On AO3.

Ships: none

Warnings: none

~~~~~~~~~~~

Something that makes me so very curious is how media must have developed in the BNHA universe after the appearance of quirks.

We hear almost nothing of media other than the news within the universe itself. For now it escapes me if All Might Cartoons are actually mentioned in the show or something of fanfiction. But another fanfic phenomena are pre-quirk movies, aka movies of our time.

The latter is a thing we must agree on, since there was a time before there were quirks wherein movies were made. This also implies that the pre-quirk superhero genre has existed (think MCU or DC)

I want to examine how that must have changed with the appearance of quirks based of what we’ve seen in the show.

When we see the beginnings of a quirk society, we meet AFO, who rises in the chaos and especially the scene where he takes and gives a quirk stand out the most. Quirks weren’t excepted yet, especially visible quirks, while at the same time a quirk means power. We also know the hero profession rises here, because it was too much for just law enforcement.

So we have these components, which all make for really great stories… in hindsight.

After the fact there must have been many stories about a lone police officer, becoming a hero as he saw the force around him crumble. Or a weak person, suddenly developing a powerful quirk that helps them get out of an impossible situation. Or maybe even about someone who feels they are deformed and shunned from society by their quirk and how they overcome it.

But at the moment it was happening there was still a lot of resentment about quirks and people who had them.

When quirks first entered the stage, people who had them plunged the world into chaos or had to hide like the man who goes to AFO to get his quirk removed.

I can imagine that if movie productions could continue in those turbulent times they would focus on the normal guy, still fighting against a suddenly super-powered villain or a quirkist (as I shall refer to it) take on a person who gets a quirk and turns evil.

Or they might even ignore the whole quirk situation in general with a new genre that can be boiled down to ‘No Quirks – AU’ wherein the movie is based in pre-quirk times. This genre would have a lot of nostalgia at first, probably, trying to call upon how simple life was when villains weren’t terrorizing the streets and heroes were just a funny thing of TV.

Maybe it will develop later.

Maybe it will become how difficult it must have been back then with no simple quirk solutions to problems. It might even turn into a genre about invention, mostly, with a fascination in the public of how things that run on quirk-solutions now, could have been solved by a quirkless scientist in the before times.

But back to the developing genre that is set the BNHA real world. Wherein quirkless people might have gotten a center stage in the early years, before quirks became so entrenched in society that quirkism developed against what used to be a majority.

I can picture a young Midoriya watching old movies wherein the quirkless protagonist was the hero against the evil quirks, telling himself that one day that could be him.

However, with the rise of heroes the media attention probably shifted.

The manga/anime describes it as ‘ordinary civilians with their own Quirks decided to take matters into their own hands to bring order to society, and thus the first "Heroes" appeared.’ as it says on the fandom wikia.

This shifts the narrative of quirkless hero against the chaos of quirks, to brave citizen stands up using the power they’ve been granted. Maybe they gave it religious undertones or maybe it was the story of taking the moral high ground and doing what was right for your country and neighbors.

In those early days you probably have more stories reflective of the pre-quirk fictional heroes, wherein the main character has to hide that they’re out there every night breaking the law to bring order.

It can be that at this time the narrative that the police is just the ‘villain taxi service’ starts to originate among bitter storytellers, who have seen the police fail where heroes did not. Though this would be more older filmmakers after this era is over, who start this. When heroes have become accepted, but they still remember how bad the police reacted before.

But on the topic of heroes becoming accepted, that must have been a civil right movement, a right that had to be debated with villains reflecting how bad an idea public quirk use could be.

You can see in the ‘Liberation War Arc’ how something like that could have played out and how it makes for interesting media entertainment as it is a story arc in our world, meant to amuse. Mixed with the fact that the first heroes created order in the chaos, there must be a ton of movies following activists or a hero not only having to fight the villains, but also the system.

And then over time heroes morphed into what they are now.

Hero became a profession and quirks the norm. After a while, just focusing on quirks got less interesting and using quirks as just a backdrop became more interesting.

Sure, you still had the hero genre and with actual figureheads these can range from documentaries to inspired by real life movies or just fictive fights with characters that are obviously based off a real hero or just the real hero. Especially when heroes became depended on their popularity, there must have been plenty that signed an acting contract in the hopes of getting their name and image out there.

With Midoriya’s comment about Todoroki having the backstory of a protagonist, it is clear that the hero genre is far from forgotten.

However, the “normal” genres also developed with society and with quirks becoming normal and no one truly aching for the before times, they must be set in the BNHA world we know.

The tropes we know (and maybe love) will get a new twist to fit this society or maybe disappear completely. New stereotypes and assumptions based off quirks appear, even quirkism might become prevalent in media, teaching kids that those without quirks are freaks or weak and weird.

In my mind I picture a movie trailergoing “She has a water quirk, he has a fire quirk. Will they fall in love despite their different personalities?!?” or “When his family is murdered, he must track down the killer with only the quirk as clue. Will he find out what happened on that faithful day or will the path this sends him on be the last of him???”

The horror genre will also be transformed with the fear of people misusing their quirk being a big thing in society.

As for fantasy, this genre will change with super-powered people being the norm, you can have to get more creative to make it truly fantastical. World building, visually, will be more important to distinguish it from our world, creatures too since there are literally people with bird heads, for example, walking around.

Not to mention the potential of quirks being hereditary that can be used in dramas where the partner has cheated or as plot point as grant reveal of a main character being related to one of the antagonists or even in gang movies as them training together to use their quirks and them all being the same. That would make for a cool visual tbh.

Disaster movies also will be different than they are now. With protagonist who can have quirks that work against them in their situation or if it’s a more hopeful movie how they work together, piling together their quirks and other skills to survive.

And the crime genre will be so intrinsically tied to hero society and with the police being seen as kinda useless, it will be so different than how we know it now. Did crime become part of the hero genre? Is this a piece of cop propaganda left wherein the police tries to save their reputation? I don’t know, but I wanna think about it.

It’s just interesting to me how in a world where the super is normal, media has adapted and this has been keeping my mind busy over the past few weeks.

The transformation in society of quirks as something dangerous that needs to be stopped, to a few brave people standing up for what’s right to finally the commercialization of heroes so that they can keep doing their job.

You see these changes, that’s unavoidable.

Media is such a powerful tool and it’s hardly referenced within the source material (which I understand because there are already so many movingparts), but with the fall of hero society it is interesting how all that propaganda for heroes might disappear back to when quirks first appeared and how the cycle may start again.

~~

A/N:

There are probably so many genres and other stuff thatI haven’t considered, so tell me your thoughts about the media in BNHA!

((also I didn’t want to dive in how racism, homophobia, ableism will develop with quirks and notions people will have about them. It is important to think about, but I do not think that I am the right person to talk about it. If anyone does, tag me or comment the link, because I will 100% read it))

[azurevi]

on land where we can touch the moon (1/?)

Ok, so this is a really random idea, but it’s basically The Little Mermaid with Azul. And I wish I could excuse myself by saying that I was drunk writing this, but really I was just rushing it because I’ve been sitting on it for far too long. Anyways, enjoy!

Pairing : Azul / genderneutral reader

Characters : Grim, Ace and Deuce

Warnings/Triggers : none

Word count : 3,371

PART2 PART 3

“Isn’t this great,” you made a show of strolling along the railing, the beer in your hand threatening to spill. “The salty sea air, the wind blowing in your face. Perfect day to be at sea!”

“Yes, well-” Jack paused mid-sentence to lean over the side. He sounded as though he was retching. “It is indeed a favourable weather, your royal highness- urk!”

“Now, what did I say about formalities, Jack?”

“You said, and I quote, ‘Call me by my first name, if only for today. It’s a direct order.’”

You went up to soothe his back. When he pulled his head up, his eyes were glossy and cheeks purple. “It’s inappropriate for you to see me in this state, your majesty,”

“So you’re defying my orders now? And on my birthday, no less?”

“That man is all work and no fun,” Ace commented bitterly. He and Deuce were on the opposite side of the ship, holding their respective mugs of beer.

“That’s what makes him the knight commander,” Deuce said.

“A knight commander who’s seasick, huh?”

“Shut up, both of you!“ 

You chortled blatantly, chest light and hair spraying in the wind. 

"Fireball Attack!”

There was a sharp yell, and Grim’s fur was all up in your face before you knew it.

“Hey, hey! Someone’s in a good mood!” You cradled him in your arms. His fur was fluffy and sticking up in the air in all directions.

While you were entertaining your attention-starved familiar, your personal knights had managed to get into yet another fistfight. Jack, the poor commander, was cornered on the edge of the ship, his golden, distinguished pin somehow threatening to slip off in his fingers.

“If I drop my badge, I swear on my wage you’re getting extra morning training and night patrols for the next whole year-!”

He gagged slightly before turning sharply, elbowing Ace in the process. His arm jolted, and the badge escaped his firm pinch, glistening in the air. Time seemed to slow as it made its way downwards, all the while the knights’ mouths grew rounder and rounder.

It plummeted right into the sea, made an insignificant plop and continued sinking quietly, slowly, until the sea muted the screams on deck and the light dwindled.

“We should really stay away, Rory,”

“Quit being a chicken,”

Lovett was falling behind. Rory had insisted that they visit this deeper and lesser known part of the ocean due to a half-hearted dare. And Rory, headstrong that she was, would never back down from a challenge.

“Haven’t you heard? Deep where the light doesn’t reach lives the evil Sea Merchant! A force to be reckoned with! It’s-”

Lovett swivelled swiftly. He was pretty sure something had just swam past from behind.

“Oh, for the love of Poseidon, please don’t eat me for I’m just a standard merman!”

“Will you zip?” Rory was already a few feets ahead. Lovett continued to mumble prayers as he flapped his tail harder.

There was almost no light now, but they could still make out the outlines of rocks and corals. It was uncanny how there was nary a sign of life, not even a lanternfish.

“What’s- what’s the dare anyways?”

“To steal something from the evil Sea Merchant’s collection,”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Lovett gasped. He had yet to notice how they’d swam into a forest of seaweeds. Some clung to their tails as they swam by and tickled their sides.

Something strong and somewhat slimy wrapped around Lovett’s arm. Presuming that it was just another irritating weed, he swung his arm back and forth. It only seemed to grow tighter.

“Great seas, what-” he turned to inspect. “Oh- oh- ten-TENTACLE!”

Rory sprinted around at the scream. “Holy-” she murmured, speechless and shocked to the core. 

Wrapped around Lovett’s elbow was no doubt a tentacle lined with suckers. For a while, it didn’t seem to be moving, but then Lovett was yanked away like lightning.

“Lovett!”

The first thought that came to his mind was that he was going to be eaten. That was until he was met with a frowning face. One under silver messy hair. Then his eyes traveled down the seemingly countless slithering tentacles that stretched out from the man, and he was trembling in fear again.

“Please-! Don’t eat me! I have the least nutritional diet!”

The man didn’t answer. Instead, he squinted at Lovett for an agonizingly long time before finally letting him loose. Lovett squirmed and backed away. The area where he had been held had become swollen red.

“Lovett?” Rory had just gotten into the scene. Lovett didn’t wait a second to break into a run, but Rory caught him by his elbow where it was still hurting.

“We gotta run, Rory-”

‘Huh. What, it’s just Ashengrotto? Have you forgotten about him already?“

Lovett whimpered when Rory advanced on the man. He narrowed his gaze behind a neat pair of glasses. Lovett half expected Rory to be squeezed to death on the spot.

"You’re lurking down here now? How lame. And I see that you still got those hideous fingers of yours,” Rory gestured at his tentacles. “You seriously don’t remember him, Lovett? You have shit memories. Does Azul Ashengrotto from college ring a bell?”

It took Lovett a long, long time to get it. “That’s right, you’re Azul! Man, how you’ve changed- wait, are you the Sea Merchant?”

There was nothing that could rival the bitterness in Azul’s voice. “Pleased to see you again, Lovett,”

“Is it easier to prey on fishes down here? Or are you just that insecure about yourself?” Rory paid no mind to their conversation.

“… It’s none of your business,”

“It actually is. You see, knowing that an ink-blasting octopus lives in the same water as I do is really unnerving-”

“Then make your leave.”

Rory’s smug look faltered. 

“Why should I? You don’t even own this part of the ocean-”

“Oh? Who are these friends of yours, Azul?”

A singsong voice once again interrupted Rory. She turned on her spot, only to find herself face to face with a grinning face.

“Eek-!”

“Oh! If this isn’t Rory~ how kind of you to visit us!”

Lovett backed away quietly. He wasn’t going to stay for anymore of this horror. When two hands slammed onto his shoulders, he shrieked a key higher than any other that’s been sung by opera singers. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” a far more stern and solid voice asked. It was one of those voices you hear in persuading commercials.

It was the Leech brothers, in their long, slender eel forms.

Lovett thought that was it. This was his doom. He was either going to get eaten alive or squeezed to his demise. He should never have agreed to come here. And now he was going to die. He didn’t even get to experience life-

“It’s fine, Jade, Floyd,” Azul said calmly. The hands on Lovett’s shoulders retreated, and Rory rushed towards him hastily and pulled him up and up until they were out of the seaweeds.

“I can’t believe you let them off that easily!” Floyd complained, pouting hard. “We could’ve had some fun with them first, and yet you decided to play good guy?”

Azul didn’t reply. The three of them travelled between rocks and reefs, and while Azul seemed to be in search of something, the twins were merely accompanying.

“I believe he has his reasons,” Jade said, pausing in anticipation. When Azul didn’t soothe his curiosity, he sighed and decided to drop the topic.

Azul rummaged through the swaying weeds and peeked into the slits of the rocks. Nothing seemed to have piqued his interest. Then they swam even further away from where they’d started and reached a sunken ship.

While almost the entirety of the hull had rotten away the structure of the ship still remained intact. Anemones and sponges had claimed the pieces of wood. Tiny shrimps traveled freely between poles and debrises.

Jade and Floyd followed tightly like bodyguards. They were at least mildly worried after the encounter with Rory and Lovett. They could still recall vividly how notorious Rory was and what a relief that they never had to meet again.

If anything, Azul seemed frustrated. His tentacles worked individually, shoving aside inconvenience hastily just like his hands. It was as though he’d lost something priced and valued.

“Let’s split up, alright? Treasure hunt’s no fun if we’re just following one another,” Floyd said as he rounded a corner and out of sight. Jade hesitantly stayed behind as well, leaving Azul to his own.

He’d been here so many times that he’d lost count. There was always something new and from the land somewhere between the ruins. But this time, it seemed to have become just another bland, boring place without any aesthetic value.

That was until something flickered in the corner of his eyes. It was so weak that it would’ve gone unnoticed by, say, Jade and Floyd, but Azul had always been delicate in treasure hunting. Nothing ever slipped his sight.

It looked like a badge. A golden brimmed badge with two crossed swords in the middle, and at the bottom carved two grand words - 'Knight Commander’.

“Oh, what’s that you’ve got there?”

“Ahh!" 

Azul spoke up finally in a long time. The brothers had at some point started following him again.

"Looks like a badge,”

“Bet it sank just a few hours ago. It looks very intact,”

“Yeah,” Azul flipped it between his fingers, eyes tracing in fascination. “It’s not everyday you see something like this,”

His mood seemed to have lightened after this discovery. He was gratified. It’d been a while since he last found anything worthy enough to add to his collection of trinkets from ashore. It put a smile to his face just remembering his towering shelves of tiny valuables. 

Azul owned a secret grotto that even the Leech brothers knew nothing of. He’d made sure that it was known only to him.

It was where he stored all the human objects he’d found undersea. Things like a trident but with four tips or a shallow, handled bowl. There were items as big as a golden pot and others as small as a hairclip. Everywhere he turned they were shimmering and singing about the unknown world outside the water, where mermaids had legs and walked instead of swimming, where they could dance instead of just swaying and flapping tails. Where they could go so many different places - forests and deserts, mountains and caves - many more than what the ocean held.

And they could reach the moon. The ageless, pensive moon that Azul could only wish to caress. But no matter how hard he stretched, it was only in his dreams where the moon would come down in all its glory, close enough to blind his eyes.

He needed to reach it. There was no other way. It was the single entity in the world that knew all the truths and lies, all the corruptions and praises. He had to see it, then he would get the answers - the truth he’d always hungered for. 

Muffled rumbles snapped him out of his intensity. When he looked up from under the grotto, he’d thought he was hallucinating.

The usually azure (and rather bland, may he add) current was now painted with red- no, yellow- purple- it was changing with every muted clap. It might have as well been the end of the world with its bizarreness. However, there was something else stirring in Azul’s heart aside from confusion.

Curiosity. A haste force that was tingling in all his eight tentacles, as if there was no way to rid of the sensation except to swim towards the source.

It was wrong on so many levels. He’d been taught by teachers, friends and his parents that to go beyond the water was basically pleading to be killed. Humans are nothing but greedy, spineless, nasty fish-eaters who are incapable of emotions, that’s what everyone said.

Was that really the case, though? As Azul surveyed his collections, he found it harder by second to believe in the lore. How would they explain all these sparkling and antique cosmetics? How could a world that made so many wonderful things be bad?

And so he pushed aside all doubts that were chaining his limbs and flew towards the surface.

The moment he broke the fabric of water and chill air entered his ears, he was taken back by the sight before him.

A colossal wooden ship was sailing right above. Behind it, lights and fire burnt themselves in the sky then fell into the water dimly. There were singing and whooping aboard where he couldn’t see. The grandness of it all was so deafening that Azul failed to hear the voice of reason in his head as he neared the boat.

There was an opening at the side of the ship. Azul carefully stuck his head up so he wouldn’t be seen. At least not without squinting.

There were about five people dancing and hollering, some holding drinks in their hands while the others blowing into their snarfblats with reddened cheeks. 

“Encore! Encore!” a red-haired guy yelled. Then there was an airy laugh in response. Azul turned sharply towards where it came from.

Azul was… awestruck, to say the least. You were grinning from eye to eye, which were diminished into slits. As you laughed on, Azul felt his chest lighten little by little. It was one of those laughs that pulled you closer and assured you that the world around was but a facade. He could listen to your laugh for the rest of his life and he’d never be distressed again.

“Alright, but can we first reveal the massive unknown that’s been standing here for the past hours? You know I can see it right?” you asked with confidence, and this confidence was just humble enough not to be arrogant.

“As you wish, mademoiselle,” another man with dark blue hair bowed with a flourish, then approached the object in question which was covered with a drape. He was at least tipsy with his wavering and unsteady steps.

“Presenting-!” he hollered before yanking the drape off. Surprisingly it was a golden statue made to resemble you.

You recoiled in mild distaste, but your smile remained. Azul pondered about how you still managed to radiate a cheerfulness despite your negative reaction.

It also occurred to him that it was made in gold. Out of all his collectibles there was rarely even a gold necklace. You must have a reputation for someone to make you such a big deal.

“Well, here’s your birthday present, milady,” the tipsy man was throwing names spontaneously now. The red-haired had to drag him away from the railing several times. You had all resumed singing and dancing. Azul was so captivated by your figure that he didn’t even notice the fireworks dying down.

You and a dark-skinned man were leaning right next him now. What looked like a cat but with flame shaped ears and a devil’s tail started sniffing in the vicinity. Azul was having a hard time staying out of its way and eavesdropping on your conversation.

“You sure you don’t want some?” you raised your mug to his face, which he declined respectfully.

“I’d prefer to stay sober,” he said. “You know, I don’t wish to spoil your birthday, but the king’s being more pressing than ever,”

“Yeah? About what?”

He stared at you for a moment before answering, as if he was trying to look pass your display. 

“About marriage, of course,”

You didn’t answer. Though the corners of your lips were still raised in the aftermath of all the previous hypes, you were obviously unhappy to be there. Azul wished the man would shut up and bring your smile back instead.

“It’s not just the King, your highness. The whole kingdom wants to see you happily settled down with the right person,”

“Jack-” you took a deep, deep breath. “It’s not something that can come quicker just because you’re anxious. I have to find the right person-”

“I understand…” Jack mumbled under his breath. He didn’t look like he understood at all.

“- and they’re out there somewhere. I’m sure. I just haven’t found them yet,” you turned and dangled your arms over the railing. Azul quietly swam under your hands. He could probably touch your fingertips if he stretched hard enough.

“When I see them, it’s gonna hit me. Like bam! Like lightning-”

As if hearing your prayer the sky cracked open with a loud cry and grew darker still. The other men scattered out hurriedly, looking as though they’d never drunk anything.

“Hurricane coming in! Stand fast, secure the rigging!”

It all happened so fast. The wind was so strong that Azul could almost feel himself being blown away. The sky rumbled again and lightning started a rapid fire where it’d striked. He noticed a rock looming just ahead, but no one on board seemed to have noticed it.

He should probably go. It’s the safest under the sea. The sky couldn’t hurt a hair of his. But then he heard your screams of commands, and suddenly he was a brave knight willing to give up his life for the princette.

You weren’t on the ship when he neared. Instead, you were already secured on a piece of log, as well as the other men. He exhaled a relieved sigh, but it didn’t last as he heard cries from the ship.

“Ah! Get away you nasty fire- help!” cried a high-pitched voice.

“Oh no, Grim!” you gasped. Without a second thought, you let loose of the log and rushed towards the burning ship. The broken ship gave you better access as you hopped on, but the moment you’d secured your familiar, the ship roared and you tripped and fell.

“Look out!” Azul yelled out futilely. The ship ran straight into the rock and BOOM, everything was set ablaze. Azul dodged between dropping debrises mindlessly as he roamed around in search of you.

When nothing was found above, he dived back into the water and there you were - sinking into the water, growing darker and darker by second. He was next to you in a blink - thanks to his fast-moving tentacles. 

Your group had already gone out of sight when he emerged again, but to his best luck there was a piece of land just near, and he raced there like he was going to lose his own life if he was too late. It was only when you were pulled up on the dryland that he could soothe his pounding heartbeat.

He was bewildered at the fact that he could breathe on land just as well as he did under water. Aside from the sand that had started sticking to his tentacles the moment they touched, nothing seemed to be out of place.

“Hey,” he’d never rescued a drowning human before. He didn’t even know what drowning was. 

“Are you dead?” he slapped your cheek lightly. Your chest didn’t seem to be heaving, and your lips were as pale as snow.

“Hey-”

“Blergh!” Your head jerked up and suddenly you were coughing up water. Azul squeaked before scurrying over to hide behind a rock.

Your head was drooping back and forth as you held yourself up with wobbly arms. Then you started turning around and locked eyes with Azul’s as he peeked out tentatively.

Oh, it’s bad. This is very bad.

“Who-” you started to stand, and at the same time Azul began to reach for the water stealthily so you wouldn’t notice. He knew he’d be screwed if he was spotted.

“Y/N!” someone cried from far away, and you turned to look. The split second was just enough for him to crawl back into the water and out of sight.

The water washed the sand off him quickly, erasing all the evidence that he’d been out there violating one of the strictest rules under the sea, but despite all, he found himself already missing the crisp air above.

If any, he’d grown more fond of the unknown world that you lived in.

[isolemnlyswearpevensie]

16th Avenue | Edmund Pevensie x Reader

Warnings: Mentions of drugs and alcohol

Time/Era: Modern AU, Aged 19

Word Count: 2k 

Summary: A midnight adventure in which the only things available to Y/N and Edmund are limited cell service, saved Spotify playlists, and Y/N’s 15-year-old hatchback. 

Request: Hi! first I wanted to say that I love your stories, I discovered them recently but I already read them all, and then I wanted to know if you could write an Edmund x Reader based on the song I Think He Knows by Taylor Swift, thanks!

A/N: Basically a small town AU where two kids in their late teens are trying to find entertainment one late summer evening. 

masterlist | narnia playlist | read on ao3

Edmund laid in his bed with his phone held above his face, staring blankly at the illuminated screen. He read over the messages he shared with Y/N L/N, a girl he had met at university a few months before he moved home for the summer. The conversation, in his opinion, was rather flirty, but it teetered to close to the line between friendly teasing and romantic advances for Edmund to know for sure.

His room was sticky with heat, making all the warm air stick directly to his skin. He yearned to go swimming or at the very least take a shower, but running the water at half-past midnight would surely wake his entire family.

Moving back home for the summer seemed like a good idea at the time; he could save money, see his little sister, and spend a bit of time to himself. But, as time passes on, Edmund yearned for the freedom of his newfound adulthood and life away from his family. 

Y/N proved to be a saving grace in that aspect, as her family lived a few towns over from Edmund and she owned a car. It wasn’t a very attractive car, but it had a sunroof, large hatchback trunk, and an AUX cord, which is all you really needed. She always kept a few snacks and blankets in her backseat, too, so the car (which he learned was called Comet,) served as a little oasis in the boring world that was home. 

The brown curls on Edmund’s head stuck to his forehead in a thick layer of sweat; the August heat was proving to be too much for Edmund’s body. So he laid, duvet pushed in a heap at the foot of the bed, and overthought the texts. His finger teased the power button as the heat lulled him closer to sleep. 

That was until Y/N’s typing bubble popped up on the screen. Panic surged in his chest and he shot up from his bed to pace around the dark room. His only source of light was the screen of his phone, which made his face appear slightly blue due to the screen. 

pulling up in 10. be ready. 

Edmund looked down at his appearance; the skin of his bare chest was moist from sweat and his boxer briefs clung to his toned thighs. 

are you crazy? My mother will kill me if they knew I was out at this hour. 

The metal box fan clanked in the corner as if it were a washing machine full of tennis shoes. 

so? we’ve been over this. you’re 19, not 9. loosen up, pevensie. 

Edmund took a deep breath before dressing himself in as lightweight clothes as possible and packing his backpack. He never packed heavily, but he grabbed some headphones, a phone charger, a flashlight, a pack of gum, and a sweatshirt. It was doubtful that the sweatshirt would be needed, but it could potentially be used as a blanket for the two to lay on, or rolled in a ball to form a pillow. 

The door to Edmund’s room squeaked loudly as he opened it, making all of the muscles in his body tighten. He glanced at his sister’s door and breathed a breath of relief when there was no movement behind it. All he had to do was make it out the door without being noticed. 

“Ed?” Lucy’s voice sounded through the darkness at the exact moment Edmund’s hand came in contact with the front doorknob. 

“Lu,” He responded nearly frozen in place. 

“Where are you going?” The bag of pretzels in her hand crinkled. Ed mentally cursed himself for forgetting she was a midnight snacker. 

“Somewhere,” He pulled the door open with a single movement of his arm. “Do me a favor and don’t tell?”

She popped one of the pretzels and chewed it completely before responding. “Tell me where you’re going and I might consider it.” 

“I’m going out with Y/N, there are you happy now?” 

Her eyes widen and she smiles, “Like, on a date?” 

“No, I don’t think so. We’ll probably just drive around and chat.” The headlights from Comet shine through the open door and blind the two siblings. “Promise not to tell?” 

“I promise! But really, Ed, you better lock her down. The good ones never wait,” 

Edmund nods, shutting the door before half-jogging to get in the passenger side of the hatchback. 

“Pevensie! I thought you were going to wimp out on me when I saw you staring into the darkness with the door open.” She looked over her shoulder to check for cars before making a U-turn. 

“Oh, yeah, I was talking to my little sister. I had to convince her not to tell my mother,” Edmund forced a chuckle. 

“Your sister still lives at home? I thought she went to that one uni in, like, Scotland?” The crystal hanging from the mirror swung side to side as Y/N steered. It was oddly mesmerizing. 

“That’s my older sister, Susan. I’m talking about my younger sister, Lucy. She’s 17.” 

Y/N made a small “o” with her mouth and nodded. “It must be nice to be in such a big family, you guys all sound so close.” She pulled the car onto one of the main roads, which was completely empty at this hour. The thrilling feeling of spontaneity settled in Edmund’s stomach and any reservations he had about coming faded into existence. 

“Yeah, I guess it’s fun. That is until you realize my mother has a bad case of empty nest syndrome and has her heart set on keeping me inside the entire summer,” 

“Is that why you are only ever able to hang out past midnight?” 

Edmund chuckled for real this time. Something about Y/N’s constant teasing made his heart fly in the most carefree way possible. 

“Yeah, I have to sneak out the front door so she doesn’t see me, her 19-year-old son, leave the house without permission.” 

Y/N gasped, whipping her head to look at the boy. “How dare a 19-year-old leave the house without Mummy’s permission! Are you trying to give Helen a heart attack?” The two erupt into laughter, making Y/N grip her faded steering wheel cover even harder.

 “Come on, Dj Ed, why aren’t you playing music?” One of her hands found the AUX cord and threw it onto Edmund’s lap. He stares at it for a second before connecting his phone. “Play the playlist we listened to last time, I liked that one.”

The street lamps on the road became less and less frequent as they continued to drive further into the country. Edmund had never been in this direction before, at least to his knowledge; It was always hard to distinguish places at night. Y/N, however, was very familiar with where they were going. Living in such a small town, Y/N had ventured out as soon as she got a driver’s license in order to find any smidge of entertainment. That was when she found 16th Avenue. 

“Where are we going?” Edmund asked at last. He had to speak loudly over the music blasting through the speakers. 

Y/N made a left turn down a pitch-black dirt road, which appeared to be more of a ditch than a street. It was in the middle of two very large fields, one wheat, and one corn, which were illuminated by Comet’s headlights. It looked like the setting of a horror movie and seemed as though a monster was going to jump on the car at any moment. A nervous feeling filled Edmund’s lungs. 

“Welcome 16th avenue, Ed.” Y/N’s happy tone made her companion relax a bit. Not a lot, but a bit. 

“It looks like some possessed scarecrow is going to run across the road at any moment,” Edmund half-joked, fiddling with his backpack strap. 

Y/N giggled and pulled off the road and into the wheat field. The crops had been parted previously, it appeared, so there was a little path big enough for the hatchback to squeeze through. 

“Why would there be a possessed scarecrow? This town is much too boring for paranormal activity.”

The path soon widened into a large circle clearing and Y/N parked the car. Before turning off the engine, she opened the sunroof, rolled down the windows, and lowered her seat. 

“Lay your seat back, Pevensie,” Y/N instructed before getting out and opening the trunk. Edmund obeyed and watched as she circled the car to return to the driver’s seat. 

“Tada,” She bent her knees so she was laying back and her shins were resting against the steering wheel. “16th avenue, my favorite place ever.” 

“The stars are so bright out here,” Edmund gazed up in wonder at the twinkling lights above. Canis major was perfectly visible through the roof. 

“I know, it’s so far from the city so there’s no light.” Y/N turns her face to admire Edmund in the moonlight. 

Half of his face was dark, but the part of his skin that was visible was smooth and blemish-free. Y/N’s eyes traced the curve of his button-nose to his sharp jaw. It appeared angular and strong, but Y/N couldn’t help but think how soft it would be to touch. His eyelashes batted beautifully against his rosy cheeks and the freckles that dusted his nose matched the constellations above. Edmund moved his head to match Y/N’s gaze, a blissful smile tugging at his lips. 

“Do I have something on my face?” He mumbles, having felt Y/N’s eyes trace every visible piece of him. 

“Other than your cute freckles and strong jaw? Nothing,” Y/N spoke before she overthought her words. Tonight was about adventure and risks. 

Edmund’s already heat stained cheeks darkened, his smile growing. “Cute? You’re the cute one,” The warm summer breeze whistled in through the windows and rustled their hair. 

“Not even, not when you have a face like that and a body like-” She gestures towards his lying form. “-that.” Y/N’s eyes followed the lines of his legs and up his torso. She wished she knew that body as well as she knew her own.

Edmund seemed to take a breath, “You took me all the way out of town and into a wheat field to call me cute, is what you’re saying.” His bashful smile turned cocky as he quirked his head upwards.  

“Well, yes and no. I brought you here because I was tired of waiting.” Y/N sat up and turned so she could see Edmund. He followed suit quickly. 

“Waiting for what?” 

“To finally see what’s under that attitude of yours,”  

Ed swallows the lump in his throat and scoots a bit closer. It wasn’t much closer, due to the center console, but it was enough to make the point. 

“There have always been sparks between us, you can’t deny that, Ed. So, I brought you here to chase them. The sparks, I mean. I want to chase them with you, if you want to, of course.” Y/N’s eyes never left Edmund’s as she spoke. 

“God, I want to. Fucking hell.” 

Edmund leaned over the console to capture Y/N’s lips in a well overdue kiss; the kiss the pair had been dreaming about for months. The warm air stuck to their bodies as they held each other the best they could. Y/N’s hands ventured into Edmund’s messy curls and his thumb rubbed into her thigh. Y/N felt him smile into the kiss and move the hand up her leg. 

Y/N thanked the universe that they were in the middle of nowhere as she climbed over to join Edmund on the passenger side of the car. 

[yaboylevi]

[Fugou Keiji Balance:UNLIMITED]

Interview with Miyano Mamoru and Oonuki Yuusuke - Newtype (2020/5/10)

Translator: yaboylevi Follow my fkbu only blog if you'd like :) ※ do not reupload in its entirety. credits with link to this post attached if parts of it are reposted.

Q: Only 2 episodes of Fugou Keiji Balance:UNLIMITED were broadcasted but can you tell us your impression of the characters that you two play? First of all, the billionaire son of a distinguished family, Kambe Daisuke, who was assigned to the Modern Crime Prevention Headquarters. What’s your opinion of him?

MIYANO: Daisuke, who is voiced by Oonuki-san, is the type of character that constantly makes you change your opinion of him. If you look at him through Kato’s eyes, at the beginning he was someone you couldn't like. But Daisuke was transferred to his same division and Kato ended up having to teach him the ropes. Daisuke, in his own way, is facing cases earnestly, but it seems like Kato still hasn’t understood this. There are still lots of things that weren’t revealed about Daisuke, so I’m curious about that.

OONUKI: Daisuke knows nothing of the real world, he’s a bit clueless, or more like, he has always lived in a world of wealth, so he just does things in his own way. His air of arrogance and wealth was quite hard to portray in the beginning. But thanks to being alongside Kato, he will learn various things, so from now on, he will grow as a person. I’m looking forward to that.

Q: So, what about the hot-blooded detective Kato Haru, who was once part of the First Division, and is now working at the Modern Crime Prevention Division?

MIYANO: Kato has strong beliefs. He is a person who holds his ideals of justice very dear. He used to be the ace of the First Division but fell down all the way to the Modern Crime Headquarters. Because of that, he’s frustrated at the fact that he can’t do the things he wants to do. He’s a character who’s got a certain realism as part of the middle management (T/N: middle management people are not part of the top managers, they are their subordinates, but they are in charge of the actual workplace and have their own subordinates they are responsible for).

OONUKI: To someone like Daisuke who knows nothing of the everyday life of a normal person, Kato is someone who will make him grow more aware. I’m curious about how their relationship will evolve.

Q: As recording proceeds, what kind of opinion have you gained of this series?

MIYANO: Even if I’m the one saying this… our duo is pretty good, right?! (laughs) It feels really good! Daisuke and Kato’s personalities are opposites, but when we perform together, it feels just right.

OONUKI: Thank you. As for me, I really like the music in this series, it’s reaaaally cool! Music starts with such perfect timing that you unintentionally go “Wooh!”.

MIYANO: I totally get it!

OONUKI: Also the character design chosen by Sasaki-san is so cool. In the story, there is also a mystery that will be unveiled a bit at a time. The direction of Director Itou-san is also very stylish and exciting. And amongst it, there are parts that make you laugh, too. The balance is really nice, every recording session is fun!

MIYANO: At the end of every episode there is a receipt showing how much Daisuke’s investigations cost, and that’s exactly the type of entertainment the directing is going for.

Q: Miyano-san, Oonuki-san, the cast gathered in your group of voice actors is also quite amazing. Is there someone who left a strong impression on you when you were recording together?

MIYANO: Every character has a very strong individuality, so they all have a great presence, but I never thought in my life as a voice actor that I’d have the chance to record alongside Kamiya Akira-san (T/N: Cho-san’s voice actor, also Conan's Kogoro's VA and City Hunter's Saeba Ryou). I was so happy it felt like a dream. The weight and dignity of each of Kamiya-san’s words are just that great.

OONUKI:  I also wanted to talk about Kamiya-san. There are certain lines he said that are so very impressive they just remain with you. I was deeply moved by their power, the core of his voice.

MIYANO: He’s a very modest person and it was a precious experience to be able to be in the same workspace and witness the wonderful form of such a role model. Also, Shioya Kozo-san, who voices the chief, was also great. He made the chief sound kind but you also feel like he’s someone who is a lot wiser than everyone else (laughs). You will worry if this guy is okay, but at the same time, it feels like there is something hidden in his past… Even Cho-san, who at first glance sounds like an empathetic detective, the way he’s voiced by Kamiya makes it sounds like there is more to him after all. Each character has their own backstory, there is still a lot that hasn’t been revealed yet.

Q: I’m also curious about the AI butler that Daisuke has.

OONUKI: Through HEUSC, a terminal in the form of an earring, Daisuke can give out orders. Of course, payment of billions of yen, but speaking of technology, I’ve heard it’s also able to make gadgets a reality. I’m looking forward to all sorts of cutting edge gadgets that will appear from now on.

Q: At last, what are you two looking forward to, in regards to future developments?

MIYANO: I want to see more cooperation. This story is centered around Kato and Daisuke’s work partnership, but the scenes where they cooperate are still very few. I’m excited about future developments from now on.

OONUKI: When it comes to Daisuke, it seems like there is "something" concerning the Kambe family, so I’m looking forward to finding out what this mystery is.

MIYANO: (Once that secret comes to light) I want to see the moment in which the calm and collected Daisuke is shaken.

OONUKI: Oh, he will definitely get upset. (laughs)

MIYANO: So yeah, I am looking forward to recording for the second half of this season (T/N: he doesn't mean a second season or a second part, it's just that they still haven't dubbed half of the episodes).

Fun Fact: The old man yelling at Daisuke in EP1 is a cameo: he’s supposed to be Tsutsui-san (the author of The Millionaire Detective novel).

-

Translation of the front page (sooo much pandering, read till the end ahah)

One is unheard of, while the other is hot-blooded, one is an unconventional man and the other has a one-track mind, one is eccentric and the other is driven by common sense.

The brains who use freely infinite assets, and the brawn whose shoe soles grew thin because of constantly running around. Different in everything, the two detectives met on the crime scene. The two of them chase criminals in different ways. Where one of them gathers testimonies by bribery, the other is persistently on the lookout and gains information through his own efforts. A brand-new button-down shirt and a worn-out layered one.

One is the cool and collected Kambe Daisuke, who dashes forward with the classic car he just purchased. The other is the emphatic and hot-blooded Kato Haru, who rushes up to it with all of his strength.

The two butt heads, and have different opinions, each with their own way of dealing with things, they finally reach the truth. Their way of living, their acquired way of thinking, their chosen way of doing things, they’re different up until now.

But because they are so different, they fit together well.

The two of them, who may look too far-removed and yet they could be so close*, can face any case. When they establish an emotional bond and take each other’s hand, the door to the hidden truth will open quietly for sure.

*It’s an expression impossible to translate. It is used for a relationship between a man and woman who may seem too different to get along but they unexpectedly end up happy and married. lol