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sincerelyasomebody · 4 years

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All That Glitters || Jose "Sad Eyes" Guzman

(GIF Credit: @merakiaes)

A/N: Jose will be used in the form of Sad Eyes' name, as far as I know his actual name hasn't been revealed in the show. I tried my best to correct any mistakes I could find. I am not a native Spanish speaker, translations will be at the bottom. If there are any mistakes, please let me know. Thanks!

Pairing(s): Sad Eyes x Reader ▪︎ OC x Reader (past relationship)

Summary: A family get-together turns into an emotional rollercoaster.

Warnings: angsty, fluff, language, mentions of cheating, talks of death, unsupportive mother and stepfather

Word Count: 2419

- ♤ - ♡ - ◇ - ♧ -

Nana Helen and Papa Victor were absolutely adored by their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Not only adored but highly respected.

Therefore introducing a significant other to them was a big deal. It was something only done if you saw yourself with that person in the long run.

And (Y/N) saw a future with Jose.

Sure, she had other relationships before he came along but they didn't reach this step. The furthest they ever got was her parents and siblings. So, when her relationship developed a connection she had never experienced, she knew it was only right to introduce him to the people who meant the world to her.

From her spot in the kitchen, she looked into the living room and smiled as he sat with her nana on the couch. The old woman had pulled out the photo albums, pointing to each picture and telling the story behind it. Her papa in the armchair in the corner beside them.

Her nieces and nephews were spread across the floor in front of the t.v, immersed in the world that was Despicable Me.

She could hear the laughter of her younger cousins upstairs. Not a doubt in her mind that they were doing Tik Tok videos. Her siblings were probably with them, she concluded, if the sound of a slap and a shout of her brother's name was anything to go by.

The uncles and a few of her boy cousins were sitting in the backyard, sipping on beers and talking about Mike Tyson coming out of retirement. She was sure Jose would join them after talking with her grandparents.

Which left her in the kitchen and dining room area with her mother, aunts and girl cousins.

"You shouldn't have brought him."

With a heavy sigh, she turned around and faced her mother, "not this again." She walked over to the sink to wash her hands before helping to chop up the vegetables for the salad. "He's my boyfriend."

Pauline looked at her daughter, "he's a gang member, (Y/N)."

She dumped the cut up vegetables into a salad bowl, "Ash, make yourself useful." She held out the bowl and large wooden fork and spoon. The girl in question stood up, with a huff pocketing her phone, and grabbed the outstretched items.

When (Y/N) introduced Jose to her mother, Frank (she refused to call the man her mother married a month after the death of her father, dad), her brothers Samuel and Anthony, she didn't hide the fact he was a Santo. Although they lived a couple towns over, it wasn't hard to know the gang that ran (protected, she corrected) Freeridge.

But, she didn't care.

He was known as Sad Eyes, the feared right-hand man of the gang leader Spooky, in the streets. If there were issues he was sent to deal with them. He was also known as Jose, a momma's boy with a big heart and an appetite to match. He'd go to the ends of the Earth to make sure his family was taken care of.

(Y/N) accepted both sides of him.

But, most of all she loved both sides of him.

Without another word, she walked into the living room and plopped herself next to her man. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Everything okay, mi alma?"

She nodded, "yeah, don't worry about it."

Helen beamed at the interaction, "oooh." She looked at her husband, "Vic look at our grandbaby."

"I see her." He replied with a chuckle, "and she looks as happy as she was when she got that twenty dollars from the tooth fairy. Maybe even happier."

(Y/N) buried her face into the crook of Jose's neck, causing a round of laughter from the three.

When the call for everybody to come to the dining room, (Y/N) and Jose got up off the couch. Jose helped Helen up, to which she patted his hand as a thank you. Victor waved him off when he tried to offer his hand, choosing to use his walking stick instead. They walked to where the food was, (Y/N) stayed behind to gather the little ones together.

"Lucas and Bryson," she called out to the eight year olds, they were the oldest of the bunch, "go upstairs and tell them it's time to eat."

They nodded and sprinted to the staircase.

She picked up Melody, the three year old, who had fallen asleep on the ground, told the rest of the kids to get going and switched off the t.v. She followed them and handed Mel off to her dad, her cousin Micah. He thanked her and she walked over to Jose, taking his hand in hers.

"Thank you all for coming." Helen looked at her family, all managing to squeeze into the dining room and kitchen, "Jose, thank you for being here."

Jose smiled at her, "thank you for having me."

(Y/N) couldn't help but grin at him, which got a few teasing words from the cousins. She laughed along with them, just happy that her grandma had accepted him.

Victor spoke up, "yes, we're thankful for family," his eyes scanned over to Jose, "we're also thankful to have found someone who loves our (Y/N) very much. So, Jose, thank you… you don't know how much it truly means to see her happy."

He responded with a nod, (Y/N) grinning wider if that was even possible. She was extremely elated, she just received the stamp of approval from her favourite people.

"Te amo," she whispered.

He bent down and pecked her lips, "Te amo."

Victor led the family in prayer, before they dished out their meals.

Loud chatter between the cousins occurred as they tried to decide what to grab, parents telling their children to get some salad and the grandparents making sure there was enough food for everyone.

Before (Y/N) could grab herself and Jose a plate, the doorbell rang.

Pauline rushed towards the front door. (Y/N), just like everybody else, was confused as the entire family had already been accounted for. That didn't stop them from wanting to see who it was though.

When Pauline stepped back into the view of everyone with her ex boyfriend, Colby, by her side (Y/N) thought she might lose it.

Thankfully, before she could say anything Samuel spoke up.

"What the fuck?"

Pauline glared in his direction, "watch your mouth."

Helen and Victor were confused with his behaviour, because Samuel knew better than to cuss in their home.

"Samuel, listen to your mother." Helen reprimanded, "you know I don't like cussing."

"Sorry, nana." He apologised, "but it's fucked up that mum would bring (Y/N)'s ex boyfriend to a family get-together while she's here with her current boyfriend."

Anthony piped up, "straight up, disrespectful."

Everyone looked back and forth between (Y/N) and the newcomer.

(Y/N) glanced over at Jose, noticing his clenched jaw, she rubbed her thumb over his hand and stood on her toes to peck his cheek.

He knew Pauline didn't like him, but he didn't think she'd pull something like this. Unfortunately for her, he and (Y/N) were solid.

Colby held his hands up, "I didn't come here to cause any drama." His eyes focused on (Y/N), "I just want to talk to (Y/N)."

She took a deep breath, "nana and papa, I'm sorry." She looked back at Colby, "fuck no," looking over at her mum, "fuck you," and then at Frank, "and fuck you, too 'cause I know you had something to do with it." tugging on Jose's hand, she moved through the kitchen, "we're leaving."

As they passed through the kitchen, living room and through the front door, (Y/N) ranting along the way.

"What the fuck was she thinking? That Colby would show up and I'd dump you to be with him," she threw her hands in the air, "no fucking way! As soon as I caught him cheating, it was a wrap."

They looked back over at the house, the (L/N) family plus one scrambling out of the door. They stayed on the porch except for Pauline, Frank, Colby, Helen and Victor who marched towards them. They both straightened up, waiting for what was to come.

"(Y/N) (M/N) (L/N)!" screeched Pauline, "what's wrong with you."

"Me? What's wrong with you? Why would you bring Colby here? What the fuck was going through your head to make you think that this was a good idea?"

"He's better than -"

She shook her head, "He's a fucking piece of shit "

"(Y/N), your mum was just -"

"Shut up, Frank." She hissed, "nobody asked for your input."

"Don't talk to him like that."

"I can talk to him however the fuck I want."

Pauline growled, "this is ridiculous," she turned to her parents, "he's in a gang! A c-criminal! You do know that right?"

"Wow, (Y/N)... really?" Colby smirked.

(Y/N) glared at him, "why the fuck are you still here? Seriously, fuck off."

"I want to -"

"Yeah, I know what you want but you aren't getting anything from me." She cut him off, "so go away."

When he stepped towards her, Jose immediately jumped in front of her, blocking him from getting closer, "back up."

Colby laughed, "what? You wanna fight?"

"Back up," he repeated, "last warning."

Helen and Victor carefully watched the exchange, they already approved of Jose, even before Pauline exclaimed he was in a gang - they already knew. He told them himself and while it did make them uncomfortable, their opinion about him didn't change. If anything, they respected him for coming clean in the first place.

Out of all the grandchildren, (Y/N) spent the most time with them.

They watched her grow from a curious child to a reserved teenager. She isolated herself when her father died and it worried them to no end. But they allowed her to grieve in whatever way she wanted. And as she grew into the woman she was today, their worries about her finding somebody worthy of her attention had vanished upon meeting Jose.

They couldn't have wished for a better person for their grandbaby to be with.

"Okay, boys that's enough." Victor spoke up, "Colton -"

"Colby."

" - whatever your name is, move away from my granddaughter or else I'll have to deal with you," he exclaimed.

Colby moved back to stand with Pauline and Frank, whereas Jose stood beside (Y/N).

"(Y/N) and Jose, please come back inside." Helen gestured towards the house, "please?"

"It's fine, nana." (Y/N) replied. "We're just gonna head off, I… I'm, uh… I'm sorry for causing -"

She shook her head, "sweetpea, don't apologise." Her eyes wandered over to her daughter, "it's your mother who should be apologising."

"Did you not hear me when I said she's with a criminal?" exclaimed Pauline.

"As long as my grandbaby is happy, I'm happy." Helen replied, "well, I better get you both a to-go plate."

Before (Y/N) could protest, she was walking away with Victor by her side. She laughed when her cousins scrambled over each other to move out of the way. Her laughter was cut short by Frank.

"Are you sure you want to be with Jose? Like, really sure? Have you met his family? Do you see yourself -"

"Please, shut up." (Y/N) responded, "just shut up."

"I'm not going to repeat myself, (Y/N)." Pauline threatened.

She shrugged her shoulders, "then don't." Her eyes narrowed, "I'm sick of your bullshit. Get it through your head and accept that Jose and I are together."

"Why? When I know you can do better."

(Y/N) scoffed, "really?"

"Yes! I'm your mother which -"

"Which means shit, absolute shit." She responded, "I'm done with you, Pauline. I-I can't keep going back and forth with you."

"What does that mean?"

"I'm tired of feeling like I'm not good enough."

"Okay, when have I ever -"

"When I twisted my ankle in soccer, you told me it was because I wasn't made for it. When I joined the writing club in high school, you told me it was stupid. When I chose to become an elementary school teacher, you told me that I should've become a doctor or a nurse instead." She listed, her jaw clenched, "there's other shit you've done, but I'm too upset to think about them. The main theme of it all is this - nothing I've ever done and probably will do is good enough, in your eyes."

During this time the grandparents had resurfaced onto the scene. Jose accepted the tupperware with thanks and placed it in the car. He stepped aside and watched the scene unfold. He knew (Y/N)'s relationship with her mother was rocky, so he knew that she needed to get some things off her chest.

Pauline scoffed, "quit being dramatic, (Y/N)."

She took a deep breath, tears blurring her vision which she rubbed away. "See, that right there is another issue in itself. Whenever I express my feelings, you blow them off! A-and I'm tired of it. I'm tired of your bullshit, it ends now!"

"Stop the theatrics."

"I don't want anything to do with you," she affirmed.

(Y/N) walked around her to reach her grandparents but was stopped by Colby, "move of my way."

"Please, just hear -"

"My girl says move, you move." Jose asserted, eyes blazing.

Colby, finally admitting defeat, moved aside.

She kissed both of their cheeks and pulled them into a hug, "thank you for accepting Jose, it means a lot."

"He loves our grandbaby." Helen exclaimed, "a done deal,"

Victor held out his hand to Jose, "you take care of her."

"With my life," Jose replied, giving him a firm shake.

With a promise to come back and visit, the pair walked back over to the car. Jose held her door open, (Y/N) pecked his cheek and got in. When he reached the drivers' side they buckled up.

But of course, Pauline couldn't let them leave without saying something.

"You're choosing him over this family?"

"I'm choosing to be happy," (Y/N) corrected, leaning her head out the window, "I love you crazies, I'll keep in touch."

And with the shouts of goodbyes from her family, Jose pulled onto the open road.

With a bright smile, Jose's hand in hers and the low hum of the radio, (Y/N) felt at peace.

- ♤ - ♡ - ◇ - ♧ -

Spanish Translation(s):

Mi alma - my soul

Te amo - I love you

#sad eyes #sad eyes guzman #sad eyes x reader #sad eyes guzman x reader #x reader #reader insert #freeridge #los santos #on my block #onmyblockfanfiction #sincerelyasomebody

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bewaretheidesofmarchyall · 4 years

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Soulmate Shenanigans Part Two (Electric Boogaloo)

Good morning (or at least, I’ve started writing this in the morning! Who knows when I’ll complete it)!

I’m continuing my Soulmate AU Tomfoolery (you can find part one here)

Prompt #2

There is a timer that counts down to when you will meet your soulmate.

Warnings for death mentions, and temporary major character death

World Building

Everyone blames the mad scientist.

Which is fair. When someone makes billions of clocks in about a weeks time, each declaring when everyone in the world (including people who wouldn’t be born for decades) would find their soulmate, it’s considered to polite to stick around to answer questions

Instead, Logan disappeared to who-knows-where and left everyone else to pick up the pieces.

Rude.

Ever since the early 1910′s, the clocks have existed, one for each person. When any kid is born, the first thing a new parent does is rush to the register to see when they’ll meet their soulmate. It’s a big deal.

If your child isn’t going to meet their soulmate in the next 13 years, they are told the exact number on their 13th birthday

Philosophers have been enraged by all of this. Is free will a thing? Is existence a lie?

Non-philosophers will often close their curtains when they see a wandering philosopher, which are easy to identify by their look of abject confusion and plucked chickens.

Characters

Remus: Remus pretended that he didn’t care about who his soulmate was when his 13th birthday rolled along. He wasn’t the best actor.

His brother seemed happy when he found out that it would be sixteen years until he found his soulmate. 29 wasn’t a bad age at all, considering that some people would have to wait until they were old and in a nursing home, or would never even meet their soulmate at all.

Remus waited for his parents to tell him. They gave each other nervous looks, and he was convinced for a few seconds that he didn’t have a soulmate after all.

The actual answer was much weirder

526 years. 526 years until he met his soulmate.

Remus said a silent thank you to his soulmate for making him functionally immortal. After all, that meant that he’d survive until then!

HE WAS IMMORTAL

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Now, whenever someone would try to say something like, “Why do you like serial killers? Planning to become one?”, he could just look them dead in the eye and say,

I’m going to outlive you, Brian

(On an unrelated note, Brian disappeared a few months later. It actually wasn’t Remus’s fault, surprisingly. One minute, he was at a museum, the next, gone)

Remus would be fine with never finding his soulmate, honestly. Connection is nice, but being eldritch is more fun.

Virgil: Virgil didn’t want to be immortal

Sure, he wasn’t a fan of dying in practice, but in theory he didn’t want to live to over 250!

His family and friends were going to die, and he’d have to live through it. And for what? To meet a soulmate? Who gave a fuck? Virgil had never wanted a romantic relationship in his life, and he didn’t think that a 526 year wait was going to change that.

He was determined to find his soulmate early so that he could live a normal life like a normal person who doesn’t cause additional distress to the wandering philosophers.

Plot

It was easy to find Remus. Local Child Will Live To Over 500 makes a good headline, and Remus wasn’t one to shy away from attention.

When Virgil was 16, he packed his bags and ran away from home to go meet his soulmate. He didn’t ask Janus how he got the bus tickets, but he did ask him to tell his parents that he’d be okay.

Virgil knocked on the door, and waited. Someone who looked almost exactly like the news site photo answered. The conversation went something like this:

Virgil: So, YOU’RE Remus McFricking Sanders-

Roman: Nope, not him, whatever he said isn’t my fault.

[Roman slams door]

Virgil was pretty sure that he had, in fact, met Remus, and he was just being annoying. Roman believed that his brother had just manage to piss off yet another person.

Virgil retreated to a restaurant, and looked up the photo on the news article, just to make sure. No denying it, that was him! Same eyes, same hair, same general face-wait.

Remus had a nose that had obviously been broken at least once. The guy who’d greeted him at the door had definitely been in less scrapes than his soulmate.

Whoops.

Meanwhile, Remus had a plan to avoid Virgil at all cost. Virgil had tried to shy away from press attention, but he tracked down a photo eventually.

And when his brother told him that some emo with “awesome” eyes had turned up on the doorstep looking for him, he had a bad feeling.

Well, spooky boy wasn’t going to cost him his long future.

And so the dance began.

In one corner, Virgil, who had spite, stubbornness, and a deadline on his side (he had to get home to his parents eventually)! Never discount a spiteful Virgil!

In the other corner, Remus, who has nothing on his side but fate. Fate, however, has a sense of humor, and Remus read enough old myths as a child to know that whatever happens can’t be changed by petty human actions.

Virgil tries breaking and entering many times, each failing in a more ridiculous way. He is a careful, but Remus is practically Kevin McCallister in terms of traps, and he fails to meet his soulmate face to face all day and all night.

They do get to have some verbal exchanges, which are pretty much

Virgil: You think you want the existential hell of immortality??

Remus: Oh, fuck off, I’m going to have the best vampire aesthetic!

Virgil: The vampire aesthetic is wonderful, but can we do everything for aesthetic?

Both at the same time: Yes. Yes we can.

And then Virgil is herded out of the house by Remus’s pet rats.

However, the final encounter goes a little differently. No witty quips, just Virgil picking the lock of yet another window, and then a very specific sound.

Have you ever heard a stubborn emo get pulled into a portal in the spacetime continuum?

It’s a distinct sound that is along the lines of loud crash-The fu-whirring noises-nyoom-eerie silence

Remus didn’t give a second thought before diving into the portal after him. If he had, he would have thought hey, this’ll probably bring us face to face, something I’ve been avoiding or maybe jumping into random portals in a stupid idea or I’m going to grab a weapon before just running at it. But his first impulse was to make sure his snarky soulmate hadn’t died, so into the portal he went.

The Year: 2550

The Portal: Glows a lot, thank you for asking

The Reason: A mad scientist has only one thing left to lose, and is terrified as it slips away

Logan: Logan was a geek at heart. He loved science, in both theories and practice. He probably should have toned down his obsession with Nikola Tesla. He wanted to travel to the sky, and touch the stars, and watch time like a film reel.

Time travel was his passion. If people could travel across the physical seas, why not the metaphorical ones of time?

It was pure luck that he actually figured it out, but figure it out he did. Logan loved his creation.

He wanted to create a million inventions, but more importantly he wanted Patton to see them all.

If there was one thing he loved more than science, it was him.

The two kept each other from drifting off into the stars, or sinking into the dirt because they’re too afraid of being rude. One of Logan’s favorite memories was he and Patton running through the St. Louis fair, giggling at terrible puns and sharing a quick kiss out of sight, before catching the next exposition.

Patton was kind, and caring, and knew how to talk to people to get them to like him, and was just good. He was good.

Logan dealt only in facts. And it was a fact that it would have been better, more fair for Logan to have died in the fire.

It was a fact that he didn’t (even though it felt like it sometimes). It was a fact that Patton had been the one to notice the smoke. It was a fact that the love of his life waited for a few seconds in the doorway, trying to call the cat out. It was a fact that, after Logan was out of the house, he turned around to see the doorway collapse.

He found a way back into the house, but it took too long.

Fact: Humans can only endure severe smoke inhalation for a few minutes before dying.

Logan took one look at his time machine, somehow still undamaged. He’d never tested it before, but he really didn’t have a choice, so he kissed Patton on the forehead and stepped into a portal.

Back To The Plot

Virgil and Remus immediately knew that they were in the 26th century.

How? There was a sign!

Hey! If You Happen To Be A Time Traveler, This Is 2550! Check In With The Lord Cerebrum To Know More, Unless You Don’t Have A License, In Which Case

You Know What Happens

They don’t have much time to mull over this before Remus tries to murder Virgil. He’s not IMMORTAL any more, and it’s not FAIR, and it’s all HIS fault!

This is where we enter the Rivals To Friends (While On The Run From Time Management) section

Remus and Virgil have many adventures escaping from Time Management, while learning to appreciate the other as a friend. They are platonic soulmates, after all!

But Time Management is nothing if not patient, and the boys are caught eventually (you know how it goes. You forget to check around for listening ears, you use 21st century slang, and suddenly a single “yeet” and a “same” get you dragged before the Lord Cerebrum)

A Handy Dandy Guide To The Year 2550 (transcript from the Handy Dandy Infomercial Station)

Hey, time travelers! I know that everyone likes zipping around the time-stream and seeing what the fates throw at them to keep them from murdering their grandpa, but we have to do this by the Rules!

If you break the rules, you know what happens

The Year 2550 is protected by Logos Industries’s time dilation filter, to ensure that no one gets the wrong idea about going free range!

If you have a license, just proceed to the Lord Cerebrum to get your stamp of approval and philosopher disguise for the maximum positive effect! After all, Logos Industries needs funding to protect us all!

If you don’t have a license, you’ll see the Lord Cerebrum too!

Have a Handy Dandy Time :)

Back To The Plot

The boys are led through a menacing government facility, taken to see the Lord Cerebrum. They try to ask questions, but Time Management is rather disinterested in their fleeting existence, so nothing much gets answered.

The final destination is a computer room, where the Lord Cerebrum sits. His form was half hologram, half skin, his age unchanging for 526 years, and recognizable at first sight to Remus

Lord Cerebrum, aka Brain, aka Brian: Hey, Remus, what exactly did you say about outliving me?

Brian: Brian was a dick. There’s no other way to put it.

He and Remus used to be friends, sticking brand new phones in water to see what would happen and planning out pranks (they made their history teacher think that she was being haunted by the ghost of Charlemagne!), but things changed, and by 8th grade his dickishness was on full display

It was really easy to get away with being cruel to Remus. He naturally unnerved people, and anyone in a position of power immediately knew he was trouble (which was true), so when there was a conflicting story between a star student and the kid who poured ketchup in the principal’s desk, you can guess who’d always get believed.

Brian was a dick, but he was 13. He could have grown later in life, regretted his ways (or at least stopped), but instead he touched an antique time machine on a museum tour of the Clock House (home of Logan, the famous inventor of soulmate clocks).

He’d been planning to snap off the handle and pin it on Remus (or maybe Roman for variety), but instead

Crash-what the-whirring noises-nyoom-eerie silence

And Brian arrived in the year 2520, the first of many time travellers.

He became a celebrity. The parts of him lost in the wormhole were quickly replaced with state-of-the-art holograms, and his fame went to his head.

Thirty years of good marketing later, he was the Lord Cerebrum. And when a desperate mad scientist came crashing through a portal of his own, it was easy to get him to work for him under the promise that Brian would let him save his “Patton” once he made some technology for him.

He recognized Logan from the museum. He knew who’s fault it was that he was trapped travelling through time, whirling through the portal, praying and promising and in the end just screaming. Brian knew who was to blame for the fact that he couldn’t tell how much of his body would stay when the power went out.

So the tasks got longer and more complicated, Patton dangled like a carrot over Logan’s head.

Fact: Logan would never win, and someday Brian would get tired of this game and there would only be one genius left in 2550.

Back To The Plot: Virgil punched the Lord Cerebrum in the face. He didn’t know all of the context, but his best friend seemed not to like the guy, and he seemed evil, so he punched the overlord in the face.

Brian was offended, and abandoned all plans for a monologue in favor of leaving them to die.

The most fitting way to do away with a time traveler is to send them everywhere at once. It’s an awful death, one where molecules are slowly lost as the traveler in question hits walls and trees and memories.

The duo managed to survive five or so timelines, before the machine miraculously shut off. A mad scientist ran into the room, unscrewed the vents in the walls, and told the teenagers that they’re late.

Things are explained as they escape the facility.

Things

Logan needed a way to break the time dilation filter. He did the math (which he tried and failed to explain to the boys), and it was determined that Remus and Virgil had the most butterfly effect capabilities to influence this particular event

Basically, removing them from the timeline changed things just enough for Logan to find the chink in the filter’s armor.

The duo’s job is done, and Logan is only sorry that he didn’t find them earlier to get them home.

Back To The Plot

Everything seems like it’s going to be fine, and the duo are almost able to go home, when the Lord Cerebrum finds them.

CLIMATIC SHOWDOWN

An Ending

In the end, Brian is sent to the 22th century, the year where nearly all of humanity were turned into giant rats for some reason

Logan found his way back to the 1910′s, and used the 26th century technology to heal his love. The time machine burned in the fire. Good. Space travel was where it was at, anyway.

Virgil had so much explaining to do to his parents

Remus knew that no one would believe him. Roman did.

Virgil and Remus stayed the closest of friends. They dressed up as vampires for Halloween. They stuck together. They got to grow up.

More soulmate shenanigans, amiright?

#sanders sides #ts sides #remus sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #logicality #platonic dukexiety #time travel #soulmate au #beware the drafts of march #soulmate shenanigans #unsympathetic brian #i don't know why this random shorts character is awful in my mind #i'm sure he's a perfectly nice fictional character #i love writing #fan fic #sanders side fic #sanders sides fic

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xxxrubytuesdayxxx · 4 years

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Ghosts

Bambam x Reader Genre: Fluffy AF Word Count: 1,375 Concept: Just a little fic for his birthday. Set at a fairground - you want to go in the haunted house, but Bambam is a little scared to go with you

Masterlist

Bambam still has his fingers entwined with yours as you approach the artificially-dilapidated fairground mansion but he shakes his head in silent but determined protest.

"I'm going in the haunted house babes," you inform him gently but firmly. "You don't have to come. You can wait out here with Jackson while Anna and I go inside if you like?" He shakes his head even more vehemently, pulling your hand to try and guide you away from the entrance. His other hand hovers near his ear as he sniffs nervously, then bites his bottom lip. You try not to laugh at the look of abject terror on his pretty features.

"No way!" Jackson speaks up, head high with false bravado. "We're going to come rescue you both from the ghosts!" He adjusts his jacket and nods encouragingly at Bambam, who looks at him pleadingly, shaking his head again.

"Looks like you're outvoted Bambi," you giggle at his crestfallen expression. "Come on; I'll protect you," you tease him, pulling him over to the line in Jackson's and Anna's wake.

Anna turns back from Jackson briefly to give you an amused look at her man's expense and you both snicker conspiratorially. Bambam sulks but follows you, tentatively picking his way through the tacky, cobweb-festooned tombstones to the front door. You almost make it through the lobby before he objects, stamping his foot and pushing his plump lips into the pout you always receive when he thinks he’s not being sufficiently babied.

“Ani! Jebal, noona!” he begs, his voice getting higher under the pressure. You hesitate. You’re not going to make him do this if he genuinely doesn’t want to, but you know he’s incredibly good at the dramatics, even when he’s secretly enjoying himself. You wait, trying to assess whether he’s acting or not. In the meantime, Jackson is waiting by Anna’s side, nervously patient. You try to catch his eye, but he sucks his lips in and studiously avoids eye-contact. One of the staff members approaches your group cautiously, unsure whether to usher you into the building proper.

“Is he okay?” she asks Anna, correctly guessing she is the only one of you to speak the language. You nod your head in thanks.

“Um,” you look to Anna for confirmation, gesturing to yourself then Bambam: “My boyfriend! Scared!” you explain to the woman.

“Ahhh,” she looks amused and lets you be. Bambam blushes and shoots Jackson a mischievous look, but you catch him out.

“Ah-ha! I thought so!” you chastise him, relieved. You take his soft hand in yours and pull him past the laughing staff woman into the first room. “It’s not like you’re not gonna get a reward afterwards, anyway,” you mutter, making him giggle through his nervousness. You make your way past the tattered curtains into an eerily dark room with a spooky staircase, eliciting a soft groan from Jackson and a whimper from Bambam, who, standing behind you, wraps you tightly in his arms and buries his face in your neck.

“I’m scared,” he murmurs, in English. “I don’t like being in the dark like this.”

“I know babie,” you whisper back, squeezing his hand. “It’s meant to be scary though. I’m scared too,” you confess. “That’s the fun of it though.” You turn your head to kiss his lips briefly and feel him smile as he opens his mouth to deepen the kiss, slipping his tongue between your lips.

“Mm-mm...later,” you laugh, pushing him gently away.

“Hey! Stop that, man!” Jackson objects, nudging Bambam. “We have to, like, stay alert!”

“Let’s yell,” Bambam suggests. “If we make noise then they will get scared instead of scaring us, you know?” You see Jackson nod his approval of the plan in the flickering lights from the stairs. Letting out a wavering yell, he takes Anna’s hand and starts to pull her towards the stairs when an actor jumps out at him from one of the alcoves. Jackson immediately drops Anna’s hand, waves his arms in panic and then throws himself onto the ground squealing in protest. You and Anna, having jumped on cue at the choreographed scare, laugh in panicked relief at his overreaction. Bambam, not having quite taken in what’s going on, whirls around to see what the fuss is about, trips over Jackson’s sprawled leg, scrabbles desperately to escape whatever imagined spectre has entangled his gazelle-like limbs and then bolts up the stairs and out of the room, emitting an ear-piercing scream. Not to be outdone and fearful of being abandoned to the ghosts, Jackson follows suit, leaving you and Anna laughing too hard to even scream at the next ghost.

You pull yourselves together and carry on through the mansion, enjoying the scares and having a generally entertaining time, before you stumble through the final graveyard scene and emerge into the crisp evening air. Your discomfited boyfriends are sitting on a bench, trying to look nonchalant.

“Hi,” Anna greets Jackson with a wry grin. He returns her smile sheepishly, then pulls her down to sit by his side. You drop onto the other side of the bench.

“Did you have fun?” you tease Bambam, cuddling into him.

“Yeah, yeah. It was great,” he lies, blushing and avoiding your eyes.

“So you up for the ghost train next then?” you suggest, winking at Anna.

“Um...okay,” he agrees, his voice cracking a little as his face falls. He stands up meekly, slipping his hand into yours, and waits for you to lead him to his doom.

He doesn’t look up from the ground until you stop in front of the ferris wheel and when he does you see the look of hope flash across his face.

“This isn’t…” he murmurs, darting a curious look at you. You take his face in your hands and kiss his lips lingeringly.

“You hated it, didn’t you?” you whisper. He nods, embarrassed.

“We didn’t really even notice anything once we ran,” he admits.

“I’m sorry I made you go in there,” you tell him.

“It’s okay,” he murmurs, shy. “I know you really like that stuff and I wanted to try and enjoy it with you. That’s why I was going to try the ghost train as well.”

“Nah. Let’s do this instead. I love ferris wheels as well,” you reassure him. “Plus I always have fun when I’m with you Bambi. I love your energy and the way you always put 110% into everything you try.” He smiles and looks away, clearly flattered, but embarrassed at the compliment. You slip your hand back into his and pull him towards the ride.

“You know,” you tell him, as the gondola rises into the air and you both watch the city lights of Kuala Lumpur drop away below your feet, “You’re pretty sexy when you’re scared.”

“Hey!” he objects, “I wasn’t that scared! I was just trying to make it fun!”

“Oh really?” you tease him, leaning across for a kiss. He pouts, but then obliges.

“No, not really. Please don’t make me go on the ghost train,” he giggles. Your gondola jerks to a stop at the highest point and you peek over the edge, enjoying the view.

“Am I really sexy?” he checks, placing his hand on your leg across the gap.

“Mm-hm. Very,” you confess, as he hooks one of his long legs around yours and pulls you over to join him on his seat. You scream as the gondola teeters and tilts.

“Bambam!” you object, kissing him hurriedly, before returning to the safety of your seat.

“Honestly! I thought you were the scaredy-cat!”

“This is different,” he points out. “No ghosts. At least I don’t think so,” he jokes, giving you a teasing look. You laugh gently and take both his hands in yours, entwining your fingers. You watch his pretty face as he watches the world spin closer and farther. He looks so soft and innocent; the reflected lights sparkling in his eyes.

“Where do you want to go next?” you ask him, as your gondola begins its final descent. The innocence evaporates from his eyes as his lips curve into a smirk.

“Let’s go to my place,” he purrs.

“Okay,” you smile, your skin tingling in anticipation of his touch.

THE END

#got7 bambam #bambam #bambam fluff #bambam imagine #got7 fic #got7 fanfic #got7 fan fiction #got7 story #got7 scenarios

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taste-in-music · 5 years

Text

Music Monday (9-30-19)

Happy Monday! There’s quite a bit to talk about.

New Releases

Fresh Laundry by Allie X: Oh my god, it’s happening! Everybody Stay Calm!!! Allie X is keeping us FED with new content, it looks like we’re already moving into a new era a mere year after her last project. The Super Sunset is over, and now it’s time to venture into the night. This song is dusky and wonderfully tense, with cryptic synths and echoing backing vocals building a minimal yet atmospheric sound. This is the perfect spooky bop to kick off the Halloween season.

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Paradise by Elohim: The production on this song is so lush and bouncy. I especially love the flurries of strings, robotic vocals, bright synths, and twittering birds, they all come together for a really pleasing sound. While the overall song is a bit clunky sounding, it still makes me happy every time I hear it.

Boys Like You by dodie: Holy moly, I really love this. It’s got all the makings of a good dodie song, with the whispery vocals, honest lyrics, and humming production, but something about this song boosts it a little. I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s the more pronounced percussion? Maybe it’s dodie’s falsetto? Whatever it is, it works for me. Also, we got a new video for it!

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Something Has to Change by The Japanese House: This is a pretty standard The Japanese House song. But, to me, a “pretty standard The Japanese House song” is a great song, so yeah, I really like this. It’s got a carefree atmosphere that I really enjoy.

Trampoline by SHAED ft. ZAYN: I don’t know how I feel about this remix, but I felt like I had to mention it. ZAYN’s voice compliments Chelsea Lee’s pretty well, and he sounds really good, (especially in his lower register,) but he doesn’t contribute much to the song. His voice dips in for random lyrics and backing vocals in a way that I find distracting. Still, I could see this remix giving the song a big chart push, and if it means giving SHAED more recognition and new listeners then I’m not complaining.

Navy Blue by Charlotte Lawrence: God, this song was so close to getting my stamp of approval. The only things, and I mean THE ONLY THING holding it back is this choice with the production where the instrumental starts and stops in the chorus in a really jarring way, killing any kind of momentum the song builds. It was a risky move, and it just didn’t pay off for me. Oh well, I’m still interested in the direction Charlotte Lawrence’s sound is taking, and her vocals are pretty good here. It’s just that. one. thing.

Other Favorites

Across the Universe by Fiona Apple: I fell down the Fiona Apple rabbit hole this past week and am currently working my way through her early discography. This song hit me like a gut punch, it’s so earnestly sung and can we talk about the instrumentals? The flutes? It’s so beautiful, it makes me want to lie on my back in the middle of a grassy field at midnight and stare at the starry sky above me. So yeah

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Kelsy Karter released her music video for “Liquor Store on Mars,” and it’s wonderful! Also someone should give it the gifset treatment and send said gifset to me, because I can’t make gifs but think that that would be cool. Anyways, check this out.

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We also got a new AURORA video for “Apple Tree?” Holy heck has this been a week for music videos!

Be sure to look at my personal Spotify playlist for more new releases and other great songs. I also have a new ongoing playlist, Acne Vulgaris, that you can follow for a continuously updated mix of great music.

#new music #music recommendation #allie x #elohim #dodie #the japanese house #SHAED #ZAYN #charlotte lawrence #fiona apple #kelsy karter #AURORA #taste in music #taste in music monday

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notveryglittery · 6 years

Text

sanders spook #1

prompt: haunted house words: ~1k / ships: royality (up to you tbh!) & analogical (implied romantic) notes: peep @sanderssidesspook for the prompts!! read on ao3!! / read more of my spooky prompts!

“I’m not so sure I’m down for this.”

“We’re already here, though!”

“It’s okay if you want to sit this one out, kiddo. I’ll hang with you. We could go get shaved ice from that place down the road!”

“Oh, but, dearheart, I’m so looking forward to your reactions! You always compliment the actors on their makeup and costumes. It’s just the cutest thing.”

“Well, they work so hard to look so good!”

“I wouldn’t mind accompanying Virgil if he decides not to participate.”

Virgil dropped his head into his hands and groaned. The other three went silent, waiting patiently while Virgil internally debated the pros and cons. It took a few minutes but he eventually lowered his arms, shaking them out as he did so.

“Alright,” Virgil said finally. “Alright, fine! Let’s get this over with.”

Roman and Patton cheered. Logan looped an arm through Virgil’s and followed after the more energetic pair. Virgil kept in step with him, counting each of his breaths as he did so.

“It’ll be alright, yeah?" He asked Logan quietly.

“Of course,” Logan assured him. “They are, after all, only actors and they aren’t allowed to touch you. The decor is fake. If at any point, you feel that closing your eyes may help, do so, and I will guide you through safely.”

“That’s so sweet,” Roman stage-whispered, sending a conspiratorial glance over his shoulder to Virgil, whose cheeks were suddenly quite red. He looked very pointedly away from Logan.

Patton pinched Roman’s earlobe, teasingly scolding him for interrupting their moment. After a few more minutes, they all found themselves at the front of the line to enter the haunted house. Tickets had been relatively cheap despite the spectacular reviews and Roman refused to pass up such a deal. It wasn’t so much a “house” as it was an abandoned JOANN Fabric and Crafts store. The space was large, allowing for a maze of sorts that lead through various themed rooms. It was pitch black the moment they stepped in, though a flashlight was shoved into Patton’s free hand.

“You just get the one,” a voice hissed in his ear.

He startled towards Roman at the suddenness before laughing it off. He clicked the light on and glanced back to Logan and Virgil.

“Shall we?” He asked, as if they had any choice in the matter.

Roman grasped Patton’s other hand firmly in his own and began to lead the way. He was eager to see how much work had been put into this apparent 4 out of 5 star haunted experience and whether or not it would meet his expectations.

“Ro, honey,” Patton giggled, “I’m the one with the light!”

Still, they continued much as they’d begun. Roman took the front with Patton and Virgil following while Logan took up the rear. Virgil had almost immediately moved on from simply linking arms with Logan and instead had a vise grip on his hand. With Logan’s reassurances still fresh in mind, Virgil found it easy to handle the gore surrounding them. The first few rooms were tame and the only performers they came across kept to their corners.

It wasn’t until Patton’s flashlight flickered that Virgil began to worry. Patton screamed in the darkness, but it wasn’t necessarily frightened. Through the sound of his heart racing in his ears, Virgil vaguely heard Patton complimenting whoever had scared him.

Roman was laughing. Logan squeezed Virgil’s hand.

Every so often, Patton’s flashlight would conveniently go out, and a specter or an axe murderer or a witch would pop out and scare them. They seemed to pay most attention to the ones leading the way, for which Virgil was grateful. At some point, Logan stepped closer into his personal space and while Virgil would normally complain about it, the familiar scent of Logan’s cologne helped to calm him down.

“Are you doing alright?” He asked, breath ghosting against Virgil’s skin.

“Peachy,” Virgil answered shakily.

“Don’t forget what I—”

The sound of a chainsaw revving interrupted Logan before he could continue.

“No way,” Virgil snapped.

“Last room!” Roman shouted, tugging Patton further along.

Logan, keeping Virgil’s hand clasped in his, looped their arms together once more, and began to lead the way. He had no doubt that Roman and Patton, and their light source, would leave them behind without meaning to. Being even more in the dark wouldn’t help Virgil in the least.

“Last room,” Logan echoed, tapping a 4-7-8 rhythm against Virgil’s arm with his free hand. They were so closely wound together, Virgil was surprised they weren’t tripping over each other’s feet.

The last room wasn’t exactly the scariest but it was certainly the most chaotic. All the creatures they’d encountered on the way seemed to have congregated here as if to make one last ditch effort the scare their visitors. Roman was laughing breathlessly while Patton tried to shower praise onto any actor that would listen.

They’re good at their jobs, Virgil thought, finding that not a single one of them were breaking character, despite Patton’s enthusiasm.

While they were distracted, Virgil sped through the space and towards the final door. An exit sign lit up in red (there were safety protocols to follow, after all) promised freedom. Just as Virgil was in arm’s reach of the handle, a figure barely five feet in height leapt in his way. He yelped in alarm, stumbling backwards, and into Logan who had been directly behind him.

“Back, you demon!” Roman exclaimed, playing his favorite part as if he were part of the show himself. He’d taken the flashlight from Patton and was brandishing it like a sword, the beam of light cutting through the darkness.

They snarled at Roman before melting back into the shadows. Roman spun to face his friends, wearing a most charming smile.

“Yeah, yeah, thanks so much,” Virgil said, waving a hand dismissively. “Can we go now?”

Patton skipped passed Roman and pushed the door open. A blast of cool air cleared the musty atmosphere and Virgil was the first to rush outside, dragging Logan with him. Roman came next. Patton took his time leaving, yelling back into the room how proud he was of everybody and what a good job they had done — Roman eventually took him gently by the wrist and pulled him outside. The door slammed shut.

“That was exhilarating!” Roman said, pacing through the parking lot behind the building that the door had let out into. There was a booth nearby set up with merchandise and a tip jar. “Definite four out of five! I give it the Roman Stamp of Approval!”

“That is not a thing that exists,” Logan told him, disbelieving.

Roman pouted. “Well, it should!”

Patton ushered them along to the display stands so they could all get a matching trinket. Of course, he continued to offer admiration to any employee that would listen. (And if Virgil held onto Logan’s hand a bit longer than needed, well, he had a perfectly good reason to, so there.)

#sanders sides spooky month #sanders sides spook 2018 #sanders sides fan fiction #royality #analogical #dani writes

223 notes · View notes

justaramblingromantic · 6 years

Text

Thriller Night

Characters/Pairing: Kobayashi Rindou, Tsukasa Eishi, Tsukasa Hi’en (OC), Tsukasa Chouko (OC)/EiRin

Type: Canon-divergent AU, Post-series, Peerless-verse, Freestyle

Word Count: 4022

A/N #01: Tsukasa!Family shenanigans: Halloween Special! It’s the spookiest time of the year and the whole family gets ready for a frightful night out!

“Rindou, I need help-”

The redhead lifted her head by the dresser where she had been putting on the final touches for her makeup, just in time to see Eishi wander into their bedroom, fussing over the rather unusual design of his bowtie. Like her, he had already changed into his costume for the evening, and in his case, he was dressed smartly in a black pinstriped suit with a snowy white dress shirt, that which subtly emphasized his long, graceful limbs, his masculine, whipcord lean build.

He was fiddling distractedly with the black, bat shaped cravat with the long, elaborate, spindly wings as he wandered over to her, bewilderedly trying to figure out how to wear the elaborate accessory, hopefully without poking someone’s eye out in the process. Rindou set down her makeup brush after filling in the last of the details on her face…her blue face. Eishi paused briefly and did a double take once he glimpsed of her amused, impish features…that beloved, familiar expression presented in a way he had never seen before.

She stood up and did a quick, prancing pirouette for him, preening mischievously and showing off the full effect of her cheery patchwork dress and the intricate detail of her costume makeup.

“How do I look~?”

He gazed at the black needlepoint ‘stitches’ that she had penciled and shaded in along the seams of her rose tinted lips across half her cheeks as well as down one side of her face, from forehead to jaw. There were even lines of the faux amateur sutures circling the circumference of her slender neck and stretching across her slender clavicles, before disappearing down the modest neckline of her charmingly simple ragdoll dress. Dramatic black eyeshadow smudged her twinkling gold eyes and made them glow in a mesmerizing, near preternatural shade, and a coat of dark mascara over her dense lashes further accentuated that dramatic doll-like effect. Her long crimson hair fell in lustrous waves down her back. She was also powder blue from head to toe, in the spirit of keeping as true to the character that she had chosen to portray this year. More haphazard lines of needlework drawn over her arms and legs with black body paint completed the rest of her appearance, further adding to the illusion of a true ragdoll.

“…Very spooky,” he solemnly gave his verdict at last.

She grinned at his stamp of approval.

“Good! ‘Coz I’m done, so now’s your turn. Ah, don’t bother with the bow tie yet, Tsukasa! I gotta put on your face paint first~”

He mentally resigned himself for what was to come ahead. But Halloween was a once a year event, so they usually went all out and in the process he was always roped into joining the festivities. Nobody actually asked him if he wanted to be in it or not; he was just automatically included, for a very obvious, redheaded reason. He didn’t dislike all the fuss, though. Rindou always made it fun or at the very least quite entertaining. There was always something different to look forward to every year…and this time was no different.

She pulled him to sit down on the edge of the bed, and then she turned briefly back to the dresser to prepare her concoction of paints from all her little colorful pots and palettes that a visual makeup artist friend had recommended, and he got ready to become her living canvas. His only consolation was that he wasn’t the only one. The other two had turned out decently enough…though they probably wouldn’t mind too much even if she doodled prolifically all over their little faces.

“I leave myself in your capable hands.”

She snickered with a maniacal glee that wasn’t really very confidence inspiring. “Yes, please do~” She turned back to him brandishing a small tub of white paint and a clean brush.

“Now, close your eyes and be still!”

Fifteen minutes later, she finally set down her brush, took a step back, and surveyed her handiwork with satisfaction. She sighed happily.

“I’ve got the most handsome husband in the world.”

He opened his eyes cautiously and gazed upon her pleased expression. Even now, after all these years together, her easygoing, random praises still had the ability to make his heart beat a little faster.

“Why are you saying that after you painted all over my face, though.”

She smirked at his mildly exasperated query.

“’Coz you’re still the most handsome even after I’ve drawn a giant wiener on your forehead~! I’ll gladly look at this gorgeous mug for the rest of my life even if the ink never rubs away-”

“…What.”

Dawning horror quickly replaced vague bemusement, and then he moved so quickly to the mirror to verify the authenticity of her statement, he practically teleported. She burst into laughter at that priceless expression on his face. She also hadn’t seen him move that fast ever since that time Chouko suddenly professed the urge to potty when they were at the beach and the nearest restroom was a good half a kilometer away.

There were no wieners to be found, however.

She peeped over from his shoulder, appearing in the mirror innocuously beside his reflection, mirth reflected in her bright gaze. “Trick or treat!” she chirped, laughter still evident in the lilt of her voice. He met her eyes through the mirror with chagrin.

“Rindou…”

There were no penile-shaped anything drawn on his bone white face… No, literally – his lean, angular face was now bone white. Eishi blinked. He paused again to study himself. His new eerily alabaster complexion extended all the way down past the neckline of his equally white shirt. The only other contrasting color on his pallid appearance were the black face paint that were carefully smudged over the hollows of his lavender eyes. A grotesque, jagged line of black also ran across the seam of his pale lips and over half the length of his cheeks, painting a faint, ghostly smile on his face.

He looked grimly…dashing…in a ghoulish, macabre sort of way. Even his hair seemed to compliment his entire appearance.

She poked his shoulder with one finger to regain his attention, grinning faintly. “Now we fix your bow tie and then we’re ready to get this party started.”

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

“Adorable offspring, time to go~!”

Rindou stood with her arms akimbo and hollered cheerily down the hallway. It didn’t take long before she heard the muffled response from the two youngest ones in the family.

“Coming!!”

“‘Kay-”

She turned back to the living room where Eishi was just tugging on a pair of gloves to complete his costume. The articles in question made his graceful, adroit hands look downright skeletal – the back of the black gloves were embedded with pieces of faux finger bones for a creepily authentic 3D effect.

Pitter pattering footsteps thumped down the hallway not too long after.

“Chou, please don’t run,” the little girl’s father rebuked absently just as she popped into view. Chouko skidded comically to a stop when she saw her male parent, her lavender eyes wide, her mouth falling open with amazement at his cool, debonair appearance.

“Papa…?”

The seven year old still looked visibly surprised by her stunning discovery, as if she had just learned something new and bewilderingly unexpected. “…Papa is…handsome?”

Rindou snickered at her daughter’s innocent proclamation, whereas Eishi was trying not to sigh. Next time anyone remarked upon his ‘astonishingly modest and down-to-earth’ character, he would be sure to give due credit to his family, namely his wife and daughter in particular for their exceptional ego-deflating ability.

His only other ally in this family plodded into view then, as usual looking like he had just been disturbed from a nap, even when Eishi knew that was not the case. Like his sister, he, too, paused briefly when he saw his father. Slit pupiled gold eyes gleamed with interest and appreciation.

“Awesome costume, tou-chan,” the younger redhead remarked. The nine year old was at the age where things like the undead, zombies and skeletons were extremely exciting subjects to explore and think about.

Meanwhile, Chouko had wandered up to him and was tugging at his pants. When Eishi looked down, she raised her arms expectantly, wanting to be picked up. She was starting to become a bit too big to be carried around, but no one seemed to have shared that memo with her doting papa, who unhesitatingly lifted her and held her in his arms readily enough. If anything, Eishi was acutely aware that it would not be too long now before Chouko herself would no longer want to be coddled like that ever again, so he might as well make the most of it until that time inevitable crept upon them.

Small hands patted his cheeks affectionately, and lavender eyes the exact shade as his own peered at him. “Papa is sooo cool,” Chouko declared with a firm nod after a solemn inspection of his newly upgraded features. It was amazing what a bit of (costume) makeup could do, isn’t it. Eishi could not help but feel his chest puff up a little at his mini lookalike’s heartfelt praise. In a few years’ time, Chouko might likely revise her opinion when it came to her parent’s level of ‘coolness,’ but for now her father was more than happy to take that compliment.

“Thank you, Chou.”

“Is Chou-chan not afraid of papa when he looks like this?” Rindou asked, grinning. Chouko shook her head loyally.

“Papa is papa! Chouko’s not scared at all! Papa’s only scary at work; Izumi-nii says so!”

…What was his sous chef telling his daughter now, Eishi wondered exasperatedly. Rindou was less reserved; she burst into laughter again.

“That Kenjiru always was a funny one, huh,” she chortled merrily. “No wonder you like him so much, Tsukasa.”

“…I never said that.”

“No, of course you didn’t~” But she could tell all the same, when he found people he genuinely enjoyed working with. He was more reserved now when it came to letting people in too close, compared to back when they were still in Tootsuki, in the sobering aftermath of all that went down with Central and Nakiri Azami. There was a distinct line between professional respect and friendship, and Eishi was careful never to mistake one for the other again.

As such, anyone in the same field who could exasperate Eishi to the point of breaking that glass wall by sheer personality alone was perfectly alright in her books. Heaven knew that Eishi certainly needed more interesting characters to spice up his daily life.

Hi’en pressed into Rindou’s side, content to be silent and let his family’s conversation flow over him like a warm, fuzzy blanket. Sometimes, it seemed like he wasn’t paying attention to anything at all, but his gaze was clear and alert as he eyed his parents and sister, and he observed all of their interactions with an astuteness and a level of comprehension that was uncannily mature for his age. Rindou rested her hand on the top of her son’s crimson hair and affectionately combed through the tousled strands. Predictably, he leaned into her touch more, and she gently ruffled his hair some more.

“Don’t fall asleep yet, puppy,” she remarked fondly. “We still need your cute face to go trick or treatin’.”

Chouko gasped loudly at the highly likely possibility of her nii-chan drooping off. She swiveled in Eishi’s arms to frown down at the older boy.

“Nii-chan, you promised no nappy until we finished trick or treatin’!” she reminded him with as much fierceness as her current gaptoothed appearance could let her. Her front center teeth had recently fallen out, making way for the adult set to grow in. She was a bit self-conscious after being teased about her missing two front teeth in class, but it was her parents’ completely unbiased opinion that her shy, lopsided smile was cute as all heck. “We’re goin’ home wit’a mountain of candy this time!”

Rindou cheered at Chouko’s ambitious agenda. “Yep, we’re gonna conquer the neighborhood and come back with the largest bounty ever!! Awesome House of Tsukasa, let’s do our best!”

“Yeahh!!!” Chouko rallied enthusiastically, wiggling to be let back down now. Her amused papa obliged. His youngest child scooched off to her brother’s side and bounced antsily on the back of her heels, eager to start.

“Let’s do the roll call before we head off!” Rindou declared. “Tsukasa family, who are we this year?”

Chouko’s hand shot up. “Me, me!! I wanna go first!” the white haired girl was more than eager to introduce her character and show off her costume.

Like her papa, her cherubic face was painted to look like a skull. Unlike Eishi, her design was less austerely gothic and more sweet and colorful, like a sugar skull. The bone white background were interspersed with bursts of flowery lavenders and dark pinks that complemented her big eyes. Cheerful, stylistic lines and curves bordered her forehead and danced across the bridge of her button nose in graceful inked outlines that randomly bloomed into florets and ferns, and tiny little black butterflies fluttered across her cheeks whimsically. A pretty ring of flowers sat upon the crown of her fluffy white hair, and she wore black tights with prints of a skeleton’s legs underneath her pastel lavender tulle princess dress with a poofy chiffon skirt.

Despite that cute cotton candy appearance, she made a comically aggressive pose. It was coincidentally the same pose that their sensei in Aikido class had taught her for throwing people.

“I’m the Pumpkin Princess, defender of Halloween! Hyahh! I float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!! Whoever tries to take Halloween away, I, the Pumpkin Princess, will beat up with no mercy!”

Rindou had whipped out her phone and was happily snapping photos every which way. Chouko was also more than willing to oblige her mama, gleefully making various poses to show off her costume, pleased that her attire was being thoroughly appreciated.

“Way to go, Pumpkin Princess!!” she cheered. “Beat ‘em all up!”

Eishi gazed at his beaming wife and daughter. Usually, ‘beat ‘em all up’ was the last thing he wanted to hear when it came to his daughter’s upbringing, but in this case, it seemed appropriate. Questionably appropriate.

“Do your best tonight, Pumpkin Princess,” he added, and Chouko was so happy she was practically glowing.

“Haiii, Chouko will~!”

“You’re up next, favorite firstborn!” Rindou called.

“I’m your only firstborn, kaa-chan,” Hi’en pointed out.

“Yeah, but you’re also my most favorite firstborn~” Rindou insisted with cheeky smile.

Hi’en wanted to sigh at his mother’s noisy boisterousness, but his lips was twitching upwards on their own somehow. As per the Halloween tradition of the Tsukasa family, he started to introduce his character.

“I’m the Pumpkin Prince. I like candy and people with common sense. I dislike trouble. If you give me a treat, I’ll let you keep your brains,” he uttered calmly.

“Nii-chan, you’re so boring. You gotta be more exciting than that!” Chouko rebuked, poking her sibling in the side. Hi’en poked her back immediately, eliciting an indignant squeal of laughter from the younger girl as she danced away out of his reach.

“I’m a zombie. Have you seen energetic zombies?” he retorted. His sister stuck her tongue out at him.

The nine year old wore a black leather jacket unzipped over a tattered white shirt that had been stained with fake blood. His blue jeans were ripped and dusted with chalk at some places to give it a dirtier look. His face was pale from the white face paint and there were even darkening purplish blue bruises on there to emulate stages of decomposition. Red were smudged liberally on his chin and pallid lips to imitate blood, and there were even bits of material that had been soaked in dark crimson dye stuck to his cheek and around his mouth that looked startlingly like flecks of raw human flesh.

Hi’en had made all the costume modifications himself after searching for all the related information online, and had even insisted on carefully applying the visual makeup on his own. He was rather pleased with the overall grisly effect. Next year, he would like to try an even more challenging style.

Kaa-chan was always very encouraging and enthusiastic when it came to helping him with his exploratory projects. He had been interested in the topic of death and decomposition lately so his cool kaa-chan had brought home an actual flying fox skeleton when she came back from one of her travels the other day, and they had learned to identify the anatomy of all the parts together. That skeleton was currently mounted on his wall inside a special frame, and it was his most treasured possession at the moment. All the boys in his class were envious of his luck – they would never be allowed to bring this sort of macabre things into their houses.

When he mentioned to his parents in passing that he thought that it was interesting to study dead things, tou-chan had taken him and Chou to the natural history museum to view all the amazing exhibits and fossils displayed there one day after school. Kaa-chan had wanted to go too but she had work, and besides, random strangers sometimes liked to stop them to talk to kaa-chan and take photos with her when they all went out together, so maybe it was just as well she wasn’t able to tag along. The three of them had spent the entire afternoon wandering through the halls of the museum until closing time, exploring all the treasures and secret knowledge that the building guarded, telling of stories and factoids derived from the remains of beings that had once lived a very long, long time ago. Even Chouko who tended not to find old, dead things fascinating (unless she could eat them), had been captivated and had made tou-chan read every exhibit signage they came across aloud and explain what each meant.

His friends were wrong. He wasn’t just lucky. He also had the best parents in the world.

“I’m so proud; my ‘lil brain muncher is growing up so fast,” Rindou was saying. “I remember just not too long ago when you wouldn’t go to bed without your favorite stinky pillow and cried up a storm when your tou-chan could not take it anymore and snuck it away to wash-”

“Kaa-chan. Stop.”

Chouko was giggling so hard at her nii-chan’s quietly aghast expression that she was snorting like a little piglet. Nii-chan was usually always so laidback so it was funny to see mama ruffling his feathers so easily.

“Kaa-chan, are you recording?”

“But of course! I’ve got all the videos of you and Chou-chan in your Halloween costumes from the years you were born till present,” Rindou chirped, beaming from behind her phone and looking very proud of herself for this achievement, considering how busy both Eishi and her work schedules were. “Do you know; you were ‘bout six months old when you attended your first Halloween party? We swaddled you up real nice and snug and placed the cutest little sunflower beanie on your little head. Your tou-chan carried you around against his chest in a baby carrier. You were such a huge hit at the party – most popular baby ever…and you slept through the whole thing!”

Hi’en silently eyed his father with weary accusation at the embarrassing recollection which he had absolutely no memory of, but Eishi only shrugged. “Your mother’s idea.”

“It’s ‘coz you’re our precious little sun, En-chan!”

Hi’en could not help but feel his cheeks flushing at his mother’s happy words. He had never met anyone more openly loving than kaa-chan, and could only admit defeat before her boundless affection.

“…”

Eishi rested his hand on Hi’en’s shoulder, and squeezed subtly. He recognized that flustered expression – it showed on his own face often enough, after all.

“Mama, what ‘bout Chouko?” the seven year old demanded to know next, not to be outdone when it came to being loved by their parents. “If nii-chan is the sun, then is Chouko mama and papa’s precious little moon?”

“Yes, Chou-chan. You’re our sweet little moon~ The cutest one!”

Hi’en took his mother’s phone from her and directed the camera right back at her. It was a little embarrassing to be fussed over so much by their parents. “It’s tou-chan and your turn to do the introductions.”

His parents glanced at each other. Rindou’s lips lifted. Eishi’s head tipped to the side. It was as if the two of them were having an entire conversation even without having to speak.

Then, Eishi moved first. He sketched a slow, elegant bow before the beautiful ragdoll.

“Good evening. Jack Skellington, at your service.”

Rindou was trying not to smile at his solemnness. She lifted the skirt of her patchwork dress to her knees and returned his greeting with a proper curtsey.

“Good evening to you too, Pumpkin King.”

He straighten from his bow and met her eyes. He lifted one gloved hand towards her, quietly seeking her favor.

“…My dearest friend… my dearest Sally, if you don't mind... I'd like to join you by your side. Where we can gaze into the stars...”

A delighted grin grew on her face at his recital of a very familiar quote. She stepped towards him and took his hand, allowing him to draw her close. Their fingers entwined, and he cradled her palm against his chest. Eyes shining, she joined him to finish the rest of those words.

“…And sit together, now and forever. For it is plain, as anyone can see. We're simply meant to be.”

Chouko clapped her hands to her mouth, her shoulders quivering as she tried to contain her giggles at her parents’ acting.

“Whaddya think, kiddos? Think we can win the ‘Papa and Mama Best Couple Costume’ competition like that?” Rindou asked, still grinning, cuddled up happily against their father. The siblings exchanged a glance.

“Papa should also princess dip mama at the end!”

Eishi broke character and looked briefly dubious. “…Dip your mother? Did that happen in the movie?”

Rindou concurred. “No, I don’t think so. ‘Sides, I’m not too sure ‘bout your papa’s dipping skills…”

Eishi was vaguely offended by that. “My dipping skills are not that bad…”

“The only thing you’ve been dippin’ a lot all this time is meat in marinate, I reckon,” Rindou teased back, which of course naturally incited his competitive nature. His arm tightened around her waist.

“I’ll show you a great dip-” Without warning, he tipped her right over, as low as he could go, much to her startled shriek of laughter. She of course ended up grabbing at him for dear life, and she pulled at him so hard they ended up overcompensating-

Eishi’s eyes widened. “Rindou, stop-”

They went down in a messy tangle of limbs; Eishi barely had time to cup his palm over the back of Rindou’s head before they hit the ground. Not that she seemed to have registered his efforts to save her from a concussion; she was so amused by his spontaneity that she was still cackling her head off.

“You really suck at this dipping thing,” she was telling him in between chortles. “You need to dip me more often.”

Chouko’s cherubic face popped up on the corner of the phone screen amidst the chaos. “Nii-chan, still filming?”

“Yes…”

The graphics on the phone blurred briefly as Hi’en shifted and turned the camera around until the entire family could be seen; he and Chouko in the foreground, their parents still halfheartedly untangling themselves at the back. The youngest Tsukasa immediately made peace signs and grinned a friendly gaptoothed grin at the camera while her brother was a picture of bland placidness.

“Tou-chan, kaa-chan look over here-”

Eishi and Rindou lifted their heads just in time for Chouko to start off the countdown, their startled expressions plain as day once they realized what was going on.

“What-”

“Wait, wait-”

“One, two, three!”

“Happy Halloween!!”

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

A/N #02: Soooo hard to think up another canon otp with EiRin’s coloring, but I settled on Jack and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas in the end because if you think about it, their story is very similar to EiRin’s! The Pumpkin King who’s weary of doing the same thing over and over again and wants to experience a ‘new world,’ as well as the sweet, brave ragdoll who’s worried about her dear friend and wants to save him from his unhappiness - he recognizes her efforts and her feelings in the end, and they grow even closer together...it’s a perfect choice!! <33

Hi’en and Chouko are growing up so fast too - I feel like a nostalgic grandma all over again, lol.

#Food Wars: Shokugeki no Souma #Shokugeki no Soma #Tsukasa Eishi #Kobayashi Rindou #eirin #EiRin: Peerless AU #my fics #freestyle

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sazorak · 7 years

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My Hero Academia’s hero and villain are not very good

My Hero Academia, Kohei Horikoshi’s shounen manga take on Western super hero comics, has been running nearly three years now. I am something of a binge-reader when it comes to media; I don’t care for the drawn-out schedule that comes from following serialized releases. But My Hero Academia (alongside One Piece, Berserk, and One Punch Man) is one of the few that I actively follow. Lately though, I’ve been wondering why.

It’s not that the comic has taken a particularly egregious downturn in quality or pacing – it’s been fairly consistent all in all. The current arc about the class becoming intern sidekicks has been interesting, and it’s been moving at a rather brisk pace. The issue I’m struggling with is more fundamental. It’s a problem My Hero Academia has had since the beginning, and it’s done little to ameliorate over time.

The main protagonist and antagonist of My Hero Academia are just not very good.

The lead of My Hero Academia, Izuku Midoriya, isn’t a bad character per se. The angle of an ordinary kid born into a society of supermen finding himself entrusted with power by his world’s urhero is a pretty good one. It’s an underdog story with tons of good karma built in as Midoriya is forced to struggle to surpass those who had mocked his lack of abilities. It’s also good for hitting those power-fantasy notes that are so crucial to making the shounen genre work. He’s earnest and likeable. It’s easy to root for Midoriya and put yourself in his shoes as he is manages to pull himself to the front of the pack by sheer heart and willpower alone. These are all good attributes for a protagonist in a heroic work!

But as time has gone on and as his powers have developed, he has ceased to be the underdog. Where he was once only keeping up with his classmates’ inborn genius by hard work and determination, now he’s not only the most driven but also the most talented. Midoriya’s climbed what should have been the first foothill on his journey to the top, and we’ve found that there is actually nothing else on the horizon— the foothill was the mountain. Midoriya’s journey of growth being essentially complete is dire, because it’s all Midoriya actually has: It turns out he’s REALLY boring.

Midoriya’s character revolves entirely around his desire to become a hero and imitate the super hero paragon, All Might. That’s it. This is literally all there is to him. He has no other interests. No particular ambitions beyond the dream to be The Best Hero. The only real struggles remaining for him are narrative happenstance and the gradual power-ups that are practically prescribed at this point. There’s nothing else to his story.

Here’s an example: In order to convince All Might’s former side kick to give him an internship, Midoriya has to make him laugh. This isn’t going to be easy; the sidekick is a straight-laced nerd, AND he has the ability to see the future. This concept has a lot of good goof-potential. You could conceive Midoriya in all his earnestness constructing an elaborate comedic scenario that, while perhaps falling on its face, would at least show off his good qualities. Maybe he’d screw up and it’d result in the kind of unplanned comedic pratfall that would be easy for the sidekick to laugh at.

Instead, what does Midoriya actually do? He does a bad impression of All Might of course, because “I want to be like All Might!” is his entire character! It pisses off the sidekick so much that the whole laughing angle is completely abandoned, and instead a scenario is contrived where Midoriya has to steal the approval stamp from the future-seeing sidekicks hand. Ultimately? He gets the internship because he didn’t damage any of the All Might memorabilia in the room. Midoriya’s All Might-mania would be a funny gag if it wasn’t the crux of who he is.

The only other aspects to Midoriya’s character beyond his hero-crush is his very typical shounen budding romance with Ochako Uraraka (that has not and will not ever be developed until the very end of the story, as is the staid shounen manga way), his willingness to occasionally break the rules in order to save lives (and then let McGruff the Crime Dog unironically say that he should have let his friend be murdered in front of him), and a mostly one-sided rivalry with his childhood bully Katsuki Bakugo. Only the rivalry actually feels that impactful to the story, and that has more to do with Katsuki’s personal arc than Midoriya’s.

The issue isn’t that Midoriya doesn’t have any major flaws necessarily – though that certainly doesn’t help – it’s more that there’s not much else to his personal story at this point beyond the narrative events unfolding before him. He fundamentally lacks agency and meaningful personal struggles. Things happen, and he reacts to them; his arc is essentially complete. It’s a foregone conclusion. His single-mindedness makes the story flat in a way that it really need not be.

Narratives revolving around villains doing nefarious things tend to lead to reactionary heroes, but the best heroes are ones who are more than just the mask—they’re also people. Peter Parker has a day job, has to deal with people trying to constantly hunt him down and kill him, and has to fight to balance his romantic dalliances with the responsibilities of being Spider-Man. Bruce Banner may fight the occasional radiation monster, but the Hulk’s story is more about his struggle with his own inner demons than him punching real ones. Hell even Superman, the poster Generic Nice Boy, tries to have a personal life beyond the cape and liven up his Fortress of Solitude.

There’s more to good stories than Good Man Beats Up Bad Guy. While personal struggles can be completely ancillary to the action at hand, they can also be far more challenging for the hero to surmount and far more engaging. Even if the are trivial, that doesn’t make them unimportant. Diversions may not matter much to the ongoing “plot” always, but they give the characters character. Something as inconsequential as the heroes going out to get Italian food can be huge as far as characterization goes; it speaks volumes to the interests of the characters, it humanizes them, and makes their situation more relatable.

The tragic thing is that there are major characters in My Hero Academia who would make for far better protagonist material than the actual lead if the story had been built differently. The frog-girl Tsuyu Asui is a good example. She’s been raising her siblings on her own while going to hero school due to her parents being constantly away at work. Her powers seemingly have low potential (she does whatever a frog can do), but she rises to the top by being smart with them. She wants to become a hero to help people— but seemingly doesn’t have too much of an interest in getting into the bad-guy fighting side of things. Throughout the story, she’s also wrestled with the whole legality / morality of saving people without a license, which frankly the most under explored aspect of the narrative by far given how weird and complicated the subject matter is. These are all interesting angles that easily have been built out to create a different, more engaging My Hero Academia.

Not having an engaging protagonist for your narrative puts a greater onus of the villain being interesting. For My Hero Academia, this is a BIG problem. If the hero Izuku Midoriya is uninteresting, the main villain Tomura Shigaraki is outright lame.

As is the super hero convention, Shigaraki is dark mirror of Midoriya— where Midoriya is a child who looks up to heroes and wants to grow up to be like All Might, Shigaraki is a man child who never grew up, doesn’t like heroes, and wants to murder All Might. And just like Midoriya that’s literally all there is to him. He has some kind of tragic past due to heroes not saving him when his parents died, but even that’s paper thin. Ultimately, he’s just a petulant kid who never grew up; he occasionally sends mutants his spooky adopted dad made for him to punch trucks. Because that’ll show ‘em.

The narrative openly acknowledges the fact that he doesn’t have any particular beliefs beyond disliking heroes. Other villains with actual raisons d’etre confront him about it, and he no joke throws a tantrum over the fact that they have views. Like Midoriya, the single-note nature of the character comes across as borderline comical. (Also: his character design looks stupid.)

Villains, like protagonists, need motivations to be compelling. That motivation can be as small as being a crazy mofo or just plain greedy, but it should at least be understandable. Shigaraki isn’t a revolutionary— he’s a child with a gun. An inordinate amount of power has been thrust into his hands for no particular reason. That doesn’t actually make him feel like that great of a threat to society as a whole; it just makes him a deadly nuisance if anything. Earthquakes are unpredictable and can hurt a lot of people but that doesn’t make them particularly compelling villains.

Villains need to be likeable. Not necessarily as a people— far from it in most cases, really. But they need to have some trait that is inherently admirable to make them work as the foil for the protagonist. In X-Men, Magneto is a fantastic villain because he’s ultimately a flawed idealist; his charisma and the fact that his views sometimes seem attractive is what makes him so compelling. He’s complex. Single-mindedness too can be admirable if it’s portrayed well. Kira Yoshikage, despite being an outright serial killer still has admirable traits in just how ruthlessly efficient he is at maintaining his “ordinary life”. That doesn’t make him less reprehensible— if anything those traits are what makes him so potent a threat, far more than his murderous tendencies.

Totally uncharismatic antagonists can work as small-bit villains – but there’s a limited lifetime for which their existence is tolerable. Past that point, their continued position as a central part of the narrative just becomes annoying, if not totally implausible. How are we the audience supposed to believe that Shigaraki can amass followers and inspire loyalty in them when we cannot muster the slightest bit of admiration for him ourselves? He’s not even shitty enough for it to be played up for comical effect!

This situation is all the more crazy when you remember that My Hero Academia serializes alongside One Piece. One Piece’s Oda Eiichiro has writing good bad guys down to a science. His bad guys range across the whole spectrum, from the immeasurably bad at their job to the point where you’re actively rooting for them (who the hell doesn’t like Buggy the Clown?) to the dark-mirror of the lead that you just love to hate (Blackbeard you monstrous son of a bitch), to a whole heap of over-zealous enforcers of law and order (go to hell Akainu). Oda’s a master at manipulating the audience’s feelings and creating characters that work in both short and large doses. Characters with short-lived appeal are dealt with appropriately, while those more sweeping interest and unexplored complexities are kept around for years. Oda will occasionally even turn past arc’s main-villains into bit-players in ongoing ones. Knowing when and how to subvert expectations like this speaks a lot to Oda’s abilities at constructing characters and narratives.

The sad thing is that I just can’t see Kohei pivoting with My Hero Academia. The trajectory My Hero Academia is on looks to be the one it’ll stick to for the future. The foregone conclusion of Midoriya’s journey is in plain sight; while I’m sure the ongoing story will take some amount of twists and turns, there’s not a lot of mystery left in how Midoriya fits into it. Shigaraki taking his place as the main villain is outright uninteresting and unappealing at this point. While the actual writing of characters and the flow of the chapters is good, the broader sweep of the work viewed from a weekly-perspective now leaves something to be desired.

I suppose there’s nothing left for me to do at this point than to let it fall to the wayside and just read at my own pace when more of the material is built up. Actively following a work as it releases requires considerably more personal investment, and I’m not sure I can muster that for this story anymore.

Oh well!

#think piece #nonfiction #writing #my hero academia #midoriya izuku #shigaraki tomura #super heroes #manga #anime #media

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chorusfm · 7 years

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The Killers – Wonderful Wonderful

The Killers just can’t seem to catch a break. You’d think that penning one of the most iconic, ubiquitous pop songs of the millennium would win you some points. Same with putting out a debut album that almost single-handedly prolonged the life of rock radio for an extra year or two. By all accounts, Brandon Flowers and company are nice guys who work hard, put on an exceptional live show, and have a better track record of radio singles than any other rock band this side of the Foo Fighters. But The Killers have never been cool. They certainly never earned the stamp of approval from critics, who took the “No Fun Police” stance against the singles from Hot Fuss and then vowed to bury the band when Brandon Flowers had the audacity to suggest that 2006’s Sam’s Town would be “one of the best albums in the last 20 years.” Most music writers expected The Killers to be a flash in the pan, and they were graciously willing to help the band reach their inevitable demise. But a funny thing happened along the way: The Killers held on. As radio rock died, they kept writing hits. As the critical darling indie rock bands of the early 2000s slid toward mediocrity or obscurity or both, The Killers remained stubbornly present. Now, 13 years after Hot Fuss and five years after their last album, The Killers are back, and they are every bit as inescapable as they always have been. In the release week of September 22nd, which saw a massive deluge of new albums from acclaimed and up-and-coming artists, no one got as much press as The Killers. Part of it could be nostalgia. A once-colossal band coming back after five years away to survey the wreckage of rock ‘n’ roll? The “rock is dead” thinkpieces write themselves! Add the fact that The Killers seem to be splintering behind the scenes—both bassist Mark Stoermer and guitarist Dave Keuning have retired as touring members of the band—and it’s almost hard not to write about their new album. But The Killers still have a magnetism that, we can probably all agree, is very rare in a rock band these days. And the magnetism isn’t just about “Mr. Brightside” and how it still sounds good at festivals or sold-out Madison Square Garden shows. On the contrary, on Wonderful Wonderful, the band’s long-awaited fifth album, the magnetism is still there in the music, as well. The Killers have tried to market Wonderful Wonderful as a “return to form” after 2012’s Battle Born, an album they clearly do not like. (Counterpoint: Battle Born is the best Killers LP.) Interestingly, though, of the five albums in the band’s discography, Wonderful Wonderful sounds the least like a Killers record. Crucially, the once dominant roar of Dave Keuning’s guitar has been relegated to a background supporting role. Despite Keuning’s decision to stop touring, he was supposedly a part of the recording process for this album. You wouldn’t know it from listening to most of the songs, though, or from looking at the back cover, which inexplicably features just Brandon, Mark, and drummer Ronnie Vannucci, Jr. The last two tracks on the record, the spooky “The Calling” and the meditative “Have All the Songs Been Written?”, are the two where the guitar seems to take center stage, and Keuning doesn’t play on either of them. (The soulful guitarwork on the closing track was provided by Mark Knoplfer of Dire Straits fame, while Stoermer handled guitar on “The Calling.”) The benching of Keuning pulls some of The Killers’ identity away from this album. It’s not the only factor with that effect, either. Wonderful Wonderful also lacks a clear single, a first in The Killers catalog. Actual lead single “The Man,” with its Bowie-esque groove, is catchy enough, but is missing the anthemic punch that the band has always been so good at providing with singles. There is no “Mr. Brightside” or “All These Things That I’ve Done” on this album, no “When You Were Young” or “Read My Mind” or “Runaways.” The closest is “Run for Cover” a kinetic, synth-led rocker with plenty of zip and attitude (not to mention a timely “fake news” reference), but the hook isn’t as sharp as virtually anything on Battle Born, let alone side one of Hot Fuss. What Wonderful Wonderful lacks in poppy immediacy, though, it makes up for in intimacy. The Killers have never been known for hugely personal songwriting. The closest to personal they got was probably Sam’s Town, ostensibly a concept record about a young man Flower “breaking out of a two-star town” and chasing his dreams. They’ve always been a band that thrived on writing huge, sometimes ambiguous, and usually universally relatable songs. Wonderful Wonderful dispenses with that blueprint. The meat of the record was inspired by Brandon’s wife, who suffers from a condition known as Complex PTSD. Flowers recently revealed that he cancelled part of the tour for his last solo LP, 2015’s The Desired Effect, because his wife was having suicidal thoughts. That heavy subject matter forms the backbone for Wonderful Wonderful. Flowers navigates complicated webs of emotion in the album’s mid-section, which directly addresses his wife’s struggles and how they have impacted his role as a husband and a father. “Rut,” a radiant U2-esque power ballad, is written from her perspective, built around the lines “Don’t give up on me, ‘cause I’m just in a rut/I’m climbing, but the walls keep stacking up.” The next track, “Life to Come,” plays out as Flowers’ response. Where “Rut” closes with the desperate plea “Don’t you give up on me,” “Life to Come” plays like the renewal of a wedding vow. “I didn’t see this coming, I admit it/But if you think I’ll buckle, forget it/I told you that I’d be the one/I’ll be there in the life to come,” Flowers sings, before the rhythm section kicks in and he asks his bride to “have a little faith in me, girl/Just dropkick the shame.” On paper, that last line probably looks hokey. But Flowers’ unwavering earnestness has always been his greatest asset as a frontman, and it turns “Life to Come” into an incredibly moving affirmation of love and devotion. The same is true for the Brian Eno-influenced slowburn of “Some Kind of Love.” Flowers reportedly wrote the song after coming home from the Desired Effect tour to be with his wife. “Can’t do this alone/We need you at home/There’s so much to see/We know that you’re strong,” he sings at the end, accompanied by the three most important guests he’s ever brought on for an album: his children. It’s a beautiful, restrained moment that ranks among the most affecting in the entire Killers repertoire. While Flowers radiates strength and resilience on “Life to Come” and “Some Kind of Love,” some of the best moments on Wonderful Wonderful are where we see the doubt creep in. He’s not doubting his wife or his marriage: his commitment and faith on those fronts is sound. Instead, he’s doubting himself. On “Tyson vs. Douglas,” he recalls watching the eponymous 1990 boxing match, where Tyson suffered the first loss of his career at the hands of a 42-1 underdog. “When I saw him go down/Felt like somebody lied/I had to close my eyes/Just to stop the tears,” Flowers sings. It’s a song about realizing your heroes aren’t invincible or infallible, but it’s also more than that. When the bridge rolls around, Flowers’ thoughts shift from Tyson’s incredible loss to himself. “Feelin’ the slip again/I don’t wanna fall/You said it was nothing/But maybe you’re wrong.” He wants to be the hero for his wife and their kids, the big strong man who keeps them safe and never lets them down. But if the unbeatable Mike Tyson could get knocked out by someone who wasn’t even deemed a threat, how long until Brandon’s kids seem him fall, too? On “Have All the Songs Been Written?”, Flowers arrives at a moment where he feels like his number is up. “Have all the songs been written?/Have all your needs been met?/Have all these years been worth it?/Or am I the great regret?” Struggling with writer’s block while working on the songs for Wonderful Wonderful, Flowers turned to Bono for advice. Did he have anything left to say? Or had he written his last great song? “Have all the songs been written?” was the subject line of the email Flowers sent to the U2 frontman, who encouraged him to turn it into a song. Fittingly, the track that came from that advice moves gradually from self-doubt to assurance. On the bridge, Brandon’s voice trembles as he tries to reassure himself that the storm clouds surrounding his family will pass and things will be good again. “When the train returns to the rails/When the ship is back in the harbor/I will make you happy again/I can see it, I believe it.” He’s not ready for his Tyson vs. Douglas moment just yet. Back in June, when The Killers dropped “The Man” as the first single from Wonderful Wonderful, the song felt oddly tongue-in-cheek for the anthem-obsessed band. A send-up of the aggressive, ambitious masculinity that The Killers—especially Flowers—exhibited early on in their careers, “The Man” felt oddly out of tune with the times. In 2017, society is slowly deconstructing the old ideas of what it means to be a “Real Man.” Yet, here The Killers were, seemingly reinforcing those ideals. In context, though, “The Man” shines a light on the concept and arc of Wonderful Wonderful. Throughout these songs, Flowers realizes that all the macho masculinity in the world can neither help his wife fight her demons nor give their children the love and support they need. Instead, he makes himself vulnerable, being candid about his fears and frailties and being empathetic to his wife’s. The result is the most personal and intimate record in the Killers discography. Given all the inspiration from Flowers’ own life (as well as the reduced role for Dave Keuning), it’s also the Killers album that feels most like a solo LP. It’s hard to imagine much being different about Wonderful Wonderful if it was the third Brandon Flowers record instead of the fifth Killers record. Billing and branding aside, though, Wonderful Wonderful is a surprisingly deep and nuanced piece of work from a band not often recognized for being deep and nuanced. The critics still won’t get it, and certain fans will probably miss the rafter-shaking anthems, but after five years of waiting, it’s a pleasant surprise to get something new from The Killers at all—let alone something that feels so brave, so bold, and so unreservedly human. --- Please consider supporting us so we can keep bringing you stories like this one. ◎ https://chorus.fm/review/the-killers-wonderful-wonderful-2/

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gethealthy18-blog · 6 years

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26 Non-Candy Halloween Treats Kids Will Love

New Post has been published on http://healingawerness.com/news/26-non-candy-halloween-treats-kids-will-love/

26 Non-Candy Halloween Treats Kids Will Love

Halloween and I have a complicated relationship, at least since I became a mom. Take trick-or-treating, for instance. It’s a fun tradition, but there certainly aren’t too many healthy Halloween treats (or even close to it). Easter and a few other holidays require some similar soul-searching.

So what’s a health-conscious mom to do? As I see it, I have a couple of options:

Option #1: Ignore Halloween Completely

Yep … I did this!

I’ll admit it: when my kids were all really young, I just pretended Halloween didn’t exist. We didn’t do the trick or treating thing or the costume thing. In fact, we usually just turned out the lights and went to bed early on trick-or-treating night.

I just didn’t like the idea of already grumpy toddlers staying up late to go to strangers’ houses and ask for candy packed with food dyes.

As my kids get older and want to dress up, trick-or-treating is harder to avoid. On the one hand, I completely understand the fun tradition of wearing a costume and spending time with friends. On the other, I don’t love the idea of them getting bags upon bags of candy (that will make them crazy and rot their teeth out).

Since I’ve learned a thing or two about balance and moderation over the years, we’ve moved on (a little reluctantly) from this option.

Option #2: The Candy Fairy

Opinions differ on whether or not receiving a mountain of candy in one night provides a natural opportunity to learn self-control. I’m all for kids having these life lessons, but I’m a big believer in giving kids choices within certain boundaries set by the parent. (Hence my love for Montessori.)

The Candy Fairy (or Switch Witch, take your choice) visits our house after trick-or-treating and the kids don’t seem to mind a bit. We switch out the majority of the candy for a fun grab bag of treats. Since they come from our home, this also gives me the chance to throw some tasty edibles from better sources.

Option #3: Offer Healthy Halloween Treats

I know, I know … handing out a treat other than name-brand candy is a surefire way to get your house rolled. I promise, I’m not suggesting handing the kids an apple or a carton of bone broth.

Still, since childhood obesity rates are around 17% in the U.S. (and thankfully holding steady for the last few years), wouldn’t less candy given to kids be a positive change?

In fact, there plenty of reasons to consider giving out non-candy treats:

Food Allergies – Food allergies are on the rise and many popular types of candy contain peanuts and other allergens. I know quite a few moms who can’t let their kids trick or treat because of potential peanut exposure. (Proof this is a real trend: The Teal Pumpkin Project.)

Too Much Sugar – With high rates of obesity and other health problems, especially among youth, I can’t in good conscience hand out tons of sugary candy. The 80/20 rule is great and there may be a time and a place for treats. The problem is that time seems to be all the time. And the place seems to be everywhere. Kids get candy at the bank, the doctor, school, and almost everywhere they go. Do they really need bags of it?!

Dye Sensitivities – Many kids are sensitive to food dyes and it is tough to avoid them in most types of candy.

Orthodontics – Candy and sugary snacks aren’t good for teeth and can stick to braces and other mouthpieces.

Easier on Parents – When you give out non-candy Halloween treats, you save parents the trouble of checking for anything harmful in the candy.

True, non-candy treats may not make your house the most popular stop in the neighborhood, but there are some really fun alternatives to candy that are definitely kid-approved. And all the other families who are trying to limit sugar or who are sensitive to food dyes will thank you!

Ideas for Non-Candy Halloween Treats (Kids Actually Like)

These are the top healthy Halloween treats I keep in my stash. Bonus: If you have some leftover, most of these will keep until next year!

1. Glider Airplanes

Surprisingly, mini airplanes are inexpensive and a great alternative to candy. My brother loved these when we were little and would have taken one of these over candy any day!

2. Organic Juice Boxes

A consumable Halloween treat that is practical. After walking around the neighborhood, kids may be thirsty. It still has sugar and isn’t an everyday thing for us, but it makes a great treat.

3. Natural Fruit Leather

In my opinion these taste way better than artificially flavored fruit candies! Buy them in bulk for the best price. I’ve seen them at Costco for a good price, or they’re available from Thrive Market or Amazon for a good price.

4. Bouncy Balls

My kids love bouncy balls and we don’t usually have them around the house because of all. the. bouncing. Grab a pack of 100 for cheaper than a big bag of candy and call it a day! They even make creepy eyeball bouncy balls!

5. Local Honey Sticks

My oldest son brought home a bunch of these from a beekeepers’ meeting one time and they were an instant hit with his siblings. Ideally find some from a local beekeeper, or order online. These are still a sweet treat, but the beneficial properties in honey make it a healthier alternative to candy.

6. Stamps

My littles spend hours stamping pictures on paper and they gave me the idea for this candy alternative. Stamps are also cheaper than candy when you get them in bulk.

7. Apple Cider Packets

I’m hoping it will cool down by Halloween, and if it does, kids will love something to warm them up after walking around. Even better, this brand uses pretty decent ingredients!

8. Carabiners

A novel and practical kid favorite! Carabiners top the list of practical gifts that can be reused, and as a bonus… they are plastic free!

9. Mini-Flashlights

A practical idea for kids walking around after dark! Keychain flashlights are fun for kids and a good candy alternative if you don’t live in a busy neighborhood. Order them in bulk for a good price.

10. Pumpkin Oranges

Feeling crafty? Get some organic oranges and use a natural marker to draw some pumpkin faces on the peel. This is probably best for a group of friends or close-knit neighborhood where people trust an unwrapped offering.

11. Organic Candy

If you just can’t fathom the idea of giving out something besides candy, opt for a better kind of candy. This brand of organic lollipops is dye-free and contains vitamin C.

12. Fake Mustaches

Kids love these hilarious fake mustaches. I brought a few packs of fake mustaches to a costume party for adults once and the next morning we woke up and found all of the kids in mustaches too! For a holiday that requires a costume, these are fun to give out!

13. Stickers

I have to say, kids have ruined stickers for me. They seem to think it’s a great idea to plaster stickers on any surface to make it more festive. (There is still sticker residue on their bunk beds to prove it.) Since Halloween is about fun for the kids though, I’ll be a sucker and order 1000 of them really inexpensively for treats to give out.

14. Bubbles

Bubbles are a fun activity that every kid loves. My children will play with these for hours a time!

15. Mini Notebooks

My daughters keep these mini notebooks in their mini purses so they can draw and take notes.

16. LED Light Up Rings

Forget Ring Pops! These rings light up in crazy colors and are a fun way keep kids safe in the dark.

17. Skeleton Bone Pens

Possibly the coolest item on this list! These bone-shaped pens are really cool and practical too!

18. Wikki Sticks

A great inexpensive Halloween treat to give out that stimulates creativity. Wikki Sticks are made from yarn and natural wax and are a mess-free creative way for kids to draw and build pictures.

19. Lego People

Want to be the coolest house on the block? Give out little Lego compatible figures!

20. Glow Bracelets

I don’t usually get glow sticks because of the plastic, but I’ll pull them out as a special treat or candy alternative. Glow bracelets are the most practical option because they also make kids easier to see in the dark while out trick or treating! I’ve never seen a kid leave disappointed when receiving a glow bracelet instead of candy.

21. Puzzle Balls

The downside? They are plastic. The upside? Puzzle balls are a reusable treat that encourages critical thinking.

22. Fancy Crayon Pens

Practical but still cool. These crayon pens have multiple tips and encourage creativity.

23. Slap Bracelets

Slap bracelets were all the rage when I was a kid. Maybe they are outdated, or maybe, like many poor fashion trends of decades past, it’s time for them to come back!

24. Mini Play Dough

We usually make our own play dough, but pre-made mini play dough containers are a good alternative to candy!

25. Spooky Spider Rings

Another plastic toy, but when store-bought candy is at stake I’ll compromise. This kid pleaser adds to the spooky fun. Warning: they’re as bad as Legos … inevitably I end up stepping on them in bare feet around the house for months after.

26. Punch Balloons

I remember punching these with great glee as a kid (probably in the direction of my brother’s face). This perennial party favor comes in Halloween-themed colors and encourages kids to be active and have fun!

If You’re Going to Hand Out Candy…

Opt for pre-packaged treats from reputable companies who use organic or natural ingredients with few to no additives. These are my favorite healthier candy “compromises” since their ingredient lists are a lot less… scary!

What’s your policy on candy on Halloween? Which healthy Halloween treats would you like to see your kids bring home?

Source: https://wellnessmama.com/128061/healthy-halloween-treats/

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