#* he used to be a knockoff classic sans
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* i woke up (again) realizing just how far i’ve come in art, design, and story writing
* like these are kylari and jadrine’s first designs, made back in october 2020
* and these are their new ones! made just a couple days ago
* it’s so strange to me, i can’t explain it
#🤍.txt#okay to rb#undertale#undertale au#sans#papyrus#kylari#jadrine#chromatic unity#* jade is so similar yet so different#* meanwhile ky is like completely different LMAO#* he used to be a knockoff classic sans#* it’s so weird to me /pos
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Outen no Mon/Deep Sea
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The Tale of Young Sugawara no Michizane
Outen no Mon the show made me want to read the manga. Reading the synopsis, I originally joked with friends that this was just another Heian era swashbuckling mystery thriller or Onmyoji knockoff sans magic. It is not just another Heian era swashbuckling mystery thriller, it is…different enough to be called unique. Where Onmyoji was basically tale of a smartass, debauched sorcerer and straightlaced warrior who overcome their differences to save Heian-kyo to comical effect; Outen no Mon is about a smartass, bookworm scholar and playboy warrior who overcome their differences to save Heian-kyo. As in any story set in Heian-kyo, it is haunted. No wonder onmyoji business was booming during that era. The difference is in Onmyoji the ghosts are real while in Outen no Mon the real danger lies in man. As for the chick in the team, the immortal priestess is replaced with an imports and antique dealer who is probably also running a sweatshop of counterfeit goods. But she has a good heart and uses her talents in service of the protagonists so don’t worry about it.
Characters:
In summary we have the brains, the brawn, and the street smarts for our protagonist team of investigators. They can also be classified as middle class (Sugawara no Michizane), aristocrat (Ariwara no Narihira), and peasant (Shouki). They are performed by our triple moon tops: Tsukishiro Kanato, Houzuki An, and Umino Mitsuki respectively. (I just realized the tops and niibante of moon troupe all have moon in their name. Coincidence? ^^;) This is my second non-romantic Takarazuka show in a row. First I got a politically-charged Chinese historical fiction and now I got a politically-charged Japanese historical fiction. In other words, this show tends to focus on the mystery and we follow the friendship of Michizane and Narihira more closely than anything Shouki is doing. Reiko and Chinatsu portrayed their respective roles and contrasted each other admirably. Michizane as a character is a shut-in bookworm and apathetic to the machinations of the court, choosing to mingle with the commoners whom he feels kinship with. This often manifests as dressing casually to see the Emperor. In the manga, he is a classic shounen hero with a difficult, socially awkward personality but still a morally upstanding citizen. Reiko’s version is a bit more socially competent and suave because she is a Takarazuka hero. Her Michizane comes across as an introverted and introspective youth rather than full hikikomori. Since we aren’t privy to internal monologue in this staging, this is probably a better approach for presenting the main character.
Then we have Chinatsu as Narihira, resident playboy and military officer responsible for the safety of Heian-kyo. While being a nepo-baby nobleman, he does take his job seriously and is open-minded. His haughtiness and discrimination against the peasants is a result of ignorance rather than him being a dick and his friendship with Michizane begins with him opening his eyes to the plight of the disenfranchised. I feel the fanservice was toned down compared to usual Takarazuka fare. Narihira is so blasé about his charms. Instead of a dramatic pose or drawn out moment where he puts his flirt on, he’s just going about his day and doing his job. He just throws out a wink or wave while on patrol but marches professionally on when he’s on the clock even if fangirls are present. That strikes me as a different portrayal of playboy from the norm. Houzuki An is certainly one who would know she is suave without overcompensating. XD Her makeup didn’t photograph well in some angles and I think she was attempting an old man but sexy look as Narihira is considerably older than Michizane. Chinatsu’s voice is divine and it’s strong enough to carry. Couple times she nearly blew out her mic in both the show and revue. Also, I swear she had more costume changes than the Top Star since she’s playing a man of society so we saw her in dress uniform, street uniform, casual ensemble, etc. On the other hand, Michizane is a maverick scholar known to be a slob who even dares to come to court in the Heian version of sweatpants and T-shirt so Tsukishiro Kanato is usually in the same outfit.
As the political intrigue features heavily in the story, the show is a bit of a sausage fest so there isn’t much for musumeyaku to do. There are only three named female roles of note so it makes sense that Eri would take the biggest female role. Shouki is a fun character in her own right and has no romantic subplot as a shrewd businesswoman and an equal member of our intrepid trio. She is the ingenious friend who provides the resources to make Michizane’s plans a reality. It is a refreshing role for a musumeyaku, who usually get stuck as love interests. Of course, there is star-crossed romance on the side in case seinen is not your genre. Narihira and Takako were lovers who tried to elope in their youth but circumstances of birth have rendered their relationship forbidden. They resolve this the mature, Japanese way (those of you who watch Japanese historical dramas know what I’m talking about). For a side character and love interest, Takako is a complex character with her own personality and drive despite her vulnerable social circumstances that Amashi Juri brought to life. Generally, the female characters were well-developed and interesting even if sparse.
Kazama Yuno as Fujiwara no Mototsune is practically a lead character and a complicated antagonist. He doesn’t have much depth to him as cold and calculating Fujiwara Jr who does most of foster dad’s dirty work. However, his relationship with everyone else makes him interesting. He had a not-negative acquaintance with Kisshoumaru, Michizane’s deceased older brother. However, his younger brothers were responsible for Kisshoumaru’s death. Thus, Mototsune and Michizane’s relationship is awkward to say the least. If his solo number is any indication, he really did consider the Sugawara brothers as friends and misses their childhood romps while regretful about the harm his dick younger brothers inflicted. Mototsune hasn’t completely gone to the dark side yet, perhaps due to him being a distant relative adopted into the main branch of the Fujiwaras or his youth. Him and Takako are on the same boat as adoptees from a lesser branch of the family so he is more sympathetic and softer towards her. He’s also willing to give respect when it is due, even if it is for the opposition.
Those are the characters worth mentioning. The supporting cast do their jobs. The two child characters are comic relief running around to sing the praises of Michizane’s genius. Groups of women serve to showcase how corruption has disenfranchised the poor or as fangirls to promote Narihira’s star stud status. The Sugawara household are a wholesome and supportive family who are scholarly and down to earth. The Fujiwara household is…evil. I joke but they portray a toxic and strained family. Half are spoiled, despotic fools hiding behind the family name while the other half are miserable, calculating souls forced to make sacrifices and make up the slack of the former. The emperor is young, naïve, and weak. But he is always that way in any media featuring the corrupt Fujiwara puppeteering the throne (an actual stretch of history Japanese media love to defer to). Overall, a strong cast from Tsukigumi!
Plot:
Story wise, it was a good opening but as the manga is ongoing and probably quite lengthy, it feels like we just completed an arc. The arc is specifically about a demon parade harassing the streets of Heian-kyo that kills hapless citizens caught in its path. By imperial decree among other circumstances, our main characters find themselves working together to stop the murders and uncover the truth of the matter. The mystery of murder-ghosts was resolved but a lot of the interpersonal conflicts remained open-ended. And what I mean by resolution is the streets are safe again now that the murderers are arrested but we never learn the motive or discover the mastermind. In this respect, the musical did end a bit abruptly. Regardless, I enjoyed the pacing, intrigue, and story immensely.
The plot was quite rich. There is the main plot of why there’s a demon parade abducting people at night. Michizane deduces this is a more earthly problem and together with his crew they catch the culprits. Additionally, we are given lots of political intrigue with a naïve young Emperor being controlled by the Fujiwara clan. Papa-Fujiwara is such a social climber he’s adopting all his country bumpkin relatives to be his pawns in court. His heir is an adopted son and now he’s acquired a new daughter he’s trying to shove into the emperor’s harem. Someone wants the emperor dead and someone is using the emperor for their own ends, all fingers point to the Fujiwaras but they are untouchable. There are many layers to this show.
The character relationships are also complicated and the conflicts hit in the feels. The main character is disenchanted with the Japanese court and is struck with wanderlust so strong he wants to go abroad and explore broader horizons. He has big dreams and genius to match but is hampered by politics and domestic issues. Reiko explains all of this in song form! You have hard-working and practical Shouki who may be doing some shady business but the economy is bad and the system is against her. Narihira and Takako are pining for each other, but are unable to reconcile their duty to family and their own pride. Theirs is a bittersweet ending. Mototsune has a lot of internal conflict to sort through but being a corrupt politician is hard work. The list goes on. I wasn’t moved to tears but was invested in the characters.
The musical is definitely plot driven. I had more of an impression of that and the character development than I did of the musical numbers, which informed the story rather than serve as earworms. The diegetic dance sequence in the imperial court was the only memorable number. This was a grand dance number where Takako was meant to perform and seduce the emperor. Then it transitions to the investigating trio being forced to duet together while they try to protect the emperor from assassination without ruining the banquet. Lots of flashy bird costumes in this scene. The court ladies are doing some sort of crane or heron dance with not-Takako at the center in a silver crane costume equipped with anachronistically showgirl style headdress. Then Michizane and Shouki perform what appears to be a mandarin duck dance (based on the costume) but are interrupted due to Murphy’s law and lots of plots so Narihira has no choice but to take Shouki’s place. Read into that what you will. While the emperor has his attention on the stage within the stage, the audience is focused on the surrounding intrigue.
Overall, I quite liked it. Now I will go read the manga and see how it compares.
The Carnival of the Sea Gods
After such an amazing show, I was underwhelmed by the revue. Deep Sea? More like “Glitter Cabaret.” The theme was very subtle, which can be creative genius or WTF. It was leaning towards the latter for me. There were some ideas I liked such as the jellyfish tailcoats and personified pearls representing inspiration, courage, and hope. The Mariana Trench episode was an interesting direction… Not all the ideas hit. There were some snappy tunes but nothing memorable. Lots of spicy Latin flavor such as tango, frills, spurned lovers, etc as advertised. This revue was very shiny. Blindingly so at times. That is my biggest impression of it.
The revue was a hit-or-miss, but that is just my opinion. My neighbors were significantly more impressed. Amazingly enough, I was surrounded by sweaty dudes. One grandpa was camped out with all his binoculars including a piece of equipment fit for birdwatching. He was regularly switching between binoculars during both show and revue. Another gentleman was clearly looking for a specific seito, perking up at specific times. All the gentlemen fans noticeably leaned forward during the rockettes number. No judgment there, Takarazuka entertains all!
#takarazuka#theatre#theater#takarazuka revue#ohten no mon#outen no mon#musical#tsukigumi#moon troupe#houzuki an#tsukishiro kanato#reiko#chinatsu#umino mitsuki#umi#eri#宝塚歌劇団#宝塚#月組#応天の門#deep sea#shounen manga#manga#月城かなと#鳳月杏#海乃美月#my thoughts#my meta#my ramblings#my rambles
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My ESC ‘20 ranking
Good morning folks, on this rather melancholy “Eurovision day.” Whilst this year may be cancelled and its songs pretty callously binned by the EBU, 2020 was a diverse year that deserves taking a close look at too, so here goes my customary full ranking of the year. I express some candid opinions, but they are just my take on things, no shade intended if you disagree.
41. Estonia - What love is
It’s always most difficult to pick a last place because, no matter how sleek Eurovision gets, there are still a few abject horrors that sneak into the contest. With a score that would have been dated 30 years back, and lyrics that manage the peculiar double act of being both pompous and anodyne, this is horrid enough before Uku’s dubious xenophobic comments and his prevailing over a field of much more compelling songs get taken into account.
40. Macedonia - You
The Macedonians, having achieved their best result ever last year (I’m happy for them, but also, Kaliopi deserved that), decided that they soared too close to the sun with Proud and decided to crash land this year to build their energy to soar again. That’s the only reasonable explanation I have for this effort which deeply repels me, doubling down on Luca Hänni’s “cocky guy in a sleazy bar” æsthetics and adds to it even worse lyrics, castrato singing and the unintended levity of the interpreter being far more interested in the bartender. Also one of a maddening number of duplicate titles that were nowhere near as good as the originals.
39. Cyprus - Running
What is this void in the space of a song? I’ve listened to it dozens of times to do ratings over the past months. I’m still left with an icy emptiness because it does nothing to me, says nothing to me. The only thing that I can say in its favour is that it’s not a replay of replay aka Fuego 3. That’s it. It’s like it’s designed to leave little impression and hope to cruise by on diaspora and friendly votes alone.
38. Austria - Alive
Austria have been on an interesting Eurovision journey, going from winning with Conchita to serving up this chirpy homophobe doing his best impression of Timberlake. A monumental step back from the singular tenderness of Pænda.
37. France - Mon alliée (The best in me)
La déception de l’année sans doute. France, one of Europe’s cultural powerhouses, really said “forget Destination Eurovision, which showcased our music scene’s diversity and was one of the fandom’s favourite newer NFs. Let’s abolish it all and bring in the guys who made Bigger than us, because we really want a piece of that Big 5 bottom place action! Let’s throw away our cultural caché and get something about as French as flatpack furniture!”
This is like going to a pricey restaurant in Paris, expecting haute cuisine and instead getting some microwave-reheated IKEA köttbullar. And can we talk about how Amir of J’ai cherché fame is partly to “thank” for this in one of the biggest heel turns of the year? It’s like he wanted to ensure that France TV beg him to return by safeguarding his excellent score from being equalled. I also have to say, Tom Leeb seems like a nice guy with a good voice. He did his best to salvage this with the acoustic version, which lifts it up a few places. But not so many given that that Westlife reject b-side ending with a key change remains.
36. Germany - Violent thing
Speaking of major cultural players dumping their national finals for no good reason, guten Tag, Deutschland! Germany once had one of the best and certainly most diverse NFs going. Instead of dumping Barbara Schönenberger as hostess - every year she’s presented, Germany have had calamity, and the one year they did well, 2018, she wasn’t host - they decided to pin all their hopes on a bewildered looking gossoon from Slovenia with yet another Timberclone song and some rather dubious live vox. As his countrywoman Lea Sirk said, it’s a hvala ne from me.
35. Spain - Universo
Yes, it’s another year of the Big 5 not living up to its automatic qualification rights (except you, Italy, thank you for being the exception to the rule.) So here we’ve got a bland effort from Spain to avoid being bottom 5, except that ain’t how ESC works - you need something to get people to waste their money on voting for your song. And for me, this surely is not it. This was a bit higher on my ranking before because there are more objectively objectionable songs out there. But the nonsensical, repetitive lyrics, the painful attempt at a high note on perdónameeee, and getting stuck on a bus where I had to put up said screeching being played 5+ times means #35 is about right for where it deserves.
34. Armenia - Chains on you
Armenia, usually a reliable mainstay in the top half of my listings at least, instead served up one of the most bewilderingly impalatable NFs of the season where every song sounded imported from the ESC anni horribili of the 00s. This has grown on me a little bit - I like tin drums and I like her weird accent - but the lyrics are amongst the year’s most pitiful (“ya wanna take me to a party, because you’re naughty”) and it just feels cheep to me.
33. Bulgaria - Tears getting sober
I don’t see the appeal in this bewildering merger of dirge and Disney, and this is coming from someone who likes melancholic music more times than not. I find this one straight up unpleasant to listen to. The lyrics are of someone passive-aggressively glorying in the pain they wallow in to return the hurt, in “look how much you’re making me hurt myself” style. The syrupy score replete with key change is a bizarre, ghoulish accompaniment. Only this high because I recognise some artistic merit in its production.
32. Azerbaijan - Cleopatra
Are Azerbaijan now at the stage where they’ve decided to pastiche themselves? The country with the worst LGBT rights of all contesting ESC having the monumental neck to send a song about “gay or straight or in between”? The country who have almost religiously avoided sending anything with any actual Azeri national character or heritage sending a song written by a Canadian, an American and a Frisian about a Greek-Egyptian ruler with a Japanese mantra and Latin affectations, so sending us around the world to pretty much everywhere except Azerbaijan? What can I say in favour of it? It’s a little bit catchy. So are venereal diseases.
31. Poland - Empires
How can a country who started their ESC journey with aplomb - and experimental gems like Sama and Chcę znać swój grzech - and who continue to serve in the junior contest, how can they be so almost studiedly bland in ESC these days? This is our 564th knockoff Bond tune, sung a little awkwardly and with lyrics written by a Year 8 who’s been given a creätive writing assignment where they have to use metaphors. “We’re gasoline and a match!” Wow. If it passed to the final, it would only because of loyal Poles abroad.
30. Greece - Superg!rl
We leave the territory of complete dirges and enter that of songs I can sort of live with. This one’s a huge step back for the Hellenes though after the gorgeous Better love. Its odd chorus is memorable, but not for the best reasons. Its saving grace is its unintentionally humorous promotional video. A better use of those superpowers would have been to come up with a better song.
29. Moldova - Prison
Remember the fun Moldova that used to bring songs like Hora din Moldova and Lautar, with some actual national flavour and flair? That’s long gone. Even the Moldova that brought terrible songs but fun stagings, like that of My lucky day, seems far lost into the fogs of time too. Another wholly unremarkable and mediocre production of the Scream Team that would be lucky to scrape into the finals.
28. Belgium - Release me
Has Belgium learnt absolutely nothing in the years Blanche where the wheels of their ESC renaissance have fallen decidedly off? My feeling is no. I have to salute them to some degree for creating nice, very musical compositions, but just like in the past two years, they have forgotten to add a few key elements: some sense of progression or dynamism. This plods along repetitively on one track, one note, and that note is nice enough as background music, but my hunch is that track would have led them to another unsurprising “surprise” NQ.
27. Serbia - Hasta la vista
It’s an earworm, but some earworms leave you wanting to get an aural exorcism. Somehow, some sort of collective insanity overcame Serbia and they decided to dump on their beautiful oeuvre of songs, go completely against their trend for qualitative, classical, brooding, orchestral music by instead picking a bunch of time travellers who had been a third rate girl band in Transnistria. How enough Serbians thought they’d win over Europe by going for a sound that was dated even when they made their début bemuses me.
26. UK - My last breath
The UK are really soaring high in my rankings as... the last amongst the 26 songs that would make up my notional perfect final. Baby steps. I still think it’s pretty lame how the BBC tanked their own national final for this. It’s not so adventurous. It has so little to say that it’s half a minute shorter than the ESC standard and yet still consists of repetition. It has one of the most annoying chorus quirks with that beat in “my last... breath.” How did this get up this high again?
25. Albania - Fall from the sky
It absolutely pains my heart to put Albania out of the top 20 after two thunderous years in which they captured my gold and bronze respectively. What makes it worse is that they could have had a perfect hat-trick, because the original, Albanian language version “Shaj” was my #1 song from December up until mid-March when they released this thin gruel of a revamp with all the things that gave Shaj some authenticity and flavour gone, and with beautiful, heart-rending lyrics replaced with cliché. Only this high because there are plenty of worse songs.
24. Czechia - Kemama
I have a soft spot for poor Benny, the interpreter of this song. Ok, so it beat a field containing some vastly superior songs, but it’s nice to have a Czech song without weird lyrics about women for the first time in a while, and the way the kid was put through the ringer for his more Afrobeat-influenced revamp made me sad. For me, it gained a bit of flavour with that change. The lyrics are still poor but I like the colourful musical backdrop.
23. Israël - Feker libi 🇮🇱
Sometimes, you don’t think much of a song but the artist elevates it enormously. Such is the case with Feker libi, a bizarre pot pourri of styles with a very discordant tropical verse (which I like), mid-90s dance track chorus (which I don’t), middle eastern post-chorus and African-sounding outro (jury’s out on both.) Yet Eden Alene is so full of natural charm and exudes “I want to be your friend” that I can’t help but rewatch just because of how joyous she makes it.
22. San Marino - Freaky 🇸🇲
Speaking of atypical countries flying high in my ranking, all was set for San Marrano to take non-pride of place at the bottom of my ranks yet again, but somehow, I ended up quite enjoying their track this year. Yes, San Marino is still a weird zone where, when you descend to Rimini in Italy, you enter the new millennium, but returning up the tiny nation’s steep slopes, you head back to a time in the 70s when disko was king. This disco is fun though. In part thanks to Senhit, a sympathetic performer who deserved more in 2011, in part the lyrics - who doesn’t want to rip up the rules, write new ones and then destroy them too?
22. Switzerland - Répondez-moi
It’s nice to have the Swiss singing in a national language for the first time in ages. It’s also nice that they didn’t fall back on their success with Hänni by going with a similar so-called bOp. I also really love some of the artist’s other tracks, like Babi. And I liked this a fair bit more upon first listen, but the combination of less than stellar lyrics - just a succession of somewhat emoïsh rhetorical questions; just because they’re in French, doesn’t make them deep - and a wailing falsetto have made my will to relisten to this often take a serious hit for me. A shame, as musically, it has some undoubted quality.
20. Denmark - Yes 🇩🇰
Denmark seems to be doubling down on 2019 to develop its new niche - catchy, sweet but ultimately a little overly gooey love songs. There’s always something a little bit imperfect about them though: last year it was Leonora’s serial killer-esque nervous gaze; this year, it’s the “I’m not going to even try to make pretend we’re an item” lack of energy from Tan. It’s a little bit too reheated “Little talks” but it’s decent enough.
19. Russia - Uno 🇷🇺
When this first was released, days after the deadline for submitting songs, I was pretty peeved at what seemed like a pisstake against the contest, a bizarre rehash of Aqua for the meme age. And yet.. maybe it’s the quarantine slowly driving me insane, maybe it’s the sheer infectiousness of this that just makes you want to dance, maybe it’s the epic energy of the backing singer (Rosa from Brooklyn 99’s twin) who looks like she wants to kill everyone else... but I’ve actually grown to like this enough to put it top 20. I’m not always entirely predictable!
18. Norway - Attention 🇳🇴
There’s a lot of things that tick my yes boxes with this song, like the beautiful orchestral music laid out by the famed Mørland or the simple but sincere performance. There are also things that take a Sharpie and scrawl in my no boxes too, like the somewhat whiny tone of the vocals or the adolescent and lyrics which, with their “oy’d change anyffink abaat moyself fur a boi” tone, don’t flatter the singer, and from Mørland, I expect better. There’s more good than bad here though, and it has been an earworm since the day it was selected.
17. Belarus - Da widna 🇧🇾
I don’t know what was in the water this year, but we got a bunch of great Slavic language songs, including from countries that don’t typically send songs except in English. I like the chilled out vibe and the curious lyrics. Their live version for Eurovision Home Concerts with just an acoustic guitar sounded a whole lot better, I must say.
16. Australia - Don’t break me 🇦🇺
I’m finally overcoming the horror of the bizarre clown mise-en-scène complete with ropey lyrics at Australia decides and judging this on its potential. Hands down Australia’s best entry at the contest for me. Musically, it’s strong, and lyrically, it’s compelling and very saudadic. I’m sad we won’t see what a glow-up their final staging could have provided. I really hope it wouldn’t have involved clowns, which seriously tanked the song in my ranking for months, no joke.
15. Portugal - Medo de sentir 🇵🇹
A Portuguese entry outside of my top ten? Given their form with me since 2015, this might seem like a harbinger of the apocalypse. I still like it quite a bit, but there are stronger songs this time. It’s heartfelt, the lyrics are powerful (about being afraid to feel again after being hurt) and the melody is pretty. The live was a bit cagey especially because of the not particularly well synchronised voices of Elisa and the pianist, who composed the song. Still a very nice song and it is great to see Portugal staying faithful to its language, but I can’t help but feel sad that songs more in line with its riskier, more trailblazing previous few years. Passe-partout or Gerbera amarela do sul would have been in my top 3 like last year.
14. Latvia - Still breathing 🇱🇻
If you told me in January that not only would this song not be disliked, it’d also end up in my top 15 of the year, I’m sure incredulous laughter would have been the most polite response you’d have probably gotten. And yet - the song I couldn’t stand in Supernova has won me over and I do want to see Samanta Tina return for 2021 since she evidently cares so deeply about ESC so is pretty much one of us. I’ve come to love the weirdness of the track - real meat and gravy given the number of anodyne tracks - the iconic pre-corona hygienic leitmotif of its staging. ST’s joie de vivre and command of the stage. It’d be a guilty pleasure except I don’t feel guilty for it.
13. Georgia - Take me as I am 🇬🇪
Georgia once again are dancing to the beats of their very anarchic drummer and I love them for that. This thinly veiled swipe at both the Big 5 coasting in mediocrity and at narrow-minded fans’ reäctions to Georgia’s extremely varied oeuvre just hits the spot for me. I love the musicality of it, the dark electro-rock vibes, Tornike’s voice and how it blends perfectly with his captivating backing singers. I always vote with my feet for something different in an era where people are aiming to qualify with safe and bland rather than taking risks.
12. Romania - Alcohol you 🇷🇴
Roxen provided one of the most iconic moments of the season by deliberately tanking the ordained bop amongst her national final songs. Her eventual song is one of the most emotional of the year, and also one of the most surprisingly literary: there are tonnes of nuances, allusions, wordplays and so forth in this text, most of which are a lot more graceful than the titular terrible pun. I humbly put it to folk who thinks that this romanticises alcohol that they are missing the point - it’s instead being used as a metaphor for toxic relations which, by the end of the song, Roxen has broken away from. I love her voice, I love the music. It fell briefly out of my affections because of the weird mini-revamp, but it’s risen again.
11. Ukraine - Solowej 🇺🇦
It’s fabulous to see Ukraine singing a song entirely in their language and I hope this trend continues across the Slavic nations like was notable this year. The timeless folksy elements mixing with modern beats makes a curious and entrancing blend, delivered with aplomb. It takes where Poland 2019 went wrong and puts it right. I could have done without the unnecessary revamp, but it’s still one of the year’s freshest cuts. Well done, Widbir!
10. Slovenia - Voda 🇸🇮
In an age where the likes of Albania is stripping away all the beautiful orchestral flourishes of its entry to make a pared and muted revamp, Slovenia went full throttle in the opposite - and in my mind, right - direction and made one of the very few good revamps of the season. Performing with the Budapest philharmonic orchestra, Ana Soklič, who, for my money, has one of the best female voices of the year, unleashed the cinematic, sweeping beauty of Voda. I think this would have surprised many people by doing quite well. On musical and vocal merit alone, and adding to that the subdued saudade of its lyrics, it deserved a lot more love.
09 Malta - All of my love 🇲🇹
In 2018, I would have sooner said that it was more probable for me to have become Grand-Duke of Luxembourg than it was for me to have loved a Maltese song, let alone two i n a r o w. I didn’t expect much of this at all, because I expected we’d get a wailing vocal exhibition, as Ian used to say, focused on exhibiting Destiny’s range rather than giving her a genuinely good song. But this is a genuinely good song. Once again, I love for the gospel edge it has, and Destiny’s vocals soar to impressive heights, without feeling unnatural or ostentatious. I should have known to expect good things with the regal Cesár Sampson on board.
08 Lithuania - On fire 🇱🇹
Prior to this year, few people had any hopes for Lithuania’s long-winded national final selection process. The idea of it being must-watch viewing when there were many other more compelling choices on offer was hilarious. In 2020, that changed. They changed the name to the hilarious but hopeful “Let’s try again”, had a number of fantastic songs, and became one of the most diverse and qualitative highlights of the NF season. The eventual winners, The Roop, deserved the accolade with this cool, super contemporary track with a brilliant dance routine and a genuinely important message about not giving up on yourself.
07. Sweden - Move 🇸🇪
At MF this year, the Swedes put a match to its protracted ‘cocky fuckboi with polished, soulless overproduced pop song’ era, hopefully for good, with an all-female top 4. I will always lament Dotter missing out narrowly, but I’ve still been brought plenty of joy by the radiant Mamas with their fabulous hand-choreography and genuine warmth, and this song of resilience through the tough times. I love gospel-tinged music and this really makes me smile.
06 Ireland - The story of my life 🇮🇪
Before this was announced, I heard Ireland’s track being compared to the oeuvre of pretty much every major 00s female pop star. I was quizzical, but upon hearing it, could see why. In a year with a lot of beige, this is just one big orange and yellow blast of colourful late 90s/early 00s nostalgia, hope, resilience. The kind of anthem I never knew I needed but came right on time. I can’t listen to its wry, conversational lyrics without wanting to dance along. And Lesley Roy herself is an icon. My favourite effort from Ireland since Playing by numbers, and I really hope she returns in 2021.
05 Finland - Looking back 🇫🇮
I’ll never forget a mural in the part of València where I used to live that said “we’re not different for the sake of being different”, and that could sum up my attitudes to Eurovision. Whilst it seemed almost everyone was behind Cicciolina in Finland, I had scant hope for my favourite, and was blown away when it actually did win. This melancholy meditation on the passing of time and people - “we never know what we have until it’s over and we’re looking back” - became emblematic of this year for me and added to what was already a really poignant and moving track. I love the musical style too and the smoothness of Aksel’s voice and how it contrasts with his evident awkward shyness. It has moved me so much that it had to end up top 5.
04 Croatia - Divlji vjetre 🇭🇷
I always will represent and bring love for the Balkans and their adhesion to their musical traditions. This was one of the most pleasant surprises of the NF season for me - I was expecting very little from Croatia, and instead, it greeted me with this beauty. You have the understated classic grace of the music, the exquisite melancholy and poeticism of the lyrics, and one of the finest male vocals of the season. My favourite Croatian track in almost 15 years.
03 Italy - Fai rumore 🇮🇹
Sanremo isn’t just a national final, it’s a cultural experience that digs into your heart over the course of a whole week. This was one of the most memorable I have followed yet - and what a truly deserving winner. It’s just another example of the seemingly endless supply of heartfelt tunes by classy, sincere performers that Italy has on tap, with one of the best lyrics of the contest and the extra level of poignancy from how the lyrical theme of isolation would come to represent us all.
02 Iceland - Think about things 🇮🇸
One of my nerviest and happiest moments of the entire NF season was seeing Daði Freyr and friends win Söngvakeppnin in Iceland. As much as I loved Svala’s Paper, I had also adored his song three years prior - the delightfully awkward and similarly irrepressably earwormy Is this love. And now he was back with a groovy, fun, heartwarming tune about fatherhood that has only continued to grow in my estimations. The bridge still full on gives me goosebumps. It’s the kind of song that just makes me marvel at being human and being on this earth.
01 Netherlands - Grow 🇳🇱
My top few songs are all very closely entwined so much so that they could be considered joint winners, but I’ve been pretty unequivocal ever since Shaj got torpedoed by its revampire: silver turned to gold and my previous 2nd place, Grow, became my new favourite. I love the heartfelt, sparsely poëtic, bravely confessional lyrics. I love the way that it goes from something minimalist and intimate with just organ and voice and slowly builds upon the hints of gospel to something truly anthemic. Such a meticulous arrangement where there’s not a single sound out of place. This song is pure art and, like Soldi, Mall, APD and all those preceding songs which had the magic of being my personal favourite, it moves me upon every listen.
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DEATH CITY DAYS CHAPTER 125
[[cont from part 124]]
Crow: *perched on Misaki's shoulder*
misaki: ....*small smile* would you like a name?
Crow: "CAW!"
misaki: *strokes under the crow's neck* how about 'Alistair'?
Alistair: *closes eyes* =w=
misaki: ^^ *starts preparing supper*
Alistair: *flies to a bureau...there's a photo on it*
-it shows a young girl with a man and a woman. they look to be happy-
-the bureau has various knick-knacks, such as an astrolabe, a butterfly display, a mortar and pestle, and various books on anatomy, ornthology, botany, astrology, the occult and more-
Alistair: "..." *head tilt*
-it still looks overcast outside...lightning strikes in the distance*
misaki: !!......(i hope mr pumpkin is keeping dry.....)
-meanwhile-
creature: .......
Pumpkin: *wrings out his coat, hanging it up* -_-# "..." *stares at the Creature* "Don't you get drenched either--" *sneezes--a brief stream of fire escaping his nostrils* =~=#
-it's quiet, save for the sound of rain outside-
Pumpkin: "..." *curls up against a wall* "...I wonder if she avoided the rain walking back."
{sister: *turns around* oh. it's you again. *smiles*}
{Pumpkin: ._. "H-Hi?" *steps in* "Am I bothering you?"}
{sister: not at all. ^^ i see that you've gotten a better handle on speaking now. hehe. ^^}
{Pumpkin: *clutching a book* "Th-This helped. I am returning it..." *holds it out*}
{sister: oh! why thank you. *takes it* ..... *looks around* well, the abbot isnt here right now, perhaps i could help you with this?}
{Pumpkin: ._. "Y-You would?" *looks around...sees chairs*}
{sister: of course.}
{Pumpkin: "...Is that a 'chah-air'?"}
-THUNDER STRIKE-
Pumpkin: "?!!!" *swings around, shrinking back against a wall*
-elsewhere-
Akitaru: *holding an ice pack to his head, lying down in the back of the Matchbox* =~=;
Takehisa: *driving* "..."
Arthur: "..."
shinra:....*ahem* s-so commander...
Akitaru: "Don't try to out-drink Honda..." *sits up* "How you holding up?"
shinra: im fine, sir. but i was asking. *ahem* well, iris suggested that we have a party? n-not to celebrate commander arg's death! it's awful that happened! it's just- well things have been tense for all of us and, well... maybe this could help to build morale?
Akitaru: "...Iris is really smart."
shinra: yeah, she is. *smiles*
Akitaru: "Just let me sleep this off, then we'll get pretty balloons..."
shinra: thanks dad.
Akitaru: *yawns* "You're welcome, son..."
-elsewhere-
hinata: konro's back!
Konro: "Hello, Hinata. You keep the home safe while I was out?"
hinata: yep! we sure did!
hikage: ooooh beni's gonna get soooo scolded for not going!
hinata: 500 yen says he's gonna get spanked!
Konro: "Well, can't settle that unless I know where he is--where'd he go?"
hinata + hikage: he's over by the pond!
Konro: "Then I'm on my way..." *walks to the pond*
Benimaru: *feeding koi*
Konro: "..."
Benimaru: "..."
Konro: "So..."
Benimaru: *grunts*
Konro: "..." *kicks Benimaru into the pond*
hinata + hikage: OOOOOOOHHH!!!
Benimaru: "?!!" *COUGH COUGH* "What the hell?!"
Konro: "You didn't even show up. A man is dead--"
Benimaru: "A man that couldn't even be here for us."
Konro: "...Is that what you think?"
kirei: what happened? i heard a splash- ah!
Benimaru: "..." *stands up, his feet squishing in the mud as he walks* "...He wasn't here when you needed him." *walks by Kirei*
kirei: ah-....konro?
Konro: *scratches the back of his neck* "Sorry...The master was being an ass again."
kirei: ....should i go talk to him?
Konro: "I think that'd help."
-elsewhere-
maki: we're back!
Viktor: *stuck to the wall by scalpels*
argit: *drinking a soda can* oh great.
Akitaru: "You been celebrating?"
argit: eh.
Takehisa: "I suggest we start charging him rent."
nozomi: tamaki! what happened?!
tamaki:....just fell....that's all....
Komori: *patching her up*
Arthur: *stares* "..."
argit: oh yeah, that happened. it was pretty funny.
shinra: NOT COOL, MAN!
argit: ok! ok! cripes, im sorry for laughing! there? ya happy now?
Arthur: "...In this castle...you will not insult or mock anyone in it...or I will slice your tail off and feed it to you."
argit: yeesh! what's your deal?!
shinra: you just shut the fuck up you shitty sonic the hedgehog knockoff!
Arthur: "Yeah, what the demon said, vile rodent!"
argit: D8<
Akitaru: "!!! Boys!"
shinra: *shuts up*
Arthur: >_>;
argit: heh.
Akitaru: "..." *sighs* "We all need some rest--go to your quarters." *pats Argit on the shoulder--and grips him* "Let's talk. In private."
argit: QwQ; *gulp*
-elsewhere-
yuuji: *looks at a box full of posters* are these for me?
Aizawa: "Yeah--figured you need something for the walls."
yuuji: t-thanks....oh sweet, grateful dead!
Aizawa: "??? Something you've listened to?"
yuuji: yeah, i like listening to classic rock from time to time.
Aizawa: "Hmm...Yamada may have some to borrow. Just don't mention 'Stairway' in front of him."
yuuji: i'll...keep that in mind, sir....are....um...are you sure you dont mind?
Aizawa: "I wouldn't be giving them to you if there was a problem--I wanted you to have them."
yuuji: n-not that, i mean...you know...me living here?
Aizawa: "...Ah. ...Not going to lie, a lot of things have ruined my status as the 'longer Pro Hero who looks like a homeless man' vibe. But that kind of disappeared when Midnight tricked me into teaching here."
yuuji: i see.....still, cant help feeling out of place, me being an ex-villain and all...
Aizawa: "...Even heroes come out of unexpected places."
yuuji: ..t-thanks...i suppose.
Aizawa: "No problem...After all--" *unrolls one poster--and tenses up*
{Oboro: "--then this checkerboard room shows up with this little dude dancing around--" *handing Aizawa a VHS tape: 'Twin Peaks'*}
{Aizawa: "Hmm. Not sure this is my thing."}
{Oboro: "Dude--give it a shot already!"}
Yuuji: sir?
Aizawa: *looks at the poster, showing a light signal and mountains* "...Could you knock that 'sir' stuff off--'Shota's' fine."
yuuji: um o-ok s-... mr aizawa.
Aizawa: "..." *head pat* "Sure."
-elsewhere-
greg: *sniffs* it smells delicious, bugbear! ^^
Saria: "You really think so? I'm still trying to perfect this recipe..."
saria's dad: well, you worked so hard on it, so of course it will be great!
Saria: "..." *sighs* "I'm not sure about that...What if it's not hard enough..."
greg: well, if you put your all into something with love, it will turn out well, and even if it doesnt, it's still good because you at least tried.
Saria's Dad: *nom* =w= "So tasty..."
Saria: "..." *sighs* ("That's what they always say.") "May I be excused? I want to do more reading?"
greg: you go do that, we'll save some for later if you get hungry, ok?
Saria: "..." *nods, gathers her books, leaves*
Saria's Dad: "...Did we upset her?"
greg: i hope not...
Saria's Dad: "...Let's put away the leftovers and start on the dishes..." *picks up a plate, one crumb rolling off onto the table*
greg: hmm...
Saria's Dad: *scraps crumbs off the plate into the trash...*
*the crumbs settle at the bottom of the can before the lid closes...then start to shift*
*in saria’s room*
Saria: "..." *checks her phone*
lei-lei: [hey sari! u ok?]
Saria: [worried about tomorrow]
lei-lei: [nervous?]
Saria: [incredibly -~- ]
lei-lei: [understandable.]
Saria: [can we meet up before class? i want to have enough time to put the ingredients away]
lei-lei: [sure! ^w^]
Saria: [thnx. i'll finish reading recipes then head to bed]
lei-lei: [k! C U tomorrow~ \(^o^) ]
Saria: [night] "..." *sighs, opens the 'recipe book' again--* "...What the heck is a 'Black Mercy'?"
-the next day-
Monica: "Mornin', losers."
yolanda: ...
Zarya: "Shh...She's focusing."
Monica: -_-; "Hmph. She's got this in the bag."
lei-lei: *has her apron on*
Saria: *puts some prepared dishes into the fridge* "..." *looks down*
lei-lei: hey, we got this! ^^
Saria: "I hope so--I wasn't feeling confident. But if these recipes work out, maybe I'll be surprised."
lei-lei: that's the spirit!
Saria: *closes the fridge door, smiles lightly*
-the food shifts a bit...then blinks*
Duncan: *looks inside the kitchen* "??? You're doing it wrong--you really should separate the yolks--*
-meanwhile-
yukiko: thanks fer invitin' me as a judge, azusa-san! ^^
Yumi: "We're happy to have you. Have you met Lunch Rush before?"
yukiko: i've heard of 'em.
Lunch Rush: *waves*
Rin: *drooling over the proposed menu* "I am so blessed..."
yukiko: easy there, kiddo. *hair ruffle*
Rin: =_=;
Yumi: "That leaves...Wait, where's Tsubaki?"
-meanwhile-
tsubaki: ._.;
Black Star: "I can't believe they moved the hallways around again! ...Wait, I know a short-cut..." *punches a hole through a hallway wall*
-back at the contest-
Yumi: -_-# "We're going to need a replacement judge--and where am I to find one at this late hour--"
Mephisto: "Hello~"
Rin: *chokes*
lord death: oh! i was half expecting stocking.
Mephisto: "Unfortunately, she's tutoring students--it came up at the last minute."
lord death: i see.
Mephisto: "So, how about Arg's death?"
Rin: ("WHERE IS HIS FREAKING TACT?!")
yukiko: i just want it on record the 7th had nothing to fucking do with that, alright?
Yumi: "No one is accusing anyone, and the internal investigation has concluded that it was a suicide." ("Not that any of us believe that for one second...")
yukiko: tch- i oughta give that department a piece of my mind...
Mephisto: "By the by, Death, I think you have problems with your basement--lot of rats getting into the works down there, if you know what I mean..." *HINT HINT WINK*
Rin: "..." ("He wants an exterminator? What the heck is he talking about?")
lord death: *sigh* we'll see what can be done, but they're elusive little bastards...
Mephisto: "I think you'll need to consider out-sourcing. Rin, for example."
Rin: "?!!! What?!"
*students start entering, dressed like chefs*
Kanin: "Thanks for your help with the vegetarian option--I wanted to offer something that maybe others wouldn't..."
kenji: of course! ^^
Kyoka: *STARING AT THE DISHES* "..." *stomach growl*
Axel: "Mountain Dew chicken and rice FTW!"
Duncan: *grimaces* "You have no class..." *sets down a Jell-O mold*
kyouko: they better not waste anything...
Ragnarok: "Dibs on leftovers!"
Saria: *shakes a bit, but manages to set the dish down carefully...it looks like a very well put-together and delicious quiche*
izumi: it looks delicious!
Saria: "Th-Thanks...I hope I did it right..."
Monica: *pushing people out of the way*
-and so-
Rin: *samples the vegetarian option* "Hmm! This is quite good!" *holds up a sign: 8 out of 10*
yukiko: *nom nom* eh, not terrible. *7/10*
Mephisto: =_=; "Pedestrian. Had better." *holds up a sign: 1 out of 10*
Kanin: ^^; "Worth a shot..."
izumi: wow...
Monica: "Go up and present, girl."
Saria: *watching Yolanda* "..." *gulp*
Lunch Rush: *signing* <What have we here?>
yolanda: well, i decided to make a gumbo that my grandma used to make when we would visit.
Rin: "Oh, cool. I had to make dishes at the church since everyone else's cooking sucked."
-meanwhile-
Fujimoto: "...FFFFFFFFFFFF--"
-back at the contest-
Lunch Rush: <It's good to see dishes with a history!>
Mephisto: =_= "Hmph."
yukiko: *nom* this is really good! i can really taste the spices in it! *9/10*
Rin: *nods* "I think it's super!" *10/10*
Mephisto: "Eh." *2/10*
nagisa: hmm, tough competition.
Crona: "Everyone looks like they put in a lot of work..."
mami: indeed.....*notices someone in the crowd* hm?
Poe: *holding what looks like a stick* "..." *points the stick in different directions*
mami: (what are they doing?)
Mephisto: =~= "How many more entries are there..."
Yumi: -_-# "Just a few more--could you fake interest?"
Mephisto: "I've eaten every dish around the world--five times. Little impresses me..."
Saria: *gulps* *walks up* "H-H-H-Here?"
Poe: "Nothing here..." *points towards the judges' stage*
Karl: *growl wimper*
yukiko: *sniff* smells good enough.
Saria: .~.;
Rin: "That's a unique spice--tastes kinda good!"
Lunch Rush: <Very unique!> *thumbs up*
Mephisto: "..." *tugs on the spoon--and it sticks* "??? ..." *sniff sniff* *eyes widen* "?!!!!!"
Poe: *pointing at Saria's dish* D8 "OH NO!"
izumi: ?!
Saria: Q_Q "Is it really that bad?!"
Quiche: *GURGLES...THEN BLINKS* "..." *SCREAMS*
rowena: !!!! oh no, we're too late....
mami: !!! *soul gem out*
yukiko: shit! *transforms*
Mephisto: "...Okay, I admit, I did not see this comin--"
Quiche Monster: *SWALLOWS MEPHISTO* "..." *BURP*
Yumi: D8
Rin: "...BWHA HA HA HA--"
Quiche Monster: *whips Rin into the wall*
Saria: *stunned*
-people are running away while others join the fight-
kyouko: what the hell is going on?!
Hyde: *snapping pics* "Don't know. But the effects have really gone up this year..."
rowena: sterling rodgers.
Poe: *nods*
Asher: "...The hell is a Sterling Rodgers? A gem?"
rowena: he was a necromancer that hid his spells in cookbooks.
Axel: "People actually do that?"
Yumi: "..." *glares at Poe*
Poe: "It's not my fault! I was moving books, and it was the Nihilque Omnino Liber a Daemonibus Inita--"
Axel: "...That's really wordy."
Asher: "So it's a Food Necronomicon?"
lei-lei: either way, it's a mouthful!
genny: now isnt the time for that!
Poe: "We need the book! I need to apologize to the girl I bumped into and caused all this mess!" >~<
lukas: saria!
*The space where Saria was standing is vacant*
lukas: !!! dammit! *goes to look for her*
yukiko: *fighting the monster*
Axel: "!!! Bro! This is totally going on the bucket list--fighting giant food monsters!"
zeke: hell yeah!
Rin: *stumbles off the wall* "Okay, you quiche bastard! I'm gonna--"
*the Quiche has infected other food, as a spork stabs Rin in the nose*
Rin: "... ... ...AAAAAAAAAAAH--"
Rin: *charges blue flames along his sword* "Now you're gonna get--"
*NOM*
*Rin is now swallowed whole*
kyouko: *slashing at the monsters* RIN! *ATTACKS*
Asher: "...This turned into vore so gradually that I haven't noticed."
hibiki: how do you know what- on second thought i dont want to know.
Asher: >_>; "...Izumi, just hit me against a monster--"
*a flying spaghetti monster lunges at Izumi*
izumi: *dodges out of the way*
-meanwhile-
Saria: *hiding under stairway, sweater pulled up to cover her face*
lei-lei: sari! there you are! come on, the others need us!
Saria: "...This is all my fault..."
lei-lei: sari...
Saria: *whimpers* "I hated it. I hated everything...I felt like I wasn't good enough..."
lei-lei: .....*hug*
Saria: TT~TT "I didn't want to fail and be left behind..."
{Saria, younger: *looking at a recipe book* "??? What's this one, Daddy?"}
{greg: it's a souffle. ^^}
{Saria: "That's sounds funny--" *looks it over* "It looks fluffy!"}
{greg: why dont we make one, all three of us? ^^}
{Saria: 8D "Can we?!" *reaches for the book--but knocks over a glass of water* D8> }
{greg: oh- *chuckle* it's ok bugbear, it was an accident.}
{Saria: "..." *sniffle* "I didn't mean to..."}
{Saria's Dad: "Every problem has a solution--" *shows a roll of paper towels with little ducklings on them* "So we just got to wipe this off and keep going!" *smiles*}
{Saria: "..." *nods* "O-Okay..."}
{greg: *head pat* right!}
Saria: "..." *pulls down the sweater* "I made this mess..."
lei-lei: then let's fix it! ^^
Saria: "..." *nods--and transforms*
lukas: HEEEEELP!! *stuck in the spagetti monster*
lei-lei: *TOSSES SARIA*
Saria: "Lukas!"
lukas: !!! *reaches out*
*good catch!*
nagisa: *attacking the monsters* mami, im about at my limit!
Crona: *swinging Ragnarok into pudding--*
Ragnarok: *SWALLOWS* "..." *burp* "...Hey, this one got tinier!"
*a soup monster crawls on all fours--*
Janitor: "...Soup on all fours? I thought soup would be bipedal..." *desperately trying to clean faster*
Saria: "..." *LIGHT BULB* "That's it! Crona, you're weapon is a genius!"
nagisa: *attacking, when her soul gem darkens, and something comes out of her mouth*
charlotte: MOGEGEGEGEEEEE!
Axel: "...What."
kyouko: shit!
Quiche Monster: *still infecting other food*
Yumi: "There's no spot to fire at!" *keeps shooting*
charlotte: *starts eating the monsters*
Saria: "Do what the worm thing is doing--eat them!"
yukiko: the fuck? that wraith is _helping_ us?
Quiche Monster: *doubles over, groaning* *looks like it's turning blue?*
kyouko: !!!
Quiche Monster: *gurgles--before it gets cooked--and explodes, revealing Rin and Mephisto inside*
Rin: *wielding his blue flames* -_-# "Ugh--nothing worse than overcooked food..."
Mephisto: *licks his finger* "Mmm! Not bad!" *holds up a sign: 6/10*
Ragnarok: *sliding along the floor, mouth opening and closing as he eats* "WAKA WAKA WAKA WAKA--"
kyouko: *cringes* this better not go to waste!
Axel: "Five second rule!" *eats a monster mini-bagel pizza*
-and so-
charlotte: *dissapates*
Yumi: *intense stare at the NOTers and the Occult Club*
nagisa: mmmn... ugh...*RAINBOWBARF*
Crona: ._.; *offers a napkin*
yukiko: what the hell?!
Lunch Rush: <This reminds me of the Austin chili contest fiasco--they still haven't gotten the scent out of the canal...>
Poe + Saria: "I'M SO SORRY!"
lord death: *sigh and tiny chop to them both* next time double check on these things.
Poe: TT~TT "Yes, sir..."
tsubaki: we're he-... ._. what on earth?
Saria: "Please don't fire Mr Poe! It's my fault..."
Black Star: "I told you my shortcut would-- ...YOU STARTED A FOOD FIGHT?! WITHOUT ME?!"
izumi: it's a long story.
Kaoru: "Lord Pheles! I came as soon as I got your alert!"
Mephisto: "There you are, Tsubaki!"
tsubaki: im right here though?
Kaoru: "??? No, I'm Tsubaki."
naho: .w.
Black Star: "..." *PUNCHES KAORU* "STAY AWAY FROM MY WEAPON!"
mahiru: just how many tsubaki's are there?!
Kuro: =_= "This is the stupidest thing I have been involved in all month."
Hyde: "Oh, what up, bro?" *covered in red stuff*
Kuro Cat: *walks in, leaps on Rin's shoulder*
Kuro: "... ... ...Nope."
izumi: you know, i think i learned something today....
Asher: "Cooking was a mistake?"
Axel: "Wash your hands before dinner?"
izumi:.....actually i got nothing i was hoping i'd think of something. ^^;
Monica: "Yolanda is the only one we should let cook."
Mephisto: "We still need to decide a winner...Which dish was not infected by the demon?"
Yumi: *holds up a Jell-O mold*
Mephisto: "Fine, this thing wins."
Duncan: "Ha!"
lei-lei + hibiki + others: WHAT?!
Duncan: "What do I win?!"
Janitor: *hands Duncan a mop* "Clean up duty."
Duncan: 0n0#
-elsewhere-
Todoroki: *staring at a text message* "..." *sets down his phone* "..." *sets his arms on the table, thinking*
fuyumi: ?? everything ok?
Todoroki: "...I got a text from someone claiming to be Natsuo's classmate."
fuyumi: did something happen?!
Todoroki: >_>; "...They said their sister wants my autograph."
fuyumi: ...^^;
*Fuyumi's phone has a text message*
fuyumi: *looks*
Unknown number: [sis someone stole my fone so ignore weirdo messages]
fuyumi: [it's 'phone']
Unknown number: [thats how u know its me :P ]
-elsewhere-
All Might: *coughing, doubled over in the teachers' lounge*
midnight: .-.
All Might: *waves* "I'm fine..." *wipes his mouth* "Just need to take five..." *sits on the couch, reaching for his bottle of water*
midnight: maybe head home for the day, i'll handle the rest of your workload-
All Might: "I-I can't--I'm trying to finish up a training schedule for--" *collapses*
midnight: !! shit! recovery girl! get in here!
*a small siren is heard--as Recovery Girl drives in on a scooter*
-elsewhere-
Shinsou: <So support students don't go on training trips like the hero students?>
mei: nope! besides, i couldnt just leave my babies unattended all summer!
Shinsou: ._.; <I see...So, no science fairs after I-Island blew up?>
mei: alas, not this time. but it'd be nice to see the blonde angel again~<3 huh? oh right!
Shinsou: (" 'Blonde angel'?") <"Oh right" what?>
mei: i wanted to show you something! follow me!
-elsewhere-
NOS: "Absolutely appalling security parameters--I'm asleep how long, yet what advancements have I seen..." *thumbing through psychological profiles of Pro Heroes*
himiko: *brushing the hair of a doll*
Dabi: *looking stuff up on his phone* "Says the 'bot who's running on DVDs and 8-trax."
twice: BUUURN! *hand up for a high five*
Dabi: "..." *back to his phone*
NOS: -_-# "I have upgraded to SSD and cloud storage. So watch it, before I share your search history with the entire group."
shaula: ok boomer.
NOS: "YOU'RE OLDER THAN ME, YOU TROLLOP."
shaula: =3= ruuude.
Kurogiri: "Please do not squabble." *offers Shaula a drink--and passes motor oil to NOS*
kurome: *sips her orange juice*
NOS: "..." *whispers to Himiko* "How old is the child?"
himiko: 4-5 i think?
NOS: "..." ("Do I even want to know how this happened? Or where the mother is? Is there a mother?")
kurome: *looks up* *offers her juice*
NOS: "Um...No, thank you."
-elsewhere-
Kota: *kicks a rock up the path to the cave* "..."
sphinx: there you are, kouta!
calico: mandalay was worried about you.
Kota: "?! Were you following me?!!"
calico: more of we were following your footprints-
sphinx: *elbows her*
calico: >~0
Kota: "?!!! Jerk!" *stamps on Calico's foot*
calico: OWIE! >~<
Kota: *starts running*
sphinx: *runs after him*
calico: ok I’ll just be here. on the ground. hurtin'.
Kota: *trying to get through the trees--*
*SMACK*
*hits a tree branch*
sphinx: *picks him up and carries him back*
Kota: @_@ *looks like his nose is bleeding a bit*
calico: heeeey...
sphinx: *dragging her by the arm*
calico: thank you.
-elsewhere-
Monica: *lifting Saria up by the collar* "YOU APOLOGIZE FOR THIS MESS!"
Saria: TT~TT "I've said I'm sorry, Yolanda--twelve times now!"
yolanda: come on, monica, let her go already...
Monica: "...Tch." *sets Saria down*
Saria: TT~TT "I just look forward to going home after today..."
lukas: mind if i walked you home?
Saria: "I-I'd appreciate that, thanks..."
lukas: *nods and walks with her*
Saria: "...I really screwed this up."
lukas: saria...
Saria: "I just felt like I wasn't good enough...Sometimes I wonder what we're all doing here--the DWMA is not an easy school..."
lukas: ....*hug*
Saria: "...?!" .\\\\\\.
lukas: im not really the best at giving advice, so...i thought this would help...
Saria: "..." *hug* "Th-Thanks..." *sniffle*
lukas:.... .///. well....
Saria: "I-I...I--"
*CRASH*
lukas: ?!?!?!
Saria's Dad: "I got another one!" *holds up a mini-Waffle Man on a fork*
Waffle-Man: "UNHAND ME, MORTAL--"
greg: EEEEP!! >~<;;
Saria's Dad: *nom*
Saria: D8>
greg: BUGBEAR, HELP!! DX>
Saria: O_O; "I am so grounded...Lukas, will you do the honors?" *transforms*
-elsewhere-
Charon: *rubbing his shoulder* "Take five." *walks away from a bloodied Hood*
hood: *groan*
arrow:....
Charon: *walks into the infirmary, opens the freezer for an ice pack*
Sho: *hiding behind Arrow* "..." *looks around her at the victim*
arrow:......
Sho: *cringes, holding his chest*
arrow:......*looks at sho, worried*
Sho: "I-I'll go back to my room now..." *walks to leave--and bumps into someone*
Hood 2: "?!!!! I'M SO SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!" *bows in front of Sho*
arrow: ??
Sho: "No, it's fine--"
*slice*
Hood 2: *falls down, unconscious*
arrow: !!
Haumea: "Hmph." *steps on Hood 2* "No courtesy from these lemmings. Get this one back to the infirmary."
arrow:......
Sho: "..." *grabs Arrow's hand* "Take me back..."
arrow:....of course, my lord....
Hood 2: *dragged to the infirmary, blood spread down the hall...*
Sho: *shaking*
arrow:......
Inka: "Yo, Sho!" *waves*
Sho: *hides by Arrow's side*
arrow: inka, he's not in the mood for this.
Inka: "Come on--he's rarely makes any appearances anymore! How about we go pester the moles a bit more--" *starts poking Sho in the cheek--*
*CHOMP*
Inka: "... ..." *screams*
arrow: !!
Sho: *lets go of Inka's finger*
Inka: "WHAT THE HELL?!" *clutching her hand* "...At least do the other one, too--"
arrow: *glares at her before walking off with sho in tow*
Sho: "..." *starts crying as they near his door*
arrow:.......
Sho: *falls onto his bed, face-down in his pillow* *muttering* "I wish I was..."
arrow: with your brother....right?
Sho: "Dead."
arrow:.........*hugs him*
Sho: *sobs into her shoulder* "I'm a monster..."
arrow: *rubs his back*
Sho: *hiccups and cries himself until he passes out*
arrow:.....(we cant....stay here anymore.....we'll likely be on the run for the rest of our lives, but he cant...he cant stay in this place.....)
Sho: "Zzz..."
arrow:.....(we'll leave this place....even if it kills me....)
-elsewhere-
Vector: *at a burger stand* <You ever seen this man?> *holds up a photo of Luke*
kid: <wasnt he on TV a while back?>
Vector: <He was in that Robot Fight in IC Prefecture--before that terrorist attack.>
kid: <oh yeah...i think he died or somethin?>
Vector: <...Yeah, sure, that's it.> *groans* <Do you have a veggie burger?>
-elsewhere-
Rin: =_=# "It was such a mess..."
kyouko: TT~TT
Fujimoto: "So let me get this straight--someone who wants to become the next Paladin got eaten alive by a demon foodstuff. ...Excuse me." *turns away--and starts laughing uproariously*
Rin: >_<# "IT'S NOT FUNNY, YOU OLD FART!"
kyouko: so much wasted food....
Fujimoto: "What, didn't anyone eat the leftovers?"
-elsewhere-
nagisa: *laying on the couch, clutching her stomach* =~=
mami:.....
Crona: "Would you like more ginger ale?"
nagisa: *nods*
Crona: *pours some*
Ragnarok: *stomach expanded* =w= "We were eating fine today~"
mami: *thinking about how charlotte appeared as nagisa's soul gem was darkened* hmmm...
sayaka: and you're sure you dont remember anything?
nagisa: *shakes head* not really, i just kinda blacked out...
sayaka: hmmm, i think it's like what happened to me in hoozuki...only i didnt lose consciousness...do you think it has something to do with that marble we got off those white hooded twins back then?
mami: perhaps....
Crona: "..."
Ragnarok: *nods off*
mami: homura mentioned something about a dream she had the other night. a dream that said to go to kamihama city...
sayaka: KAMIHAMA!? the magical girl capitol of, like, the whole world probably?!
Ragnarok: "Ngh, be quiet..." *tosses a couch pillow at Sayaka*
Crona: ._.; "May be worth a look?"
mami: perhaps.....from what i've heard, similar cases have been happening in kamihama in recent years as well...
Crona: "Want to call in assistance?"
mami: a good idea...
-elsewhere-
Pumpkin: *pulled in against the rain*
-footsteps are heard-
Pumpkin: *alert, conjures a shield*
misaki: mr pumpkin, are you in?
Pumpkin: "...You."
misaki: *small smile*
Pumpkin: "...Why are you here? It's miserable out."
misaki: i was....i was worried for you.
Pumpkin: "Hmph. There's no concern for that--" *his arm, wet from the rain, falls off*
misaki: oh!!
Pumpkin: "...It-It grows back...I swear." >_>;
misaki: *picks up the arm and hands it to him*
Pumpkin: "..." *nods, reattaches it...* "..." *sniffle*
misaki:....*offers her umbrella*
Pumpkin: "...Thank you."
misaki: *smiles*.....say.....if you wanted....you could stay at my house for a while.....s-sorry, that was a bit forward, wasnt it?
Pumpkin: "...How the hell am I supposed to do that? I stick out like...do you have 'sore thumbs' in this dimensions?"
misaki: it's quite alright. i live alone...well, there is that crow, alistair, but....
Pumpkin: "YOU NAMED THAT WINGED BEAST?"
{Imaginary Alistair: "CAH HA HA HA~"}
misaki: ^^;;
Pumpkin: "I assure you, I need no chari--charit--AH-CHOO!" *sneezes fire--then collapses*
misaki: !!!! *helps him up*
Pumpkin: *he looks barely conscious*
misaki:......*helping him walk*
-in asunaro-
???: *running through back alleys while two hooded figures are in pursuit*
???: "We're getting closer."
-the person reaches a dead end-
???: SHIT!!
???: well, you dont have anywhere to run now, so you may as well join us. right tsukasa?
Tsukasa: "Please say 'yes'--it makes things more pleasant."
???: tch- you really think im willing to go with you after you attacked me?! fat chance!! besides, what you're talking about, it's crazy!
tsukuyo:....well, that is rather unfortunate...wouldnt _you_ agree?
???: i said- *freezes as she feels something in the shadows behind her*
Demongo: "Hello~"
???: !!! g-get the hell away from me!!
tsukuyo: my apologies, akane sumire, but you made your choice...
akane sumire: s-stay the hell back you freak!!
Demongo: *his skull-mouth opens wide* "AAAAAAAAAH--"
-sumire can barely let out a cry for help-
-VREEEN-
tsukuyo:.....nn...
Demongo: =w=
Tsukasa: "Well..."
tsukuyo: that was unfortunate....oh well, whats done is done....let's go, the magius will be expecting us back in kamihama by tomorrow...
Demongo: "Give me a second--got to walk this off...Need to jog more..." *follows*
-not too far away, a figure watches them-
???: "My, my, my; what lovely gems~"
-morning-
mirai: uuuugh, it's too hoooooooot!! =~=
Umika: "Yes, summer tends to be warm."
kaoru: let's go to the beach!
niko: im not fond of sand. its gritty and it gets everywhere.
Saki: "Okay, Anakin."
mirai: i agree with niko, the only swimsuit i look ok in is a school swimsuit and people will laugh at me!
Satomi: "How about camping? We could even see wildlife up close and personal."
mirai: good idea, saki, umika?
Umika: "Beach."
Saki: "Beach."
niko: it appears we're at a tie, then...
Umika: "I guess that leaves it up to Kazumi."
kazumi: leave what up to me? *her hair is complete bedhead*
kaoru: *SNRK*
Umika: *clears her throat* "We were thinking of a summer trip. Would you prefer the beach or camping?"
mirai: we're half-and-half on what we want to do.
kazumi: ...well, summer break is until september, right?
Saki: "Uh huh?"
kazumi: it's july right now, so there's no reason we cant do both, right?
kaoru:....she's got a point.
Saki: "...I suppose so?"
niko: that still doesnt answer the question.
kazumi:..... .n.; coin flip?
Umika: "Heads beach, tails camping...Who has a coin?"
niko: *holds one up*
Saki: "Flip it.”
-HEADS-
kaoru: wahoo!
Saki: "Neat!"
mirai: *siiiiigh* i'll go get my stupid swimsuit then. =A=
niko: at least the water will cool you off. plus better wifi.
Umika: "Kazumi, we should get you a new swimsuit as well."
kaoru: and a haircut! *laughing*
kazumi: really?
Saki: "Wouldn't it make you feel a bit better?"
kazumi: ...i guess so.
toto: *pokes head out of her hair* mrow?
Umika: "..." *stifles her laughter*
-elsewhere-
Yumi: *dialing on a mirror* "...Marie? You there?"
marie: yes?
Yumi: "Hello. I wanted to follow up about an official report from your trip."
marie: honestly, it feels like we havent gotten anywhere.
Yumi: "I'm sorry to hear that. Have you found witnesses to the crimes?"
-elsewhere-
Anya: *curled up in bed* "..."
mio:....hey....anya?
Anya: *grunts* "Yeah?"
mio: you doing ok?......i brought you a baguette.
Anya: "..." *STOMACH GROWLS* "...Thank you." *sad nom*
mio:......sooooo....
Anya: "...I grew up without siblings, so the thought of even having one never crossed my mind! Now I'm supposed to think, 'Oh, so I may have a sibling'?! HOW AM I TO DEAL WITH THAT?!!" *angry nomming*
mio:...i think i get it, suddenly having a sibling can be a shock. it sure as heck shocked me when my little brother was born.
Anya: "Hmmm...What was that like? How old were you?"
mio: well, my-....hmmm, let me do the math on that...
Anya: -_-; "In any case, at least you knew your sibling from the beginning--I know next to nothing about...mine."
mio:.....im not sure what else to say....
ao: you're afraid.
Anya: "WHAT?!" *shivers*
ao: suddenly everything is different for you and you're beside yourself on what to do...would this be an accurate assessment?
Anya: *shaking* "I-I think so..."
ao: i see. i suppose that's reasonable. if i were in your situation, i'd probably feel the same way, unsure of who to confide in or talk to...
Anya: "...I don't even know how I would talk to _him_."
mio: w-well you dont have do talk to him _now_.
Anya: =_= "I suppose...Not like I was going to dial him up." *gestures to...a phone that looks like it was made by Alexander Graham Bell*
-elsewhere-
Black Star: *packing an overnight bag*
naho: whatcha doin?
Black Star: "Got a mission! A quick one!"
naho: cool!
Black Star: "Yeah! There's been all these disappearances in Seoul!"
tsubaki: otogiri, shamrock, you'll look after things while we're gone?
Belkia: "D'aw, why don't you ever let me be in charge?" *has Sakuya tied and hanging from the ceiling*
-elsewhere-
Kid: *appearing on a mirror in Soul's apartment* "We have to talk."
soul: sup?
Kid: "There are missions piling up after the Kishinites incident--so Father wants to send out as many available people as possible. Unfortunately, some are already on missions overseas."
soul: ah. let me guess, one of these missions is for me?
Kid: "Perceptive, as usual. We have a few options. Perhaps a visit to France?"
soul: i take it no bringing the kids?
Kid: "...Given the circumstances of this case, I think it would be best not to."
soul: thought so. im sure blair will look after them till i get back.
Kid: "Good, then. I have to travel as well for a mission."
-elsewhere-
Nirvana Employee 1: "He's been...less pleasant than usual since the first madness spike."
luka: *sigh* perhaps i should talk to him.
Nirvana Employee 1: "Try this." *hands a box of chocolates* "Also, don't extend your hand out." *has an arm entirely bandaged*
luka:....i doubt he'll be amused, but whatever...
*there's one door where humming is heard*
luka: *shudders* *touches her necklace before entering*
Asura: *resting his head on Mikan's lap*
mikan: *looks up* hm?
Asura: *groans* "What now." *the energy is radiating off of him*
luka: am i interrupting?
mikan: as a matter of fact, yes.
Asura: "I already told the last flunky--my head is killing me. Or do you want a 'manicure,' too?"
luka:....would you care to explain _why_ your head is killing you?
Asura: "If I knew that, I would have stopped the pain already. I only feel this much pain when around another with a powerful soul wavelength..."
luka: like your wife?
Asura: *pierces the wall by her head with a scarf* "We are compatible."
luka: right, she's the only thing keeping you from going on a rampage.
Asura: "...These are brave words from someone with a death wish."
luka: im just stating the facts.
Asura: "...These are amateurs, playing with a madness wavelength that is discordant with my own. That is all I can determine. Go tell that to your supervisors."
luka: very well then. *exits*
heibito:....daddy? what wrong?
Asura: "..." *pats his head* "Just a headache."
-elsewhere-
Akane: "Good day. Sorry that Clay made us late. I brought donuts."
Youta: ._.
Sid: "Have a seat. We were going over intelligence."
clay: so what's up?
Sid: *shows a map with Kishin Symbols all over it*
clay: dang....
Cho: "The Kishinites were targeting Death City, likely as a distraction for global efforts...Sid was telling me about certain Magic Tools that would assist them."
clay: and the sages?
Sid: "They're doing the best they can--but that's like using a hammer to smash ants. Our work is more precise. So while Zubaidah and others help with the flashy stuff, we're going to be working in shadows."
-elsewhere-
shinra: *YAAAAAAAAAAWN* =~=
Relan: "Zzz..."
shinra:....*pats his head before getting up*
Akitaru: *already making coffee in the kitchen*
shinra: morning.
argit: yo.
shinra:.....why are you still here?
argit: eh, just felt like it.
Akitaru: "I've tried getting him to leave."
{Akitaru: *spritzing with a water bottle*}
argit: *shrugs and eats his bacon*
Viktor: -^- "This is so annoying--some newbie showing up at random out of nowhere, uninvited." *eats toast*
maki:.......
Komori: <Are you fucking kidding me?>
shinra: -.- (i'd rather have schop here...)
Arthur: "In times of famine, desperate people often turn to consuming the vermin present to satiate their hunger. I propose we eat the mongoose."
argit: hey fuck you!
maki:.....so shinra, you feeling any better?
shinra: y-yeah, i dont know what came over me last night...
Akitaru: "...You going to be ready for today's tasks?"
shinra: of course!
Akitaru: *nods* "Keep your phone on today to check in. This is going to be an important one."
nozomi: good morning everyone.
tamaki: *following behind her*
Akitaru: "Howdy! Just about done with the eggs."
Arthur: "..."
tamaki:....thank you.
Komori: *holds up a sign at Argit*
argit: hmn?
Komori: *small print for only Argit to see* <Talk shit about either of them, and you'll wake up in a bathtub without your kidneys.>
argit: o-o tch- *grumble grumble*
-elsewhere-
Australian Park Ranger: "My people found the nest without its eggs. This job was too clean to be a predator--at least, not a non-human predator. These were poachers."
janine: damn...
marie: how awful, the poor mother...
Ranger: "What bugs me is that no one ever sees 'em--it's like they're invisible. Not even footprints."
janine: hmmmm *looking around*
*the nest has feathers in it, as would be expected--except one does not look like the others...*
janine: hmm?
*the feathers in the nest are white or gold...this one Janine sees is purple*
janine: well look at that...
Ranger: "??? What's that supposed to be?"
janine: not sure....a clue most likely.
-elsewhere-
*a Tennessee purple finch eats sunflower seeds before hopping back onto its owner's shoulder*
Poacher: *rubs the bird's head* "You got them locked up?"
???: yeah, these lil bastards wont be causing trouble anytime soon.
Poacher: "Can't wait--Blanche here can't stand this heat. Ain't that right, Blanche~?" *pets Blanche the finch*
Blanche: =w=
*something big rattles in a cage*
-elsewhere-
tsukasa: *playing DDR*
Tsukuyo: *sips a soda, watching*
Demongo: *posing as a shadow*
tsukasa: *stomach rumbles* im hungry, tag out!
Tsukuyo: *sets the soda down, leaps in*
Demongo: "Pick me up something, too!"
-the door opens and a girl enters and approaches-
tsukasa: ??
souju: *takes a seat at their table* ^u^
tsukasa: uhhhh may we help you?
Demongo: "???" *observing Souju*
souju: *offers hand* ayase souju, at your service! please, call me souju~
tsukasa: erm... ._.;
Tsukuyo: *finishes up* "Ta-da!" *looks back* "???"
souju: you two are magical girls, yes~?
tsukasa: ?! h-how did-
souju: i saw you both last night.
tsukasa: !! *looks at tsukuyo* (do you think she's onto us...?)
Tsukuyo: *goes stone-faced* "Hm. And what would that be?"
souju: i'd like to invite you to my house for tea~ ^^
tsukasa: ?? that's it?
Demongo: OwO ("WITH LITTLE COOKIES--")
Tsukuyo: "I don't know..."
Demongo: =_=;
souju: you mentioned something about 'joining' and it got me curious...
Tsukuyo: "?!"
tsukasa: *looks at tsukuyo*
Tsukuyo: "..." *shakes her head*
souju: pretty please~? i'll make it worth your while~
Tsukuyo: "...If you're serious..."
souju: wonderful!
Tsukuyo: *looks at Tsukasa* ("I got a bad feeling about this...")
-elsewhere-
*in a hospital in Seoul*
Doctor: <Another one...>
Patient: *staring up at the ceiling...with eyes that are white, blinded*
nurse: <what do you think happened?>
Doctor: <I would have said it was cornea failure, but...> *gestures to rows of patients, all with the same affliction* <This is too coincidental...>
-elsewhere-
Pumpkin: *snoring*
-smells like toast?-
Pumpkin: *groans, opens his eyes...* "...Where am I?"
misaki: oh, you're awake. *smiles*
Pumpkin: "...Oh. Right. Hello. Has the rain stopped?" *looks around*
misaki: *nods* i made some toast...
Pumpkin: "..." *stands up, looking where he slept*
Alistair: *eating from a bowl of seeds*
-the couch seems a bit old, but not uncomfortable-
Pumpkin: "..." *tries to fold up the blanket*
misaki: *making tea*
Pumpkin: "...It was a comfortable sleep."
misaki: im glad to hear that.
Pumpkin: *takes a seat at the table, looking around the kitchen*
-there are various spices and cooking tools about, as well as a few herbs and a cookbook-
Pumpkin: "You cook much?"
misaki: usually for myself, i dont have guests often.
Pumpkin: "I see..." *spots a textbook on the table* "???'
misaki: toast is ready.
Pumpkin: "...Thank you." *takes a piece* *nom* "...It's good."
misaki: *smiles*
Pumpkin: "Is that cinnamon on it?"
Alistair: *hops onto Misaki's shoulder*
-elsewhere-
Hirotsu: "Here are the crayons, the paper, the paste, and the glitter. Have fun, kiddos."
Tachihara: *seated at the kiddie table* "...WAIT A SEC!"
miyuri: yaaaay!! ^o^
Tachihara: *grumbling* "Why's that old fart treating me like some kid?! I ain't a child--" *doodling on paper* "Yo, Sonia, could you pass the yellow crayon?"
sonia: *hands it to him*
Tachihara: "Yeah, thanks--WHY'S HE GOT TO BE LIKE THAT TO ME?! What if it was your pops treating you like that?!"
sonia:......
Tachihara: "..." *grumbles* "I'm sorry for yelling..."
sonia: you're frustrated.
Tachihara: "You're daaaaaaaaa--...darn right I am. Sometimes I feel like I'm treated like the misfit."
sonia: im sure you'll prove yourself someday.
Tachihara: "...Maybe. I'll...I'll just get back to drawing...What you drawing?"
-elsewhere-
Meme: "Tsugumi, look at this email!"
tsugumi: hmm?
*it looks to be from Marie Mjolnir*
tsugumi: oh!
Meme: "She seems really busy with poachers!"
tsugumi: gagantous!
Meme: "She is reaching out to anyone available to help..."
tsugumi: hmm....
Anya: *packing*
tsugumi: anya?
Anya: "We should help Miss Marie! It would give me something to focus on..."
mio: good idea.
Maid: "Princess, I am afraid you are not permitted to leave."
tsugumi: eh?
Maid: "It would be dangerous to have you go running out so abruptly..."
Anya: "?!!!" *shuts her suitcase, marches out of the room* "Then I know with whom to speak..."
tsugumi: wait, anya!
Anya: *heading into the throne room...*
kathleen: ?? anya?
Anya: "What's this about me not being allowed to leave?!"
kathleen: !! *looks at charles*
Charles: "Anya, now calm down--"
Anya: 0n0 "I WILL NOT CALM DOWN! I am my own adult, and I get to make my decisions--"
*cooks are setting out an extravagant dinner...*
kathleen: anya, please-
Anya: "WHY WON'T YOU LET ME FINISH A SENTENCE--"
Cook: "Excuse me, Princess--will you be having the beef or the pork?"
Anya: "Beef please, thank you. AND ANOTHER--...What."
kathleen: we just.....wanted one more family dinner before you left in the morning...
Charles: ^^; "I suppose we should have clarified to the maids that it would be dangerous for you to leave on an empty stomach..."
Anya: "... ... ..." T\\\\T;
-elsewhere-
kazumi: woah!
Umika: "Impressive, isn't it?"
kaoru: *in a sporty swimsuit* heck yeah it is!
Satomi: >_>; *watches a hermit crab*
mirai: *staaaaare* 0n0
Saki: "Ah, come on--try to have some fun."
mirai: IM NOT CRYING AT ALL!
kazumi: the sand feels so funny!
Umika: "Hang on--let's finish your sunscreen..."
kazumi: o-ok.
Saki: "But then we're going seashell hunting, and swimming, and snorkeling, and--"
Satomi: *curls up under an umbrella*
nico: -.-;
Umika: "The camp will be waiting for us--now, it's fun and sun. There, you are successfully blocked."
kazumi: thank you!
Saki: "What do you want to do first?" *holds up a bucket* "We can also make sandcastles?"
kazumi: yeah!
Saki: ^^ "Okay!" *buckets up sand*
kaoru: umika, lets play some volleyball!
Umika: "Very well--maybe go a bit easy on me..."
mirai: *sulks under the umbrella* T^T
Satomi: "My sympathies..." *opens a book, puts on sunglasses*
mirai: *stares at her* (IM NOT CRYING AT ALL!!)
Satomi: *offers a tissue* "Here."
nico: *looking around*
*looks like an ice cream stand on the boardwalk*
nico: *checks her wallet*
*big sign: "FREE SAMPLES"*
nico:.....hey, anyone want something from the ice cream stand?
Saki: "Yes, please!"
mirai: parfait.
Umika: "Kazumi, want anything?"
kazumi: shaved ice for me!
Umika: "And sorbet for me, please."
Ice Cream Vendor: *ringing the bell*
-elsewhere-
Flight Attendant: <Welcome to Seoul.> ^^
Black Star: *yaaaaaaaawns* "I need coffee and a donut."
tsubaki: ^^;
Pilot: "???" <Fancy DWMA logo on that scarf, ma'am. You looking for the regional office?>
tsubaki: <yes.>
Pilot: <You're going to want to speak to the police station in Terminal A, first floor. They'll provide you an escort.>
Black Star: O_O; ("I hate being behind the language barrier...")
-elsewhere-
Cabbie: *speaking French* <You from around here, young'un?>
soul: <not locally, no.>
Cabbie: <I could tell from the accent--you from across the pond?> *driving by a shipyard...looks like an airship docked there*
soul: <more or less, yeah.>
Cabbie: <Got ya. Well, there's the spot...Kind of a rundown chateau, you sure this is the address?>
soul: *checks phone*
*that's the address--looks like there are some text messages, too*
soul: <yep. this is the place.>
Cabbie: <Alright. That'll be 50 euros--I'll get your bags.>
soul: ......
{Kid: "We've had a serial killer. I warn you, the scenes are...reminiscent of work you've seen before, in Stein's classes."}
{soul: ok....i'll keep an eye out.}
soul:....
*it looks like someone is loading crates off an airship into a van labeled "Haijima"*
???: <Careful--those are rare specimens.>
soul: ...*walks up to the house*
*inside are two elderly women*
soul:...*ahem* <good afternoon, ma'ams.> *nods*
???: <Ah, hello, young man. Are you Mr. Evans?>
soul: <and if i am?>
???: <We got the call to set up your room. I'm Sami Champlain, and this is my wife, Françoise Du Pont.>
Francoise: -_-; <Death is making his kiddos scrawny now...> *pokes Soul's arm*
soul: ^-^;
Sami: <Stop teasing the boy, Franny. Here, I'll help you with your bags...> *moves fast but is taking such small steps with such small legs that she is nowhere near his bags...*
soul: <i can handle it, ma'am, really...>
Francoise: <You don't even look like you could lift a feather!>
Sami: <I'm sure it's just jet lag, dear.>
soul: *lifts the bags*
Francoise: <MAKING FUN OF ME, EH?! I bench-press a sea-cow every morning! Feel this arm!> *flexes*
-elsewhere-
nico: the barbeque is ready.
Saki: "Thanks! I'm starving!"
kazumi: *nom* *shiny eyes* woah! this is good!
Satomi: "It sure is!" *bites into roasted corn*
kaoru: *nom* mmm!.... huh, looks like someone's shooting discs.
nico:.....
{*BANG*}
{-screaming is heard...-}
umika:...co...nico?
nico: !!!
Satomi: "You okay?"
nico:....i-im fine. just...zoned out for a moment.
Satomi: "Maybe you need something to drink?"
nico: y-yeah..
-elsewhere-
Demongo: *staring at tiny cakes*
tsukasa: .w.
souju: dig in~ ^w^
Tsukuyo: "..." *hesitantly picks one up*
souju: ^w^
Demongo: *whispers* "Pst--I want the strawberry one..."
tsukasa: 7n7
Demongo: "Come on--do it!"
*looks like a door is opened a bit nearby...*
Tsukuyo: *looks at the door* "???"
souju:....want to see something amazing?
Tsukuyo: *looks at Tsukasa* "Want to?"
tsukasa: hmmm...
souju: please, i insist~! ^^
Tsukuyo: "O-Okay?" *stands up*
Demongo: *following in shadows*
-inside of the room is magical girl merchandise. all over the walls. the floor, bed, everywhere-
tsukasa: um....wow...
souju: isnt it wonderful~?
tsukasa: yooouuuu really like magical girls, dont you?
souju: oh i absolutely ADORE them!
Demongo: ("...Not wrong, mostly?")
Tsukuyo: *backs up* ("Something isn't right...")
souju:...you know, im rather jealous of you two...being able to know your sister.......i was supposed to be a twin as well, but my sister, luca, died in childbirth.
tsukasa: !!
Tsukuyo: "Oh dear--I'm so sorry..."
souju: indeed....i was quite lonely, and the fact my parents were always at work didnt help matters.....but when i discovered the world of magical girls, it was true love at first sight...so i began collecting.
Tsukuyo: "I see...It is an impressively exhaustive collection..."
souju: indeed....but it wasnt enough....i wanted to collect more....authentic, merchandise, shall we say.....*takes out a box, full of soul gems* even if the donors were....less than willing~
Tsukuyo: "?!"
Demongo: "OH SHIT!"
tsukasa: are those.....actual soul gems?
souju: but of course! sadly, i had to get my hands a bit dirty to get them, but arent they just beautiful? they say soul gems are connected to their souls themselves.
tsukasa: you're....you're insane.
Demongo: "I agree--and that's saying something..."
Tsukuyo: *backs away*
souju: oh, you arent leaving now, are you~?
tsukasa: yes, we are! you're nuts! even _she_ isnt this bad!
souju: that's a shame...i really wanted to add you to my collection. *transforms* it seems i'll have to dirty my hands again. oh well~<3
Tsukuyo: "?! Tsukasa!" *transforms*
tsukasa: right! *transforms*
Tsukuyo: *prepares her shinobue flute*
-elsewhere-
*an elevator in Lotte Tower is taking Black Star and Tsubaki up to the top floor*
DWMA Agent: *passes a security badge* <It's not our usual policy to have patients brought to the offices, but this was a rare exception given their condition.>
tsubaki: <i see.>
Black Star: =_= "I don't suppose you speak anything else?"
DWMA Agent: ^^; "Sorry about that--just a bit flustered with these cases and, well, we heard a lot about both of you."
-ding-
*doors open to a skull-shaped hallway, with glass walls showing out over Seoul*
tsubaki: wow...
Black Star: *face pressed against the glass* "No wonder Lord Death wanted this thing up here--you can see everything!"
Agent: "Tallest building in the city!" *leads them down the hall* "I have to warn you, this might get a bit intimidating..."
tsubaki:...*nods*
Black Star: "How bad can this be?" *spots the door* "I'll go first!" *kicks the door open--*
???: "OW!"
tsubaki: D8
Black Star: "???" *looks behind the door to see a very annoyed physician*
Physician: -_-# *pokes Black Star in the eyes with two fingers*
Black Star: "GAH!" *clutches his face* "WHAT THE HELL?!"
tsubaki: black*star!! *goes over to him*
Agent: "How's the patient, doc?"
Physician: "Their aura got worse. Bring the weapon, leave the meister."
tsubaki:....
Black Star: "HEY! I'm plenty useful too--"
Agent: *leads Black Star into a briefing room*
Physician: "Weapon Nakatsukasa, how familiar are you with medicine?"
tsubaki: well, i do know first aid at the very least. and please, call me tsubaki.
Physician: *a shorter person, looks up at Tsubaki* "...Hmph. That won't be enough to understand the physical condition of the patient, but your connection to the Nakatsukasa may help..." *opens a door, revealing the patient in bed...their eyes are blank, pure white, just staring up blind at a ceiling*
Patient: "..."
tsubaki:......<hello.>
Patient: *sniffles, crying* <H-Hi...Who are you? You don't sound like the doctor--you sound actually friendly.>
Physician: -_-#
tsubaki: <my name is tsubaki. what's yours?>
Patient: <...Bong.>
tsubaki: <it's nice to meet you, bong.>
Bong: <Th-Thanks...I want to go back to work--but I'm like this now. That thing came out of nowhere...>
tsubaki: <what thing?>
Bong: <It was hideous--it pulled me into an alley and had this eye growing out of its forehead...>
tsubaki: !! *listening*
*a man in a business suit enters*
???: <Don't tell me you're lecturing our guest upon their arrival, Doctor!>
Physician: -_-# <Director.>
tsubaki: um...
???: *offers his hand to Tsubaki* <Lee Sang, Seoul DWMA director. A pleasure to meet you, Weapon Nakatsukasa.>
tsubaki: <likewise. and please, call me tsubaki.>
Sang: <Of course! I should've made it clearer to Kro to have you and Black Star brought to me first! Oh, Bong--how's it goin'?>
Bong: *whimpers*
Sang: <Hm--still that bad, eh? Hang in there, soldier.> *pats Tsubaki's shoulder* <Let's talk in my office--Kro brought Black Star there already.>
tsubaki: <right.>
-elsewhere-
Damon: *staring at the phone Soul left for him and Becky* "...Still nothing."
becky: at least he didnt leave us home alone...
Damon: "Yeah, but they seem kind of busy..."
Blair: *flipping through a magazine*
Katai: *hiding under a blanket*
nagisa: why dont we play some jenga?
Blair: OwO "Yes, please!"
Katai: "O-Okay...I hope I don't topple it..."
Damon: "..." *shrugs* "Sure, Nagisa."
-elsewhere-
Sami: *holding out a spoon* <Here comes the helicopter--VROOM!> *puts the spoon up to Soul's mouth*
soul: =_=;;;
Francoise: <WHAT?! HER COOKING NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YA, STRING BEAN?!>
*the doorbell rings*
soul: i'll get it. *sits up*
Sami: ^^ <Such a polite young man.>
*at the door is someone holding boxes up over his head*
soul: <can i help you?>
Max: <Hi, Mrs. Champlain--I got your deliveries--> *looks around the boxes* <??? Oh! Sorry--should've recognized by the voice you weren't her...Could you take some of these--they are too heavy.> >_<;;;
soul: <oh, sure thing, dude.> *carries some boxes*
Max: *groans* <Thank you, sir...>
Sami: <Maxie! Pull up a chair! How's your Grandma?>
Max: <Busy, ma'am...> *rubs his back* =_=; *looks at Soul* <??? You look familiar...You a musician?>
soul: <well...no?>
Max: <Hmm...Guess you got one of those faces!>
Francoise: <How many albinos have you seen, Max?!>
soul: o-o
Sami: <He's from Death City, dear.>
Max: <Oh! I have friends over there now!>
soul: <ah.>
Max: <I haven't kept in touch, though...I don't suppose in a big city like Death you've run into them.> ^^;
soul: <maybe i have, maybe not. who knows.>
Max: <...Well, that was suitably cryptic.> ^^; <I better finish these deliveries before my lab shift--bye, ma'ams! Good to meet you, sir!>
soul: *small wave*
Francoise: *opening a box* <Finally!> *pulls out a giant shield*
soul: ._. um....
Sami: <Franny collects weaponry for historical purposes--and combat training.>
Francoise: *poses with it* <How's it look?!>
Sami: =w= <Beautiful, dear.>
soul: <i see...>
Francoise: <I can't wait to get some practice in! Boy, when you're done with your investigation for the day, we're brawling!>
soul: ummmm....
Sami: <I would say yes, or Franny will withhold meals from you.>
soul: D8> (WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN INTO?!)
-elsewhere-
*an assassin is on top of a building in Death City...their eyes narrow to follow a target*
Assassin: <Target spotted.>
*the target exits a grocery*
???: *pulls out a phone, dials* "...Izumi? It's Papa. Running a bit late."
izumi: are you alright?
Assassin: *holds up a red bow, aiming an energy arrow at him* <Steady...Ready...>
Spirit: "Yeah, sorry, the grocery was just more crowded than usual and is out of milk, so I'll need to make another stop."
izumi: ok. should i get started on dinner?
Spirit: "Sure thing! Let Cassidy know I did manage to find your mom a surprise dessert!"
*someone is walking down the sidewalk--and bumps into Spirit*
Assassin: *stops* <?!>
???: "Oh, dear--sorry, sir!" *is looking at a map* "I can't find anything around this city..."
Spirit: -_-; ("It's like Marie or something...") "No problem, buddy--where you heading?"
???: "I was trying to find 'Rest in Pizza'?"
Spirit: *points* "Around that corner."
???: *smiles* "Merci!" *hurriedly runs away*
Assassin: -_-# <Tourists...> *aims again--*
Spirit: *reaches into his pocket for his keys--then stops* "..." *rapid movements* "...Izumi? I'm going to be a little late--BECAUSE SOME ASSHOLE JUST PICKPOCKETED ME!"
???: *heads into an alley* "Hee hee hee!" *calls out* <Peppino! We are eating well tonight!>
peppino: <yay~!> ^w^
Vampa: <Indeed! So, I was thinking a large with cannolis--> *opens the wallet--and pulls out $400* ._. "...I was not expecting this much...Dude was loaded!"
peppino: *SQUEEE* <let's go somewhere fancy!>
Vampa: <Sounds good to me! We could-->
*tap tap on Vampa's shoulder*
Vampa: "???" *turns* "Oh? Do you have a recommendation?"
Spirit: OnO#
peppino: oxo;;;
Vampa: OwO;
Spirit: *slams Vampa into the wall, aiming his scythe blade at his forehead*
peppino: !!! *SHOVE*
Spirit: *turns on her* "You want some of this, too, thief?!"
peppino: !!! *ducks and covers* >~<;;;
Spirit: "..." *groans* "You petty thieves...Just give me my wallet, and I'll be on my way..."
*a laser dot appears on Vampa's forehead*
peppino: !!!!!!! *tackle*
Vampa: "?!"
*an energy arrow collides with the wall, obliterating it!*
Assassin: -_-#
peppino: >~<
Spirit: "What the hell--"
Assassin: <Actually hit him this time.>
bow: <oi, its not my fault that girl caught me off guard!>
Assassin: <Whatever.> *aims at Spirit--*
Spirit: "This is not my day. You two, get back--" *turns--and sees they both ran off already* "HEY! YOU DIDN'T EVEN LET ME BE HEROIC--"
Assassin: *releases the bowstring--*
Vampa: *pulling Peppino away* "What the hell was that back there?!"
peppino: i thought you were going to get shot!
Vampa: "Thanks for saving my butt back there! And I know how to get us out of here..."
Spirit: *dodging in the alley, before throwing a garbage can at the Assassin*
bow: <SHIT!>
Assassin: *blocks with the bow* <He's wily.>
Spirit: *running down the road* ("I need to get to my car and--") *checks his pocket* "...AGAIN?!"
*Spirit's car comes down the road*
peppino: *waves and blows a kiss* ^w^ bu-baaaai~
Spirit: D8< "THAT MOTHERF--"
*an energy blasts right by Spirit's ear*
Assassin: "Do not move, Red."
Spirit: "..." *holds his hands up*
bow: *shift* well look how high and mighty you are now, death scythe.
Spirit: "You're two to talk. What is this about? Please tell me I didn't make a pass at your sister or something..." -_-;
Assassin: "You posed a significant problem for us some time ago. The Crimson Lotus wants retribution. And eliminating one of Lord Death's soldiers is a start."
bow: *chuckles*
Spirit: "What? Oh, you mean when you two got your asses handed to you mere children? Yeah, that was pretty hilarious."
bow: *WHAM*
Spirit: *knocked to the sidewalk* *spits blood* "That was rude..."
Assassin: "Easy...I'm sure the boss would like this one alive..."
bow: nyeheheheh~
*a courier bike parks*
bow: eh?
Spirit: "...Well, I don't have a ride, but let me help with that--" *SCYTHE LEG SWEEP*
bow: WOAH!
Assassin: "?!"
Spirit: *tackles the Assassin, then flips them into the wall*
Assassin: "GRK!"
*the bicyclist looks up*
Ox: "?! Mr. Albarn?!"
Spirit: "Ox! I'm borrowing this!" *takes Ox's bike--and pedals off*
Ox: D8
bow: HEY YOU GET YO ASS BACK HERE, PUNK!
Assassin: *rubs their head* "Not so rusty for an old timer...Let's go." *leaps up to the rooftop, following Spirit*
-meanwhile-
Vampa: *leisurely driving* =w= "Nice wheels, eh?"
peppino: hmmhmm~ you knooooow~ i heard there was a 'lovers lane' not far from here~<3
Vampa: =\\\w\\\= "Oh ho ho~" *switches the radio to love songs...*
*thump on Peppino's window*
peppino: *looks* OxO;; ohhhhhh biscuits.
Spirit: *pedaling like a madman* "GIVE ME BACK MY CAR AND MY WALLET, YOU THIEVES!"
Vampa: "Hey! We stole this free and legally! Go harass actual criminals!"
Spirit: "OVER MY DEAD BODY!”
peppino: that can be arranged~<3
Spirit: "...Oh biscuits--"
-VERRRN-
Vampa: "Watch the wheel!"
*the car is pulled towards the bike, nearly colliding into Spirit*
Spirit: "!!!" *turns his feet into scythes, leaping off the bike to skid along building walls*
Hyde: *running a hot dog cart on the street with an umbrella* "That'll be five dollars--"
*SLICE*
*the umbrella is sliced by Spirit's feet*
Hyde: *a hot dog smashed into his face* =_=#
bow: LOL
Assassin: "Focus." *rooftop running* "We only need the Death Scythe--the thieves are expendable." *aims...*
Ox: *running over sidewalks, huffing and puffing* *calling on his cell* "Yeah! Two assassins! I--" *trips over the hot dog stand* "...Ow."
Vampa: *steadies the wheel--then glares at Peppino*
peppino: QAQ
Assassin: *aims at the hood of the car...*
Spirit: *reaches through the window--and leaps into the car, landing over Peppino and Vampa*
peppino: *SCREAM*
Vampa: "GET OFF OF ME!"
Assassin: *FIRES*
*the energy arrow hits the hood--and the car flips up and through the air, towards a familiar building...*
Vampa: *HIGH-PITCHED SCREAM*
Spirit: *slow-motion* "NOOOOOOOO--"
peppino: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-
-meanwhile-
Lucy: *sitting in the Agency office* "Hmmm...Kenji, I can't figure out this crossword. The clue is 'blank blank goose.' Four letters. You got any ideas?"
*outside, Spirit's car is flipping through the air towards the window Kenji is looking out of*
naomi: DUCK!!
Lucy: "Oh! That fits..." *starts writing it down--*
Kenji: .w.; "...SIR!"
Fukuzawa: "..." *sighs* "Kunikida. Lucy. Kenji."
Lucy: *looks up* "?!"
Kunikida: "On it!" *grabs Naomi*
Fukuzawa: *stands in front of the oncoming car* "..."
*slow-motion, the car goes through the wall of the Agency...*
Vampa: "FUUUUUUUUUU--"
Fukuzawa: "..." *swiftly swings his blade, slicing the car down the center in half...*
Kenji: *catches the half with Peppino* "Hello!"
Lucy: *sends the other half with Vampa into Anne's Room*
-outside the door-
Kyoka: *walking to the door with Atsushi* "I hope there's work for us to do soon..."
atsushi: *opens the door*
Kunikida: *protecting Naomi from debris*
*the entire wall of the building is destroyed*
Spirit: *hanging from the ceiling, blades dug into the ceiling, his clothes sliced* Q_Q
atsushi:.....yep, just another normal day.
Kyoka: "...I'll get the dustpan."
Assassin: *across the street* "...You have to be kidding me. What rotten luck."
bow: awww maaaaan....
Assassin: <No way I'm going against Fukuzawa today. Let's head back to base.>
-elsewhere-
Vampa: *sitting at a tea set with Anne* O_o; "...Are you going to eat me?"
-elsewhere-
Asher: "Yo. What did your dad say?"
izumi: he mentioned getting dessert for mom.
Asher: "Seems to be taking his time--think he did something?"
izumi: i-im sure he's fine.
-elsewhere-
Spirit: *seated at a table in the police department--across from Vampa and Peppino, handcuffed to the table*
peppino: QAQ;;;;;
Vampa: "It's all a setup! It wasn't us! It was two people who look just like us! One of them, how do say it in English--'double gangers'! Two gangsters!"
Spirit: "..." *reaches into Vampa's pants*
peppino: D8<
Vampa: "HEY! NO TOUCHING WITHOUT DINNER FIRST--"
Spirit: *pulls out a wallet*
Vampa: "..." *sneers* "Good luck finding the money, mister--I kept that in my safe spot! HA!"
officer: ...
peppino: 7//w//7 nyehe~
Vampa: "See? She knows what I'm talkin' about--"
Spirit: *not looking up at them, looking through everything but the money pocket of the wallet* "You have kids?"
peppino: e-eh?
Vampa: "??? No? I mean, I don't think so?"
peppino: why do you care, mister?
Spirit: *opens his wallet, as a roll of photos falls out...they seem to be photos of a baby, then that same child a little older along 4, 10, and 13...then there are photos of another girl and her mother...*
peppino: these your kids?
Spirit: *nods* *points to the girl in most of the photos* "This is Maka. That's my daughter."
peppino: she doesnt look it.
Spirit: "...She takes after her mama, a bit."
peppino: can we get to the point of this now?
Spirit: *slams one hand onto the table--extending his blade*
peppino: OwO;;;;;;;;;;;
Vampa: "!!!"
Spirit: "These photos are some of all I have left of her! I hope you never have children, because I'd hate to see you running scared of losing what little you have left in your pathetic waste of a life! I don't give a shit about the damn money--keep it if you want!"
Vampa: "...Sweet! We earned a profit!"
Spirit: *FORMS ALL THE BLADES*
officer: MR ALBARN, please calm down!
Vampa: "EEP!" *struggles to put Peppino behind him as he shields her from Spirit*
peppino: ...*mutters* not like i could have any on my own anyway.....
Vampa: Q~Q
Spirit: "..." *knocks the chair back as he stands, picks up his wallet* "Enjoy collecting the evidence, officer--I have to go recycle my car for scrap metal!"
-elsewhere-
Stein: "I'll be back in about an hour--he asked me to pick him up." *picks up the keys* "The new paint job should get a reaction out of him."
valentine: just try not to scare him _too_ much.
Stein: "I promise, he will survive." *opens the doors, as a modified ambulance is parked in front of the Lab*
-elsewhere-
kazumi: *yaaaawn* im tired...
Umika: "But you had fun, right?"
kazumi: mmhmm! i want to get to experience more fun things like that.
-BANG BANG-
nico: !!!!
kaoru: what the heck?
Saki: "?!" *holds her whip*
-looks to be a fight between 3 magical girls and a 4th figure...-
souju: see? your demon collects magical girls as well! we arent any different from each other, right?
tsukasa: shut the hell UP ALREADY! *kicks her in the nose*
souju: GRK-
Tsukuyo: "Contain her!"
Demongo: "I'M TRYING!"
souju: hehehe~ my face is all bloody now...that's not very friendly~....*slashes behind her, bisecting airi anri, who then evaporates and returns to demongo*
mirai: what the hell?! t-that was-
nico: a wraith? no....this one seems....different...
tsukasa:...sis, we have company.
Tsukuyo: "Shit!"
Demongo: "...Lot of girls--dang. Is this a convention?"
tsukasa: dont get any funny ideas, stupid demon!
souju: ahh~! the pleadies saints! this is such an honor!
mirai: just who are you girls anyway?
Umika: "Looks dangerous...Summon weapons just in case?"
Saki: *nods*
nico: that girl just now, she was airi anri, wasnt she?
tsukasa: and what if she was?
kaoru: QUIT BEING SO CRYPTIC AND ANSWER THE QUESTION!
souju: *charges at tsukuyo*
Satomi: "?! Wait!" *tries to use her wand for protection*
Umika: "Damn it! Kazumi, stay behind me..."
Demongo: "HANDS OFF HER!" *summoning...*
akane sumire: *KICK*
souju: OOF!
akane sumire:.......
Satomi: "?!!! What on earth?!"
kaoru: !!! sumire-chan!
akane sumire: ..... *charges at them*
kaoru: sumire-chan stop! it's me, kaoru maki! we play soccer together!
-she doesnt reply-
nico: her eyes.....
kaoru:...*growls* WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HER?!
Tsukuyo: "Now may be a good time to make some distance..."
kaoru: why YOU!!! *charges*
kazumi: kaoru!
???: *GRAB*
kaoru: !!!
"Yuuri": *stares with dead eyes--aiming a gun at Kaoru's neck*
nico: !!
kazumi: NO!!
-kazumi then transforms and sends and energy blast-
souju: !!! GYAAHH!
Tsukuyo: "Maybe that'll shut her up."
-'yuuri' was also evaporated-
kaoru: holy shit, i thought i was seriously gonna die!
Umika: "What is going on?!" *glares at the twins*
souju: *unconscious, her magical girl outfit torn up*
Satomi: "Why did she attack? Who is she?"
souju: *her eyes snap open as she stands up* ....well....that's certainly annoying.....
Demongo: "WHY CAN'T SHE JUST DIE ALREADY?!"
Tsukuyo: "Quiet..."
tsukasa: (she seems....different somehow)
souju: *takes out a second soul gem and transforms*
mirai: ?!?!?!
kaoru: what?
souju: allow me to introduce myself proper. my name is Luca Souju. im sure you're all well acquainted with my twin sister, Ayase.
Tsukuyo: "?! Sis...What the hell..."
tsukasa: but...ayase told us...you died....
luca: yes. it's true that my physical body died in infancy. however, my soul continued to live on in ayase's body as a 'secondary conscious' of sorts. It's said that twins are one soul in two bodies, well our situation is reversed; two souls in one body.
tsukasa: one soul.....
Tsukuyo: "...Then we have to contain this second soul, too."
luca: now, with all due respect. please die. *charges*
Demongo: "Hoo boy..." *tries to summon--*
kaoru: *ATTACKS*
tsukasa: oh shit- RETREAT!
Tsukuyo: "Damn it!" *grabs Demongo* "Come on!"
Demongo: O_O;
luca: ....
kaoru: GET BACK HERE!!
Umika: "Kaoru! Focus before--"
luca: ......*looks at kazumi* you. you've lost your memory, right?
kazumi: eh? w-well....
luca:....go to the museum of the teddy bears. you'll find the answer in the basement. *flees*
Satomi: "Get back here!"
kazumi: .....
Umika: "...Kazumi? Do you know what she meant?"
mirai: museum of the teddy bears....ah! does she mean angelica bears?
Satomi: "Probably our best lead?"
Saki: "..." *nods*
-elsewhere-
Lucy: *directing Anne* "Okay, set the wall over there..."
Kenji: *picking up debris in the office*
Kyoka: "That sounds like quite a mess..."
sylvia: s-scary...
Fukuzawa: "This is why we have contingency plans in case of any attacks on the office."
atsushi: ...
Kunikida: *holds up a binder* "Multiple plans." *hands one to Atsushi*
atsushi: *looks* fire...flood...... ._. geese?
Dazai: "Sharp tooth-filled feathery monsters." *munching on chips in the corner*
-elsewhere-
kazumi:.....
kaoru: what do you think we're going to find?
mirai: i dont know, i just have the deed to the building!
Satomi: "Sh-Should we be in here?"
kazumi:.....i think we have to...
Satomi: *sighs...nods* "Where do we start exploring?"
nico: she said the basement....
Satomi: *takes out a flashlight*
mirai: *opens the door leading to the basement* well....here goes....
Umika: *follows...sniffs* "Ugh--really dank..."
-they head down the stairs, that seem to go on endlessly-
Satomi: "It's like something out of a horror painting...Like Esher..."
-soon, they reach a corridor-
Umika: "Cover our bases..." *takes position before they open the door...*
kaoru: *defensive stance*
Satomi: "!!! What the hell..."
kazumi: *eyes wide in shock* w..wha.....
-there is a lab.....with several incubator machines containing copies of kazumi-
Umika: "My God..."
Satomi: *looks around...spots a set of photos on a desk*
kaoru: mirai, did you know-
mirai: of course not!
kazumi: *collapses to her knees, stunned*
Satomi: *picks up one photo* "Wait...I know this...Michiru..."
mirai: ?!?! what?
nico: why would there be a photo of her here?
kazumi:....mi....mi....
kaoru:....well, i guess we should explain.....
Satomi: *looks back and forth between the photo and Kazumi* "...Y-Yeah..."
{Umika: *dials on her phone...*}
{???: yes?}
{Umika: "Hello? It's me, Umika Misaki? I had sent my manuscript to you and--"}
{???: yes yes, how can i help-}
{Umika: "Why was my novel under someone else's name?!"}
{???: ah, miss misaki! good to hear from you! when can we look forward to your next work?}
{Umika: "..." *drops the phone* "...Some idol..." *falls back in her chair, next to a book review, praising some idol credited for writing _her_ novel*}
-...-
{kaoru: nnngh....huh? wha...what happened?}
{Nurse: "You're awake..." *sets down a chart, holds a flashlight to one of Kaoru's eyes*}
{kaoru: ...}
{Nurse: "Do you remember what happened? Do you feel any pain in your legs? Do you need more pain reliever?"}
{-the sound of footsteps are heard-}
{Nurse 2: "Clear the way!"}
{*someone is attached to the gurney being run in*}
{kaoru: what's going on out there?}
{Nurse: "...You were in a soccer game with that girl..."}
{kaoru: !!}
{Nurse: "You collided in your match, breaking your legs...They found your opponent int he bathroom when she...tried to..."}
{kaoru:.....ah-.....*sobs*}
-...-
{mrs usagi: happy birthday, satomi!}
{Satomi: OwO "Yay! What do I get?"}
{cat: mii!}
{Satomi: *tiny gasp* "Kitty..."}
{cat: *hops into her arms* mii! ^w^}
{Satomi: *hugging and petting* "Awww, you're so cute!"}
{cat: *nuzzles and purrs*}
{Satomi: *opens the front door*}
{sare: *laying motionless on the floor*}
{Satomi: "??? Sare? ..."}
{-...-}
{vet: im sorry, there's not much we can do now...}
{Satomi: *covering her face* "I did this...If I had paid more attention..."}
-...-
{mirai: *sitting in class* .....}
{Classmate: *talking to another student* "Let's check out the new crepes at the bakery!"}
{mirai:....(who needs them. as long as i have my teddies, im fine!)}
{Classmate 2: "Sounds good!" *bumps into Mirai's desk* "Ugh--hey, four eyes, can't you ever put your desk in the right spot?!"}
{Classmate: *staring at Mirai's teddy bear* >_>; }
{mirai: s-sorry.......*holds her bear close*}
{Classmate: "Aren't you a little old for stuffed animals?"}
{-...-}
{mirai: *sewing her bear's arm* stupid classmates......i....*weeps* i want friends....}
-…-
{niko: *laughs* over here!}
{Neighbor: "Slow down! I need to catch up!"}
{neighbor 2: you'll never catch me, coppers! *laughs*}
{Neighbor: "Oh no you don't!"}
{niko: bang!}
{Neighbor: *fake scream* "Eeek!"}
{niko: BANG!}
{-BANG-}
{Neighbor: "?!!"}
{*it sounds like something shattered*}
{niko: ah-}
{???: what was- !! NIKO! WHERE DID YOU GET THIS?!}
{Neighbor: "!!!" *runs away*}
{niko: *trembling as she drops the gun* i....i didnt.....}
{???: "Call an ambulance!"}
-...-
{???: big sis look!}
{???: "Oh--what's this that you've found?"}
{-the girl holds up a lily of the valley flower-}
{???: isnt it pretty, saki?}
{Saki: "Oh so incredibly..."}
{???: when i grow up, i want to have lots of pretty flowers like this so i can have a bouquet for when i get married!}
{Saki: "Aww, but I find it hard to believe there's someone out there good enough for someone as amazing as you!"}
{???: hmm... *hug* then i'll marry you, saki! >w<}
{Saki: ^^; *hug*}
{-...-}
{-in the remnants of an accident, the girl lays on the ground, glass lodged in her throat as she chokes-}
{???: someone! get help!}
{Saki: "M...M-Miyuki..."}
-...-
{-the girls stand at a bridge-}
{kaoru:.....}
{mirai: *holding her bear*}
{niko: *holding a newspaper article on the shooting*}
{Saki: *holding the lily*}
{Umika: *holding a manuscript*}
{Satomi: *holding a cat toy*}
{-before they can jump, a magical net seems to catch them-}
{Satomi: "?!"}
{kaoru: !!! wha- what was i just....?}
{???: *phew* that was a close one. you girls just sit tight while i take care of this bad boy.}
{-a young woman in a witch's outfit appears-}
{Umika: "What...What are you?"}
{???: a magical girl. *leaps up to fight the wraith that has appeared*}
{Satomi: "A...Magical?"}
{Saki: "How does someone do that?"}
{-...-}
{???: perhaps i should introduce myself, my name is Michiru Kazusa.}
{kaoru: that was so awesome! you beat that...whatever it was like paper!}
{Umika: 'What was that thing, exactly? A demon?"}
{michiru: a wraith. a creature that brings misery and suffering...}
{mirai: that...it tried to kill us!}
{Saki: "Th-Thanks for not letting us get killed?"}
{michiru: of course.}
{kaoru: if things like that exist, then we need to stop them!}
{Umika: *still holding her manuscript* "..." *nods*}
{niko: but where can we even start?}
{michiru: you've heard of the incubator gardens, right?}
{mirai: i think so?}
{michiru: you can become a magical girl there, as well as have a wish granted.}
{kaoru: for real?!}
niko: she was the one who helped us form the pleadies saints.
mirai:.....she was almost a second mom to us.
Saki: *looks downcast* "Until..."
kaoru:.....
Umika: "...When she passed away...."
niko: *looking through notes left behind*
kazumi: *unable to speak*
niko: ?? i think i found something.
Umika: "??? What is it?" *looks*
Saki: "!!! These papers mention Michiru..."
-michiru came by again today. we decided to go to the natural history museum for a while. i swear, her smile could light up a room. she told me she got a report from the doctors this morning. the tests came back negative. i was heartbroken for her. she really wanted to start a family, and so did i. i promised her that i would find a way. ~Kazuhito Asakura-
Umika: *tenses up* "...You mean...They..."
mirai: i didnt know she had a boyfriend.
niko: *skimming notes*
-she's gone. this evening she stumbled into the lab in terrible shape. i tried to get medical help, but her wounds were too severe.-
*it looks like there are dry tear stains on the paper*
-if soul gems really are connected to souls, maybe there's a way to save her using the clones. if i can find a way to do a transfer-
Saki: "Wh-What is he talking about? 'Clones'? Soul gem transfer?!"
-test 1; failure-
-test 2; failure-
-test 3; failure-
Satomi: "Th-This is insane--this is too much..."
mirai: i think im gonna be sick....
-test 13; i think i succeeded. i'll name her 'kazumi'-
*the rest of the notes are torn out*
kazumi: ah.....ah......
Umika: "Ka-Kazumi...It's going to be okay..."
kaoru: where even is this guy- whoever he is....
???: im afraid that wont be needed.
Saki: "!!!" *spins around, weapon ready*
souju: dr asakura has been dealt with already, my benefactor made sure of that~
Umika: "Everyone, arm yourself!"
souju: *hits a button, causing the incubator machines to open and release the other clones*
Clones: *groan...*
kazumi: *shaking*
clone: KREEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!
Saki: "!!!" *blocks*
kaoru: shit!
Umika: "Don't let that fiend get away!" *aims at Souju*
clone: *lunges at kazumi*
Satomi: "!!!" *attacks the clone*
kaoru: *picks kazumi up* come on!
Satomi: "..." *tries to reach for papers on the desk--*
-elsewhere-
izumi: ....
*the front door opens*
izumi: *looks up*
Spirit: *enters, staring down at a set of photos in his hands*
izumi: welcome home.
Spirit: "H-Hi..." *his tie is loosened, he looks like a mess* "I'm sorry I couldn't pick up everything..."
sachiko: what on earth happened?!
Spirit: "...We better sit down. C-Can I get some water?"
-and so-
Spirit: "--then I told the police."
izumi:.....
Spirit: "I'm speaking with Lord Death in the morning."
-elsewhere-
Kro: *flipping through pages of a sketchbook* "And this is of our HQ! And this is of my neighbor's parrot! And this is of a bowl of fruit--"
Black Star: TT~TT ("The one guy who speaks English here...")
Kro: *flips a page to a giant multi-eye monster*
tsubaki: !!!
Kro: "Oh! This is what the victim reported seeing before their eyes went--" *passes a hand over his face back and forth* "--blind. Wild, right?"
tsubaki: *looks at black*star*
Black Star: "FINALLY--SOMETHING WE CAN FIGHT! Where'd that monster go?!"
Sang: *covering his ears* ^^; <"He's certainly energetic...>
tsubaki: <that's one way to put it.> ^^;
Kro: "Oh! Um..." *flips through paperwork, all covered in doodles* "Ah! Bong had encountered the monster in an alley off of Jung-gu at the Dongdaemun Vegetable Market--"
Black Star: "WE'RE ON OUR WAY!" *runs...then walks back in* "Which way is that?"
tsubaki: -.-;
-elsewhere-
kabo: y'all got plans for the summer?
camie: malibu, baby!
Inasa: "Awesome! You going to get some TRAINING done for our LICENSES?!"
camie: yeaaaah that too! ^^;
Seiji: =_= "You both should take this seriously--or you'll never get your licenses at this rate." *bites into his burger*
camie: =3= mood killer.
Inasa: "AW, HE'S JUST SAYING THAT BECAUSE HE CARES!"
kabo: sure has a funny way of showing it.
Seiji: "No, I'm serious--I doubt either of you will get your license with the way you're carrying on."
Inasa: QwQ; "Ouch, buddy."
camie: i bet that rock's gonna make a fine diamond when it comes out.
Inasa: "??? I don't get it."
Seiji: -_-; "Kabo, what will you be doing?"
kabo: im gonna be helping my fam out with the farm.
Nagamasa: "How is your family doing?"
kabo: we're doing pretty well. weather's been nice.
Inasa: "What's in season? You got peppers?"
kabo: yep, plus we got zucchinis for ma's famous zucc pie!
Inasa: "YOU HAVE TO MAKE SOME FOR US BEFORE YOU LEAVE US BEHIND!"
Seiji: *hair blown back* ._.
-elsewhere-
*it's nighttime in Seoul...the downtown area is starting to disperse as people head home...*
*one woman is walking with her service dog*
Black Star: "IT'S THIS WAY, RIGHT?!"
tsubaki: not so loud...
Black Star: "Sorry--just wanted to see what was there to find a clue--"
*BUMP*
Woman: <Ow!> *knocked over*
tsubaki: ah! <sorry!>
Woman: <Ow...That really hurt...>
Black Star: "Hey, watch where you're going next time!"
Woman: "... ... ...What the hell did you just say to me?"
tsubaki: oh.
Dog: *helps her up*
Black Star: "... ... ..." *light bulb* ._.; "Oh shit--sorry!"
Woman: "Yeah, thanks a lot--OW!" *she has a cut along her arm*
tsubaki: ah! you're hurt!
Woman: "Ah, it must have been when I fell over..."
tsubaki: *taking a mini med-kid out of her bag*
Dog: *kneels down next to her*
Woman: "Do you have a bandage?"
tsubaki: here...
Woman: "Ah, thank you, ma'am..." *applies the bandage* "Bae, the groceries?"
Bae (the Dog): "WOOF!" *picks up the bag*
Black Star: " 'Bae'? Ha! That's funny!" *pets Bae*
Woman: -_-# "Could you not pet my dog while she's on duty?"
Bae: *growls*
tsubaki: ^^;
Bae: *barks--and runs into the alley*
Woman: "?! Bae! What is it?"
tsubaki: ah! *follows*
Black Star: "!!!" *picks the woman up* "I am really sorry about running into you, Miss--"
Woman: "Chul. Don't you know how to follow directions?"
Black Star: "I know where I'm going! Why don't you--...Oh, nevermind! Wait here..." *runs into the alley*
Bae: *chasing after something*
tsubaki: here bae! *whistles*
Bae: *corners something under a dumpster* "BARK BARK--"
*CRASH*
Bae: *knocked into a wall*
tsubaki: !!! *runs over to her*
Bae: *struggling to get up--before something whips at her leg...something covered in eyeballs*
tsubaki: !!!!!!
Bae: "WOOF!" *bites into the whip--ripping it off*
???: *inhuman scream, before it reveals itself, sliding along one snail-like tail...a giant creature, covered in eyeballs, just like Kro's drawing*
tsubaki:....*blade arm*
Eye Creature: *gurgles, its eyes shifting all over...*
*Tsubaki's eyes start to glow...as her vision starts going dark*
tsubaki: *SCREAMS*
*two new eyes start to form along the Eye Creature's body--*
*SLAM*
*Tsubaki's vision is restored*
tsubaki: ah!
Black Star: "TAKE THAT!" *slammed a dumpster on top of the Eye Creature*
Bae: *holding the Creature's tentacle in its mouth* "RAUR?" *head tilt*
tsubaki: black*star!
Black Star: "Hey! I caught the monster--"
*an eye-tentacle whips out, grabbing Black Star by the ankles and swinging him around*
Black Star: "WAAAAAAAH!"
-SLASH-
Black Star: *lands against the alley wall* "Thanks, Tsubaki! Let's kick this thing's ass--" *kicks the dumpster--revealing a giant slimy hole underneath it...and no creature* ._.
tsubaki:....
-elsewhere-
Sami: <Will you be needing anything else before beddy-bye time? Some sleepytime tea?> *literally tucking Soul into bed*
soul: =~=;
Francoise: <Stop babying the boy, Sami! You! Go to bed!>
Sami: ^^; <Good night, Mr. Evans!>
soul: <good night.>
Sami: *turns off the lights*
Francoise: *slams the door behind them*
soul:..... (well this has been a weird day.)
*phone vibrates on the nightstand*
soul: *checks*
Blair: {they're so cute >w< } *photo attached of the kids asleep on the couch*
soul:...*smile*
-morning-
-it looks a little damp outside, like it rained a bit-
Izuku: *jogging*
jirou: sup, midoriya.
Izuku: "Oh, Jirou--hello! You're getting an early start!"
jirou: guess so.
Izuku: ^^; "Sorry--just trying to keep my training up before the summer trip."
jirou: yeah, thats like, any day now.
Izuku: *nods* "I had to finish shopping from online purchases after--...Well, after." *slight shiver*
-elsewhere-
Asher: "Thanks for the alternative ride this morning, Mrs. Albarn."
sachiko: no problem. you got your lunch all packed?
izumi: yes, mom.
Asher: *holds up a bag*
-elsewhere-
Gen: =_= "...I try to run a nice clean facility..."
Spirit: *crying over the remains of his car, scattered all over Gen's workshop*
Gen: "And you ruin that for me. Why."
Spirit: *sobbing*
hakuno: come on, albarn, suck it up!
Spirit: "My baby! Those crazy assassins and damn thieves ruined my baby! Please, re-build it!"
lord death: *ahem*
Spirit: Q~Q *wipes his nose* "R-Right..." *clears his throat* "The police identified the two thieves as two-bit hoodlums, but the assassin definitely was from that Crimson group."
lord death: hmm...
Gen: *examining a sliced fender* "Gee, no wonder you couldn't out-run them in this old jalopy--"
Spirit: OnO#
Gen: *whistles innocently* >_>;
Spirit: "But why would they target me--I'm lovable!"
hakuno: -.-;
lord death: given the position of power death scythes have, it would make sense they would be targeted by an enemy faction.
Spirit: "But to kill me? That's a bit much for some assassins to show themselves!"
hakuno: ....
Gen: "Things are getting more desperate after those Kishin people showed up. Everyone's skittish--and thinks they can make a power play."
-elsewhere-
*there is a dungeon...*
Twice: *walks up to the jail bars with a tray of food* "Mornin', sunshine~!"
Queen: *locked in the cell, emaciated, bandages on her arms* "..."
Twice: "Hey, Banshee--take a break, it's my watch."
Queen: *growls*
banshee: *nods and exits*
Dabi: *standing in the hallway, looking irritated*
banshee:.....?
Dabi: "...It's quieter here than the noise upstairs with those loons."
banshee: i suppose so.
Dabi: "...I finished errands. Your meal is in the fridge."
banshee: thank you.
Dabi: "..." *grunts, goes back to leaning against the wall*
Twice: *heard yelling inside the dungeon* "No, you're supposed to _eat_ with the fork!" *pokes his head outside--with the fork jabbed in his forehead* "Dabi, be a dear and help? THAT'S AN ORDER!"
-elsewhere-
mirai: .......
Umika: *carrying a tray of food* "...You eaten yet? I was hoping to get Kazumi to eat..."
mirai: saki got me some french toast.
Umika: "..." *nods* "Okay. Please try to be patient with Kazumi--this is a lot of information to take in."
kaoru: no kidding, i mean, if i were in her situation....
Satomi: *overhearing from the hall before she steps in* "All we can do is be supportive and listen to her--it'd be more useful than just sitting around."
-elsewhere-
Saria: "Morning! Was that your mother dropping you two off?"
izumi: yep.
Kanin: "He was crying and saying something about 'my darling red and sleek baby.'"
izumi: ^-^; yeah, his car... it got kinda totaled.
lei-lei: golly! i hope he's alright!
Asher: "He was pretty shaken up."
Axel: "Did someone say a mechanic?" *pulls out a wrench*
-elsewhere-
Anya: *in outback attire and carrying a giant bug net* "I am ready to confront the Australian wilderness." *swing swing*
mio: Q-Q
Meme: "Relax, we're not even out of the airport! It's not like there's some wildlife already--"
*a crocodile is sitting in the back of a Jeep to pick them up*
crocodile: yo.
Anya: *smug look* "Don't you hate being wrong all the time?"
ao: i dont know, dont you hate having a spider in your hair?
Anya: *LOUD SCREAM, rips off her hat, smacking it against the side of the Jeep*
ao: made you look~ ^^
Anya: OnO#
Meme: ._.; "Um...We were expecting a ride to see Miss Mjolnir?"
driver: hop on in.
tsugumi: so no one is gonna acknowledge that the crocodile just spoke?............no one?..........just me?.........ok then.
-elsewhere-
Iida: "Forward, forward! The bell will ring shortly!"
Bakugo: "Jeez, the stick up your butt must be extra rigid today..."
Iida: "THAT IS A LIE AND YOU KNOW IT!"
kaminari: *snicker*
Izuku: *runs into the room*
Eijiro: "Morning!"
Aizawa: *already in the classroom...asleep*
ochako: im here! *coming in through the window* my alarm clock broke.
Mina: "Wow, swinging in like Spider-Girl! Training must be paying off!"
tsuyu: *also comes in through a window*
*tick tick--DING*
Aizawa: *bolts up awake* "In your seats."
-everyone's seated-
Aizawa: "We're finishing up your training camp route. Be present at 5 AM, as we're leaving bright and early...So early..."
*the blackboard behind him has a chart on it*
Aizawa: "This also should prepare you for your daily training schedule--" *he taps the blackboard--and the electronic portion lists a daily schedule--including one marked "REMEDIAL" with the names of Mina, Eijiro, and others*
kaminari: owo;
Eijiro: "Aw, man..."
Mineta: OnO# "WHY AM I LISTED?! I DIDN'T FAIL THE EXAM--SERO DID!"
Sero: "Hey!"
Aizawa: "I can answer that..." *disappears behind the desk, and a grunting sound is heard*
ochako: ??
Aizawa: *lifts up a very heavy binder folder labeled "WHAT MINETA DID"*
Mineta: ._.
jirou: *almost falls out of her seat*
Mineta: "B-But I still passed the exam!"
Aizawa: "Yes, you did. And yet the complaints keep coming in about conduct. Need I remind you of the Sports Festival? Or the locker room incident?"
tsuyu: let's not forget last thursday.
Aizawa: "...I don't have a record of last Thursday." *pulls out stationery and pen*
Mineta: Q_Q *trying to inch out of the room*
jirou: you stay and face your crimes, coward.
Mineta: "..." *sighs* *turns, faces the class* "Part of being a hero is having the courage to face your fears."
Izuku: "Aw, Mineta..."
Mineta: "The other part IS KNOWING WHEN TO RUN FOR SAFETY!" *bolts*
Aizawa: *flings his scarves* "New assignment--capture the coward."
tsuyu: way ahead of you.
ochako: omae wa mou shindeiru.
-meanwhile-
Shinso: *walking down the hall--*
Iida: "GET BACK HERE!"
Mineta: "NEVER!" *runs by Shinso*
Shinso: "... ... ..."
ochako: dont just stand there, get him!
Shinso: "..."
Mineta: *cornered in the other hall, turns, runs back--*
Shinso: "..." *holds out his foot--*
-le trip-
Mineta: *slow-motion* "NOOOOOOOOOO--" *face-plant*
jirou: time to pay for your crimes.
Shinso: <What did he do this time? Is this about the fly paper and rubberbands?>
Mineta: D8 "SPARE ME, JIROU! REMEMBER THE GOOD TIMES WE HAD TOGETHER!"
jirou:.....you know what, i've thought about it....
Mineta: 8D
jirou: and i've decided....im going to destroy you twice as hard now.
Mineta: Q_Q
Aizawa: "I said capture, not 'destroy.'"
-what occurred next was far too heinous to depict here-
Aizawa: ._.;;;; ("Oh, the principal is going to rip me for this one...")
Shinso: "..." *tilts his head* <I didn't know it could bend like that.>
Mineta: *horrifying shriek*
-elsewhere-
Customer: "--and I don't appreciate people like you showing up where I live! This used to be a nice community before your kind showed up!"
Cashier: *has a Quirk* =_= "Sir, this is a Death Mart."
mitsuki: *checking the wine rack and humming*
Inko: "Mitsuki?"
mitsuki: oh hey girl!
Inko: ^^ "Hello! How's it going?"
mitsuki: oh the usual. and yourself?
Inko: "The same. I was trying to find something for Izuku's workout diet. How's Katsuki?"
mitsuki: oh, you know how he gets. ^^; *mutters* beingalittleshit...
Inko: "Oh dear...I was worried after Izuku mentioned their last exam...It sounded far too violent." T~T
Customer: "IF I HAD A FACE LIKE THAT, YOU MUTATED FREAK, I'D STAY HOME!"
Cashier: =_=#
mitsuki: ! you got a problem with quirks, buddy?!
Customer: "I got a problem with ones that turn people ugly! This asshole didn't give me the right change--probably because his stupid eyes are on either side of his head."
Cashier: *blinks in annoyance*
Inko: "...Well, it takes all kinds, _sir_."
Customer: "Did anyone ask you two old hags?"
mitsuki: HOW ABOUT WE TAKE THIS OUTSIDE, BUDDY?!
Customer: "Well, Dad raised me never to hit a woman--too bad I don't see any here!"
Inko: "... ... ..." *sets her purse down in her shopping cart*
mitsuki: you know what's gonna happen if you dont shut up, im going to punch my fist through your teeth, down your throat, grab you by the BALLS and PULL YOU INSIDE THE FUCK OUT!
Customer: "Probably the only action you've gotten in the last year."
Inko: *rolls up a sleeve...*
mitsuki: WHY YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!!
Manager: "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to--"
Customer: *swings his fist towards the manager*
-WHA-BAM-
Inko: =_=# "Some people nowadays are so inconsiderate, aren't they?"
mitsuki: *has the customer in a chokehold*
Customer: *high-pitch squeak* "Ow! Let me go, please! Owie owie owie!"
Inko: "Hold him still, Mitsuki--I don't want to have to deal another one..."
Manager: ._. "..." *dials the cops*
-elsewhere-
Black Star: "AND IT WAS SUPER GROSS--EYES EVERYWHERE!"
tsubaki: ^^;
Physician: =_=# <It is really pathetic that you two needed a dog to procure this sample from the creature...> *keeps it under glass* <Where did the dog even disappear to?>
tsubaki: <they left before you got here...>
Black Star: ._. "???"
Sang: <What a shame--we really could have gotten more information.> *smiles, pats Physician's back* <Good thing we have an excellent forensics team! I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of this!>
Physician: =_=#
Sang: <Why don't you two see the town? It would help to acclimate yourself.>
tsubaki: that sounds like a good idea.
Black Star: "Yeah! Let's go find that blob monster in the sewers!" *has not heard of word of this in Korean*
Kro: "Oh! I can give you the tour!"
-elsewhere-
Vortex Cafe Master: "We heard the crash all the way down here...An entire car, through your window?"
Kunikida: =_=
cafe master's wife: did anyone get hurt?
Kunikida: "No, thank goodness. Our team was able to stop the vehicle."
Lucy: =_=
atsushi: and the consultation office was nice enough to offer their office temporarily while we do repairs.
Kenji: "Their plants are so friendly!" ^w^
*the cafe door opens*
Cervantes: "GOOD DAY!"
frances: hello dears~
Kunikida: *nods* "Ms. Burnett."
Kenji: "Hiya! Did you finish watering already?"
frances: indeed i have, young kenji. *looks at the cafe master* i'll have my usual please. *hands him the money*
Master: *smiles* "Right away." *begins brewing*
-elsewhere-
Blair: "AW, YOU LOOK SO ADORABLE IN YOUR UNIFORMS!"
Damon: ._.
becky: -_-; did dad approve this?
Blair: "He wanted you to have a busy and productive summer! I heard the Death Scouts do all neato activities! First aid, weaving, build campfires..."
becky:....i guess i've always wanted to do scouts. 7.7;
Damon: "I was hoping to stay indoors and read?"
Blair: "You can read the Scout Guidebook--" *pulls out a pocket-size book*
Damon: "???" *opens it* "Oh, a bug guide!"
-elsewhere-
Chuuya: *fanning himself* "I just want to figure out something to keep busy, you know?"
naoya: i feel ya.
Chuuya: "And with the girls, that's a challenge, to keep them occupied, you know? It feels like I haven't had a night off..."
naoya: i could look after them for a day if you'd like.
Chuuya: "Oh, that'd help--thanks! What would you like to do with them--anywhere you'd want to go?"
naoya: i could take them to the zoo or mephyland or something.
Chuuya: "Not bad choices--although I'll have to ask Sonia first...That clown on the Mephyland logo is creepy."
-elsewhere-
stocking: zzzz....
Kid: *holds her, gently rubbing her shoulder*
stocking: *nuzzles up to him* =///w///=
Kid: *yawns* "Love you..."
stocking: hmhm~ ^^
Kid: "Want to just stay in bed?"
stocking: yus.
Kid: *smiles* "I love summer breaks..." *nuzzle*
stocking: mmmm~<3
Kid: *kisses her shoulder*
-elsewhere-
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Watched in April
Queen of Earth
Black Christmas
Dogs of Chernobyl
Firecrackers
Les Misérables
The Evil Dead
The Daughters of Fire (Las hijas del fuego)
The Fallen Idol
The Wailing (곡성, Gokseong)
Inherent Vice
Sorrowful Shadow
Mistery Lonely
The Grand Bizarre
Zombieland: Double Tap
Waves '98
Uncut Gems
The Last Séance
Too Late to Die Young (Tarde para morir joven)
Room
Queen & Slim
The Holy Mountain (La montaña sagrada)
The Chaser ( 추격자, Chugyeokja)
Made in Dagenham
The Color of Pomegranates (Նռան գույնը, Nřan guynə)
Lost Girls
Ghost Town Anthology (Répertoire des villes disparues)
And Then There Were None
Doctor Sleep
Meshes of the Afternoon
Circus of Books
Catfish
Wildling
Delphine
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
The Red Balloon (Le Ballon rouge)
Nona. If They Soak Me, I’ll Burn Them (Nona. Si me mojan, yo los quemo)
The Lodge
Invisible Man
Sans Soleil
Did not finish
Horsehead (Romain Basset, 2014)
Sinister (Scott Derrickson, 2012)
Did not like
Sorrowful Shadow (Guy Maddin, 2004)
Mistery Lonely (Harmony Korine, 2007)
Uncut Gems (Josh and Benny Safdie, 2019)
The Last Séance (Laura Kulik, 2018)
The Holy Mountain (La montaña sagrada, Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1973)
Doctor Sleep (Mike Flanagan, 2019)
Okay
Queen of Earth (Alex Ross Perry, 2015): The way it was filmed reminded me of The Midnight Swim and Always Shine. I watched it because Elisabeth Moss is in it but was rather disappointed in the end -- it was beautifully shot but went nowhere
Black Christmas (Sophia Takal, 2019): Like Assassination Nation, this is a film I'm glad young people today have -- and it was fine, and if there’s anything I’ve got to say about so-called raging feminists it’s that we need more of them, but yeah the ending was disappointing and I felt that I had aged out of the target audience a good number of years ago
The Evil Dead (Sam Raimi, 1981): Finally saw this! Love me a a good campy horror story once in a while
The Wailing (곡성, Gokseong) and The Chaser ( 추격자, Chugyeokja) (Na Hong-jin, 2016 and 2008): A healthy dose of wtf in both of those, I’m still not sure I “correctly” grasped the intended tone. I also just lost all interest in The Chaser when (spoiler) the girl died. What’s the point of that? Are we in Game of Thrones now? I may still be angry about that, actually
Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014): I know it’s a good film but it bored me to death. I don’t like stories about men or drugs
Zombieland: Double Tap (Ruben Fleischer, 2019): A sympathetic, slightly disappointing sequel
Waves '98 (Ely Dagher, 2015): I don’t remember much about this short but I did think it was good
Room (Lenny Abrahamson, 2015): I couldn’t watch this as separate from the book, it felt more like a companion film to me than anything else. It was good I think, but I’m definitely not the best judge on this one, because the book was so amazing and I’m still not over it, apparently
And Then There Were None (René Clair, 1945): Was it good? Who knows. They changed the ending and added in a crap love story, so who cares, really
Wildling (Fritz Böhm, 2018): I liked it? I didn’t really see the “feminist themes” in this but it was good
Delphine (Chloé Robichaud, 2019): This is one of those short films that are a little too “slice of life” for me to really enjoy. I can tell it’s good, tho
The Red Balloon (Le Ballon rouge, Albert Lamorisse, 1956): This is apparently a classic short film, and I think I would have enjoyed it a lot had I seen it in 1956. Seeing it today, when everything in it has been used in a hundred thousand other films, made it fall flat a little
Nona. If They Soak Me, I’ll Burn Them (Nona. Si me mojan, yo los quemo, Camila José Donoso, 2019): Watched this because it was directed by a woman! Did not know what to expect at all. The non-linear narration kept me trying to remember if there was something I could possibly have skipped that would have made more sense of it. I think the premise (old woman throws Molotov cocktail at former lover’s car) is better than the finished product, although it is very well-shot and the acting is amazing
Good
Dogs of Chernobyl (Léa Camilleri & Hugo Chesnel, 2020): Short documentary that had me on the verge of tears several times (you can watch it for free on YouTube!)
Les Misérables (Ladj Ly, 2019): It’s hard to talk about films like these. It is very good, very important, I think everyone should watch it. Think a new La Haine
The Daughters of Fire (Las hijas del fuego, Albertina Carri, 2018): Loved the reflection on pornography. The pornography itself was a little more... boring... but I appreciate the intention, and the guts it took to shoot something like this
The Fallen Idol (Carol Reed, 1948): An amazing British classic (adapted from Graham Greene!) that I had somehow never heard of. Great acting, especially considering the main character is a small child
Too Late to Die Young (Tarde para morir joven, Dominga Sotomayor Castillo, 2018): There will be people in this world to say that "uhh nothing happens in this film", a statement to which my reply will be twofold: first, it's beautiful so who cares, and second, how many other films have you seen that take place in a commune in the 1990s in Chile? That's what I thought. Shut up
Made in Dagenham (Nigel Cole, 2010): Films like this and Suffragette, that is, mainstream films about the working classes and political activism, are almost bound to be flawed, but I'm grateful they exist all the same. And how many of those have we seen that are about workers’ unions, with an all-female main cast, and nuanced dialogue about communism and the place of women in the home and of men in feminism? I’m glad that male directors have finally figured out that one of the best ways to avoid showing a one-dimensional idea of women is to have lots of them in one film. And Sally Hawkins! I love her
The Color of Pomegranates (Նռան գույնը, Nřan guynə, Sergei Parajanov, 1969): Another one of those classics I had never heard of (until I got Mubi!). Indescribable, beautiful
Lost Girls (Liz Garbus, 2020): Really liked the speech at the end about the police failing the victims and their families, really liked that the old inspector guy wasn't made to be someone who was on the side of the victims instead of on his own side. Bleak, sobering. When I watched this I didn't know Garbus was the person who directed that Nina Simone documentary, which I also love.Will definitely seek out more Liz Garbus in future
Ghost Town Anthology (Répertoire des villes disparues, Denis Côté, 2019): I watched this not knowing anything about Denis Côté or the film, and I loved the atmosphere even before the supernatural element really kicked in. Films like this and The One I Love or Everything Beautiful is Far Away are my kind of low-key science fiction
Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid, 1943): Aaaand another classic I finally saw! It just warms my heart to see that stuff like this was being made (by a woman!!) in the 1940s
Circus of Books (Rachel Mason, 2019): I saw a headline calling this “the queer Stories We Tell” and I loved Sarah Polley’s documentary and wouldn’t go quite that far but I can see where it’s coming from. A good autobiographical documentary about the complexity of families
Catfish (Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, 2010): I think everyone going into this today knows what this is going to be about, but let me tell you, it does not reduce the impact
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (Lewis Milestone, 1946): Barbara Stanwyck and Lizabeth Scott! Murder! Intrigue! Love and sleaze!
The Lodge (Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala, 2019): This was so efficient. It is so well-done, and Riley Keough is amazing as usual. More subtle than Franz and Fiala’s last effort, Goodnight Mommy, and at least as good
Sans Soleil (Chris Marker, 1983): It’s hard not to be disappointed by this after hearing every film bro I’ve ever met describe this as his fave ever. It is... pretty racist and sexist... but yes, very pretty, very nice if you can get past that
Faves
Firecrackers (Jasmin Mozaffari, 2018): Is this a coming-of-age story? Anyway it’s about two working-class teenage girls in small town Canada who are this close to making their dream of leaving for New York, and one of them is fuuuuucked up...
The Grand Bizarre (Jodie Mack, 2018): I think this is what I want from a non-narrative documentary. I’m tired of seeing pretentious Godfrey Reggio knockoffs. This quite simply blew my mind and is one of those very rare films I can see myself rewatching ten times
Queen & Slim (Melina Matsoukas, 2019): I can’t not compare this to Natural Born Killers and Thelma and Louise, both of which I used to love and haven’t seen in a number of years -- but Queen & Slim is quite possibly better than both of those. The tone, the breadth, the acting -- even the soundtrack. It’s a masterpiece
Invisible Man (Leigh Whannell, 2020): This is about a man who creates an invisibility suit. This is also about a woman who is being stalked and abused by a controlling man who just won’t rest until he has completely destroyed her -- but of course, since this is cinema and the woman in question is Elisabeth Moss, she ultimately beats the shit out of him. This was very difficult to watch for me but I’m glad I stuck through
*
I got Mubi this month! So glad I did. It’s so much better than both Filmstruck (RIP) and Amazon Prime. I like that choices are made for me up to a certain extent -- and those choices often turn out very good, and always interesting. And yes, we’re still in lockdown, I’m still unemployed, hence the number of films watched this month. Hopefully we can get out in May and I’ll end up watching less!
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dug out from the docs I wrote at my last job, a half-baked idea I had for a 2d arena fighter where guns were a major component, with every character having melee and gun modes. Set in the 1920s-30s USA. Every character is an assassin, but (most of them) with an alibi. Rough character ideas:
Cowboy (main character)
GUN: Pump-action shotty
GIMMICK: Slings around a pair of horseshoes on ropes as a bola, a rope dart, or a kusarigama as needed.
Black farmhand from Colorado.
CINEMATIC FINISH: Drags the opponent off into the night behind a horse.
Singer
GUN: Machine pistol
GIMMICK: Deals with hitherto-unseen piano wire lines as projectiles and traps.
Half-black half-white singer from Memphis (though possibly working out of Harlem, not sold), with all the social bullshit surrounding that.
CINEMATIC FINISH: Leaves the opponent hanging, strung up like a fly in a spider’s web, but it’s piano wire and they’re sliced to shit.
Detective
GUN: .38 service revolver
GIMMICK: Just one helluva slugger who relies on dodging and swaying like a boxer
Drunk-ass white guy from Beverly Hills. Two-fisted and paranoid.
CINEMATIC FINISH: leaves the opponent tied up in a car which “accidentally” loses its’ brakes and goes off the end of a pier
Strongman
GUN: Browning Automatic Rifle
GIMMICK: Big motherfucker with a big gun and deadly grapples
Huge Polish circus attraction with the classic “Strongman” look. His stage is set in Indiana.
CINEMATIC FINISH: drops a god damn boulder on the wounded opponent in the woods
Soldier
GUN: Appropriate WWI-era carbine or troop rifle
GIMMICK: He has a bayonet and is really good at rushdowns and switching between ranged and melee
Canadian wanderer (white) who wears a military helmet with the back blown out, letting his hair flow out of the back. Fought in Ohio or thereabouts.
CINEMATIC FINISH: ties the opponent up in the wilderness, lights one cigarette for himself, one for the opponent, and another for seemingly nobody. Then, in silhouette he slashes their gut open and leaves them for the wolves.
Socialite
GUN: Webley revolver
GIMMICK: Cane sword, which he uses for fencing combos
Posh white dickhead with a masquerade mask and a tuxedo, operating out of Miami. I probably don’t need to tell you that he’s a serial killer.
CINEMATIC FINISH: Socialite expertly dices the opponent apart in the middle of a ballroom, while jaded rich people in opera masks watch the “exhibition”
Businessman
GUN: Sawed-off double barrel shotgun
GIMMICK: He’s slow, but he can switch to a very, very devastating axe with his off-hand.
Portly black fellow from New Orleans. Wears a tweed suit minus the jacket.
CINEMATIC FINISH: Pan away, pan back to screams as someone encounters a mysterious, bloody burlap sack left on the stairs of a local club.
Dock Worker
GUN: Mauser C96 knockoff with a red tassle, Chinese military-style.
GIMMICK: The red tassle conceals a short chain with a blade on the end, and also the Mauser comes with its attachable stock/holster for extra Melee bullshit. Also, can take an immobile kneeling stance with 8-way fire when the stock is attached.
Tomboyish Chinese woman wearing an ill-fitting men’s suit. Based out of San Francisco.
CINEMATIC FINISH: Hidden backup with bigass cleavers show-up and Dock Worker is shown feeding the fish with the opponent.
Flapper
GUN: Ruby Pistol. She carries a LOT of them.
GIMMICK: Potato masher grenades, which are great for both improvised bludgeons AND projectiles.
As the name suggests, she’s a total Flapper Fanny type - and also kinda homage to Ethel Hays in her manner of speech - based out of New York
CINEMATIC FINISH: never got one oops lol
Fortune Teller
GUN: long-barreled Colt .45 (not quite a Buntline)
GIMMICK: Throwing glass beads to create explosions and etc., plus backdashes with her “conjuring” her gun seemingly out of nowhere.
Romani wanderer who claims no homeland, but her stage is in Texas.
CINEMATIC FINISH: same as Flapper
Vigilante
GUN: Colt 1911x2
GIMMICK: John Woo-style action hero, diving and dashing and cartwheeling every which way.
Lantern-jawed white guy in a trenchcoat and domino mask. Works out of Chicago.
Actual alibi-profession is owner of a newspaper.
CINEMATIC FINISH: leaves the opponent tied up and hung from a lamp post, a la Batman.
Stuntman
GUN: LeMat Revolver
GIMMICK: Keeps a rapier in his offhand at all times, plus he has an artificial leg that contains a shotgun.
Strapping tough white guy (though secretly half-Puerto Rican) with a cleft chin. Fights out of Hollywood.
CINEMATIC FINISH: The opponent is the “tragic” casualty of an “accidental” fire on an overly elaborate movie set.
MAGICIAN
GUN: Mars Pistol
GIMMICK: Teleportation and varying magic tricks (like doves with knives taped to their feet)
Italian or Slavic man (haven’t decided) who is currently performing in Philly.
CINEMATIC FINISH: Basically a horror death-trap of some description where the opponent is trapped in an enclosed area and Magician pulls a lever and SURPRISE, the opponent dies horribly in some manner.
THE KID
Gun: Tommy Gun
Gimmick: Lots of belly flops, evades, and crawls.
Short Mexican man, fought in Texas. Wears a way-too-baggy suit and, as his name indicates, he’s barely 20. Current cover business is import-exports.
Never got a cinematic finish
SEMI-BOSS: “Numbers”
GUN: Semi-auto pistol (browning, beretta, whatever’s appropriate at the time)
GIMMICK: Has a hook hand, which he uses for some fucking NASTY grapples. Has a devastating bullet-evading dash.
Bespectacled German guy with a high-and-tight trenchcoat-and-fedora look. Fought in the backwoods of Georgia.
Same as above.
SEMI-BOSS: “Big Guy”
GUN: Browning Heavy Machine Gun, barely modified as to be holdable.
GIMMICK: Big, slow, soaks up damage, fires fast, hits like a goddamn juggernaut.
Towering Native-American guy wearing a crude heavy metal bulletproof vest. Fought in Nevada.
CINEMATIC FINISH: the idea was a sky burial but I’m not so sure anymore
SEMI-BOSS: Sharpshooter
GUN: Lever-action rifle
GIMMICK: Has a lasso at her disposal to reposition the enemy, plus ricochet shots and a kneeling stance.
Short white girl in an over-elaborate dress and huge cowboy hat. Part of a traveling circus currently stationed in Wyoming.
also her personality gimmick is that she doesn’t give a fuck about money or revenge or justice or anything, she’s chomping at the bit to test her showy marksmanship abilities in a real combat situation
CINEMATIC FINISH: Sharpshooter tosses a bottle in the air, turns her back, closes her eyes, and leans her rifle over her shoulder. She blows the neck off the bottle perfectly, letting it land flat and spill its contents as the opponent falls backwards into an open, shallow grave. The show carries on.
SECRET BOSS: Undertaker
GUN: sawed-off single-shot rifle.
GIMMICK: Super armor on some moves, disturbingly long-ranged melee attack specials (see: Freeman from Garou), and he can reflect bullets with his shovel.
Totally stereotypical “ghoulish” guy with the cloak, hunched-over physique, deathly pallor, ratty crooked hat, all of that business. Donno where he fights.
CINEMATIC FINISH: what do you think, genius. It involves an open grave.
BOSS: never settled on one lol sorryyyy
Other ideas involved a big game hunter with a double rifle, a circus acrobat with a bull whip in some capacity, a travelling chef (please let your imagination take that concept to another level), and a death-obsessed olympic pistol target shooter who did low damage but could tap the FUCK outta that fire button.
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IN: 0399
Can AI Keep You Healthy?
A Chinese entrepreneur wants to track your health data and suggest ways to improve. But are computers really smart enough to make sense of all that information?
This smart mirror isn’t very smart,” says Jun Wang, standing in front of a full-length mirror wearing designer jeans ripped at the knees. “It’s just a camera and a mirror,” he says, looking mildly distressed—or as distressed as possible for a man whose face is perpetually unperturbed. “What I want is a mirror that does a 3-D scan of me here,” he says, using his hands to trace the contour of his thighs, “and here.” Wang indicates his belly, which is lean. “We want an exact 3-D figure of you: the fat, the muscle—your entire body shape, plus facial recognition, and what’s going on with your skin.” He points to the top right area of the mirror. ���And I want readouts about my health up there, next to where I’m brushing my teeth—my weight, blood pressure, and heart rate, and how does that correlate with my DNA?”
This as-yet-unrealized smart mirror is just one of several gadgets that Wang, a 41-year-old biologist and computer scientist turned entrepreneur, says he is building. The devices will help gather, analyze, and display a crush of health data he wants to collect about himself—and, he hopes, from millions of others. This is why Wang cofounded iCarbonX (ICX), a highly ambitious, if quixotic, personal-health company based here in Shenzhen, in southern China.
ICX wants to capture more data about your body than has ever before been possible. It starts with your DNA sequence and includes data from Fitbit-style wearables that measure your steps, heart rate, and sleep patterns. Add frequent blood tests to measure various proteins and enzymes that can, say, reflect the health of your heart or signal very early signs of cancer. Include monitoring of the ever-changing levels of metabolites produced by the body as it processes food; traditional blood tests on levels of cholesterol and glucose; heart data from an EKG; and information from your medical history. The goal: continuous monitoring of your health and suggestions of adjustments you might make in your diet and behavior before you slip from being healthy into the early stages of an illness.
This sounds a little like personalized medicine, which has been discussed for years. But for Wang, it’s not just about treating disease. It’s also about what might be termed personalized health. “Right now you don’t know about your temperature, or your pulse, or the microbes inside you that affect your emotions,” he says. “Or what to do if you have an allergy, or you want to lose weight because you’re fat.”
The devices will help gather, analyze, and display a crush of health data he wants to collect about himself—and, he hopes, from millions of others.
This vision of personal health monitoring is becoming achievable in part because of dramatic cost reductions for sequencing DNA and measuring the many thousands of biological compounds and processes that regulate the body. What all that means for any one of us, especially when all the readings are combined, is unclear. But ICX is part of a new wave of companies that figure they can find something meaningful in the data and enable medicine to stop merely reacting to an illness you have; these companies want to keep you healthy at a fraction of the cost. Unlocking this puzzle, with its millions of moving pieces, is where AI and other advanced computing techniques will have to come in. “AI is how we can take all of this information and tell you things that you don’t know about your health,” says Wang.
Assuming it works, putting all of this together will not be cheap. As CEO of ICX, Wang has raised $600 million in funding for the effort, a remarkable amount for a project offering high-tech tests for healthy people. “But he’ll need it, and probably more, with everything they want to test,” says Eric Schadt, a computational biologist and mathematician who recently stepped down as director of Mount Sinai’s Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology in New York. Schadt has launched his own health data company, called Sema4, which is scanning genomes and molecular biomarkers.
ICX is using its pile of cash in part to invest in or acquire companies that might contribute to Wang’s holistic vision. This includes a $161 million stake in Colorado-based SomaLogic, which is working on a chip that can measure 5,000 proteins in the blood; more than $100 million in PatientsLikeMe, a company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that provides an online platform for more than 500,000 patients to share experiences, metrics, and feelings about their health and diseases; and $40 million in AOBiome, also of Cambridge, which sells spray-on microbes that it says make skin healthier. ICX also recently invested in HealthTell of San Ramon, California, which identifies antibodies from a blood sample as clues to the presence and progress of diseases including cancer and autoimmune disorders. Additionally, ICX is also collaborating with several companies in China.
Tying this eclectic alliance together is an aggressive effort to build an artificial-intelligence system that will attempt to analyze all this data. That’s being led by Israel-based iCarbonX-Israel, which ICX acquired last year. Founded in 2005 as Imagu Vision Technologies, the company develops software to interpret CT and other medical images. Now Imagu’s engineers are working with counterparts at ICX to create what they call a “virtual health brain” that will interpret the thousands of data points ICX wants to collect on each customer. “We want to create a tool that not only analyzes data but offers ways to help people improve their health, like how to alter their diet,” says Imagu CEO and cofounder Mor Amitai.
“If this all sounds ridiculously complicated, it is,” says Wang, smiling in a way that blends reassurance—which undoubtedly is appreciated by investors—and bemusement, as if he knows that what he is proposing sounds a bit daft. The question, then: can he use his money and technical savvy to revolutionize medicine?
A tall man with short black hair, Wang strolls coolly through his company’s headquarters, a Silicon Valley knockoff with open workstations, glass-walled conference rooms, a gym, and a café always stocked with food, healthy drinks, tea, and coffee. It’s on the third floor of an industrial-park building in a complex of similarly unexceptional structures tucked between two sprawling, wooded theme parks called Happy Valley and the China Folk Culture Village. In the back of ICX’s HQ is Wang’s office, a comfortable niche with deep leather chairs and a private conference room—a business setting that is a long way from where Wang started, as an academic researcher sequencing DNA at Beijing University in the late 1990s.
Wang authored over 100 studies as a professor at the University of Copenhagen and as a bioinformatics whiz at the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI), which he helped found in 1999. BGI was the organization that led China’s relatively small contribution to the Human Genome Project, a worldwide effort in which several countries worked on different segments of the human DNA sequence published in 2003. BGI later churned out the first complete DNA sequences of an Asian person, a strain of rice, the SARS virus, and the giant panda. During his stint as BGI’s CEO, Wang helped build the company into one of the largest sequencing operations in the world. In 2016, it had revenue of $250 million, and this summer it issued an IPO. Wang remains a major shareholder and a member of the board.
“You also need millions of people—maybe as many as 10 million people—to get meaningful signals for common diseases.”
But he left BGI in 2015 because he was frustrated by the limits of genomics. Specifically, sequencing DNA doesn’t provide much insight into the health of most individuals. Scientists have found countless DNA markers that seem as if they should help determine whether a person is healthy or sick. But those markers have turned out, nearly 15 years after the completion of the Human Genome Project, to make less of a difference than originally thought. With the exception of certain rare genetic mutations, DNA is just one determinant of a person’s medical fate. “It turns out you also need to know about proteins, and metabolites, and all the rest,” says Wang.
Soon after his departure from BGI, Wang formed ICX, knowing he would do something with AI and health. But he wasn’t sure exactly what data besides DNA the company could, or should, collect. To figure it out, he met with a range of experts and companies, including a pivotal meeting in July 2016 at the Original Max’s restaurant in Burlingame, California, near the San Francisco airport. In town pitching ICX to investors and prospective partners, Wang had arranged to see Jamie Heywood, the cofounder and chairman of PatientsLikeMe, who was visiting from Boston. As they sat in an orange-and-yellow plastic booth in the truck-stop-style café, it didn’t take Heywood and Wang long to realize that they shared a fundamental exasperation with the limitations of today’s medical practices. Giving people more data seemed like a promising route. PatientsLikeMe, which runs a service where thousands of members discuss their various chronic diseases in online forums and provide metrics about their health and the progression of their disease, had already shown the value of careful health tracking by individuals. Drinking coffee, Wang and Heywood dissed classic medical testing, which tends to be static, with one test taken at a time—an EKG in a clinical setting every year or two, for example, or when symptoms seem to warrant it. “We got excited about the possibility that we could discover the early stages of when a person shifts from good health to, say, becoming a diabetic,” says Heywood, an MIT-trained engineer. “We both agreed that the technology is there, or is close to being there.”
No one really knows how the most advanced algorithms do what they do. That could be a problem.
Heywood, who is a fast-talking bundle of energy where Wang conveys a steady calm, suggested that such a profile should also include the sort of behavioral and personal data collected by his company. Information that people share in the forums of PatientsLikeMe—on such issues as the health impact of stress at work—provides valuable clues to other members on how they can better manage their chronic conditions. Why not help healthy people use similar tools and data? “It took about five minutes for Jun and I to realize that we could do this,” he recalls.
Heywood brought something else to the table: his company had built a computer platform designed to analyze data reported by its half-million users. But it’s not yet clear that combining all the data that ICX and its collaborators want to capture will be meaningful. Nor is it likely that AI will find significant correlations in the data unless ICX lures millions of people to its service—and even that many might not be enough. “ICX will struggle,” predicts Eric Schadt of Sema4. “You also need millions of people—maybe as many as 10 million people—to get meaningful signals for common diseases.”
Wang readily acknowledges the challenges. “To do everything we want will take many years,” he says. When asked about the need to test large numbers of people to discern signals in the noise of all this data, he says that ICX is looking to enroll at least one million people in the next five years. “China has this big population, so I’m not worried about this,” he says. He adds that as disposable income increases in China, people want to spend money on their health.
Wang admits, however, that he doesn’t yet have a clear business plan. “I tend to think about the right thing to do with the science and the product first,” he says. “Then I figure out the business model. Investors are okay with this. They don’t want short term.”
Smoke and mirrors?
Underlying ICX’s challenge are also some fundamental questions about how to integrate artificial intelligence into health care. There’s little doubt that advanced computing will eventually provide a huge boost toward making sense of all manner of health and biomedical data. And Wang is not the only one with business ambitions for the technology. According to CB Insights, which tracks venture capital investments, investors are funding 106 startups in AI and health—up from a handful a few years ago. They’re pursuing everything from mental health and drug discovery to lifestyle management, virtual assistants, hospital management, and medical imaging and diagnostics. While this sounds impressive, AI so far has failed to make a substantial impact on most of medicine and health care. “In certain niches, AI is here and has been for years,” says Marty Kohn, a physician and the former chief medical scientist at IBM, who helped develop IBM Watson Health. “But it’s not happening at scale. And it hasn’t yet helped large numbers of patients.”
Future generations will scoff at your passcode.
One reason is that it’s incredibly difficult to interpret the crush of data. “I think AI has tremendous potential,” says Leroy Hood, the president and cofounder of the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle. “But the claims for AI and health care are very overblown.” Most companies, he suggests, “don’t do real science.”
A longtime pioneer in finding tools for understanding the body’s complex functions, Hood is a cofounder of Seattle-based Arivale, another health data company. Two years ago, Arivale started offering its own version of lifestyle, wellness, and molecular testing, coupled with personal coaching. In July 2017, Hood and Arivale published a small study in Nature Biotechnology that he says provides a proof-of-concept analysis of what the researchers call “personal, dense, dynamic data clouds” measured in healthy people over time. They used advanced algorithms to make correlations for 108 subjects who took dozens of health tests and measurements. Some of the participants learned that they had vitamin deficiencies; others found they had early signs of inflammatory bowel disease or diabetes that needed tending through diet or supplements. These results, however, are preliminary, and far more of them will be needed to separate real findings from the firehose of data.
There’s little doubt that advanced computing will eventually provide a huge boost toward making sense of all manner of health and biomedical data.
As for Wang, he is experimenting on himself with still more ways to acquire such information. As he continues his tour of ICX’s headquarters in Shenzhen, he points to a toilet just off his office where he collects plastic bags of poop for his daily microbiome analysis. Wang describes plans to build a “smart toilet” that will capture and analyze one’s waste and feed it into an AI-generated personal profile. “We have the technology to do this,” he says. “We have the algorithms. It will be cheap, something like $200.” Wang next lifts up his sky-blue polo shirt to show off a wireless continuous heart-rate monitor.
One wonders, however, if millions of healthy people will be as obsessed as Jun Wang is with collecting so much data on themselves. The question seems to take him by surprise, momentarily roiling his composure. He knits his brow, looking as if he couldn’t imagine that other people might not want smart mirrors and toilets, frequent blood draws to measure thousands of metabolites, and heart monitors taped to their chests. “I’m not asking everyone to do this,” he finally says. “People choose not to know a lot of things. But there are plenty of people who want to know, or can be educated to want to know.” He pauses for another nanosecond and then flashes that smile, looking as if he had just figured out the answer to this literally multibillion-dollar question about his effort and his company. “People used to not want to know their genes; now more and more people want to know,” he says. “I’m sure that this trend will continue.”
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My off-the-cuff opinions on the new NHL jerseys, whether you want them or not
Atlantic
Montreal: Incorruptible. The line from “In Flanders Fields” on the inside collar gives it that extra layer of fart-sniffing necessary for a modern Canadiens… well, anything.
Ottawa: Well, I guess they own that old Reebok template now. (So glad the Penguins are off of it.)
Florida: Great redesign last year, not messed with.
Toronto: Classic.
Tampa Bay: Lazy knockoff of a classic.
Boston: Name lettering loses the black inner outline. Much cleaner. Otherwise fine.
Buffalo: I have no opinion on their shade of blue, but the number-on-front trend is over.
Detroit: Unassailable.
Metro
Pittsburgh: May they never wander from this general design ever again. (That collar is different, but it’s already growing on me.)
Columbus: Blah. That blue has always been too dark, and it makes the red and white piping look more garish than it should. Stars on the sleeves are a clever callback, though, and the cleaner fonts are nice.
Carolina: Let’s just forget that “modernized” look ever happened, shall we? Warning flag stripe, now and forever.
Rangers: What the hell is that red notch on the collar? There is a damn good reason why every other red element on the jersey has a white outline: That red on that blue clashes. Horribly.
Washington: REBOOT. Those sleeves have always been, and shall always be, a mess. And bite the bullet and make the Weagle the crest, dammit.
Islanders: Again, the orange collar notch is distracting. At least there’s some orange on the rest of the collar to tie it in.
New Jersey: The thin black hem instead of the classic triple stripe will take some getting used to, but only because Lou Lamoriello is a weirdo, and he convinced the universe that the Devils jersey must never change. It’s fine. (I hope they do more with green than just the inside collar. Maybe when they reintroduce alternate jerseys, they’ll bring back the original red-and-greens for more than just St. Patrick’s Day, because again, Lou is a weirdo.)
Philadelphia: Whatever.
Pacific
Las Vegas: Bah. Harrumphing, hidebound traditionalists, the lot of you. An expansion team should try new ideas, and the grey body and sublimated patterns are great. White gloves are hitting on 17, though. Let’s see how long those last.
Los Angeles: Meh. Still too plain.
Vancouver: This was your chance to lose the big, obnoxious “VANCOUVER” lettering over the logo, and you missed it!
Arizona: Like Florida, a good recent redesign. The inside collar pattern is cool. A subtle callback to the trippy original jerseys.
Anaheim: REBOOT. I like the webbed “D” logo better than most, but the rest is irredeemable slop.
Edmonton: Why? WHY?! Send that orange body back to the ‘70s. There’s no place for it here.
San Jose: Fine. I still think they need slightly more orange trim, though. (See, Oilers? Orange can be used tastefully.) The new shoulder patch is sharp.
Calgary: This was your chance to switch back to the classic white “C”, and you missed it!
Central
Nashville: The apron stripes needed to go (league-wide), but they overshot “restrained” and hit “practice jersey”.
Colorado: The mountain hem stripe is back! It’s the end of an error, just like Carolina. Looks like they tweaked the nameplate font, too. Modern, still vertically arched.
Chicago: Legendary.
Minnesota: I feel like there’s one, maybe two drafts that were better than this final design. Every red element looks like it’s only there because “it needs more red” was said in a meeting. The script “M” shoulder patches are nice.
St. Louis: Not broken, wasn’t fixed. They win the Most Obscure Inside Collar Reference Award, because you’ve probably never seen the city’s flag before.
Dallas: Fine. The crest still underwhelms me.
Winnipeg: Still good-but-not-great.
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is the request open? if yes, may i have headcanons for fem!Dazai,fem!Atsushi,fem!Ranpo,and fem!Chuuya?
(They’re going to be ladies all throughout; i.e. not male Atsushi and female Dazai interacting, but both female Atsushi and female Dazai)
Dazai Osamu
Dazai is the most annoying person you will ever have the displeasure of following on social media. Any page made by her, ever, is just a solid wall of memes, the occasional selfie (all of which showcase her newest fabulous suicide attempt; there’s at least two of her, fully clothed, in a bathtub, a toaster dangling above the water), and candid shots of unsuspecting ADA members. These are always accompanied by an astonishingly demoralizing caption and at least four crying-laugh emojis. Dazai also shares the dumbest ‘justgirlythings’ posts she can find and pretends to get personally offended when people question them.
Whether she actually likes them, or is just wearing them as a joke, Dazai has a museum-worthy collection of pants with print on the ass. Her favorite is the ‘are you nasty’ booty shorts and she always tries to wear them on Casual Friday. (Naturally, Fukuzawa puts a stop to her less-than-work-appropriate clothing as soon as possible. Dazai’s bitter, Kunikida’s relieved that there’s at least some semblance of law and order in the ADA, and Atsushi… well. She’s just baffled about who even makes something like that.)
Dazai makes a lot of dick jokes despite not actually having a penis. Everyone’s heard her tasteless “Not now, boner” quip a minimum of three times, and she especially likes to expose Kunikida to this humor because of how flustered he gets. Dazai also chants a lot of male-geared songs (think ‘Dick in a Box’). For someone who doesn’t have a penis, she brags about it quite often.
Dazai often says ‘I woke up like this’ when complimented. She does not, in fact, ever wake up like that. Although it doesn’t take much personal effort or grooming for Dazai to look like a goddess, she still needs to put in some work to be flawless. Her whole morning routine takes a little more than half an hour, but she swears up and down she simply rolls out of bed looking perfect.
Dazai’s the girl that observes no personal space whatsoever when it comes to other ladies. Unless she specifically doesn’t like someone, she’s usually standing mere inches away, using their shoulder as an armrest, slouching against them while she’s sitting. These gestures aren’t overtly flirtatious, but Dazai’s just open enough with other girls to get them wondering. Does she swing that way? She’s never expressly said, but her nails are usually pretty short…
If you’re going clubbing, Dazai is the lady you need to go with. Not is she completely immune to getting white-girl wasted (although she’s a bit rowdier, Dazai is, all in all, a relatively composed drunk), she can swing free drinks for every single girl at the bar with her. Plus, she’s got a near enycolpediac knowledge of date-rape drugs, and she’s prepared to absolutely wreck any guy that tries something funny.
Dazai is the master of starting drama and does so often. She doesn’t mind being in the center, but her favorite place is along the sidelines where she can observe everything. Dazai sets up a juicy situation, waits for the victims to get into it, and sits back with a bucket of popcorn.
Whenever someone she’s not interested in asks for her number, she writes down Kunikida’s. Unless they’re really being a grade-A asshole about it. Then she’ll give them Chuuya’s number.
Nakajima Atsushi
By all appearances, Atsushi’s quite the stereotypical hipster. There’s not much in her closet other than baggy sweaters and pastel colors, and her interior decoration isn’t much different. There’s a few cacti scattered around on windowsills, along with things she bought just because they looked cute. Atsushi’s got an expansive collection of plushies and puffy stickers. Despite all of this, she’s a bit confused if someone accuses her of being a hipster; Atsushi’s practically blind to the physical evidence, and besides, she doesn’t act like one. She’s not near pretentious enough.
Atsushi’s quite self-conscious about her body, especially her chest. If a girl’s got large breasts, Atsushi’s going to notice; even if she tries to concentrate fully on a conversation, her eyes will naturally wander, focusing on what she wishes she had. Despite this, she considers push-up bras a bit too brazen of a solution; she bought one once, on a whim, and it’s remained stuffed in a drawer ever since.
Atsushi can always be counted on to spare a tampon. You’ll need to say flat-out if you need one, because all of the seemingly obvious hinting does nothing to lead her to the right conclusion. She’ll blush a bit, stutter a few embarrassed ‘oh’s (especially if you’ve been trying to get her to pick up your subtle hints for awhile) and dig into her purse for an extra. Even if the stowed-away package is her last one, and she’s on her period herself, Atsushi still gives it to you.
It’s an accident, but Atsushi ends up personifying anything and everything basic sometimes. She’s completely unaware that knockoff Uggs, cinnamon-spice lattes, and anything from the gluten-free menu is seen in a negative light. If Dazai’s not there to poke fun at her, Atsushi indulges in all of the classic white-girl luxuries, none the wiser as to her hipster tendencies.
Atsushi loves playing with hair. She’s a bit rubbish at styling her own, but if there’s someone else around that gives the go-ahead, her fingers are instantly going to be trailing their scalp. Typically, Atsushi sticks with simple things like braids or head massages, but if she’s got plenty of extra time and bobby pins, she’ll try twisting their hair into something more complicated. Even though it always ends up gorgeous, Atsushi always undoes it after she’s done, unless her subject specifically orders her to leave it alone.
Edogawa Ranpo
Most forms of grace or manners are entirely lost on Ranpo. It’s not like she goes out of her way to be rude, and she’ll contain many gross breaches of conduct, like burps or blowing her nose in front of others. Posture, though, is a lost cause. Ranpo’s always caught slouching, arms crossed behind her head and feet propped up, legs spread far, on whatever surface is closest. Whenever someone suggests she cross her legs, she just pouts. Sometimes, the only way to escape a glance of Ranpo’s thighs, or even underwear, depending on how high her feet are propped, is to simply not look.
Ranpo’s either dressed in a skirt and tights or sweatpants. There’s no in between. The fashion aspect has little to do with it, although she does like how cute she looks sporting a flirty skirt. Usually, she just throws on whatever’s clean.
Ranpo’s shaved probably twice in her entire life. It’s not that she’s against the act; in fact, she loves that her legs are so soft and smooth without hair. Despite this, she simply can’t be bothered to put in the effort. Shaving takes forever, after all, and she could be doing much better things (eating candy or solving murders. Either works) with her time. Of course, the longer she puts the razor off, the thicker her leg-hair jungle gets, and the more time-consuming cutting back the growth gets. It’s a vicious cycle. If the hair gets too bad, Ranpo whines at one of her ADA coworkers to bring her to a salon so that she can get her legs waxed. (Usually, it’s a lady, but once Yosano was completely occupied and Dazai and Atsushi were working a case together, so the burden fell to Kunikida. Needless to say, not his favorite day on the job.)
Whenever someone’s trying to flirt with Ranpo, she’s completely oblivious. Someone buys her morning coffee for her? Well, it’s just because she’s the greatest detective, and they’re showing their appreciation. Someone subtly slips her their number? They probably have a case that needs solving, and they’re trying to let her know to reach them, if she has some spare time.
As opposed to Dazai, Ranpo does actually ‘wake up like this’. She can roll out of bed looking ready for the runway, fuzzy pajama pants and all. About the only thing Ranpo does to keep up appearances is brush her teeth; the rest just sort of falls into place. Nobody can rock the cute, messy look like Ranpo can.
None of Ranpo’s pants have pockets in them. She’s always fooled by the fake-opening trick, and in the rare occasions that she does any shopping, she always forgets to check to make sure there’s actually a pocket underneath the lining. Of course, she never holds on to receipts; even if she did, she’s too lazy to return anything. Whenever she’s wearing a pair of the pocket-less pants she refuses to shut up about it. Everyone is going to hear about how shitty her sans-pocket pants are.
Nakahara Chuuya
Chuuya considers herself a femme fatale, and judging by first appearances, you’d probably think so, too. She’s a sex bomb and she’s entirely aware of it. Chuuya doesn’t walk, she struts: chin up, back straight, eyes steely. The confidence simply radiates. Despite her self-assurance, she’s still a dork. You’d never know unless you hung out with her, though, and she doesn’t even fully realize it herself.
She keeps it light and classy, but Chuuya’s a makeup goddess. After one too many times of a young Chuuya breaking into Kouyou’s lipstick and absolutely covering everything in red stains, the woman taught her young maquillage enthusiast how to properly apply it. Since then, Chuuya’s tackled a little bit of everything; she’s got a firm handle on everything from contouring to false eyelashes, though she prefers only scant makeup for the day-to-day. Like Kouyou, she’s drawn to red lipstick, and isn’t caught dead without winged eyeliner on.
Chuuya is the rare breed of lady that can sprint with high heels on. She doesn’t usually wear heels; she’s practical, after all, and stilettos aren’t necessary on missions. When she wants to show off, though, she’ll pop on a pair of pumps and flaunt her parkour skills.
Chuuya’s wardrobe radiates class, and her ‘casual’ wear is nothing short of acceptable for a five-star restaurant. There’s barely any pants to be seen in her closet; it’s all dresses. She’s got a personal tailor, and he’s wary to sew anything else for fear that she’ll scoff because it simply isn’t classy enough.
Chuuya has entire drawers brimming with sexy lingerie. Most of it is lace, although there’s leather here-and-there for when she’s looking for something out of the ordinary. Despite the veritable underwear museum, she’s not usually wearing something sexy under her clothes. More often than not, she’s got standard cotton panties on, and mismatches bras and underwear a lot more often than you’d expect. Chuuya only breaks out the naughty wear if she’s in a very particular mood.
Ever the romantic, Chuuya often daydreams about her dream partner sweeping her off her feet and whisking her to paradise. Despite that desire, she’d probably slice anyone who tried seducing her. Anyone who wants a chance with Chuuya will have to simply drop hints as to their intent and let her come to them.
#Bungou Stray Dogs#Bungou Stray Dogs Imagines#Dazai#Chuuya#Ranpo#Atsushi#Nakahara Chuuya#Nakajima Atsushi#Edogawa Ranpo#Dazai Osamu#BSD Imagines
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This 1932 Ford Roadster Shows How Far Traditional Rods Can Go
The Cruzer’s Customs trailer left New Braunfels, Texas, on Sunday, January 21. The car inside, Gordon Leland’s ’60s-style 1932 highboy roadster, had to be at the Grand National Roadster Show on Wednesday for preliminary judging for America’s Most Beautiful Roadster. There was only one problem; the car wasn’t finished.
“The car was still missing its hood, grille, and rear wheels. We were relying on UPS to deliver the missing parts to our hotel in California,” builder Brian Cruz said. “We finished the car in the parking lot. The hotel staff kept asking us, ‘What are you guys doing out there?!’”
On Wednesday morning the roadster drove into the Pomona Fairplex where it was presented to the AMBR judges.
When Gordon, Brian, and the Cruzer’s Customs team started building the roadster about three years ago they weren’t thinking about competing for the AMBR award. Gordon has had plenty of automotive competition in his life. He started drag racing as a teenager in the ’60s and was racing a Top Fuel dragster at 21. He continued with Fuel dragsters and Alcohol Funny Cars before getting involved in stock car racing. In recent years, he has partnered in a 1929 Model A roadster Bonneville car. The Deuce wasn’t built for racing on a dragstrip or an oval track or running 228 mph on the salt. It was built for driving on the streets of San Antonio.
“Most of Gordon’s cars are knock-down-drag-out hot rods,” Brian said. “The 1932 was built traditional, old-school style, but with a little more flair—like chrome, nice paint, leather seats, and air.” The Brookville body and various chassis parts had been in Gordon’s shop for several years, torn apart and waiting for the right opportunity.
Phil Fleming and David Evans at Cruzer’s Customs handled most of the bodywork. In keeping with the traditional style, modifications to the Brookville steel body were limited to fitting gaps, filling seams, and filling the cowl vent. The grille shell and four-piece, 25-louver hood are Brookville steel. Dan Fink supplied the grille insert. Gordon had received the window posts and frame from the late Barry Lobeck. The roadster is the perfect application for them. Headlights are 1932 Ford commercial and the taillights are 1941 Chevy. David Evans painted the car using BASF Glasurit products. Brian said the Blue Crystal Metallic is a later-model color, but the flake size gives it the look of a ’60s paintjob.
The style established by the body and paint is perfected by the wheel and tire choice. Gordon and Brian injected some of the “knock-down-drag-out” flavor from Gordon’s race cars by choosing vintage circle track–style Sebring wheels from E-T Mags with genuine knockoff caps. The 16- and 18-inch wheels wear Firestone Dirt Track tires from Coker. The traditional looks were further preserved by backing the wheels with SO-CAL Speed Shop front disc brakes with finned drum covers and rear 9-inch Ford “Police Special” rear drum brakes, plumbed to a Wilwood master cylinder and proportioning valve.
The foundation of the roadster is a 1932 frame from Kiwi Konnection. Cruzer’s Customs boxed and smoothed the ’rails. Pete and Jakes provided much of the traditional front suspension, including the Super Bell drilled I-beam axle and spindles. Hairpins maintain the ’60s style, along with buggy springs, RideTech Street Rod tubular shocks, and a SO-CAL Panhard bar. Steering duties are handled by a Mullins box. At that other end, a Ford 8-inch is packed with 3.50:1 gears in a limited-slip differential, located by Pete and Jakes ladder bars with Aldan coilovers smoothing out the ride.
By the time Chevy introduced the 350, the small-block was already popular with rodders. The 425-horse Edelbrock Performer 350 in Gordon’s roadster was dressed with retro style, but with a car show finish. Edelbrock Classic finned valve covers and breathers top the aluminum heads. In between, a Performer RPM manifold and EFI four-barrel throttle body are crowned by a Cal Custom Cadillac air cleaner, modified by Cruzer’s Customs. Edelbrock also supplied the serpentine belt system and components. A U.S. Radiator and SPAL electric fan combo keep the small-block cool. MSD provides ignition and the exhaust exits through custom stainless headers and pipes built at Cruzer’s Customs, corked with MagnaFlow mufflers. Paul Truax at Cruzer’s Customs built the GM 4L60E transmission with a Yank Performance SS torque converter. Not many engines from the ’60s shone like the 350 in Gordon’s Deuce. What wasn’t painted or polished was chromed. Advanced Plating in Nashville handled the brightwork on the roadster.
The interior was designed and built exactly as Gordon asked—hot rod simple with no elaborate flourishes. “Not even door pockets,” Brian points out. The result is simple, but with no compromises on quality. The steel dash features an engine-turned insert housing Stewart-Warner Wings gauges. The LimeWorks shifter column, column drop, and 1940 steering wheel perfectly suit the traditional hot rod cockpit. Robert Hernandez at Gabriel & Son Custom Auto Interiors built the bench seat on a Glide Engineering frame and covered it with dark blue Relicate leather. German square-weave carpet covers the floor. There is no stereo, but there is A/C from Vintage Air, because even roadsters need A/C in central Texas. Don’t bother looking for controls and vents though; they’re hidden.
Jessica Cruz, Brian’s wife, is the one who came up with the idea of entering Gordon’s roadster into competition for America’s Most Beautiful Roadster, and who submitted the application and photos. At the end of January, the just-finished Deuce took its place of privilege in the main building of the Grand National Roadster Show. Since then, the Deuce has been making the rounds and collecting awards. If you missed it in Pomona, you might have seen it in Del Mar, Nashville, in the Builder’s Showcase in Louisville, or in the Brookville display at the recent SEMA Show in Las Vegas. Catch it while you can because the car won’t be on the show circuit forever. Gordon Leland’s Deuce wasn’t built for posing on the floor of a fairground building. The traditional, old-school 1932 was built for driving on the streets of San Antonio.
The post This 1932 Ford Roadster Shows How Far Traditional Rods Can Go appeared first on Hot Rod Network.
from Hot Rod Network https://www.hotrod.com/articles/1932-ford-roadster-shows-far-traditional-rods-can-go/
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here have some vaguely harsh eurovision wank:
france (requiem): french w/ some english in it, not that bad actually, very catchy, i like this a lot??
latvia (line): what even is this aesthetic?? electrostreet?? cybergrunge??
serbia (in too deep): generic love-pop with a very heterostraight video.
cyprus (gravity): …is this the cypriot pop answer to brendon urie?? chord progression in the main part has me fooled, don’t hate it.
greece (this is love): oh bab ur trying so hard!! i want u to succeed but it's a weird ballad/dance fusion and i'm confused and overwhelmed.
malta (breathlessly): generic powerballad about unrequited love.
sweden (i can’t go on): lol knockoff justin timberlake.
romania (yodel it!): what is happening. what the outermost fuck is going on.
hungary (origo): my fav thus far! cool violins and not in english, i support!
belgium (city lights): i know lots of people like it, i don’t like it, cool orbs, otherwise boring.
albania (world): dystopian??
poland (flashlight): nudity?? not my thing. i like the orchestra tho.
germany (perfect life): generic “imperfect is the new perfect” electropop tbh.
norway (grab the moment): not awful, catchy, but it’s from norway which means i despise it.
czech republic (my turn): ballad about love, again. diverse dancers tho!!
georgia (keep the faith): powerballad, again, but getting political this time. kinda the same route as ukraine took last year, but not sure if this is gonna work.
iceland (paper): why is iceland so fuckign weird...
slovenia (on my way): powerballad, this time performed by a guy.
UK (never give up on you): fuckign rickroll. powerballad from hell, but somewhat not in a bad way?? no message as per usual, but if she can sing live i’m here for it tbh.
moldova (hey mamma): i’m so confused. loving the LEDs tho.
australia (don’t come easy): still fucks me up that australia competes in eurovision. also, what the fuck is with their obsession with making a mediocre pop song with the same title as an iconic classic....just askin...
the netherlands (lights and shadows): THE HARMONY?? this is ambitious i hope this works out live omg??
montenegro (space): don’t like the song but tHE GUY’S HAIR
austria (running on air): generic but feelgood i guess??
belarus (historyja majho zyccia): it’s in belarussian that’s so cool!! it’s super catchy and there’s a ukulele, i’m sold.
bulgaria (beautiful mess): the clichés.......they hurt.......
croatia (my friend): half italian and half english for some reason?? do i like it?? maybe??
san marino (spirit of the night): i’m getting...aha vibes?? for some reason?? it’s got a groove, but from there on it’s largely meh.
denmark (where i am): might win, might not get to the finals. not my kinda song, but i recognise people might like it??
armenia (fly with me): idk what i expected but oh my god it wasn’t this also IS SHE WEARING A PENTAGRAM
russia (flame is burning): (i don’t have a politically informed opinion about the travel ban, but i hope the EBU’s offer still stands so that samoylova will get to perform) this song, UK, and denmark are the powerballad trio we all secretly wanted.
switzerland (apollo): will be stuck in my head, but i want it out of there
F.Y.R. macedonia (dance alone): it’s got that generic pop rhythm again, but?? i kinda like it?? best music video.
italy (occidentali’s karma): it’s in italian and i love it. sounds like feelgood weirdness, actually a commentary on the lifestyle of modern westerners. i’m in.
israel (i feel alive): the dancey summer-song vibes are strong. not my bag o’ crisps.
ukraine (time): they have timers make-up-attached to their chests and try to be vaguely rock-ish?? cool effect, not a fan of the song.
finland (blackbird): the most ballad-y ballad to ever ballad,, PIANO INTERLUDE,, nope back to ballad and oh darling ur trying to powerhouse but u really can’t
lithuania (rain of revolution): what is?? happening?? i sincerely have no opinion??
potugal (amar pelos dois): soft!! cute piano and sobral looks like he loves singing more than he loves performing. also gets not-in-english points!
azerbaijan (skeletons): my aesthetic?? bit weird but i’m kinda here for it
ireland (dying to try): most used words and you, me/i, and love. i guess the aesthetic is good tho?
estonia (verona): oh, generic love-is-difficult, again, lovely. none of u have ever read romeo and juliet, ‘cause this isn’t how it goes.
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Metallica Rocker’s Mansion Shreds the Competition on This Week’s Most Popular Homes
realtor.com
We had a rockin’ good time with the most popular homes on realtor.com® this week. A few familiar faces showed up, we made a couple of new acquaintances, and the list was topped by the magnificent mansion of a metal legend.
Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett‘s San Francisco estate shredded the competition this week, picking up three times as many clicks as the No. 2 home. Any preconceived notions you have about what a rock star’s home looks like can be cast overboard once you get a look at his estate overlooking the ocean.
The charming 1920s home has a gleaming kitchen, clean lines, and quirky vintage touches throughout. With all of that in one of the city’s most prestigious neighborhoods, you get a classic composition.
There were a few other mansions that piqued your interest this week. You clicked on Georgia’s most expensive home, the foreclosed Wrigley Mansion in Chicago, and the Florida spread of a former MLB All-Star.
There are also plenty of affordable options this week. So turn the music up and scroll down…
10. Undisclosed address, Atlanta, GA
Price: $48,000,000
Why it’s here: It’s a chance to purchase your own museum! Georgia’s most expensive home has been on the market since 2014. Attention, budding art collectors with deep pockets: Everything under the roof—artwork, sculptures, and antiques—comes with the sale.
Atlanta, GA
realtor.com
———
9. 2466 N Lakeview Ave, Chicago, IL
Price: $7,150,000
Why it’s here: It’s the Wrigley Mansion, which has been on the market since 2014. The price on this historic home has fluctuated over the years. Now at just a tad over $7 million, the fabled piece of Windy City history is looking for a preservation-minded buyer to rescue it from foreclosure.
Chicago, IL
realtor.com
———
8. 2650 W Alex Bell Rd, Miami Township, OH
Price: $299,000
Why it’s here: Known as Walnut Hall, it’s a bit of a White House knockoff plopped down near Dayton. Built in 1830, the five-bedroom home and offers nearly 5,000 square feet of living space.
Miami Township, OH
realtor.com
———
7. 12219 Bolen Rd NE, Newark, OH
Price: $229,900
Why it’s here: Also in Ohio, this is the perfect opportunity for a buyer looking for a hobby farm, according to listing agent Jennifer Hardbarger. She told us people who’ve seen the 4-acre spread love the home’s recent renovations and the potential for the land. For those with an equine interest, she said the property is “horse ready” and could accommodate a number of ponies. Giddyup!
Newark, OH
realtor.com
———
6. 367 Arbor Rd, Lancaster, PA
Price: $142,000
Why it’s here: This A-frame is the fixer-upper of the week. Built in 1976, the three-bedroom home looks aged, but we think a new coat of interior paint, window washing, and yard work will go a long way to bringing this distinctive dwelling back to life.
Lancaster, PA
realtor.com
———
5. 79 Ridge Dr, Naples, FL
Price: $2,795,000
Why it’s here: It’s John Kruk‘s Florida getaway! The former first baseman spent a dozen years working for ESPN as an analyst, but he left the network after the 2016 season. With a career change, the ex-jock is shuffling his real estate portfolio.
Naples, FL
realtor.com
———
4. 401 W Whitaker Blvd, Huntington, WV
Price: $149,900
Why it’s here: Last week’s first-place finisher slid three spots this week. The former hunting lodge racked up a ton of interest when it landed on the market thanks to its low, low price. After receiving multiple offers, the historic home is pending sale.
Huntington, WV
realtor.com
———
3. 1210 N 13th St, Waco, TX
Price: $99,900
Why it’s here: Co-listing agent Amy Fackrell was a bit surprised to hear this home was so popular. She told us it’s a government-owned home, and she hasn’t received more than a couple of phone calls on it. So it’s all a mystery! She did add the home is only 4 years old and it’s not really a prime flipping candidate, because it won’t require much work beyond the carpet and paint. So much for a chance to appear on “Fixer Upper“!
Waco, TX
realtor.com
———
2. 811 W Whitton Ave, Phoenix, AZ
Price: $289,990
Why it’s here: You like us, you really like us! We featured this adorable home in our recent look at Mid-Century Modern homes available for under $300,000. Enough of you read the article, dug it, and clicked on the listings within to vault this desert beauty into the runner-up spot. The three-bedroom bargain has undergone a top-to-bottom renovation and the result is simply rad.
Phoenix, AZ
realtor.com
———
1. 308 Sea Cliff Ave, San Francisco, CA
Price: $14,000,000
Why it’s here: It’s the home of Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett. His magnificent mansion in the city’s Sea Cliff neighborhood generated three times as many clicks as our second-place finisher. It’s a worthy winner—as long as the sun is out. The neighborhood is often plagued by San Francisco’s infamous fog, which you’ll see no trace of in the stunning pics of the manse. Even if you do get fogged in, the home’s cozy vibe will make the cloudy days seem A-OK. Fade to black!
San Francisco, CA
realtor.com
The post Metallica Rocker’s Mansion Shreds the Competition on This Week’s Most Popular Homes appeared first on Real Estate News & Advice | realtor.com®.
from DIYS http://ift.tt/2kQiWR0
0 notes
Text
Metallica Rocker’s Mansion Shreds the Competition on This Week’s Most Popular Homes
realtor.com
We had a rockin’ good time with the most popular homes on realtor.com® this week. A few familiar faces showed up, we made a couple of new acquaintances, and the list was topped by the magnificent mansion of a metal legend.
Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett‘s San Francisco estate shredded the competition this week, picking up three times as many clicks as the No. 2 home. Any preconceived notions you have about what a rock star’s home looks like can be cast overboard once you get a look at his estate overlooking the ocean.
The charming 1920s home has a gleaming kitchen, clean lines, and quirky vintage touches throughout. With all of that in one of the city’s most prestigious neighborhoods, you get a classic composition.
There were a few other mansions that piqued your interest this week. You clicked on Georgia’s most expensive home, the foreclosed Wrigley Mansion in Chicago, and the Florida spread of a former MLB All-Star.
There are also plenty of affordable options this week. So turn the music up and scroll down…
10. Undisclosed address, Atlanta, GA
Price: $48,000,000
Why it’s here: It’s a chance to purchase your own museum! Georgia’s most expensive home has been on the market since 2014. Attention, budding art collectors with deep pockets: Everything under the roof—artwork, sculptures, and antiques—comes with the sale.
Atlanta, GA
realtor.com
———
9. 2466 N Lakeview Ave, Chicago, IL
Price: $7,150,000
Why it’s here: It’s the Wrigley Mansion, which has been on the market since 2014. The price on this historic home has fluctuated over the years. Now at just a tad over $7 million, the fabled piece of Windy City history is looking for a preservation-minded buyer to rescue it from foreclosure.
Chicago, IL
realtor.com
———
8. 2650 W Alex Bell Rd, Miami Township, OH
Price: $299,000
Why it’s here: Known as Walnut Hall, it’s a bit of a White House knockoff plopped down near Dayton. Built in 1830, the five-bedroom home and offers nearly 5,000 square feet of living space.
Miami Township, OH
realtor.com
———
7. 12219 Bolen Rd NE, Newark, OH
Price: $229,900
Why it’s here: Also in Ohio, this is the perfect opportunity for a buyer looking for a hobby farm, according to listing agent Jennifer Hardbarger. She told us people who’ve seen the 4-acre spread love the home’s recent renovations and the potential for the land. For those with an equine interest, she said the property is “horse ready” and could accommodate a number of ponies. Giddyup!
Newark, OH
realtor.com
———
6. 367 Arbor Rd, Lancaster, PA
Price: $142,000
Why it’s here: This A-frame is the fixer-upper of the week. Built in 1976, the three-bedroom home looks aged, but we think a new coat of interior paint, window washing, and yard work will go a long way to bringing this distinctive dwelling back to life.
Lancaster, PA
realtor.com
———
5. 79 Ridge Dr, Naples, FL
Price: $2,795,000
Why it’s here: It’s John Kruk‘s Florida getaway! The former first baseman spent a dozen years working for ESPN as an analyst, but he left the network after the 2016 season. With a career change, the ex-jock is shuffling his real estate portfolio.
Naples, FL
realtor.com
———
4. 401 W Whitaker Blvd, Huntington, WV
Price: $149,900
Why it’s here: Last week’s first-place finisher slid three spots this week. The former hunting lodge racked up a ton of interest when it landed on the market thanks to its low, low price. After receiving multiple offers, the historic home is pending sale.
Huntington, WV
realtor.com
———
3. 1210 N 13th St, Waco, TX
Price: $99,900
Why it’s here: Co-listing agent Amy Fackrell was a bit surprised to hear this home was so popular. She told us it’s a government-owned home, and she hasn’t received more than a couple of phone calls on it. So it’s all a mystery! She did add the home is only 4 years old and it’s not really a prime flipping candidate, because it won’t require much work beyond the carpet and paint. So much for a chance to appear on “Fixer Upper“!
Waco, TX
realtor.com
———
2. 811 W Whitton Ave, Phoenix, AZ
Price: $289,990
Why it’s here: You like us, you really like us! We featured this adorable home in our recent look at Mid-Century Modern homes available for under $300,000. Enough of you read the article, dug it, and clicked on the listings within to vault this desert beauty into the runner-up spot. The three-bedroom bargain has undergone a top-to-bottom renovation and the result is simply rad.
Phoenix, AZ
realtor.com
———
1. 308 Sea Cliff Ave, San Francisco, CA
Price: $14,000,000
Why it’s here: It’s the home of Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett. His magnificent mansion in the city’s Sea Cliff neighborhood generated three times as many clicks as our second-place finisher. It’s a worthy winner—as long as the sun is out. The neighborhood is often plagued by San Francisco’s infamous fog, which you’ll see no trace of in the stunning pics of the manse. Even if you do get fogged in, the home’s cozy vibe will make the cloudy days seem A-OK. Fade to black!
San Francisco, CA
realtor.com
The post Metallica Rocker’s Mansion Shreds the Competition on This Week’s Most Popular Homes appeared first on Real Estate News & Advice | realtor.com®.
from DIYS http://ift.tt/2kQiWR0
0 notes
Text
Metallica Rocker’s Mansion Shreds the Competition on This Week’s Most Popular Homes
realtor.com
We had a rockin’ good time with the most popular homes on realtor.com® this week. A few familiar faces showed up, we made a couple of new acquaintances, and the list was topped by the magnificent mansion of a metal legend.
Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett‘s San Francisco estate shredded the competition this week, picking up three times as many clicks as the No. 2 home. Any preconceived notions you have about what a rock star’s home looks like can be cast overboard once you get a look at his estate overlooking the ocean.
The charming 1920s home has a gleaming kitchen, clean lines, and quirky vintage touches throughout. With all of that in one of the city’s most prestigious neighborhoods, you get a classic composition.
There were a few other mansions that piqued your interest this week. You clicked on Georgia’s most expensive home, the foreclosed Wrigley Mansion in Chicago, and the Florida spread of a former MLB All-Star.
There are also plenty of affordable options this week. So turn the music up and scroll down…
10. Undisclosed address, Atlanta, GA
Price: $48,000,000
Why it’s here: It’s a chance to purchase your own museum! Georgia’s most expensive home has been on the market since 2014. Attention, budding art collectors with deep pockets: Everything under the roof—artwork, sculptures, and antiques—comes with the sale.
Atlanta, GA
realtor.com
———
9. 2466 N Lakeview Ave, Chicago, IL
Price: $7,150,000
Why it’s here: It’s the Wrigley Mansion, which has been on the market since 2014. The price on this historic home has fluctuated over the years. Now at just a tad over $7 million, the fabled piece of Windy City history is looking for a preservation-minded buyer to rescue it from foreclosure.
Chicago, IL
realtor.com
———
8. 2650 W Alex Bell Rd, Miami Township, OH
Price: $299,000
Why it’s here: Known as Walnut Hall, it’s a bit of a White House knockoff plopped down near Dayton. Built in 1830, the five-bedroom home and offers nearly 5,000 square feet of living space.
Miami Township, OH
realtor.com
———
7. 12219 Bolen Rd NE, Newark, OH
Price: $229,900
Why it’s here: Also in Ohio, this is the perfect opportunity for a buyer looking for a hobby farm, according to listing agent Jennifer Hardbarger. She told us people who’ve seen the 4-acre spread love the home’s recent renovations and the potential for the land. For those with an equine interest, she said the property is “horse ready” and could accommodate a number of ponies. Giddyup!
Newark, OH
realtor.com
———
6. 367 Arbor Rd, Lancaster, PA
Price: $142,000
Why it’s here: This A-frame is the fixer-upper of the week. Built in 1976, the three-bedroom home looks aged, but we think a new coat of interior paint, window washing, and yard work will go a long way to bringing this distinctive dwelling back to life.
Lancaster, PA
realtor.com
———
5. 79 Ridge Dr, Naples, FL
Price: $2,795,000
Why it’s here: It’s John Kruk‘s Florida getaway! The former first baseman spent a dozen years working for ESPN as an analyst, but he left the network after the 2016 season. With a career change, the ex-jock is shuffling his real estate portfolio.
Naples, FL
realtor.com
———
4. 401 W Whitaker Blvd, Huntington, WV
Price: $149,900
Why it’s here: Last week’s first-place finisher slid three spots this week. The former hunting lodge racked up a ton of interest when it landed on the market thanks to its low, low price. After receiving multiple offers, the historic home is pending sale.
Huntington, WV
realtor.com
———
3. 1210 N 13th St, Waco, TX
Price: $99,900
Why it’s here: Co-listing agent Amy Fackrell was a bit surprised to hear this home was so popular. She told us it’s a government-owned home, and she hasn’t received more than a couple of phone calls on it. So it’s all a mystery! She did add the home is only 4 years old and it’s not really a prime flipping candidate, because it won’t require much work beyond the carpet and paint. So much for a chance to appear on “Fixer Upper“!
Waco, TX
realtor.com
———
2. 811 W Whitton Ave, Phoenix, AZ
Price: $289,990
Why it’s here: You like us, you really like us! We featured this adorable home in our recent look at Mid-Century Modern homes available for under $300,000. Enough of you read the article, dug it, and clicked on the listings within to vault this desert beauty into the runner-up spot. The three-bedroom bargain has undergone a top-to-bottom renovation and the result is simply rad.
Phoenix, AZ
realtor.com
———
1. 308 Sea Cliff Ave, San Francisco, CA
Price: $14,000,000
Why it’s here: It’s the home of Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett. His magnificent mansion in the city’s Sea Cliff neighborhood generated three times as many clicks as our second-place finisher. It’s a worthy winner—as long as the sun is out. The neighborhood is often plagued by San Francisco’s infamous fog, which you’ll see no trace of in the stunning pics of the manse. Even if you do get fogged in, the home’s cozy vibe will make the cloudy days seem A-OK. Fade to black!
San Francisco, CA
realtor.com
The post Metallica Rocker’s Mansion Shreds the Competition on This Week’s Most Popular Homes appeared first on Real Estate News & Advice | realtor.com®.
from DIYS http://ift.tt/2kQiWR0
0 notes
Text
Metallica Rocker’s Mansion Shreds the Competition on This Week’s Most Popular Homes
realtor.com
We had a rockin’ good time with the most popular homes on realtor.com® this week. A few familiar faces showed up, we made a couple of new acquaintances, and the list was topped by the magnificent mansion of a metal legend.
Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett‘s San Francisco estate shredded the competition this week, picking up three times as many clicks as the No. 2 home. Any preconceived notions you have about what a rock star’s home looks like can be cast overboard once you get a look at his estate overlooking the ocean.
The charming 1920s home has a gleaming kitchen, clean lines, and quirky vintage touches throughout. With all of that in one of the city’s most prestigious neighborhoods, you get a classic composition.
There were a few other mansions that piqued your interest this week. You clicked on Georgia’s most expensive home, the foreclosed Wrigley Mansion in Chicago, and the Florida spread of a former MLB All-Star.
There are also plenty of affordable options this week. So turn the music up and scroll down…
10. Undisclosed address, Atlanta, GA
Price: $48,000,000
Why it’s here: It’s a chance to purchase your own museum! Georgia’s most expensive home has been on the market since 2014. Attention, budding art collectors with deep pockets: Everything under the roof—artwork, sculptures, and antiques—comes with the sale.
Atlanta, GA
realtor.com
———
9. 2466 N Lakeview Ave, Chicago, IL
Price: $7,150,000
Why it’s here: It’s the Wrigley Mansion, which has been on the market since 2014. The price on this historic home has fluctuated over the years. Now at just a tad over $7 million, the fabled piece of Windy City history is looking for a preservation-minded buyer to rescue it from foreclosure.
Chicago, IL
realtor.com
———
8. 2650 W Alex Bell Rd, Miami Township, OH
Price: $299,000
Why it’s here: Known as Walnut Hall, it’s a bit of a White House knockoff plopped down near Dayton. Built in 1830, the five-bedroom home and offers nearly 5,000 square feet of living space.
Miami Township, OH
realtor.com
———
7. 12219 Bolen Rd NE, Newark, OH
Price: $229,900
Why it’s here: Also in Ohio, this is the perfect opportunity for a buyer looking for a hobby farm, according to listing agent Jennifer Hardbarger. She told us people who’ve seen the 4-acre spread love the home’s recent renovations and the potential for the land. For those with an equine interest, she said the property is “horse ready” and could accommodate a number of ponies. Giddyup!
Newark, OH
realtor.com
———
6. 367 Arbor Rd, Lancaster, PA
Price: $142,000
Why it’s here: This A-frame is the fixer-upper of the week. Built in 1976, the three-bedroom home looks aged, but we think a new coat of interior paint, window washing, and yard work will go a long way to bringing this distinctive dwelling back to life.
Lancaster, PA
realtor.com
———
5. 79 Ridge Dr, Naples, FL
Price: $2,795,000
Why it’s here: It’s John Kruk‘s Florida getaway! The former first baseman spent a dozen years working for ESPN as an analyst, but he left the network after the 2016 season. With a career change, the ex-jock is shuffling his real estate portfolio.
Naples, FL
realtor.com
———
4. 401 W Whitaker Blvd, Huntington, WV
Price: $149,900
Why it’s here: Last week’s first-place finisher slid three spots this week. The former hunting lodge racked up a ton of interest when it landed on the market thanks to its low, low price. After receiving multiple offers, the historic home is pending sale.
Huntington, WV
realtor.com
———
3. 1210 N 13th St, Waco, TX
Price: $99,900
Why it’s here: Co-listing agent Amy Fackrell was a bit surprised to hear this home was so popular. She told us it’s a government-owned home, and she hasn’t received more than a couple of phone calls on it. So it’s all a mystery! She did add the home is only 4 years old and it’s not really a prime flipping candidate, because it won’t require much work beyond the carpet and paint. So much for a chance to appear on “Fixer Upper“!
Waco, TX
realtor.com
———
2. 811 W Whitton Ave, Phoenix, AZ
Price: $289,990
Why it’s here: You like us, you really like us! We featured this adorable home in our recent look at Mid-Century Modern homes available for under $300,000. Enough of you read the article, dug it, and clicked on the listings within to vault this desert beauty into the runner-up spot. The three-bedroom bargain has undergone a top-to-bottom renovation and the result is simply rad.
Phoenix, AZ
realtor.com
———
1. 308 Sea Cliff Ave, San Francisco, CA
Price: $14,000,000
Why it’s here: It’s the home of Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett. His magnificent mansion in the city’s Sea Cliff neighborhood generated three times as many clicks as our second-place finisher. It’s a worthy winner—as long as the sun is out. The neighborhood is often plagued by San Francisco’s infamous fog, which you’ll see no trace of in the stunning pics of the manse. Even if you do get fogged in, the home’s cozy vibe will make the cloudy days seem A-OK. Fade to black!
San Francisco, CA
realtor.com
The post Metallica Rocker’s Mansion Shreds the Competition on This Week’s Most Popular Homes appeared first on Real Estate News & Advice | realtor.com®.
from DIYS http://ift.tt/2kQiWR0
0 notes
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