#anyway i liked it just fine but its weak compared to what i expect from mike flanagan
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To those before, and to those after. To us now, and to those beyond. Seen or unseen, here but not here.
THE MIDNIGHT CLUB | Season 1
#the midnight club#tvedit#netflixdaily#netflixedit#tvfilmsource#dailytvfilmgifs#tvfilmspot#tvcentric#tvandfilm#tvarchive#minimalistsource#adaptationsdaily#horroredit#horrorgifs#horrorsource#ms#anyway i liked it just fine but its weak compared to what i expect from mike flanagan#kinda disappointed but ill keep watching it if theres a season 2#and just found out it wasnt supposed to be a limited series too#themidnightclubedit
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alright! we got one whole person interested, so here's my hot take:
the first "how to train your dragon" movie is WAY better than httyd 2.
i know everyone loves like, the cool warrior mom design, the romance and the "epic animation moments" in 2... but can we for a moment be honest and say the whole "hiccup becoming a leader / which dragon is the Good Alpha" plot was dumb as hell? also, the villain sucked?
the original httyd is pretty good about keeping the structural problem grounded in real societal fears. namely, fear of the unknown and of beasts. it makes sense for any ol' village dealing with such a problem. it was intelligently designed around a solid premise.
httyd 2 is like. actually, dragon taming is a big thing, even outside berk. and theres a Scary Foreign Man dragon tamer who is bad and just wants power. it's okay to other him. being a good guy is about being a protector instead of an evil, power-hungry guy... which hiccup never was anyway... so no real growth there. just be good instead of bad. wow. what a theme. very thought-provoking.
people act like httyd 3 being bad came out of nowhere, but httyd 2 was the original sin to me. it totally dropped the societal themes in favor of generic good vs evil fights and "worldbuilding" - despite having no more interesting stories to tell.
it also kind of ruined hiccup for the sake of developing him. like. his whole thing is that he can't fight, so he has to find other ways to contribute to society. he's the anti-macho hero. which ends up being important in convincing the village that dragons can be peaceful. he's empathetic to the other, because he's been othered.
meanwhile in httyd 2, hiccup's like. Cool Warrior Man, who needs to step up and be the hero king when his dad dies. he can fight just fine, because he has a cool dragon to fight with. so he's just like any warrior, but one who fights with weapons instead of brute strength. aka most fictional warriors who arent just "the heavy."
the first movie isn't beyond criticism, obviously. the animation was a little meh compared to httyd 2 - i get why visually its seen as an upgrade. plus, httyd 1 also did the thing of having like a last minute evil dragon to defeat... but that wasn't the point. the POINT was the village and its fears. the POINT was overcoming that.
whenever people list why they love httyd 2 and consider it superior, its like... lists of details. like, look at the upgraded character designs, the cool flying scenes, the affection between hiccup and astrid, or the clever way hiccup's prosthetic leg is designed.
but these are film *details*, not fundamentals.
if you told me the sequel to httyd was going to have a much more generic story, ignore the themes of the original and makes its deliberately lanky and weak protagonist into Handsome Hero Warrior Boy, i'd be like. that sounds kinda bad. but the Animation Details (tm) i guessssss
i know hiccup is still "himself" in 2 to some extent, btw. he's an inventor, he's intelligent, and he initially tries to talk to the villain. but none of that ends up mattering. its arguably looked down on by the movie, which really, really wants him to step up to be the warrior king like his dad. aka a generic Hero Strongman.
i'm not totally against evolving the themes of a work to fit new conflicts, btw. sequels should generally be different from the first movie. that's fine. that's expected.
but while the new conflict in httyd 2 IS born out of the results of the previous movie, that evolution feels very literal, not thematic.
namely, the evolution is "more people have dragons now." it builds the conflict from there. its based on worldbuilding, not on theme.
i don't think a very interesting evolution.
it kinda went from, in httyd 1: "the theme is fear of the unknown. how prejudice/ignorance manifests, educating oneself through compassion, the dangers of worshipping violent masculinity, and the importance of questioning what you're taught by society."
to, in httyd 2: "the theme is dragons. who has them? what they want with them? how can the Good Guy humans protect dragons from the Bad Guys? also, being a Good Leader means being a strong Hero Man who protects his friends," without asking any deeper questions related to the themes of the first movie.
and i'm like. guys. guys.
the theme shouldn't just be "dragons."
the theme of the first movie was NOT just "dragons." the first movie could've been about people being afraid of unicorns. or large birds. or unusually intelligent bears. it was not just about literal dragons, it was about societal fears and trying to overcome our base gut instincts.
i think this is what really plagues httyd 3: it builds on the themes of the second movie, not the first.
httyd 3 asks further questions that only really revolve around the literal relationship between humans and dragons. it does not understand any broader themes of what that relationship represents.
it clearly thinks its very intelligent for asking "what do the dragons themselves want?", but that question is not respected enough to be explored in any thematically coherent way.
the only real weight its given is the argument that there will always be "bad humans" out there, and so, dragons are safer in the wild. which sure is... an argument. but its a very "othering the problem" kind of argument.
it acts like its caring about the agency of dragons, but its not really. dragons were not actually portrayed as "oppressed" in berk society after the first movie, nor lacking agency. they were only at risk of "bad individuals", to which that solution is stupid. the racialized bad guy in httyd 2 didn't steal all his dragons from berk. he caught and subjugated them, mostly from the wild.
all while looking like... this, by the way. i feel like we don't talk about that enough. all the good guys are white nordics, while the only man of color is scary, domineering and cruel. in a series of movies that was once about having empathy for the other.
MAYBE if berk had been really oppressive towards dragons in httyd 2, we could've had a theme. maybe if they treated them like a dangerous commodity that must be tightly controlled despite their nominal acceptance and inclusion, we could've had a thematically tight 3-movie arc about like fear and oppression or whatever.
but that would require, yknow... making the movies be about broad societal problems, instead of just evil individuals. and only the first movie cares about making any real societal critique.
also, the solution in httyd 3 would've still sucked. these movies, in terms of writing, really decrease in maturity from 1, down to 2, to the plummeting depths of 3.
there is no relationship of oppression that is solved by completely segregating society and going our separate ways (httyd 3). just like there is no oppression that is solved just by defeating bad individuals (httyd 2). we have to learn to coexist as equals, to educate ourselves and be compassionate to the other. even if we're afraid.
that's the dream only the first movie kept in its heart.
#httyd#how to train your dragon#httyd 2#httyd 3#how to train your dragon 2#how to train your dragon 3#long post /#media analysis#media criticism#writing#ask to tag /#racism /
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august ✰ m. riddle
➻ pairing: mattheo riddle x reader
➻ genre: fluff/angst
➻ summary: a whirlwind summer with mattheo leaves your head spinning and craving more, but when he chooses to ignore you at school, you know there has to be something going on. you just didn’t expect it to crush you so much
➻ warnings: sex references, mentioned loss of virginity, swearing, cheating on a partner, slight toxicity if you squint (like really really squint), no war au, please message me if you think i’ve missed any so i can add them!
➻ word count: 2.2k
➻ a/n: I LOVE FOLKLORE i honestly might make this a little series and make a oneshot based on every song from the folkmore sister albums because it’s so fun lmao!!
mattheo riddle. a concoction of every terrible, addictive thing you could think of. a drug to your susceptible mind. the one person who ruined everything by giving you such happiness.
it all started back in the summer before 7th year. of course, most teenagers flee to the coast during the warmer summer months, a desperate attempt to absorb as much sun as possible before having to return to scotland's less than scorching weather for yet another year of classes at hogwarts. you were no different, and it seemed mattheo wasn't, either.
—
salty ocean air filled your nose as his lips met yours, a desperate action to be close to each other. he blindly searched for the rusty door handle of his hotel room behind you, wanting to get you out of the hall and into his bed as quickly as possible. sure, you’d had a couple of heated make-outs before, but nothing like this. it had never gotten to this point.
quickly pulling you down onto his sheets, he let his hand wander, beelining towards the plush of your ass, your hands searching through the chocolate curls atop his head.
“you sure you want this?” he whispered into your ear, planting sloppy kisses along your neck, his breath loud and heavy next to you, “i mean it. are you sure?”
you let your head fall back into the pale pillow, a place to rest whilst you tried to understand all of the new sensations pumping through you like blood from your heart, giving yourself a second to think.
“i’ve never done this before, matty,” you replied, your tone timid and weak compared to the rough husking of his voice swirling around your head, a constant memory of the boy you knew you’d never get over.
“it’s fine. you trust me, yeah?” mattheo pulled away for a moment, wanting to check before going any further with you.
“i want this,” you nodded, giving him all the reassurance he needed, prompting him to continue his journey down your body with the knowledge that you wanted to do this with him. you trusted him with something as fragile as your purity. that made him feel fucking insane.
his dark eyes took in the sight of you sprawled out across the white hotel bed, your soft lips and innocent eyes, your hair forming a halo around your head. his angel.
—
“red or white?” you smiled up at mattheo, your eyes darting to the bottle of wine in his hands as he handed it to you with a small shrug.
the two of you had decided to have a little picnic by the beach, a day to relax together as if that wasn’t what you did every day, anyway.
“not a clue,” he huffed, sitting down on the blanket you had set out on the sand, his hand instantly going for some cheese and crackers.
you slapped his hand away, a small pout on your face as he met your gaze, having absolutely no clue what you were stopping him for.
“wow, this looks fantastic! this is so good! thank you so much for getting all the food!” you mocked quietly, rolling your eyes. no matter how hard you tried to appear annoyed, you couldn’t hide the small smirk that crept its way onto your lips.
“oh, shut up,” he chuckled, tugging his shirt off and tossing it to the side, shaking his head, “thank you for putting it together. it looks really nice. you’re really nice, angel,” he added, his words playful, yet still a genuine thank you.
you poured each of you a glass of wine, laying down next to him, both of you on your stomachs, as he began to absolutely demolish the small buffet on the picnic blanket, your fingers lightly ghosting over his back. you couldn’t help but trace your own name, an invisible claim on the boy you adored more than anything.
“what are you doing?” he huffed quietly, turning his head to look directly at you and the way that a pink blush quickly spread across your cheeks as you got caught, your fingers pulling away, “i didn’t tell you to stop. i asked you what you were doing.”
“just… enjoying the moment,” you shrugged, shuffling close to him in an attempt to brush off the way you got flustered at his words.
his arm snuck around you almost instinctively, his lips planting a small kiss buried deep in your hair. a secret. a mark so important to you, but invisible to everyone else.
“i’m enjoying it, too,” he mumbled in reply, his free hand covering his mouth to hide all the food he’d shoved in it.
—
mattheo walked along the side of the road, watching the white-rimmed waves roll over on each other, bored of having nobody to speak to when you weren’t there.
he looked to the left as a car rolled around the corner, his head tilted slightly. he knew those sunglasses.
“no way,” he huffed, his jaw dropping as the car stopped next to him, “no fucking way. you passed?”
you looked up at him with a wide grin, absolutely ecstatic that you had not only taken your driving test whilst on holiday, but had passed, meaning you could drive anywhere you wanted. mattheo had already passed his a couple months before, so you’d been using him as your personal chauffeur for your time together, but you could finally go wherever you wanted on your own.
“get in, then,” you rolled your eyes playfully, nodding to the passenger seat of the convertible as he quickly made his way around to the other side, seeming just as excited as you were.
mattheo’s arms wrapped around you, pulling your head close to his chest as he smiled down at you.
“i’m so fucking proud of you, angel,” he muttered, planting wet kisses on your cheek, holding you tighter than ever before, “we should go out to celebrate. that italian behind the mall that you like? i’ll pay.”
you nodded, not wanting to turn down an opportunity to do anything with him, especially when you were already in such a good mood.
you drove to the restaurant, a regular place the pair of you went together since it was so small and intimate, yet never felt overcrowded.
—
you both got your meals and began eating, laughing and joking as normal, casually celebrating you passing your test.
“mattheo?” a girl’s voice came from behind you, his eyes immediately hardening as he glared up at whoever it was, “where’s-”
“don’t,” mattheo cut her off with a warning, your head craning around to see who it was.
pansy parkinson.
pansy was a fellow slytherin girl in your year; you knew her a little due to sharing some classes, but you were nowhere near being friends.
pansy just glanced between the two of you, her jaw slightly dropping further and further until she caught herself, pulling her phone out of her pocket.
“you’re fucked up, mattheo riddle,” she hissed as she walked past your table and out of the door, seeming not only shocked, but angry.
you turned your head back to the boy, your brows furrowing in confusion. it seemed that mattheo and pansy had a silent understanding of whatever it was they were talking about, and you were not part of it.
“what was she talking about?” you asked, but he completely ignored you, slamming his drink onto the table and walking out of the restaurant, leaving you even more bewildered.
you watched through the front window of the restaurant, watched them argue and shout at each other about something. it seemed as if pansy was calling him out for something, but you couldn’t think of what he could’ve done. sure, he was a bit of a troublemaker, but why would it affect pansy?
after a couple minutes, mattheo walked back into the restaurant, seeking incredibly annoyed about whatever the situation was.
“what was she talking about?” you repeated, your head tilting with not only confusion but concern.
“nothing, oh my fucking god,” he spat back, before checking himself on the way he was speaking to you, “sorry. it’s just… it’s nothing. it’s not going to ruin today. this is about celebrating you, not wasting time on whatever pansy parkinson has to say.”
you nodded and continued with your meal, though couldn’t help but feel there was more to it than he was letting on.
—
after the summer, you returned to hogwarts for your final year, everyone talking about their breaks incessantly. the issue was that mattheo had told you not to tell anyone about your involvement with him.
“let’s keep this as much of a secret as we possibly can, okay?” he’d muttered to you as you laid next to each other in bed, your head on his stomach and your body between his legs.
“why?” you’d asked, completely oblivious to why he wouldn’t want to share your feelings for each other with your friends and be happy in public, but he’d just shut you down every time it came up.
“i wanna keep this private, angel. there’s no need to have everyone else involved in whatever it is that we’re doing.”
if only you knew.
you’d spent the first week confined to your dorm, cancelling every plan anyone tried to make with you to wait for a single call or text from him, but nothing ever came. the second you got back to school, mattheo ghosted you.
—
you were sitting in your defence against the dark arts class, occasionally catching mattheo’s gaze every now and then. you’d always give him a small smile, but he would just look away or glance at you with a vague, unidentifiable expression. he showed no hint of compassion or knowledge of you in public past the odd conversation about the work you were doing in class when one of you were a bit lost and nobody else was willing to help. that had only happened once or twice. it was frustrating.
a small tap on the shoulder caused you to turn around, a girl sitting behind you with a sour expression on her face.
“did you fuck daphne’s boyfriend?” she spat, glaring at you with a look that could kill.
your cheeks instantly grew a little red. you’d only ever done anything with mattheo. who was daphne’s boyfriend?
“who?” you replied, your brows furrowing in pure confusion.
“don’t be fucking stupid,” the girl hissed, rolling her eyes, “mattheo riddle, daphne’s boyfriend.”
that one comment, that one single question seemed to bring the whole world to a stop.
you quickly asked your professor if you could go to toilet, a chance to escape the room that seemed to be clawing at your skin, ripping it raw. your eyes began to burn, a dangerous waterfall of tears threatening to spill down your face.
quickly rushing off, you brought a little attention to yourself, though it wouldn’t surprise you if everyone knew what it was about. pansy must’ve told them. it hurt more that he didn’t tell you.
it seemed that mattheo noticed, because, only seconds after you entered the prefect bathroom, he came rushing in after you, immediately trying to pull you into his chest, but you resisted.
“how could you do this to me?” you whispered, unable to stop yourself from crying as you looked up at him, “how could you do that to her? you’re… god, i should’ve listened when people said that you were out of control. this isn’t right, mattheo. you lied to me!”
he just stood there, seeming completely and utterly unbothered by your meltdown and rambling, his head tilting slightly.
“out of control? who told you that?” he scoffed quietly, rolling his eyes. it shocked you that the one comment he chose to pay any attention to was the one that was purely about him as a person, and not your words about how he affected everyone else.
“everyone, mattheo, everyone says it,” you huffed out, letting out a breath of shock at how he brushed it all off, “everyone always talks about the troublemaker that can’t keep himself away from a fight and can’t be nice to people. god, i thought they were so wrong. i thought that i had been the way to find a good side of you, but it wasn’t even real.”
he screwed up his face slightly at your words, but didn’t say anything, leaning against the wall as he mindlessly picking at his nails and giving you no attention whatsoever.
“i was so scared, y’know that?” you whispered, your voice quiet and soft now, your eyes pleading, begging with him to hear you out, “you were ignoring me. i thought i’d lost you and it turns out that you weren’t even mine to lose. do you even know how much that hurts? you could’ve told me, at least. yeah, i would’ve been upset, but at least you would’ve been honest,” you continued, watching his eyes flick up to you.
“it was just a summer fling, angel,” he muttered, realising that you weren’t going to stop crying. with that, he walked out of the bathroom, leaving you stranded with your own thoughts. your own reflection.
it was just a summer fling.
#fanfic#harry potter#benjamin wadsworth#harry potter fanfiction#taylor swift#mattheo riddle x y/n#mattheo riddle x reader#mattheo x you#mattheoxreader#mattheo x y/n#mattheo riddle#mattheo riddle x you#hp fanfiction#fanfiction#hp#harry potter golden era#slytherin#august#folklore#folklore taylor swift#august taylor swift
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My Annual Eurovision List - 2023
Completely based on music videos until we actually see some staging. Don’t come at me.
37. POLAND
Solo – Blanka
LMAO fuck TVP. Jann would have been my winner.
36. LITHUANIA
Stay (ČIŪTO TŪTO) – Monika Linkytė
Bleh. I know some people really like this song, but...bleh. There’s nothing here that sticks with me. The song was over and I forgot what it sounded like. I don’t know, I’m used to more from Lithuania.
35. IRELAND
We Are One – Wild Youth
This is the point where I feel like too many bands are hurting this year. They would have been fine any other year, but comparing them to the other bands this year, they’re quite weak. I also expect them so sing “We are Young” every single time...what is fun. up to anyway? (hiatus, apparently.)
34. AZERBAIJAN
Tell Me More – TuralTuranX
Uh...it’s a song. Their name reminds me of Duran Duran. Remembering the name of Duran Duran was the main thing I did while listening to this song. I abolutely HATE spoken word, oh my god. And apart from that, this sounds like one of those songs from an average to slightly bad romcom. Not even the ending song, but the one from the middle, the part where the producers knew that they wanted to convey the passage of time so they simply chose to do a montage.
33. ALBANIA
DUJE – Albina dhe Familja Kelmendi
The guy singing in between is absolutely taking me out. Definitely would’ve liked this more if the chorus hit harder, like this it’s just...kind of sad? But not the good kind, the melodramatic kind (which I can appreciate, to a certain extent, but not to THIS extent.)
32. CYPRUS
Break A Broken Heart – Andrew Lambrou
Did you know that Andrew actually wanted to participate for Australia in 2022? Yeah. I googled this while listening to the song because it has nothing that pulls me in. It’s fine, don’t get me wrong, he has a great voice, but...eh.
31. GREECE
What They Say – Victor Vernicos
Why is he a child. I like the chorus, kind of, but that’s pretty much it. Very meh.
30. LATVIA
Aijā – Sudden Lights
Another song that really takes its time to build up to nothing noteworthy, which is a shame, because in its basics, I quite enjoy it. It’s just a little...frustrating when the chorus comes and goes and nothing in me has changed? Idk lmao.
29. SWITZERLAND
Watergun – Remo Forrer
This is my grandma’s favourite song this year, yay? For some reason I keep reading his name as Ferrero Rocher. The letters barely match, I think it’s just because this is Switzerland. (yes, ferrero is italian, idk.) Oh, the song? It’s fine. It’s not his fault he’s not Gjon.
28. ICELAND
Power – Diljá
It’s fine. Feels very generic, but doesn’t hit hard enough to justify it. Specifically considering it’s Iceland sending it.
27. ARMENIA
Future Lover – Brunette
Surprisingly good in theory, but in the end I only actually like the middle part. The beginning is well sung but a little too slow for me, and I don’t really enjoy the end in general? I’m very unsure with this.
26. NETHERLANDS
Burning Daylight – Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper
I don’t find any joy anymore either, dude. We’re so in synch, damn. Why does the first chorus do that thing where it teases a nice build up for half a second just to drop immediately? And then the second one doesn’t even properly redeem it. Ruined the whole song for me, genuinely. Not that I liked it a lot before, ehem.
25. DENMARK
Breaking My Heart – Reiley
I listened to this and kept thinking that it sounds like a song I already know, but...turns out it was just this song the whole time. Apparently someone at my local radio station really likes it. I don’t, really, I feel like I might be too old for this type of music. Talking about this...you’re telling me Reiley is OLDER than me? What the hell.
24. ITALY
Due Vite – Marco Mengoni
Second year in a row where Italy doesn’t really do it for me, damn. At least it’s a lot better than whatever was going on last year with Brividi. I still liked Supereroi a lot more and think it should have won. Meh.
23. SAN MARINO
Like an animal – Piqued Jacks
Certainly a song. All I could think about while watching this is one Youtube comment simply saying “He is a little hot” because...they’re not wrong? The song itself just doesn’t hit – but I have the fleeting suspicion that this might be fixed by having the sound mixing done by literally anyone that ISN’T San Marino. I don’t even dislike it or anything.
22. ESTONIA
Bridges – ALIKA
I know that everybody loves this, okay? It’s good enough. Perfectly good ballad. It’s not her fault I dislike most ballads. I do like the last minute though, it picks up a lot, I enjoy that.
21. AUSTRALIA
Promise – Voyager
I love how Australia is really going through the classic Eurovision evolution. My right ear also likes the song. I watched the music video, and I think the left one just didn’t get invited or something. It’s actually REALLY off-putting.
20. SLOVENIA
Carpe Diem – Joker Out
Please don’t come for me, but why does everyone love this SO much? Like, I like it a bit too, but not as much as everyone else seems to? I genuinely feel like I’m missing something here.
19. BELGIUM
Because Of You – Gustaph
This is so groovy, I don’t know why everybody hates it. (I mean, I DO know, but apart from that...it’s not that bad.) It’s not the best thing I’ve ever heard, and the aspect ratio of the official music video freaks me out, but it’s very camp – which is a good thing, obviously this is Eurovision after all!
18. UNITED KINGDOM
I Wrote A Song – Mae Muller
I had no expectations for the UK, mainly because I missed all of the teasing they did, so I’m completely fine with this...it just feels like a lot of songs this year sound similar to this? Maybe I’m going insane. But it’s nice to listen to. I wouldn’t turn the radio off if it came on.
17. GEORGIA
Echo – Iru
Imagine how much more this could have slapped if it was in Georgian. Just imagine. It’s fine like this too, and I’m sure it will be elevated by the staging, but...just imagine, honestly.
16. ROMANIA
D.G.T – Theodor Andrei
Okay, let’s ignore the performance for a bit, and just judge the song. I quite like it, actually. His voice is nice, it’s absolutely something different, and I always give a native language bonus.
15. MALTA
Dance (Our Own Party) – The Busker
The revamp did good things for this song. I like a good saxophone, and I feel like this is quite underrated in the community. It’s fun(ky), I think they will be great live, and the music video is definitely worth a watch while you’re at it.
14. SPAIN
Eaea – Blanca Paloma
I feel like I shouldn’t talk about this song without my lawyer. It’s growing on me, very slowly, but there’s still only select parts of the song that I really like, while the rest is just something I have to go through to reach them. Like the salad you get when you order a steak with fries. (I also just liked Agoney a lot more.)
13. PORTUGAL
Ai Coração – Mimicat
After a song I absolutely couldn’t stand last year, Portugal absolutely delivers again. Feels very authentic to Portugal, I really like her voice, it’s quite fast-paced, I really enjoy it.
12. SWEDEN
Tattoo – Loreen
It’s a song. I don’t know, I don’t care about it, it’s good, sure, but it’s absolutely not a winner for me. Also, the pre-chorus sounds so much like another song I know, but I cannot figure out which one and it’s driving me insane. (I have to admit though, rhyming pain and rain IS true lyrical genius, and whoever wrote that part should win an award.) I like the studio version more than the live version by the way. Yes, even with the performance. Don’t ask me why.
11. MOLDOVA
Soarele si Luna – Pasha Parfeni
I love that as long as we have Moldova, Eurovision will never be boring. This is genuinely nice, too, and fills the void Fulenn left in my heart last year perfectly.
10. FRANCE
Evidemment – La Zarra
C’est très...French. Obviously. Good French, but French nonetheless. Groovy, though. I can appreciate that it’s not really a chanson chanson.
9. UKRAINE
Heart Of Steel – TVORCHI
It’s completely fine. Quite good, even, but I just don’t think that it lives up to the songs Ukraine sent the past decade or so...which is understandable, not only because of their situation, but because the song sent by the winning country never really is. I still really appreciate it for it’s modern tone and the bass. (still preffered fiinka though sorry)
8. CROATIA
Mama ŠČ! - LET 3
This is my absolute guilty pleasure this year. I even rather like it musically, I quite enjoy it away from all the chaos. Of course, the chaos is the main reason I like it. What would Eurovision be without these songs, seriously? BRRRR, TRAKTOR.
7. ISRAEL
Unicorn – Noa Kirel
I know people don’t like this because it sounds like three songs mashed together, but I quite like it. Why? Probably because I listen to K-Pop, I’m used to the mashed-together-sound, and I quite like it. Apart from that I enjoy the song, of course, although I’m purposefully ignoring the lyrics.
6. SERBIA
Samo mi se spava – Luke Black
I listen to music like this quite a lot, so I obviously enjoy it...I’m just very afraid that it won’t really land at Eurovision, not with the juries and not with the televote. But I’ll be optimistic and delude myself into thinking that there’s no way it won’t at least make it out of the SF. (And I would absolutely believe it if it was in Semi 2 instead of Semi 1.)
5. NORWAY
Queen of Kings – Alessandra
She, Queen of the Hype! For good reason though, this is GREAT. Very Eurovision, very European in general, I love good party music.
4. CZECH REPUBLIC
My sister’s crown – Vesna
PLEASE PLEASE LET THEM BE GOOD LIVE. I can’t take another Austria 2022. This is SO good. I love it musically, I love the mix of languages, I might have a small crush on their rapper, please let them be good live. Please. I beg you. (I have a bad feeling, though. Especially the chorus just seems very hard to replicate life. I’ve seen the NF, I know.)
3. GERMANY
Blood & Glitter – Lord Of The Lost
I’m still so...in awe that we’re actually sending something good this year? Like, how did this happen? Who did we sacrifice for this? (Answer: Electric Callboy.) This kind of music just feels very German, even if they’re singing in English. My only critique is that I want him to growl more, but if their Eurovision stage is anything like their winners performance at the NF, I’m not worried.
2. AUSTRIA
Who The Hell Is Edgar? - Teya & Salena
No, seriously, who is Edgar? I only know Teya & Salena. This is such a bop – WITH a message, damn. Easily moved into my Top 5 immediately after it came out. Probably my most listened to song this last week. It’s REALLY addicting. What the hell, Österreich? Not both of us going through change right now, aww.
1. FINLAND
Cha Cha Cha – Käärijä
This song came out, I heard it once, and decided it’s my winner this year. Only Gladiator could have possibly challenged it, but we know how that went, so this is my undisputed first place. Please, juries and televote, do not rob our small king.
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Harutsumu, 1032 words. Commission for @/catboydecember on twitter!
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Haruto brings water to boil.
He almost doesn’t know how he got here, Tsumugi in his apartment—it’s as though he was caught in a whirlwind, and though Haruto can’t say he cares too much, he does mind it a little.
Haruto thinks about Tsumugi too much; they’ve seen each other before, over and over—a single glimpse of Tasuku’s life in Mankai revealed Tsumugi as a central point. Haruto watches Tsumugi with sharpness, and something makes him yearn to understand him.
Haruto is created from blood, sweat, and tears—Tsumugi, he assumes, is the same. But that doesn’t show when Haruto sees him on his day off—in casual clothes, not acting or anything. Tsumugi is honest and pure, something Haruto shouldn’t want to see from a rival like that.
“Are you sure it’s okay for me to be here?” Tsumugi asks. Haruto hesitates to call him confident, but he seems too relaxed right now for where he is.
“It’s fine.” Haruto sighs and turns back to him. “Just don’t expect anything too big from me. What did you want to talk about, anyway? Did you want to compare acting notes or something? Want me to criticize your Lucifer performance?”
Tsumugi blinks at him. “Not… quite.”
If Haruto was to believe his eyes, he’d call Tsumugi’s expression embarrassed. He narrows his eyes, ready for Tsumugi to say something ridiculous, or maybe too personal. For him to get close to Haruto is to get close to someone who succeeded while Tsumugi failed—a remnant of God Troupe’s days of turning people away.
“Then what?” Haruto busies himself with getting things out of cabinets, not meeting Tsumugi’s eyes, not lingering on their similarities or their differences.
“I was thinking,” Tsumugi starts. Haruto hears his fingers drum on his table. “About getting to know you. You’re important to God Troupe. To Kamikizaka.” He adds Reni’s name like an afterthought. Haruto feels its weight nonetheless.
Haruto doesn’t know what to make of it. He doesn’t understand how to read between the lines here—though he’s usually good at that, Tsumugi eludes him. He glances back at Tsumugi, and the eye contact feels too strong. Haruto is the one to look away first, again, and it makes him feel just short of weak.
“So it is for acting,” Haruto says, but it doesn’t come out as dry as he’d expected, doesn’t feel rough against his tongue. “I mean, sure. I am important.”
Tsumugi smiles at that, like he was expecting that. “How did you do it?”
This, Haruto suddenly realizes, is where they differ. Tsumugi smiles with all the confidence in the world, but that’s just because despite the unfamiliar territory, he’s still built up that confidence off the stage. Where Haruto hides his lack of confidence in everything outside his acting, Tsumugi comes off pure, his conviction clearer than anything Haruto has ever seen.
He stares at him for a second before turning away again, making tea instead of lingering on whatever that feeling in his chest was.
“I didn’t do anything. I just worked on my acting.” He’s not even the top star—he’s not even Reni’s favorite, even as he helps behind the scenes. But if Tsumugi is asking, there must be a reason for it. “I work hard. Don’t you?”
They’re different, and they’re the same. What betrays Tsumugi’s lack of confidence is the way his smile wavers. “I try,” he says. “But I still failed to get into God Troupe.”
Haruto stares.
He’s not annoyed, though he thinks he should be. Here Tsumugi is, a good actor, and he’s wondering why he didn’t get into God Troupe? How does that make any sense?
But all he feels is a kind of creeping emptiness, an understanding that he doesn’t know how to voice. He slides the tea he made in front of Tsumugi, and watches his fingers wrap around it slowly. He watches him, chewing on his words and hoping that he can find a way to say it without cutting Tsumugi on them.
“Yeah, but you got yourself back up,” he says. “It’s not like I immediately succeeded, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Tsumugi falters. “I wasn’t. I just need to know how you kept going.”
“You don’t need to,” Haruto insists, and then immediately wonders if he’s being too harsh. He clicks his tongue. “Listen to yourself. You’re a successful actor, and you didn’t need God Troupe to do that. Think about what you’ve achieved, and what kind of actor you are. Do you really want to be like me?”
He finishes that speech off by swallowing tea. It’s too bitter.
Haruto is an actor created by desperation. He may have picked himself up and turned himself into a shining star, might have learned everything Reni wanted to perfection when that was what mattered most, but he is not someone to look to when it comes to this. That much, he’s sure of.
Tsumugi licks his lips. Embarrassingly, Haruto watches that movement. “I don’t want to be exactly like you,” Tsumugi says. “I’m happy with Mankai. I like acting there.”
“Naturally.”
Tsumugi smiles nervously. “I thought you’d be able to understand what I mean when I say that I wanted to get into God Troupe so badly, back when I auditioned. You’re easy to talk to about it, Haruto.”
“I’m—what?” Haruto’s heart flips in his chest. “Excuse me?” What about this is easy?
“You’re a good actor too. I liked watching you.” Tsumugi keeps eye contact, suddenly so earnest it’s overwhelming. “If you don’t think I need to ask about it, I’ll believe you, but I still want to know more about God Troupe, and about you.”
About him. Not stated as something unnecessary, but an important component of this conversation.
They are similar, it seems—focused on what they need to focus on, lacking confidence in other places—and Haruto finds that he wants to be everything Tsumugi wants from him, to tell him all those things he wants to learn. He won’t share God Troupe’s secrets, but if it means being closer to Tsumugi, he’ll take this chance.
He’ll even accept that he’s good enough to give this advice; what a strange impulse. Haruto doesn’t hate it.
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10th
The feeling when you compare him to anybody and you still think he was the best but he is gone now. There is nothing can beat that feeling. ıt doesn't hurt, ıt burns. it just burns. it wasn't supposed to last this long. I feel bad but ı am not supposed to. I need to study but ı just don't feel like doing it. I don't know why ı am in this mood rn. I surely don't love him, don't care about him. but ı thought he had the potential to make me forget some stuff. it was just my overexpectation ı guess. I cant make people responsible for my own weakness. although how can ı still be in love with him? it didn't last 3 days, what we had didn't even last 3 days. how the fuck it is possible ı thought of those days until now everyday. Those 3 days made my 365 days. How do ı remember every detail, every moment with him? the meals ı ate with him. I don't remember what ı had yesterday. do u understand? omgg I CANT STAND
I TELL U, IDK I JUST WRITE HERE CAUSE IDK, I NEED TO WRİTE SOMEWHERE. They read my diaries so ı am here, ı write here. oh fuck, oh fuck. ıf ı only knew it was going to hurt so much, if ı only knew ı would be miserable, if ı only knew ı would be feeling missing most of the time.. nothing would change
ı would prefer him over everything, anybody, even over myself
but it kills me that I lost it with my own hands. ı killed it with my own hands.
ı miserable now.
ı am without you
what did u expect
what did ı expect
ı love you my baby
ı missed u, ı missed to hug you.
ı missed your kisses
ı missed the way you kiss
ı missed your smell
ı missed your chest
ı missed your hands. ı still cant believe they were the most beautiful hands ı have ever seen.
ı missed your palm sweating cuz ı wasnt ever letting it go
ı want to vomit but ı cant
ı am sick, ı feel sick, ı feel tired but it would be all okay if u were with me. ı just know that don't tell me it doesn't make sense. you were good for me. you were my medication. but this bitter taste lasts longer than expected my dear. Dear. I just loved calling you like that. my dear. you were such a dear indeed. you were perfect for me. this breaks my hear too. what a fragile heart that ı have over here, isn't so. hahahaha.
nothing breaks like a heart. ıdk who said that, but Miley Cyrus ı guess but she is right. she made a point. nothing breaks like a heart.
oh boy, this guy insults my intelligence. ı just wanna say thats ridiculous but ı am gonna hold myself and listen to California dreaming by the mamas and the papas. amazing song. a masterpiece. what a atmosphere it gives. its different. their songs are from somewhere else.
ı will study good tomorrow and dw ı will be fine. thats what ı said to myself. ı need somebody telling me that even that is coming from me, myself. we people are so desperate fuck. ahahaha. fucking mammals. did u really have to be connected to the other member of the group? this fucking instincts.
anyway ı am glad, ı came here and written here, I feel more relaxed. thanks. who the hell ı am thanking tho but yk. just thanks. bye
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thoughts on the power of the doctor, spoilers under the cut
I do have to say, I think this was by far the best and strongest Chibnall episode of the lot. He really ended on a high note, when compared to his other stuff.
The Master and any and all scenes where he was on screen were by far the highlights, to the point where it felt like someone else was writing his scenes. I mean it, I was genuinely enjoying myself, and enjoying the show again whenever he was onscreen, something that I haven't been experiencing when watching literally any other Chibnall episode.
Unfortunately, my thoughts on the episode are not wholly positive. The dialogue of Chibnall's episodes has always been very weak, and I think part of what made the Master's scenes so strong was the fact that he was monologuing, so when he said exactly what he meant in the most obvious way of saying it, it came off as a genuine way that the master would speak. When every other character says exactly what they mean in the most obvious way of saying it, over-explaining what's going on, while talking to other characters, the believability and naturalism of the dialogue is lost.
I'm not really a fan of the Cyber Masters, especially when they were killed by a building, but I do like the fact that the Timeless Child was barely mentioned. It was nice.
The editing was not great. There were quite a few scenes where it cut from the characters in inescapable peril to running out of it, without giving an explanation of how that could've happened, which kinda just makes me think that they couldn't figure out a way so they just didn't.
It was cool to see Ace and Tegan, though their acting and quite a bit of their line delivery left something to be desired, which is what I was expecting going into it, but still was a tad sad to see.
I loved the idea of the support group at the end, but mostly because seeing Ian did make me tear up a bit. It's not a part of the show that I think needs to be explored further, as where it left off just kinda leaves the viewer to imagine how they contact the rest of the companions and such, which is nice.
I thought seeing all the past Doctors was really cool, and I really liked Yaz and the Doctor's goodbye, though they should've kissed.
The ending was the main reason I actually bothered watching the episode, though as the ep wasn't as bas as I thought it would be, I'm glad I did. As excited as I was to see Ncuti Gatwa take the role, I'm also quite curious to know what's gonna happen with the David Tennant thing, especially given he was wearing different clothes when he regenerated so is he like a Doctor from a different universe or smth that took her place? I don't know but I'm excited to find out.
Anyway, overall I thought the episode was fine. The really good bits, the parts with the master, really showed how poor the rest of the episode was in comparison, but overall it wasn't as terrible as much of the past episodes under Chibnall's watch, so meh. I doubt I'll rewatch it on its own any time soon but it was a nice way to spend the morning.
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𝒻𝑜𝓇𝒷𝒾𝒹𝒹𝑒𝓃 𝒻𝓇𝓊𝒾𝓉
┌─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.☪ .* :☆ﾟ. ───┐
Warning(s): NSFW! Minors dni, coarse language, praising, virginity, crying, size kink, I didn't edit this.
Pairing: c!Dream XD x Reader
Synopsis: You two are forbidden lovers, A god can not be with a human. You give the god your virginity (the purest thing you can offer) in order to lose your mortality.
Pronouns: AFAB they/them
Word count: 1.5K
└─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.☪ .* :☆ﾟ. ───┘
Your hands were soft and your skin was thin, this was another small reminder to the god that you are indeed a human and you (like any other human) are weak. "My dear, are you sure you do not require netherite armor? Your fingers are starting to bruise.." The god pondered with concern.
"My fingers aren't bruising, they're just turning slightly red from the cold. I'll be fine, stop worrying so much, it's not like I'm going to die out of nowhere" You shrugged it off and got back to picking at the grass "Why do you harm earth like that?" DreamXD flew beside you, his head rotating to look down on you.
"It'll grow back" you respond nonchalantly "That's not the point, why're you pulling it out?" DreamXD reminded you of a curious bird, "I guess I just like the feeling of ripping it out? I don't know, it's just a habit I picked up" You answered "You should stop or else the grass will start picking at you" The god poked at you jokingly "hey! Watch your hands" you pushed him away playfully.
DreamXD fell back into the grass and laughed "hah! You're my favorite little human, I love you" DreamXD reached out to touch your hair "I love you too, my god" you kiss his hand as it caresses your face. "I wish we didn't have to move around so much, I really enjoy these moments we have together" you sighed "I want to give you the world, I really do but I'm not allowed to have such affiliations with humans" The god lowered his head and turned away sadly.
"Then I wish I wasn't human, I'd be a stinking chicken if it allowed me to see you more, my love" you spoke your heart out as you were basically begging the god not to leave you alone "That's not how the world works, my dear. You can't just suddenly go changing what you are" DreamXD touched your face with his large hand "Why not? Why can't you grant me this one wish? You're meant to be a god, please do this for us!" You pleaded.
"I would get in a lot of trouble for doing such a thing to a human like you, why couldn't you of fallen for my human counterpart, my dear? Why'd you have to make this so hard on us?" DreamXD pouted "He's different, he's not like you" you quickly spat back out "you said you'd give the world for me!" you exclaimed "so- give me immortality! make me like you- what do I have to do??" You were trying so hard.
"I think.." DreamXD began to speak as he thought to himself, his wings lifted to scratch his head gently "yes.. That might work.." His glowing eyes glanced up to meet yours "I think if you give me something, I'll be able to turn you into some kind of higher being. I'm not sure what you'll be if you turn out to be a god or just some weird demi-god.."
You smiled and wrapped your arms around him happily, you would give your god anything to be with him "Anything! What do you need, my soul?" you were so eager and precious "You're so pure darling~ But no.. I need something very important" DreamXD lifted your chin with his slender fingers and he leaned in to kiss you.
"Y/n, I need to take your virginity" your face went red as the god explained what he needed from you "It's one of the most purest things you can offer to a god which makes it so valuable, with your gift I will be able to bestow upon you an amazing blessing.." He held you in his many pairs of arms, you were so tiny and small compared to him.
"Anything for you.." You whispered to him, your hands wrapping around his neck.
DreamXD's hands moved under your shirt to touch your skin, he hummed in some sort of delight when he felt your warm chest "you feel so warm~" he smiled "DreamXD-" you breathed out his name as he was slowly touching and praising you. "S-Shouldn't I be worshiping you instead?" you gulped "No, don't worry about pleasing me, dear" he kissed your forehead and continued his actions.
The God had another set of his arms grasp onto your legs, his hands traveling upwards to grab onto the soft flesh of your thighs "ah!" you gasped meekly when his fingertips dug in gently. His other hands feeling up your chest and his fingers dancing along your back, trailing up your spine.
You sheepishly moved your arms from the god to unbutton your shirt, your chest now revealed to the god. DreamXD licked his lips before leaning in and peppering kisses across your collarbone and neck, his hands not leaving your soft mounds of skin. "DreamXD- you're so amazing.." you mumbled quietly.
"you're so soft and perfect, I couldn't want any other creature but you.." DreamXD closed his eyes and inhaled your scent. Your hands moved to start taking off your bottoms, your underwear sliding down with them "you're such a good human for presenting yourself to your god without him having to ask~"
DreamXD wasted no more time and his hand found its way to your clit, his thumb brushing over it gently which made you yelp "ah!" you jumped from the sudden pleasure. The God took notice of this and used one set of his arms to hold you down, another hand using its fingers to stretch you open.
You squealed and tried to move away "is this too much for you? We can always try another time" DreamXD offered to stop "No- No- please don't stop! I just.. I've never really put anything inside before" you admitted embarrassedly "I'll go a bit slower for you then, my dear" The god continued but slowly this time, one of his fingers curling up inside of you.
"I fear you're not going to be able to fit on my cock, you're so small compared to me and you're barely taking my fingers" You whined as you heard him say that, you wanted needed him to fuck you and take your virginity. "Please try!" You exclaimed while trying to fuck yourself on his fingers to make a point that maybe you would be able to take his big length.
"Y- you're a god.. Can't you do anything to help?" you asked "I can't exploit my powers for things like this" DreamXD crossed his arms, you huffed "p- please try to fuck me now, please" You pleaded "I worry I'll hurt you" DreamXD was hesitant "then I'll do it" you stood up in his lap.
You leaned forward and moved his cloak out of the way, your hands working the zipper down to let his cock spring out. Your eyes went wide as you saw how big he was down there, he was right! How in the fuck could you fit this inside?? You gulped nervously and slowly got on top of him, his rod sliding in painfully slow.
You didn't expect him to be able to bottom out but he finally did, his whole thing was now inside of you and you were on the verge of tears. "I can see that you're in pain, let's just stop, we can try another day" DreamXD wiped your tears away "It's fine- this is a normal thing, it's normal to hurt.. Let's just wait it out for a bit please" DreamXD listened to you and waited for you to get adjusted.
You tried to move while on his cock but it seemed close to impossible with how much he had you filled up "um.. could you please- f- fuck me?" You laughed awkwardly, you wanted to desperately take control and fuck yourself on him but you literally couldn't! "Anything for you my dear" The God moved so he was now thrusting into you gently.
You whined and squealed in pleasure "Ah! W0 Woah!" You squirmed in his touch, his hands were on your hips to keep you steady as he kept fucking into your cunny. "It feels so good, thank you so much for your perfect offering.. Your body is the most perfect temple that I've ever been in" DreamXD kissed you passionately as he kept going.
His hips shuddered against yours, his eyes dimming for just a moment as he was fucking you "ah.. So good, please cum for me.." DreamXD wrapped a pair of hands around your waist and another pair was playing with your tits, "I- I feel weird!" you told the godly man "that's good, release that pressure you have building up" DreamXD went faster as he was close.
You covered your mouth as your back arched, your legs were shaking so much as your pussy spasmed around his cock and you came. "FUCK" DreamXD cursed out as he came right after you, coating your insides with some kind of godlike sperm. "C- Can we be together forever now.. Please?" you huffed out on the ground as you tried to catch your breath "Forever and ever my dear, you're my god" he then gave you one final kiss as you drifted into sleep.
━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━
A/n: This is kinda my first post on here so sorry if it's bad 😢 It's also been a while since I wrote fanfiction and tbh I'm a bit intimidated??? Anyways thank u sm for reading !!
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OKAY finally finished with eliot hand pain hurt/comfort fic, and i couldn’t actually decide whether i preferred it in second or third person POV. this is the version with the third person POV, otherwise nothing is different from the other version !
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Contrary to what the four crazy people he spent his time risking his life for nowadays thought, Eliot didn’t like the pain.
There was nothing cleansing about it, nothing satisfactory. A ringing hit to his jaw didn’t feel like penance. The actual protection aspect was a different story. Standing like a wall between your people and danger, there was nothing that made Eliot’s ribs ache with pleasure like that; a wall didn’t feel, didn’t think, it was just an immutable fact. He was an immutable fact. The problem was that the wall-as-Eliot, or perhaps the Eliot-as-wall, had to become human again sometime after the last man went down and the last dollar bill was stuffed into a duffel. To hurt was human, and not just to hurt but to remember the wound long, long after, for it to live in your knees and wrists and between the vertebrae in your spine. Some days— and this was a product of how long after a job it had been, how hard he had pushed—some days were worse than others. The fact that some days the first sound out of his mouth wasn’t even a groan, but a whine, or worse the half-awake pleading for please please make it stop i’ll do anything just make it stop—
No, Eliot didn’t like the pain.
Comparatively, today was a good day. Today, he could get out of bed. His head and body were blessedly in agreement that it was in his best interests to swing his twinging knees to the side of the mattress, push himself up onto legs that were sore but stable, with arms that shook only slightly. But compared to Eliot’s best days, the ones where except for the old shoulder injury which would never let him forget it and the scar on his hip that put a falter in his giddy-up in all kinds of weather, the days on which except for those he sometimes even forgot the pain, this didn’t hold a candle. Today his hands were so beat and weak that the ache radiated up to his mid-forearm, settled into him all familiar-like and made its home in him.
In the bathroom, Eliot used his wrist to turn on the faucet and stuck his mouth under the water to drink. Holding a cup was off the agenda. His morning routine was interspersed with winces, not unusual for his post-job bathroom adventures, and if it took Eliot longer to shimmy on the sweats he knew he wouldn’t be getting out of today, it made him appreciate the comfort of wearing them a little more.
Going handless was fine until he was face to face with the fridge, and resisting the urge to growl at it, like that would solve anything. Taking a deep breath, he put a hand on the stainless steel handle, testing his grip. A light flex had Eliot drawing it back like the metal had burned him, like someone had snapped a tight clothespin onto each ligament. He took a moment to pace a couple steps, let out a loud but cathartic expletive, and then wedge his hand between the handle and the door so he could open the fridge with his elbow strength. The feeling of triumph behind his collarbone faded quickly as the hitter scanned its contents and realized there was nothing he wanted to eat, or at least nothing he wanted to hold and eat. The thought of grasping a fork brought another growl to his throat, and he slammed the fridge door to stomp to the couch and throw himself down, cradling his hands in his lap.
Eliot knew the drill: in an hour, he would grit his teeth and get to up to try and fumble open his bottle of painkillers, and if he succeeded, he would wait another hour for them to truly kick in so he could handle the tv remote, put on whatever game was on, and vegetate on the couch until further notice. The phone he had left on the nightstand rang loudly, fully audible from the other room, blaring out the chorus to “Macho Man” that Hardison had put as his ringtone and Eliot hadn’t figured out how to get rid of yet. If it was important, whoever it was would call again, so he ignored it. His ire rose when the same noise sang out from the bedroom a couple minutes later, a bit-off groan escaping from his clenched teeth as he levered himself up to get to it as fast as he could, awkwardly accepting the call and maneuvering the phone between his shoulder and ear. “What?”
“Man, we haven’t heard from you since we split yesterday, I thought we were gonna get a beer downstairs last night?”
He rubbed his eyes with his wrist, frustrated that he had forgotten he was supposed to get together with Hardison the night before. Getting home, washing the sweat and blood off, and falling into bed had seemed like the only goal in his mind. “Look, sorry, I’ve been busy. And if this ain’t important, you—“
“Bullshit. Absolute bullshit, you’re using your tough-guy, bullshit voice. And you actually apologized, so something is double wrong.”
Eliot snarled. “I don’t have— Hardison, I don’t know what you’re talking about, just leave me alone.”
“Too late, we’re already at your place.”
Before he could open his mouth, his doorbell rang, drawing a groan from him. If he was correct about who the “we” was, it seemed silly to even ring it. His suspicions were confirmed thirty seconds later as the door clicked open anyways and Parker and Hardison came in, having the decency to at least look slightly sheepish. Eliot had already moved back to the couch, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. “Make yourself at home, why don’t you,” he growled.
“Excuse us for being worried about your wellbeing, Mr. Suffer-In-Silence,” Hardison scoffed.
Parker leapt onto the couch cushion next to him. “We thought you might have been captured by ninjas.”
“You would know if I had been captured by ninjas,” Eliot muttered. “It’s a very dis— look, you’ve seen that I’m not kidnapped, it’s our day off, can you please leave and let me rest.”
“You still owe us a hangout from last night!” Parker chirped. “Don’t worry, we won’t stay long.” She vaulted back over the couch to go rummage through his snack cabinets, getting into the granola bin by the sound of it. Eliot made a note to restock it before she came back next.
When he next opened his eyes, Hardison was lightly sitting on his coffee table, looking at the hands still resting in the hitter’s lap. “What’s up with your hands, Eliot?”
Eliot’s first instinct was to deflect. He trusted his team, sure, but this was different. They weren’t supposed to know that he had these days. That he wasn’t invulnerable. “Nothing’s wrong with them, stop sitting on my coffee table.”
“Mhm mhm, sure,” Hardison said. “Go like this for me?” He wiggled his fingers in a “hey sailor” kind of fashion. Before Eliot could tell him just what he thought about that, Parker’s ponytail swung into the side of his face, the thief reaching down to poke one of his hands faster than he could stop her.
By the time Eliot was able to refocus and pull himself back from the whiteout of pain, Parker and Hardison were looking at him with open concern, the hacker leaning back slightly, a little pale. Eliot thought he might have howled; he wasn’t sure. Both his hands were clenched tightly to his chest, wrists together, arms outward, wishbone shaped. He felt just as brittle as one, with their stares on him. He summoned the anger from his throat, the only weapon at his disposal (only half-expecting that it would work, always defenseless when it came to their prodding).
“Can you leave me the hell alone now?”
Hardison looked at him, taking his time formulating his thoughts, but it was Parker who spoke. “Nope.” Eliot turned to her where she was perched on the couch. “You get hurt taking care of us. Now you let us take care of you.”
Eliot looked at Hardison pleadingly, hoping he at least would take pity on him and let him wallow by himself. The hitter wanted to hide like the trap-escaped, half-dead badger whose den he had accidentally put his foot into half a lifetime ago in the Italian Alps, earning him an earful of hissing that scared the shit out of him. He wondered if he seemed as belligerent as that now.
Hardison just shrugged and smiled gently. “Hey, you heard the woman.” He leaned forward slightly, just enough in Eliot’s space to let him feel his warm presence without crowding. “Couldn’t get rid of us if you tried.”
He didn’t want to try, was the thing. It was only that it wasn’t their job to take care of him. It was his to take care of them. They just seemed to be wholly unaware of this.
“You taken anything for those yet?” Hardison asked, pointing at his hands. He hummed at Eliot’s slight head shake. “Thought so. Which ones?”
“White bottle, red pills. Only need a half,” Eliot mumbled, slouching. Parker was already up and heading to the bathroom.
“We need to get something you can actually open when this happens, some kind of spring-loaded catch maybe,” Hardison mused. “Alright, let me see them.” He patted his legs, frowning at Eliot’s growl. “C’mon, none of that. I know they hurt, I’ll be really, really gentle. I won’t even touch without asking.”
Eliot looked him in the eye for the sincerity he already knew would be there, the eagerness to help that (damn him) was one of his favorite traits of Hardison’s. Hesitantly, he extended his hands, rolling his eyes at the hacker scooting forward to offer his knees to rest them on.
“I assume you got antiseptic and ointment on these knuckles already, so totally disregarding those, even though it sucks. Nothing broken?”
“No, just. Aches. Like a son of a bitch. Can’t make a damn fist. Happens sometimes.”
Parker bounded back in, armed with a glass of water and half a pill in her open hand. “So no jobs for a while. Easy, I’ll tell Nate. Open up.” With a scowl, Eliot took the medication from her fingers with his teeth (gently, gently), and let her raise the glass to his lips, nearly choking as she tipped it a little eagerly, and choking for real when Hardison said, “Whoa, woman, let him swallow.”
“It’s not just the last job, Park, it’s jobs two years ago, or five, or ten,” Eliot managed, once he had his breath back. “Part of the package that comes with the lifestyle. It just happens sometimes, don’t matter what schedule we’re on.”
She frowned. “Still. We shouldn’t be doing jobs if you’re hurt. Nate should know that.”
Hardison leaned forward a little more while he was distracted trying to find the right response to that, that they wouldn’t be doing any jobs at all if that were the case, that Nate trusted him to get the job done no matter what, reaching out to his forearm and stopping just a hair’s breadth shy of touching. The hitter froze, and Hardison did too, meeting his eyes. “It’s ok. I’m just trying something out. Is it alright if I touch you here?” At his tiniest of nods, the hacker placed his fingertips on his arm, rubbing circles so lightly that Eliot almost couldn’t feel it. “Let me know where it starts to hurt, okay?” Hardison applied the slightest pressure as he added his other hand and lightly started rubbing down his forearm. When he got to his wrist, Eliot couldn’t help the strangled noise that partly escaped through his nose, high and strained. Hardison moved away from there immediately, going back to tracing soothing, gentle patterns. “You’re ok, you’re ok. I can work with this, no problem. Where do you keep your hot pads, man?”
“Bathroom, lower right drawer,” Eliot grit out. Parker was zipping off to get it and warm it up before he could even process. Hardison applied a little more pressure with his fingertips, rubbing the meat of his forearm. Eliot breathed out long and slow at how good it felt once the initial ache had ebbed.
“I want to try giving you a hand massage, but I don’t wanna hurt you more than it would help,” Hardison said, pausing slightly. “You up for it? I’m not gonna pressure you either way.”
Eliot’s thoughts stuttered, and then bolted in different directions. The feeling that he didn’t deserve this, that this was too much to ask, which had been simmering this whole time leapt to life again. It joined with the wounded, snarling animal part of him that still wanted to hide, burrow down with the covers over his head until his pain faded into the muted background noise of the world. He didn’t even know if a hand massage would work, might make the pain worse.
But it might be nice, a small, hopeful part of him murmured. Eliot couldn’t remember the last time he had been offered something like this, let alone the last time he had taken the person up. If there was anyone he trusted to do it, if there was anyone he wanted to receive it from, it was these two. How could he refuse them even he wasn’t fully on board with what they were suggesting?
“Sure, just…” Eliot said as Parker returned with the hot pad, pausing from tossing it hand to hand like a hot potato to fix her stare on him. He licked his lips, swallowed around a dry throat. “Just be gentle.”
“I will,” Hardison said earnestly, taking the hot pad from Parker to gently maneuver it under Eliot’s hands, resting on his knees. Eliot tensed slightly as the thief leapt up onto the back of the couch, perching above his head, but otherwise relaxed as the warmth of the hot pad started to loosen the ache in his hands. Hardison started where he had before, applying the slightest pressure to the hitter’s forearm. Parker ran her fingertips lightly through his hair, humming.
“Your hair is kinda wonky,” she said, fingers catching on a tangle. Eliot winced.
“That’s what happens when you go to bed without brushing it properly, you know that,” he grumbled, breath hitching as her fingertips grazed his scalp. His breath stuttered again as Hardison’s hands started working towards the sore meat of his wrist. Eliot’s hand began to shake.
“It’s ok baby, I got you,” Hardison murmured under his breath, more soothing sound than words. Eliot cracked open an eye to see him looking between his hands and his phone, playing a video where it was propped on his thigh.
“Man, are you watching hand massage tutorials right now?” he gritted out, doing a poor job of masking his genuine amusement with frustrated disbelief.
The hacker tapped his index finger against Eliot’s arm lightly. “I’ve been watching videos dude; think you’re so slick, tryna hide your hand pain from me. I just wanna make sure I get it right in real time.”
Parker’s fingers running through Eliot’s hair more boldly silenced any follow-up thoughts he had, mind going fuzzy with how good it felt. Without thinking, he insistently pushed his head up further into her touch, making her laugh. The sound reverberated in his chest, leaving him longing to hear it again. Instead a half-whine left his throat as Hardison probed the bottom of Eliot’s palm, the ache drawing him back to full awareness.
The hacker backed off for a moment. “Sorry, sorry. You still cool to keep going?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Eliot breathed shakily.
“Just tell me if there’s anyplace else that needs to be handled more delicately, or you don’t want me going at all,” Hardison said, putting his clever hands to Eliot’s again and taking up his gentle, slow pace. Parker’s fingers had paused in his hair a second, but went back to running through it again, scratching his scalp on every other pass.
Slowly, slowly, the vice of pain on Eliot’s hands started to dissipate, bone by bone, finger by finger. He don’t know how long he sat there in a haze, as Hardison and Parker patiently touched him, fixated on the single task of caring for him. The thought made the tender space behind his breastbone twinge. When he surfaced from the half-asleep contentment of their efforts, the television was on, Star Trek playing at the lowest volume. Eliot grunted, lifting his head from the couch to look at the two of them sitting beside him, grinning at his movements. Hardison’s warm hand was still in his, but instead of massaging he was just holding it softly.
“Hey sleepy,” teased Parker, throwing herself over Hardison to get closer and forcing an “Oof!” out of him.
Eliot looked down to his hands, flexing one experimentally, in disbelief at how the ache had faded to an almost imperceptible hum. With the other he tightened his fingers around Hardison’s hand, moving his thumb lightly over his.
“Hey,” Eliot simply said back, a real smile rising to his lips.
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I feel like I can’t stress enough how important Spinner is to the ‘My Villain Academia’ arc, and how badly I need BONES to give him the attention and care in portraying him that he deserves. BONES have been pretty faithful to the manga, they’ve followed the story and brought each scene on the page to the screen... Except for some reason not when it comes to the Villains. Maybe it’s because arguably the Villains wasn’t the focal point of the show and they weren’t what most viewers watched the show to see; fine, but that was the case in the beginning and no longer.
Shigaraki Tomura, his exploits, his character, his story *is* the manga: the Heroes and protag react mainly to him and his actions, his past and motivations is one of the main factors that caused the current central conflict, and resolving his character arc is what will probably bring the whole series - to its end or near end. Yeah, imo I argue that everything about him moves the plot along.
Unfortunately(?), I think Horikoshi-sensei realized/decided/planned this a bit too late in his pacing. He said himself during the Stain arc or so that at first, he wasn’t planning on doing villain profiles - he wanted the villains to be scary.
But for the time being, I have no intention of writing about [the villains]. I do the introductions because l personally like those sorts of behind-the-scenes things, and also because I want my readers to feel a connection to the characters. But with villains, I decided I can't have them too likable. They're supposed to be terrifying.
Often it’s what we don’t know/understand/predict/expect (and therefore can’t get a grasp on) that makes things scary/uncomfortable/dislikable. The Villains were strange, seemingly erratic and incomprehensible in their behavior and motivations, malicious without rhyme or reason. Even now, I think a lot of people still think they’re just ‘completely evil crazy psychopaths’.
Anyways, the quote from him is from Volume 7. A whole bunch of volumes later in Vol. 23, he decided nvm: “The story has evolved beyond that point, so I'm ready to start doing villain profiles.” As he said himself, the profiles are to help the readers connect with the characters, make them relatable and likable. That’s what My Villain Academia is all about in the meta sense - to demystify Shigaraki Tomura and his ragtag chaos friends, to give them depth, and to induce interest in their stories, if not sympathy. Hype them up for the rather major roles they play in this ‘final arc’ of the series.
Enter Spinner, the lizard ninja guy.
Besides his unusual looks, Spinner is really, truly nothing special. He’s got a weak quirk, he holds no title of being the strongest or smartest or whatever member of the League, he’s not related by blood or thematically to any major players in the main conflicts, and his ‘tragic’ backstory is completely mundane compared to his allies - he was bullied as a child, and so is fueled by resentment. In the events leading up to the start of the arc, Spinner is the most moral and understandable of the Villains - has a ‘good’ reason for his crimes (eradicate corrupted Heroes), has standards on who he’s willing to fight (questions attacking the police and anyone with a ‘true heroic spirit’), and wants a concrete game plan instead of aimless discord the rest of the League seems alright with.
Once the arc starts, we immediately learn the basics of his character - he’s got a heteromorph quirk that makes his appearance a humanoid gecko and it’s something he was born with that he can’t control, and yet he faces discrimination from literal KKK-type cultists who refuse to see him as human. This was more or less his life in his small, rural hometown, harsh enough that his heart had become ‘completely empty’. It’s simple, it’s relatable and an realistic analogy anyone who has faced prejudice and harassment and been hurt by it can understand.
All this is so Spinner ends up being the most normal and typical sympathetic of the League of Villains, which sets him up to be a sort of ‘gateway Villain’. It’s why he’s narrator. He doesn’t understand at all the crazy All For One shenanigans, he’s thinks Shigaraki is an incompetent weirdo, and he asks what we were all thinking: “Shigaraki Tomura, what the fuck are you doing.” Quite obviously, Spinner’s meant the audience surrogate and so he is. That being a core of the way the story of My Villain Academia is told means it needs be followed by the anime adaption.
This core sets up the rest of the arc - sets up how we will come to view Shigaraki Tomura and his backstory, alongside the rest of the League Villains, their relationships and dynamics with each other, and who they are at heart. Shigaraki’s telling of his distorted origins in Chapter 222 is horrifying as it is already; but it’s Spinner’s worried-facial-expressions reactions littered throughout the chapter that adds to it by telling us one major thing: Spinner’s an empathetic guy, because he immediately feels a kindred spirit with Shigaraki when the latter talks about the hollowness he feels. So begins the audience surrogate’s change of opinion and us readers going along with it, and also: that Shigaraki Tomura now has Spinner’s concern and attention - and is deserving of it.
Pardon the sudden heavily edited quote, but CS Lewis says,
Friendship arises...when two or more of the companions discover that they have in common...which, till that moment, each believed to be his own unique [burden]. The typical expression of opening Friendship would be something like, "What? You too? I thought I was the only one." ...And instantly they stand together in an immense solitude.
That’s almost word for word Spinner in that moment, suddenly realizing he’s no longer as alone as he thought. He’s no longer as alone, and this means perhaps neither should Shigaraki. Because established in that very chapter, too, is the hate in Shigaraki’s heart fueled by his grief and despair, the loss of his family, past, and faith in others, his misery of thinking he’ll never feel good again. Yet - there’s Spinner, willing to extend some empathy and care, the very antidote to all that Shigaraki had revealed. Because the desire for companionship (or at least the lessening of the pain of loneliness) is universal, even among villains - maybe especially among these villains - we probably love to see it. Want to see it.
On that basis - friendship borne out of empathy - Spinner puts his faith his leader, puts his trust and support, and the rest of the arc is us following the tension of whether he was right to do so. Whether Shigaraki would live up to what Spinner expects of him, whether Spinner will side with Shigaraki despite their earlier conflict. Whether they could become friends, or something like that. And once they do, the consequences of this as things spiral more and more out of control, beyond this arc - that Spinner would know Shigaraki well enough to do something crucial at the turn of a battle later, that Spinner would stick by Shigaraki’s side when he’s in danger, that Spinner is loyal enough to Shigaraki to help him as a friend should.
Through Spinner, we come to see Shigaraki, originally incomprehensible and terrifying, as someone beyond a Villain or a leader, but rather someone valued as a person, a friend, a fellow silly gamer nerd. He’s still scary, of course - just less so, with a seed of doubt of his doom that Spinner - and only Spinner, by virtue of his specific narrative and emotional role in this arc - planted in their characters and the story.
It’s because of Spinner that MVA works, by itself, and as a stepping stone towards the rest of the series. So he really needs to be everything he is, was, and more in the anime adaption please BONES oh my god please
#long post#nalslastworkingbraincell#shigaraki tomura#bnha#mha#heroaca#Spinner#Iguchi Shuuichi#my interpretation of course#but like#everything I said is right there in the text and can be convincingly argued for#so I’m right and it’s mandatory that BONES listens to me
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Best Of Us
Chapter 8: Focus
Summary: Being an Omega is hard, it could be so lonely. The hardships that you would sometimes feel seemed to much, always expected of things you could never fully reach. Always seen as a piece of meat to some, seen as weak and stupid. So you worked your ass off to finally work your dream job. And the world all changed when you met one of the bosses. And couldn't help but end up falling.
Paring: Rap Line X Fem!Chubby OmegaReader
Warning: A/O/B!VERS, mentions of sexual harassment, heats, ruts, knotting, breeding, angst, possessive behavior, more warnings will be added as needed.
An(IMPORTANT...kinda of lol): Hello my sweets! I just wanted to give you all a heads up that I will be closing the Tag list after I realize Chapter Ten, just for a bit it will open back up eventually its just getting be to much to keep up with at the momment! So defiently keep an eyes out in the next couple of weeks of the tag list closing and when it should open back up if that makes senses lol. Also I was woundering if you guys would like to talk about the story togthers after each chapter? Like a reading party where you guys send in your thoughts and I will respound to as many, if not all of the replys, asks and anons! Defeintly tell my your thoughts on that if you fine it intresting or not! I hope you like this chapter, it’s most defitnly on the long side compared to the perivous chapters, and they only seem to keep getting longer lol. Anyway have a great day, and I hope you enjoy reading!!!
Chapter edited
PREV._.NEXT
God you were crazy,you had to be.
The way the air caught your breath as you wandered outside had you memorized, no matter what age you were the cold always fascinated you. It was memories of the snow days your father would pull you out of bed for, hands on your hips as he lifted you off the ground and caught snowflakes. Or the way you watched your mother fall to the ground to make snow angels how your father as you and your cousin had run around the snow, would catch your mother and spin her around. Their joint laughter had made you freeze eyes casting over seeing your mothers bright smile as your father peppers kisses across her cheeks, as you stood frozen your older cousin shoved a snowball in your face. The burn of your cold nose now having you reach up and rub, the overly large sweater that wraps warmth around you faintly smells of your mother. She had grown worried as days passed and you sat in your room, nesting, trying to get the paperwork done that the ‘sweet handsome Alpha’, Jin, had dropped off. You had yet to confined to your mother what was spiralling with your internship, your college professor none the wiser during your call on Wednesday. His voice filled with joy as he spoke of the email that Yoongi had sent him, encouraging your professor to give you the next couple of weeks off for class since he believes that this supposive internship was turning into a real opportunity for you. It drove you insane on how fast he was to jump, assume. Though you would do that same, you think.
The sound of someone talking on the phone had your mind racing back to the real world, eyes looking around, the tall glass building on the other side of the road. The way the sun reflected off of the glass shook you to the core, imagining Yoongi sitting at his desk, dark brown almost black hair falling into his eyes, the stupid look on Hoseok face when he constrates on the computer screen in front of him. The scent, the combined scent of the three of them, the same one you smelt the night that your world flipped, coursing through your head, the idea a lone had your stumbling over your own feet.Taking a deep breath, the sound of some teenagers laughing had you looking to the side, three girls, Beta, were walking next to one another, looks over worry and even on of disgust caught your eyes it had you cowering, rushing the the cafe door. As you entered, you saw cotton candy pink hair, the large round cheeks as Jimin called your name, it had you smiling as the boy left the counter moving to gester for you to sit making you straighten up as you do.
“You’re hair..is..uh pink.” he giggles as he sits in front of you, hearing the Beta from before chuckle as he shakes his head, his hair tossing side to side as he smiles brightly at you.
“Very, I’ve been wondering when I’d see you, thoses Alphas and their Omega come having been coming for the past three days, asking if you’ve shown up.” He wiggled his eyebrows as you bow your head, hair falling, covering your face as you take a deep breath and shrug. “Never thought they’d like another Omega besides Joon.” His words caught your attention as you look at him with a head tilt, “Namjoon is a friend of mine.”
“Oh cool, didn’t know you were close to any of them.” Jimin awkwardly nods as he huffs and takes a breath.
“So are you gonna stay?” His question made your heart stop, chest tighten, the air catching in your throat as you seem to choke on it. Coughing as he moves forward, hand resting on yours as he looks you in the eye. Safe. You are safe. “It..it’s okay if you don’t. Seriously, I..I don’t know how it feels for a trip to want to court you, let alone a thrio who all think you are already theirs, especially that possessive Namjoon.” His words go from serious tone to a teasing, his smile falling back on his face as his thumb rubs up and down your hand as you look at him. “Namjoon is probably more possessive then any Alpha I’ve met, and both of my parents are Alphas and so are my brothers, and my little sister who just presented is an Alpha. None of them are as possessive as our tall sweet Namjoon.” His words were rambled, eyes blinking, slowly looking away from your face, your own eyes widening.
“The only Omega in a whole litter?” You wonder aloud, making him nod slowly as his hand moves away from you, making your skin freeze as you take a deep breath. “Sorry that was blunt.”
“It’s fine, i’m used to it, being the only Omega out of five is odd, especially when the other four are Alphas.” His words had your nodding slowly as he cleared his throat and smiled back at you. “Being the only Omega was pretty handy though, got whatever the fuck I wanted. But back to what I was saying, the fact that Namjoon is willing to share his boys, and love you is pretty amazing to me if I’m being honest. So whatever you choose I’m gonna say it, he’s gonna be protective of you either way.” You nod at his words, his body moving up and out of the chair as he smiles at you and looks to his watch. “Well they should be showing up in twenty mintiues, think you’re gonna stay today?”
“I’m not sure yet.”He nods as he smiles as he places a hand on your shoulder, his forehead nuding your temple making your body relax as you take a deep breath and sigh. Hand moving to grab our phone, a text from Bambam had you swiping it open.His text had your heart pounding, cheeks growing red as your body grew hot it made you slowly blink as you took a deep breath in.
BamBam: So I am now a marked Omega, bounded.
Y/n: OMG I’m so happy for you Bammie, definitely need to see it next time we meet up.
BamBam: We’ll no shit, who else am I gonna show it too? My mother?
Y/n: I mean maybe?
BamBam: My mother will cry and tell me to stop growing up, then ask me about pups in the next sentence.
You let out a snort at his text, shaking your head as you place your phone back into your pocket, the feeling of eyes on you had the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. Your body tense as you move to keep your eyes down, moving your hands to grab a sugar packet as Jimin walks back up to you, a caramel macchiato in hand as you smile at him.”On the house.” Nodding you move to take a sip of it, meeting his eyes as he gives you his large smile. The ring of the door opening had Jimin moving back behind the counter, the smell of Alpha musk head cowering as you constarat on your drink, hoping that the Alpha wouldn't notice you, or would just ignore you. Yet you didn’t seem that lucky as you felt eyes on you, the sound of the deep voice ordering a coffee to stay has you shuffling your phone out of your pocket hoping that if you were on your phone he’d leave you alone. That he’d ignore you in some way. But luck never seems to be on your side.
Looking up when you hear the slide of a chair in front of you, you see brown eyes with black hair falling in his eyes as he gives you a smile as you look back down your phone. Body slightly cluring in one itself as you took another sip of your coffee. Healing the Alpha now sitting in front of your clear his throat, a growl rumbling with it had your body tensing, hand squeezing the cup making some of the coffee drip out of the straw as you look up at him. His smirk had only grown at your reaction, his body leaning forward as you take a deep breath in and lean back. A napkin being grabbed as you try to whip away at the croffe from the table. His eyes follow your hand as you take a deep breath in as he lets out a grunt as he rolls his lip between his teeth as he slaps his hand on the table.
“So pretty Omega, what are you doing here all alone?” His voice was a force smooth, his eyes gleaming at you as he leaned further, closer to you. Taking in a breath, your scent as his lips part and he smirks brightly at you. “I asked you a question.” He growled, making you jump your eyes closing as you take a deep breath.
“I’m waiting for someone.” Your words were sharp, quiet to the point as you started to take deep breaths again and again. Trying to compose yourself, to calm yourself down.
“Well how about I keep you some company till they show up...or you could just leave with me.” He pauses as he takes another deep breath in, your place you cup down letting out breaths again and again. Go away, leave me alone. You want to say, to scream it out like you had like last time. But the three men had made you cower, made you want to shy away from people around you. Your courage closed off. “Smell delicious little girl.” His words had your chest tightening as you stood up, leaving your cup behind as you rushed to the door, wanting, needing to run across the street, wanting to hide behind Hoseok as Yoongi chewed this Alpha a new one. You want them. “Hey get back here, I’m not done talking to you.” The Alpha tone had both you and Jimin whinine, your body freezing before the glass door. Three figures moving across the street had you whining as you heard the Beta manger growl, “Turn around.” You felt your knees shake, wanting to fight his command you whimper as you almost fall. “Now come here, and shut it beta I’m with my Omega.” his words felt wrong, gave you a nasty taste in your mouth as you shake your head at the Beta who let out a whine at the Alphas tone. Jimin cowering behind him as you felt your feet stumble forward, knees buckling as he growls when you weren’t moving quick enough for his liking. “I don’t have all day, now come.” You omega rushed forward wanting to stay safe to listen to the campand as you felt your neck stretch out as he chuckles and patts your cheek “That's a good girl.” His words were full of nothing but humiliation as you let out a whine, bowling lower as the door opens, the sound of a gaspe as the smell of sweet vanilla with firewood mixing with peaches had your heart slow as you hear a deep growl, mixing with another and whine hidden between the two.
“What the fuck is going on?” Hoseok. Your eyes close as you hear the Alpha in front of your growl as he scoffs at the trio.
“None of your business is just punishing a disrespectful Omega is all.” His words held a smirk, the tone and the words had you letting out a whimper, the sound had a hand resting on your shoulder, physical contact. Hoseok touch was familiar being the only Alpha out of two that has truly touched you in any way. And yet it makes you flinch slightly as your eyes peek up at him, his warm brown eyes looking down at you nodding behind him making you stand rushing backwards till hands were around your waist. Twirling your around, back facing away from the two as you hear growling making your grip the top beneath the palm of yours hands as you take a deep breath in.
“That Omega is ours, not yours.” Hoseok's words in any other time would’ve made your huff and roll your eyes, dismiss the man and walk away but Yoongi scent of freshly burning firewood with pine had your nuzzling closer. As close as you could get with clothes on.
“Focus on me.” His voice was soft, breathy against your ear, Yoongi's hand falling to your lower back, another slightly larger than Yoongi's hand pressed against the back of your head making you look up and peak seeing Namjoons cold eyes staring past your head. His fingers lace your hair between them as he moves closer, pressing himself flesh against Yoongi's back making the Alpha purr, his cheek rubbing against your neck as you take another deep breath. Trying to shake the Alpha command away from your mind, wanting to breathe, needing to focus. You hear the Alpha chuckle, as Hoseok growls once again.
“Well shit I’m sorry, she just doesn't have a mark let alone a scent mark. She a good fuck? I haven't tried an Omega yet...would you mind sharing for a fresh Alpha?” His words had the chest you were pressed against rumble with a growl, suddenly the sound of skin hitting skin with a grunt and a growl had you jumping as Yoongi twirl you around, your back against Namjoons chest. The omegas hand sliding across your waist holding you to him as Yoongi pulls back making you shake your head and whine as he pulls back his cold brown eyes staring at you as he cups your cheek and presses his forehead against your. “What the fuck? You fuck-” His words were cut off with another sound as a chair scraps against the floor, you hear Jimin whine making your eyes snap over tot he pink haird Omega for a split second, clinging to the back of the Beta who had his eyes wide watching the scen unfold, making you look back to Yoongi then Behind his head. Seeing the Alpha on the ground eyes closed as Hoseok shook his head out, shoulders moving with every single breath he took. Hands on your cheeks had your eyes snapping back to your focus. Yoongi.
“Hey, hey Y/n focus on me.” Your eyes watch his, the way his eyes never move away from your face, how his eyebrows furrowed together, and the way the tips of his ears were a bright red. His hair was slicked back slightly, forehead on show the collar of his shirt was messed up slightly from the coat he probably had thrown on while the three left the office. His tie was a maroon color, resting against an off white top from the feel of it was silk that was tucked into his pants. Your eyes catching the dull looking shoes from the day you had split coffee on, it head your cheek going red as his thumb rubs against your cheekbone having your eyes snap back up to his. “Breath with me, focus on me.” You nod slowly, breathing slowly down as you feel Namjoons nose running up and down your neck, scenting you slightly as his nose rubs over your scent gland each time. It had your body vibrate as Yoongi rubs slightly under your eye as he smiled softly at you as you tried to smile back in the moment you finally realized that tears that were falling down as you took a shaky breath in.
“Is she okay?” You hear hoseok ask making you look to see his warm eyes looking at you as you feel yoongi leave you completely making you whine as Namjoon tightens his grip around you calming you down as Yoongi takes Hoseok's hand. His thumb rubbing over his knuckles as Hoseok's eyes leave yours back to Yoongis as you watch the taller Alpha bump his forehead against Yoongis making him look up and huff.
“Just had to punch him.” Yoongi says softly, his head shaking as Hoseok chuckled softly as he looked at you as Yoongi rolled his eyes once again,hearing the groaning boy behind them, Hoseok turned and growled making the Alpha flinch as he whips his lip and huffs.
“Asshole, I hate new Alphas.” Hoseok's words had Yoongi nodding in agreement when pink hair caught your eyes as Jimin moved closer rmaking you pull from Namjoon as Jimin came closer. Jimins small frame pressing itself into you as you take a deep breath as you see the Beta talking on the phone.
“Are you okay? I’m sorry I couldn't do anything once that ton-” You cut Jimin off with a shake of your head as you grip his arm and give him a half smile.
“I get it.” You whisper as Jimin slowly nods, sighing as he looks behind you, namjoons eyes already on the pair of you as Hoseok and Yoogi get pulled to the counter taking the phone from the Beta. “Who..what is the betas name?”
“Oh thats Taehyung, he he was protecting me I’m sorry he just didn-”
“Stop apologizing, seriously I knew someone was gonna stop it whether it be him or someone from the outside. It's just a part of being an Omega.” Jimin slowly nodded again as the two of you pulled completely away from each other. “I’m just sorry for you having to deal with my situ-”
“Don’t you start apologizing, if I can’t neither can you.” Jimins words were light hearted, a smile on his face as you shook your head and gave him the softest smile, a forced one almost. “Namjoon looks worried.” Jimins words were now slightly teasing, trying to pull you from the situation, and in the end it worked.
“He can hear us.” Your words made me smile brightly as you shook your head and took a deep breath in as you turned around, eyes already on you as you moved slowly towards them. Namjoon meets you halfway, though you step back when he reaches to touch you making his eyes widen as he steps back. “Uh this definitely not how I thought this afternoon was going to go.” Your words were mumbled, soft as you chuckled awkwardly running your hand through your hair as you let out a huff. “I just..I..sorry about it.”
“No need to apologize Y/n, we’re just glad you’re okay.” Hoseok mumbled his own hand running through his hair, the red on his knuckles catching your eyes as you reached out slowly making his jaw slightly drop. You fingertips grazing the palm of his hand at you step forward. Your other hand moving to run over the knuckles, each red mark being gently rubbed by the pad of your pointer finger it had Hoseok's whole body relax as he looked at your movements. “You didn’t have to punch the guy.”
“No one disrpects Omegas, let alone..let alone an Omega that is mine..shit sorry.” He mumbled quickly when the last part of his sentence slipped out past his lips it had your lip slightly curling when the dig of the door opening had you jumping back. A police officer was there, Yoongi quickly moving to speak with them as the Alpha who was now sitting up slowly was suddenly cuffed. Your breathing stayed steady as another officer came up and gave you soft smiles, her beta scent was soothing, light and it did wrap around you.
“Are you okay telling us what happened?” Her voice was soft, your arm wrapping around yourself as your other rested on your cheek, eyes looking down to the ground as you took a deep breath in. “You don’t have to today, but if you want to press charges we do need you to give a statement within 48 hours.”
“I don’t want to press charges..he’s a freshly presented Alpha.” You were quick to respond as she nodded slowly, her hand reaching slowly hovering above your shoulder as she smiled at you.
“Of course, we’ll book him then for the night. Okay?” You nod as you see Hoseok pressing a hand to the back of Namjoons neck as the Beta officer walked away following after her partner as you let out a breath and looked over at the three men who were already looking at you.
Focus Y/n. Focus on what needs to be done.
“Okay so I thought about it..about us?” You question yourself out loud, looking down your fingers twirling the ends of your sweater sleeve. You hair falling in your eyes making your huff as you blow hair making the strains fly up and fall back down just a quickly making your eye roll as you stop fiddling with our sleeves, pushing your hair over your ear as you make eye contact with Hoseok, his eyes already on you as he slowly nodded. “I think..I think we should just leave it be..let whatever happens or doesn’t happen..well uh just happen.” Your words had Namjoon whining as Yoongi let out a tut at him as you gave the three a small smile. “It’s not a no, but it’s not a yes.”
“It's just an open for a maybe.” Yoongi mumbles, making you nod your head as you take a deep breath as you look at them.
“I’m going to be honest with you guys I wasn’t planning to agree to anything and just ask for you guy to drop this whole mate things...but I just have this need to try...which is honestly weird.” You pause as you take a deep breath eyes casting anywhere but the three of them, you felt heat again your arm making you look to see Namjoon already looking down at you through a small frown was on his face as you take a deep breath. “It's not entirely your fault though, I have a lot of trust issues and abatement issues that is gonna make this hard..I don't’ know why I'm letting you know instead of you guys just figuring out maybe it's because of what happened and I feel..I feel safe in this moment with you or its just the high of breaking and Alpha command or what.” You ramble looking down at your feet, the black worn out vans on your feet bending as you move. “I guess..I guess maybe today I was able to see you guys as normal I guess and opened up for a chance? So just don’t..don’t hurt me...cause it’s the only one you get.”
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i wanna talk about the main reason why some people want utahime to have a major play in the story; because of the ship with gojo (surprise?) so not only is that such a weak argument but also a weak writing of a character, it seems that people just shove aside the whole story thats revolving around satosugu and the consqeuence of their relationship that has caused. or that, gojo should move on from suguru and date utahime so he can "heal"
issue is, they would never work out, i get that some people like the appeal of opposites attract and all that but the problem is they are really opposites OPPOSITES literally, utahime is a minor character that will probably play some role later in the story but thats it, she's not there to help the main character move on from the loss of his love/best friend, and reading into the text and overanalysing their interactions and bending it into something that's not what author is trying to tell is wrong and problematic, i simply cant find any good reason why they would be a good pair. plus im not even sure that utahime truly understands gojo like geto or shoko do, they aren't friends like they are for example so, but she doesn't really need to anyways >>
they like to compare utahime to geto, but they are quite different personality vise, geto complemented gojo in everything, and gojo complemented geto, utahime is different, she likes people like shoko for example, people that aren't wild cards and that are kind a calm. and no i don't like the take that utahime truly hates gojo, hate is a really strong word but she doesn't like him either, she doesn't like spending time with him but she will honor any request he makes of her because he means well in the end, it's just that his personality the way it is, even if you're someone that likes him, you will grow tired of him nonethless, only person who accepted him fully was geto and the fact that they still yearned and missed each other for 10 years is telling. conclude here; gege already said that the only female character it made sense writing a romantic story is miwa, the rest he can't do so, perhaps he just doesn't invision these dynamics for his characters? imo this is totally fine because romance in stories is becoming generic and boring, jjk its self is devoid of such things, apart from satosugu. also it is nearing the end as he stated that 70 precent is already completed, he has some small arcs he wants to do and the rest is to conclude the story, expecting of utahime or any minor character to suddenly be shoved into the plot for no reason and give them any major power boost would be the lazies writing i have ever seen, and i will finish it here that utahime's character has more nuance than being just angry and annoyed all the time, she likes her safe space with people she's friends with, like shoko and surprise, she is a completely different person. the trope where 'if a boy is bullying you then he likes you' is so lame and becoming old and predictable that it simply doesn't work in a world of jjk, end of vent.
I feel bad for those who believe they need to move and date someone else to “heal” and I feel bad for the person who is used as a healing method. I oftenly will read some opinions on fiction and I will wonder how these people live their life? Anyways...
Utahime is indifferent to Suguru’s destiny because they weren’t friends. She could have felt some empathy when it happened but she has moved on, it is not her problem, not her concern. Shoko is a character that can share a conversation with Satoru about Suguru since she was close to both. But Utahime is so out of the picture in this matter.
Utahime doesn’t have a deep understanding of Satoru because she doesn’t care about him. She dislikes him and isn't a friend. They are allies and colleagues, she understands him in those terms, enough to be able to trust in him. And is the same for Satoru, he is not trying to have a deep understanding of her either.
Utahime’s role in the plot is related to her position as a teacher and sorcerer, not an imagined romance with Satoru. I believe we will get to see more of her, but related to jujutsu tech events.
I agree with you, about those topic I have a previous answers here, here and here
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Yandere! Gon and Killua with a S/O who tries to leave
Requested by: Anon!
“I don’t know if you do any yandere stuff but if you do I was wondering how would yandere killua and gon react to thier s/o trying to leave them for Accidentally Cheating. Thx love your blog”
First Gon and Killua request!! I’m so excited! For the sake of all things holy, ALL CHARACTERS WILL BE AGED UP A BIT. especially with the cheating thing 👉👈 UMM ALSO THIS IS MY FIRST EVER YANDERE TYPE THING SO IM SORRY 😭
Gon:
Alright this dude doesn’t see anything wrong with the fact that he cheated
HE THINKS ITS NORMAL??
And to think you’d get so upset over him ‘cheating’ on you??
He would never! He was just being ‘nice’ to one of tourists of Whale Island
A little to nice.
He’s the type of Yandere that thinks what he does is completely fine! He thinks he’s doing the right thing!
So that’s where you had enough.
Gon was a lunatic and you had to get away
Maybe you’d call Leorio or Kurapika, they’d help you
That’s all you had to do
Get to a pay phone and dial Leorio or Kurapika
So while Gon had left to do God knows what..
You packed your shit and walked out the door
Surprisingly.. you got to the pay phone rather easily
Your paranoia had shot up with the risk of getting caught
Like 📈📈📈📈📈
You made the decision to call Kurapika. He was more serious with this stuff.
You waited for Kurapika until it was dark out
But he came all the same
But you hadn’t expected to see Gon right behind him
That’s right. Gon had said something about visiting Kurapika. Shit.
You were an idiot not to pay closer attention
Fuck fuck fuck he looks mad
His eyes were avoid of anything,,,
His soulless hues stared into your own, and you felt like you could throw up
Kurapika seemed rather worried, asking what happened while Gon was gone
You couldn’t tell him about Gon being a psycho
He wouldn’t believe you.. right?
You made the choice in saying that someone had tried to hurt you, and with Gon away, you didn’t know what to do
Kurapika sighed and said he’d get a hotel and would scout the island for any suspicious behavior,,,
But he didn’t know that Gon WAS the culprit.
Soon after that, you went home with Gon.
“....You lied to him, Y/N.” There was a pregnant pause before your name, almost like it was hard for him to pronounce. “You never lie.”
“...Gon....” You said quietly, not prepared for whatever the hell he was going to say.
“Is this about the woman?” Gon narrowed his eyes at his feet, which moved as the both of you took the road to his house.
“No I just-“ you went quiet, not knowing what to say. Make something up. Fast. “I just wanted to.. get away from the island a bit.”
“Get away?” Gon’s dark expression changed into one of confusion. “Do you not like it here?”
“No! I like it here!” You said abruptly, your eyes widening. “It’s just, I was thinking of visiting my parents! See what they’re up too!” You nervously laughed, praying he didn’t notice your smile faulter.
“...Oh well...that’s easy.” Gon smiled at you, and for a second, you thought you did something good. “They’re up to nothing.” His eyes darkened, his smile widening a bit.
“Nothing?” You questioned, confused.
“They’re dead.” Gon hummed. “They kept trying to get in my way.. so I put them out of their misery. They missed you a lot.. and kept saying I kidnapped you! Which isn’t true right?”
You didn’t say anything. Nothing at all. The only thing that escaped your mouth were the harsh sobs, which seemed to shake your whole body. You fell to the ground, the rough asphalt slicing your knees, the stinging couldn’t compare to the state your heart was in.
“...Oh..” His voice lowered, the slight evidence of worry laced his tone. “.....Can you not speak..?” He grabbed your hand, kneeling before you.
You smacked his hand away, falling onto your back. “G-get the hell away from me!” You screamed, your hands slipping on the bloodied gravel below you. You kept trying to stand up, but it seemed that gravity pushed against you even harder than before. “Go away! For gods sake just leave me alone!”
He stared at his hand for about a minute, his mouth wide and agape. “Leave.. you alone? While your upset?” He seemed hurt, his eyes swelling up, tears appearing. “What kind of boyfriend would I be if I left you like this! You’re hurting!”
“Because of you! I’m HURTING BECAUSE OF YOU!” You screamed in his face, somehow gaining the strength to sit up.
“.......I didn’t hurt you! I would never hurt you!” His voice gained in volume, almost like he was panicking. “I just did what was best for both of us!”
“You did what was best for you!” You shoved your finger into his chest, your nail almost bending due to the pressure. “You never think about me! You force me to stay with you! I never wanted something like this! I-“
“Shut up.” Gon said suddenly, shadow overcasting his facial features. “Everything I do is for you... don’t you dare say it isn’t!” His hand quickly grabbed your wrist, the sickening sound of bone being crushed seemed to echo in your ears.
“Y-you’re hurting me... right now... you’re hurting me..” you whispered, trying your best not to cry even more. Your head already hurt from the screaming, the pain adding to your desire to pass out.
“You don’t know real pain.” He said coldly. “But you’ll find out soon.”
That’s all you heard before you eyes seemed to close, your body falling forward into someone’s warm embrace, the air being knocked out of you.
“But everything I do... is for you.. Y/N.”
Killua:
Thing is I don’t see him cheating :(
He’s so closed off as is, so it’s surprising he’s in love with you anyway!!
He’s definetly the Yandere who thinks that you need him
Like you’d be in danger without him
He’s definitely convinced himself that you’d die if you weren’t with him
And that makes him so friggin sad
He wants you to be happy
But he wants you to be safe first.
So, if you try to escape, that’ll make him even more broken inside
He’s a tragic yandere tbh
Wants to give you happiness and love, but he can’t let you out of his sight 😭
So you probably try to leave when he kills someone that was close to you
Probably a guy friend of yours
He felt like he was dangerous, and couldn’t have him taking you away
So he murdered him on the spot with a quick hand through the heart, his nails bloodied.
That was the last straw. You were living with a murderer.
How you would get out? You had no idea
You were in the Zoldyck Mansion. Locked away.
If anything, you could try talking to Canary. She liked you. A lot.
So that’s what you did. You told Canary everything.
She believed you almost immediately. She knew the Zoldycks were cruel... Killua included, no matter how much she liked him.
She’d try to smuggle you outside the gate
Hopefully the security guard would understand
That’s what got you here, standing from right inside the testing gate, Killua before you.
Canary was long gone. She had to stop the butlers from following you.. so you were alone.
“....What are you doing so far from home...?” He questioned, his eyes widened at the sight of you with bags in your hands. “It’s dangerous out here.”
“Killua, we’re inside the gate. You know it’s plenty safe out here.” You narrowed your eyes, nails digging into the leather holsters of your bag. You couldn’t back down now. “Besides, I can protect myself if need be.”
“.....Of course you can. I don’t doubt your abilities.” Killua rolled his eyes, his attitude returning to normal. “I wouldn’t date someone who can’t protect themselves.”
“....Then why don’t you act like that?” You felt a pang in your chest. He made it seems like you were weak.... He made it seem like you were helpless. Why would he do that?
“Act like what? Protective? I can’t do that?” He questioned, his defensive tone making itself clear.
“That is not what this is.” You countered, stepping back a bit. “You know this isn’t you being protective! You act like I’m fragile! Some glass vase that’ll break if someone pushes me to hard! I’m not! I’m a professional hunter just like you!”
“...You don’t act like it.” He pouted, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“How can you be so childish right now!? This is why I need to leave!” You stepped forward, your voice gaining in volume.
“...Leaving is a need? Are you sure you just don’t want it?” He stepped towards you, his voice getting low. He was definitely getting pissed off now.
“I haven’t been outside the gate in years Killua! You know how ridiculous that sounds?! Last time I interacted with someone from outside this gate, you fucking murdered them! He was my friend!”
“He was trying to hurt you!” Killua responded, his eyes darkening. “He was inviting you outside the gate! And by yourself no less! He could’ve hurt you!”
“Going out the gate isn’t a death sentence! I need fresh air Killua! I need to see people!” You continued to yell, throwing your hands up in the air dramatically, the bag in your hand almost being flung off to the side.
“You see my family everyday! They’re people!” Killua scoffed. “barely...” he muttered to himself, getting lost in thought.
“What if I don’t want to see your family anymore?! What if I don’t want to see you?!” You gasped right after the words left your mouth, hands covered your lips, almost in disbelief of what you had just said.
As your thoughts consumed you, you felt a slight pain in your abdomen, your body falling to the ground. Your bags cluttered around you, creating what ironically looked like a crime scene. He had just pushed you. That’s never happened before.
Killua stood above you, his eyes pulsating with dark intent, his aura covering for what seemed like miles. “....Don’t you ever say that!” He yelled out, tears almost appearing in his empty voids. “I might believe it one day! That you don’t need me anymore!” He grabbed the collar of your shirt, so his eyes could look into yours. “I can’t lose you like everyone else! Don’t leave me behind! I used to think you needed me but now I think it’s the other way around!” He cried out, tears threatening to spill. “I have to protect you with everything I have! I’ll continue to kill the people who try to take you away! So please don’t make this hard! I know you want to leave! I understand! But that can’t happen!”
You were quiet, your body feeling limp as he had hit a sensitive point on your body. “O-okay...” you muttered out, tears brimming the corners of your eyes. “I’ll stay.... I-“
Before you can finish, Killua hugged you tighter than ever before, knocking the air out of you. You felt like you could pass out, that feeling soon coming to reality as black dots filled your vision. He had somehow managed to manipulated you again. His worry getting the best of you.
Curse you for being so damn sympathetic.
#hxh#gon freccs#hxh killua#killua zoldyck#killua hxh#hxh x reader#hunter x hunter#hunter x hunter x reader#hunterxhunter imagine#hunterxhunter x reader#hunterxhunter#hunter x hunter imagine#killua x reader#kurapika kurta#leorio paladiknight#canary hxh#hxh yandere#yandere killua#yandere gon#admin is nervous#🙈#hxh imagines#hxh imagine#x reader#yandere#yandere x reader#killua zoldyck x reader#gon freccs x reader
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Spilled Pearls
- Chapter 10 - ao3 -
Lan Qiren was only made aware that Wen Ruohan had fixed things when he realized that two weeks had gone by without anyone saying anything about him personally and had, out of a sense of morbid curiosity, asked one of his teachers about it.
“Oh, didn’t you hear?” his teacher asked, nose deep in one of the musical scores they’d put together for the array project, hunting for the flaws. “The sworn brother business was just part of one of his schemes to gain additional power amongst the Great Sects.”
Having been involved in it, Lan Qiren wasn’t so sure about that. “What do you mean, honored teacher?”
“He’s been finding ways to form new ties with all the Great Sects, not just ours,” his teacher explained. “It’s all come out; some very clever people figured it out. There’s a new trade agreement with the Jiang sect that both sides were keeping hushed up, something going on with the head of the Nie sect that the Nie sect disciples are being especially close-mouthed about, and, of course, his new connection with the Jin sect…it’s really not that surprising that he decided to find a way into our Lan sect by trickery.”
His teacher said it casually, as if of course Lan Qiren's sworn brotherhood had been formed by a slightly underhanded maneuver rather than torture or rape or anything like that, and while of course that was in fact true, Lan Qiren was stunned by the fact that what passed for common knowledge in the cultivation world had been flipped on its head in such a short time.
Truly, Wen Ruohan’s cunning was boundless. It was a little frightening.
“Say,” his teacher added. “As his sworn brother, you’ll be attending the wedding, won’t you? You should bring back some stories!”
Lan Qiren stared blankly. “…what wedding?”
It turned out that Wen Ruohan’s new connection with the Jin sect was through a marriage. The bride wasn't surnamed Jin, that would be too much for most people to tolerate without some sort of excuse; she was instead from a powerful subsidiary sect that swore allegiance to the Wen sect, in keeping with Wen Ruohan’s preference for his own people above anyone else, but her mother was a branch cousin of the Jin sect and everyone said that it was obviously meant as a way to bind the sects together. They said Wen Ruohan had spoken openly of his desire for sons – as usual, no one mentioned the names of those of his descendants already in his sect’s memorial hall – and that there were high hopes associated with the union on both sides. The Jin sect was said to be already parading around the marriage as their newest political victory, trying to use the connection to their best advantage.
“How long has this been planned, do you think?” Lan Qiren asked Lan Yueheng, mostly out of lack of other people to ask; unsurprisingly, Lan Yueheng shrugged.
“It’s an engagement,” he said disinterestedly. “My cousin says the negotiations for an engagement can be as long or as short as everyone wants it. But surely no one would make a lifetime decision like that lightly? Not to mention an alliance between sects, however implicit. It must have been planned a long time ago.”
Lan Qiren wasn’t so sure. There was always the ambiguous situation between Wen Ruohan and Lao Nie to consider, and given the way Lao Nie had spoken during his visit, it sounded as if he had encouraged Wen Ruohan to come up with some clever way out of the situation, rather than suggesting that one already existed.
Moreover, he wasn’t sure that Wen Ruohan considered a marriage to be a lifetime decision. Hadn’t he been married before, had sons before? It was only that they had all died…
“Lan-er-gongzi!” A runner came up to him, saluting. “The Sect Leader asks that you report to the hanshi at once.”
“That’s probably your invitation,” Lan Yueheng said, sounding mildly disapproving – undoubtedly he thought weddings were a waste of time compared with doing experiments. Taking inspiration from his work with Lan Qiren in merging math and music, he’d recently expanded his interests from mathematics to alchemy, and Lan Qiren grimly foresaw many exploding furnaces in the Lan sect’s immediate future. At least they had some out-of-the-way places for him to work, or else there'd also be a lot of punishments for violating the rules about too much noise in Lan Yueheng's personal future. “It’ll probably make you miss the first week of this season’s classes, too…well, try not to be too bored.”
Sadly, Lan Qiren did not think being bored would be an option.
Sure enough, when he arrived at the hanshi where his father and brother were waiting alongside several sect elders, the subject of discussion was the invitation he had received to attend the wedding.
“As Sect Leader Wen’s sworn brother, naturally you must attend,” his brother told him. “We will also be sending a delegation from the Lan sect to attend on our behalf officially, but your position is different. You must be careful not to offend anyone.”
Lan Qiren saluted. “I will do my best.”
“Sect Leader Wen will not be kind if you lose face for him, especially at his wedding, even if it is inadvertent - or even if what you do is perfectly correct by our standards,” one of the other elders, one of the older teachers, the well-respected if sleepy one, said. He sounded concerned on Lan Qiren's behalf, which Lan Qiren appreciated. “You must especially take care not to offend his new bride. Even where the marriage is made for the purpose of power and there is no expectation of love, a man does not like to have disturbances in his back courtyard.”
“Especially if the stories are true and Sect Leader Wen hopes for sons,” the teacher in swordsmanship responded, his voice a little acidic. He was still unhappy with Lan Qiren over what had happened during their visit to the Nightless City; Lan Qiren did his best to avoid him whenever possible. “I doubt Sect Leader Wen will persist in trying to raise one of our children once he has one of his own.”
That explained the sour expressions on the faces of his brother and some of the elders, Lan Qiren thought. They had hoped to use him to manipulate Wen Ruohan, though the exact method of how they would have done so escaped him no matter how he analyzed the words he had overheard that night in the hanshi, and Wen Ruohan had neatly evaded their snare with a countermove of his own – as with weiqi, so with politics, he assumed. A disappointment, as always.
“A brotherhood is for life,” Lan Qiren’s father said, voice distant as always, neutral as always. “There are ten months at minimum before any son is born, and all the years after; even if Sect Leader Wen forgets about his obligations, that does not mean that we must. There will be other opportunities.”
“Provided Qiren does not provide grounds for Sect Leader Wen to abjure the relationship,” his brother interjected.
“I will try my best not to do so,” Lan Qiren said again, stiff as always, though he suspected his brother was simply stating a fact rather than casting doubt on him. “When should I prepare myself to depart?”
“The delegation leaves tomorrow morning,” his brother said. “You will need to give a personal gift to your sworn brother in addition to the sect’s gift. I have selected several options; come with me to pick the one you prefer.”
Lan Qiren saluted the elders and wordlessly followed his brother to the treasury. He liked none of the gifts his brother had selected, thinking that they all seemed a bit too gaudy even for a recipient whose tastes tended toward the luxurious – a bit more Lanling Jin than Qishan Wen, and not at all something he would select for himself – but eventually he chose a heavy golden crown that seemed to be not too far from the ones that he’d seen Wen Ruohan wear in the past.
“Not the dagger?” his brother asked, his voice thick with irony that Lan Qiren did not understand, nodding towards another of the options, a golden-hilt blade so purely polished that one could see their reflection in it.
“Sect Leader Wen has a rich collection which we cannot hope to match,” Lan Qiren said, thinking of those peerless treasure swords rusting away as wall decorations in Wen Ruohan’s bedroom. “Moreover, it’s a wedding, which represents two parts joining together into a single whole, while a gift of a knife implies severing. It is therefore inappropriate for such an occasion.”
“Brothers who have shared blood cannot be separated. It is a suitable gift from a sworn brother.”
Lan Qiren looked down at the options, feeling a little helpless. “If you would like me to change my selection…”
“The guan is fine,” his brother said, and shook his head, seeming almost a little pitying. “You are very good to be concerned with your sworn brother’s feelings, no matter how your relationship came about. Too much goodness can be seen as weakness, you know.”
I thought I wasn’t supposed to be making trouble? Lan Qiren thought to himself. Still, since his brother did not seem inclined to elaborate, he handed the gift to one of the servants to be put into an appropriate box.
In actuality, he had already selected a personal gift of his own, shortly after he had first heard about the impending wedding – it had seemed reasonable that he would need to send a gift, even if he didn't expect to actually be invited, and it had not occurred to him that he would be allowed to utilize the sect treasury for such a thing. He’d gone to Caiyi Town and purchased a small set of drinking bowls, applying the glaze himself as the artisan spun the pots; they had gone into the kiln immediately thereafter, and he was expecting the delivery today – in fact, it was probably already waiting in his room.
He would pack the set up with his personal items and give it to Wen Ruohan anyway, he decided. After all, he’d opted to do the design in Wen sect red rather than Lan sect blue, rendering it useless for his own purposes, and it would be worse to simply throw it away or to let it sit and gather dust. Being frugal is a virtue, after all.
Of course, if he were truly being frugal, he would have told his brother that he did not need an additional gift and left the guan alone, but he didn’t want to reject his brother’s kindness, either, rare as it was. Better to just eat the loss of the funds and have Wen Ruohan think him a spendthrift…
“Sect Leader Wen will undoubtedly have you stay in the Sun Palace during your visit,” his brother said abruptly, and Lan Qiren looked at him: his brother wasn’t looking at him, but into the distance, and his fingers twitched at his side in an uncharacteristic display of nervousness. “As his sworn brother, it would be inappropriate for him to put you in the guest quarters, or to fail to allow you free mobility through the Nightless City.”
“That seems likely,” Lan Qiren agreed hesitantly, not sure why his brother was mentioning it.
“He is fortunate that you are not naturally observant,” his brother said. “Otherwise one might fear that you would use the opportunity to learn more about how the Wen sect works – its treasures, its secrets. Its plans for the future.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that,” Lan Qiren said quickly. “Have courtesy and integrity, after all. Even if I were to discover something incidentally, naturally I would be honor-bound not to share it without informing Sect Leader Wen that I had done so.”
His brother sighed, his fingers abruptly unclenching. “Of course you would. How could anyone doubt it…I don’t suppose you’ve ever given any thought to Do not forget the grace of your forefathers?”
“Of course I have. That’s one of the fundamental rules,” Lan Qiren said, now absolutely bewildered. “That we should live up to the expectations of our ancestors, both in our good conduct and discipline, and in supporting our sect so that our descendants may honor them equally.”
His brother shook his head. “Sometimes I really don’t understand you. You were tricked into an oath like a virgin maiden into a sweet-talker’s bed, weren't you?” he said. Lan Qiren really didn’t understand how his brother’s mind worked that he kept changing subjects like this. “I just wonder that you aren’t more resentful of the one that did it, the way anyone else would be. The way you act, you’d think Sect Leader Wen had done you a favor; you’re so considerate of him.”
Lan Qiren thought his brother might be being sarcastic, but he wasn’t very good at determining such things. “Even if the manner in which we became sworn brothers was unorthodox, the oaths have still been sworn,” he said, a little haltingly. “I cannot control his actions, only my own. Just because he might not be a good brother doesn’t mean I can’t be – isn’t that right?”
His brother glared at him. “If you have something to say, Qiren, you can say it directly.”
Lan Qiren was at an utter loss. “I – was?”
“Your teachers say that you’re brilliant,” his brother said, voice suddenly very cold. “I often wonder whether they’re not growing too old for their work.”
“I don’t –”
“Never mind. You’re dismissed.”
Lan Qiren saluted and returned to his quarters, puzzling over the conversation as he packed away his things for the trip. Was his brother trying to warn him against anyone encouraging him to act as a spy? Or was he trying to convince him to act as a spy himself? But if it was the latter, why wouldn’t he just say so? If it were truly necessary for some reason, for the good of the sect…
Was he supposed to volunteer?
But that would be truly breaking the oath of brotherhood – of which he still didn’t know the contents…
Lan Qiren supposed that, at least, was one thing he would be able to fix: very soon, he would be seeing his sworn brother again for the first time since they’d sworn their oaths.
Maybe he’d find a way to ask.
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Tales of Zombish: Haikyuu Light Novel Translation
*This is my translation of the Zombie Knight Zombish snippets from the light novel. It’s split into 5 parts, and inserted between each chapter of the light novel. Don’t copy this to another site. The translation is under the cut!
Zombie Knight Zombish
1: Zombish is Born!!
Nightfall. A lone swordsman wakes up. A swordsman that does not know of true death, because of experiencing a false death.
“...Wait, it’s still evening, you stupid crow!”
The man yells at the small crow beside him, having just woken up by a thin bush. The man’s body was wrapped up in an old, tattered cloth—which must have been a cloak some time ago—which covered his entire body.
“I could have gotten burned by the setting sun…” The man blocks out the sunlight with the tattered cloth, and the crow caws apologetically.
“Well, it’s okay. I don’t even have a body that can be burned.”
The man laughs, and the crow flaps its black wings, flying ahead up into the sky. The man follows it with his gaze, squinting at the brightness. He stands up.
“Oh, well. Guess I’ll go.”
The man starts to walk. His frame was thin and delicate, which could be seen even when it was covered with the tattered cloth. And on his back, was a sword.
The sword, which is large enough to not be recognized as one at first glance, does not suit the lean man.
“Man, I wonder if a car will pass by… Eh, I guess no sane person would have gasoline now.”
There’s no road where the man looks ahead.
In the dead world where smokey, dried up wastelands stretch out for seemingly forever, the man continues to walk alone today.
“Yeah, isn’t this good? Isn’t this good? It sounds like the story’s just begun, right?”
The rookie mangaka, Udai Tenma, stands up with an excited face and gets another drink from the self-service fountains. He returns to his table with a glass of cola in his hand. He continues working on his storyboard.
The only equipment on the table is a notebook, a pencil and an eraser. On the open page, there are scribbles that nobody else could decipher. It’s the storyboard Udai made with all his effort.
I wanna try and make a manga. I like it. With that, Udai had drawn a manga during his college years. And it had won an honourable mention in the rookie awards. He had gotten an editor and debuted as a mangaka. But the reality was, he wasn’t quite reaching serialization.
But now, “Zombie Knight Zombish”, is being created in the restaurant. And there’s a confidence that hasn’t been there before.
“‘Everything but death is nothing but a scratch’? He needs to get over himself… No, maybe ‘Mortal bodies, they make me jealous.’...”
Udai mumbles dialogues to himself, changing his expressions to suit the main character’s. The other customers at the restaurant glance at him.
But he can’t afford to care about those gazes.
Zombish needs to help the heroine attacked by the enemy, in an extremely cool and overdramatic manner.
And the enemy has to be a fated opponent that Zombish has known before turning into a zombie. The heroine needs to be a key person, for Zombish to return from zombie to human. And of course, she needs to be cute, a little strong-willed, who tries to join in on the fighting sometimes. But also a girl who you just want to protect…
A flash.
The girl’s eyes can only capture the white hand, emerging from the tattered cloth and gripping the sword on his back.
She feels wind brush past her cheeks, and closes her eyes. She opens them again, and the bandits have already collapsed onto the dry ground.
“Huh? What…?”
As the girl struggles to comprehend what had happened, Zombish is already starting to walk away.
“Hey, don’t leave me behind!”
She grabs the knight. At that moment, the tattered cloth on him rips and falls to the ground.
What appears is not the handsome knight she expected. Nor a fighter that’s big and well-muscled. It’s a skeleton.
“...Wait, bone?! Why bone! Bone? Wait, do bones even talk?!”
“Yeah, I’m bone! So sorry I’m bone, sue me!”
The knight picks up the truly tattered piece of rag, and hides his body. It truly looks like a skeletal model. He turns his back to the girl.
“Anyway, I’m bone. So I can’t go with you. Protect yourself, you’re on your own.”
The “bone”, that had slain a crowd of bandits instantly, tries to walk away from one single girl, as if to escape from her.
Staring at Zombish’s lanky, weak-looking back and the huge sword on it, the girl shouts over at him.
“Hey, bone! Can you eat?”
Zombish turns around, lifts the tattered cloth, and points around his stomach with a laugh.
“You wanna see me eat? It’s hilarious.”
“If you don’t eat… That means I don’t have to share my food or water with you, right?”
“Huh?”
“It doesn’t matter if you’re bone or not, if you can defeat these guys. You’re pretty strong.” The girl points to the iron-clad, muscular bandit with a mohawk. “And I should sew that cloth I ripped back together…”
Zombish laughs, his hard skull distorting a little. “I’m not strong. Those guys are just small fries. But I guess I’ll have you fix this cloth for me.”
At those words, the girl runs up to him.
In the dried-up world of death, two footsteps mark their paths. Up above in the sky, a crow flies around in circles. As if to watch over them.
Zombish’s journey has just started!!
“I wonder what my editor will say…”
The man, once the “Little Giant”, leaves the restaurant and returns home. And without changing his clothes, collapses into his futon for the first time in a while.
2. VS Editor A!!
“Zombies aren’t usually skeletons, right?” Akaashi Keiji opens his heavy mouth, holding his coffee in one hand. It makes Akaashi heavy-hearted to meddle with a work an author brought to him.
Kanda, Chiyoda City, Tokyo.
In the editorial department of Weekly Shonen Vie, there’s an extreme lack of people in the afternoon.
The rookie mangaka, Udai Tenma, freezes momentarily in the meeting space. And he attempts to brush it off with a laugh.
“Yeah, I thought, ‘Is a skeleton okay?’ for a bit. But maybe a Japanese-style zombie would be new, and I thought I could pull it off. We all get cremated in Japan, too. Hahaha.”
“I see.”
Akaashi looks at the copy of “Zombie Knight Zombish” on the table, and Udai laughing in front of him. And he says one more time, with force behind his words. That this is the last time he’ll say this, and he won’t say the same thing again.
“Zombies aren’t usually skeletons, right.”
The question mark had disappeared.
It’s not a question, but a confirmation of fact.
“...Yeah.” Udai replies weakly. He drops his shoulders, and bites the straw of his cola.
It’s tough.
It had been his best work. He had a confidence in it, that he hadn’t before with his other works. But his concept had been fundamentally criticized.
The editor continues talking to the crestfallen Udai.
“And one more thing.”
“...What is it?”
Udai hunches his shoulders, looking up at Akaashi like a scolded child. Akaashi sips his coffee, adjusts his glasses and lets out a breath. He opens his mouth slowly.
“We’ve established that a skeleton is not a zombie. But I think this skeleton’s design is a little lacking, in the first place. It’s no different to any old skeleton. For the main character, I want a quirk that will tell you it’s Zombish with just one look.”
“Any old skeleton?” Udai says, and draws a normal-looking skeleton into his notebook.
“Yes. For example, he could be wearing glasses, or he could have a large scar. I want a unique design. Even if you draw him simply, you would know it’s him. If I were to ask for more, I’d even say make his silhouette recognizable. That’s how strong his design should be.”
Udai adds a scar to his skeleton, and mumbles, “I guess it can’t be a scar, if his silhouette has to be recognizable.”
“The scar is just one example.”
“I’m sorry…”
Udai slurps the cola at the bottom of the glass, which is pretty much melted ice. He laughs disappointedly.
“I thought the skeleton was fine, since he was cremated. Like a Japanese-style zombie. Well, there’s no zombie-ness, I guess…”
At those words, Akaashi’s glasses shine.
“Then… How about you make Zombish look more Japanese? It could link with his sword, too.”
“What?”
“Well, this is just one what-if scenario.”
“...No, I think it could work. I’ll think about it! Then maybe he can look different from any old zombie!” Udai grabs his pen, and draws a Japanese-style zombie in his notebook. “If it’s Japanese clothes and a sword, he’d just be a samurai… How do I give him the zombie knight feeling…”
Watching the pen move busily and create many versions of Zombish, Akaashi feels a weight lift from his heart.
It makes him heavy-hearted to meddle with other people’s works. But sometimes, his words make the author take a step in a good direction. That must be why he can continue with this job.
“So now, please brush up on the work. And, depending on the edited manuscript, I may bring it up during the serialization meeting.”
Udai’s pen stops moving. “Wait, why?! You’ve been talking about my work so harshly and tearing into it this whole time!”
“...I haven’t been tearing into it. It’s entertaining, so I just want to make the story even more entertaining.”
Udai’s face crumples, as he looks up at Akaashi. “Akaashi-san, you weren’t just an unpleasant person, after all!”
“I’m an unpleasant person…?”
“Oh, sorry! I didn’t mean it that way! I meant it in an um, good way!”
Akaashi doesn’t ask what exactly he means by that, and organizes the manuscript. “Zombish is very entertaining, compared to the works you have brought me so far. I think you have a chance.”
“Thank you!”
“Oh, and lastly…”
“There’s… still more?” Udai tenses.
Akaashi chuckles, before talking. “I’ve been thinking for a while, but this bit on the edge of the page, saying ‘Zombish’s journey has only just begun!’. You don’t need to write that. It’s the editor’s job.”
“...!!”
4. Get Serialized!!
It’s just past noon. Noticing that the phone is ringing, Udai reaches out from under the futon. He checks, and realizes it’s Akaashi. He gets out of the futon in a hurry, and answers.
“You were asleep.” Akaashi says, in the same straightforward tone.
“...I’m sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry too. I’m going to get into it. Your one-shot is well-received.”
At those words, Udai’s hand begins to sweat. He had been told to make a one-shot for the extra issue, and had made “Zombie Knight Zombish” with everything he’d got.
He had changed Zombish’s design into a young man with patchwork skin, after Akaashi’s critique. He likes the way the bandages show around his collar. It can’t have been a skeleton, he thinks. It’s hard to relate to a skeleton.
The “recognizable by silhouette” task had been cleared with the axe on his head. The zombie knight element was incorporated, by making him detach his left arm to wield his sword. Maybe they’ll make a movable figure out of the character.
Above all, it was a work he’d been confident in. If it had still been absolutely hopeless, Udai wouldn’t have been able to recover from it.
“Thank god…” Udai feels the tension drain out of him, and Akaashi continues.
“And now, I would like to brush up Zombish to prepare for serialization.”
“Of course! With pleasure!” Udai answers with gusto, almost like an izakaya employee.
“Firstly, your heroine.”
“Yes!”
I should probably fix up the heroine a bit more, Udai thinks. Make her cuter, better… But Akaashi doesn’t steer the conversation in that direction.
“In the one-shot, Zombish saves her, and they decide to go on a journey together, and it ends there.”
“Huh? Oh, yes.”
“If the one-shot will be chapter one, are they going to be travelling together in chapter two and beyond?”
It’s not anything fun, like about making the heroine have a good figure or about how revealing her clothes should be.
And really, Udai hadn’t been thinking what would happen once it got serialized. Well, he supposes it would be like what Akaashi just said.
“Wouldn’t the readers grow bored of that?” As if to read Udai’s mind, Akaashi says.
“What?”
“The main character and the heroine go on a journey together the whole time, an enemy appears, he saves her, he defeats the enemy, and then moves on. And they continue like that until the final boss.”
“Yeah…”
“Wouldn’t that bore people?”
Wait, am I getting given out to?
No, he’d only been thinking of the one-shot as a base, so he hadn’t set anything beyond that in stone. He had only thought that leaving the readers hoping for more would be enough.
“...Um, if it’s possible, I’d like to talk about this in person.” Udai says, wiping the sweat off his palms with his t-shirt.
“All right. When are you free?”
And so, in the editorial department the day after, the brainstorming session in the meeting space had continued for more than two hours.
“So then, instead of a heroine that just keeps getting saved…”
“She’d be like a buddy that also gives witty comebacks.”
Udai draws a bunch of expressions for the female character. Flustered, angry, glaring… He stops his pen, and looks at Akaashi.
“Then maybe Zombish will have a goofy side, instead of just being cool?”
“But please don’t make it into a gag manga. Looking at the survey results, there are a lot of people saying that the manga is interesting because Zombish is cool.” Akaashi answers, looking at the survey chart.
“I see… Balancing it out is hard.” Udai draws out a bunch of Zombish’s expressions in his notebook, and laughs. “But it’s fun. It feels like I’m making a manga.”
“It’s good to hear that.” Akaashi smiles for a moment, and continues. “And also, about the enemy. Instead of them being a group of bandits in the harsh world, making them an organization would add depth to the story.”
“Oh, maybe they’re the reason Zombish turned into a zombie?”
“Sounds good.”
Udai’s mood lifts from Akaashi’s acknowledgement, and opens up a page earlier on in his notebook.
“Look here! The final boss is a fated opponent from before Zombish turned into a zombie. And the heroine is a key person for Zombish to turn back into a human. So I thought right now, maybe the heroine is the daughter of the final boss.”
In contrast to the excited Udai, Akaashi lets out a low groan of uncertainty.
“...So what, exactly, is Zombish fighting for?”
“You always ask questions that can make the whole thing fall apart, Akaashi-san.”
“Well, isn’t that the most important part?”
Expanding ideas simple-mindedly is fun. The more he expands, picking up the pieces and making the story coherent will be hell, though. But knowing that, talking about final bosses and rivals is genuinely fun.
“Secret hideouts are great, aren’t they?”
“If they’ve taken over this world, isn’t there no need to keep it a secret? Something that would display their power…”
“A castle!”
7. Secret Technique: Bolster Up!
Just after serialization, the response had been very good. It had been. Udai had been in a good mood, asking “This will definitely be turned into an anime, right?”
But now, it had gotten to a point where they couldn’t let it get any lower on the survey rankings.
“........”
“Are you okay?” Akaashi’s senior sees him with his head in his hands, and speaks to him.
“...Oh, yes.”
“It’s about Zombish, right? You should bolster it up with something. Like, with a pretty girl or a handsome guy,” the senior says. “Well, I don’t know.” He returns to his seat, after saying his part.
“Bolster it up…”
Akaashi’s brows knit together.
Would that be enough? Could such a hasty, superficial solution entertain the readers? Well, the current results point to the fact that they’re not entertained. But even so, shouldn’t they be charming the audience with the protagonist’s appeal, or how interesting the story is?
“The protagonist’s appeal, huh…”
But what are the features of a protagonist that will be loved?
What kind of story makes the readers want to come back for more?
“.....”
It would be the anticipation the readers have for the main character. What will happen next week? What will he show us next? Expectations as such. There must have been a lack of absolute protagonist strength, if he thinks about it.
But that was the result of trying to create a dark fantasy, painting a delicate picture of emotions. Precisely because it was an absurd world with a zombie knight appearing in it. Was that what they had done wrong? Was it impossible for his literature department-aspiring self to make an entertaining manga, after all…?
After pondering for a long time, Akaashi lifts his head with a start.
“....!”
Wait a minute.
Am I making the same mistake again?
Am I thinking I could control the author and the readers?
“...No. Pour your spirit into each ball, pour your spirit into each ball…”
Yes. Focus on the next point, the next ball. Focus on this week’s story, the obstacle the protagonist must overcome.
His desk becomes messier each day, as if to reflect inside his heart. Akaashi closes his eyes, and focuses his mental state.
“Don’t think about what’s easy, think about what’s fun. What’s fun…”
The survey rankings going down, getting discontinued isn’t fun. Then what is he meant to do…?
“Give feedback… Connect it to the next step… The next…”
The seniors look at Akaashi worriedly, in front of the printer.
“Akaashi is muttering to himself again, is he okay? He won’t quit, will he?”
“He always comes back to life afterwards, you can leave him alone.”
“Yep.”
“I want an absolute, strong main character.” Akaashi says to Udai, during their meeting.
“Absolute?”
“Yes. Like a star that hits any ball with his utmost ability.”
“Am I going to get discontinued?!”
Udai stands up with a clatter, face growing pale. Akaashi shakes his head quietly.
“...Please calm down. It’s not getting discontinued, yet.”
“...Yet…” Udai shrinks, and sits back down.
“It’s a tough situation, but let’s turn things around.”
They’re burning their bridges behind them.
On the walls around the meeting space, there are many posters of works that had been turned into anime and movies. And the cardboard boxes blocking the corridor are packed with samples of goods.
They have to join the ranks of those popular works, at all cost…!
Akaashi brings his gaze back to Udai, and starts to summarize the things he had thought about for the past week.
“The main character… Zombish is a ‘star’. The readers have expectations for the star. What will he do next? What awesome moves will he show us? What kind of crazy risks will he take?
“We want the main character to amaze us with unexpected, yet charming actions. Whether Zombish sinks or swims will depend on how he overcomes next week’s desperate situation.”
Akaashi lifts the paper bag on the floor. “And there’s a favour I want to ask from you.”
“What’s this? I was wondering about it for a while.” The paper bag handed to him is unexpectedly heavy. Udai glances inside. “A blu-ray?”
“Yes. I picked out swashbuckler films of all types, that have useful scenes for composition and pose references. At this point, we should take in anything cool and flashy.”
“Thank you!”
“Also, it will be hard for you to watch it all, so I wrote the times for scenes I want you to watch.” Akaashi gives him a note.
“I’ll definitely watch it! I’ll use them as references!”
“I’ll do anything I can as well. Let’s both try our best.”
There’s no way Akaashi can control what story the author will bring to him, what the other works will be like, how the readers will react.
So, he should think about what he can do, what he should do.
Avoiding discontinuation— it’s hard, but it shouldn’t be impossible.
10. Our fight has only just begun!
“Zombish is getting discontinued… You have seven chapters left…”
After getting the phone call informing him of the discontinuation, Udai had gone outside. Staying in his room felt too painful. But why, and how he’d come to the editing department, he doesn’t remember.
Akaashi had been taken aback, after Udai had come without contacting him. But one look at his face, and he knew he couldn’t leave him by himself. And so he had taken him to a nearby coffee shop to talk to him. It was just his luck that he hadn’t gone outside the company.
“Please order anything you like.”
Akaashi gives the menu to Udai sitting opposite to him, but Udai drops it onto the table, not having enough energy to hold it.
Akaashi pulls the menu closer to himself, trying not to show his shock. “Is coffee all right, then?”
“........”
There’s no answer, but Akaashi asks for two cups of coffee from the waiter. He chooses his words carefully, and begins to speak.
“We had unfortunate results this time, but…” Akaashi continues, to the dejected Udai. “And as a suggestion from me…”
“........”
“I would like to get a fresh start with a new work. We should solidify the concept more for your next work, and compete with a work only you can make.”
“Next…?” Udai raises his head at last, only to slam it back into the table. “There’s nothing! There’s no such thing that only I can make!” He lifts his crumpled face, and yells.
“That’s not true. There must be something…”
“It is too! There’s nothing!”
Akaashi can only bite his lip, while his assigned author descends into total panic.
What should he do…
He can’t just say “Bye, then,” and leave him feeling downcast. He had wanted to part ways with him in a positive manner, connecting him to the next step. That might just be his own ego talking, though.
“...I’m sure there’s a good theme for you. Is there anything you liked as a child, or something you put your heart into?”
“I’m just a jack-of-all-trades, average guy. I’ve just gotten by in regards to study, sports, art and music…”
When Udai had been in good form, he had preened about it, saying “I can do pretty much anything!”, but now he’s totally dejected. Well, that can’t be helped. He’s getting discontinued, after all.
The only thing Akaashi can do, is to tell him his completely honest thoughts.
“I don’t think a serialized author is just a jack-of-all-trades, average person.”
“I’m not a serialized author anymore, I’m a discontinued author…”
At that moment, the waiter arrives. He shows a slightly intrigued face at Udai’s words, but immediately puts on his professional face and turns on his heels.
Akaashi takes the cup, and inhales the aroma of coffee to calm himself down. He thinks. Maybe he should make some small talk, and change the mood.
What should he talk about? Not about his work, or about what lays ahead. Then, about Udai himself? He wonders what he had talked about with him recently. What club had he joined in college? Where was he from?
And he remembers.
“Udai-san, you told me before that you’re from Tohoku. Were there any unusual traditions there? That you can write a manga about.”
“...Yeah, I’m from Miyagi. But I lived in a normal estate, it was all pretty normal.”
Udai says with a hoarse voice, and absentmindedly puts sugar cubes into his coffee. Many, many sugar cubes. Akaashi thinks he’s adding a bit too much, but there’s an atmosphere around them that makes him unable to say that.
“Well, maybe where I live is in the middle of nowhere in the countryside, to you. You’re from Tokyo, after all.”
“That’s not…”
Akaashi thinks that Udai is getting a little too dejected with him, but he can’t be blamed. “Zombie Knight Zombish” is Udai’s first serialization, and his first discontinuation.
Food, sleep… Udai had sacrificed such human necessities, and yet his work had not been well-received. Of course he would be dejected.
And as a new employee, “Zombie Knight Zombish” was Akaashi’s first work that he had launched from nothing. Due to being emotionally invested in it, Akaashi had felt deeply disappointed about the decision made for Zombish.
Which is exactly why he had wanted to end it on a positive note. Surely there’s something in common with them, that they can talk about…
Akaashi, feeling cornered, opens his mouth. And starts to talk about something unexpected, even to himself.
“...Actually, I have someone I know in Miyagi. It was in relation to the club I was in during high school.”
“I see.”
Udai stirs his coffee with lifeless eyes, not picking up the conversation at all. He doesn’t even drink the coffee that is surely too sweet.
“........”
Of course. Someone else’s high school years is the most irrelevant subject to Udai right now. But really, what should he do? Telling someone they’re being discontinued, and thinking of what happens afterwards, is a first for Akaashi. And it’s a big job. He isn’t sure what the correct thing to do is.
Akaashi falls silent, and Udai opens his mouth. “...What club were you in, during high school?” He asks, not sounding that interested. It feels more like he asked out of obligation, because there was a break in the conversation.
Akaashi feels regret, after realizing he’s made Udai read the room for him. But at the same time, he feels relieved that some of Udai’s energy has come back.
“Volleyball.”
“I see. I did volleyball, too.” Udai says. “During my years, we went to the Spring High nationals, too.”
At those words, Akaashi places the coffee he had lifted back onto the table.
“Oh, me… too.”
“Really?! That’s amazing, Akaashi-san!”
“No, you too.”
And with a light premonition, Akaashi asks. “...Which school did you attend in Miyagi?”
“It’s not a powerhouse, so I don’t know if you’d know…” Udai laughs, before answering. “It’s called Karasuno.”
Please look forward to Udai-sensei’s next work, “Meteo Attack”!
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Ghosts of 79's
Summary: You loved your job as a bartender at 79's, but times have changed. Now the clones, loyal to the Empire, stopped coming here, so the bar had to be sold. You decided to come there one last time and say goodbye to this place. There, you can't stop thinking about the clones, the nights you spent here, and your relationship with Rex.
Pairing: Rex X GN!reader
Word count: 1947 (it was supposed to be under 1000 words)
Warnings: light angst, drinking, alcohol use, mentions of war and characters death
Tags: @ladykatakuri @hellothere-generalangsty @twinkofthedink (if I confused something and you didn't want to be tagged please let me) know
It has never been so quiet in this place before. No music. No laughter. No sound of feet clumsily dancing on the floor. 79's looked like a miserable shadow of itself. Unnaturally silent and empty. There was this old saying on Coruscant that every bar has its heart that keeps it alive. If that was true, 79's had definitely lost its own. It was almost unbelievable how abruptly things have changed.
And who could have expected it? you thought, looking at the blue illuminated bar counter where you used to make drinks every night; right now these nights felt like from another life.
You had no idea why you came here today; you didn't work here anymore. No one did. But you couldn't just leave this place without saying goodbye to it. Not after all these nights. Your gaze shifted at one of the tables and for a second you could have sworn that you heard familiar voices shouting "To the 501st!".
The 501st Legion. Your favorite clones in white and blue armors that always seemed to have the craziest ideas. You smiled thinking about them. Memories came back. Good memories.
"Look who's here! The best bartender on Coruscant!," you used to hear often. It was usually Fives who greeted you this way. He and Tup loved to talk with you. Usually about their missions and battles; you loved those stories, their lives seemed so fascinating compared to yours. Surprisingly they had a different opinion on this.
"Ok, enough about us," Tup said once. "Y/N, and how about you? Tell us something interesting!"
"Me? Interesting?" you laughed. "Listen, my life is more boring than a broken droid. I have nothing interesting to tell you."
"Oh, come on!" Fives almost fell from his stool, he definitely had drunk too much that evening. "You work in the clone bar! I bet Tup's hair you have so many good stories! Just tell us something! Anything!"
And so, after a moment of thought, you told them; you told them about that one time you accidentally found one clone and your friend kissing in the bathroom. And then you told them about another fun day at your work. And another. And another. The three of you had such a great time that before you knew it your shift was over, but even then you stayed at the bar; you had too much fun to just go home. You smiled thinking about that day, the day you realized that maybe your life is not as boring as you thought.
You never found out how exactly Fives and Tup died, for some reason, no 501st trooper wanted to talk about their deaths and you decided to respect it even though it wasn't easy for you.
Now, looking at the empty stools you were wondering, if you will ever find such wonderful customers, again. Probably not. Fives and Tup were special.
You looked away and your gaze fell on the stairs that led to the upper floor of the bar now unlit and shrouded in the darkness. You chuckled, unable to suppress your smile as you remembered how you once slow danced on them with Kix. He had always seemed to be calm and sensible, and yet a few months ago he surprised you with this silly idea.
"Come on! Just one dance and then you can go back to work!" his hand gently grabbed your wrist. "I have to prove to Jesse that I'm not boring! I'm a good dancer. I promise you won't fall!"
He was right. You didn't fall. You both did.
And even if this incident left you with a sprained ankle, you couldn't stay angry with the medic for long. Especially since it was he who introduced you to Rex.
Rex…
Suddenly your smile disappeared.
He almost never visited 79's, but the others used to talk about him so often that when he finally showed up at the bar you recognized him immediately.
"So you're the bartender my medic fell down the stairs with," the blond-haired clone said when he heard your name.
"Oh, so you've heard about me," you laughed, pushing a drink towards him.
"Well... Let's say this story has become very popular, right Kix?" Rex turned to look at his friend, but he wasn't there anymore. "Kix?"
"It looks like this place is dangerous for him." something about Rex made you feel relaxed and in a joking mood. "First the stairs, and now he has just disappeared. Maybe you should go after him because who knows what will happen next? Murderous bathroom door?"
Rex chuckled and you couldn't help but think how cute he is when he's amused.
"Kix can take care of himself," he said, slowly turning the glass in his fingers. "He'll be fine. Besides..." he looked at you and smiled. "I really want to hear your version of that story."
After that evening his visits at 79's became more frequent. He never drank too much and spent most of his time talking with you. Soon you realized that you were looking forward to these meetings. Rex was… different from any other clone you've met before. Neither in a bad way, nor in a good way. He was just different.
There was something special about him and you couldn't explain it, but every time you saw him you felt happy and every time he had to leave you felt sad. And of course, you had been flirting with him; both of you knew you liked each other. Actually, everyone knew it, you weren't very discreet with it.
Then why didn't you do something about it sooner? you've been torturing yourself with this question for a long time, still unable to find the right answer.
Were you too shy?
Or maybe too scared that for him it was just casual flirting?
Now all these doubts seemed ridiculous. Everything was lost anyway.
Once again you looked at the counter bar and took a deep breath. You slowly stood behind it with your hand running over its cold and unusually clean surface. That was it. Right now, you were standing in the same place you last spoke to him. You stared at the empty seat in front of you, wondering what you told him then that made him laugh so much.
It was some joke about a droid and a Separatist, so stupid and childish that for one awkward second you thought Rex will be disgusted, but apparently he didn't mind. Instead, he just leaned toward you with a smile on his face.
"I have to tell you…" he was so close you could feel his breath on your cheek. "Thank you for this evening. I'm glad that I came here today. I really am."
"Wait," you almost knocked off a drink that you had just prepared for one of the customers. "Are you trying to tell me that you're leaving? Now?"
It was still quite early and you hoped that he would stay here for at least two more hours.
"Yeah. Tomorrow's a busy day".
You knew what that meant; tomorrow he will leave Coruscant once again.
"I see…" you mumbled, avoiding his eyes. There was no point in asking him when he would be back. No one knew it. "Well… Good luck then."
"Thank you." a weak smile appeared on his face. There was an awkward silence between you as there was nothing more to do or say.
"So… Goodbye."
"Goodbye." Rex was clearly embarrassed. "Please, take care."
"Yeah… You too."
"Always." he took the last sip of his drink and got up from the stool.
It was the moment when something broke inside you.
"Wait!" you grabbed his hand and looked frantically at his surprised face.
"Come with me. To my home. It's not that far from here. I- I'll say that I had an emergency and I have to leave earlier, so we can spend some time together... You know. Alone."
Your own words surprised you, but you didn't want to give up on this, so when you saw that Rex was hesitating you quickly added.
"My bed is very comfortable and I make the best breakfasts on this planet. You'll rest like never before."
"A nice bed and good breakfast you say?" Rex asked flirtatiously and tenderly brushed a stray of hair from your face. He clearly liked this idea. You had already smiled, convinced that he would agree, but then his facial expression changed. He wasn't the man who came to 79's to have fun and flirt with the bartender, anymore. He was a soldier. Loyal to the Republic and seriously taking the role assigned to him.
"No. Sorry. I can't." his hand slipped from yours. "Not today. Next time. I promise"
Next time.
But the next time has never come. You had been making drinks for so many clones, waiting for him but he never went through 79's doors again. Weeks and months passed and the 501st still didn't come back. You had been wondering how they were doing. Were they safe? Were they alive? Was he alive? Everyone had been talking that the war was coming to an end, so you let yourself believe that you would meet him again soon.
And then one day ruined everything. The Republic had fallen. Jedi had become traitors and clones…
You still couldn't understand it. Suddenly all clones have become imperial soldiers. Why? How? You knew them. They were loyal to the Republic and Jedi. Not to the Empire. Nothing made sense anymore.
That feral day also changed 79's forever. All clones stopped coming here and the rest of the Coruscant didn't want to spend any time in the "clone bar". Especially after recent events. The owner didn't hesitate for long; he sold the bar as soon as he realized that 79's couldn't be saved.
A single tear dropped on the counter. You promised yourself you wouldn't cry, but you couldn't help it. This place meant a lot to you and what? You were supposed to leave it behind, just like that? You knew you wouldn't be working here forever, but this? This wasn't supposed to happen. You were supposed to celebrate the end of the war with Rex, not standing here alone and thinking that he was…
He's dead. an uncomfortable thought crossed your mind. Kriff. He's dead.
You tried with all your mind not to think about it, but you knew it was true. Rex would never betray his Jedi. He would disobey the given order. And if he did… Well. You knew what was the fate of every traitor. He was dead and it was high time you admitted it.
"Hey, you! I'm kriffing talking to you! Are you done standing there like a drunk Jedi withou lightsaber?" a sharp female voice snapped you out of your thoughts.
You looked around in surprise and saw a woman in the doorway. Her face showed impatience.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, arm crossed.
"Sorry," you muttered. "I-I'm just… I worked here and…"
"Oh, great. Another sentimental clone lover who came here to think about the past. I'm sorry time have changed or whatever. Now, get out of here!"
Any other day, you would have said something mean to her, but not today. Today you were too tired and melancholic to think of any snarky reply, so you just wiped away your tears and walked towards the door, stopping only at the exit. You took one last look around the bar, ignoring the murderous glare of the woman.
"Thank you, thank you for everything," you whispered, and with the sound of a closing door, you finally said goodbye to the 79's.
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