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saltymiraculer · 4 years

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Ceremonial Kisses (Part 1 of 3)

Part 2

So I decided to try my hand at the “Marinette, the princess of China” trope and see how I did! Tell me what you think?

Also, the first chapter is going to be fluffy, the second chapter’ll have a sprinkling of salt, and the third chapter will be a mix of piles and piles of salt and some fluff. Be warned!

“I’ve got a big, big, big announcement for you today, class!“ Bustier chirped, clapping her hands to get their attention. “China’s princess will be coronated in a week and a half, the day she turns 18, as many of you know, and one class from the school will be selected to travel to China and watch the ceremony. Guess which class it was?“

“Uhhh…Mme. Mendeleiev’s!“

“Ooh, M. D’Argencourt’s? They’ve wanted that trip for weeks!“

“No, class, it’s ours! In three days, we’ll board the plane to Asia and have a few days to sightsee and explore, then attend the coronation on the second-to-last day!“

“Wow! Why our class?“ Kim asked.

Marinette knew exactly why. Marc had told her that the entire school was sick of Lila’s lies and wanted to enjoy the coronation without her butting in in the middle of the assembly to tell a ‘story’ about herself.

But she couldn’t just say that.

“You know, I actually know the princess,“ Lila said, immediately drawing the attention of everyone in the room. “But her identity is being kept a secret for now. That’s how we landed the trip!“

“Wow, Lila!“

“That’s amazing!“

“So cool of you.“

“They know that’s stupid, right?“ Alya stage-whispered, earning a glare from Lila’s new puppy–more commonly known as Kim. She shrugged. “I’m just tellin’ the truth!“

Alya, who was now her only other supporter next to Nino (and technically Adrien, but she’d discuss that later–it was very complicated), had decided to Google Lila’s name during a sleepover and found…some rather incriminating Facebook posts.

After that, she was 100% team Marinette and an amazing friend, along with Nino, who had decided that he needed a theme song. No one knew why.

But they loved him anyways!

So while Bustier was rattling off facts about Chinese emperors and kings and queens, Nino was showing them his latest idea to expose Lila.

“Okay,“ he started. “First, we go to China. Then we do our sightseeing and shit, and then. I did some research, and we can ask the princess questions if we’re with a national news channel. Alya’s blog counts. For real, we can talk to the princess of China. And we ask her if she knows Lila.“

“Brilliant plan, Nino. I wonder how the princess will react to a few teenagers in the middle of a crowd of famous people.“

Nino frowned. “The princess is only, like, 17. She’ll probably notice us, Als.”

“Oh, that reminds me, your birthday’s on the same day as the coronation, Marinette! Weird, isn’t it? That you and the princess have the same birthday?“ Alya asked, pulling out her phone and swiping through something.

“Huh, yeah. You’re right. Maybe we can invite her to my birthday party?“

“Ooh, the wiki page says she likes custard buns, and I’m not sure how they know that,“ Nino chuckled. “but make sure to stock up on those.“

“Noted,“ Marinette said drily as Bustier turned to them with a condemning look on her face. “Alya! I hope what you’re doing on that phone relates to the lesson!“

“China’s princess’s identity is being kept a secret because the last two were sent death threats, dangerous items, highly innapropriate items, and several other things that prompted them to not reveal the princess until it was necessary.“

“C-correct, Alya. Good job.“

“Nice!“ Marinette mouthed, high-fiving Alya, who flipped her phone around to reveal a website about the princess.

-🌸-

The final bell rang as several of the students cheered. One school day until the trip over, three more to go. Alya swung her bag over her shoulder and bumped Marinette’s elbow. “We goin’ to your place to hang out?”

“Yeah, my dad’s out anyways and mom closed the bakery for the afternoon. let’s go!“ Alya took Nino’s hand and walked the short distance to Marinette’s house. They entered and immediately felt something off.

Ah, there it was.

Sabine was leaning over the counter with a cup of very strong-smelling peppermint tea beside her. She was rubbing her temples and muttering to herself in rapid Mandarin.

“Maman? Are you alright?“ Marinette asked worriedly. Alya and Nino stood by the door–they had only seen her like this once before, when her cousin had been run over and killed.

“Yes, dear, everything’s okay, it’s just–there’s something I need to tell you.“

“Oh, no, did something happen to someone?“

“No, no, everyone’s just fine. I can’t not tell you without there being serious problems.“

“So what is it? What’s so important you had to close the bakery?“

“You’re the princess. China’s princess. The one nobody knows about.“

“I’m what?!“ Marinette screeched, grabbing at her hair. “I’m the heir to the throne of the most populated country in the world, and you waited until a week before the coronation to tell me?!“

“Holy shit.“ Alya and Nino said simultaneously. Sabine stared at them, likely just realizing they were there.

“Oh. They know now, too. Perfect, that’s just what we need, a reporter knowing who–“

“Maman! Alya wouldn’t tell a soul, I know she wouldn’t.“

Sabine turned to Alya. “I’m sorry, dear, I’m just stressed. With that trip to China in a few days and all that, we’ll have to close down the bakery for about a week.”

“And we never close down the bakery.“ Marinette finished, putting a steady hand on her mom’s shoulder. “But I know just the person to run it while we’re gone.“

As she was about to say who exactly would run the bakery, Nino backed into the door, wide-eyed.

“Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. My best friend…holy shit.“

“Nino, I know this is a lot, but we’ll have to stay calm,“ Alya said, grabbing his hand. “So we don’t spill her secret. That’s top priority, all right? Don’t–tell–anyone.“

Nino sighed. “Sorry, babe. This…“ he turned to Marinette. “Do you have any cookies?“

Marinette grinned and led them into the kitchen. “Of course! Chocolate chunk or raspberry frosted?“

“Raspberry, all the way!“

“There’s the Nino I know!“

After a quick cookie interval, Marinette pushed her plate away and sighed. “Anyone up for an impromptu sleepover? You all left a bunch of your clothes here the last few times.”

“Marinette. If you know us, you will know our answers.“ Alya said solemnly.

“Hell yeah. Wanna go choose which terrible rom-com to watch this time?“

They ended up settling on The Kissing Booth, one of Marinette’s personal favorites (”To lighten the tension, you know?” Alya had said. “Although the tension in here probably weighs the same as an obese hippopotamus at this point.”) and made a bowl of caramel popcorn, with a tiny bag of sea-salt Skinny Pop for Nino.

“Sugar on popcorn is a crime, man. I ain’t touching that.“

“You’ve tried it once, Nino.“

“Yes, and I hated it. Is there anything else to be said?“

So they spent the next two hours in a blanket fort that was made almost entirely of throw pillows laughing over Elle and Noah and Lee being idiots, with a few highlights such as the iconic “Ninth grade skirt, eleventh grade body” scene, where Alya snorted and said “You know, Lila’s skipped so much school, might as well be ninth grade brain, eleventh grade work.”

“Too true,“ Nino agreed. “The other day, she called Chloe’s mom Aurora Bourgeois. That was a pretty major mess-up.”

“Shhh! Let’s just watch the movie!“ Marinette said, effectively quieting them down.

They watched the rest in silence with the usual laughs., ending up falling asleep halfway through the second movie, snuggled up on their respective couches. Marinette mother shook them awake the next morning, telling them to take showers and eat breakfast and get dressed and for god’s sake, Marinette, finish your homework.

“Crap, crap, crapcrapcrap! Nino, we’re going to be late if we don’t get ready fast!“ Alya shouted as Marinette ran up the stairs to change. “Can I use your shower, M?“

“Sure!“ was the muffled reply.

After about 10 minutes of running around and shoving waffles in their mouths, they grabbed their bags and ran off to school.

They burst through the door in the nick of time, the bell ringing just as they plunked down their things.

Bustier wasn’t there five minutes into the class, so they started talking.

“Marinette, you have to listen to Nino’s latest track, it’s–“ Just as she was about to describe Nino’s latest track, a bouncy-ball the size of a walrus snashed through the wall, nearly taking off Kim’s head.

There was a cackle from outside. “I am Gradack! You will all feel the same sorrow that I did!“

-🌸-

The fight was over relatively fast, and everything was calmed down and restored before their next class. Turns out Chat Noir didn’t show, so Marinette had to ask Alya for assistance.

In hindsight, she probably should have picked a better place to transform.

“Tikki, spots on!“ After she transformed, she was about to go to Fu to get one of the Miraculous, when she heard a strangled gasp.

“…shit.“

“My best friend is the princess of goddamn China and Ladybug? What the fuck?! Who are you? How did I not know? When did–“

“Alya, I know the feeling, but you can’t tell anyone. Got it?“

“Nino?“

“Well,“ Marinette paused to think. “Yeah, I guess. I trust him enough. Now, take this and transform!“ she tossed Alya the hexagonal box, and after a quick transformation, they ran off to defeat the saddened graduate of an akuma.

As she said, it was an easy fight.

They comforted the victim with four minutes (each) to spare, then ran back to the locker rooms to transform back.

Time Skip!

It was the morning of the flight to China, and she was ecstatic. Of course, she had to get up at 3:45 in the morning, but it was worth it–the flight took off at six in the morning, of course.

She could see the logic of wanting to arrive at 12:00, but she would’ve much preferred a red-eye.

Then she wouldn’t have had to stay up all night reading, because no way in hell would she just wake up at 3:45 in the morning.

The alarm would’ve had to go off for hours.

But back to the morning, she poured herself a sasquatch-sized mug of coffee, with about a gallon of cream and enough sugar to put an entire city of diabetics into shock, she started getting dressed.

Trudging around and haphazardly pulling out shirts, she finally decided on a simple red-and-orange flannel, a white t-shirt, and a pair of cropped jeans.

The she downed the rest of her coffee with an apathetic “Bottoms up!” and slapped her cheeks.

She grapped her suitcase and walked outside to where her mother was typing away on a laptop in the pitch-black night.

“Mom, why are you up?“

“Because I have to drive you to the airport, that’s why. And no alarm would be able to wake me up at 3 in the morning.“

“Preach. I’m ready to go, so can we get in the car now?“

After driving to the airport and saying goodbye to her mom, she walked into the airport and immediately saw the group of sleepy teens (and a certain disheveled teacher) leaning on their suitcases, trying not to fall asleep.

Nino and Marinette were already there, their eyelids drooping. The only person who looked properly awake was Sabrina, who was–inevitably–holding a saucer out to Chloé, who was sipping from a teacup.

Alya rolled her eyes and walked over to Marinette and Nino. “Who’re we missing?”

“Kim and Rose. They’re carpooling, so they should be here any minute.“

Just as Marinette had said, a few seconds later, Rose and Kim walked into the airport. Kim was still wearing pajama pants.

Another Time Skip!

“Marinette.“ Alya groaned, shaking Marinette’s shoulders. “Marinette, wake up, we’re here.“

Marinette’s eyes fluttered open. “No. Five more minutes.”

“Everyone else is already off the plane!“

“Shit. Let’s go!“ Marinette said, jumping up, grabbing her purse (which she had recently learned concealed a kwami) and scrambling out the door.

Alya picked up the mini-backpack she now carried (which held Trixx, cookies, and some grape jelly) and followed her out the door.

Almost as soon as they stepped off the plane, they heard a loud wail.

“Great. She’s back on her bullshit.“

“I just can’t believe she would steal that, Lila! It’s so unlike her!“

“M-maybe, but there’s p-proof! Look!“

“Oh, great, what did we do this time?“ Alya asked exasperatedly. They watched as Lila held out the remains of–from what they could see from a meter away–a sketch of an orange mermaid gown with a black lace collar, ripped into quarters and laid out on the ground.

Marinette gasped beside her.

“That’s your dress, isn’t it?“

A small tear made its way down Marinette’s face. “It was going to be for you,” she said softly.

Alya threw her arms around Marinette and rubbed her shoulders. “It’s okay, sweetie. Once you’re princess, we’ll sue her for all she’s worth.”

Marinette detached herself from Alya and wiped her eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, thanks, Alya.”

-🌸-

Nino stormed up to where Alya and Marinette were standing with a furious expression on his face.

“That fox,“ he seethed. “that bitchy little fox of a liar stole your drawing.“

Marinette chuckled wetly. “Yeah, we know.“

“Are you okay? I know how important they are to you.“

“I’m fine, Nino, and o–who the hell are you?“ A man in an oddly formal suit was standing next to her, holding out a small red envelope.

Marinette plucked the envelope from his fingers, opened it, and read the contents. She looked up and nodded at the suit-wearing guy.

“Good. In that case, Miss Dupain-Cheng, I’m going to need you to come with me.“ Alya and Nino immediately stepped in front of her in a protective shield.

“She’s not in trouble, is she?“

The strange man looked surprisingly amused. “Not at all–but you might want to come with us, too. You as well, headphone-boy.”

Nino put a hand on his chest and gasped in offense.

“Nino. He’s going to drive us to the palace. You’re coming, too, ya doof!“ Nino made a noise of realization and followed them out to where a black limousine was waiting.

They climbed in and drove off.

About five minutes into the drive, he moved his foot to the side, accidentally kicking a black box.

Just as he was preparing his final goodbyes, it sprung open, and inside was a junk food lover’s heaven.

“Dude.“

#ml #ml salt #ml salt fic #marinette dupain cheng #marinette deserves better #alya cesaire #nino lahiffe #alya sugar #nino sugar #lila rossi #lila salt #lila bashing #adrien agreste #adrien salt #adrien bashing #marinette the princess of china #WHY ARE YOU READING THE TAGS

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facets-and-rainbows · 4 years

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Blue Exorcist 10th anniversary book Q&A session

The 10th anniversary book has a section where Katoh answers 100 questions submitted by fans on Twitter, so here they are translated/paraphrased! May contain manga spoilers up to the recent flashback arc, so be warned.

(Note that I’m playing it very fast and loose here because there are A HUNDRED OF THEM, so not exact wordings, but it should capture the gist. Lemme know if there are any you want elaborated on)

1. Katoh likes the feel of traditional drawing more than digital but is impressed with how far digital has come

2. Meph THOROUGHLY ABUSES spacetime to watch all his shows and ensure that he gets all the merch he wants

3. Did the girls take all of Yukio’s school uniform buttons in middle school? Yes, they did (apparently it’s like A Thing for girls to ask for a button from their crush at middle school graduation, based on some sad movie from the 60s where a guy who got drafted as a kamikaze pilot gave a girl one of his uniform buttons to remember him by)

4. Rin's tail is about a meter long

5. There are tons of servants working at Mephisto's mansion. Belial is in charge of them

6. Katoh borrows from all sorts of neat real locations when making settings

7. Katoh identifies with pretty much all the characters the most! Except Lucifer.

8. Demon designs she's proud of include the impure king and hachirou, pretty much anything that was the main one in an arc

9. Katoh lists a bunch of her favorite musical artists/music she’s listening to recently: King Gnu, Official Hige Dandism, Kenshi Yonezu, BAD HOP, Sakanaction, Keyakizaka 46, Hypnosis Mic, Aimer, B’Z, Queen Bee.

10. Awww the rabbit manga that characters are often reading isn't just Robo to Usakichi, it's an even older one that she drew as a little kid

11. She likes industrial style interior designs

12. Rin and Yukio alternated who got the top bunk growing up, because they couldn't agree on it lol

13. Katoh cares a whole lot about panel layouts and speech bubble positions, might even be her favorite part of the process (it shows!)

4. Katoh does NOT have a mashou, lol

15. Rin has probably been practicing in secret so he can learn to carry stuff with his tail

16. Izumo probably got into shojo manga around 1st grade, her mom had some around the house

17. Specialty dishes: Rin - lots of stuff but especially nabe Yuri - stuff you can throw together quickly Shiro - stuff he learned from Yuri and/or cookbooks, alongside teaching Rin Yukio - Does. Not. Cook.

18. Can't pick a favorite place she's been on research, but there's no place like Japan

19. Kinzou's band isn't currently meeting because demons, but he's probably still thinking of new songs

20. Hardest characters to draw: anyone with detailed flowing hair. Hardest to write for: Lightning and Gedouin. She had to go read books about serial killers specifically for material for Gedouin, lol

21. Suguro actually gets a dorm room to himself, though allegedly Yukio is technically assigned as his roommate, lol. Didn't end up that way what with Yukio being a teacher and also Rin’s whole...situation

22. Shiemi makes some of her own hair accessories! Cute

23. Katoh doesn't mind if you include stuff with fan letters but check with the editor first

24. Time for making each chapter: Planning/storyboarding: 1-5 days. Sketching: 3-5 days. Drawing/inking: the rest. Just...the rest of the time

25. Neither Suguro nor Izumo have dated before and neither is currently dating. But that's probably just because things were hectic for them! It could happen

26. Yukio breaks 5 or 6 pairs of glasses a year, someone get this kid a strap or something

27. How many spare glasses does Yukio have? Check the fanbook lol it's in there (dang it Katoh)

28. The demon she wants us to pay the most attention to is Lucifer. Because plot.

29. What's under the Order's big meeting table? It's a BOTTOMLESS PIT and if you fall in it you DIE that's what makes it COOL (laughs)

30. What are the job requirements for the angelic legion? Literally just Arthur liking you and inviting you to join

31. She WANTS to do more character profiles but just hasn't gotten to it

32. Rin's tail feels like a cat tail, texture wise

33. The "red Assiah fire" is literally just actual fire nothing special

34. Rin's current hair color is light blue fading to white at the ends

35. Thoughts on Rin's growth: she likes that he stays positive in awful situations and she also thinks it's very main character of him to face the past instead of avoiding it

36. Mephisto didn't purposely surround Rin with stuffed animals when he woke up after going crispy. Mephisto's bed is just Like That

37. Kurikara was based on a cool sword she found in a sword book, but that one was technically just a ceremonial sword. The symbol on it us a Sanskrit letter kaan (sp?) associated with Fudou Myouou

38. Kuro can communicate with normal cats and hangs out with them often

39. Sometimes Shiemi's skirt is extra fancy around the hem what's up with that? Apparently it's an optional accessory that comes with the skirts help I haven't noticed this and don't know any fashion terms in any language

40. When coloring, Katoh always tries to have an overall theme in mind ("emphasis on blue" etc) so it comes together in the end

41. Yes the twins are genetically related to Shiro because of Goro (she says they're like his nephews but I say GENETICALLY at least they'd be indistinguishable from his children)

42. Strongest mom of all the strong moms around here? Yuri! Did you SEE her give birth??

43. Are you careful about your own health Katoh-sensei? Not particularly! Her mom has had to bring her food at work sometimes! Don't do this at home kids

44. At the dating events Shura goes to, does she drink cocktails in moderation? Yeah, she probably downplays her normal drinking habits at these things. But normally she's down for just about any kind of drink

45. Lucifer just really likes oysters okay

46. How many pages of manga does Katoh draw in a day? If she's being good about self-care: three. Maximum number ever: TEN

47. Mephisto is one of those folks who can eat like a garbage compactor and never gain weight. Possibly because his body resists that sort of change the same way it resists aging etc

48. First food Rin cooked: fish burger type patty. Yukio's favorite things Rin cooks: fish simmered in soy sauce, yellowtail with daikon radish. It's fish all the way down

49: Did Rin ever get more monthly allowance from Mephisto? It doubled! He gets TWO 2000 yen bills now (rip) [T/N: That's uh, that's USD $37.26 a month or 33.10 euro]

50. Why isn't Rin more popular with the girls? He gets nervous talking to them, plus he's too oblivious to notice even if he DID have some fans

51. Why change Suguro's hair? She gets bored with keeping everything the same, and she wanted a visual representation that he was getting serious and going into kind of a training arc

52. Things Katoh pays extra attention to when drawing: trying to capture the feel of whatever she's drawing (like "that looks warm and soft" or "I bet that guy stinks" cough Lightning cough)

53: Does Rin take after Yuri more? (He's got her eyes!) Katoh tried to draw Yuri so she looks like both twins. Personality, too - Yukio has her smarts and Rin has her optimism

54: Do you ever wanna be like Mephisto? Well she'd like to be able to get away with just ANYTHING EVER, but no, let's not be like Mephisto

55. Konekomaru not only carries around a cat toy in case he meets any cats, he MAKES cat toys to carry around based on what he thinks the cats would like

56. How'd you come up with Shima? Go read the fan book!

57. Do the kids have Twitter/Instagram accounts? Rin - probably not. Konekomaru might be on some social media. Paku and Izumo are totally on instagram

58. Is there something Rin makes that you wish you could try? All of it! That's the whole idea! He's good at cooking!

59. Will we ever have a (G-rated) reveal of what ALL of Mamushi and her family's tattoos look like? Maybe! She'll think about it

60. Does Arthur have a repertoire of different hairstyles? Not really, he just puts some of it up on the top. Heck he might even have people to do that for him

61. If you wrote a shojo manga what would it be about? She'd have to do a lot of research before even coming up with a story, since there are so many style differences between the genres aside from just the subject

62. The other two of Mephisto's top 3 favorite foods: Cup ramen and....f-fried bubblegum?? Is that a THING???

63. Where do you start when drawing a character? Usually the outline of their face but if it's a complex pose/composition she'll start with whatever's in the foreground (like hands)

64. If Katoh could have a familiar, what demon would she choose? Mephisto. As the all-powerful author, she might actually be able to command him as a familiar!

66. If you swapped Yukio and Rin's relationship around what would change? not much, you'd pretty much have Rin going to the Illuminati and Yukio going to the past

67. Top 3 foods/souvenirs to try in Kyushu? Well she doesn't know what’s good CURRENTLY but when she was there she always used to like burdock tempura udon, hakata torimon (a kind of manju with white bean paste inside), and Chikae style cod roe. today I learned Katoh went to high school in Kyushu

68. Katoh listens to music a lot while she's storyboarding, then when she and the assistants are all drawing and inking they put various videos/movies and stuff on in the background

69. For all his hitting on girls, is Shima actually popular with the ladies at all? He's got enough girls in his life that he probably COULD find a girlfriend if he really wanted, but the double agent thing tends to get in the way. He still wouldn't be as popular as Yukio though (side thought/translator’s note: Shima would be proud of being number 69.)

70. Katoh has the ending planned out in a big-picture way, but there are still a few details here and there that she's fretting over

71. It's cute when the boys put their ties over their shoulders when they're working on something! Where'd that come from? She just figured a tie might get in the way and that seemed like a realistic way to get it out of the way

72. Looks like Yukio is getting some facial hair! What about Rin? They're both about the age for it, but maybe Rin can't grow a beard yet. Maybe a little peach fuzz here and there

73. Katoh's favorite blue exorcist merch? There were some exorcist licenses a while back, and the exorcist pins. Basically it's really cool that these little accessories she drew ACTUALLY EXIST NOW, LIKE YOU CAN HOLD THEM IN YOUR HANDS

74. Okay realtalk how long do we have left, I don't want the series to end yet? We're solidly in the second half by now but it's not, like, ABOUT to end yet

75. Katoh would be a Knight meister, based on what characters she likes to play in games and such

76. How many people in the whole exorcism cram school? More than you think! She doesn't give a number but apparently licensed exorcists also attend classes for new meisters, etc, so there's a wide age range attending

77. How's Arthur feel about, like, studying Taming on the way to becoming Paladin? He's at least mostly accepted that you have to use demons to fight demons effectively

78. Konekomaru started wearing glasses in his first year of middle school, so like 7th grade (more recent than I thought!) He has one spare pair, in contrast to Yukio lol

79. Katoh's current obsessions? Ghost/scary stories! She's even been going to live readings of them recently

80. Media Katoh consumes for inspiration? A wide range of foreign teen drama, horror/suspense, shojo manga, light novels, anime, etc. Special focus on things where two boys are in conflict or there are brothers involved

81. If they weren't exorcists what jobs would they have? Rin - chef. Yukio - doctor. Shiemi - uh, florist?

82. Inspiration for the design of True Cross Town? Katoh and her assistants gathered up a bunch of references, picked out stuff they felt matched the tone, and mashed them all up together

83. Did you use any references etc for the school/exorcist uniforms? She says she probably should have but she just kind of made them up before publication

84. Favorite part of drawing? For color pages, picking out a color scheme. For black and white, drawing in all the little details (though she doesn't always get time to lately)

85. Once again confirms the demon kings' weird hair is a representation of their horns. ADDS THAT PEOPLE WHO CAN'T SEE DEMONS CAN'T SEE THE WEIRD HAIR

86. Now that Yukio's at the Illuminati, where's he gonna get his Jump SQ and spare glasses? Well he probably never planned to stay for long, but hey it's a big ship and they might have an optometrist and/or newsstand there

87. Do you base the demon characters on any references etc? Not really, she just gets a general idea of popular demon designs and then makes up her own in her own style

88. Merchandise Katoh personally wants to have made: stuff that an adult could just use in their day to day life. Also, it's not gonna happen, but if her favorite figure brand made AoEx figures she could die happy

89. If Beelzebub's host body was a beautiful woman, how would Shima react? Would the womanizing win out over the bug phobia? Katoh replies that Shima would probably just faint from being near a girl that pretty, before the bugs even got involved

90. Will the twins ever get to smile and eat dinner together again?? We'll just have to wait and see!

91. What do you check at a "scenario check"? what's a scenario check man I dunno They check for people being out of character or the setting feeling off. They had a lot of these checks for the anime, but they also do them for the drama CD, games, and all that other stuff where multiple authors are involved

92. Why does Shura use baldy as an insult for people who are clearly not bald? She feels like they have some kind of metaphorical, mental kind of "baldness" and she's calling them out on it. Whatever that means

93. After Blue Exorcist ends, what do you want to draw next? She has SO MANY IDEAS, SO MANY

94. Did Katoh make up the Shinto chants that, for example, Izumo used against Gedouin? They're assembled from bits of actual Shinto prayers according to what feels right in the scene

95. Yukio reads the Jump SQ, right, and, just hear me out here, he likes gag manga, right? Does this mean he reads Salaryman Yukio? It's something he would read, but let's say that in the AoEx universe there's just a very similar manga that he finds oddly relatable

96. What do Yukio and Shima do in their free time on the Dominus Liminus? oh my god you guys this ship has so many amenities. Yukio probably spends time reading in the library, which they totally have. There's also, like, a gym, and a movie theater, and a THEATER theater, all of which are free. Shima probably hangs out at the pool (!) and goes to the movies, and hits on illuminati girls, lol

97. Easiest character to draw? The ones with boring simple hair, lol. Lightning gets an honorable mention for ALSO not having eyes in most shots, but Rin wins--he was specifically designed to be easy for Katoh to draw because that's what you want in your main character

98. How do demons understand gender? They just possess whatever feels like the best match to how they feel in Gehenna, whether that's a man, or a woman, or a rat, or whatever

99. Where do you start when you're coming up with a story? She starts with character design and how the characters relate to each other. Currently she's just continuing an existing story, so she works on splitting up the overall plot into episodes and fleshing it out with scenes and information about characters

100. When do you feel most happy? She honestly feels like she lives a very happy life overall. Mentions noticing a lot of little things, like how nice her cats' heads smell when she cuddles them or taking a nice cold refreshing drink of water. There's happiness in everything. aww.

#blue exorcist #interview #Ao no Exorcist #translation

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felassan · 3 years

Text

Highlights and insights from the MELE launch cast & crew reunion panel

[rewatch link] [highlights & insights from the N7 Day 2020 reunion]

In case a text format is better for anyone (in terms of accessibility for example). Cut for length.

Some paraphrasing.

If anyone’s interested in just the line-reading session, it starts at timestamp ~1:04:45.

In addition to the cast and crew from the N7 Day reunion, at this reunion also in attendance were:

Mac Walters (Project Director for MELE, Lead Writer of the og MET)

Melanie Faulknor (Lead Producer for MELE)

Crystal McCord (Producer for MELE)

Fred Tatasciore (Saren)

Seth Green (Joker)

Kimberly Brooks (Ash)

Ash Sroka (Tali)

This was the biggest reunion / meetup of the cast so far, and some of the cast and crew were meeting for the first time here.

It’s been so long since the og MET that PW & KW are getting to watch their kids experience playing it for the first time

JHale doesn’t play but since MELE she’s been sneaking around Twitch jumping into peoples’ MELE livestreams to lurk, watch and comment a bit

What drew Seth to the character of Joker? The whole concept of the game. He likes games and MET’s mechanics (different trees of adventure, stacking reputation, choices carrying between games) at the time were the most sophisticated that he’d ever heard pitched. He thought this was new and exciting and wanted to be a part of it. For the character they cast him based on his personality traits (i.e. he sounds quite similar to Joker personality-wise)

Would Seth ever want to play Joker again if the opportunity presented itself? Sure, he loves the character, and if the writers ever had more things to explore/expand with Joker he’d be down for it.

Seth said that it’s a different kind of fan that approach him about this project. The fans have spent many many hours in an intimate exchange with “him” that he hasn’t been a part of, but they experienced it nonetheless. “I’ve hugged a lot of strangers, you know what I’m saying? It’s great, you get an interaction with fans that you never get as a performer in any other experience”

Seth has been a space guy since he was little, it inspires him

With the state of the world the way it is now [covid, masks etc], does Ash think Tali’s story will be more impactful now than it was before? Ash hopes so, and that anything they do here will have a positive impact on a bigger level. Ultimately that’s why most of them do what they do, they want to reach people in deep ways. She hopes Tali is an inspiration in courage, bravery, standing up for what’s right and thinking about the greater good

The [MELE I think] dev team had a last team meeting with Greg Zeschuk, one of the founders of BioWare, who they had invited to it. He was regaling them with stories of the inception of Mass Effect. “You would imagine this sort of well-laid out, drawing boards everywhere... [but] it was basically just a napkin sketch in a Greek taverna with him and Casey going ‘We wanna do a space opera’, and then it took off”

The process of creating lore through development is very organic. A lot of it comes from character and story development. It builds up over the course of the game’s development. They did the codex entries at the end, the idea being that if they saved them for as late as they could, then they could pull from the story, characters and meaningful moments, and build them from there

PW wrote a bunch of the codex entries, elevator banter & lots of little bits of lore. They describe their time on the og MET as being a “baby writer”. They originally came in after Mac had back surgery and a junior writer was needed to fill in. “It was really fun, it was us sitting in a room together going ‘What do you think a hanar or a krogan thinks about this or that’?” For a first project for them this was an amazing experience - the world building itself creatively with all these awesome people

They tried to add multiplayer in every game but only got it to work in ME3

They had a lot of plots laid out in ME1 that they called “global plots”. These were outside the core critical path and would take players from planet to planet, and were sprawling stories. They pulled out a lot of really interesting concepts and ideas from these that did make it into the game, but all of the global plots ended up getting cut due to time. Mac still has old diagrams and spreadsheets which detailed how all of these would have come together

Q. If you all had to take a long-distance road-trip with two squadmates, who would you take and why? PW: “Jack and Mordin. Mordin because the drive would never lack for things to talk about at length quickly, Jack because you know you wouldn’t pay for the room. You wouldn’t know how you’d get the room, but you wouldn’t be paying for it.” Courtenay: “I’d take Mordin because there’d be singing, and FemShep just to have this thing - happen. In the room that I get for free.” JHale at this point fistpumped while saying “Yeess” [then I think what she said was “steaming hot”]

Seeing as asari are long-lived, how open is Ali to one day reprising her role as Liara? “She’s a character very close to my heart, it was such a great opportunity. In some games that we work on the character has already been created or voiced by someone else, but this was really a group effort. When I first went into the booth, the only thing I’d seen of her was a sort of like, rendering, and we slowly kind of came to her voice and presence. I would love to bring Liara back any time... hey, she can live a really long time guys. :D”

Caroline and people who do what she does (Creative Performance Director) are so critical to the quality of games. Caroline: “This group of people are extraordinary. We were lucky to have such an extraordinary cast. Every [recording] session was new and challenging. It was a labor of love. I’m tearing up right now thinking about it. I’m remembering my last session with Jen, she was the last session, just sobbing and sobbing”. When JHale was trying to say the lines of Shepard’s goodbye with Garrus, a line hit her like a tonne of bricks and she was in tears and was like “Shepard does not cry”. “It took me a second, I got it out and took another run at it, it was in there but stuffed down as it should have been, and I finished the line [and there was silence in the booth when usually Caroline would have been talking to give direction or instruction] Did we lose her? Did Skype crash?” and it transpired that what had happened was that Caroline was in floods of tears

ME was the first time Keythe had ever come across branching dialogue. “Normally when we work on a script and it’s from page 1 to 100. In this it was get to page 5, then go back to page 2 and play it a little differently. The skill and the fun and joy of it was to be able to go back and play a scene in a different way, with different writing, with different outcomes. This was not only a challenge but a real treat. So to all the writers who dreamed up how this build-your-own-adventure plays out, you have my undying respect. It was a real pleasure”

VEDA is a proprietary system that BW use to record the dialogue, which is the closest way of having it feel like having people in the booth together (it’s all digital and VAs get to hear the line someone else has done in that scene). Caroline really pushed for this because of the amount of time etc that was wasted due to lack of this sort of thing on ME1. William: “It was a god send for me, thank you, getting to hear a cue from Jen or Mark.” Ali: “Us being able to bounce off each other helps make it more real. This for me was the most real acting experience on a game I had ever had - the writing being so good, Caroline helping us through, being able to hear each other.” JHale was always early coming in to record relative to the others so only got to use VEDA a few times - a bit of Liara content and the scene with Anderson towards the end. “Those two times, oh my god it was amazing”. VEDA being a thing also helps from a scheduling standpoint

Seth and Tricia Helfer (EDI) only got to be in the booth actually together 1 time, to record/shoot a piece of promotional video. “We actually got to record a scene together and we were like ‘oh my god this is the best thing ever’. It was great, even though I had to stand on a stool. She’s the best”

Seth: “As an actor, the kind of opportunity to do this kind of material in games just didn’t exist.” Fred: “Oh, never! I had never had a villain part that was complicated like that. In a game? Never before, it was really interesting”

Raphael always goes back to the fact that ME brought more women into gaming than any other game before it. “The writing and the complexity of the relationships gave us so much ballast”. “This set this apart from running, shooting, gunning, looting”

JHale: “What I noticed in the times before when I got to be around fans, there was a huge hunger among women in the gaming world for something they could really jump into. They were starving for something which fed them what they deserved and needed”

Mac: “[praising Caroline] Caroline would often come to us as writers and challenge us and say, as an example, ‘Do we really need another male character to do this? Why are we writing another male character for this?’ She pushed that very early and to the betterment of everything we created”

PW: “Karin and Cookie and all of the editors across the trilogy, [were critical in] making sure that Shepard sounded consistent - [especially since] we had a large writing team, writers came and went, Mac is the only one with a significant writing contribution on each of the games”

PW: “[on game dev] It’s a process of getting hundreds of people pointed in the same direction, all believing that this is something worth doing”

Ash: “Having all the different possibilities and avenues, going back to play them all out in the different ways [really helped to round the character of Tali out and make her feel like a natural person]”.

VAs only get paid for the original recording sessions, not again (as in they don’t any royalties or anything from something like the remaster)

In MELE, they left all the original credits at the end of each game in

Fred: “It’s creating in five dimensions [because of all the outcomes and relationships etc]”. Seth: “The cool thing is that the audience feels that. They’re immediately struck by how dense, thought-out, prepared and planned the entire universe is”

How was it for the new MELE devs coming onto this? Crystal: “I knew it [the series and fans’ love for it] was big, but I didn’t know it was BIG! Working on MELE there was this infectious excitement. Being part of it was so exciting.” Melanie: “I came on at ME3, I had a 3 or 4 year honeymoon period with BioWare. Coming onto MELE, I’m getting really emotional. One of my first meetings originally was going into a cinematic review for an epic Tali scene in ME3”. Crystal: “On MELE, we had an hour or 2 every day where the team came together to play the game. In those reviews, a lot of the devs who worked on the original would tell all these stories. It was really fun to hear all the inside stories on ME’s creation and be a part of that”

DC: “Should this unit get vaccinated?” Ash: “Of course”

How do they think ME will be viewed in the next 10-20 years, what do they think its legacy will be? A piece of history, ground-breaking. It broke down some barriers and opened doors for people. It’s a powerful, powerful community. It’ll continue to age quite well and be enjoyed by a new generation, it’s original and evergreen and there’s a lot in it that people go back to. There’s a lot of universal things in it (personal experiences, like there will always be love, people fighting to belong, trying to make sense of their pasts etc)

JHale and Alix did the “I love you Shepard, now go save the world again” Shep-Sam exchange and both got teary. It was then Seth’s turn to line-read: “Jesus Christ, now that I’m good and choked up, fucking mess”. Ali was also actually crying from it

Seth: “It can’t be overstated, this community is so large and global, it is one of the most powerful fandoms that I’ve ever been greeted with. Thank you”. Ash: “It’s the most amazing group of fans ever. We’re all so grateful”

Some funny anecdotes/stories:

PW didn’t realize that Alix could do different accents. They remember a time when they were listening in the booth and an Alliance soldier was complaining about the gear had been given. They said “Wow that’s really good, who is that?” and the VO producer said “That’s Alix, Patrick”, “because she wasn’t doing her [normal British accent but was doing a Californian accent instead]. Alix roasted me later for not recognizing her voice and never let me heard the end of it”

Alix: “[on Sam’s toothbrush] Caroline’s like, ‘So then she pulls her toothbrush’ and I’m like ‘What? Sorry? A toothbrush?’ and obviously it’s funny now as everyone knows that Sam’s thing is her toothbrush. Caroline’s like ‘Yeah, you’ve gotta like, flirt, over the toothbrush’ and I’m like ‘Who wrote this - a frickin toothbrush, are you kidding me? Really guys?’ ANYWAY. I was wrong and it worked. :D”

Fred: “I remember a 12 year old kid coming up to me and being like [flat tone] ‘Oh yeah. I killed you’.”

Keythe: “The other assasin I play is Kellogg in Fallout 4. People come up to me like ‘Omg. I love you so much. And then I fucking KILLED you!’”

Courtenay once went out to dinner in NZ with a few prominent people from the Game of Thrones cast. “Everyone around was making a big deal out of it like ‘Omg, it’s so-and-so from GoT’. I was feeling a bit like ‘Hi, I’m here, just nobody’. And I looked around in the restaurant and there's one guy in the corner and he’s got an N7 shirt on and he’s just looking at me like [knowing look, does a peace sign]. And I’m like ‘I got one! I love you guys!’”

PW: “I have a question for the cast members, because I don’t know if JHale has done this to all of you or if she just does it to the devs. Show of hands if Jen has ever made you do push-ups.” JHale: “It’s just you guys”

Karin: “One of my favorite editing files that I ever had was a ME file. It was before Seth was coming in for a session. I opened it up and it was just 20, 25 lines with the word ‘Shit’, over and over again, and I was like, ‘This file is perfect, I don’t need to do anything to it, have fun!’”

Seth: “Didn’t we do a track that’s like 60 seconds of laughing? Escalating laughing? I don’t know about other actors but for me getting into a laughing fit is kind of like trying to get into a crying fit, it takes the same level of commitment, you start to follow a path until like you’re hysterically uncontrollably laughing. I remember looking through the glass, and I’m deep in it at this point, and I make eye contact, and I can see from the other side of the booth and they’re like [making ‘okay you can stop’ now gestures] - ‘Like that’s plenty, we got it’ and I was like ‘okay, okay [dying]’”

JHale: “The craziest thing Mark and I had to deal with was how many times we had to say ‘I should go’”. Mark: “We also, Caroline and I tended to use that as short hand when I needed to go to the bathroom”

The panel host: “The first time I interviewed Ali was a decade ago. She did the ‘I’ll flay you alive with my mind’ line halfway through, it was my first interview and I literally fell out of my seat [from being star-struck]”

Ash line-read Tali’s drunk omni-tattoo scene and in response DC said “I totally get why people wanna romanticize all these characters :D”. Karin: “We’ve had more than one person come up to us and show us actual tattoos that looked like that”

[source]

#bioware #mass effect #video games #covid mention #long post #longpost #garrus vakarian #best boy #feels #lul

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makeste · 4 years

Text

BnHA Chapter 279: Here Comes the Airplane

Previously on BnHA: Gigantomachia gathered up the rest of the League and headed off to go help Tomura. Also he is now 80 feet tall. The heroes were all, “whoa this guy is really big, we should probably stop him and maybe even devote an entire chapter or two just to that,” and so they sent three whole people after him, which sadly is pretty much the exact sort of strategy I’ve come to expect from them by this point. Anyway so Mt. Lady tried to hold Machia off but kept getting flung aside, and Kamui Woods tried to catch him but was set on fire by Dabi who is just having way too good of a time setting all of the flammable heroes on fire today, and Midnight tried to put him to sleep but Compress threw a bunch of debris at her and so she fell like 80 feet. The chapter ended with Midnight being all “fuck this” and calling Momo, who ordered the rest of the child soldier squad into action as Machia approached. I’m not really sure what they’re gonna do, but I honestly don’t really care, because it’s Momo, and so, YES.

Today on BnHA: U.A.’s first-year hero students, who apparently had nine hours to prepare their battleground instead of the fifteen seconds we had all assumed, launch a complex multi-staged assault which is actually really fucking impressive because these kids are actually awesome. First they pin Machia down in one of Honenuki’s mud pits, and then they take turns making impassioned attempts to take out the other League members chilling out on Machia’s back. Unfortunately none of these attempts work because of Dabi, who’s working overtime while the rest of the League sits around shooting down each other’s escape plans. Basically a lot of stuff gets set on fire, and then the chapter ends with Mt. Lady pinning Machia to the ground while MINA, YES, MINA, charges at him covered in acid like some sort of video game boss that you need some kind of specific item to defeat. DID YOU KNOW YESTERDAY WAS MINA’S BIRTHDAY YOU GUYS. Anyway so this chapter is basically pandemonium from start to finish, and it’s great. It is a RUMPUS, y'all. A STRAIGHT UP HULLABALOO.

IS IT MOMO LOVIN’ HOURS I THINK IT IS, YOU GUYS. ARE YOU EXCITED. I AM EXCITED

but first, the color page we were promised, in celebration of Six Whole Years Of This Bullshit!!

oh god oh god so much to love so little time

some of the rowdier characters are making MULTIPLE APPEARANCES IN THIS SHITSHOW, including Kaminari who appears to be in a record-setting THREE of these! who exactly was taking all of these pictures, and why are they so obsessed with him. also how many of these are going to be used as evidence in the latest Kami Traitor Theory posts and is it too early for me to get mad about it

“WE INVITED ENDEAVOR AND HAWKS TO OUR ‘BEING FANCY ON THE COLOR PAGE’ PARTY, EVEN THOUGH THEY’RE NOT U.A. STUDENTS OR FACULTY. WE JUST FELT LIKE IT.” listen that is fine, y’all don’t have to explain yourselves to me

Mirko however is not here, I assume because if she was, Horikoshi would have forgotten to draw all the rest of the characters again. she’s too powerful

Midnight is so sexy I don’t even ksdfnkl

ALL MIGHT LOOKING HAPPY GIVES ME THE STRENGTH I NEED TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE REST OF THIS WEEK. YOUR SMILE IS THE MVP

Cementoss’s face is the runner-up MVP and one of the greatest things I’ve seen in my life

half the people here seem to be attempting to flirt with whoever is taking the pictures. I am starting to suspect that the culprit is Momo. change my mind

for some reason I am really shocked to see Endeavor getting his drink on. and he’s literally the only one, too

Bakugou’s half-assed I SAID NO PAPARAZZI skills are no match for Tamaki’s legendary “I WILL LITERALLY DIE IF YOU CAPTURE ME ON FILM” abilities

I literally didn’t notice Deku until like three quarters of the page in. he sure does blend right in there

Tokoyami is approximately 97.3% done and ticking EVER CLOSER to full 100% doneness, and when that happens even I can’t tell you what is going to go down

do I even need to mention how sexy Aizawa’s hair is. apparently I do

SERIOUSLY THOUGH CEMENTOSS’S FACE

anyway, so that was nice! NOW ON TO THE MOMOLOVIN’

and we begin with FIRST YEAR CLASS B HONENUKI “MUDMAN” JUZOU just LAYIN’ SOME TRAPS IN THE WOODS, as one does

oh my freaking god Tokage

somehow her quirk didn’t freak me out quite this much the last time we saw her. she is really something. has she always had shark teeth

also WHERE IS MONOMA’S GROUP. I immediately want to know!! is he with the Shouto group? or is there yet ANOTHER student group we don’t know about? what would they even be doing

or did Horikoshi actually get three quarters of the way through writing this arc and then suddenly slap his forehead as he realized that if Monoma just casually copied Machia’s powers he would either DIE IMMEDIATELY or else become SUPER STRONG and also grow 80 feet tall and this would suddenly be a very different battle with the scales tipping decidedly in the heroes’ favor. and so he had to quickly write him out of the battle in this very half-assed way

anyway, so while I ponder that, Tokage is peeking the top of her head out over the trees and staring at Machia who is, you guessed it, still heading right their way! just like he’s been doing pretty much this entire time

and now there’s a whole page of reaction panels you guys. this is why Horikoshi tries to avoid these massive Endgame-style battles with every single hero known to man participating. hopefully we won’t have too many of these. like I mean thank you for the roll call and all but I’d like to get to the action now

Mineta of all people is stealing this entire page with that expression though. he is not fucking around. this is twice in as many chapters that he’s been a page-stealing face-making champ. dare I hope this could be the start of a new niche for him? lord knows it would be so much better than the old niche

also this page is just sweatdrops galore. these kids are so nervous. MANGA GODS PLEASE KEEP THEM SAFE, although I’m honestly not too worried about them compared to the adults. I’m sure I should be, but I just am not

all right so now Momo is explaining what those little canisters are!

okay but someone please explain to me how it is that they had time to stop and lay all of these traps?? not just Honenuki’s, but Mineta’s and what looks like some of Shiozaki’s work as well?? did Machia just STOP MOVING for like five whole minutes all of a sudden for no reason at all? while they were all sitting out here saying things like “with that speed...”? ????? ????????

also lol wtf. “we’re gonna have to make him eat it.” I still have no idea what their plan is, but it’s getting more entertaining by the minute I’ll say that much

okay so Momo says that if they can get him to swallow just one of these, then that should be enough to put him to sleep. oh my god this chapter is going to be AMAZING isn’t it

meanwhile Mineta is worrying about Midnight. I swear to god if they turn this into something where he’s only worried because she’s hot, I will take one of these canisters and shove it right up his...

okay good, Mina’s reassuring him that it’s gonna be okay, and then we’re just cutting to Machia stampeding in with Mt. Lady and Kamui still clinging to him

WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE GUYS EVEN DOING

“we’ll just stand here adjacent to him and just kind of watch as he rushes straight at the children.” someone help me, I’m having difficulty finding a synonym for “useless” that carries the full amount of emphasis I want to place on it right now. this requires a degree of language the human race is not yet capable of

OH SNAP

THEY GOT HIM YEAHHHHH

OH DANG, FOR REAL THOUGH!!

ngl, for a brief spiteful moment I was disappointed he hadn’t actually fallen on them :/

and they’re still JUST STANDING THERE, I CAN'T EVEN?? we’re getting to the point where I honestly think actual civilians might have been of more use in this situation

YESSSSS

TIME TO FIND OUT HOW MANY TENTH GRADERS GIGANTOMACHIA CAN TAKE IN A FIGHT

also, sorry to keep harping on this, but the juxtaposition of that earlier panel with all of the fully grown and experienced pros just standing in dumb awe, immediately followed by this panel of BRAVE BUT DETERMINED CHILDREN CHARGING IN AND YELLING “GO GO GO”, is just... it really is something. shit. if I was the HPSC and this was what I had to work with, I too might have seriously considered fudging a few age requirements in hopes of finding someone who could actually get the fucking job done

also what the hell is going on down there with Shishida and Satou and that third person? what are those Blackwhip-looking things?? I’m confused

ohhhhh no

Shiozaki is about to be sent flying through the air courtesy of her own hair vines omg

OH NO WAIT THE THREE TOUGH GUYS ARE STOPPING HIM. AHHH THE LAST ONE WAS KENDOU AHHHH

I still can’t figure out what the hell those are though lol. did Momo make some steel cables?? I feel like Machia would be able to break just about any kind of rope or chain they could concoct just by sheer brute strength alone

ah fuck

DON’T YOU GUYS GO RUINING THIS FOR ME!! THEY’VE GOT A GOOD THING GOING HERE, LET THEM HAVE THEIR FUN!!

although I do appreciate how they’re all “U.A.!!” in kind of this “oh shit, these guys we actually have to worry about” sort of tone lol

this look on Toga’s face is a bit concerning! well but Deku and Ochako aren’t here though, so I wonder who she’s gonna fight if it comes to that. huh

(ETA: seriously, does anyone have any idea what Toga is planning cuz I sure don’t.)

Shouji and Ojiro, who I might remind you are normal people with no enhanced physical abilities aside from extra appendages, appear to have somehow circled all the way around to Machia’s back and are now climbing up oh shit

oh and Aoyama’s there too! -- is Shouji carrying him omg

he’s using him as a human ray gun omggg. this is the most delightful thing I’ve ever witnessed

NOW SOMETHING IS BEING SHOT AT THE LEAGUE AND DABI’S STARING AT IT ALL “>:(” AND I’M PRETTY SURE THIS THING, WHATEVER IT IS, IS ABOUT TO BE SET ON FIRE, LET’S SEE

lds;afksjdl;fkj WERE THOSE JIROU’S EARJACKS??!!

okay you know what fuck you Dabi. you think it’s funny to set a little girl’s ears on fire?! don’t expect any sympathy from me when Aoyama lasers you in the face

WELL I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S HAPPENING BUT THEY’RE SHOOTING WHAT LOOK LIKE A BUNCH OF LITTLE TAMBOURINES AT HIM NOW

I ASSUME THEY ARE NOT ACTUALLY TAMBOURINES, BUT I REALLY DON’T KNOW, IT’S NOT LIKE THEY HANDED OUT THE RULE BOOK TO THIS THING AHEAD OF TIME

[HUGE EXAGGERATED GASPING SOUNDS]

oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my

OH MY GOD AND YANAGI THREW THEM WITH HER POLTERGEIST QUIRK!??

I DON’T KNOW WHAT THIS “ACK?!!” IS AND IT’S REALLY BUMMING ME OUT, BECAUSE THIS CAME WITHIN INCHES OF BEING THE COOLEST FUCKING COMBINATION I’VE EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!?!?

(ETA: it would have laid them all flat in seconds. Kaminari is to be feared you guys.)

NO!!!!!

it is sincerely frustrating to me watching the League carelessly toss aside all of their painstakingly accumulated goodwill from the MVA arc in the span of just a few short pages. hey Compress, you think it’s cool to hurl a bunch of rocks at my six-and-a-half-year-old son?? I hope someone rips that cool robot arm off and uses it to punch you in the dick

here comes Sero!! and how are you going to die, Sero

what in the

did he just... sneeze them all into space

okay but hear me out, what if Shouda absorbed that impact. SHOUDA YOUR TIME HAS FINALLY COME. CLASS 1-B’S ASCENT TO GLORY

(ETA: watch this space!! Shouda is here for a reason mark my words.)

meanwhile on Machia’s back, Dabi is soliloquying about Machia’s quirk while his arm is doing... something

please forgive me for not being able to drum up any sympathy for poor Dabi’s arms right about now. quit trying to set all my kids on fire

wait whaaaaat lol

so I scrolled back up to the previous page, and... that was fire?? lord help me why am I still so terrible at being able to tell when Horikoshi is drawing fire as opposed to just air randomly whooshing through trees. I have really got to memorize that foossh sound effect

so can Gigantomachia just BREATHE FIRE now?? or was ALL OF THAT Dabi??? if it was the latter then at least he had the decency to wait until all of the kids got blown out of range before setting the whole forest aflame to keep them back. I’ll admit it, that was thoughtful of him as far as villain power moves go

OHO BUT YOU CAN’T COUNT MOMO OUT JUST LIKE THAT!!

AND NOW EVERYTHING AROUND THEM IS EXPLODING AHHHHHH DID YOU GUYS SET LANDMINES, BAKUGOU WOULD BE SO PROUD

once again I have to ask myself exactly how much prep time they had here. Horikoshi would have you think it was mere seconds, but that clearly cannot be the case?? maybe they set some of these up beforehand to catch any stray villains trying to flee the area?

lmao Spinner’s all “wait why doesn’t he just dig his way out”, because apparently Machia can tunnel himself under the ground. but Compress is all “um because we would die” and Spinner is all “oh right”

though I gotta say, it’s not like they’re that much better off as things are now, either. pinned down in the woods surrounded by fire and explosives. definitely a conundrum

oh snap Compress has realized that their presence is holding Machia back. don’t tell me Machia is gonna head off on his own and leave the rest of the League to square off with the kids

YOOOOOO HOLY SHIT THE HEROES ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING

there you go, League! free cannon fodder to get you all pumped and confident again!

DKFJLSDKJ

PLEASE LET THIS BE THE ACTUAL TRANSLATION OH MY GOD. THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE LINE IN ANYTHING AHHHH

“I’m leaving it to you, U.A.’s youngsters!” yeah, you and everyone else. ah well, can’t deny they get the job done

OH MMKJKYYYY GODDDDDDJJK

MINA COATED HERSELF IN ACID AND IS RUNNING AT GIGANTOMACHIA AND IS SHE ALSO ON FIRE??!?! SHE’S JUST RUNNING AT HIM LIKE A BIG OL’ FIERY BLOB???! QUEEN MINA???!! FIRE IS NOT HER WEAKNESS???! MINA??!! IS AIRPLANE?!??!!?!? MINAAAAAAA

holy fucking shit this whole arc is just one big Arc Of Ladies Getting To Do Stuff and I am 1000% living for it. THIS ARC IS MY FAMILY. I WOULD DIE FOR IT AND LEAVE EVERYTHING TO IT IN MY WILL. ahhhhhhhhhh

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myhopelessromanticworld · 3 years

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magnetic fields pt.1 | katsuki b.

bakugou didn’t have time for love. i mean how could he when the only thing on his mind was surpassing all might and deku and becoming the number one hero. love was a distraction, something only extras took the time to care about. so why did he find it so hard to look away from you?

hey! so slight change of plans, this fic is going to be split into 2 parts! if you like this fic please let me know and please enjoy! (italicized bit is a memory!)

word count: 1,652

friday

bakugou’s leg bounced restlessly underneath his desk as his eyes flitted around the room, never staying focused on one point for longer than a few seconds before his simmering red gaze shifted off again to another random object in the room. present mic had given class 1-A a work period so the students could get help while writing essays and bakugou, being the responsible student he is, had finished the essay last week when it was assigned so he was forced to put his headphones in and zone out all period. present mic had wanted to send bakugou back to the dorms as this was class 1-A’s last lesson of the day and the weekend would start as soon as the bell rang, but he decided against it knowing aizawa would give him shit for it if he found out.

as the explosive boy quickly grew bored of examining the room around him, he found his eyes drifting to the one area of the class he was avoiding. as much as bakugou tried to desperately search for a way to occupy his attention, he couldn’t ignore the pull he felt towards her, and like a moth to a flame his fiery eyes finally laid upon her. the one who’s plagued his every waking thought for the last few weeks, the one that caused him so much anger and confusion, the epitome of distractions, y/n. he didn’t know how it started or when it started but he did know that his infatuation for the girl was pissing him off. he had first noticed it a few weeks earlier during class sparring sessions with mr. aizawa.

bakugou had just finished sparring with todoroki and was sitting near him and some other classmates on the sidelines of the gym, waiting for the others to finish their fights. the gym floor was cleared of all equipment and 10 large circles were chalked out on the concrete floor. the training exercise was easy enough; get your opponent out of the circle without relying on a quirk using only hand-to-hand combat. mr. aizawa walked around the circles analyzing each student’s combat skills and body movements, searching for any weakness in their stance or defense. the pairs were chosen at random which lead to some odd sparring matches. so far everyone seemed to be doing relatively well for a bunch of extras. one of the oddest pairings was y/n and kirishima. kirishima towered over the tallest of his classmates and was strong even if he couldn’t use his quirk. of course that didn’t mean y/n couldn’t beat him and she was going to prove that to everyone in class 1-A. their fight had been going on much longer than everyone else’s and soon enough kiri and y/n were the only ones left standing. the melody of grunts and groans and the sounds of punches landing drew the eyes of the class and soon everyone was watching the intense fight. a couple of male students had made their concern for y/n’s well-being known when her and kiri had been matched up, but y/n and mr. aizawa had both been adamant that she would be fine. y/n didn’t say anything, but it pissed her off that her fellow students thought she wouldn’t be able to handle herself against kirishima, sure she couldn’t best kiri using pure physical strength, but she had seen him fight countless times and knew what tells and habits to look out for in order to beat him. kirishima was a big dude so he was a lot slower than y/n, taking advantage of this she stepped quickly in a circle around kiri throwing out hard jabs whenever she saw an open spot. after getting a few jabs in y/n would back off and keep herself out of kirishima’s reach until she’d regained some energy and went back in to cause more damage.

bakugou watched with a limited interest as y/n attempted to rush kirishima yet again. he was honestly kind of surprised she was doing so well, her strategy really seems to be workin- a small gasp left bakugou’s mouth as he watched his best friend grab y/n’s wrist mid-punch and before he could blink kirishima threw the girl down to the mat. it seemed kirishima had either figured out her strategy or had grown frustrated with her quick fists, bakugou guessed both. kirishima leaned down to grab y/n’s ankle and in a complete act of panic, her right foot shot out and slammed into kirishima’s forehead. y/n knew she would eventually have to give up her strategy and go all out, so as kirishima stumbled back, she popped up on her feet, turned her back to his chest, hauled one of his arms over her shoulder and used her hips and his weight to toss him over her shoulder and over the boundary. bakugou’s eyes widened in shock as he stared at y/n’s powerful figure. her skin glistened with sweat as her chest rose and fell in deep waves under her blue school uniform, her cheeks were flushed red from over-exertion and stray hairs plastered themselves to the side of her face and her forehead. her stance was wide, her shoulders were squared and set, and her head was held high, her form exuding strength and power.

seeing her in such a strong, sure state flipped a switch somewhere inside bakugou, and as he watched her take a few deep breaths and bask in the afterglow of her win he felt a fluttering in his stomach. it knocked the breath out of his chest with how overwhelming the feeling was and as he continued watching her the feelings only grew. his breathing picked up and there was an odd sensation in his chest, it felt like a heart attack but pleasant, he felt at peace, almost hypnotized by the way his heart soared in his chest. he mindlessly basked in his feelings until he began to feel his cheeks heat up, as that familiar heat crawled up his pale cheeks he tore himself out of thoughts about the way y/n’s hair shined under the gym lights he began to berate himself. katsuki shook his head, ‘what the hell are you thinking man? extras like her are competition, that’s it! she’s not worth another second’. as bakugou yelled at himself internally the school bell rang, signaling the end of the day, and he left the gym with the rest of his class, desperately trying to think of anything other than y/n’s muscular arms peeking out of her uniform.

and ever since that day bakugou found his eyes drifting to her more often, he noticed more about her and her little actions throughout the day. when she read her eyebrows furrowed and she frowned lightly as her eyes scanned the page, giving her a cute little pout that bakugou came to realize was her concentration face. he noticed how her hands were constantly in her hair, smoothing over the strands and running her fingertips soothingly over her scalp. he saw the way her eyes lit up when she ate dinner after a particularly rough training day, and he never missed the sweet sound of her voice as she hummed to herself while doing mundane tasks like the dishes, or tying her shoes. to put it bluntly - he was smitten. and that pissed him off! how dare she body slam her way into his life and occupy his mind like she had! he was going to be the number one hero and he couldn’t be distracted by some extra who would be lucky to be ranked in the top 100. bakugou shook his head lightly to himself and reached down to dig through his backpack for some paper and a pencil. he let himself get lost in his music as he began to doodle thoughtlessly on the paper, a poor attempt at distraction from the magnetic girl across the room. there was nothing that special about her. glance. she talked too loudly when she got excited and it hurt his already sensitive, damaged ears. glance. she got snarky in the mornings. glance. when she gets really mad her cheeks puff up. glance. when she’s talking about a passion of hers, her hands swing about. glance. on weekends she stumbles out of her dorm for breakfast, skin pink and warm from sleep, and a blanket wrapped tightly around her body. glance. when things in class or in life get too intense for her liking, she laughs. laughs until her face turns red - though bakugou has a theory that her face turns red because she’s embarrassed for acting out of place. glance-.

he knew this day would come, knew she would catch him looking at her. but as their gazes connected across the classroom, bakugou couldn't even find it in himself to be embarrassed, instead it felt like thousands of lightning bolts slammed through his body. his heart began pounding, his head felt foggy, his palms started sweating, a mix of chills and fluttering filled his stomach and in that moment all he wanted to do was hold her face in his hands and pour his heart out to her. but he can’t. and won’t. so instead he sends y/n a vicious snarl and forces his eyes back to his paper. he continued his drawing of kirishima, desperately trying to forget the look of confusion and hurt that crossed y/n’s face at his aggressive expression. bakugou spent the last few minutes of class thinking about the weekend ahead, and when the final bell for the day rang he collected his things and rushed out of the classroom before he could look at her again. bakugou only had two objectives for the upcoming weekend; train and get y/n out of his head.

#bakugou x reader #katsuki bakugo fluff #bnha katsuki x reader #katsuki bakugou x reader #my hero academia #bnha bakugo katsuki #bnha fluff #bakugou #katsuki #katsuki bakugou

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purplesurveys · 3 years

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1283

Are you more annoyed when decorations are up two months prior to a holiday or still up two months after a holiday? We only do this for Christmas, so I’d personally find it weird if this was done for any other holiday; like if I see people wearing 2022 glasses right in October lol. But for Christmas, it’s fine; we literally put our tree up a month ago and I imagine we would have it around until end of January.

Have you ever had Dippin’ Dots and if so, what’re your thoughts on it and you favorite flavor? No. Their product never looked too appealing to me, honestly. It looks like it’s a lot to chew hahaha.

What’re the best and worst books you ever had to read for a class? I will allllllllllways vouch for Without Seeing the Dawn by Stevan Javellana; his style of writing is precisely what I look for, so I was b r e e z i n g through the pages while still appreciating what I was reading. As for worst, I really hated Holes by Louis Sachar.

What’s the best meal you had at an amusement park. or if you haven’t been to one, how about a good meal at another place like a zoo, aquarium or museum? Ooh, good question. I’m not actually sure...I don’t really buy food from these places because they tend to be overpriced, and the food I have had have been unremarkable at best. I’m not sure I’ve had something that was especially good because I would for sure have to remember that.

Who, whether a person or company, emails you the most? These days it’s one of my clients since we have a huge huge huge event/launch coming up for that brand soon so there have been a million and one things to prepare for.

If you were given an assignment to draw anything besides stick figures or just doodles, what would you draw? I hate being creative hahaha. I would 100% just use the opportunity to practice my written Hangul.

Do you own any magnets and do you even like magnets? I don’t own any of my own, but our refrigerator is filled with magnets from all the places my dad has visited for work. At this point I think we’ve got at least one magnet from each continent except Antarctica lol.

What kind of sound or noise freaks you out the most and why do you think it scares you? Banging doors shut. That’s my mom’s habit when she’s extremely pissed off and she has been banging doors since I was a kid, so it makes me nervous and sends me into an internal panic.

If you could get any body part massaged right now, what would you pick? My shoulders.

Are the street names in your area in the standard language of your country or in another language? Most are Western-sounding ones, but there are a handful that are Spanish in origin. So, essentially, none are in Filipino haha.

What’s the strangest art piece you’ve come across? I’ve never seen anything too weird.

What’s the most clever or unique name you’ve come across for a business? I’ve come across a lot of unique ones but the first that came to mind is the online shop I frequent for K-Pop merch – their shop name is what would at first look like a random bunch of numbers, which technically doesn’t look the most appealing – but I got curious and did some digging, and it was there I learned that they actually combined the country codes of South Korea and the Philippines :)

Are there a lot of Cash for Gold stores in your area? We don’t have those here and I have no clue what they are.

If you had to name one of your hypothetical future children after a song, which song would you pick? One Direction has a song called Olivia, and that’s a name I’ve always loved, even before 1D. I’ll go with that.

What’s the best item you’ve bought from the dollar section of a store? We don’t have fifty-peso (what the equivalent of $1 be here) stores lol.

Do you ever get meals or snacks when you go to a coffee or smoothie shop? Not always, but sure. It’s nice to have something to munch on while having coffee.

Are you a messy eater and what foods do you consume that are usually messy? Yeah, it drives my mom nuts. I always end up with a mark on my shirt or with a few grains of rice on my side of the table.

How popular is the bank you or your parents use and can you find one pretty much everywhere or is it not as common? It’s probably the most popular one here in my country.

What’s the strangest thing you’ve witnessed at your work, or if you don’t work, what’s a strange experience you witnessed at a store or restaurant? One of my clients is pretty elitist and has said some absolutely wack shit in the past.

#survey #surveys

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yaypinecones · 4 years

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Here are fan made fetch moduses. They’re not mine but it gave ideas what they would look like and write my own descriptions. Feel free to use them as you wish :)

Camera Modus: It can take pictures on one focused object to 35-50 cm away on the fetch modus card camera (top right). After taking a picture, it would create a clone of the object on your captchalogue inventory. It can be a great practice to take pictures, just don’t take pictures of yourself.

Settings:

Instagram mode- It doesn’t really do anything special except put any radon filter in your fetch modus over what it displays. It’s dumb, but hey it gives you a ton of likes. likes actually don’t exist in your modus or an app for it.

Snapchat mode- I’m not sure why you would need filters to captchlogue an item. If you use this one, I definitely recommend the dog or flower crown filter.

VSCO mode- It’s more about the aesthetics to be honest. Not for those who dresses up in long over sized shirts with a bunch of poofy hair ties and purposely drop their water bottles to make weird noises

Limit: can take 10 film inventories, more than that can eject the last inventory. The object you want to captchalogue has to be on the cameras focuse or else the picture would look blurry and would not clone the item.

Book Modus: A simple modus that comes with a actual book. When you captchlogue an item, it would gives you their description and their captch code. It would also receive a page inside the book as it could give more its abilities, uses, history, common location, and combinations with other items. Pretty useful and it’s possible to captchalogue the book itself. You don’t wanna carry it around all day.

Settings:

Academic mode- Yup all that math, science, language arts, health, and history you’ve read for school is coming back to you. What sucks is these books are the books you’ve read before when you were younger...so they’re probably out dated. Which sucks.

Encyclopedia mode- AKA Wikipedia, Dictionary, or Thesaurus if you want to call that. Basically find what word you want and look through the entire book to find what it means or what’s similar to it. I doubt you want find the amounted of pages it has because it never ends. Sometimes too much words can lead you the short end of the stick or just completely lost.

Journal mode- A thought of someone their own writing to collect their ideas and observations. You can make your own journal if you want. Like writing down what your doing or your grocery list. Actually just write what it feels like to you.

Magazine mode- Now we’re on the good stuff. Good stuff as in gossip and trends. What? At least there’s something to entertain yourself than looking through those stressful words every single to time. You just need to relax and read the latest celebrity gossip. OooOo.

Newspaper mode- Wait how can there be a newspaper in a book? Well at it lets you know what happening daily in other places or locally. Contains huge headlines, unnecessary words, really big photos, and a lot of advertisements.

Limit: There’s no storage limit on this fetch modus but it’s recommended to have 12 items. Unless if you want to have a bunch of words thrown into you to the point it becomes a encyclopedia. Also item eject? What’s that? Uh oh.

Money Modus: This lets you store any item but you have to access the item by inserting a specific amount of money. It is very different in every item. Isn’t it a mix of an ATMs and a shop? I don’t know, but at least they are in a reasonable price. This is not meant for cheap scapes. Sometimes the capchalogue item is has the similar price to real life price list. [Ex. A real life a fridge cost $1,000-2,000]

Settings:

Currency change mode- Your not sure why people need a specific currency. This setting is so stupid, it makes you wonder who needs this?

Bank mode- Yes you heard it right, you can store money in this fetch modus. It’s great for people that has no where else to store their money. This can be your own personal piggy bank.

Limit: This has unlimited storage. The bigger and expensive the item, the more expensive the price you need to access the item. The more you store items, you need to spend a lot of your money. No, you cannot argue the card to lower the price ya silly goose.

Mask Modus: A modus where you wear many persona’s. The mask are in variety in colors that represents a certain character. You can also type a certain personality on your own personas. To capchalogue an item, you have to match a certain persona that matches or similar to the item.

Limit: The maximum storage contains 16 items. Over 16 items would refuse the recent item unless you remove an item or combine one of them. If successful, the item would be capchalogue and freely gain access with wearing a mask. If your didn’t match a right mask or was unsuccessful, the modus card would eject the last item you capchalogued at you.

Binary Modus: You can summon any item by converting the letters into binary coding. This modus must be navigated manually and you can also search for item numbered too.

[Ex. 01001001 01000011 01010101 01010000] Wait a second...Eww man.

Limit: Unlimited storage unit and when summoning an item, it has to be a real thing. Sorry but no bear-cat-rabbit-elephant thing or completely made up words would appear. Especially, you can’t summon huge items like a building or the sun. That can just break your modus. Please limit yourself there buddy.

Dominoes Modus: No, sadly you can’t order pizza. When you capchalogue an item, many dominoes from the card spill out and you have to assemble each and every domino to the other.

Limit: there are 6 inventories you can capchalogue. Nothing more, nothing less. More than 6 would eject the last item.

Dartboard Modus: You can freely capchalogue an item, but retrieving an item can summon a dartboard. You need to throw a dart at one of the rings or bullseyes. The less important items are on the large farther rings and the more important ones art in the smaller rings and bullseyes,

Limit: you can store 82 items. Now that’s a lot but you need to have good aim. Hitting the center of the bullseye can randomly give you an important item for the future.

Prey Modus: When an item is capchalogued, it would spawn a small animal. These animals would depend on what the item is. if the user wants to get the get the item back, they will have to fight and kill whatever creature the item has been allocated to. once the creature is dead, the item appears

[Ex. a computer mouse would spawn a weak mouse (ayy)]

Limit: You can only store 8 slots and over more than 8 can have an animal come out depending on the item. Hopefully you don’t eject any important items. Anything important would release an animal that is not a prey or maybe a replica of the first guardian.

Shuffle Modus: Every time you capchalogue an item, it changes every second with other items you also capchalogued. It can be lucky or unlucky depending how your going to draw this.

Limit: It can hold as much as any items. The more you add items, the more frustrating it gets to retrieve the item you want.

Backpack Modus: This modus can store items by the cards weight which is also a backpack. You can simply open the backpack to retrieve and item. You can capchalogued the backpack itself, but I don’t think your fetch modus can handle the weight you put into there.

Limit: Feel free to store the amount of junk you can carry as it can weigh you down. It acts like a normal backpack. What else should I say?

“Stack” Modus: Haha no, it’s a Massive Ejection Modus you fool. It may look like a normal stack modus but can intensity eject massive amounts of items at once that are multiplied by 100. Once you want to retrieve it, 99 copies eject violently from the captchacard and explode out of your card. Its mostly going to destroy mostly anything and injuring anyone near you.

Limit: Basically you only have one slot inventory and that’s sad. Is this modus even legal!?!? Ejecting 99 items at someone can be potentially be a strife specibus. Just saying.

Wardrobe Modus: This modus can capchalogued any articles of clothing. Attempting to captchalouge something other than clothing will result in said item being sent somewhere you can no longer receive. This is pretty useless like the other mentioned modus we talked about.

Settings:

Hat mode- A place where your hats can live in harmony with other simpleton hats.

Earrings mode- Fancy, expensive, or cheap earrings can come join.

Glasses mode- Look at you nerd. Or cool kid. Whatever you are.

Shirt mode- Look, there are many things you can put on there. The most likely to be over flowed.

Pants mode- Or skirts, shorts, or anything that goes on your legs

Socks mode- A hell place where all sinful gross smelly socks and clean socks go.

Shoes mode- Just don’t put those dirty shoes on the wood. Keep them clean and dry.

Limit: you have unlimited storage and only meant for clothes. This is perfect for people that don’t know where else to put their seasonal clothes to. Summer, fall, winter, spring, you name it.

#homestuck #hiveswap #fanadventure #fetch modus #capchalogue #fantroll #roleplay #theyre not mine #ideas

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hearthandhomemagick · 3 years

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Food For Thought - Steven Universe

Hello there, I would like to tell you my story and journey with the amazingly beautiful, and wonderfully written TV Show...

Steven Universe.

I started watching this show when it first came out in High School. I mean, I was so excited to watch it that I anticipated the very first episode and sat down with snacks to observe it’s premier. I had become immediately enthralled not only with the art style, but also with the genuine wholesomeness and elucidations of processing emotions and life experiences. I was astounded that a kids show could express to me how to manage my emotions as well as connect with my moral standings. It’s a show I recommended to everyone, but often didn’t talk about because of it being a kids show, and me being almost being grown. It was my secret love until someone else brought it up.

This show stuck with me through the years, and helped me through some of my hardest moments in life.

I remember watching the episode, “Mindful Education” and melting into Garnet’s lesson of mindfulness and self-awareness. I had been going through a lot at the end of 2016, graduating and going through a rough election along with having to move states for college. My opinions were forming in the extreme area and I had a fire to protect my thoughts and opinions with no restrain or any form of control of my emotional reality. I was rambunctious as much as I was head-strong and, at times, hard-headed all together.

When this episode aired, I didn’t know why I loved Garnet and Stevonnie’s song, “Here Comes a Thought.” But I did, and it still carries with me into my life today.

I want to discuss a specific time, though, that this episode saved my sanity and opened my eyes to a concept I didn’t understand when I first watched it. I was on social media, and was defending my opinions against quite a few people by myself. Eventually, I was getting nasty comments from a bunch of millennials telling me,

“You’re too fucking stupid to understand, maybe you should go back to school, child.”

“You’re so emotional, and your emotions don’t matter here. Imagine being this dumb.”

“Imagine being a dumb bitch like Carly and saying you wanted to cut your penis off to look like a woman.” *NOTE I am not transgender, there is nothing wrong with being transgender and her insinuating such did not bother me. Her rhetoric insinuating trans was wrong is what irked me, this bitch was transphobic and had issues that she needs to repair in her own time. She wrote an entire post based around this context on her personal page using my real name, and she didn’t even know who I was.*

and my personal favorite, “Here’s the suicide hotline, I know your generation is prone to killing themselves and are overly emotional.”

Now, there were over 50, under 100, messages going back and forth where these people were just bullying me and I refused to back down. I wound up in a panic attack in my bedroom, literally wanting to kill myself because they were bullying me. The hotline would have come in handy if it were the actual hotline. I ended up going to my dad and older sister (my older sisters friend was the main one I was arguing with and her posy showed up on my post), because no one on the post was on my side.

Both told me, “If you can’t handle the heat, stay out of the kitchen.” My sister told her friend to stop, and threatened the other girl for her nasty posts and comments. My dad tried to mediate on the post itself, but the people wouldn’t stop. I eventually had to take it down.

My family didn’t calm me down in this moment. Not even a little bit. It felt like a back-handed helping hand. Like they wanted to protect me, but also somewhat agreed with the people on the post.

The only thing that calmed my nerves in this moment, ultimately, was the song, “Here Comes a Thought.”

I sat in my room, sobbing, hoping to myself that it would make sense as to why it was okay for these things to happen. The song soothed over my nerves, eventually releasing my muscles and giving me a sense ease. I was able to process and realized a few personal things as well. I didn’t realize it, but before long, I was meditating to the song on repeat. I kept telling myself, “I’m okay, this is a thought. A moment. I am not my thoughts. I am not this moment.”

This was simply one of the ways Steven Universe has helped me process and understand myself more. I bring this up because I came across and article today that disappointed me to the core.

The Steven Universe Fandom has toxic tendencies.

I was shook.

How could a child’s show be turned into something so negative? Something that was meant to promote self-awareness, self-love, acceptance of character, and understanding of others had been morphed into a gatekeepers safe haven.

Now I know this isn’t the majority, and before you get offended, hurt or start defending yourself, I want you to ask yourself if what you are defending is an action you would defend from anyone else. If it is, by all means defend your ground.

But the one concept that eludes me, and offers zero substance in terms of valid arguments, is that men can not watch this show. Let me explain why men NEED to watch this fucking show.

My boyfriend watched this entire show, episode for episode, and benefitted from it. This show offered him coping techniques, an understanding of why love should come before war, and mediating every situation so you see and understand every perspective. These are things children shows didn’t offer him growing up, he has often and openly verbalized his need for this show in his childhood because of certain traumas, and we often continue watching it even after seeing every single episode and movie.

This show was never meant for one or two groups of people, and if you feel that way then refer back to the writers themselves who were literally trying to teach the lesson in the show over and over again to NEVER EXCLUDE PEOPLE FROM YOUR GROUP. You exclude people, and you create a division, a war of sorts. You immediately have become the thing Steven Universe advocated against in the first place.

This also leads into the whole “art” situation in the fandom.

This show is anti-bully. There are commercials for it and everything. It is expressed in multiple episodes why bullying is never a good thing in any situation.

You simply cannot justify the hypocrisy in bullying someone out of self-expression that literally harms no one. You can’t justify it.

Think about it. You draw or sketch a piece of art that took you hours, or even a few minutes. It’s your favorite character, and maybe you yourself are going through some mental thoughts regarding your weight that lead you to draw the character thinner or bigger. Size shouldn’t matter in any capacity when relating a character to ones self.

If you’re skinny, you’re beautiful. If you are thick or curvy, you are beautiful. If you are obese or overweight, you are beautiful. Weight doesn’t matter, but representation of body types in different characters does matter.

Imagine a child falls in love with a bigger character, but is experiencing body challenges where she is being picked on for being too thin or scrawny (it happens, I’ve seen it with my nieces). Who are you to say that making her favorite character look like her own body is wrong? Especially if art is a coping mechanism they use for mental health reasons.

Like Malachite, a fusion that was devastating and abusive in every way, you are taking the choice and voice of an entire being to make your actions and opinions “right” or “okay”.

There is so much more I could say on this show, and so much more I could say about the fandom. And I know it is not the majority of the fandom, but I did want to make everyone in the fandom aware that we are human.

None of us are stoic and balanced like Garnet, and even Garnet had problems in her relationship. None of us are strong and laid back like Amethyst, and even she had self-love issues. None of us are as analytical and organized as Pearl, and yet she had problems throughout the series.

None of you are perfect, and to act as if you are is defeating the purpose of a show trying to teach you how to be responsible for yourself and your actions. I’m not perfect either, and preaching about a fandom I’m not a huge part of sounds counter-intuitive, I’m aware.

But my nieces want to watch this show. My nephew watches this show with me. My boyfriend’s niece is going to start watching the show.

Please do not make a toxic environment for kids who need this show to grow up. Kids who experience trauma, and learn from this show deserve a safe space without people trying to justify bullying or force them to think that because they are a boy or girl, they can or can’t watch the show. Without people making people feel bad for being themselves.

Why don’t we create a new space? A space where everyone is accepted as they are, and negative behavior is addressed the same way the gems or Steven would address them. With education, perception awareness, and PATIENCE.

I know some will say, “It’s not my job to raise your child.” and “It’s not my responsibility to make people aware of their tendencies.”

You’re right. It’s also not your responsibility to bully people into changing themselves to fit your dialogue. Simply put, you’re responsible for yourself alone. But you have no right to complain on someone's behavior, art or experiences if you are not willing to be patient with correcting said behavior in yourself first.

Who knows, maybe I’m in the wrong here for not knowing the full story. All I’m saying is, if you see someone being a bully, being mean or even being a hypocrite, call them out in the sweetest way possible. Let them know we are facilitating a safe space for people who need a community rather than a closed off club.

Be the change you want to see in this world.

Learn, grow and prosper.

I wish you all well and genuinely hope we can all expand our perspectives to fully understand each other in healthier and more communicative based ways. We deserve that sort of kindness from each other.

#steven #stevenuniverse #amethyst #pearl #garnet #malachite #cartoonshow #art #love #patience #understanding #herecomesathought #foodforthought

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dyanlzbb · 3 years

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Bucky and the Toy Phone (2/3)

Character Pairing: Bucky Barnes x OFC

Word Count: 2072

Warnings: none that I could think of.

Bucky took his time to sort out his feelings. He tried to read, to watch movies, to take long walks in the park... but during those activities all he could think of was Chiara and Ethan. And her ex… he was fearing that he may come back one day and be interested in them, reducing his chance to be in their lives to a zero.

Pepper invited more often Chiara and Ethan with the excuse of work and sharing anecdotes before her daughter was born. But they knew perfectly that the reason behind all of those invitations was to make her and Bucky to interact with mixed effects.

Some days, Bucky would start a conversation with Chiara only to be interrupted by Ethan throwing a tantrum or trying to get full attention from his mother. Some days, Ethan wanted to play with Bucky and Steve, usually letting Bucky to play the bad guy against Captain America and his tiny sidekick.

Sam noticed the conflictive attitude from the boy and stated to call him little devil. He even mentioned once that Ethan was jealous of Bucky and that was the reason behind his hesitancy.

Chiara and Ethan became regulars in the Avengers compound; they visited at least 3 times a week, sometimes every day. That was until Chiara got really sick. For days, Chiara had been under the weather, but she still needed to go to work and care for her son.

However, she couldn’t run far from illness for too long. It didn’t help that Ethan’s usual nanny had to attend a congress from college during that week. So on top of her usual work and being a single mother, Chiara had to deal with a very aggressive flu.

Luckily her boss noticed the red watery eyes, the running nose and the coughing and sent her home for the weekend a lucky Thursday. Chiara was grateful until she realized that Ethan was especially energetic that day. On their way home he kept pointing at every car, house and tree he could see.

She entered home and put Ethan down in the living room while she went to serve the take away food she got before picking up the boy from school, in no way she wanted to make dinner under her condition. After they ate, she poured a cup of tea and sat in the couch watching over Ethan who was drawing on the coffee table.

Ethan was coloring a page from a Power Rangers coloring book and turned to show his work to his mother, just to find her sleeping. He moved closer to her and tried to open her eyes, just to listen to her grunting and turning over a bit. Ethan stared once again at his mother and stayed still for over a minute. Nothing changed; his mother wasn’t paying attention to him.

So he did what any reasonable toddler would do, he went to grab some toys from his room and brought them to the coffee table, being one of them, the toy phone that his uncle Tony gave him.

The thing with that particular toy phone is that, as always, Tony went over the top with it. So when Ethan was playing after his mother took an involuntary nap, he pressed the number 0 and the button on the side and was connected to F.R.I.D.A.Y. immediately.

The I.A. voice spoke to the boy. – Ethan, how can I be of assistance today? – Tony had programmed a direct line in case of an emergency, something that Ethan could dial easily in case he needed an Avengers intervention. He never imagined that the kid would call him accidentally, which was obvious if you think about it, unless you’re the genius Tony Stark.

The little one wasn’t scared of the I.A. voice. You could blame the TV and all of the internet apps of him being familiar with a mysterious voice, so the boy wasn’t afraid to converse with the immaterial being – Yes, wanna call Bucky. – He was the first person that came to his mind.

Over the previous weeks, Bucky tried to get close to Ethan and Ethan was happy to get his attention. Not only because he was friends with Captain America, one of his heroes… but because he really liked Bucky, but somehow he also couldn’t stand him at times.

Following the instructions from Tony, the I.A. connected the call to the Avenger in question.

Bucky was exercising at the gym. Doing repetitions was the best way he found of thinking through what was happening around him. And it was a distraction from thinking how he still liked Chiara and how Ethan sometimes seemed to like him and sometimes wanted him as far away as possible from his mother. Which the others said it was normal for a child his age since he was getting to the Oedipus complex.

He was immersed in his thoughts when F.R.I.D.A.Y. called for him. – Mr. Barnes, you have a call request, shall I connect it to your mobile?

It took him by surprise, he usually never get calls and he could count with one hand the number of people who has his number or wanted to talk to him. – Sure. – He went to his phone and pressed the answer button to receive the call. – Hi, this is Bucky, who’s calling?

- Hello, this Ethan.

- Ethan? – Bucky was surprised to hear the little boy’s voice, he wasn’t sure he knew how to make a call. He tried to contain his panic keeping at by the thoughts of Chiara and Ethan having an accident or worst. - What are you doing? Does your mother know you’re calling me?

- No, she sleep. – Ethan replied casually.

- Are you in danger? – Since he was doing fine, then it had to be something else.

- No. But mommy is sick.

- Are you alone? – Bucky heard the boy saying yes and his mind started to race 100 mph with all of the things that could go wrong when you have a little kid home alone. - Do you want me to come and check on your mom?

- Yes please.

- Don’t move Ethan until I come and get you.

- Okey! See ya! – The boy said casually not knowing the storm he created in Bucky.

Bucky just had time to put on a jacket and grab the keys of one of the many cars that Tony had in the garage. He was halfway to the car when he realized something: he had no idea where Chiara lived. A little ashamed of having overlooked such an important detail, he called for help. - Umph, F.R.I.D.A.Y. do you have Chiara’s address?

Of course the I.A. had the address. - I have sent it already to your mobile Mr. Barnes. I also must tell you that the key to her apartment is in the common room, it is perfectly labeled on the first drawer from the right.

- Thank you, F.R.I.D.A.Y.

Bucky went back to retrieve the key which truly was perfectly labeled as “CHIARA”, went back to the garage and hurried to the apartment. He was preoccupied that something bad had happen to Chiara. He just knew she was sick and Ethan was home alone. A bunch of scenarios crossed his mind. But he gave himself some time to grab some medicines for her.

With each passing light he grew anxious about the little boy being alone. Finally he arrived to the building marked on the GPS and hurried to number 3B. Even when he was extremely unsettled, his training as the Winter Soldier prevailed allowing him to open the door. At the sight of him, Ethan ran full throttle and threw his arms around his legs as a greeting.

Bucky felt relief at once, he unruffled his hair and looked around. He then saw Chiara. The position in which she was sleeping surely would let her neck in pain when she wakes up. So he turned to Ethan and whispered. – Let’s take mom to bed, shall we? – And Bucky entered, closed the door and moved to carry her.

Ethan nodded enthusiastically and ran to show Bucky his mother’s room. Bucky couldn’t help noticing her beauty. He was mesmerized by her full lips and the rhythm of her breathing. He put her to bed, took off her shoes and made sure she was comfortable before turning to deal with the little devil.

He closed the door and turned to Ethan. – Well, pal, now… what were you doing when you called? – Ethan showed him his coloring book but decided it was more important to show Bucky the apartment paying special attention to his room and his Iron Man toys. After the mini tour and having found another book that needed color, Bucky went to the kitchen to make some chicken soup and clean a little bit what he could find.

Chiara woke up when the sun was down in bed and was scared when she noticed the hour. She knew Ethan was alone. She felt ill still, weak but she had a responsibility with her son. So imagine her surprise when she went out and saw Ethan and Bucky having dinner and discussing school.

- Then what did the miss said when you took your crayons from the girl? – Bucky asked completely immerse in their conversation.

- She says… she says to share them, like with Benji… but it was my turn!

- Of course it was your turn! She already had them for her flower.

Listening to a contained giggle that became a cough Bucky looked up to find Chiara smiling. Despite having red puffy eyes because of the flu, he found her beautiful. In that precise moment he understood how smitten he was. He didn’t want to deny it anymore. Yet the excited squeal from Ethan brought him back to reality. Because Ethan was Chiara’s priority and he didn’t know if he fitted into that equation, not when sometimes Ethan behaved as if he wanted Bucky around and others like a rival who was trying to steal his mother from him.

- Mommy, Bucky came. – The little boy ran to the arms of his mother.

- Yes baby, I can see that… but why? – Chiara turned to see the beaming face of Bucky. He looked as handsome as ever and she… well, she had been sleeping all day due to the flu so probably not the prettiest sight right now.

- Oh, Ethan called me and said you were sick, so I came to watch over him.

- Thank you Bucky, but you shouldn’t have – She was ashamed that he had to come and a light pink tinted her cheeks. Then she found herself thinking about what he had just said – When you said “he called me”… what do you mean exactly? – remembering her phone was on her purse and that Ethan couldn’t have known Bucky’s number because not even Chiara had it.

- Well, F.R.I.D.A.Y. told me I had a call from Ethan. – Both adults were shocked when they realized the impossibilities regarding a call from Ethan.

- Ethan, how did you call Bucky? – Chiara asked and the boy ran to give her the toy phone he received from Tony. And of course, everything made sense in a minute. She would be mentioning it to Tony and Pepper in their next meeting.

As if in cue to break the tension from the moment, the TV announced Ethan’s favorite show and he squealed excitedly – “Watch Bucky”. Ethan grabbed Bucky’s hand to take him to the sofa and sat next to him to watch Paw Patrol.

Of course Ethan pointed and explained the whole episode to Bucky, he was excited. Bucky noticed it, and he noticed how Chiara sat next to him and Ethan. He thought that he could get used to this: good days and bad days ending with a cartoon show. It was a bittersweet feeling, hope clouded by fear. He craved more and more for this dreamed life.

Unbeknown to him, Chiara craved for the same. Right now the illness was taking the best from her, but she was elated to have Bucky there, responding a call from her son. And Ethan was beyond himself. He liked the attention he got from both adults next to him, they were his favorite adults, and for a first night, the three of them were complete.

#bucky barnes x ofc #bucky barnes x single!mom

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insidetheboxx23 · 3 years

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How to boost Instagram organically?

Is it even conceivable to organically expand your Instagram followers any longer? While this stage is probably the best spot to impart your image outwardly and interface with your audience, it's as of now not simply a social organization. Since the dispatch of Instagram Ads, Instagram TV, and Instagram Business Accounts, it has transformed into a playing field for influencers, marketers, and businesses to promote themselves.

Today, individuals use Instagram not exclusively to interface with their companions yet, in addition, to associate with their #1 brand and shop on the web. Investigations have discovered that most buyers use Instagram to look for a brand and 80 percent of them follow somewhere around one brand on Instagram.

In case you're dynamic on the stage, there are two different ways to expand your Instagram followers: through paid and organic ways. In case you're simply beginning your Instagram advertising excursion and still uncertain about whether to go through your cash here or not, you're in the perfect spot. In this article, we'll go through the bit-by-bit interaction of acquiring followers organically.

You don't need to spend a penny on the off chance that you follow this guide, yet you do require tolerance and consistency since it requires some investment. In case you're prepared to organically build your Instagram following, we should make a plunge.

Create Engaging Content

Instagram clients are locked in and love to share and remark on photographs and recordings that they believe are acceptable. An examination tracked down that overall, Instagram pictures get 23% more engagement than Facebook pictures.

To grab your audience's eye on Instagram, the principal rule is to create drawing-in content. The more captivating your substance is, the more probable individuals will share it. Here are a few hints on making drawing in content and boosting your engagement rate on Instagram:

Transfer more video content since video presents are demonstrated on getting 38% more engagement than posts containing pictures. If you would prefer not to recruit an expert video office, you can create your video utilizing these video advertising apparatuses and stages.

Create content that your audience can identify with. The best substance will rely on your audience, so you need an unmistakable comprehension of who they are above all else.

Post with regards to viral subjects from different channels like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

Utilize the right hashtags to create engagement and resulting followers. To hit the nail on the head, attempt the hashtag recipe from Jen Herman, Instagram supporter and social media mentor, which she clarifies in a new Social Media Examiner post.

Instructions to Establish a Consistent Instagram Theme for Your Business

Schedule Your Posts

After you've assembled new and connected content, the subsequent stage is to plan your presents for a multi-week in one month—contingent upon how out of sight you prefer to design. The key is posting at the ideal opportunity. Hootsuite examined this utilizing information from Unmetric and after dissecting the best 20 Instagram accounts from 11 unique ventures they tracked down the best occasions to post-shift starting with one industry then onto the next.

For instance, the best ideal opportunity for movement and the travel industry is on Friday between 9 a.m. also, 1 p.m. while the best ideal opportunities for media and amusement are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12 to 3 p.m. Peruse the full Hootsuite Report to track down the best occasions for your industry.

Gather a List of Related Accounts Within Your Niche

Gather a rundown, all things considered, and significant accounts on Instagram inside your niche. For instance, in case you're in the food and drink industry, you may arrange a rundown of all significant food bloggers and cafés that address a similar audience as you.

Start by becoming acquainted with these accounts to more readily get what you ought to distribute. As you think about the brands, ask yourself:

What themes does their audience draw in with?

Which posts are getting the most likes?

How frequently do they post?

Presently, utilize your competitors' accounts to assemble your after as well.

Assuming you need to bring in cash on Instagram as a powerhouse, this is one of the main parts of how you'll deal with developing your audience. With an unmistakable niche, you're bound to drive the engagement that organizations need to see to pick you as their powerhouse.

Remember about your blog. Do a substance contender analysis with this free contender analysis guide and format.

Follow Your Competitors' Followers

After you have your rundown of the accounts, the subsequent stage is to follow their followers individually. Those individuals are your objective market since they as of now follow your competitors, which implies that they're keen on your industry and possible what you're sharing too.

In the current Instagram algorithm, you can just follow 50 to 100 individuals consistently. On the off chance that you follow over 100 individuals each day, there's a possibility your record can get suspended by Instagram. Once more, move slowly and consistently.

Like and Leave Comments on Competitors' Followers Posts

Commit yourself to associate with a high volume of followers and connect genuinely as you do, leaving comments when presents stand apart on you. This shows that you're focusing on the thing they're posting and guarantees that they notice you. In a perfect world, a large number of these followers will like what you're sharing and follow you back—making it a basic method to organically build your Instagram followers.

Marking in the Age of Social Media: How to Get it Right

Join an Engagement Group

An Instagram Engagement Group is a local area of Instagram clients who help each other in acquiring engagement and followers. The majority of these gatherings are found on Telegram; HopperHQ clarifies how they work:

"Instagram Engagement bunches are essentially bunch discussions inside Instagram and on different stages (for example there are a few on Telegram application). They are called engagement bunches since everyone taking an interest in these gatherings will like as well as remark on other individuals' posts in return for their posts getting preferred or potentially remarked."

On the off chance that one individual from the gathering transfers another post on Instagram, the entire gathering will help by enjoying, sharing, and leaving comments on the post. Most gatherings likewise have decided that you need to follow to take an interest to ensure everybody takes advantage of each post.

The greater the gathering is, the quicker you'll develop your followers. What's stunningly better is a gathering that can like and remark immediately after the new post is transferred. This makes it simpler to get included on the Instagram Explore Page, making it simpler to organically expand your Instagram followers.

You can discover free engagement groups at:

BoostUp Social

WolfGlobal

You can likewise get engagement, however more critically, organic followers, by following accounts that have Instagram Follow strings, as LarsenMedia. The thought is straightforward: you present yourself in the comments and afterward, everybody follows each other for a follow back. Every one of the accounts is genuine, making this a simple method to expand followers, even dependent upon 60 to 100 new followers in a single day.

Repeat and Be Consistent

On the off chance that you would prefer not to go through cash and still grow a connection with the following, these techniques work and are allowed to utilize. I would say, acquiring your first 1,000 followers in quite a while by doing this is truly attainable. This implies that in under two years, you could accomplish 10,000 followers without spending a penny. All while building a valid and connected audience.

#what is social marketing #instagram

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katyatalks · 4 years

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Animestyle 2019/12 - MP100 Interview Translation

The December 2019 issue of animestyle contains ~50 pages of interviews, and I was lucky enough to be sent every page to read through. Interviewees include Tachikawa Yuzuru (director) & Kameda Yoshimichi (character designer). Contains a bunch of information regarding characters & topics like season 3, so please enjoy!

[Note that this Tumblr compilation misses out quite a few things from the original Twitter thread. If you’re curious, that thread is here.]

TACHIKAWA YUZURU (Director)

Wanted to go for a darker colour scheme for the characters and settings to fit the more dramatic themes in MP100, but Kameda disagreed, wanting to go for something more colourful

Considers S2 more ‘focused on humanity’ than S1

S1 was made without expectation of S2

When cutting bits of the manga from the anime adaptation, a “the viewer will still understand the point of the scene without these lines” approach was used

Considers S2 as having two parts; the character focused part, and claw arc. The decision was made to squeeze claw arc into 4 episodes as Tachikawa hated the idea of sacrificing content from the earlier part for a half-half split

He's well aware of how loved Reigen is; fans tell him so at mob events all the time

Considers the “who exactly am I” question that many of the characters deal with; finds it most impactful with Reigen, as he simply pretends to have powers, whereas Ritsu Mob Teru etc. actually have them

He holds Reigen arc dear to himself, in particular the “be a good person that’s all” conversation that gets put into the anime more than once

He considers Reigen’s growth one of the core themes of S2, alongside Mob’s own

Episode 8 was not in the original plan - S2 was meant to be 12 episodes much like S1.

The omake in which Tsubomi comes to the office was actually drawn for the purpose of giving the team something to put into ep 8 of the anime - team was struggling to find something from the manga to put in (“S&S team doing something for Mob”) so ONE created it

The reason why all the characters in Mob Psycho are so lovely is likely because ONE is a genuinely lovely person so it’s a reflection thing

In response to Reigen’s rant at Mob in ep 6 that causes their rift, Tachikawa says; “we’ve all had moments in which we know saying anything else would be the worst thing to do but we haven’t been able to stop ourselves”. It’s why the scene leaves an impression

In the manga you don’t get to see Reigen’s face after Mob tells him he’s a good person. They added it into the anime, and Tachikawa states that Kameda had a lot of trouble trying to figure out exactly what expression they should give Reigen

Discusses American highschooler Weilin Zhang (of ~17 years old), who drew up around 1800 frames for the purpose of S2E5

Reigen’s website was designed with the brief of it having to look cheap and shoddy

Considers Mob Psycho 100 as having the message “its okay for you to do the things you’d like to” at heart

Mention of not only Japanese fans but international fans increasing with S2

Describes Serizawa as becoming handsome after his haircut in the final episode of S2

On the topic of animating what’s left of the manga, says he’d like to give it a go

KAMEDA YOSHIMICHI (Character Design)

Slightly more time pressure on S2 than S1, which meant there was a bit of detail lost with the drawings for S2

Describes Shinra as a charming character

Goes on to say that he SUPER loves Shinra and really likes drawing him. Discusses how people tend to love attractive characters in anime and as a results there’s not many chubby characters, so he latched onto Shinra

Found the thoughts & feelings of characters a lot easier to read in S2 compared to S1, which made drawing their expressions easier. The more he worked on mob the more he found he understood the characters

Small discussion of Reigen’s behavioural shift from Ep3,4,5 to 6 & complexity of his character. Makes him hard to understand. But he understood Reigen’s feelings of regret in Ep7

Reigen shirt scene segment in Ep6 intended as fanservice

ONE has described Reigen & Mob’s relationship as being similar to that of the main character and the kid from the film “About A Boy” (Will and Marcus)

Compares Reigen to Sakai Masato’s character from “Legal High” (リーガル・ハイ), in that they both do bad things but aren’t ‘bad’

Regarding the choices they made with character shading (blurry on skin, but sharp-edged on hair & clothing), this was inspired by Disney (Aladdin, specifically). Originally they went for blurry-edge on clothes too but decided against it ultimately

Describes how each mob character is pretty distinct and it’s easy to recognise who is who; ie. if they have bobbed hair + no eyebrows, mob; a standoffish countenance, Ritsu; blond hair, Reigen

Describes how in contrast to the simplistic character designs, the atmosphere they’re surrounded by is complex

Amount of young animators working on mob psycho increased from S1

Final manuscripts for S2 were compiled in 2017

States that when he read the manga, Reigen Arc really touched him and it’s the main reason he decided to work on MP100. he was very upset that S1 ended without reaching Reigen arc, and he’s glad they got to tackle it in S2

He considers the growth that Reigen & Mob go through from S2E3 - E8 a principle part of what mp100 is all about

When asked about parts of the manga that haven’t been animated yet, Kameda says there’s a LOT he’d love to bring to the screen. He wants to finish off the anime as “we’ve gotten this far already”

Regarding a potential S3, Kameda is asked if there's really enough material left in the mp100 manga to fit 12 episodes... he agrees that there's probably not, so they could go for 10 episodes much like Attack on Titan S3 Part 2, or a movie. (This is not the first time Kameda has implied S3 could be a film instead.)

If/when they proceed with animating mp100 is dependent on director Tachikawa's schedule, as it's looking a little busy right now

TSUCHIGAMI ITSUKI (S2E11 storyboard, production)

Lead animators for MP100 tended to be young; mostly in their 20s, 2-3 people in their 30s, no one in their 40s

Never felt like he was in an atmosphere where he was under hellish time pressure to get things done

On being asked his thoughts on mp100 S2 as a whole, Tsuchigami says he enjoyed it but felt like it could've been longer. He was happy w the pace of E1-3, but felt dissatisfied with E4-5. Was happy with E6-8, but then with E9 onwards felt a bit dissatisfied

Felt like the story-related elements had to be cut down in order to fit the length of the season they were given; this is where his dissatisfaction stems from. Regardless, he very much enjoyed S2

OGASAWARA SHIN (Animation director, animator)

The staff working on MP100 were allowed a lot of creative freedom

Animation director for S2E3, and animated for E3 (from Reigen repeatedly pressing the doorbell of the stalker to Reigen saying let's go out for soba) and E11 (around the Justifiable Self-Defence Rush)

Reigen's Justifiable Self-Defence Rush was animated with the intention of giving it a manga-panel-like feel

S2 was completed without any huge blunder happening

UCHIDA NAOTO (Animation director, animator)

Originally did work for S1, but felt like nothing but a hindrance and wanted to crawl into a hole. But the workplace atmosphere was great and everyone was very kind, so it ended up being a good experience

Animation director for S2E4, and was split animation director with Nakamura Hayate for S2E10. Did animation for the opening, E1,4,5,10. E1 animation: around when Emi + pals are with Mob at the embankment. E4: from 'Nakamura's flashy explosion' ((Reigen cut by glass scene?)) to when the espers are being kicked around. E5: when Reigen and Dimple are having their back-and-forth. E10: layout of the awakening lab.

Found season 2 very enjoyable. Being an animation director was excellent. Character design? Godlike. Felt incredibly lucky that he got to take part

NAKAMURA HAYATE (Animation director, animator)

As stated above Uchida & Nakamura worked on S2E10 as animation directors. Uchida covered the first part of the episode, and Nakamura the latter half

Nakamura animated for S2E4 + E10. E4: around when Mob attacks Minori attempting to exorcise Mogami from her, E10: Suzuki + co's entrance, when Mob possessed by Dimple & Shibata exit the building, Telepathy Club scene, and from Mob + Body Improvement Club's parting to the final scene

Felt like he could've done a little better for S2. And on a personal level wishes he got to draw more action scenes

ETC.

We've had confirmation from ONE already that REIGEN is complete with a single volume, but we've got that confirmation again here too with the way the sales description is written

Thanks for reading!

#mp100 #mob psycho 100 #reigen arataka #kageyama shigeo #serizawa katsuya #is mentioned i suppose? they dont really mention too many characters #my stuff

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earthbovndmisfit · 3 years

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I hope this isn't too weird of a message to send, but doesn't it seem like Jonawagon doujinshi are pretty uncommon? I've only seen maybe 3 posted online & I have a copy of a SpeedJona doujin but aside from those I haven't come across any. Is it like a rare pairing or something? I thought they were fairly popular

It isn’t weird at all, anon! All the opposite actually, cause I love getting asks even if i'm not always around or it sometimes takes me a hot minute to get to them gfjhkjh

This is gonna be long and probs gonna have bits that might sound rant-ish to some, but I hope that’s alright! :'D

For starters, sadly, jonawagon/jonaspeed/speedjona or however you call the ship is quite an underrated ship. This has to do partly with the wrong perceptions some folks have built around it and around the characters as well (that them both and the couple itself are the epitome of "purity" and "innocence", sometimes even labelling them as "boring" as a result even though both characters are far from that, that "it could only be a one-sided thing" on Spw's end despite both showing and sharing a certain bond/closeness towards each other -closeness that sometimes Jonathan didn't show towards anyone else-, etc), partly because of the many timeskips in PB and all the scenes the anime cut out and people wrongly assuming that the main events happened in the span of a few days and thus people dropping the ball on the ship/characters when Jonathan and Speedwagon actually knew each other for as long -sometimes even longer- than other more popular characters/ships in jjba did, partly because neither Jonathan or Speedwagon are as popular as other characters in the franchise as a whole, and also partly because, as sad as it is to say this, the ship lacks a LOT of support, especially from it's own fanbase. While jonawagon is a popular and well liked ship overall (in the sense that even general fans who don't care much about shipping, or those who are still on the fence about mlm ships, or those who just don't actively ship jonawagon actually like and support the ship or the idea of it upon seeing the actual dynamics between the characters and their potential and the fact that the ship can actually coexist with jonaeri without altering the characters/making them ooc, nor altering the story and so on), it still lacks a lot of support from it's fans. I often see most other ships/characters get lots of reblogs and exposure from their fans on literally any and all platforms, helping those ships/characters reach new audiences and gaining more popularity and drawing interest from potential new fans, while jonawagon stuff as well as solo Jonathan or Speedwagon stuff usually only get likes and a few reblogs at most from their fans, which is nice and all, but it doesn't give the artists/writers any exposure nor get those works or the ship any farther than that and just keeps them within part of the already existing fanbase at best, which often times makes the artists/content creators lose interest in continuing to create stuff for the ship/characters. This is also why I always strongly ask -almost beg at this point ngl- for people to support the artists/writers/etc via reblogs!! The ship having a bunch of different names also might have an impact on all of this, as it's not always as 'easy' to tag/find contents if you don't know how to tag/search for it. Jonawagon (normally used in the western parts of the fandom), JonaSpeed/SpeedJona (Western version of the ship's most popular names in Japanese: ジョナスピ/スピジョナ or JonaSupi/SupiJona respectively], SpeedStar (a name that became a bit more popular more recently after a mini jonawagon event in 2019), being the most common ones afaik, asides from the standard JonathanxSpeedwagon/SpeedwagonxJonathan ie and others. In short, Jonathan and Speedwagon as well as jonawagon are quite well liked and even popular to an extent, but they lack a massive amount of support from the fans, which also usually translates into artists and content creators for this ship losing interest in continuing to create new material for it and thus end up not making any more contents.

In regards to doujinshi more specifically, I’m a bit disconnected when it comes to Jojo doujinshi in general, but it seems to be a bit like that for most of the non "crazy popular" Jojo ships if you ask me, which is kinda normal considering the massive amount of characters in the whole series. Putting my experience as example, if it helps, I used to collect doujinshi from one of my previous fandoms, which had a shit ton of them for plenty of it’s ships and it was somewhat easy to acquire hard copies of despite it being an “old anime” basically while most Jojo doujinshi (especially anything that is not parts 3, 4 and 5) seems to be a bit hard to come across regardless of the ship(s) in them, even in auction sites or places like pixiv that sell digital copies if the author puts them up on sale, which is understandable since the aforementioned parts are some of the most popular parts in Japan, where most doujinshi is created, and thus take most of the fandom's interest -authors’ and readers’ alike-, as well as the hype for parts like Phantom Blood being long dead (with it being dead/dormant since the original airing of the anime ended in 2013, and it coming back ocassionally whenever there's a 'special' re-airing of PB in Japan or when events such as the Joestar Radio take place), so maybe my parameters on the whole subject are somewhat disproportionate?

This is also gonna sound all boomer-like, but I’ve also noticed, or it seems to me at least (still in comparison to the doujinshi from my previous fandom), that doujinshi books as we knew them aren’t /as/ common nowadays as they used to be a while back. Even the works themselves don’t seem to be much that way either. For example, doujinshi anthologies used to be a big thing a while back and, while they still exist, they don’t seem to be too common anymore (these worked as "promo books" of sorts for all the artists featured and they also helped lesser known/popular artists and ships to get some exposure to newer audiences). Nowadays such thing still exists, and I actually recall seeing a Jonaspeed/Speedjona anthology being made “recently” (recently as in 2019, if I’m not mistaken? it was published and sold during the mini Jonaspeed event they held at a Jojo con in Japan that year), but they aren’t nearly as common as they used to be, since now most artists can post any samples they want (much more reduced tho, cause you normally get a few pages instead of a full mini story) in places like Twitter or Pixiv. And it’s kinda the same with regular doujinshi. Before, most doujinkas had to publish a book in order to get their stuff out and get some exposure, so they were always working on new stories and making new books to sell and promoing their stuff, sometimes one after the other and even creating multi-volume stories in some cases. Now, thanks to how "easy" it is to get some exposure on social media, it’s much more common to see doujinkas for any ships/characters making short stories (1-4 pages, sometimes more) or just 1 page illustrations instead and posting them on their social media every now and then as a promo for their works. They also still make and sell their books (a few jonawagon artists on twitter do, at least), and these short stories/illustrations serve to boost their works instead, which is not a complain at all cause I think it's amazing tbqh! But this also translates into less stories/doujinshi being created as many of these artists often opt for leaving those stories that years ago would have been their own book or a mini story in a book as a prompt or a short story only.

As for actual jonawagon doujinshi, while it is not as common as say pt 3 doujinshi, there is quite a bunch of it. Some date from 2012-2013 (when the PB anime was originally aired), some are much older than that and some others are much more recent (as there are still some active jonawagon doujinkas around). There are also "fanfic books" that are also considered doujinshi and that seem to be a thing sometimes, but these contain little to no art at all and are usually written 100% in Japanese. The problem here is that not many of them have been scanlated/translated yet, sometimes because they aren't easy to find on sale online, sometimes because re-sellers who do have them set high prices for them plus shipping costs, sometimes because the artists/online shops won't sell stuff overseas, sometimes because those who do own doujinshi copies don't always know how to properly share them (since scanning a doujinshi in high or decent quality without destroying the book can be hard af) among other reasons.

All that said, there is a bunch of jonawagon doujinshi that has been scanned and is available online! but it can be tricky to get sometimes due to the different names this ship can go by and because of the "translations" of said names into different languages (as some doujinshi can only be found in Chinese sites, or Russian ones, and so on for example, so it can take some serious time to figure that out and have a successful search).

In all honesty, anon, I'm a dumdum and I had never thought about doing so in a more public manner until now, since I've already shared my entire jonawagon collection (pics, doujins, etc) with friends who have requested it more privately, but I can upload the doujins I have scans of if anyone's interested?? (I’d post the links where I found most of them but since my hd is pretty much dead and I can’t access Windows or my windows/mozilla profile, I’ve p much lost all my old bookmarks). They were only like... 8 last time I checked (9/10 if you count the Japanese and English versions of the "Joestarsaaaaan" one), but it's something :D Just be aware that some of them are nsfw! and that a couple are either part of a book that has stories from other ships in them (I only have the jonawagon parts tho) or contain other ships implied or openly shown in the jonawagon story.

I also have about 4 more, but the scanlator of one of them openly requested for the file to not be reuploaded, so Idk if it'd be alright to share it? (and they also deactivated their blog, so there's no way to ask them for permission). The other 3 are scans a friend sent to me of their own doujinshi copies, so I also don't know if it would be okay for me to post them?? (i haven't seen this friend in over a year so idk gfhgjkjlkñ). 2 of those 3 are nsfw.

#long post #super long actually oof #sorry about that #i tried to make this shorter #i swear #orz #anonymous

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chaninfused · 5 years

Text

Paint the Moon | Kim Seungmin

◤"You could only send your wishes to the moon, hoping it would be kind enough to deliver them to him, wherever he may be."

In which two souls find peace in each other’s presence, despite the raging flames of war.

◤Word count: 4.1K

◤Disclaimers: Female reader insert. This story is set in the past. Fluff with a hint of angst(?) I think. Mentions of war.

◤Note: This idea is 100% mine and any case of similarity with someone else's is purely coincidental. Events are pure fiction. Please do not take my content without my consent.

◤Happiest of birthdays to the cutest babie Seungmin! He deserves all the love and good things in the world uwu my heart beats for his dorky ass okay bye

You didn't remember when you started running exactly. Was it six months ago? Four years? It felt like eternity to you.

Sometimes, you thought of your family. The people you left behind. How were they? Where were they? Uncertain, that's what you preferred calling their fate. For all you knew, they might be dead. But not you. You were a survivor, and you wanted it to remain that way.

Survive, that was the only alive instinct you had. You stopped feeling things long ago. Wolves hunted and ran. Maybe that's what became of you.

You waited by an aged building, senses alert, looking for a certain brunet to come running your way. There he was, sprinting past alarmed villagers with a furious stall keeper chasing him. In his hands, he clutched a small brown pouch, your key to surviving the next week.

On reflex, your legs started moving, fueling the wildfire that burned in your veins. Your hands found their way to your unkempt skirts, lifting them to allow you to run better. Your sling bag hit your side repeatedly, but it was a pain you grew to ignore over time. Your pace matched his, and together, you dodged villagers and slid through dark alleys.

You couldn't hear the world around you, but you felt the quiet security of the forest when you reached it. You never stopped running, not until you were safely tucked in the forest's protective blanket.

You stopped to catch your breath, feeling your lungs work in a frenzy. Next to you, Seungmin had his hands on his knees, heaving one deep breath after another. You spotted the pouch, lying like a stuffed pig on the forest ground. You couldn't count all the times you'd ran out of a town, clutching the pouch you and Seungmin filled with stolen goods from the market. There was a time when you had money, some distant memory where you bought new dresses and tasted honeyed pastry. But that was before the world turned against you.

Before those armed men knocked on your home's door.

Seungmin picked up the pouch, slinging it across his chest before smiling at you, signing with his hands, are you okay?

He always asked, and you always signed back.

I'm okay.

That's good. He threw you another beautiful smile and you noticed how messy his hair became after the run. As if with a mind of its own, your hand went to his hair, petting down the stray strands. It was a habit, Seungmin noticed, you liked to fix his hair.

We should get back on track, you returned his smile as you signed. The boy nodded and the two of you started trudging under the protection of the forest.

II.

Seungmin was an artist, you'd deducted long ago from the random sketches you found in your notebook. When he stayed up to keep watch, Seungmin would draw on the corners of your old notebook's pages. And when you woke up to switch turns, you'd spend the rest of night flipping through your notebook, admiring the little additions here and there.

The dull bunch of papers you used to communicate with people became an art exhibition, and you weren't upset about it.

You decided to call it a day and found a resting spot between the trees, somewhere clear but obscure. You leaned on a tree and unpacked food for the night. As you took out bread and apples for the two of you, you glanced at Seungmin who was setting the fire, suddenly feeling bad for him. It must be sickening to be stuck with someone like yourself, you thought, away from civilization with no proper way of communication.

You knew your condition was a burden to others, but when Seungmin insisted you came with him, hope blossomed in your heart. There were people who were willing to carry that burden with them. For once in four years, you were grateful.

You noticed a small wrap midst the food as you were closing the pouch. Strange, you and Seungmin had agreed to never take—steal—anything besides bread and apples, the merest for your survival. So what was that tiny, round wrap?

You fished out the unknown object and tapped the ground with your foot, successfully catching Seungmin's attention. The light from the fire dancing in front of him made his eyes shine when they met yours. You were always told that eyes spoke loud and clear, and you saw how his gaze seemed to answer you. Yes?

You threw him a questioning look, raising the small wrapped object in your hand. Maybe, in another life, you would've heard the little 'oh' that escaped his lips when he noticed what you held.

Seungmin threw the last few sticks he held into the fire and scooted closer to you. It's for you, he signed, and the questioning look didn't leave your face. You took your notebook out of your own sling bag and handed it to him, inviting him to explain with more than the limited signs he knew.

Seungmin's eyes crinkled delicately, and his lips spread in a tiny grin as he took the notebook from you and flipped to an empty page. You found yourself wondering what a chuckle must've sounded like. It must be beautiful, you concluded, because so was the sight in front of you.

It didn't take much for Seungmin to finish writing before he returned the notebook, a shy smile gracing his features.

You mentioned that your birthday is in the middle of summer, and we are midway through the season. I know, we've agreed not to take anything besides what we need but I had to! You must have something sweet on your birthday!

Happy birthday~

Something sweet? Your heart skipped a beat when you undid the wrapping to see the glazed biscuit underneath. When was the last time you had indulged in such delicacies? Long ago, when your cheeks weren't caving in, hollow from the lack of nutrition. When you didn't know the feeling of hunger.

You faced Seungmin with a look of surprise that only made him smile more, if that was even possible.

Thank you, but I can't eat this alone.

You wrote before breaking the small biscuit in half and handing it to him. Seungmin shook his head in refusal, as if saying, it is yours to enjoy.

But you insisted, keeping your hand stretched out to him. Joy comes with sharing, that's what your grandmother used to tell you whenever she gave out pieces of her famous pound cake to the town's poor. One day, there will come a person you'd share even the smallest things with. Until then, you'd have to keep spreading this joy to others, she'd tell you with her frail hands.

After much inner debating, Seungmin gave in and took the little treat from your hand. He popped it into his mouth, closing his eyes as he enjoyed the moment of sugary bliss.

You smiled.

Your grandmother was definitely right, there was joy in sharing—especially with your loved ones. And you took a mental note to steal a cake for Seungmin's birthday... when it was time.

After finishing your small meal of an apple and a slice of bread, you closed your eyes, recollecting events of your arduous day. It wasn't the best life, you knew that very well. But you were free, and you made sure to remind yourself of that blessing.

And it wasn’t as though you were running towards an abyss. You were headed to the mountains.

Seungmin had called it the last refuge. He said it would be safe, that his family is waiting for him there, and you believed him. You were so tired of being a runaway, the mountains had to be safe.

When you opened your eyes, you found Seungmin staring at you with that endearing look. He signed, what are you doing?

Thinking, you signed back before directing your gaze to the night sky, seeing almost nothing due to the thick canopy.

If you were to be asked, four or maybe five years ago, about your dream, it would be something silly. You wanted many things; a garden, friends, acceptance. But now, you only wished for a home. A place to come back to every night. A place to share with family. A place that doesn't change. A safe place.

So dull, you thought. Your perspective had quite changed in the past years. You started hoping for lesser things, dreaming less and running more. You wondered, was it only you who had changed? Grabbing the notebook placed between you and Seungmin, you scribbled a quick message and showed it to the boy sitting next to you.

Do you have any dreams?

Seungmin didn't react at first, but stared at the paper for long before writing, I used to have a dream as a child.

I wanted to paint the moon.

Why? You'd signed, genuinely curious.

Everyone can see the moon. Even if you're away from someone, they still see the same moon that you do. If I could paint the moon, anyone would be able to see my paintings anytime, anywhere. It's like sending a letter!

His reply was odd, but the more you thought of it, the clearer it became. How great would it be to talk to people across the country, over paintings on the moon.

That's lovely, you'd signed and Seungmin's eyebrows furrowed at the new gesture. Right, you sometimes forgot that he didn’t know sign language.

Lovely, you wrote before repeating the sign. Seungmin was a quick learner, he picked up simple signs from you the way a velvet dress picks up lint, and it didn't take much for him to add that new gesture to his growing dictionary.

He beamed, repeating the sign in fascination. Seungmin thought it was interesting how words can become gestures. And he found it even more admirable how you had hundreds of these signs memorized; how your hands moved naturally with every word. He knew it was hard for you, but he found beauty in it nevertheless. Anyone who had avoided interacting with you for your condition was foolish beyond thought and Seungmin would love to have a word with them. But until he righted every wrong done to you, the hushed, raw chuckle he'd earn from you was enough to ease his heart.

Yes, lovely, you signed back, a smile dancing on your lips.

Seungmin carried your notebook to his lap, hurriedly scribbling something on the age-worn paper. He handed the notebook back to you and you read the short message.

There's an inn nearby, many coachmen go to rest there. We should head over to that place early tomorrow, find a cart to hop on, and be on our way to the mountains.

You nodded in understanding before writing, when should we wake then?

Before the sunrise, Seungmin answered, before adding, you should sleep first.

You exhaled; tomorrow might be a tough day. But wasn't everyday tough anyways? You leaned back on the tree, letting your head rest against its rough bark. You didn't forget to sign a 'good night' to Seungmin before your eyes shut and you were tumbling into the mute, dark void of sleep.

III.

Sun rays were threading the sky when you were making your way to the inn Seungmin mentioned. The air was still cold and dewy, and you were sure you two were the only forms of life up at that hour.

It didn't take long for Seungmin to find the inn, despite the dark of the dawn. The both of you sneaked around the humble building until you found the stationed carts and their sleeping horses. There were three, one that carried a few sheep, one that was filled with sacks of wheat, and an empty cart.

You settled for the wheat cart since it was roofed, and it allowed you to hide in there. Seungmin helped you in, making sure you didn't hit your head on the board or create any noise. You had to remain crouched inside the cart, not to make a hole in the paper roof, but as you tried to walk further into the cramped space, you felt a tug at your dress. You looked back, only to find the end of your old dress stuck on a poorly hammered nail. You yanked your dress off the nail, noticing how that ruined the already messed hem.

Deciding it was unnecessary to dwell on your clothes, you stretched a hand to help Seungmin up the cart. You made sure to grip his arm firmly, worried he'd fall. But before he could climb in, you saw his head snap to the side, sudden alarm distorting his features.

He let go of your arm, landing back on his feet as his eyes widened in fear. You furrowed your eyebrows at him questioningly, wondering what was that for. You stretched your hand out to him again, but he shook his head, signing in a rush, people. Hide.

He darted into the trees, eyes never leaving your panicked ones. You were about to chase him, but you noticed the light coming from the side, and the shadows it formed. There were people, and they were coming your way.

Your first instinct was to hide, so you buried yourself in a corner between sacks of grains. Shutting your eyes and holding your breath, you hoped they wouldn't find you. It felt like eternity before you felt the cart shake. There was a jolt, then the cart started moving speedily.

You dared to open your eyes and you saw the forest pass by you. You crawled towards the mouth of the cart, sticking your head out in the air. You searched for Seungmin and you found him by the trees. You could barely make out the words he was signing to you as he became smaller and smaller, don't worry about me.

They were moving. You were getting away. Oh no. Your breath hitched in your throat. Seungmin.

It was his plan to get on a cart, you weren't supposed to be doing this alone. You looked around you frantically, trying to find a way to get off this damned cart and reach him. If only the cart wasn't moving so quickly, you might've considered jumping off. But at the speed it was going at, a jump would create more harm than good. Plus, it would attract attention, and you didn't need that.

Holding back a sob, you retreated to the corner, hiding yourself. It was done now. You were back to being a lone traveler and you refused to accept it.

The sun rose, and you felt heat permeate the small space. There was nothing in the cart but sacks and sacks of wheat and you found yourself wondering how could you spend two days in such a place with no company. Little did you remember of your life before you met Seungmin. Suddenly, the idea of traveling alone seemed boring and scary. How will you survive when you can't hear your own breathing? What will you do if you reached the mountains alone? You'd never thought of these things, because whenever you did, there was Seungmin in the picture, and you had nothing to worry about.

Don't worry about me, you mocked in your head. How can you not? The forest was full of surprises. What if he doesn't make it? What if you reached the mountains and waited endlessly, only to later learn that he was taken away? Thinking of it again, throwing yourself off the cart might be a little more merciful on your heart.

You closed your eyes, finding it only useful to pray for his safety. Seungmin wasn't incapable, you knew that very well, he can make it out of this. He will. You had to force that belief into your heart. He has to.

Indeterminate hours had passed since you left without Seungmin, and you'd spent them all drowning in worry and unhealthy thoughts. Wanting to take your mind off the bitter present, you fished your notebook out of your pouch and flipped through its pages.

The first bunch of papers were boring, only having minimal conversations that you shared with curious people across the country. Then came the first drawing, and the first conversation you had with Seungmin. You ran a finger across the watered-down ink, reminiscing the strange encounter that changed your course of travel. You'd bumped into Seungmin as you were escaping a town going under attack and ever since then, you'd traveled side by side. You didn't realize how much time had passed since you first met, but the many writings on the notebook proved otherwise.

You read over your conversations, remembering each as if it happened yesterday. You admired the small sketches that decorated your depressing notebook and you realized how much that old book represented you. How much Seungmin's entry to your life brightened your dull days, just like his drawings adorned your notebook. Before you knew it, night befell the forest and the cart had halted to a stop near another inn. You waited until the air around you stilled before poking your head out of the cart. There was no one. You were alone with sacks of wheat.

You looked up to the sky, at the full moon watching over you. You guessed, no you were sure, that if Seungmin was safe in the forest, he would be looking up at the same moon as you. You found yourself wishing, if only there was a way to paint the moon, then he would know you're fine, and you'd know he was safe. But there wasn’t a way to do that, and you could only send your wishes to the moon, hoping it would be kind enough to deliver them to him, wherever he may be.

IV.

You didn't know how you managed to survive two days in that cramped cart but you lived to witness another night. But this time, you weren't going to sleep in the cart. You waited until you made sure there was no one around before jumping out of the wheat cart. Your knees buckled from the impact of the jump—you hadn't stood in a while. Not willing to linger around anymore, you ran away from the cart, towards the road you saw cutting the forest.

You looked forward, seeing how the road stretched far and up the mountain ahead. This was the way.

You took a deep breath, hunger was gnawing at your stomach, but your concern for Seungmin was killing you. You knew that if he were to see you, he would urge you to move forward. To reach the mountains and find a roof to shelter you. He wouldn't want you to fool around, not after all the trouble you'd both went through. Calming your racing heart, you took your first step on the road, then the other, and your night flew by as you trekked to the mountains.

It was sometime around noon when you reached the encampment at the top of the mountains. Your feet were pulsing with pain and the only thought on your mind was to get some water, food, and sleep.

There was a wall that surrounded the settlement, and a few armed men had stopped you in front of the gates. They began speaking to you, unaware that you could only see their lips moving. You pulled out your notebook and wrote your situation to them. Seungmin said they provided shelter for everyone, so you were quite hopeful. Maybe, this wouldn't end so bad.

After a few inquiries and security checks, you were led past the gates to an old lady who smiled at you like a mother would. You saw one armed man talk to her about a few things before he left you in her care. You noticed that the lady's eyes didn't leave you, and you looked at her kindly, trying to hide your discomfort. She was still smiling at you when you saw her hands move in gestures you knew too well. Hello, dear.

Your eyes widened before you picked up your manners and greeted her back, hello.

I'm very glad that you've managed to find this place. You must be tired, let me show you to your tent, she signed and you could only sign back mindlessly, dazed, thank you, I'd really appreciate it.

The lady walked you through the settlement, passing by rows of tents that squished together. You saw children run around in tattered clothing, mothers cooking in their tents, and men moving around with their axes or pistols to hunt in the forest. It had been long since you'd last been in such a lively place. Seungmin said that his family was waiting for him in the mountains and you wondered as you looked around, where might they be?

The lady stopped near a small tent, on an emptier side of the village. She held the tent's flap open with a frail hand, smiling at you as if inviting you to step in. Gingerly, you entered the small tent, taking in its minimal interior.

You looked back at the old woman who, in turn, was looking at you expectantly. I know it isn't much, she signed, but it is the best we can offer, my dear.

It's perfect, you assured her, a place with a roof and a bed was as good as a mansion in your eyes. After all, it wasn’t like you had much to be greedy about.

That's good to hear, she smiled, now rest, dear, I shall bring some food and water.

You thanked her one more time and waited until she left before you plunked on the simple bed in front of you. It felt like your body was melting into the bed, finally relaxing. You didn't bother to remove the pouch slung across your chest or the grimy shoes your feet bore, for your eyes closed before you could fathom any of that and you were off to your first, peaceful slumber in long.

When you woke, you noticed the tray next to your bed. One that carried a jug of water, a loaf of bread, a chunk of cheese, and some fruits. You felt your stomach rumble, and your hands moved before you could order them to, feverish at the sight of food.

Your stomach did hurt after you'd eaten, it was like a feast compared to the food you used to eat on the daily. You spent the rest of the day in your tent, resting, thinking about Seungmin's whereabouts. You hoped he was on his way to the mountains. To you.

And so, days passed, each one a replica of the one before. You slept, ate, and strolled around the settlement. Each day, you went out of your tent in hopes of catching Seungmin as he enters the village. Each day, your hopes died a little more.

Days became weeks, and you refused to give up on him. He had to come. He had to survive. Must the universe hate you so much?!

On the sixteenth day, you woke up, ate, and left your tent to amble around the gates. You noticed a child who'd come running to his mother, probably screaming something exciting. You saw how she dropped the clothes she was sewing, how her eyes flooded with tears. She held her son's hand and he dragged her outside, towards the gates. You walked towards the same destination, but you couldn't hide your curiosity. What could've made her tear up like that?

And then you saw it, the mother suddenly ran towards a figure standing by the gates, engulfing him in a hug that made your eyes mist.

A reunion. Something so heartbreakingly beautiful.

You didn't know how long you were standing there, watching them cry in each other's embrace, but after what felt like an eternity, the mother loosened her embrace, breaking the hug and giving you a good look at the person she held so longingly.

That was when your world stopped.

You saw him wipe the tears streaking his cheeks, that beautiful smile you'd missed dearly finding its way to his face. As if feeling your gaze, Seungmin's eyes found yours amid the people, and maybe, in a life where the universe was kinder to you, you would've heard him call your name with such yearning.

Before you knew it, your feet were rushing towards him, as if he would disappear in a flash before your eyes. A beat, and another, and then you were in his arms.

Perhaps, the moon did hear your wishes after all, and in that moment, it was only your hearts, beating with a love that could be heard across the highest mountains and through the thickest forests.

If you have read this far then you are contractually obligated to tell me your thoughts! Well, not really, but do drop by sometime! Thank you for reading and I hope you have a lovely day! ♡

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