This is the first time I'm doing a poll, but when I was drawing yesterday the question hit me:

I can't think of any other variations, but if you have one that's a fave (or even someone who isn't mentioned on the list like Lady P's dive suit) feel free to put it in the tags. I didn't count the exo-suits as separate because I feel like they're not different enough to their usual suits?

Obviously only talking about TAG, because the only difference in TOS was the colour of their sash, if I'm not mistaken, perhaps with the exception of Gordon and that grey suit (wet suit? idk) and I cba to remember what they wore in the movie (I think it was just a different colour as well.

If you could reblog for a bigger scope of people too, that would be great! I'm super interested to see what people's thoughts are on their uniforms 🥰

Me putting myself through it to watch her live on insta for costume reasons - hilarious viewing for all the wrong reasons - you can try to back track all you like but your transphobia is showing in your inability to address it properly and quickly jumping to something else to avoid talking about it when you couldn’t avoid the comments!!!

Back to costume news the chain necklace is back and I think possibly another necklace that Ana wore (or possibly Taylor I can’t check my spreadsheet right now!!) along with a predominantly blue dress with yellow and green patterning on it and a lot of gathering elements (centre front and shoulders) - which is interesting - because it’s similar to some we saw Ana wearing and not something we’ve really seen on anyone else before!

Blue and yellow as a colour combination is queer coded (espeically mlm queer coding as I keep going on about!) plus blue is the girlfriend breakup colour - and with Marisol - we had her in yellow (trousers) and blue (blue flowers on her black top) when her and Eddie decided she should move out - when the first big nail was driven into the coffin - so with this being a louder bolder pattern - it hints at playing towards a similar theme.

I don’t know what scene it’s for (could be the firehouse commendation scene - which they’ve been filming today) or what Eddie is wearing opposite her for the scene (if it is his uniform - dress blues - then she’ll most likely just be there rather than it being a scene about her and Eddie per say)

I’m wondering if this might be - if not a full on break up - at the very least another major nail in the coffin of the relationship - if it is at the firehouse - perhaps setting her up as ‘other’ in the same way they did with Ana when she visited the 118 (who interestingly enough was in a yellow with blue and green top for that visit!!) or contrasting her once again with Buck and possibly with the other partners of the 118!

I’m not prepared to nail my flag to the this costume is a break up outfit mast right now, but I do think it has the potential to signal to us that’s where things are headed!!!

It’s super hard to read these things when you have zero context for the outfit - not even a set context - I don’t know where she’s been filming in that outfit to feel confident about anything right now - these are just some initial observations!

OKAY FINISHED SEASON ONE TITANS

score: 6.5/10

pros: the costuming fucked (specifically whoever did kori), and the cinematography was really good. lots of shows suffer from not having good lighting espeically in dark scenes but i think this show actually did pretty well in that regard. the concept behind the show was interesting, i liked the focus on raven. seeing all of the secondary characters, like doom patrol or donna troy, was probably kinda baiting but I liked it so whatever. i loved kori so much the concept behind her story of being an amnesaic assassin who befriended her target was SO good and she was so fun. the actress for raven was phenomenal. honestly i think all the actors did a pretty good job considering this show is… well d-rated for a reason. the mythos of Gotham was really well done, i don’t know how to explain it tbh but i did like it.

cons: WAY WAY WAY WAY TOO ROBIN FOCUSED. season one could have easily been condensed into being about trigon but they dragged the entire season on forever- it did not need to be split into two seasons. episode two and nine were entirely unneeded im sorry the hawk and dove thing was so stupid they offered NOTHING to the storyline. they genuinely weren’t connected to the plot in the slightest. they brought nothing to the table. edgy takes on superheroes are almost always done badly and this one wasn’t great. robins identity crisis was so stupid they should have either made it like 6 months since he left being robin or let him already start out as nightwing. i love beast boy but it was clear they didn’t know what to do with him, he was just kinda there. bringing trigon into earth was SUCH a boring ass scene im still so pissed about it. all that hype for nothing. kori’s backstory honestly should have been explored more i feel like it was still pretty underutilized. raven was fighting for her life trying to be the main character this season against dick. the shadow of batman always being mentioned but never seen was cool except they brought him up in quite literally every scene- it felt like a batman spin off instead of just a dc show. it was kind of borishly violent sometimes. trigon being just some guy design wise sucked so bad.

i think it had a good idea behind it but they tried WAY too hard and made it over the top edgy. some of it was unbearable. a batman that focuses on vengeance instead of the victims is interesting but it’s never done well and they didn’t do it well here either. they seemed very wishwashy over vigilante justice but not in an ethical debate way just a “ooooh the systems broken” vague way but also “ooooooh if i start killing i won’t be able to stop” way too. i wouldnt watch this season again except for the jason episode and that’s only because i like jason todd and not because i thought the episode was good.

What is your favorite Hevans scene?

And if you could have Hevans doing 3 things what would they be? ie: at the beach together, laundry- anything

What costume would Hevans match in- list one per season-if u want- because I imagine them dating in season 2 and they'd match every year after that

omg this is such a fun ask, thank you so much for sending it in!

fav scene: this is two scenes... but I’m gonna count it as one. my all time fav scene is when sam fights karofsky in the locker room. then when kurt thanks for boys for what they did and says “espeically sam.” i know that kurt doesn’t need anyone to defend him... but i will never get over how sam only knew kurt for a few weeks at this point & quinn didn’t even ask him to confront karofsky. i just love how he fought for a boy that he knew for only a month

for the hevans doing three things: going to the zoo with sam’s siblings, them going on a camping trip... maybe with some of the new directions, and cooking dinner together (i just wanna see them being domestic)

now for the costumes:

for s2, i think it would be cute if kurt dresses as christopher robin and sam dresses as winnie the pooh (bc i associate sam with honey)

sam isn’t in lima for halloween in s3, but they do a couples costume even though they’re states apart. they plan a costume that could be understood w/o the other person right next to them. i imagine kurt as robin and sam as batman (bonus points if they got the idea for this after watching the lego batman movie)

they are separated on halloween once again in s4 and sam tries to tell kurt that he shouldn’t feel the need to match while he’s partying away in new york. kurt refuses and says that there’s no way that he’s missing out on their tradition. kurt’s dresses as peterpan and sam’s genderbent tinkerbell (bc he wants to wear fairy wings)

for s5, i’m assuming that they spent halloween together in the second half of the season. they’re both hella excited since this is their first time spending the holiday together in a few years. that year is when sam goes to his first broadway show and see’s wicked, he becomes set on dressing as genderbent glinda for halloween and kurt is more than happy to dress as genderbent elphaba. kurt goes all out and sews the costumes for the both of them.

bonus: sam and kurt have a different costume that they wore to a different halloween party and they wear those sailor costumes from the little skit in ‘tested’

they haven’t seen each other in a while and when kurt comes back to lima in s6, he assumes that they weren’t going to wear matching costumes that year. that is until sam shows up to his house with a list of ideas. they decide on kurt dressing as a magician (inspired by the hat in ‘arthur’s theme’) and sam dressing as a cute lil rabbit

What a Live-Action Tartarus would look like: or, the complexities of Cosmic Horror in Middle Grade Fiction

I've always been really interested in film- it's my dream to work in this field in the future. So of course with news of an adaptation of this series so close on the horizon, of course I had to think about how, if for some absurd reason, I was personally hired to direct/design an episode, how some of my favorite scenes in this series would they look in live action form.

Some context: This is after Percy and Annabeth's fall in Tartarus. I think the scenery of this place is very interesting, yet extremely complicated to replicate in live action form. Tartarus, at least Rick's version of Tartarus, is horrifying when you think too hard about it, especially in a middle grade fiction series where characters can't even say the word "dam" properly, and monsters dissolve in a dust of sand. I think Tartarus is very similar to Lovecraftian horror. It's like, the idea that something is so terrifying that a human mind can’t even perceive it. You can't accept it because it's just too horrifying. You can’t even describe it because there are no words for it or things to compare it to in our world.

I made some personal rules for myself. Firstly, I think obvert violence thrown in your face is overrated. Any PJO or HoO series would be rated PG, at most, PG-13. Using these guidelines, I tried to construct a version of Tartarus that isn't fueled on gore or blood, but more this dark, deep nothingness.You know how, in many YA movies/tv shows, especially those trying too hard to be "edgy", we always make fun of how dimly lit the scenes are? Well, these scenes in Tartarus should, for once, actually be like that- so dark it almost makes our(as an audience) eyes hurt. Everything around our main characters are dark and hazy. Fog swims around them.

But we don't see much of this environment, no matter how dark it is. Everything is filmed so up close, the camera sticking so close to the characters it's uncomfortable. We are stuck with Percy and Annabeth in this huge, intangebly huge space. Two small ants in this great, unescapable landscape. Have y'all watched Stranger Things? you know that strangely filmed darkness we see when Eleven goes into the upside down? Tartarus should be filmed very similar to that. Everything except for Annabeth and Percy should be engulfed in black, pure darkness all around, when the two first enter this place. It's only when Annabeth and Percy stay too long, finally perceive this landscape for what it is, the body of Tarturas himself, that we as an audience sees this too. It's not abrupt or sudden. It's a gradual, uncomfortable recognization. The music that has always been in the background gets a little louder, pounding a little too similar to the beat of a human heart. We hear wet, sloshing, horrible sounds every time Percy puts his foot down. Dark liquid and goop drips from all around, and the camera stays just a little bit longer on these elements. The darkness slowly lifts, just a bit.

The Arai curses fight scene is, for me personally, the scariest scene in everything Rick wrote. It's utterly horrifying to think too long about. Again, I don't think it needs to be overtly graphic or visual.When you really think about it, there is so much death and killing in every one of the PJO and HoO books. But this sort of murder is made child-friendly in every way- monsters resolve into dust only to be reborn, death is written off in a few paragraphs, kids get shoot, cut, burned, maned, and we just ignore it. This scene really brings us to the reality that these monsters are still beings, about the sheer numbers of monsters just Percy and Annabeth themselves have brought to death. In a live-action adaption, this realization and horror should be replicated.

(more under read more ↓↓↓↓↓↓) 

At first, we think this is just a normal fight. Percy and Annabeth have went through plenty of those already- this is HoH, by now the audience has watched 12 year old Percy fight a god, 15 year old Percy become almost invincible- a little run-in with some winged monsters is just another Tuesday. The music increases, but it's still just regular, action-movie fight scene music (behind it is a heavy dropping beat. Again, just like a heartbeat. Is it Percy's heartbeat? Is it Tartarus's heartbeat? we can't tell). But as soon as Percy takes that first swing, we know something is wrong. think this scene would be interesting if the camera switches jarringly from Annabeth's pespective to Percy's. When Annabeth strikes down the arai that curses her with blindness, we are suddenly plunged into darkness too. Sudden, startling darkness. It is quiet, too. too quiet. We are engulfed in pure nothingness. It's so sudden and holds out for so long that the audience must think something is wrong. They get uncomfortable, squirming in their seats. Is their tv broken? Did they accidentally click mute? We see dim flashes of light, waving like somebody stumbling around in the dark, with a dim flashlight,but they are too gone so suddenly.

The camera swings, and now we see this scene from Percy's perspective, but everything is all wrong. The music is not this dramatic, action music we are use to, but instead, while the beat is the same as before, we are only left with this uncomfortable, startling heartbeat. It goes: dun, dun, dun. Percy is in pain: you know when you're in so much pain everything is fuzzy at the edges and you don't know if what you're percieving is real or just a halluciation? This scene is that feeling times a thousand. The techincal term is called a dolly zoom, but more casually a "Vertigo shot" the camera pulls back sudden at the same time it zooms in. It is often used by Hitchcock, espeically in the movie Jaws. You can google it, but what we get is this effect where the subject (Percy, here) not quite moving, but the background shifting around him so quickly it almost gives you motion sickness. The camera then spins jarringly around him, again, so quickly it's dizzying. we don't get to see too much. There are so many of these creatures, coming from all sides. It's too much. Behind this still pumping heartbeat, there is RINGING. God, so much ringing, in your ear. Because of all this action happening on screen, again it takes the audience a moment to even perceive this sound. But when they perceive it, they can't unheard it. it's so loud, it comes from everywhere, it's getting higher in pitch, it's uncomfortable, you're about to throw up, yet just like Percy you're pinned to the spot, unsure what to do, as everything goes out of your control.

Olf. That was a long one. But for a little TL;DR, undershowing is often scarier. There is a quote, I'm not too sure where it first came from since it sounds much too smart for me to think up myself, but to paraphrase, it goes something like: "The scariest thing in the world is what our imaginations can conjure up." Here's a simpler one for you:  "The most frightening monsters are the ones that exist in our minds." I've had the personally experience of laying awake too many nights, stuck in a mind loop, scaring myself half to death with my own thoughts. Let me repeat this again: A story, even a horror one, doesn't need excessive blood, guts and sexy stuff thrown at it to make it dark and horrifying. A lot of this post was inspired by talking with a lot of fellow PJO fans, you know who you are :), while also being influenced by this great video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OTO7Rqln9Q. It talks about the complexities of writing comic horror. I highly recommend watching it. Also, for a few examples of this kind of horror done well, I recommend Birdbox, and also, strangely the ending fight of Spiderman Far From Home. I won't spoil it, but it was a very well directed scene that really made me feel jarred and uncomfortable as I watched it. I've also heard The Thing is good at this, but I really do scare myself too much, and can't watch truly scary horror movies without freaking myself out. Anyway, if you've made it this far, I hope you all have a nice day/ night and comment if you want me to write out any other scenes from PJO or any Rick books. Film, whether that's in screenwriting/cinematography/set/costume design, or, most of all directing, is both my dream and plan, so this is good practice.

CtM Thursday Thoughts

Series Overview Rewatch

Series 4–A New Routine

Welcome back to my Overview Rewatch! This week, it’s series 4, and I have a *lot* of thoughts, some of which might be somewhat controversial. More thoughts follow:

So, watching this series again I decided something. I’ve always said that my favorite series are the even numbered ones–2, 4, and 6. That’s still true, but I had never actually picked a “winner” between these three–it was essentially a tie. After rewatching series 4 this week, though, I think I’ve made a decision (and this is contrary to what I’ve perceived as general fandom opinion). Maybe it’s personal fandom nostalgia (this is the first series I watched in “real time” week by week), or maybe not, but  for me, series 4 wins. Actually, thinking back, I think I even have a ranking now, but I’m going to wait until I rewatch series 6 to reveal that (because I want to be sure). Still, series 4 is the best for me. I love all the series (yes, even series 7 for the most part, but I’ll go into more detail on that when I get to that rewatch), but there’s something about series 4 that is special for me. There are several factors, some of which I’ll go into here, but I also wanted to share my general observations of this series and how it fits into the show’s run as a whole, which brings me to–

New Beginning–In many ways, I think series 4 is the real start of the show as it is now. The first three series were wonderful, but so much of what makes CtM what it is today started in series 4. The ensemble format (after Jenny’s departure), the addition of essential new characters, the situations of the characters and introducing ideas that will continue in subsequent series, new music, and more kind of established the pattern for future series. It’s a major turning point, I think.

Style and Era–I think in terms of overall look and feel, this is the most “cinematic” of the series.It ushers in the beginning of the 1960s on the show, and for me it often has the look and atmosphere of a film from that era, with a sweeping, lyrical soundtrack to match. This is the beginning of the Malagnini era of soundtrack music, and I know his music on the show has been a point of contention in the fandom (some fans love it, and some don’t), but I love it, and especially in series 4 (and 5, but I’ll talk more about 5 next week). The Malagnini music doesn’t really start until episode 4, but when it does it makes an impression. I think episode 6 is the best example of the Malagnini score at its best. Also, the costumes and filming add a distinctive early 60s flair that marks it as different from previous series. I think episodes 3 and 6 especially stand out for a cinematic tone.

New Characters–Barbara, Phyllis, Violet, and Delia make their debuts in series 4, and it was interesting rewatching knowing these characters in subsequent series. It’s funny about Phyllis in particular, because I have strong memories of how the fans (including myself) reacted to her when we first watched series 4, and we weren’t always sure what to think. She seemed so harsh to me at times, but other times she was more sympathetic. Now, however, I rewatch these episodes and all I see is the Phyllis we’ve come to know and love. The negative impressions were almost completely gone. In fact, I was struck by how consistant her character has been portrayed over the years. Also, it was a little difficult watching Barbara’s first series on the show when I know where her story leads. 

Character Conflicts–OK, here’s where I get slightly controversial. As much as I like Sister Evangelina as a character, I think the combination of her and Phyllis made Sister E come across as even more abrasive than before, even downright petty at times. As sad as her death was at the end of series 5, looking at series 4 again gave me the impression that it was time for her to go, because she and Phyllis couldn’t easily exist on the same show together. I also thought Sister E’s reaction to the baby switching in episode 7 was over the top, although I really liked her scenes with Barbara in episode 8 and with Sister Winifred in episode 6. Another character who had conflict issues in this series was Trixie, whose relationship with Tom brought out the worst in her, although I thought her scenes in episode 8 were extremely well done. 

Character Growth--There were some great subtle arcs in this series, particularly with Barbara as she gets accustomed to her new job, and Shelagh, who returns to nursing with confidence and profiency. 

Relationships–The Turners had an excellent story this series, and the Patsy/Delia and Fred/Violet pairings were well-established as well. I also liked the friendship relationships, as the seeds of the Phyllis and Barbara friendship are planted, and the issues with Trixie’s dealing with the change in Sister Mary Cynthia and their friendship dynamic were brought into focus. There were also some excellent bonding moments for the nuns in this series, and especially in episode 6.

Ending/Cliffhangers/Continuing Stories–Watching this series again I had another thought about the way it ended. This is the only series that really has cliffhangers, or rather new dramatic developments that happen in the last episode that need to be carried over into the next one (series 5 has one sort of, but not to this degree). We had the introduction of the thalidomide issue, Trixie’s admitting her alcoholism and getting help, and most controversially, Delia’s accident and amnesia. Looking back, I’m now wondering if the vocal negative reaction by some fans over that story is what led to the show’s not concluding its future series this way again, with dramatic open-ended arcs, and now it’s back to most of the stories from a given series being wrapped up by the end of that series. 

Energy--Overall in this series from episode one, I noticed an energy and sense of purpose through a lot of the stories and episodes. This is the series that started some of the complaints about too many stories in an episode, but I didn’t really notice that on rewatching. I think, for the most part, all the stories were given adequate time and weight, with episode 7 being sort of the “weakest link” (I still think the Glenda Severs story was unnecesary, in addition to a slighlty over-the-top Sister E), but still that episode worked more for me on this rewatch as well. 

So, that’s all for now. I love series 4! I do love series 2, which is my fave of the show’s “first trimester”, but 4 just has so much going for it, and for me, it’s the best so far. Next week, on to series 5!

Fandom 5: Yuri on Ice and Inuyasha owo Oh, and Utapri

Fandom 5

omg kissie. istg. why three fandoms? xD

YUURI ON ICE. 

characters: yuri, viktor, otabek, jj, christophe. just to name a few.ships: viktor/yuri p. viktor/yuuri k. christophe/viktor. otabek/yuri.episodes / movie scenes: whenever yuri and viktor interact. i live for the episode where viktor and yuuri got engaged and the kiss not kiss. basically whenever viktor is being gay with yuuri i live for and whenever viktor and yuri actually have moments together because god i love my russian children.places: oof i can’t pick just a smol list. so i am just gonna say all of them.outfits: insert basically every skating costume here. espeically yuri’s ‘welcome to the madness’.songs used in the movie / show / game:‘history maker’ is my jam. i love ‘stay close to me’. ‘piano concerto in b-minor: allegro appasionato’ i have a love / hate relationship with. jj’s songs are amazing.wildcard: anyone else hyped for the movie? because i am still ded.

INUYASHA.

characters: sesshomaru, inuyasha, kagome, sango, miroku... imma stop there before i list like the entire cast.ships: sesshomaru/rin. sesshomaru/naraku. sesshomaru/kikyo. sesshomaru/koga. sesshomaru/kagome. inuyasha/kagaome. sango/miroku. koga/ayame. casually stops here before i go out of handepisodes / movie scenes: any episode with sesshomaru. i love the episodes when sesshomaru was first introduced and when he met rin. the scenes in the final act with sesshomaru seeing his mom and his whole arc. i live. uh, movies. my favorites are ‘affections touching across time’ and ‘swords of an honorable ruler’.places: i live for the design of the feudalera.outfits: i love sango’s outfits. inuyasha, sesshomaru and inukimi’s outfits are some of my favorites.songs used in the movie / show / game: ‘change the world’, ‘my dearest’, ‘fukai mori‘, ‘my will’, ‘every heart’.wildcard: i still have the ds game, ‘secret of the divine jewel’. i never beat it or got very far...

UTA NO PRINCE-SAMA.

characters: quartet night, starish, haruka, tomochika, ringo.ships: REIJI/AI. ren/ai. ai/haruka. camus/ai. reiji/aine. aine/reiji/ai. quartet night.episodes / movie scenes: literally, anytime they perform. the perfomances always blow me away. s4, e2. forever emo over that episode. i live for the development of quartet night.places: i just really love the school and the dorm buildings.outfits: literally any of haruka’s outfits. she is so cute. tomo is stylish as always.songs used in the movie / show / game: any of ai’s solos. wildcard: @appxssionato got me into this hell. its all kyo’s fault. also. ren/maki is otp and canon.

2018.10.26 and 29 Teito Tantei Kitan Zigomar [Review]

Official Website here Official Twitter here Press Coverage 1, 2, 3, 4

CAST and CHARACTERS

Hiroya as Z (Zigomar / Jigoma) Hattori Takeo as Mikasa Yumenosuke (Private Detective) Ebihara Yuka as Mutou Yuuko (Kidnapped by Zigoma) Hanaoka Meika as Hanasaki Mayuko (Mikasa's Assistant) Kadono Sho as Kitamiko Saburo (Chief Policeman) Tanaka Hiroki as Sumi Arata (Newbie Policeman) Oda Toshiki as Hira Tarou (Journalist)

Adachi Yuna as Tokage (meaning 'lizard' - Phantom Theif) Sawada Maria as Ando Ayako (Opera Singer)

Umehara Saeri as Aikawa Tamako (Tetsujiro's Girlfriend/Wife) Kuroki Kiko as Doi Shiori (Adopted Sister?) Tatsuya Yuu as Kobayashi Tetsujiro (Saved by Mikasa. Admires Mikasa.)

Working For Zigomar:

Hinagata Ui as Tsukishiro Tei Ogura Eriko as Sunaga Tokiko

Working for Fukiya:

Maruyama Raiden* as Gondawara Kouzou Odagiri Masayo as Harukara Meiko Souji Masato as Hitomi Hirosuke Kamidochi Kanki as Naoki Osamu

Terumi as Fukiya Kiyoshi 

W Cast:

Kai Chiaru / Oota Saki as Saito Kanoko (Yuuko's Maid) Ashikaga Itaru / Oda Shunpei as Mifune Saburo (Powerful Politician, Yuuko's Husband) Ihara Yu / Umeda Shohei as Tsujioka Fumisuke (Works for Zigomar)

*DAMN that's a REALLY good name!

*

NON-SPOILER REVIEW Overall: My expectations for ASSH are always high and they ALWAYS met! They always make such amazing stages that are pleasing in so many ways! This stage was just as high quality as their previous ones; great in-depth amazing story with characters that you just want to know personally and in-depth - seriously, every single one of them I got very attached and/or interested in ! -, the darkness and the themes of the story was great, they always have a message that leaves you thinking, the costumes were well made and the theme was super interesting; and as per usual I was left wanting more, wanting another installment! I loved the messaged for this play which was very much 'how do we decide whether a character is good or bad?' because every character in this stage is flawed, every character in this has their reasons as to why their actions are justified, each character has a charming point that makes you believe their motives are the right ones. I just love that ASSH always poses such questions in their stages and has these types of characters. In true ASSH style, it is not a happy ending. They keep it partially raw and real and dark! The characters that stood out to me the most were obviously Zigomar and Mikasa, but I also got super invested in Hanasaki, Hirosuke, Naoki, Gonda and Kitamiko! I wanted to know so much more about them and their character scenes and arcs are great. Espeically for Gonda and Hirosuke; their arcs were GOLD. I was so invested and so affected by their storylines. I really hope we get a next installment, especially with the random mind-blowing reveal we get at the end of the play, and I am sure they'll find a way to kind of 'undo' what happens at the end so they can make a second stage out of this. It seriously deserves one and I seriously want one! Thank you ASSH for consistently producing and giving me great, solid stages! Rating: 9/10

*

SPOILER REVIEW

I have no idea where to start with this, as per bloody usual, but I shall try!

Aesthetics 

First I loved the visuals of this stage; I love how the stage looked, I loved the costumes (and how all of them except Zigoma had words on parts of their costumes which were lines from the script); I loved the ending where letters dropped from the ceiling and onto the floor; it was very visually appealing. Although ONE actress did have boots on and at the beginning they were not equal length and OCD me found it very annoying xD but she soon fixed them by the next time she came back on stage.

Story

The Main Plot is: A guy who calls himself Zigoma is running around killing politicians and the police force want to know why and want to stop him before he kills anymore. Also during his first political kill, the kidnaps the wife of the politician and a private detective has been hired to find and save this now-widow. But what is unveiled is so much more...

This show actually had two versions; the Detectives Side and the Bad Guys Side which means there should be a scene change or two between the two shows.

*

I really enjoyed the story; I loved the discussion and themes of ‘who is right?’ and ‘Is everyone’s individual motive justifiable?’. And we had the mystery of ‘who is Zigoma?’ and ‘why is he doing it?’ and ‘why does he do it?’ which gave some really great punches and revelations. Also the plot twists and the shocker ending were just perfect! I did not see some of them coming and that ending really was a great cherry on the top of the cake! But I won’t spoil it too much right now.

One question/theme that runs throughout the play is whether Zigoma’s motives are justifiable or not. And we get to one part of the play where Mikasa comments ‘I think he’s just doing it for fun. Just because he can.’ but later one Zigoma expresses his desire to change the political climate, to change those in power, almost like a Guy Fawkes (info here) type of character. But then right at the end, when all hope for Zigoma escaping is gone, he cracks. He starts to laugh insanely and then yells at Mikasa ‘you were right! You saw right through me! All along I was doing it just because it’s fun!’. This somewhat internally breaks Mikasa because he didn’t want to be right; he wanted a more logical reason as to why Zigoma did what he did. It’s such a good moment and it really makes the audience think: was Zigoma lying in this moment of insanity? Was he killing off politicians because they were simply shitty, corrupt politicians? Or was he really just doing it because he could? Also, it makes you think, if he was doing it because those in power were corrupt, doesn’t that then make him a hero and not a villain? This theme really messed with my brain and really made me think and I LOVED IT!

There is another scene in the play, that also makes you question Zigoma’s motives. Right at the beginning there is the very first murder of a politician (Mifune Saburo) which everyone thinks Zigoma did because the body discovered was covered in a towel that had the mark ‘Z’ on it. But then at about the mid-point of the story, we learn that in fact the maid of the house had killed the politician because he was not only abusing his wife but was also raping the maid, and she has finally had enough and killed him. However, that night Zigoma had actually come with the intention of killing him anyway so he tells the maid to tell everyone ‘this was my kill!’ and so left the flag on the body. We also find out later that the reason why Zigoma kidnapped Mifune’s wife (Mutou Yuuko) after the murder, is because they actually were original betrothed to each other before she got forced into her marriage with Mifune, which is just like ‘he saved her?! he protected her?! He still loves her?!’ so again, it creates all these questions and such in your brain that you just have to think through and make a decision on. Also once Yuuko realises who Zigoma is, she takes his side completely and helps him out, so she too still has feelings for him! Just waaaahhh?! But then in another twist of fate, right at the end he kills her anyway!! To which I was like ‘waaaahhh?!’ even more!

I adore the ending so much; not the fact that everyone dies at the end, but how it’s visually shown. They die due to a bomb going off, destroying the building they’re in (again, very Guy Fawkes like!), and just as they all drop dead, letters from the ceiling fall down onto their bodies, and the flags at the back of the stage drop down too. I absolutely loved this visual touch! It was amazing and beautiful.

Another plot twist that had me like ‘HOLY HELL! WHAT?!’ was at the very last scene. But first, some back story: the very first scene of the stage is the actor for Hira Tarou, explaining the backstory and setting of the story. Then IN the story, we meet Tarou who is a very good journalist who just happens to know that Mikasa and co. are trying to stop Zigoma. Because Tarou has some inside sources, they let him join their adventure and story. So we don’t really suspect him for the most part, but we do have one moment in the play where Mikasa asks ‘how do you know all this (secret) stuff?’ and Tarou simply replies ‘well I have informants in the police’ and they just brush it off. But right at the very end, when everyone else is dead, on the floor, on the stage, Tarou comes to the center to finish the narration of the story; he reveals (right at the end!!) that he is in fact Edogawa Ranpo, shuts the book in his hand, black out, stage finishes. I was like ‘wait... he’s.... EDOGAWA RANPO!?!?’ again, MIND BLOWN! I did not see that coming at all! And it was such a good, juicy and powerful reveal! It was so good!

Characters

I really liked how everyone got involved in the main story, and I loved all the different ‘factions’ within the story too! We had about six different groups within the story. We had the Detective and his sidekick alongside the police; Zigoma and his posse of followers; bystanders who get super nosey in the Detective’s business; A trio friendship between Meiko, Hirosuke and Naoki; An ambitious opera singer and a Phantom Thief who somehow get caught up in it all without meaning to; Kiyoshi and his clan of servants. I think those are the six main groups. So you can see the big dynamic difference between some and the similarities between others.

The richness and depth of these characters you get from them even though we barely spend two hours with them on stage is just amazing. I fell for some characters so quickly and so hard! I was completely invested in every single one of them! I seriously don’t understand how ASSH consistently makes big casts, but still manages to make every character so rich and different! I don’t understand how we haven’t had a mass crossover of character traits yet in any of their stages! It is just amazing! Characters that I automatically loved just because I love the actors were: Zigoma and Arata. Characters who completely won my heart over throughout the play were: Tokage, Hirosuke, Mikasa, Kitamiko and Hanasaki! I loved all the characters to be honest but the MVP, the one who I ended up completely loving and rooting for and took a lot of my attention was Hirosuke! I don’t know why; maybe because he was visually pleasing, but also his character development was so great! I also loved his relationship with some of the characters! Just... I need to go into spoilers to flail about this boy! So are you ready?

So the main story with Hirosuke is that he and his two close/best friends (Meiko and Naoki) decided to work for Fukiya so that they could have a better and less poor life. But it turns out Fukiya is the worst, and Fukiya orders Meiko and Hirosuke to murder Naoki because he discovers that Naoki is trying to trick and betray him. So while Meiko begs him not to kill Naoki, Hirosuke does it anyway. This obviously breaks his heart and tears him apart. Later on we see Meiko asking Hirosuke to stop following Fukiya, to leave with her and it get away from all this but Hirosuke follows orders, ‘this is for the better’ and shoots her dead. This obviously destroys him too and after killing her. I loved seeing the internal struggle that he had within himself; does he follow his boss? does he follow his heart? does he follow his friends? does he put power over friendship first. I love how we see it eat him from the inside! And that is why he is my favourite! I also love the little scene he has with Tokage at the beginning; she’s the phantom thief who’s being stealing things for Fukiya, but she has never shown her face - she always has him at gun point or knife point, forcing him to look the other way and never see her face. And the beginning of this play, he says ‘just once, could I see your face?’, but it’s not until right at the very end when all the characters have gathered together, that he finally gets to see her, and you can see how happy he is! I love the friendship/slight-romance we have between these two.

Relating to those three, there is a butler, Gondawara, who works alongside Hirosuke and Meiko, and also tries to protect them (and others) many times. I absolutely adored him. He had such a short role but I love how he protected Saito Kanoko and then persuades her to eventually tell the truth about Mifune’s death. He was also the one who stood in the way of Hirosuke and Tei, trying to get Hirosuke to come to his senses and giving him a chance to run away but this ultimately leads to Gonda’s death. He was such a sweet character and I’m so sad he died, and so quickly too!

Gonda’s death is thanks to Tei who has a short but very interesting story line! The girl is addicted to Opium. And once on the opium, she becomes absolutely obsessed with killing. So much so that she attacked and killed Gonda. The cops also try to stop her by shooting her in the leg but because of the drugs, she doesn’t feel it and instead just starts dragging herself across the floor. She finally drags herself back to Zigoma and her crew, but Zigoma deems her insane and that she has lost the real reason why they are killing people, so Zigoma kills her.

Of course, I can’t talk about the characters without talking about our young, new detective Arata, who also goes by the nickname of ‘Suspender-kun’ because he always wears suspenders! He was adorable! He was a fresh, raring to go new detective and I absolutely loved his relationship with his boss, Saburo! They were such a hilarious comedy duo! And Hiroki/Arata on his own did a damn good job being funny and hilarious too! Also Saburo himself was hilarious as a solo artist!

Let me tell you about their ridiculousness: In the very first scene where they introduce themselves, Saburo is completely over the top and takes off his jacket and just drops it on the floor, then later on Arata throws it back to him but he lets it drop. The timing was absolutely perfect and was absolutely hilarious! Another scene is when Arata decides he’s going to seriously help and Saburo finally calls him ‘Arata’ instead of ‘suspender-kun’, so he gets really happy and really dramatic and holds himself against a wall, and Saburo comes over and comments ‘you idiot’ before slapping him on the butt xD

Another character I enjoyed was the Tantei’s assistant: Hanasaki Mayuko. She  was an adorable dork!! I absolutely adored her! And she really shone during her adlibbed comedy scenes! Not only did she get the crowd laughing, but even Mikasa’s actor Hattori was having a hard time keeping a straight face at times xD She was so cute and funny and sweet and adorable! I really liked her! One scene that stood out to me for her: Hanasaki and the Youkan (a thick, jellied Japanese dessert made of red bean paste, agar, and sugar)! Kanoko brings Youkan to the detective as a thanks for saving her and for all their hard work on trying to find Yuuko. But turns out Hanasaki LOVES youkan so she tries to eat all of it through various ways, either offering to Mikasa (who she knows will say no), and quickly trying to eat another piece straight after. But because of this, natural comedy came out where she was trying to say her lines while her mouth was full of food xD also trying to be like ‘oh Mikasa doesn’t like youkan. DO YOU? No you don’t! Didn’t think so! More for me!!’ which was so cute.

Speaking of Mikasa, about part-way through the play, there’s a flashback-slash-fever dream where Mikasa is talking to Zigoma, and Zigoma is like ‘what’s the real reason you became a private detective instead of a policemen? You know deep down the real reason why!’ so that makes me think maybe his father had died on the job and that’s why he became a mysterious private detective instead? Or was his father corrupt as well as the police force at the time? So many questions!

One plot twist that I really enjoyed was the reveal that Tokage and Ando Ayako were actually sisters!! When Ayako starts yelling ‘Onee-san // Big Sister’ at one point, I was like “OMG THEY ARE SISTERS?!?!?!’. I totally didn’t see it coming! Especially because, for most of the play Ayako is horrible towards Tokage and is very cold, almost as if they had never met and just got off on the wrong foot straight away! But later on we learn that they do care for each other and they had to pretend not to know each other, in case Tokage ever got caught because she didn’t want to endanger her little sister. I was MIND BLOWN.

There is another twist where Aikawa actually betrays everyone and was working for Zigoma the whole time. Unfortunately I had already cottoned on a few scenes before hand that she was secretly in on it. I don’t know how I knew but I just felt like ‘there must be some other reason why this family of three are in the story’ and there are scenes where she’s left to protect Shioro at time, and Shiori is DUMB AS FUCK, so I wouldn’t put it past Shiori to not notice what Aikawa was up to and too dumb to realise when Aikawa had gone off to plot or make something. So I naturally figured either Shiori was pretending to be this dumb, stupid sister, or Aikawa was a secret mastermind or Tesujiro was pretending to admire Mikasa so he could set him up. I knew something was going on with those three.

Other Notable Moments/Scenes

In true ASSH style we had the whole cast dancing during the opening song. Luckily, Hiroki on the far left when the dance opening song starts.

There is a slow motion fighting scene which I thought was so cool!!! I really enjoyed the slow-mo moment. Also we got live singing! Ando Ayako’s actress Sawada Maria actually sang the opera songs live to us and she also sings the ending song live which is amazing! Her voice is very, very good!!

I really loved how Saburo and Mikasa decide to team up at the end even though they had some differences throughout the play, but for the greater good (!) they team up in the finale!

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Some things that specifically happened during my First Show (Detective Version):

I was first row and on the very last seat to the left. The gap between my feet and the stage was practically 0.1cm! So I was super duper close to all the actors! Which was for the most part absolutely terrifying (especially during the fight scenes). However, it did have it’s good moment which I will list right here: towards the end of the show, Hiroki gets into a fight which causes him to get thrown and pinned against a wall. That wall was RIGHT in front of me and my head was at the perfect level for Hiroki’s waist, which means that his butt was right in front of me!!!! Also he smelt really nice xD another moment was the final showdown between Tantei Mikasa and Zigoma, they were fighting and again, they slammed against the wall right next to me!! I was parts freaking out and parts overwhelmed and overjoyed xD

We had a double curtain call, and the ending aisatsu was by Hanasaki who was totally cute and she got very shy and couldn’t remember what she wanted to say. But everyone was giggling at her adorableness xD She was stood next to Hiroki and they were both so cute alongside each other!

Of course it was filming day!! When do I never go on filming day?! xD I am ALWAYS at filming day!!! xD

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Second Show (Bad Guy Version):

I went to the senshuuraku (the finale) of this show! They really went all out on the comedy in this final show! Hiroki got hit so hard by Saburo that he started laughing to the side of the stage. Then later Saburo went to pull and release his suspenders and pretended to it the first time, but on the second time he actually let go and it was really hard. Hiroki was rubbing his chest in pain.

Maybe I just didn’t notice in the first show but I feel like in this show, the three people working for Zigoma got their moment of explaining what they wanted and why they joined Zigoma. Maybe this was the scene especially created for this version of the show, or maybe I just missed it the first time round. But I loved getting to know where they came from, their backgrounds and why they joined him.

Another Higawari (daily change) was Gonda saying an Acrostic Poem for Ji-Go-Ma. In the second show, he got a huge round of applause after his Ji-Go-Ma poem because it was just too funny and very good. Unfortunately, I do no remember it *cries*

I also noticed in this second show that there is a moment where Arata and Hanasaki fall in love for a moment after she accidentally touches his arm and that motivates him to help Mikasa on his case some more xD

While in the first show we had Saburo just complete miss catching his jacket through his own lack of calculations, this time it was through Hiroki’s fault; Saburo couldn’t reach far enough to grab his jacket from Hiroki’s throw, it was hilarious.

Another higawari is when Saburo is trying to talk to Arata but Arata get’s super angry straight away: Saburo: Let’s go brat. Arata: *super angry* What did you say?!?! Saburo: Let’s go you brat! Arata: *calms down* Ohh I didn’t hear you! Saburo: *shock* IS THAT WHY YOU GOT MAD?! The scene ends with Hiroki asking Saburo to slap his arm, and they did this wave with their arms before walking off stage xD

In both shows, when Zigoma first appears in front of Yuuko in her house before kidnapping her, he walks in with brandy in a brandy glass and drinks it. In every other show the glass has been half full so it was easy for him to drink. BUT, in this final show Zigoma walked on stage with a GLASS FULL of brandy, and it took him a while to finish it. It was obvious who’d seen the show before because we were the ones cracking up as soon as he walked on stage! So as you can tell, they really went all out on the comedy in this final show! It wasn’t being filmed, they might as well do ridiculous shit and have fun xD

Just before the youkan scene, Hanasaki is in the kitchen making a mess, but then walks on stage and she uses a crashing noise to her advantage. She kept replaying the crash music as Mikasa tried to talk. She tried so hard to get Mikasa’s actor to burst out in laughter but didn’t work; we (the audience) were all dying though.

It was a triple curtain call where we got an announcement for the next stage (the next installment of KimiSaga - review here)!! In March!!! I was (and am!) so excited!!

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GOODS

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And that’s everything! Sorry it took so damn long to get these reviews out (and I’m still a shit ton behind!) but bare with me xD

It’s Something

Kept meaning to post this a while ago, never did. Enjoy! (PSSST: Read it on Ao3 here) I’ll post the other chapter, too! 

It was Peter who uploaded the videos on YouTube. He’d hacked into the airport’s security and took the grainy, sometimes-unfocused video and cleaned it up a bit. When the sound got fuzzy Peter attempted to make it sound clearer, when the camera unfocused, Peter tried to zoom and enhance it to help everyone see who really struck first. His YouTube name, Quality, exploded as more and more people watched the video. And no one knew it was tiny Peter Parker who’d done it. Peter was okay with that.

(Read more, mobile users!)

WestSideStory34: Wait, what? I thought they’d resolved this before? Like, the reason Captain America left was because of the Accords, right? Because he didn’t like it. And then he tried to take his friend again????? And Iron Man was trying to help????? But Cap????? Said no???????? and attacked him??????????  

63 Replies

Twerp: Pretty much

KeepHerRunning: Sad day when superheroes turn on each other.

One@ndonly: How do we know ur not lying? U could have altered this crap.

234 Replies

DontTellMe: R u dumb?

Wurrble: It’s a valid question, but I’m pretty sure Quality is correct. They’ve never lied to us before.

R@andom: Wait, wait, wait! Did he… did falcon just swerve to move out of Vision’s hit and let it hit war machine instead?! And he let him fall?!

27 Replies

#TeamIronMan: I mean, he did look back but still. They fought together and Falcon just went onto Captain America’s team without a second thought.

WestPhilidaplia: did you guys see how tony dove after him?? and tony’s cry for him??? that was sad.

$Bucks$: i thought captain america was for us??? but he just… he just left his teammates there??? espeically iron man and war machine.

89 Replies

*Force*: they ain’t teammates anymore

&And&: i hope war machine makes a good recovery!

   Sixteen days passed before Peter relogged on his YouTube account with good news. He plastered it on the Comments section:

Quality: War machine = stable. The doctors say he’s going to make a speedy recovery. Thanks, everyone, for the support and stuff

And Peter logged off before anyone could reply to his comment.

It took the media three of those sixteen days to get Peter’s video on their talk. They showed it and spoke about “some brave person, wanting to set the record straight and help us understand what really went down at the airport.” Aunt May sat and watched the whole thing; and Peter saw tears as leaked down her face as War Machine fell; and Tony zipped after him.

   He watched her suddenly rage in silence, because goddammit, they just wanted them to be accountable! He watched Tony Stark’s dementor change as Peter realized that without the Avengers Tony was free. He didn’t have to act a certain way - not around Peter, Pepper, Bruce (who’d come as soon as he’d heard about what happened), and Rhodey.

   Peter made a trend on Twitter. (As Peter Parker, of course)

SpideySpell @tonystark: tomorrow, everyone draw circles on your palms. As a tribute to Tony Stark that we

SpideySpell @tonystark: believe in him

Peter even cut two circles into his costume’s palms (he’d regret it later). Tony called him a few hours later. “Peter,” he said quietly, warningly. Peter pretended ot be innocent. “What?” He asked before shrugging. “It’s okay, Mr Stark - Tony. We believe in you.” Tony sighed. “I know, kid. But take it off.”

   So Peter did.

 It didn’t stop people from doing it. Peter himself walked out of the house, two large circles drawn in bolt on his palms. Before he left the house, he saw Aunt May’s palms when she handed him his lunchbag. A circle.

   He walked out of his home and practically everyone had drawn circles and some even took it to the next level and made phone cases. (#IronMan was the logo; there was also a We Believe in Iron Man ; Peter bought it.)

   Walking to school, Peter felt like this would help a lot of things. People were helping others. They understood the truth. And Tony Stark was okay. And Peter loved it.

Since you are so into costuming/meanings, does your own wardrobe give any hint(s) to how you are feeling or what’s going on in your life?

Hey Nonnie

Hahaha I mean not to the level of the show by any stretch (the show is story telling and using all the tools at its disposal in a way that isn’t replicable in real life) - I don’t wear stripes of check to instigate change etc, (I am a lover of stripes!!) but my clothes definitely do give some indications of what’s going on in my life - how confident or comfortable I’m feeling etc and I very definitely do use colour theory when picking outfits - espeically if I’m going into professional or large group situations where I want to give off a certain vibe or boost certain aspects of my personality or my expectations for something!

I will say I did subconsciously started giving other people in check a wide berth until I realised what I was doing 😂

Hope this answers your question 😎💜

Catherine Hope Summers Story one piece oc

One Piece OC Catherine Hope Summers; Catherine Hope Summer's is a young blonde hair, green-eyed(blue when she uses her powers) bombshell. She positively the most bubbly pirate there is on the sea today. She ate a devil fruit and gained the control over air, yes that also includes control over air inside and out of the body.  Catherine is a great navigator. She wants the title of shibuchi because she has always had a fear of dying. She lost her family at a very young age. She is very flirty especially in the presence of the 2nd divison commander of the whitebeard pirates. Fire fist Ace.  While it was only teasing she did have an attraction towards him. He was just a good friend. Upon his seeing his death in the new world she vowed to work even harder. She had a few crew mates after seperating from her 'teachers'. In the new world She makes friends and enemies. But will she find her brother? Will she find love? What kind of places will she visit?  Only time will tell. This is just chapter One of her story, Catherine's life was one every little girl could dream about. Her family was very rich an provided the best of everything. Her father wasn't around much that she could remeber him much about him other than his dark hair and striking emerald eyes , he was a businessman who had married her mother after the death of his first wife. He was quiet whenever he was home, always in his study. An never wanted to be bother when working.  Catherines only distinct fatherly memory was when she was six, she bravely walked to his office door and knocked asking him politely to come to dinner. When he opened the door he didnt look happy to see her or upset. He didn't have any emotions splayed on his face at at all. She remembered muttering a quiet "happy birthday dad, mom had them fix your favorite and we have gifts for you if have time to come down." He was silent for the whole time studying her face. "Yeah kiddo I think I can spare some time to come down an eat with everyone." It was a brief show of emotions with a smile on her father's face she didn't think he'd ever forget. Her mother however she remembered her long flowing blonde hair and dark blue eyes. Her personailty lighting up a room the minute she entered it. How she gained attention easily with her looks, but straight forward in every action she took. Smiling at the the memory of her mothers voice, "Catherine looks are nothing in the world if you don't have the brains to go with it, I want you to grow up smart, confident in anthing you decide you wanna do, I want you to learn to attract attention not with your body but your skills. My child looks are an asset to use to get nearly anywhere in this world but don't ever let it be the only thing you are ever know for. If I teach you nothing else always remeber that. Looks only get you so far."  That was one of the few times she ranted about what happens when you looked good and were only seen as an object or another's possesion, such distaste she had for people like that "It's the world we live in though I suppose." Sighing and then just like that the tone in her voice evaporated  and she was back to my happy go lucky mom. I remember I had two older siblings as well a sister that favored my father in looks dark hair and dark green eyes, she fought with mom all the time. She had such an awful outlook on the world. She wasn't exactly moms bioloical child but mom tried to treat her as such. I think her name was Jasmine. She was the oldest at 16, she wanted to snag herself a rich husband just go off on her own. She didn't get along with anyone very well and always caused trouble for the staff of the house. Then there was Lance my older brother he had aspired to be a marine he was only eleven. He had dads emerald eyes  to go with his dark brown hair. I had gotten mom's haircolor and mix of the two eye colors. The staff was alway nice to me when I was younger, we rarely left the house. Dad was always at work, with one of his business partners and attending the parties the only one who left with him sometimes was Jasmine. Mom said when me and my brother were older we'd be allowed to leave more often. She said because we had money that there would be alot of bad people in the world that'd wanna hurt us. She said its one of the reasons she stayed inside the house going to the private garden outback. The world is a beautiful place and you two will see it when your older I promise. I don't want anything to happen to you especially while your young. Mom was right about the world and the people with bad intentions in it. However sheltering us and teaching us only helped so much.  I was only nine when my family died in that terrible house fire. One of the maids that worked for my father happened to spot me in the crowd and ran to me. She told me it was gonna be okay, I'd stay with her until we figured things out. Her name was Marie, she put me to bed that night and went back to see if anoyone else had made it out. I was left with but ashes and memories. I had nightmares and cried for days. Marie had a hard time getting me to eat. I barely said anything. Then Marie said something that'd stay with me a life time. "Death happens to everyone, it happens anywhere, anytime, and while  we can fight it, deny it, prevent it, prolong the out come alittle longer. It will alway occur no matter what it will happen. It doesn't care about gender, age, race, religion, good, bad, rich, or poor, it happens. There are a millions ways for death to occur but once it does it can't be undone. An I know your hurting really bad Catherine sweetheart you suffered a lot because of it, but for you to live you have to acknowlegde it, an accept its gonna happen. " As she said that tears poured down my face. My first reaction to anything in days. Thats good. She wrapped her arms around me and let me cry it all out. After that Marie took on a motherly role for me for alittle while.  Marie provided and saved for us just enough for to live stablely.  I learned a lot about the world through her and others. I learned housework cooking and providing from Marie and books.  I often went outside though while she went to work. I observed others when I went outside.I began making  friends, it was odd thing at first but nice to have, I played with other kids. I sometimes went places in the town. I mainly found myself in a bookstore reading about other places. The owner knew who I was an knew Marie very well so he never said anything to me. He did have a code for when alot of buyers/costumers were in the store. I'd bookmark a page an leave or I'd help as his assitant. eventually I was trusted enough to leave with a few books and bring them back. I when I did leave I'd sit inside a bar/resturant Marie worked at. She'd bring me water and snacks. and go back to work. I would take breaks from reading an eat while I observed everyone there. It was a rowdy place but no one bothered me. The regulars always made sure I had my own spot to read out of the way incase things got out of hand. An there were a few fights. That caught my attention. It it was always hand to hand until others broke it up an told them to take it outside if they were gonna do anything more. The bar manager and Marie always came to talk to me after every fight to make sure I was okay. They didn't know I had a growing interest. While walking on the street I met one of the guys who had gotten into a fight at the bar. It looks like he was the winner. The other guy was still on the ground. "Hey mister, can I ask you why you fight?" He stopped an gave me a thoughtful look. Everyone else had cleared the streets when he had started to brawl again outside the bar.  "I fight for many reasons, I fight for fun, I fight because it makes things easier, I fight because its what I know, its what I'm good at.  I fight for my beliefs. Mostly I fight to protect myself, the people I care about, my crewmates, on my good days for people I think need help." He paused letting it all soak in. It had been a few months since the fire. In that time I had learned alot. Recoginition flashed in my eyes. I was satisified he answered my question. Judging this man I decided to speak to I could identify him as probably a pirate. What he said struck a cord. I found out why I was interested. The concept to defend himself and others. I wanted to be able to do that. I wanted no needed to know how to for myself.  Espeically since my dream was to travel. I had learned about places through reading and I wanted to visit them. I was afarid of dying but adventure and many other reasons intrigued me far to much to worry at my age.  "Thanks mister, for answering that. It  helped me figure it out The next step to what I have to do now is to learn to fight." Shock showed across his face. Then he began to laugh. "I think thats the first time I've ever heard someone of your age say something like that. A lady at that." As his laughter died down. He relaized it was a serious declaration. "What's a girl like you need to know fighting for?" smiling I told him. "I wanna travel everywhere when I get older see the places I've read about. Meet people have fun. There's alot of people out there with bad intentions. I don't wanna get hurt and die. I wanna be strong enough to fight back. I know not every situation will be an easy one to get out of but it be useful thing for me to know."  I smiled remembering moms words I had something to add to it. "Beauty and brains will only get me so far in this world. I'll need to be strong, be able to adapt to different situations. Be able to fight for myself, my beliefs and the people I care about. I'll need to learn everything and be able to use it before I leave on my adventure." The man in I had figured his name was Issac smiled broadly. " Yes you'll definetley need to learn quite a bit then. " Walking closer to me. Issac said this "I'll tell you a few things before I have to go little miss that might help you. Learning to fight will be good like you said but it'll do nothing if your punches and kicks aren't strong enough to hurt somebody. I recommend you practice basics,  an work on building strength, you'll also need to be fast at dodging attacks. Fast in running would be good too incase the situation is bad enough. Stamina training would be good for you too. Also in a fight you will always need to have a back up plan, a weapon and a escape route. The most important thing you'll need is that brain of yours. You'll need to be able to read situations, the fights, people, outcomes. You'll need to be ahead of the other person which sometimes is a hard thing to do. That brain will be able to keep you out of dangerous of situations an will be your best friend in a fight but don't get overwhelmed an neglect to focus on the fight cause then you'll lose. An with losing sometimes you loose more than just a fight. Understand and remeber that. I gotta be going then." Getting up Issac flashed a grin. "I have a feeling I'll be hearing about you in the something in the future. Regardless of which side you end up on take care." Before he began walking away. "Catherine Summers, its my name and I hope we meet again when I'm a navigator for a crew." He waved to me as he walked away. I went to return my books. I'll have to remember that. The next books I began to read were about weapons, fighting, and reading situations, there literally were hundreds of things I'd have to prepare myself for. The read about multiple styles and as I began the basic I began to apply different techniques. But as I read and practiced I realized the trouble. While doing the things Issac had said I didn't have someone to practice with or know where to hit. Medical books. I read on the human body, weak points,if necessary where to kill. I shivered to make up for that I also it be good If I knew how to help heal. I began basic first aid and even going as far a reading medical books an talking with the towns doctor. I learned I'd have multiple skills sets that'd make me useful. As I got older I began to read and practice less because of the responsiblities around the house. Even getting a job as a waitress at the bar and assitant at the book store. I trained an read and slept aft going home an doing chores. I was exhausted but it was paying off. I began breaking up fights at the bar which got me into trouble with worried Marie, bartender, manager, an regulars. They laughed it off though, the shock that I knocked out two guys. I was happy to see results. I had also shown reults in first aid helping the doctor treat paitents with minor injuried and illnesses. I dealt with a few with major injuries though. Stab victims, gunshot, even a few burn victims who survived a house fire.  The last one stung as I treated them imagining for the first time in a while, the events of that night. When I arrived home Marie as there with food fixed. I promptly hugged her and told her what had happened. I was old enough now I asked her about it. She told me, there weren't any survivors that she knew about my mother, father and sisters bodys had been found and identified my brothers. They had no idea what could've happend to him. She told me it that everyone seems to think the fire was orchestrated by one of dads unhappy bussiness partners. But nothing could be done because there was no proof but the fire itself wasn't an accident. She said she was worried when I first came there that the people involved with the crime would try to hurt me if they knew I was alive. She was happy they didn't especially when I started going outside. After we ate, we talked alittle more an I told her not exactly what I wanted to do. She laughed an said it was very like me. To wanna go see the world and explore. For my birthday she told me to go visit the guy in the dojo for some real training. I also attained, maps, log poses, money, books, first aid stuff, some wepaons. As I was leaving the dojo after a training session I ran into Issac again. So much older now that I was nearly sixteen. Laughing he said, "little sooner than I aspected but me and the crew were needing to make a stop and restock. I stopped at the bar heard everyone was in a uproar about Catherines Birthday. Thought I'd come to see you. Looks like you've remembered what I told you. Wanna test out you abilities, If you win or we have a draw I'll offer you one or two gifts since it's your birthday. Hows that sound?" My eyes sparked and my heart pounded in excitement. "Sounds like a pretty good plan to me!"  Going to an area where we could avoid drawing alot of attention our way he began. We both were dodging each others attacks, thinking of his next moved a made a quick dodge using the momentm to swing my leg around for a kick to the stomach he fell back but rolled to his feet again. His attacks from that point on became more aggressive.I could only dodge for so long, I wasn't gonna let him back me into a corner, i lungaged forward swinging, he caught fist and suddenly were falling backwards. I had thrown him off balance acting quickly i manuvered to him taking the brunt of the fall and moved in, only for him to turn us, not good he was gonna have the upperhand if i didn't knee him in the stomach and put distance between us. As I stood up I watched his movements he was starting to breath heavy. I finally made a decision that might help me when or cause me to lose. "Practice what you preach Issac and maybe you wouldn't be so winded." Laughing at my taunt. "Nice try little girl, taunting me isn't gonna throw me off my game enough for you to take advantage of the fight. In fact you got be careful with a gutsy move like that could get you killed." Those words echoed in my head, Killed, how I hated and feard that word. Issac noticing the change from fear to a more serious demenor braced himself. He figured out the trigger word thinking back to the young girl he talked to long ago and the expresssion she wore when that word was brought up. Anything related to the word death seemed to set off fear and anger in her. Probably something to do with her past. Dodging the attacks that were calculatedly aim with force to hurt. Yeah He'd definetely would talk to her about it later. For now he had to focus apparently she was a class a student cause she went beyond the means of what he asked of her years ago. Yep she was smart then, deadly smart now. Reading all those books and whatever else she did was gonna pay off. Finally after taking and landing hit he decided it was time to end it, she'd proved herself. Catherine Summers, yep this lady was gonna be trouble. Pinning her he managed to bring her back to her sense. You did good, very good. But I'm gonna say I win, but you proved yourself to be worthy. Sighing she grumbled something that sounded like a few feet more and I'd be a winner. Glancing behind him he was right she was backing him into a tree root to where if he'd trip, he'd take a tumble down a big hill and she would've gain the upper-hand. Damn she was gonna be a good fighter. Especially god-forbid she had weapons an that. He got up and pulled her up looking her over little to no injuries just a scratch and a brusie at the most. She dusted herself off. "Let grab something to eat and we can discuss things there." Following behind her they ended up back at the bar, where a beautiful waitress made her ay over. Looking up noticing alittle panic in Catherines eyes he was alittle unsettled. "Catherine," the woman began about to lecture the girl for being late to the surprise party and hanging out with what she noted to be a handsome to old for Catherine pirate. "your alittle late and thats fine, but what have you been doing all this time?" Glancing at the two of them noticing he was alittle worse for wear than Catherine. It clicked. "Marie, this is Issac, I met him a few years ago after he got into that bar fight, he's the won that fight after leaving the bar that day. I kinda ran into him on the streets asked a couple of questions and he gave me some advice on achieving my goals. To answer your question his crew was in the area and he heard about my birthday from someone so he thought he'd visit. " Catherine wasn't sure about that expression, Marie was hard to read sometimes cause she never reacted the way you'd think she would sometimes. An she added "He wanted me to show him what I learned. I nearly turned a draw into a win if that counts." Instead of sighing she began giggling, "My what am I going to do with you with you Hope?" Smiling she left to get refreshements and some food for them. "Who was that?" Issac inquired. "Marie, shes been taking care of me since my family died in a house fire a few year ago. She worked as one of the staff but after she took me in she began waitressing. She helped me through everything, there will never be away I could repay her for what shes done and gave up for me. It would be wrong to call her mother since I did have a good one, but Marie would be the next best thing to her." Issac didn't know what to say, he didn't really know what to ask. "Catherine could..would it be okay if I ask you questions about the fire?" he finally got thw words out. "It's fine, you don't have to walk on eggshells around certain topics. My Dad was a wealthy man, had alot of bussiness partners, from what Marie told me he made a few of them mad enough to hire some people to burn the house down with us in it. My father, mother, older sister were confirmed dead, my older brother, they never found his body, we assume he's dead but no ones come forward or found any information on his whereabouts. If he's alive I'd like to find him. He used to talk about wanting to become a marine, if he's still alive I think that's how I'm gonna find him, when he seems my wanted poster." Marie came back with the food and refilled there drinks. She had heard the conversation upon returning. She seated herself at the table with them. "Hope you don't mind if I sit here." Catherine rolled her eyes and remarked. "To late to move you know already sitting down now." Issac looked at them. Yeah they behaved like family. "I actually think it'd be good for you to sit with us since you an Catherine are practically family, I have an offer for her." Marie glanced at her she knew nothing yet, "We'll hear you out, but in the end its her decision, and I'll support whatever she decides." Issac smiled and sighed in relief. Last thing he wanted was the pretty lady in front of him to go on a rampage. "I was going to offer to drop/escort Catherine to the next island, help her get started on her journey, but before that I'd like to have her as a temporary member of my crew, I would say permant but she's gonna need to learn and expand at some point. So I figured I'd help out with that before hand if she okay with that." Marie already knowing the answer smiled at Issac and cast a glance in her would be daughters direction. Her eyes were shining, but she glanced at Marie. I'll support you, you just gotta promise to write and come back and visit." She reassured her. Then casting a glance to Issac this was gonna be the fun part. "AN you she began,better take good care of her, teach her all you know,help her with whatever she'll need and watch her progress. Make sure that you always keep track of her and if you think she's in over her head step in." "But you will come back to visit also and write me to..?" She questioned what she was even saying at this point. Catherine began laughing knowing. "Telling my handsome captain he better come back an see you, after laying into him about taking care of me. That'll get his attention hook , line and sinker, Marie." As soon as those words left her mouth she saw both her captain and marie wearing matching blushes. Yeah she'd caught him stealing glances to but wasn't gonna get an immedate crew punishment. Then it struck both of them, she'd said the word captain. Issc smiled "I certainly will take good care of Catherine like she was my own, Miss Marie, an I'll be coming back with her. As for the writing you don't mind if I send mine seperate from hers do you?" Yep getting awkward fast. "Well while you too adults talk things over, *cough use protection cough* I'm gonna go enjoy the town, an go pack my stuff. Use a hotel not the house." Blushing as she said that rushing out of the bar. Visiting a few people as she said, the book owner, the master of the dojo, and when morning came she found Marie in the kitchen cooking, trying not to cry. "Thank you, for everything, you've done so much I don't know how I'm going to repay you, but I'll keep my word, I'll visit when I can, Write as much as I can, take care of yourself, mama." With that they both started to cry, they hugged, straighten themselves ups ate a normal breakfast, and then the captain had come to get her. Issac placed a quick kiss to Marie and with his vivre card giving several to Catherine. He grabbed her stuff an boarded His Ship. She was Issac and his crew for a few years, she'd learned and matured alot in that time. Still one of the most joyful people in the crew though always giving them a reason to smile, laugh, helping them, they learned from her as much as she'd learned from them, they went back to visit Marie, wrote her once a week. Catherine had recently consumed a devil fruit that let her control air Issac began to start the next page of the letter. She had learned to control it pretty well, even used it for naviagting ad fighting. Yes she'd lost her ability to swim but she gained somethng else that might help her more, an as long as someone was near her they could alway help if she were to where she couldnt use her newfound powers. The day had finally arrived, she turned eighteen, she was supposed to leave the crew get her own ship, they had a celebration dinner her gave her tons of gifts, but then captain Issac walked to her smiling he laid a letter from Marie on the table, and his captain logs and few other items, puzzled Catherine looked up. "Sir,?' He cut her off. "Today as we discussed  men, I'm stepping down as captain, I'll still be a member however, we will be under the rule of our new Captain Catherine Hope Summers, I trust she will do her best, guide us through more adventures, we will gather a lot of crewmate for her in the younger gneration before we step down, help them as we helped her and under guidance send them off to the new world. All of those oppose speak now. SIlence went accross the room with encouraging smiles. All those For cheers! An everyones voice rang out through the room. Aye Captain what's your first orders? Before we go gather you a new crew to go with you to the new world. After that we'll leave you to decide what you wanna do then! After all its hard not to go on one more adventure!