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danganronpasurvivoraskblog · 2 months ago

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THE HUNDRED LINE: LAST DEFENSE ACADEMY - Journal #5: Route 0 Days 57-66. [MASSIVE SPOILERS]

//As I mentioned before, due in part to me having more immediate obligations to get through, I ended up taking a break from this game. But when I did, I genuinely was so excited to get back to it that I started to go threw withdrawals.

//I'm not addicted YOU ARE!

//But in all seriousness, I wanted to try and cover as much ground as I possibly could. I was shooting to make go from Day 57, where I left off, to Day 70 at least.

//But man, this game is SO LONG. And these days in particular were jammed with SO MUCH STUFF.

//It's...hard to say how I feel about this arc of the story, but I can confidently say that it's probably the most emotionally damaging part.

//Which is actually ironic. One common theme of the Danganronpa games and their plots is they start of strong, tend to petter out during the middle, and then where it flops massively, it hits back with the most emotionally engaging, and typically the SADDEST part of the story.

//And even though Hundred Line is not split up by chapters, turns out it hit the same way. I complained a bunch about the previous stuff I experienced, but everything I found in this part was LEGENDARY.

//But I can't say any more than that, because again, spoilers.

DO NOT READ THE REST OF THIS POST IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED/SEEN THE HUNDRED LINE: LAST DEFENSE ACADEMY. I WILL BE TALKING ABOUT VERY SPECIFIC PLOT POINTS AND MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE GAME.

//So let's get started:

DAY 57:

//One thing I will say out of the gate is that the actual plot progression over the course of these days is honestly kind of slow. It has a really slow, steady buildup, and then immediately, it all comes crashing down.

//The highlight of today's discussion, as I fully expected it would be, is Moko, as it's now been 8 days since she showed up at the school out of nowhere. Seeing as, by this point, she's the only one of the group not on the battlefield yet. I assumed that this arc would be centered around her, but there are other things to note as well.

//Specifically, the Invader Commander that we took prisoner after the last battle, is now in a cage in the courtyard, and Shouma is apparently taking care of her.

//Not gonna lie, Shouma's budding relationship with the enemy commander throughout this part, even if most of what we know is only given by word of mouth, is pretty engaging. Through this initial interaction, I started thinking that he might have had a crush on her.

//By the way, this Invader is CLEARLY an important character SOMEHOW, because she appears on the map and has her own icon, suggesting that she's someone we can talk to. As I said before, my current theory was that this Invader was going to end up being student number 16, since most of Kodaka's games have an evened out cast like that, and Hundred Line's lineup was only really one off.

//Ima and Kako show up a little later because they spent the night playing games and trying to ease into their new relationship dynamic. And credit where it is due, the way they interact now towards each other is MUCH better!

//I think the big issue is that the sister-complex nature of Ima, and the submissive sister nature of Kako made it really hard to relate and sympathize with them both. But now that Ima's worldview has changed and Kako is trying to be more independent, they now seem just like regular siblings, and I can definitely get behind that.

//I would KILL someone to have a Danganronpa/Danganronpa-style game that features siblings, and just HAVE THEM BE SIBLINGS. It's my firm belief, based on...very obvious past experience, that having siblings, especially if they're twins, in a killing game is just a really obvious plot point in the making, where one of them dies, they both die in the same trial, one impersonates the other, etc. There's so little you can do with that idea, which is why I'm never on board with it.

//This is definitely acceptable though. And as rushed as the story felt, I am happy that Ima is now treating Kako like a sister rather than his most cherished property.

//I spent Free Time as I often do; with trying to level up my social stats and physical stats, but during my break, I was given some advice on something.

//Someone told me that it was a really good idea to get everyone to learn Last Yell, and then try abusing that move as much as possible in the battles. Especially the one's that last for a while, i.e. more than one round.

//I haven't actually talked about it before, but to go into a bit more detail here, but up until now, I've mainly been using the voltage meter to use my super abilities and take out enemies in a large group. But on top of using the meter to use ultimate moves, you can also use them to give your character's a boost, like a boost in damage for instance, one of which is called Last Yell.

//The way Last Yell works is once it's activated, whenever an ally uses a skill while you're sitting at exactly 1 Action Point, there's a 50% chance that whoever has Last Yell active will trigger an effect called Support. Support enhances that skill, adding +2 damage and granting 2x Voltage instead of the usual amount.

//The really interesting, and frankly absurd part is that multiple instances of Last Yell can be triggered by a single skill, assuming that most of your characters around you have it activated. These effects stack additively. You can trigger up to 4 instances of Support, resulting in a potential +8 bonus damage and 5x Voltage gain from a single skill, assuming your luck holds.

//Which makes this ability not only INSANELY STRONG, but also VERY STACKABLE.

//The true hilarity begins when you strategically lower your AP to 1 and intentionally leave a few AP-boosting enemies alive. If you line things up right, a single skill can wipe out several of them at once, and each kill can independently trigger Last Yell, rapidly snowballing your Voltage. This Voltage can then be reinvested into activating MORE Last Yell Boosts, amplifying the effect even further.

//When it’s time to face the boss, you repeat the process: bring your AP back down to 1 and use the Voltage you’ve generated to trigger Act Again instead. With the right setup and a bit of RNG, this effectively converts 100 Voltage into multiple skill activations, each one hitting with +8 damage or more.

//And again, this lasts across the whole battle, so you don't need to reapply it to characters after each wave.

//Unfortunately, I didn't have much of a chance to actually TEST this power, because most of the fights I did in this part of the story only lasted around two rounds, and in the major boss one (spoilers) the first round only has you use two characters on the field, and the rest of your squad join in the second round. So there wasn't really any way I could use this in-game hack effectively. But it's definitely something to keep in mind for the future.

//So I grinded a bunch of BP, and got everyone in the squad to learn it.

//I DID consider maybe going on an exploration, because I want to upgrade my gear and potions and don't have enough levels or gear for it at the moment. However, I decided against it, because Nozomi is unavailable for the current period; being too focused on taking care of Moko, and can't come out with us.

//Nozomi kind of carries me during lengthy explorations, so I didn't want to risk going out there without her.

DAY 58:

//Day 58 was pretty uneventful overall. The only major development is that Moko seems to have come down with a fever, and things aren’t looking good for her. Her condition just keeps getting worse, adding to the growing sense of hopelessness surrounding her situation, and Nozomi is running herself ragged trying to help her.

//What stood out to me most during the day was my curiosity about how the invader commander might eventually tie into the main plot.

//Once again, I’ve been speculating that she could be the mysterious 16th character, though based on what’s currently happening, I’m still not entirely sure how that would work. There’s just not enough narrative groundwork laid for that twist, at least not yet.

//Again, nothing much happened today, I just spent the Free Time like I normally would, but the day wraps up with another flashback to Karua.

//In the scene, Karua is nursing a sick dog back to health, and Takumi ends up taking care of her when she herself inevitably falls ill from looking after it. Again, all of these Karua scenes tie back to her subtle connection to Nozomi in some way, and Nozomi herself is being shown to be losing sleep and health because she's too serious about taking care of Moko, just as Karua was this dog.

//It also retroactively explains her actions during the prologue, where she ran off after the stray dog that turns out to be Sirei. She just has a strong instinct to protect lost or sick animals, even at her own expense.

//By the way, I should mention something I’ve noticed but haven’t brought up until now: almost all of Takumi’s flashbacks involving Karua have Clair de Lune playing softly in the background.

//For you Danganronpa fans out there who somehow don't recognize it, that's Kaede's song from V3 that plays at the end of Chapter 1 when Shuichi is in her lab by himself, after she's died. It's a song that's pretty synonymous with Kaede and V3 as a whole, and in the music credits of the game, she's even listed as the song's composer.

//While that track is often associated with Danganronpa, it’s interesting that it only shows up once or twice in those games. Apparently, it's used far more heavily in The Evil Within, which makes sense when you realize that Masafumi Takada, the composer for both Danganronpa and The Hundred Line, also did the music for that game.

//I haven't played The Evil Within, so I don't really understand the deeper meaning of that song being in it, but there's not really much reason for it to be tied to Karua in all the scenes we see of her. So rather than being a deliberate thematic reference, I get the sense that Takada just really, REALLY likes that song, lol.

DAY 59:

//Shouma is clearly forging a deeper connection with the enemy commander. Despite the language barrier between them, he's managed to prove that meaningful communication is possible between our species. Apparently, he spoke to her, and, surprisingly, she not only understood him but seemed to genuinely enjoy the exchange. It’s a small but powerful gesture that suggests a potential bridge between our two worlds.

//However, this development doesn't sit well with the rest of the unit, and it’s easy to understand why.

//The more Shouma learns about the commander, the harder it becomes to uphold the narrative that the Invaders are fundamentally alien or inhuman. They're intelligent, capable of understanding language, and able to form emotional connections, just as any regular human being could. Considering they also use hemoanima to fight and transform, really, the only difference between us and them at this point in terms of nature is that we speak different languages.

//In particular, the likes of Kyoshika and Kurara don't like it, because as far as they're concerned, the Invaders are murderous monsters who must be annihilated. Likening them to fellow humans when protecting humanity is the reason we're here in the first place doesn't bode well for them.

//So when Shouma starts treating the enemy with empathy or even curiosity, it feels like a betrayal of purpose. After all, we’re supposed to be here to protect humanity, not question whether the so-called monsters we're fighting might actually be people too. As those differences fade, so too does the moral clarity of our mission.

//On a different note, I’ve noticed a shift in the game’s pacing. Earlier on, I remember complaining that there wasn’t enough free time to explore or build relationships, but now, I seem to have more downtime than I know what to do with.

//Wanting to make use of it, I went to the school library in the afternoon to boost my social stats and ended up reading yet another heavily censored book. But this one had an interesting detail that stood out.

//It confirmed something I’d been suspecting, and that I talked about in my previous posts for this game. Not all media was simply lost after the Tokyo Residential Complex was established. Some of it was DELIBERATELY destroyed. Specifically, anything containing records of human history before the Complex existed.

//That revelation adds an unsettling layer to the worldbuilding. It makes you wonder what exactly are they trying so hard to erase? What truths have been buried under layers of propaganda and silence?

//We obviously know it's related to World Death, but even that suggests there's more behind World Death's origins and what it actually is than we're let in on.

//With the strange behavior of the Invaders, Shouma’s growing bond with the commander, and the increasingly obvious signs of a rewritten history, I’m starting to question the entire narrative we’ve been given. The real question is...are we REALLY the heroes of this story?

//Again, mostly standard day, but I do want to quickly make a note that there was this line in the breakfast scene that suggested that not even Shouma's dog loved him, and was actually trying to run away from him. Which is actually super depressing, because Shouma's dog was supposed to be the only thing in the world that cared about him, and is the very reason he's out here fighting.

DAY 60:

//We've offically been here for two months, and all dumbass Sirei could do was show up in a suit, apparently not having prepared anything.

//This is where the somewhat casual air of the story starts to take a bit of a turn, and we get more suggestions as to what's really going on here. It starts off with Moko not getting any better, so Nozomi prepares to go out and get ingredients so she can make some kind of medicine with the Gift-O'-Matic. Takumi doesn't want her going alone, so he heads out with her.

//This isn't my first rodeo doing this as part of the story. We basically have to move the characters around the board to three locations to progress. After touching down on the second one though, it suddenly starts raining.

//That rain becomes a thunderstorm after grabbing the third and final ingredient, and not wanting to be struck by lightning, Takumi and Nozomi duck into a nearby building to wait out the storm.

//This is a pretty crucial moment, because this is the first time that Takumi and Nozomi have been alone since they met. And not in a hostile way either.

//However, even though this is Takumi's chance to finally have a one-on-one conversation with her about her potential connection to his childhood friend, he reads the room, and decides not to bring it up directly.

//Nozomi is really out here acting like she's not the most integral member of the party, smh.

//Nozomi ends up talking a little about her routine back in the TRC, though not in much detail. But in the middle of this reflective moment, she accidentally drops a major revelation; one that completely shifts Takumi’s understanding of her place in the story.

//Without meaning to, she lets it slip that she WASN'T recruited into the war effort the same way the rest of us were. In fact, from what she says, it becomes clear that she was never meant to be at the Last Defense Academy at all.

//At least...that's what I'm getting.

//By this point, I had already started to suspect something was off about Nozomi compared to the rest of the group. Rather, I had expected as much since her debut in the trailer; purely from the fact that she had a different means of combat than everyone else.

//Everyone at the academy shares one critical trait: we all have a specific kind of special blood anomaly that enables us to wield Hemoanima...or at the very least, that's the feeling I'm getting from Shouma's flashbacks to the Kamukura hospital. It’s the cornerstone of our combat potential and the primary reason we were drafted into this war.

//But Nozomi stands out. She’s never demonstrated the same affinity for Hemoanima as the rest of us. Instead, she relies entirely on her custom artificial armor to fight. And now, with this accidental admission, the pieces begin to fall into place.

//My guess is the real reason she can’t use Hemoanima is because she doesn’t have the blood type, and she was never compatible in the first place. Unlike the rest of us, she wasn’t chosen; she herself chose this path. She VOLUNTEERED to fight in a war she wasn’t meant to be a part of.

//Realizing she’s said too much, Nozomi goes quiet. But instead of shutting down completely or deflecting with a lie, she simply asks Takumi to drop the subject...for now.

//I like Nozomi's reaction to this. She doesn't freak out about it, she just makes a calm request. It shows that she trusts him, not just to keep her secret, but to respect her boundaries. And considering how rocky they started off, this is a good thing.

//She’s not ready to talk about it, and yet she’s vulnerable enough in his presence to admit that.

//However, the situation however only gets more confusing after that.

//Nozomi quietly reveals that her mother was a researcher; a detail that immediately draws ANOTHER parallel to Karua, whose mother is also known to be involved in scientific work. We found this out during Karua's introduction in the prologue.

//But as Nozomi continues, the similarities begin to blur into something more unsettling. She offhandedly mentions that her own birth was one of her mother’s many experiments, implying she may have been created or modified as part of a larger scientific agenda. It’s this almost chilling admission that casts her entire existence in a more ambiguous, possibly artificial light.

//Adding to that mystery, Nozomi's mother is supposedly dead, while Karua’s mother is still alive...

//...as far as WE presume, at least. The truth is, we have never MET Karua's mother. She only talks about how she's never home, so the possibility that Karua's mother could be gone is also non-zero.

//There's a chance that Karua's mother did pass away, and Karua never really talked about it to the Sumino family.

//And then there’s the matter of their fathers. Both Nozomi and Karua lost their fathers in car accidents during childhood. That parallel feels too specific to be coincidence, yet the emotional texture around each story is distinct enough to prevent an easy conclusion.

//I just want to give this game credit for doing a really good job at handling the Nozomi/Karua mystery. Because no mystery in this game has fucked with my brain more than this one.

//These two seem to share a mirrored origin, as if they’re reflections of one another rather than entirely separate people. On the surface, they appear fundamentally different in personality, outlook, and role in the story, but they are strikingly aligned in appearance, backstory, connections to scientific institutions, and a sense of being shaped by forces beyond their control.

//The game is walking a fine line, skillfully feeding just enough symmetry to make you suspicious, while also presenting enough divergence to keep you uncertain.

//There have been so many possibilities and explanations brought up so far. Are they sisters? Clones? Variants from different timelines?

//None of those feel right, and yet, there's no clearly obvious way to explain it either, other than Karua and Nozomi just ARE the same person. But again, even THAT doesn't feel right with all that we know so far!

DAY 61:

//By the time Takumi and Nozomi return to the academy the next morning, having weathered the storm overnight, they're greeted at the entrance by Eito, who’s waiting with unexpected news.

//Though their original reason for venturing out was to gather ingredients to make medicine for Moko, it turns out that Moko has already made a full recovery in their absence. And sure enough, when we return to the cafeteria, there she is, waiting for us.

//(GOD she is so absurdly big...!)

//Upon reuniting, Moko properly introduces herself for the first time, and her presence INSTANTLY shifts the atmosphere. What follows is a heartwarming reunion between her and Nozomi.

//As for Moko herself...Yeah, I REALLY like her!

//It becomes clear pretty quickly that all the good feats Nozomi spouted about Moko before are true. She's loud, goofy, and delightfully over-the-top, she barrels into the scene with an energy that’s impossible to ignore. Her personality is larger than life, and in just this brief introduction, she manages to bring levity and laughter.

//There’s something incredibly endearing about how unfiltered and open she is, even when she's saying some kind of violent bullshit. She has a kind of “big sister” presence, but not in a solemn or protective way, more in the sense that she’s the type to ruffle your hair, tease you relentlessly, and then throw you over her shoulder affectionately.

//Even in this short exchange, it’s hard not to smile when she’s on screen.

//Although, we do get a very brief hint that something's not quite right with her when everyone asks if she's fit and fighting ready to combat the Invaders. More on that in a bit though.

DAY 62:

//Takumi begins today dwelling on his discussions with Nozomi, and isn't really giving much attention to her accidental confession. Instead, he's focusing more in the experimental side of things.

//Assuming Nozomi IS Karua, he suspects that the experiments that Nozomi underwent is the reason why she doesn't remember him. Which...you know, I'm willing to give credence on this line of thinking. Even if I am left guessing, that's still a better avenue than nothing.

//But even with that, there's so much lore to unpack here.

//For reasons that I can't quite explain, I keep going to check up on the captured commander every morning before I head to the restaurant, thinking that she might do something or say anything to me. I kind of wanted to see if anything had changed behind the scenes.

//On the first day when I went to check on her she looked sad, but since then, her expression is more passive and she hasn't been saying anything. She's not been smiling or anything, but I keep going back to look.

//Entering the cafeteria, Moko is standing in the middle of the room and recounting a story that's making everyone laugh their asses off over it.

//Moko tells a lot of stories at breakfast over the course of these few days. The best part about them is I can't tell if they're tall tales or not, because knowing who's writing this game, these events are perfectly plausible.

//What made me laugh was that whenever all the characters are in a room together, I have a tendency to talk to all the characters I'm not supposed to talk to, then talk to the important character to progress the story; just so I don't miss out on all the optional dialogue. And this time when I did it, I talked to Ima, who was basically saying that he's worried that Kako would be inspired by Moko, and hopes that she doesn't start thinking she wants to be like her, followed immediately by Kako saying she wants to be just like her. That gave me a tickle.

//We actually cut to business quickly after the story, and as it turns out, Moko, suspiciously, doesn't remember anything when she got captured by the invaders, suggesting that her memory had been wiped. So we're unfortunately not getting much out of her on THAT front for the moment.

//Not that I expected we would. We don't tend to have a lot of luck with this kind of thing.

//It took me a while to click honestly. I thought that the game was suggesting that Shouma was going to have a romantic tension with the Invader we captured, but right now it seems more like he's treating her like a pet.

//RESPECTFULLY of course, but he's not quite seeing her as an equal human being. Or rather, maybe he is seeing her as an equal, but only because he himself thinks he's on a dog's level.

DAY 63:

//NOOOOTHING FUUUUCKING HAAAAPPEEEENED!

//Basically we just rinse and repeated what happened the previous day. Wake up, hear Moko chatting about shit in the cafeteria, something doesn't seem right, Free Time.

//I do have a couple small highlights. For one, you can talk to Yugamu in the hallway before you go to breakfast.

//Takumi and Yugamu haven't had a single wholesome interaction yet. Takumi just DOES NOT LIKE THIS MAN, haha.

//Similarly, Darumi clearly doesn't like Moko at all. But obviously, that's because happy situations where people are alive and merry are her kryptonite basically.

//And once again, Nozomi herself seems to be noticing more keenly that something is up with Moko.

DAY 64:

//That kind of culminates into today, and the following day too.

//The moment you walk into the cafeteria, you sense there's something off about Moko. Unlike the last two days, she’s not at her usual post telling the morning story, and instead looking distant and aloof in the corner, in a way that's kind of eerie.

//I actually kind of started getting chills at this point. I should have realized at that time that they must have meant something.

//More directly, the news for today is that through his interactions, Shouma has somehow taught the Invader to speak like a human. Or at the very least, he managed to teach her how to say the word "Beautiful" in their language.

//I honestly do feel a little bit bad for Shouma in this part of the story, because he clearly cares about the Invader we captured. But everyone else is treating her like a feral animal with rabies, and honestly, that might be the safer bet. But still, she doesn’t seem violent. I just hope Shouma’s attachment doesn’t end up getting someone hurt, or cause a rift in the group.

//Later that evening, Nozomi shows up at Takumi’s door, and invites him to a quiet classroom to talk privately. She says she suspects Moko is hiding something, which...yeah, no kidding. Moko’s whole vibe has been really off lately, despite having a really corny introduction.

//After a short conversation, Nozomi agrees to confront her. It's risky, but we need answers before this situation spirals any further out of control.

DAY 65:

//This is where things go from "Oh God" to "OH SHIT!"

//Remember how I mentioned that this part of the story is the most emotional trainwreck we've seen so far? Well, here's why.

//Moko tells another story in the morning, and I swear, these tales get more outlandish as things go along.

//But more importantly, Takumi suspects that Nozomi called Moko to the same room she called him the previous day, and worrying for her, he goes to eavesdrop.

//Things...don't go well.

//Kudos to Nozomi, she at least goes out of her way to explain thoroughly to Moko what she noticed, and why she was concerned, on top of giving her very good reasoning for it. But Moko's response is to blow up on her, and she even accuses her of being a fake friend, getting close for no reason other than wanting whatever information she forgot about the Invaders.

//And it becomes very clear very quickly why Moko is suddenly acting so untowards...and it's NOT pretty.

//Takumi goes to check up on Nozomi afterwards to see if she's okay, and ends up coming clean about eavesdropping.

//Side note, Nozomi's room is actually super cute and cozy looking. Not-Not really much of a big deal, kinda just wanted to mention it because I like it.

//Anyway, a conversation ensues, and Takumi comforts Nozomi, sympathizing with her, and Nozomi resolves to apologize to Moko in the morning.

//Things seem like they're really tense after Moko and Nozomi's argument, but then somehow, things get even worse.

//And by the way...get used to hearing me say that. Because for these last few days to cover here, we just get bad news after bad news after bad news, and we keep getting the shit beaten out of us by the narrative.

//The boy wreathed in the Undying Flames appears again in Takumi’s room that night, and as we are already aware of by now, every time he shows up, disaster follows. First, it was Sirei’s death, then Hiruko vanished, etcetera.

//Takumi doesn’t waste a second. He bolts after the boy, convinced the ghost is headed toward the Defense Room (Not sure why because if the ghost was looming in the school he'd have multiple chances to get to the Defense Room, but...okay)

//But instead of catching up to him, he runs straight into Moko in the hallway. And this is where everything gets surreal.

//Moko's dialogue starts glitching with random capital letters in it. Her sprite begins to warp as well, and as Takumi follows her, her features become twisted and grotesque.

//When Takumi finally reaches the Defense Room, it’s not the boy waiting there, but Moko. And what he sees is nothing short of a nightmare. Moko is standing far too close to the barrier of Undying Flames. Takumi tries to pull her back, to stop her from breaching whatever lies behind the fire, but then she turns...

//OH FUCK MY ASS!!!??

//Yeah, not gonna lie, even with the buildup, this CG scared the SHIT out of me! It was WAY more horrifying than I thought it would end up being, and it's enough to make someone pull a Tsubasa and throw the hell up.

//When I first saw what was going on, I had the sickening thought that what happened is the Invaders turned Moko into one of them when they captured her. I haven't talked about it explicitly, but I had this theory before that the Invaders weren’t born, but were actually humans twisted into something else. If they captured Moko, maybe that’s what happened to her. And maybe all of her weird mannerisms the previous few days were just the result of her humanity slipping away.

//Just as things spiral completely out of control, not only does Nozomi appear, but the Undying Flames react, almost like they recognize her presence. They lash out at "Moko," hurling her out of the room and out of the school entirely.

//Takumi and Nozomi go to get her, but before that, Takumi insists they suit up. So with it being just the two of them, and with no alarms sounding, they jump into the battlefield.

//Before we fight, we get a few more cutscenes of Nozomi trying to get through to Moko. I get where she's coming from, like, she really wants to believe there’s still a piece of her friend left in that thing, but man, she’s really slow to accept that Moko is long gone.

//It’s rough to watch honestly. The story is putting Nozomi through the emotional wringer, and she barely gets a breath before it throws her into another devastating scene.

//The first round of the fight kicks off with just Nozomi and Takumi squaring off against the thing wearing Moko’s face, and a swarm of smaller, shadow-like creatures she summons.

//I'm gonna be completely honest, I wasn’t expecting her to hit that hard (despite, you know, the fact that Moko is a wrestler), so Takumi actually got taken out in the first round. Luckily, he did enough damage, and Nozomi finished Moko off pretty quickly.

/.Visually, this whole display is horrifically stunning. Not only is the enemy design grotesque, but the dialogue cuts deep. The horror elements are firing on all cylinders, and I think this is the closest I've ever been to finding one of Kodaka's games genuinely scary.

//Thankfully, backup arrives just in time. The rest of the gang shows up finally, where Yugamu puts his bizarre and encyclopedic knowledge of the human body to use, and explains the full scope of the situation.

//As it turns out, Moko wasn’t possessed, and she didn’t turn into anything. What we’ve been fighting isn’t Moko at all. It’s an Invader Commander wearing her skin, and it's been im impersonating her from the start.

//Looking back, this explains A LOT. It explains how and why Moko was able to get through the wall of fire without any hemoanima-based fire hydrant, and ALSO why when she showed up, the school alarm sounded. It's kinda freaky looking back and noticing all the oddities.

//Then Fake Moko turns up the nightmare factor, as she starts creating twisted shadow versions of the team; one for each of us. It’s a full-blown shadow clone battle, and honestly, it’s a fun mechanic.

//Darumi throws out a meta-comment pre-fight, "Clones make things easier for the devs," which cracks me up even as I’m clenching through the chaos.

//Honestly, this battle, at least for the first half, is TOUGH! More than I expected. The shadow clones have all our moves and abilities, and the only saving grace is that they don't have much health, meaning one good super move is taking them out easily. It's best to make sure you use the characters who can hit in a wide area with their attacks, like Gaku or Ima.

//But I make a point to let Nozomi land the final blow. She’s earned it.

//When the Invader finally collapses, it drops the mask. I'm impressed because this wasn't just mimicry. This thing had access to all of Moko’s memories, her voice, her habits, everything. It was a near-perfect copy. The only reason we even noticed something was wrong was because of the subtle breaks.

//Then comes the gut punch: the commander confirms it. The real Moko is dead. There’s no saving her. She’s gone. And with that, any hope of her returning to the team dies too.

//On top of that, the commander's initial plan was to go in under the guise of Moko being sick, and get to the Defense Room without anyone noticing. But because Nozomi never left its side, that was impossible. They tried to do it on the day Nozomi left with Takumi, which is why Moko conviniently woke up.

//So we're probably not even gonna be able to see what Moko can do until we do another playthrough, where we might get a chance to save her before she gets captured.

//This affects everyone pretty badly, because they'd all grown to really like Moko, only now finding out she was never the real deal. Just a copy that was out to get them all. The scene ends with Eito killing it when it went silent.

//Out of rage, detest, and spite against the Invaders for what they did to Moko, the others are ready to take it out on the Invader we’ve been keeping locked up, the one Shouma’s been trying to reach. Ultimately though, they’re simply heartbroken, betrayed, and just looking for somewhere to put that pain.

//But before it explodes into another tragedy, Eito steps in. Then Takumi. And, in what might be the most heartbreaking part of all, even Nozomi asks everyone to stop. Despite being ridden with Despair over finding out her best friend was killed by the enemy and impersonated, she rightfully points out that now's not really a good time. They should come to a conclusion in the morning.

DAY 66:

//No, far from it. Day 65 was an emotional beating in and of itself, but waking up literally the next morning, and things somehow go from ABSOLUTELY AWFUL to EVEN WORSE!

//We honestly shouldn't have even brought up the possibility of killing the Invader we captured, because lo and behold, that bitch ESCAPED from the cage!

//The timing is way too convenient. The lock on her holding cell has been clearly broken, not picked or bypassed, and considering she didn't have the means of getting out on her own because her abilities were deactivated, someone let her out. That much is obvious.

//Naturally, all eyes turn to Shouma. He had the motive and he had the access, since he was assigned to watch her. It adds up on the surface, but even the characters themselves point out that it still doesn’t sit right. Shouma doesn't have the emotional will to betray everyone, as much as he cared for the Invader and as much as he tried to defend her. Plus, he had the key to her cage, so why would he break the lock.

//Personally, I suspect Eito again. He's still my prime suspect for killing Sirei and making Hiruko vanish, as well as burning our food. So this could be the next phase of his plan.

//The problem is I really don't understand his angle this time, assuming that he IS the traitor.

//Then again, I never understand what his angle is. He’s clearly trying to weaken us from within for whatever reason, but this seems like a really unprompted tactic. Why release someone we were planning to execute anyway?

//Takumi, on the other hand, doubles down on blaming the Undying Flames Boy. He’s convinced the ghost is orchestrating all of this from the shadows.

//But Nozomi, ever the voice of reason despite everything, finally pushes back, finally pointing out that without the boy’s sudden appearance, Takumi never would have found Fake Moko in time. If anything, the boy SAVED us.

//I don't really get why Takumi is so insistent the Undying Flames boy is evil when he hasn't really done anything untowards yet. Takumi might just be that stupid, or at the very least, he's not spending much time thinking about it.

//And just as we’re all knee-deep in suspicion and tension, the situation gets even worse. Turns out, the escaped Invader didn’t leave alone.

//One thing that everyone noticed early that morning is that the Tsukumo Twins didn't show up to breakfast. We assumed they were late again, because they both slept in after the last big battle we did, but the situation is...far worse than we thought.

//Takumi goes to the Entrance Hall, and as he does, Kako suddenly comes back in, dressed in her Class Armor, and no sign of Ima. She passes out, and after she recovers, we find out that the Invader left the academy and took him hostage.

//Ima. The newest member of our team. The one who just started opening up, started fitting in. And now he’s gone.

//But...haha...SAY IT WITH ME EVERYONE! "IT! GETS! WORSE!"

//The fire extinguishers in the entrance hall and the emergency ones on the bus are BOTH BROKEN. So not only can we not get outside the Wall of Flames to chase after Ima and save him but we’re essentially TRAPPED IN THE SCHOOL! Surrounded by the Undying Flames, with no clear way out.

//This is bad for multiple reasons. The main one is that we obviously can't rescue Ima from whatever fate he's currently suffering, but also we get most of our resources from random shit we happen to scavange in the wild. Now we can't even do that.

// might be misremembering here, but I'm pretty sure Takumi blames the Undying Flames boy again.

I still don’t understand Takumi’s obsession with him. Every time he’s shown up, something helpful has happened, if not directly, then indirectly. He’s never spoken a word, never raised a hand against us. If anything, he seems like the only one trying to guide us. And yet, Takumi can’t let it go.

//The loss of Ima hits hard. We were just beginning to get to know him, to fold him into the rhythm of the group. And now, just like Hiruko, and just like Moko, he’s gone. Probably permanently. At this point, I’m scared to hope for anything different.

Conclusion:

//After my disappointments from the previous arc of the story, this one brought some amazing plot points, mysteries, and generally awesome times all around. Here's my takeaways:

The mystery of how Nozomi is connected to Karua, or whether they are the same person or not, is starting to become more and more layered, and as such, I gradually grow more and more interested in it.

I feel really bad for Nozomi in this part. She got emotionally damaged by what happened and I don't know how she's going to cope with it going forward.

Shouma's unexpected fondness and budding relationship with the Invader Commander, though it only lasted a few days, was unexpected, but not unwelcome. I enjoyed it.

The whole situation with Moko turning out to be an enemy commander in disguise was so sad, so TERRIFYING, and so BRILLIANT. Day 65 genuinely had my heart racing the whole time.

My hopes for Ima's survival after this are not high. Now that the Invaders have him, I think it's light's out for him. He's in my prayers though.

I am honestly a little disappointed that both Ima and Moko are gone. I only got to use Ima in two battles, and I didn't get to use Moko in ANY. I'm really hoping my theory about the timeline reset is right so I can use them both for real.

//Man, you don't know how good it feels to finally be back to playing this game again. Like I said, I was starting to go into withdrawals during my break. I'm enjoying it THAT much, even with all the despair and pain it's giving me.

//Can't wait to see what happens next~

-Mod

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redroomreflections · 7 months ago

Text

Hotel California | Track 9: Flamenco

Natasha Romanoff x fem!reader

Summary: Natasha Romanoff, frontwoman of the punk rock band Velvet Rebellion, falls hard for a woman she believes is too good for her. Their intense relationship unfolds in the chaotic world of rock 'n' roll, where they struggle to balance fame, personal demons, and their undeniable passion for each other.

W/c: 5.4k

Chapter 9/12

Masterlist | General Masterlist

Note: Exciting stuff

Song for this chapter https://open.spotify.com/track/3B7EZgquNKHrSIo2tEc8mK?si=2ce2f0ac782f484c

18+ Minors DNI (mature)

Themes: love, fame, sex, drugs

Having a type-A personality has its perks. When you're not procrastinating or hiding from the world under your covers, you're girlbossing it hard. Like most mornings, you woke up at the second strike of your 6 AM alarm. No snooze, no excuses. The world didn’t wait for you; frankly, you weren’t about to let it get ahead.

Your private Pilates instructor was already on her way to destroy your body (figuratively, of course) in the garage studio. You shuffled into your kitchen, still half-asleep, and sipped on your lemon water while mentally preparing yourself for the torture—sorry, workout. The thought of the inevitable soreness made you groan, but you reminded yourself it was worth it. Your Type-A brain thrived on the discipline, and it felt good to start the day strong.

When the instructor arrived, you were dressed in sleek athleisure, hair tied back in a low ponytail, ready to pretend you enjoyed every second of it. You even entertained Luxe when she motivated you through what could be considered hate speech. You would never admit it, but you appreciated the encouragement, regardless of its content.

One hour later, you were showered and ready for work. Your skin glowed, and you felt great despite your muscles burning. It was time to get Isabella awake. You shuffled into her bedroom, snorting at how neat it was, as you moved to sit on her bed.

You rested a hand on what you could assume was her back, gently calling for her to wake up.

"Bella, come on, time for school,"

Isabella stirred under her blankets, her tiny body shifting closer to the pillow as if she could burrow away from the morning. A muffled groan escaped her, followed by a sleepy, "Five more minutes, Mama."

You chuckled, smoothing a hand over the soft fabric covering her back. "Five more minutes turns into fifteen, and then we're running late. Come on, Bella. Up and at 'em."

She peeked out from under the blanket, her curly hair sticking up in all directions. Her face was adorably pouty, and her eyes were barely open. "Do I have to?" she mumbled.

"Yes, you do. Education is important, remember?" you teased, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "And besides, you love school. You told me last night you couldn’t wait to show Ms. Thompson your drawing."

That jogged her memory. Isabella sat up, rubbing her eyes and yawning loudly. "Oh yeah," she said, her voice still thick with sleep. "Okay, I'm getting up."

"Good girl," you praised, patting her back as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. "I'll meet you downstairs for breakfast, okay?"

Isabella nodded, her small frame shuffling off to the bathroom. You smiled as you headed back to the kitchen, already planning the quick breakfast lineup. Multitasking was your superpower, and mornings like this reminded you why you thrived in the chaos.

Your phone buzzed on the counter as you packed her lunch and brewed your first cup of coffee. Monica's name lit up the screen.

“Hey, good morning. Will you pick up a coffee?"

"Yes, please,"

You switched the contacts to Natasha and sent her a cute message for whenever she woke up.

"Hope you have a good morning, baby. I'll be thinking about you. See you later x."

As you set Isabella’s lunchbox aside and sipped your coffee, you heard the soft shuffle of her footsteps approaching. She appeared in the doorway, her curls now somewhat tamed and her little face freshly washed. Isabella stood there for a moment, rubbing her eyes before making her way over to you.

Without a word, she wrapped her arms around your waist, resting her head against your side. You glanced down at her, your heart swelling at the gesture. Setting your coffee on the counter, you opened your arms wider, pulling her into a proper hug.

"Good morning again, munchkin," you said softly, smoothing stray hairs from her face.

"Morning, Mama," she murmured, leaning into the embrace like it was the safest place in the world.

You held her tighter, savoring the warmth and love she gave so freely. Moments like this weren’t uncommon, but they always reminded you how lucky you were. Isabella had always been affectionate, kind, and thoughtful—a reflection of what you and Sam had worked hard to instill in her.

"You’re such a sweetheart, you know that?" you whispered, kissing the top of her head.

Isabella smiled, her arms tightening around you. "You always say that."

"Because it’s true," you replied, pulling back just enough to look into her big, expressive eyes. "You’re the best part of my mornings, Bella. Always. Are you hungry?"

"I could eat," She shrugged as she began to grab the fresh toast from the toaster. She spread a generous amount of Nutella on her toast before taking some of the fruit you'd sliced.

"So," you began, leaning back against the counter and sipping your coffee, "are you excited for school today?"

"Yeah," she nodded, a streak of chocolate at the corner of her mouth. "Ms. Thompson said we could watch a movie in class, and we're gonna get our new math books today."

"That's great," you smiled.

"Are you still going to the studio with Natasha later?" She inquired.

"Yeah, I am. We have a full schedule today. But I'll be home early. We'll have time to make dinner together. Sound good?"

Isabella sighed. "I really wanted to go to the studio with you. I want a chance to hang with the guys."

"I know," You checked your calendar today. "You probably won't be available for the beginning, but how about I have Reagan bring you to the studio? You can sit with us for a little while. Though, I think it's not an environment for a little girl."

"That would be awesome, Mama." She grinned.

You grabbed the lunch box and held it out to her. Isabella took it and slipped it into her backpack, then slung it over her shoulder.

"Alright, you got everything?" You asked, grabbing your coffee and keys and heading for the door.

Isabella nodded. "Mhm, all set."

"Perfect, let's go. And don't forget your headphones."

You walked out the front door, locking it behind you, and headed toward the car. The sun was rising; the sky was filled with shades of orange and pink. As the two of you buckled in, you looked over at Isabella. It was a perfect morning for the both of you.

The morning rush was well underway when you dropped Isabella off at school. The streets were filled with activity, but you managed to weave through traffic like a seasoned pro. As soon as you parked at the office, your phone buzzed in your bag.

The ringtone alone was enough to make you sigh. Work started early, and the day was already throwing curveballs.

"Hi, Karen," you greeted as you stepped into the building, heels clicking against the polished floors. "What’s going on?"

Karen’s voice was sharp on the other end. "We’ve got a situation with one of our clients. They posted something... let’s just say, off-brand, and now the comments section is an absolute war zone. "

"Great," you muttered, offering a quick wave to Monica, who was waiting for you near the elevator. She stepped beside you and handed you your coffee. You balanced your cup, handbag, and phone all at once. It was either something political or something to do with her ex?

"Both," Karen replied. "And I need you here. Stat. We have a crisis management meeting, and we need to act fast. Can you come in right away?"

"Yeah, of course. I'm in the lobby. I'll see you in twenty."

You ended the call, and a heavy sigh escaped your lips. Monica looked over, sympathy written all over her features.

"What was that all about?" she asked, following you onto the elevator.

"We have a client situation," you explained, tapping your foot impatiently as the elevator climbed. "Karen needs me in her office. ASAP."

Monica hummed, taking a sip of her drink. "Well, hopefully, it's not too bad."

"It's a bad thing we need a new PR thing by the end of the day," you shook your head. "I'll know more once I check it out. I've been staying off of social media for a while."

"Oh, you mean it's not normal to gain two hundred thousand followers in four months?" She teased.

"No, actually," You shook your head. "They all just want glimpses of Natasha and me. Which I'm fine with for the most part."

"And how are things with her?" Monica asked, tilting her head curiously.

You smiled, a blush coloring your cheeks. "Amazing. It's... it's everything I could have hoped for. We've been spending a lot of time together. Getting to know each other. But also getting to know our dynamic, y'know?"

"It sounds like she's the real deal, huh?" Monica guessed. She followed you to your office and stood in the doorway.

"Yeah? I mean, I guess?" You dropped your things onto your desk. "It's so interesting, to be quite honest. After Sam and I divorced, everyone I dated didn't seem to fit. With Natasha, it feels natural. It just feels like this is what was supposed to happen."

"Wow, I didn't know it was that deep," Monica joked.

"I guess it's just because she makes me feel good. When I'm with her, it's like I can be myself without worrying about anything. Like I don't have to put on a mask." You shrugged.

"Aww, you're in love."

"I know."

"Have you told her yet?" Monica pressed.

You paused, your mind reverting to the moments you shared with her. There was no denying how deeply you cared about her. It wasn't just infatuation.

"Yeah," you breathed, your chest swelling. "Yeah, I did."

"What did she say?"

"Well, technically, she said it first." you shrugged.

Monica's eyes widened, her mouth falling open in exaggerated shock. "She said it first? Oh my God, this is serious!"

You couldn't help but laugh at her reaction as you moved around your desk, straightening a few papers and powering your computer. "I guess it is," you admitted, the blush on your cheeks deepening. "But honestly, it felt so right. We were just... in the moment. I didn’t even have to think about it."

Monica leaned against the doorway, crossing her arms with a knowing smile. "I love this for you. You deserve it, after everything with Sam. Speaking of, does Isabella know how serious things are between you two?"

"Not yet," you replied, pulling your chair out and settling in. "I mean, she knows Natasha’s important to me, and she adores her. But I’m still trying to take it slow, y’know? I don’t want to rush anything. It’s a big change for all of us."

"Smart move," Monica agreed. "You’re handling this really well, honestly. I can’t say I’d be this level-headed if I were in your shoes."

You chuckled, grabbing your planner to skim through your schedule for the day. "Trust me, it’s a balancing act. Between work, Isabella, and this relationship... it’s a lot. But it’s worth it."

Monica pushed off the doorway, giving you a soft smile. "Well, I’m rooting for you guys. Natasha seems like she really gets you, and that’s rare."

"Thanks, Monica. That means a lot," you said sincerely.

"Anytime. Now," she gestured to the stack of papers in her arms, "Are you still going to meet Karen upstairs?"

"Oh, shit, I almost forgot." You shook your head.

And the day began.

****

The morning light barely filtered through the blackout curtains of Natasha’s bedroom as she groaned at the sound of voices coming from somewhere in the hallway. It’s 9:00 AM, far too early for her usual standards, but last night’s recording session had dragged well into the early hours. Her body felt like it was weighed down by bricks as she blindly groped for her phone on the nightstand.

The screen lights up:

y/n: Good morning, rockstar. Don’t forget Mitch at 10:30.

Natasha smirked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She typed back quickly:

I remember. Barely. Coffee first. I love you.

Rolling out of bed, she grabbed a hoodie from the floor and pulled it over her tank top before shuffling out into the hallway, her hair a mess of waves from sleep.

Her mind was still foggy when she nearly collided with someone—a brunette woman wearing her robe.

“Whoa there, sleepyhead,” the woman drawled, holding her coffee mug steady as she stepped back.

Natasha blinked at her, momentarily disoriented. She recognized the woman immediately: Agatha Harkness, a veteran actress known for her sharp wit and even sharper tongue. When another voice entered the scene, Natasha didn't even have time to process why Agatha was in her apartment.

“Nat, I’m so sorry,” Wanda appears in the guest room doorway, looking frazzled but still managing to radiate calm. “Agatha stayed the night. I should’ve told you.”

"When did you even have time for her to stay the night? We got home at like four am," Natasha frowned.

"Can't say no to a late-night booty call," Agatha grinned. She glanced down at Natasha's Spiderman underwear and chuckled.

"Hey, why don't you go and wait for me in the bedroom," Wanda suggested. They shared a kiss that made Natasha pretend to gag. Not because Agatha wasn't hot. Because she was, and it was annoying.

"See you, rockstar," Agatha quipped before stepping back into the bedroom.

"Do we need to think about getting our own places?" Natasha questioned as she walked towards the kitchen.

"No, of course not, I love living with you," Wanda said.

Natasha nodded. "Good. Because I wouldn't want to live anywhere else." Natasha glanced at the clock again and began to pour herself a bowl of fruit loops. "I have a meeting at ten with Mitch. Wanna come?"

Wanda's face scrunched up. "Hmm, that's so early."

"You don't have to come." Natasha shrugged.

"Yeah, but I'm gonna anyway," Wanda insisted, leaning against the counter.

"So, you and Agatha?" Natasha began. "When did this start?"

"It's casual," Wanda waved off.

"Uh huh," Natasha hummed, finishing the rest of her breakfast.

Wanda smirked. "Don't get all judgy, it's fun. Nothing serious, I swear. It's not like I'm seeing her exclusively or anything."

"You can have fun and have a relationship, y'know?"

"Oh, and settle down like you?" Wanda laughed.

"No," Natasha frowned, grabbing her dishes and putting them into the dishwasher. "That's not what I meant. Also, I'd hardly say I'm settled down."

Wanda scoffed, her face twisted in amusement. "Are you kidding me? You've been seeing this woman for almost five months. And you haven't brought anyone else home since. Not to mention how much you've been talking about her lately. It's almost sickening."

"Shut up, I have not," Natasha grumbled, moving to her room to get dressed.

Wanda followed behind her, plopping onto her bed. "You have. You're practically a Stepford wife."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Okay, sure, but it's not like that's a bad thing. I'm happy, and she makes me happy."

Wanda watched her closely, a knowing look in her eyes. "I think you're more than happy, Nat."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Natasha asked, pausing midway through, grabbing a new robe. Wanda owed her one.

"I think you're falling in love," Wanda teased, grinning up at her.

"That's ridiculous." Natasha deadpanned, continuing to rummage through her closet.

"It's not. I've never seen you so hung up on someone before." Wanda pointed out. "Well, since Carol."

"Hmm," Natasha acknowledged. There was something in her expression that made Wanda wonder if she had a little secret.

"What is it? Come on, tell me," Wanda demanded, sitting up and leaning toward her.

"It's nothing," Natasha assured.

"Nope, I can tell. There's something different about you," Wanda pressed.

"It's stupid, honestly."

"Spit it out, Romanoff."

"I told y/n I love her," Natasha said. "And she said she loved me back."

"WHAT? You said it first? Oh, Nat, that's so cute. You're in love. It's happening," Wanda gasped.

"It's not happening; it's not a thing. We just said it."

"So you love her, but it's not a thing?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying," Natasha defended. She walked in and out of her closet as she tried to find something appropriate to wear to the meeting with Mitch. "I don't want it to be this big whirlwind relationship. I want to continue getting to know each other."

"I'd say you two know each other pretty well from these texts she's sent you," Wanda's eyes widened as she scrolled through Natasha’s phone. "You guys sext each other?"

"Wanda, give me my phone," Natasha snatched it from her. "That's a complete lack of privacy."

"Hey, I didn't see anything bad," Wanda chuckled. "What's that thing with your tongue she's raving about? Can you teach me? I think Agatha would really love it."

Natasha's cheeks burned as she shook her head. "This is why we don't share. Now please, can you leave me alone? I have to get dressed and meet with Mitch. I don't have time for your nonsense."

"Fine," Wanda huffed, standing from the bed. "But just so you know, I'm super happy for you."

"Thanks," Natasha mumbled.

As Wanda headed for the door, she looked over her shoulder and smirked. "I hope I'm the maid of honor at your wedding."

Natasha groaned, tossing her dirty laundry in the hamper.

"Don't even joke about that. That's a whole can of worms I'm not ready to open."

"Fine," Wanda laughed.

**************

Natasha slipped into the studio’s meeting room, with Wanda trailing behind her, clutching coffee cups like lifelines. Mitch was already there, papers and a tablet spread out in front of her, her usual no-nonsense expression in place.

“Morning, Romanoff, Maximoff,” Mitch greeted, gesturing to the seats across from her. “Glad you two could finally join us.”

“It’s barely 10:30,” Natasha muttered, sinking into her chair. “Some of us had a late night.”

“And some of us have a band to manage,” Mitch shot back, her tone sharp but playful. “Speaking of which, we’ve got a lot to cover today, so let’s get to it.”

Natasha waved a hand as if to give her the floor.

“At a minimum, I’m your booking agent—venues, show dates, contracts, all that boring stuff. But we’re aiming for more here,” Mitch began, swiping on her tablet. “The plans for this next tour are ambitious. Bigger venues, bigger cities, and—if we play this right—bigger press coverage.”

“That sounds… overwhelming,” Wanda admitted, her brows furrowing.

“It is,” Mitch agreed, not missing a beat. “But it’s also what’s going to put you on the map. The album is shaping up nicely. Ten tracks total. Seven are already written and recorded, but we need to nail down those final three.”

Natasha leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. “What’s the timeline?”

“Studio time’s booked for the next month. Your duet with Y/N is one of the final tracks, and we’ll position it as a crossover single. Something to expand your audience a little. Y/N’s name alone will give it traction,” Mitch explained. "With your relationship being the hottest new thing out, I think it's time we crank it up a notch."

"I'm not using my relationship as PR," Natasha denied.

"Your girlfriend's a publicist and didn't play that angle out for you?" Mitch raised a brow.

"She mentioned it once or twice, but she's also very much against it," Natasha answered.

Mitch sighed. "That's a shame. I'm sure the press would love it. They're practically salivating over the two of you. And the song you wrote is beautiful."

Natasha nodded. "It's personal. It's about the moment I knew I loved her."

"So, you don't have a problem writing a song and singing about it publicly?"

"No, I don't," Natasha shrugged. "We're together. And people know that."

"Well, that's a good sign," Mitch smirked, sipping her drink. "This band. Your band. You guys blew up overnight. Everyone has been talking about Velvet Rebellion for the past year. Good or bad. Why not shift to something better?"

"That's not the only reason why we're in this. We're trying to do something great with our music." Natasha defended.

"I know," Mitch replied. "I know the kind of talent you have. I've been around for a long time. And trust me, the best thing you can do is play this up."

"Play what up?" Wanda questioned.

"Your image. Your brand. All of it. We could spin this into the most romantic tour the world has ever seen. It'd be the story of the decade."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, now you think she should come on tour with us? Am I hearing this correctly?"

"I'm not saying that she should. I'm just saying it's a possibility. You're the biggest thing since Taylor Swift and her boy band," Mitch pointed out. "The world is eating this up. And you know what sells the best? Love. Romance. Sex."

Natasha groaned. "Can we talk about this some other time?"

"Sure," Mitch shrugged. "I'm just letting you know all of our angles."

"Thanks," Natasha deadpanned.

"Now, let's move on to the next subject. You guys are scheduled to do an interview with Rolling Stone magazine," Mitch informed. "They're doing a piece on your success. A full-page spread. They want a photo shoot."

"Ooh, that sounds fun," Wanda grinned.

"Great."

Natasha leaned back in her chair, running a hand through her hair as Mitch continued rattling off details about the Rolling Stone feature. A full-page spread, photoshoot, interviews—everything they’d ever wanted as a band. It was the kind of coverage that could cement their place in music history, a step toward being known not just as another band with catchy songs but as real artists with something to say.

Still, her mind lingered on Mitch’s earlier comment. The suggestion that you could come on tour with them as some kind of PR angle made Natasha’s stomach twist.

Sure, her relationship with you was public enough, but only on your terms. It was the casual paparazzi shots, the glimpses of you at coffee shops or strolling hand in hand after a late-night studio session. Nothing orchestrated. Nothing overly intrusive. And Natasha intended to keep it that way.

Her fingers tapped against the table as she considered Mitch’s words. You weren't just her girlfriend; you were her collaborator, her muse, her safe space. Bringing you on tour might make the fans swoon and the tabloids buzz, but was it worth the risk?

She didn’t want her relationship with you to become just another headline, something for the world to pick apart and toss aside.

But at the same time, she wondered if it was possible to strike a balance. Their next album wasn’t just about love songs. It was about life—raw, messy, and real. Songs that spoke to the heart of what it meant to live and feel deeply. Would it be hypocritical to shy away from the love that inspired some of those tracks?

******

Studio time was one of Natasha's favorites. It was the electrifying moments the band got together and simply created. They'd let all of their ideas run amuck. Nothing was too crazy or bodacious when it came to their music-writing process. The studio was filled with a relaxed energy. It wasn’t the kind of sterile, pristine environment some people might imagine when they thought of a high-tech recording studio. Instead, it was alive, warm with conversation and the scent of takeout boxes scattered across the long wooden table in the corner.

Your dad hadn’t spared any expense on the place—state-of-the-art equipment lined the walls, from mixing consoles with glowing buttons to racks of sleek guitars and keyboards. The acoustics in the room were perfect. It was everything they needed to finish off the album.

A haze of cigarette smoke lingered in the air near the door where a couple of crew members leaned, chatting lazily. Shawn McCall, the producer the band swore by, sat behind the massive soundboard, a pair of headphones perched around his neck. He looked completely at ease, sipping his energy drink as he quickly adjusted to the levels, occasionally glancing toward you and Natasha.

Natasha stood near the center of the live room, a guitar slung over her shoulder. She strummed it absentmindedly, her sharp green eyes flickering toward you, who was sitting on a stool by the mic. The band was scattered around the control room—Wanda leaned against the back wall, twirling her hair, while Bucky and Steve hovered near Shawn, chatting over the latest changes to the track.

“Alright,” Natasha’s voice cut through the room, smooth and confident. “Let’s rerun it from the top. Y/N, just breathe through that first verse. Your voice will blend so well with Wanda's melodies. You’ve got this.”

You nodded, flashing her a quick thumbs up as you adjusted the mic.

The lights dimmed, and the music began to flow from the speakers. Natasha closed her eyes, leaning into the song as she picked up the first chords. In your ears, you and Wanda sang together, the melody intertwining, creating something new and breathtaking.

It was one of the most difficult tracks on the album, as it was so different from what the band was used to. Though you thought it fit quite well. It was a powerful statement for the album. You ran through the first verse several times. You allowed yourself to watch Natasha as she nodded along with your singing. Finally, you relaxed your shoulders.

"That was good," Natasha stepped closer to you. She didn't care that there were other people in the room.

"Really?" you smiled.

"Yeah," she said. "You sound beautiful."

"Thanks," you blushed. "It's really hard to focus on my vocals and your guitar. You're just so good at playing, y'know."

"I have a good teacher," Natasha winked.

"You're ridiculous," you laughed.

"Okay, ladies, how about we take five?" Shawn suggested. This caught both of you off guard, and you looked at him and nodded.

Just as you were about to ask Natasha about what you could get into in the five minutes you had, Isabella entered the studio with her nanny, Reagan, in tow.

As soon as Isabella entered the room, everything changed. The casual atmosphere that had permeated the studio just moments ago vanished. The haze of cigarette smoke seemed to evaporate into thin air, and suddenly, the counters were cleared of food boxes and discarded cups. People stood a little straighter, voices lowered, and the usual easy curse-filled banter was replaced with murmurs.

Reagan walked in behind her, offering a polite nod to the group as she stayed near the door, watching the little girl. Looking every bit like a miniature version of you, Isabella skipped forward into the room with a beaming smile, her hair bouncing around her shoulders. She went straight to you, arms open wide for a hug.

"Mom!" Isabella exclaimed, wrapping her arms around your waist. "Thanks for letting me come. This is so cool.

"Hey, sweet girl," You said, your voice softening immediately. You kissed Isabella on the cheek.

"You've never been in a studio? Do you mind if I show you around?" Natasha suggested.

Isabella glanced up at her, and her grin widened.

"Yes! Can we do that now, please?" She tugged on your hand.

"Go ahead," you chuckled.

Natasha smiled. "We'll be back soon."

"Take your time," You assured.

Reagan and the rest of the studio staff watched as Natasha guided the little girl across the room, explaining each piece of equipment in detail. You followed them out into the control room, where you took out your phone and recorded them. You kept Isabella's face concealed as she listened to Natasha explain what things did. She asked questions about the soundboard and the different switches and dials, her eyes excitedly bright. You added the post to your Instagram story.

"Are you guys almost done recording?" Isabella questioned.

"Not quite. We have a few more songs to record. But then the album will be ready for us to put out," Natasha answered.

"Do you write all the songs by yourself?"

"No, some of them are written with partners like Wanda." Natasha gestured behind her.

"Hey, Bucky, can you show me how to play something on your guitar?" Isabella requested. The usually quiet guitarist nodded.

"Sure, kiddo," Bucky replied, standing from his seat.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Wanda quipped.

"She's not going to break anything," Bucky insisted. "Here, you see where my fingers are. This is the A chord."

Another Instagrammable moment for you. Isabella listened aptly as Bucky showed her how to strum a few chords. When they finished, you could practically hear the gears in Isabella's head turning.

"This is gonna be our last song before we're done for the night," Natasha noted, mainly to the rest of the room. "We should probably get back in there. Are you going to stick around and watch?"

"Can I?" Isabella asked.

"Sure," You agreed. "You can go hang out with Wanda; she can tell you what we're doing."

"Sounds good," Natasha smirked. "Alright, let's wrap this up. It's getting late."

The studio session moved more quickly than usual. No one wanted to work late hours with a child in the studio. Not that seven p.m. was late in any of your books. You left the studio session feeling exhilarated. It had been too long since you recorded music or played with anything. Regan had gone home shortly after dropping Isabella off. So it was just the three of you walking to your car. Isabella insisted on holding Natasha's hand as you walked out.

You'd check your Instagram, not realizing how much traction you'd get, but sure enough, both stories you'd posted had gotten well over fifty thousand views in just two hours.

You'd also received an influx of comments from Natasha and Velvet Rebellion fans.

@stardust_in_her_eyes: I want Natasha to be my mom. Honestly, this is what we all need—pure love and talent in one package! #familygoals

@therealjuliaa: Is it just me, or do they look like the perfect stepmother-daughter duo?? This is giving me all the feels 🙌

and more of…

@lilrocker_babe: This is EVERYTHING! Bucky teaching Isabella the guitar, and you can see how much she’s absorbing! 🤘🎸

@onfire88: Bucky's a total softie, LOL. But seriously, that A chord is iconic now 😆

@softlyguitar: Can we get a full version of this?? Are Bucky and Isabella performing a duet someday? YES PLEASE!!

@paulcasual: Not sure who’s cuter here: Bucky or Isabella. But for real, this is such a wholesome moment! 👏

You didn't feel as nervous as you once did about posting. Sure, you'd continue valuing that privacy, but letting people in with small glimpses wasn't bad. As you drove home, Natasha leaned back in her seat, her fingers tapping lightly on the steering wheel. The adrenaline of the studio session still buzzed in her veins, her mind replaying the sounds of the music and the moments with you. She could almost feel the spark of something bigger than just an album—this was her life, her music, and it felt like everything was coming together.

Isabella had fallen asleep in the backseat, her soft breathing the only sound in the car, leaving you and Natasha to share a quiet moment.

Natasha’s phone buzzed on the cup holder, the screen lighting up with a new notification. She glanced down, her thumb hovering over the message. You could see the brief moment of hesitation before she unlocked her phone.

"Everything okay?" you asked, noticing her change in demeanor.

"Yeah," Natasha replied quickly, but her eyes narrowed slightly as she read the message. You were at a stoplight way longer than necessary. "It's... just from Steve."

You didn’t press her, but you could sense something shifting in the air.

“I just—” Natasha stopped, her grip tightening on the steering wheel. The words didn’t come out quickly. She cleared her throat, glancing over at you. “Carol’s in the hospital.”

Your stomach dropped, the warmth of the car and the night air suddenly feeling distant. “What happened?”

“She… relapsed,” Natasha said quietly, the weight of the words settling over her. Her usual confidence seemed to crack for a moment. “I don’t even know what to say. Steve’s saying she’s in stable condition, but... I don’t know.”

You could tell immediately that the mood had shifted.

"Go to her," You said.

"What? Are you sure?" Natasha bit her lip nervously.

"I'm positive," You nodded.

You could only hope this was the right choice to make.

(we're getting a backstory, we're getting love story, we're getting tragedy, we're getting rockstars trashing hotel rooms, Tony getting arrested again, and broken hearts all coming up soon)

---> next part

#natasha romanoff #black reader #natasha x reader #black widow x reader #black widow x female reader #natasha romanov #natasha x you

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mirai-e-jump · 10 months ago

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TV Life, 9/20/2024 Issue ft. Kamen Rider Gavv Cast Members (translation below)

Publication: September 4, 2024

Chinen Hidekazu x Hino Yusuke x Miyabe Nozomi

"What were your thoughts when you read the script?"

Chinen: I finished reading it in an instant due to how interesting it was. The more I read, the more I was drawn into the world of this show, and my excitement grew so much that I couldn't wait to play the role.

Hino: Me too. I was so curious about future developments, that every time I read the script, I couldn't wait to get the next one (laughs). Every character that appears is full of personality and intricately intertwined, making this a show that I think children, as well as adults will enjoy.

Miyabe: Naturally, the dialogue is interesting and fun to watch, but each and every character actually has their own problems and insecurities. I thought that the depiction of them growing while confronting these issues was wonderful and gives a human feel to the story. I'm personally encouraged by Shouma and the other's hard work and dedication, so I'd like to do my best to deliver the feelings I have to the viewers as well.

"How do you personally view the roles you play?"

Chinen: Shouma's a cheerful and energetic boy who loves to eat. He's usually innocent, adorable, and incredibly charming, but he's also a very mysterious character from another world. I think his clumsy side and his ability to work as hard as he can in everything he does is what'll make the viewers want to cheer for him, so I'd like to keep that in mind as I perform from now on.

Hino: I play the role of Hanto, a young man who works as a freelance writer, and who's pursuing info on the enemy Granutes. One of the unique characteristics of Hanto is that his feelings towards the Granutes are stronger compared to the others, so I'm always conscious of how to express that in my performance. Going forward, I hope you'll also make sure to pay attention to the development that causes him to transform and become Kamen Rider Valen.

Miyabe: Sachika's the gyaru president of the general store "Hapipare." She's really upbeat and energetic, and she's the kind of person who could just go up to the cool and difficult to approach Hanto and say, "Hey there!" I have no gyaru qualities in my everyday life (laughs), so to prepare for the role, I looked at works in which gyarus appeared and incorporated them into Sachika.

"So, to reference the theme of sweets, how would you compare each other to sweets?"

Hino: Because Hide looks so cute and has some fluffy vibes, I guess he'd be a marshmallow. He's perfectly white and pure just like a marshmallow. Truthfully however, because he also has a strong and unshakable core, he'd be candy filled marshmallows!

Chinen: Those exist?! (laughs). Still, being told I have a strong core makes me happy. Nozomi-san would be yokan.

Miyabe: Yokan?! How surprising (laughs).

Chinen: In contrast to the role she plays, Nozomi-san's usually a very refined person, so when I thought, "What elegant sweets are there?," I came up with yokan.

Miyabe: Thank you. Hino-kun is……

Hino: Huh? You seem stuck (laughs). There's tons of variety and something for everyone, isn't there?!

Miyabe: Since he's always positive when communicating with us and the staff, he's a friendly person, so I guess he'd be dagashi. The fact that he's loved by all ages, genders and generations is also appealing.

Hino: I'm relieved you gave a good answer (laughs).

"And, TV Life will start running your "Relay Series" beginning with this issue."

All: Alright! (clapping).

Chinen: Our seniors had also decided on their title. What should we do?

Miyabe: It should include "Gavv."

Hino: Definitely! I'd prefer it to be catchy and easy to remember, but…

Miyabe: I think serializations are a place where each person's individuality can come out, so how about "GavvPare!," which would be a lineup that reflects the essence of Gavv? (from "onparedo" = lineup)

Chinen & Hino: Oh~! Sounds good!

Miyabe: It'd be great if people could get to know the show and us throughout the series.

Chinen: Yeah. The first one will be mine. Once again, we look forward to your support over the coming year! _

GavvPare! Vol.1 (Chinen Hidekazu)

Q. Tell us your memories of sweets!

A. When I was a child, there was a rule in the Chinen house where sweets were only allowed on weekends, and so that in itself lead to a strong desire to eat sweets. Naturally, I didn't take eating them for granted, so I was really happy to spend time on the weekends choosing and eating my favorite sweets. By the way, when I had a craving for something sweet on a weekday, I'd chew on sugar cane as a substitute for sweets. (laughs).

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kingdomoftyto · 2 years ago

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I'm crying laughing, the DVDs are even worse than I remember... Season 1's menus are silent with a single static jpg of the same key character art they use for everything else, and the episodes on the Season 2 discs don't even match what's listed on the box! Absolutely stunning lack of shits given. Truly unparalleled. But I really shouldn't be surprised given... well... everything about how this series has been treated since the very beginning.

Time for a quick ~✨PHANDOM HISTORY LESSON✨~ to give newer/less hyperfixated folks more context for why the graphic novel being as great as it is is such a HUGE deal:

Danny Phantom was one of Nickelodeon's MAIN cartoons, in its time. It was a central pillar. One of the top three or four of their lineup, which is saying something when the competition includes the cultural juggernaut that is Spongebob.

Despite this, and despite its superhero theming making it perfectly marketable, it got basically ZERO official merch.

What little we did get was often ugly and very, very cheap. The dedication at the start of the graphic novel that jokes about collecting the Burger King toys? That's because it was some of the most notable merch the franchise EVER had. (I sadly do not have any of it. There was no BK in my hometown. Here's a pic from the internet, though, to give you an idea.)

If you think I'm exaggerating about that being the most significant physical merch to come out of the series, consider that the first video game had an entire menu option specifically for the Burger King promotional tie-in:

That video game, by the way, was one of only two ever based on the show. The first was an adaptation of "The Ultimate Enemy" in the style of a short sidescrolling beat-em-up, and the second was themed around "Urban Jungle" and (as far as I can tell--I've only played the first couple levels) was an arcade-style scrolling shooter. Both were for the Gameboy Advance, and both are...... fine, as far as cash-grabby video game tie-ins to kids' shows go. This was pretty normal for the time, so I suppose we did okay in that department, actually. They're not GOOD, but they're playable and have at least a bit of effort put into them.

But besides those two video games (plus a handful of simple, long-defunct Flash games on nick.com)? In the decade and a half since the show ended?

Nothing.

No books, no games, no comics, no web shorts--unless you count mega-crossovers with every other Nicktoon (a la Nicktoons Unite), or soulless promotional material like "Fairly Odd Phantom" (which, trust me, despite being the first new DP animation in over 10 years was not even worth the effort of watching).

...I think there was a limited edition FunkoPop once?

So yeah.

A Glitch in Time is not just the first cool, well-made thing we've seen from the franchise in a while. It's the first THING we've seen since the show. PERIOD. And arguably the first worthwhile supplementary material to EVER come out of the show, depending on how you feel about those GBA games and the Nicktoons crossovers.

This franchise is widely beloved even now, almost 20 years after it first aired, and it feels like that fact is now, finally, FINALLY getting some official recognition.

PLEASE read A Glitch in Time. Tell other people about it. The series--no, the fans--deserve this (and more of this, if the folks in charge see enough of a response and decide to grace us with any followup). It's LONG overdue, but better late than never.

#Danny Phantom #this is why I've been losing my mind repeating ''please buy it'' over and over btw #this is the FIRST and maybe ONLY time we'll ever get to directly show support for the series #it is a uniquely huge deal for this fandom #it's totally fine if you can't (or just still won't) buy it of course but I am begging folks to consider it IF they can.#not for any moral guilting or anything just.... for me. for the fandom. (for yourself because it's a cool story lmao)#long post

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leidensygdom · 5 months ago

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And here we go! We're officially done with the Drow Secret Satan 2024- This time around we had 144 participants, who turned in a total of 165 files- If we don't take into account the people who decided to draw for every single participant. Which happened TWO times I think? Absolutely bonkers!! We also had only two surrogates this round

You can find the filled spreadsheet here: Click

And the art compilation folder here: Click

Next event in the line up is actually part of a completely new set, which I explained here in more detail. It's gonna be the Fae and Elven Secret Satan- Featuring all sort of faeries, feywild themed characters, and all types of elves under the sun. You can kinda have a full drow lineup tho. We decided to work on having more ample themes after holding some votes in the server, and I think it should be more accessible for everyone to limit less what we do allow in this new line up. So, don't miss your chance if you'd like to join those, we'll announce everything on Discord (ask me for a link! Not posting it here to avoid bots)

If you'd like to support the event and make sure we can keep running it, please consider checking @eaglewind13's and @plaguecleric's Ko-fis (and tumblrs-), who really help making the event happen. Or check out my Patreon- Even the lowest tier is a lot of help and it makes it possible for me to put the time needed on this, which is kind of a lot.

As always, thank you so much for taking part in the event, and making it a fun one! I'm a bit emotional over this one being the last Drow Secret Satan as it is, after so many years, but I hope the new events will be enjoyable nonetheless!

#drowsecretsatan2024 #dnd #dungeons and dragons #secret santa #secret satan #art trade #art event #art #ttrpg #artists on tumblr #digital art #illustration #pf2e #pathfinder

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nitewrighter · 25 days ago

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It’s amazing how adaptations can have so much effect on characters in the greater zeitgeist. Take for example, Superman could originally only jump high, it was the fleischer cartoons that gave him the power to fly.

So many fans thinking of raven and beast boy as a romantic pairing, to the point of becoming a couple in several comic continuities, was solely because of the 2003 cartoon (funny enough they didn’t even get together in that series, fans just liked the chemistry)

If you look back at the 80s new teen titans comics, there’s not even a hint of any of that. raven and gar were essentially different characters- at least raven was, more quiet and stoic than dry sarcasm. Gar seems largely the same, but from what i can gather many fans found him way more obnoxious.

I think they were even in different age groups, though if I’m wrong and they were closer in age, maybe the art style made gar look more boyish.

The only times classic Raven approached romance was a crush on dick, and one time she used her powers to make wally fall in love with her. If you told 80s comic fans you liked pairing her with gar, they’d look at you like you had a ton of that 80s coke.

It’s just fascinating from a fandom historian point of view

I mean, I think the major thing to keep in mind with the Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans and the 03 Show Teen Titans is that while it's the same characters, they were both being written for very different audiences. Like, you had the OG-OG Teen Titans where they were more or less being written for the younger DC audience and kind of giving them a standalone adventure with all of these Teen characters who had all been previously established as sidekicks. I feel that Wolfman/Perez's New Teen Titans was written for an older audience--but they were also written at a different time. The 80's were continuing to see fallout from the disappointments of cultural revolution in the 60's that colored much of the experiences of the 70's--these Teen Titans were creatively gestated in the face of the Satanic Panic, the Missing Children panic of 1979 to the mid-80's, and an upsurge of cult activities in the 70's. There's a reason one of their major recurring villains that was written specifically for them was Brother Blood. Like, these are all some pretty crazy things to throw at a young audience, but I do feel like the Wolfman/Perez Titans were meant to be kind of like a graduation from Middle Grade (OG lineup with Speedy, Aqualad, Wondergirl, etc) to Young Adult (Wolfman/Perez NTT). You go with darker themes, more variety in the team's levels of maturity, and honestly transitional levels of literature and themes between various ages and literacy levels weren't super developed at this point, so there are a lot of noticeably adult elements slapped into a story titled "Teen Titans."

Fast forward to 2003 and you're taking the Wolfman/Perez Teen Titans, and you're bringing them back to a sort of "late middle grade" level in terms of audience. I'll admit that the show buffed down a lot of the team's edges. I'm not crazy about what they did to Starfire, but honestly I think the changes they made with Raven's character significantly broadened her appeal for a reason. I didn't really get the vibe that the original Wolfman/Perez Raven was meant to be someone that readers really put themselves in the shoes of. Like, yeah she's an empath, but she was frequently put in these positions of spookiness and distance and untrustworthiness. The 03 show flipped that on its head by making Raven this very compassionate but deeply lonely character and kind of emphasizing that "Self-isolation because you don't want to cause harm to yourself or others" as a natural aspect of adolescent development. They made Raven younger because they were aiming for a younger audience, but they were still able to take aspects of Raven's character and plug them into that youth. I think the natural limits of show production also lent it to much fewer Soap Opera-y elements that could honestly be a headache in the comics and is proving to be a headache in longer-running shows (Young Justice...). This was a show that couldn't afford to collapse under its own weight, and it was already pushing the envelope by incorporating more anime-inspired elements.

#Teen Titans #DC

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project-sekai-facts · 6 months ago

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Hai sorry to be a bother just wanted to ask some stuff

1, do we have any guesses on who'll be the shop cards for new years?

2, do you think touya5 will have toukoha + VS 4 stars or is it too soon since kohanes last 4 star

3, since len isn't bfes, is he likely to be valentines? I'm guessing mmj len + tsukasa + minori

4, any guesses for white day lineup? I thought mb kohane and vbs luka and perhaps shizuku? But there's no real basis for that, just guessing

1. Imo, ena 2* and either Toya or An 3* (based on event logo)

2. Yes, unless there's a gap between NY and Toya5 because then you might be able to squeeze Akito onto the gacha

3. Yes and yes, unless they do N25 Len again + Mafuyu + Tsukasa

4. I agree as well, mainly because Suit Shizuku is easy to work with the butch theme from last year. My other option is Honami instead of Luka but she'll probably get on a hakolim at this rateJDHRHEJHRYE (sorry I'm processing the new schedule normally)

#asks #speculation

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takaraphoenix · 1 month ago

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Other than the obvious Lycanroc (werewolf), Houndoom (hellhound), Mismagius (banshee/witch),Ninetails, Zoroark, Delphox (fox) what pokemon would each character have?

Even if you're not a Pokemon fan this question will sometimes come up. I swear this question only exists because Pokemon is really popular

I just really need you to be more specific about the characters. Like, this is a fun thought experiment! I am, however, not answering 15+ characters in one ask? Sooo, I dunno, uh, get back to me with smaller portions and specific names? ;)

I'll do you Stiles for now though. But also, fair warning, while Pokémon is the only game I have ever played and regularly bought, I did drop off after Gen7 because it got annoying for me to have to buy a new fucking device to play the game on with every generation now. Also, the Pokémon designs got... meh, I didn't care for any in Gen8 or Gen9 so I never got into these. Which means my picks will be limited by the first seven generations. Also, I'm German, I play these in German, I don't know the English names so you're getting English/German names here so I actually understand what I'm talking about myself.

Now, I want Stiles to mostly have normal types. He is the boy who runs with wolves.

The starter was the hardest pick, but in the end I decided to go with a play on the Nemeton with Meganium/Meganie. It's a tree dinosaur, what's not to love. Perhaps also personal bias because she was the only plant starter I ever chose; I'm a practical person, I always pick water because water is the ultimate starter, it can beat fire through water attack and as soon as it learns its first ice attack, it also beats plants. If you play rock-paper-scissor and one of those three can beat the other two, then you always go with that.

Now, Ninetales/Vulnona feels like a must include due to the Nogitsune. I went with the Alola version because I think that fire doesn't fit the Nogitsune and sadly, Pokémon hasn't given Vulpix (oh I see we agree on that name, do we) the Eevee/Evoli treatment of just throwing every element on there (but they should, on account of the 13 types of kitsune). But since the Nogitsune made Stiles feel incredibly cold and ice fits better to darkness than fire, I'm picking Alola.

Eevee/Evoli because I like to assign an Eeveelution to characters, sue me, Pokémon went hard on that one. And, again, normal types for Stiles. Also because I like the parallel of potential - Stiles as the Emissary, a Spark, a Left Hand, a Right Hand, an Alpha, a kitsune, or staying human.

Now, Zigzagoon/Zigzachs was actually the first Pokémon to pop into my head for Stiles!! Because of the Pickup ability! Boy got sticky fingers and he needs a Pokémon with sticky fingers!

Noctowl/Noctuh because owls are seen as wide/clever, because I want mostly normal types for Stiles, and because there is a forest-theme that fits the whole Nemeton and Spark angle.

Teddiursa mostly the same as the owl, but also... it's a teddy with a moon on his forehead, how could I not. It fits the werewolf theme.

So, that's my pick for Stiles' Pokémon lineup! And the length of this answer is why I will absolutely not answer multiple ones in one ask. I have too many opinions and words xD

#Pokémon #Stiles Stilinski #Teen Wolf

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13as07 · 1 year ago

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Shogi Partner #1

(Shikamaru Nara)

[Artwork is not mine! Credit to Pixiv Id]

Requested by: Anonymous

Word Count: 3,385

Warnings and/or Pre-Notes:

Name Calling: Baby Girl, Fawn

Age Gap

Power Imbalance (Teacher/Student)

Borderline Pedophilia

Choking

Titty Play

Cheating

———————————————————————

"Come along," my Father orders, his long fingers waving me forward, trying to beckon me along.

"I don't get why you can't keep training me," I mutter, dragging my feet as much as possible. There's not much stalling to do since Dad is only a few steps away, but that doesn't stop me from trying.

"We've talked about this, Baby Girl," Dad starts his repeated speech, slinging an arm over my shoulders once I'm close enough for him to grab onto. He uses his hold to stop any attempts at escaping and to continue moving me forward. "You just graduated from the academy and despite how amazing of a shinobi I am, I'm not equipped to train you in the things you excel at. Your dear Dad is great at the bronze department, not so much the brains department."

"So, what? You're going to thrust me into the arms of Uncle Genma?"

Dad lets out a rippling chuckle, his arm bending upward to ruffle my hair. "Uncle Genma hates all children, besides you. I'm not going to tempt that changing by asking him to train you. Besides, there's a Shinobi five or six years older than you that'll be better fitted as your Sensei. He's got the whole brains thing going for him too. I think you two will be a nice challenge for each other."

"Whatever you say," I mutter under my breath, not fully believing Dad. Since the end of the war, he's been set on finding the best-fitted Sensei for my 'brains' as he calls them. No one on the lineup has been beneficial enough for my Father.

The few that have passed him have ended up getting shot down by his best friend; Genma, who swears that they're either not smart enough to keep up with my 'growing mind' or give off perv vibes. I'd be more than happy to continue my training under Dad or with one of his friends, but I haven't gotten much of a say in who I train under, the event about to unfold being example one of that.

Our walk falls into a comfortable silence, Dad's body heat fighting off the beginning of the autumn chill that crawls across my skin. My eyes bounce around the landscape, looking over the same scenery I have the whole of my life. At least it's the same scenery until I'm pulled left, cutting through the border lines between Akimichi territory and Nara territory.

It doesn't take long until official markers of Nara territory filter into my sight, their clan symbols and a million different deer-themed decorations littered all over their property. I stay silent but eye Dad, trying to figure out who exactly he plans to have take over my training.

Soon enough, the distinct replica of every clan's headquarters filters into the landscape too, seeming like a sore thumb in comparison to the other architecture of the grounds. However, that's the case for almost every clan. Still, I stay silent as Dad leads me into the round building.

The same muddy green and smoky grey coats the Nara Clan Center as it does the rest of their grounds. Unlike the prosperity, the space is decorated with pictures of past Chiefs instead of antlers and artworks featuring the deer population.

"Hello," Dad greets the receptionist, his usual flirty airiness set in his voice that's always present when he's speaking to a woman he finds attractive. The only bigger flirt in the village than him is Uncle Genma. No wonder neither is married.

"Hello," the lady returns drily, unamusement in her tone. "How can I help you?"

"My daughter and I have a meeting with Shikamaru."

"At ten-thirty, yes, you do. It's currently ten-fifteen, Namiashi-San."

Dad shrugs his shoulders, eyes lazily trailing the wall before falling on the blonde again. "Better early than late, right?"

I almost gag at the sight of him checking her out, not an ounce of embarrassment on his face when his eyes lag on her chest. "Dad?"

Instantly, my Father's flirty act ends, his full attention on me. "Baby Girl?" He calls back, his usual gentle grin back on his face.

"You're acting like a pervert."

The color washes out of his face at the same time a satisfied smile crawls onto the lady's. A pout settles in place, enjoyment still swimming in his eyes. Slowly, his smile returns as he opens his mouth, ready to tease me back.

"It's good to see Iwashi isn't the only one keeping Genma and you in line, Raido."

Dad's eyes stay on me for a second, a soft encouraging smile being sent to me before he turns toward the mystery voice. "Ya, my daughter does a pretty good job at keeping my head on my shoulders," his voice rings out, an arm going up before resting on my back when I move to tuck myself into his side again. "Say hello, Baby Girl," he encourages, rubbing my back as he smiles down at me.

"Hello," I obey, slowly lifting my eyes off the ground to look at the person Dad has been talking to. Standing in front of us is a tall man, a few centimeters shorter than my Father, but still tall. He's a slim guy, the sort of beautifully slim that makes my cheeks heat up. Youthfulness is still melted into his expression, aged more than mine but not enough to be more than five or so years older.

"Hey," he greets, a blank expression on his face, making him seem even more handsome. His skin is pale and flawless, reminding me of freshly fallen snow. The rest of his features counter his skin tone but in a perfectly fitting way. The dark raven color of his hair is a nice contrast, especially paired with his dark-slitted eyes. I wouldn't be surprised if this guy walked straight off a photo shoot.

"Remember last week when you said you'd do anything for a decent shogi partner?"

"Ya," the guy carefully answers, slowly turning his focus back to Dad.

Dad clasps his hands onto my shoulders, gently pushing me toward the young adult. "My daughter has been undefeated for the past few years. Even beat Genma a handful of times."

"Genma's strategy is sloppy."

"Come on Shikamaru. Just one game."

"Why? What do you expect to gain from me playing a game of shogi with your daughter?"

"Well, I've been looking for someone fitting to take over her training now that she's graduated from the - "

"No," the man - Shikamaru - interprets, a tad of emotion swirling on his face. Disgust, maybe? Repulsion? "I have enough on my plate. I don't need or want to play teacher."

"Come on," Dad repeats, pushing me closer to the guy. The scent of pine and cigarette smoke mixes together and melts off him, only adding more heat to my cheeks. "She's smart. So smart. Choza says my Baby Girl reminds him of you at her age. It's a beneficial situation for both of you. One lesson per game of shogi. It really is - "

"If I say yes, will you leave me alone?" Shikamaru butts in again, his fingers pressed to his temples and rub circles into his skin.

"Yes."

"Fine."

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The Fawn I've been responsible for since... how long have I been playing shogi with Namiashi-Chan? I rest my chin on my folded hands, my eyes glued to the game board as I both wait for her to play her turn and think over how long our agreement has been going on.

She's been visiting me for lessons and a daily game since she graduated from the academy. My little Fawn graduated on time so she was what? Twelve? I think so. I was twelve when I graduated.

She just had a birthday three or four months ago. I know she did. Tamari and I took our son to it. How old did my Fawn turn? Sixteen? Seventeen? She's six years younger than me. How old am I? I was nineteen when Shikadai was born and he's four. So... I'm twenty-three, which makes my Fawn eighteen.

My eyes flicker up to glance at her, taking a quick look at her face. Over the years she's gotten better at hiding her thoughts and feelings during our games, but her eyes still widen and shrink in time with her thoughts and feelings, hence 'fawn'.

We had to leave early from her party because Shikadai had a meltdown when we told him no more cupcakes. She tried hard to hide her disappointment but it shinned in her eyes.

My Fawn looks nothing like she did when I left her party. She's empty-faced, her eyes glued to a single spot in another attempt not to give away her plans. During my leave from her party, her eyes were misty, and jumping around to avoid looking at me.

I'm not dumb or oblivious. I'm aware of my Fawn's feelings for me. She wears them quite openly, especially in recent years. Even now it's written all over her choices and body language. The bright lipstick to pull my attention to her mouth, the loose top and dangly anbu tags to pull my eyes down her shirt.

The anbu tags are carved with her father's information. The anbu tags worn with age to the point the 'do' in Raido and the 'mai' in Namiashi have started to fade. The anbu tags that had a section of chain replaced last month. The anbu tags that softly rise with my Fawn's breasts every time she breaths.

Not that I'm paying attention to the easy lust trap my Fawn set up. That would be inappropriate for multiple reasons. She's freshly eighteen. I met her when she was twelve and when I was seventeen. She's my student. I hold multiple layers of power over her; teacher, a village chief, Hokage advisor. I'm married, with a son. Happily married… Very happily married.

The sound of a playing piece clicking against the board snaps me out of my thoughts. Disgust with myself crawls up my throat as I yank my eyes away from my Fawn's chest. My eyes focus on the board instead, trying to figure out the play she made.

Now that her turn is over, Namiashi-Chan leans against her propped-up leg, her cheek squishing against her knee as she rests her head. Her lips are pressed tight together, the telltale sign that she found a hole in her strategy. Now, I just need to find it. "You're unusually quiet today," I comment, filling some of the space as I try to see what she sees unfolding on the board.

"Am I?" Lips back thin, hiding away the red paint lacing them.

I wonder if she smears her lipstick when she puts it on. Tameri always manages to put it on perfectly and complains when I mess it up. I bet the boys Fawn plays with like her lipstick smeared if there are any boys. I wonder how hot it would be, Namiashi-Chan's lipstick getting ruined because of her lips wrapping around my -

"Yes," I yelp, cutting off my train of thought. "Yes, you've been really quiet today." I think I'm going to be sick.

My Fawn's head tilts more, eyebrows pushed together as she looks me over. "I'm just thinking," she mutters, concern quickly water-falling over her features. "Are you okay, Sensei? You look like you're going to throw up."

"I'm fine." I'm just having perverted thoughts about you because of your slutty red lips and wide open top that teases the spilling of your titties. Oh, and your father's anbu tags. I'm sure your dad enjoys the fact men trail over a symbol of his career before looking down your shirt. "Sorry."

"For what?"

Calling your lipstick slutty and talking about you like you're a prostitute instead of a high-ranked shinobi. "Being so busy recently. Temari has been anxious about Shikadai starting preschool next week." Technically, not a lie... I think.

I wouldn't know how Temari is feeling. The last year has been rough for us. Constant fights about my work, about our son's future, about her want to move us to the Sand Village, about both of us refusing to retire to ensure at least one of us will come home alive. I can't just leave my Clan, retiring as a Shinobi and moving out of the village both mean that would have to happen. I refuse to abandon my post as chief. It's not what would be good for my people. It's not what my Father would want.

"It's alright. When you told me Temari was pregnant I figured your plate would be fuller. Don't worry so much, Sensei," my Fawn tries to comfort me, her lips spread into a smile. It's concerning how red her lips are. It can't just be lipstick.

My eyes trail over her father's tags again, wondering how plumper her breasts would get if she got pregnant. Temari went up a full cup size. Would my Fawn's boobs grow that much too? How round would her belly get? How adorable would she be waddling around stuffed full with my child? My child... Shikadai. Temari. Fawn... baby deer. A fawn is a baby deer, and Namiashi-Chan is a baby adult.

Another wave of nausea hits me, the acid of my stomach roaring to try and get out. Why do my thoughts keep wondering? Especially to a place as dark as that? What kind of man thinks about impregnating their student? A girl they've known since before her teen years? A terrible man. I'm a terrible man.

"Sensei?" Namiashi-Chan whispers, pulling my attention out of my thoughts. Once I'm focused on her again, the perverted dark thoughts come crashing down again. She's leaned across the table, concern forcing her cherry lips into a deep frown, and her hand pressed against my forehead. "Are you sure you're fine? You're really pale and your forehead feels warm."

Instantly my eyes drop down, investigating the way this position makes her chest look. Her boobs are pressed further up, teasing the neckline of her shirt even more. The thought of sliding my dick between her tits flickers through my mind, making me feel sicker, my disgust with myself only deepening when my dick twitches. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Do you want me to fetch you some medicine? Or water?"

Her big doe eyes are locked on me, drowning in worry and drowning my penis in a rush of blood. I wonder how her eyes would look while sucking me off. How'd they look while I'm fucking her? Like this? Round, soft, and so full of life? Or would they be more hardened, focused, constantly changing depth like they do while she's concentrating?

Before the head on my shoulders can get a say, I'm leaning forward, trailing my nose across her cheek as I get in position to kiss her. My hand jumps, fingertips sliding under the chain lying across her neck. The second my lips brush against hers, my hand falls into place below her jawline, wrapping around her throat and gently gripping it. Enough for my Fawn to feel the pressure but not enough to cut her breathing short.

A second of shock runs through my Fawn before she's present in the kiss too, her lips still slightly pasty. Something that makes me feel worse about myself but equally good brews in my chest, knowing her lipstick is still wet because she put it on just for me.

My fingers tighten around her throat, testing the waters of her reaction. A small hmph of pleasure spills from her, getting sucked down my throat when I part my lips. My tongue slips out, forcing its way into her mouth, another sound bubbles from my pretty Fawn when I get my way.

Again, the head straining against my pants wins out the command war, my free hand finding its way to her waist. I ball up the material of her shirt, yanking it upward until the hem is sliding against my fingers. My touch slides under Fawn's shirt, slowly trailing across her ribs before tracing the band of her bra.

The sounds overflowing from Namiashi-Chan are as sweet as the taste of her mouth, coated in the flavor of sugar and the lingering mint taste of her toothpaste. "Shikamaru," my name comes out shaky and jumbled as it gets eaten up by our kisses. How long has it been since I've heard my name in such a way? Breathless. Sweet. Needy. Intoxicating.

My fingers squirm their way under her bra, sliding upward to cup her breast. It's warm against my palm and as soft as I'd expect. My Fawn has always looked soft, sweet, and innocent. But, I'm not stupid. I know the stuff teenagers get up to. I wonder what the list of naughty things Namiashi-Chan has done consists of.

A jagged moan jerks out of her lungs when the pads of my fingers find her nipple, twirling it between them before pinching it every few seconds. I pull back from her, less than half an inch to suck a breath into my burning lungs.

I take the time to look her over, picking at the reactions she's having to my attention. Her chest is heaving, lips parted with her tongue threatening to poke out as she pants, and her eyes are half hooded, a perfect mix of the soft doe eyes I enjoy so much and arousal. My little Fawn is a sensual type it seems, getting excited simply from touching. I wonder how excited she'd get if I touched her elsewhere.

Her hand which was resting on my forehead for a fever check is now gripping my shoulder like a lifeline. Like I'll vanish into thin air if she lets me go. "Namiashi-Chan?" Her eyes widen a tad from her name rolling off my tongue, the reaction making my dick ache even more. She's so aware of everything all the time, as perfect of a mini-me as a student could get. I wonder how aware she'd be of my tongue twirling her nipple instead of my fingertips.

My request sticks in my throat, feeling like the only thing holding my sickness down at the moment. What in the world am I doing? I shouldn't have kissed her, I shouldn't be touching her like this, I shouldn't have caused her to look at me like she is right now.

"Go home," I whisper, reluctantly pulling my hands off of her. Instantly they feel chilled without my Fawn's body heat to keep them warm. Her neck looks empty too, without my fingers wrapped around it.

"What?" My chest hurts at the sight of her emotions crashing down.

Her eyes are wider, dewy from my order, but still swirling with lust. The corners of her lips are pointed down, her forehead scrunched with confusion. My poor Fawn, emotionally wrecked and upset because of me. Her chest is still pumping, an attempt to keep her emotions in control and locked down I'm sure. Young girls are so emotional, so easily swayed to tears. That doesn't mean I feel any better about coercing her tears.

"Go home, Namiashi," I repeat, trying to keep my tone even and soft. I'm the adult in this situation, the teacher, the person of power, this is my fault, not hers. Does she know that? I hope she does. "Tell your father to meet with me tomorrow as well. I would like to discuss my replacement as your Sensei."

"What? No," she babbles, her tears winning the inner battle and sliding down her cheeks. I bet they're as sweet as the rest of her.

My chest feels wallow because of the sight, because of what I've done and what I have to do. If I can't control myself, I can't be around her. It's the appropriate response in this situation. It's what's best for my Fawn. It's what's best for my marriage and for my son too. That doesn't mean it hurts any less, having to walk away from her. Knowing I just destroyed Namiashi-Chan's whole world, that I held her heart for less than five minutes before shattering it. Knowing I lost another one of my shogi partners.

"Go home."

———————————————————————

#naruto shippuden #naruto shippuden oneshot #naruto shippuden x reader #shikamaru nara #shikamaru nara x reader #shikamaru x reader #shikamaru nara oneshot #shikamaru oneshot

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sunniedesi · 5 months ago

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All Future Diary Merch (Part 3)

~~ A comprehensive list

The final finale finally, under the cut!

~ TCG games

While I’ve seen a couple trading card games feature cards with Yuno, or characters who very closely resemble her appearance, Future Diary has only had two official trading card games to my knowledge (both of which I’ve made in-depth posts about in the past):

Victory Spark

Project Revolution

Bushiroad, the company that created Victory Spark, also released other TCG goodies, such as two sets of card sleeves and a card-holder themed after Future Diary.

~ Pachinko and Pachisuro

I’m planning on making a more detailed post about this in the future, so I’ll hold off on the details for now. Like many popular franchises in Japan, Future Diary has two slot machines: a pachinko and pachisuro. You can find many videos of the animation and gameplays on Youtube.

youtube

~ Another World

This is another one I’m planning to talk about more in-depth in the future, but Future Diary had a live-action adaptation that was released shortly after the anime. It is titled “Future Diary: Another World.” I’m mentioning it here because it has a few products associated to it:

The Another World DVD/Blu-Ray set. The limited edition set included a special DVD box and 50-page booklet (which also included an Esuno interview).

The show’s theme song in disk form.

A Deus (live action ver.) keychain. I've seen it before, but can't find the picture for the life of me, so just imagine this exact image with a keyring.

Postcards drawn by Esuno, which feature the leads of the show in the manga’s style.

Also, random fact: Nissan was one of the sponsors behind this show (yes, the car company) and they made a series of video adverts featuring this same illustration as an end-card. We only have an image of the ad, as none of the adverts have yet to surface online (yay, lost media). All we know about the adverts is that they followed a short and unique storyline about a girl who gained a Future Diary called the "Diet Diary," as she's trying to lose weight (gotta give it to Japan for inserting weight loss in literally anything, including car comercials).

~ Illustrated Cards/Papers

I left the best for last. And by best I mean the one that drove me the most nuts, because there is a ton of promotional cards for Future Diary. A great portion of these came as “thank you” gifts for purchasing a volume of the manga, others were part of limited edition promos, and others I’m not too sure of their origin. I can't show each card individually due to Tumblr's photo limit, so I created a few lineups to show them together. I hate doing this because it nerfs the little quality these pictures have, but it is what it is.

To start, the guidebook thankfully compiles plenty of the illustrated papers:

The guidebook goes into detail about where each one of these is from (look forward to the TL for that!), but to keep a long story short, these came as "thank you" notes for purchasing a volume of the main series or one of the spin-offs.

In the same vein as that, there are other three cards I've found online which came as "thank you" gifts for purchasing the manga. These don't appear in the guidebook for some reason, though:

The first one appears to be for volume 6 (can't be too sure since I can't read it), the second is for volume 2 and the third for volume 9. Also, the art from the first card is actually scrapped art that Esuno once posted on his blog!

Besides the papers, some editions of the manga also came with bonus poster cards. I think these might've been for special editions of the manga, but I'm not entirely certain:

The first from the top is from volume 8, the second from volume 7, and the third is actually from the special edition of the first DVD volume. The first from the bottom is from volume 9, and the next one from volume 6.

As I mentioned earlier, some illustrated cards were created as promotional material. Such is the case for a famous store in Akihabara called "Gamers," which produced some limited edition Future Diary cards. How many of these cards exist is a mystery to me, but I know of at least these six:

Note: the photo of the Minene card on the top-right has sample text I couldn't remove, so it's not supposed to look like that. Very annoying.

While it feels good to know where everything comes from, we can't always be so lucky. This last lineup I call: who, what and why are you?

If anyone knows the origin of these weird little guys, please let me know! Also, this is certainly not all the illustrated cards and papers that exist, but they're all I can get ahold of. Again, if anyone has more to share, please do.

Bonus: does anyone remember that Lucky Star x Future Diary art? It was actually made into a tosho card!

This marks the end of the merch list. If you've made it through all three parts, thank you! This is one of three larger posts I had planned for a while, but it’s been on the backburner due to the sheer amount of information I needed to parse through. It soon became pretty overwhelming. However, I think I managed to curate everything to the best of my abilities. I know some stuff is likely still missing, but I’m satisfied with having covered most of it. As I mentioned earlier in the post, my other two projects involve diving deeper into the live action and the pachinko. They’re also pretty overwhelming, but hopefully they won’t be sitting in the backburner as long as this one. Till then, toodles (^.~)〜☆

#future diary #mirai nikki #the future diary #yuno gasai #anime #sakae esuno #manga #anime merch #future diary merch #mirai nikki merch

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extra-vertebrae · 1 year ago

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Hello! I followed u an eon ago on a different account, and am so excited to see ur art come up on my feed again. Idk if this is the best place to send this; Id feel awkward sending a whole email for this and I dont have a twitter anymore (dumpster fire.) i love all ur designs, but I keep coming back to ur pokemon ones. I’m so fond of them. It makes me want to experiment w body horror art.

I know ppl have sent u mean-spirited asks in the past abt them. I just want to say: I went thru ur old art and said a variation of “aww, a cutie!” Or “oh, poor babyyy :(“ in the occasion that their breeding has created things like chronic pain. At no point was I thinking. Idk, they were ugly or mean (to the pokemon franchise)? To me, ppl like that just have bad taste 🤷🏽‍♀️

I do wanna see more of ur original stuff, certainly! Im just being nostalgic rn.

Thank you so much for your message! I'm glad you still enjoy those old designs, and that they're inspiring you to give body horror themes a try!

Thankfully most of those types of messages are gone, though I'm sure my lack activity in the Pokemon space since then has probably helped a lot in this regard.

Haha, I still find a lot of them pretty cute, too. There's some good design shapes and ideas in some of those older pieces that maybe I can recycle and refine or develop into something new someday.

I definitely would like to share more original work; I'm going through a sort of transitional phase with my art at the moment, so there isn't much to share that I legitimately feel like posting. I can, however, share this lineup of vehicular characters that were sketched up some weeks ago for Funky Town:

I've always had a general appreciation for mechanical shapes and design; I've learned that that general appreciation runs deeper than anticipated, so hard surface focused / adjacent design has been where my mind has been at recently.

#ask #that thing called art #digital #funky town

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popculturebuffet · 3 months ago

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Earth Day Special 2025: Simpsonrama! Trash of the Titans and A Big Piece of Garbage

Happy earth day all you happy people! It's a day to remember our fragile our planet is, how much we need to fight for it and for me it's a now yearly occasion to review media with an environmental message.

Last year we did a big ole special where I looked at how you shouldn't pollute the water land or sea or else Ted Turner will fucking kill you, that OK KO still does crossovers like no one else, that even a large effort to do a small thing is worth it and that while children should be aware of the environment we should be careful to not terrify them into nearly killing themselves into it. I also tried finding someone to ship with this dog. WHy I did this here I do not know but look at her

She can deadlift a grown man, come on people. This shouldn't be this hard.

Anyways for this year as you can tell by the title i'm looking at two classic episodes from two classic shows. I forgot to see if Disenchantment had any to complete the trinity.

Still we've got a stacked lineup with a theme: Garbage. I certainly let it pile up and with enviromental regulations getting worse in a lot of places, makind's callous dumping of it's refuse is not going away. What these episodes spotlight well is that most enviormental disaster is throughly due to human lazieness, callousness and short sighteness. That not thinking about tommorow.. screws us sooner than we'd admit. They also have tenure, homer getting beat up to U2, Cage Rattling, crossovers and a doodle of the professor dressed as a cowboy. So without further delay let's look at these two fine episodes to learn some more about the sorry state of humanity in a fun way.

Trash of the Titans (The Simpsons, Season 9, Episode 22)

Trash of the Titans is an episode I fondly rememebered from my childhood for the gag above and for homer cloroforiming people randomly and jamming with the who. But with the episodes shoddy reputation I was curious if it held up.

Turns out.. it did. Also turns out my brain mushed it together with later episode a Tale of Two Springfields, the actual episode with the bad rep and rampant chloroformings. May talk about that one someday, don't know.

For today though we're talking about this underated gem. I was blown away with how wonderfully joke dense this episode is, even more when looking up the episode's writer. Ian Maxtone-Grahm has written some fantastic episodes: The Seemingly Never Ending Story and the Blunder Years.. and some of the series most infamous episodes. The Maude Killing Alone Again Natura-Diddly, plastic surgery romp "Large Marge' and the utterly baffling a Scorpions Tale which can be best summed up visually

So it's a suprise that this episode... is amazing. Every joke lands, and the episode runs smoothly. It also pulls off something few episodes of it's era could do: a fantastic Jerkass Homer Story.

For those less familiar with this discourse: While homer simpson was always a bit of an asshole

But episodes in the teen years had him forcing his children to cut lemons for him, leaving his father to die after making his kidney's explode, being ultimately responsible for the death of Maude Flanders, renting out Lisa's room without her consent and the only classic of the bunch

The thing his homer being an ass, as shown by all of these, macing included, is to either have homer learn a lesson or make it funny, which most jerkass homer material failed to do.

Trash of the Titans does homer as a hilarious spiteful dumbass perfectly. He's a stupid rageful idiot whose too out of touch with reality to be reasoned with and is destroying a working institution out of petty spite. A promising start for a politican. I mean then he was just running for sanitation comissioner but now he could be president, governor or outsmarted by an 8 year old at the democractic convention. The possiblities are truly endless.

Homer here isn't SUPPOSED to be likeable: the conflict starts because he refuses to take the trash out, as last one to fill it does it and he lets it build till he accidently knocks it over. I don't like taking out the trash either and can relate to his attitude while doing so

But I get it's just something you have to do and i'ts entirely his fault. Well his and the corprate overlords who created new holiday love day. I love all the love day jokes: homer's petty petulance at not getting the right bear, the execs dragging out the one guy who says they have enough money and the name being a placeholder they just.. went with, cutting rom an exec saying 'Something like love day but better" to Marge loudly proclaiming happy love day.

Homer further compounds thing when the trash truck drives away..and he insults them. And while they DO beat him up rathe than explaning things he just tried to meekly backpedal instead of apologizing.

That's what keeps fucking homer up here and in a time when america's only doubling down more, it's made the episode age perfectly. Homer just WILL not accept responsiblity for his actions and instead lets the trash pile up refusing to think about anyone else. Flanders suffers with the trash flood, though we at least get Rod's most iconic moment out of it so it's not all bad teddy

I'm not one for a grossout gag.. but damn if this isn't funny. I forgot that was this episode. just.. perfect every part of it.

Marge get's attacked by the lady who lives in their garbage ("That's not the way SHE tells it") and Bart gets black plauge ("It's like the measles, good to get it out of the way"), forcing marge to forge Homer's signature, only revealing such when Homer gloats about winning. And since it isn't something frivolous like a will, Homer goes to confront the comissioner

The Comissioner is Ray Patterson, played by comedy legend Steve Martin. Martin is the master of the deadpan so pairing him up with homer as Patterson gets further exasperated with homer's weird shit and belief that patterson is some crusty nemisis when the man is calmly giving the letter back and entirely cordial. A specially stupid, arrogant and hate filled homer needs a nice calm counter and when marge can't do it, Ray is a perfect foil, leading to the fantastic bird cage scene. Martin and Castelneta have great chemistry and every scene with the two, which is sadly only three, is fantastic.

So homer decides to run for Sanitation commissioner. Problem is he has no platform and ray actually does his job well so he can't convince his co workers. So he decides to rock the vote!

This leads to a wonderful set piece and one of the best uses of a real life guest star i've seen, the band U2. Now i'm not a U2 fan. Just can't quite get into their music, nothing personal, don't seem like bad guys.. but damn do they bring it here. Their used just enough and the concert set piece leads to a ton of great gags. Homer getting backstage by just carrying a sack of potatoes and saying "potato man" in an irish accent ("Finally where've you been?"), hyjacking the monitors, then only not getting carried away because Bono finds Sanitation Comission elections vital, taking a nice bit of piss out of himself for his enviromentalist nature. We also get this bit when Edge and.. uh another guy plan to go out for drinks

And of course Homer beefing it by trying to sound hip, dancing awkwardly and getting carried off leading to comedy gold. The actual song plays over it, it's awesome

Homer's Campaign is pretty much fucked until he goes to , oh let's say moe.. because it is Moe. Moe is exactly as good at campaign staregy as he looks

Taknig Homer's offhand "Can't someone else do it" as a useful slogan and pointing out all homer has to do is just.. be a jackass to his opponent. It's not a guarnateed win but as we've seen in politics petty insults DO work.

So Homer goes on the offensive, claming ray drinks, cutting his breaks so he gets to the debate late, claming he's too old despite only being two years older.. which let's be fair, steve martin , who patterson is modeled off has always had silver hair that makes his age pretty much impossible to determine. He's always looked like he's on the later side of middle age even as a 20 something or currently at (googles) 79?! god damn.

So Patterson asks what voters want: actual comptience or impossible to maintain promises and jackassery. Yeah this episode has aged INCREDIBLY well: it was slightly farcial back then.. nomw ti's just.. the world we live in and entirely on point for how fucked it is. Patterson works even better as a character because he just wants to know what everyone's huffing. How is homer fucking simpson the better option to everyone?

Homer shockingly DOES keep his promises of full service, shiny uniforms and a full on musical number, a parody of the candyman, cleaning everyone's trash, cleaning up after them and generally being the best. It's a good idea.. but finacially a disaster as homer runs through FOUR MILLION DOLLARS in a month.

So to avoid being horsewhipped out of office, Homer does the homer thing: get lazy and shady real fast. Which given we started with him yelling at garbage men and shaking a bird, isn about a two second brisk walk to get a suitcase full of money in exchange for pumping other cities garbage into town. I know a lot of this review is just pointing out good gags.. and that's because this episode is pure excuse plot. The whole comission race and homer's stupidity is just an excuse for jokes.

There have been MANY a good simpsons episodes from past to present with detailed character journeys and great plots, some that twist the entire show on ti's head like the recent Bart's Birthday. And some like this one.. are just an excuse to make as many gags as possible. This is on the same page as say "Last Exit to Springfield". It's not as good as that one, but few episodes of television are. The fact this one approaches that level of quality says a lot. It dosen't have quite as many standout jokes, but it has more than enough, like everyone speculating on how homer got the money

It's just so wonderfully dense with good humor.

This leads to our climax.. the town starts explodign with garbage and after homer is both removed from his position and horsewhipped, Ray is returned and enters to the sanford and son theme, tells the town fuck you you brought this on yourselves and leaves to the sandford and sun theme. it's a fantastic gag, and delightfully random. It' spart of it's charm. And findign out it's a refrence.. dosen't make it any less uniquely weird; Red Foxx, star of Sanford and Son entered a show to his theme music, found almost no one is there and just.. booked it to the same music. It's such a gloriously shitty thing to do and such an oddly specific pull that still works without that context.

So we get our ending which is the only part of the episode I don't like. They just.. move the town five yards. THere's a few good jokes, Homer deciding to go to moes which is right behind them thanks to the move and a play on the crying native american on the side of the road.. whose friend tells him not to look behind him at the ruins of springfield.

Trash of the Titans.. is truly excellent. It has fun satire about how horrible politics is tha'ts more true than ever, but it's mostly dedicated to just cramming a ton of great jokes in, using Steve martin well but not overdoing it, and making a shocking good use of it's musical guests. Celebrites who aren't already comedians or actors can be a crapshoot on the simpsons: some don't really know what to do, but U2 did and Bono clearly knew how to play into this world well. I highly recommend this one if you haven't seen it before, criminally underrated.

A Big Piece of Garbage (Futurama, Season 1, Episode 8)

Unlike Trash of the Titans , A Big Piece of Garbage is a foundational episode of futurama. It's the first apperance of

Along with my good friend Morbo, his co host linda, and Mayor Poopenmeyer. It's also the first of many plots that affect the whole of the earth. It's still centered on New New York, but big plots with consequences for the whole planet became more and more the norm as the series went on. They aren't every episode , as it'd loose effect, but their still more common than the delivery of the week episodes that make up the bulk of season 1 and this episode is the blueprint.

This episode comes to us from Lewis Morton, who has some true classics in his credits: Fry and the Slurm Factory, the Late Phillip J Fry, the human bender segment for Anthology of Interest and Raging Bender. The first two in paticular are easy candiates for a best of episode list.

A Big Piece of Garbage was suprising on this rewatch in that while I still LIKE the episode, it was one of my faviorites of the season and one I always loved when it came on Adult Swim as a tween and teen, it's a lot more sluggish than I remember.

See I forget a lot that season one of Futurama, like most season 1's feels diffrent. Simpsons had a bunch of characters we'd never see again and a vastly diffrent homer voice, The Great North tried pushing Allison more, and Bobs Burgers was a bit meaner. It's all on the road to building a better show and even ones who know what they are still have room to grow and change.

In this case Futurama was a bit smaller in scale. It was still a planet hopping sci fi, but it mostly focused on the delivery aspect. Half of the broadcast order season 1 (Production order is complicated for this series), are delivery stories. They do go off in thier own directoins, but all start with planet express and the delivery still plays a major plot role. The four episodes at the end of the first production season (and the only time I disagree on using the production seasons as flight to remember really feels like the season 2 premire more than I second that emotion), on the other hand, are just fun sci fi shenanigans. Mars University uses a delivery for the setup and Flight to Remember has the gang back from a horrible delivery they almost quit over.. but with both you could remove the delivery aspect easily without changing the plot. It becomes what the show really is: an excuse to do fun sci fi concepts, worldbuilding and character jokes.

The character is also a large reason why this season feels slightly off: Professor Farnsworth is largely there, with him not having the crew go to ebola 9 as he "wants them all alive", but he's more restrained: he dosen't have his later anger aside from WERNSTROM, and thus his plans for a science symposim he takes the crew to are just to "put those young whippersnapers in their place". His absentmindneess is played up way more with him forgetting he already used his new invetnion the death clock last year... twice. I admit while parts of this episode weren't as funny as I remember, the professor thinkin g"Maybe some sort of death clock" still gets me every time.

This opening set piece.. just dosen't work for me and i'm not sure it ever did. Later future set pieces pack in plenty of great little gags on the sides, from sight gags to quick one off jokes

The gala here just... hammers on the same jokes: those in attendence are all old, yet the ones besides farnsworth are treated as old whippersnappers. GET IT, GET IT, GET IT... it's just.. boring especially given Futurama does do better age jokes as the series goes on.

The professor's actual presentation, which I used as to represent this episode, is gold. The coffe ground, the bumbling delivery and of course "a doodle of me dressed as a cowboy. "

The plot just kidna. .meanders. The professor buitl the smell o scope already. We do get a great joke with Uranus being renamed to end that joke.. to Urectum. A joker I never got as a kid but as an adult.. another gag that just never fails to get a smile out of me. Billy West's delivery of "Urectum" is just so perfectly deadpan.

Our heroes soon smell a smelly smell that smells smelly, a giant garbage meteor. The concept is inspried: New York sent all it's trash off on a barge in the early 21st century, couldn't get any other country to take it so they shot it up into space. It's fun as hell, nicely high concept.. but also good satire without beating people over the head. The episode has a nice theme about how humanity often solves problems.. by quickly taping over them and hoping they won't live to see the consequences of their actions. Instead of finding an efficent way to recycle or anything else Old New York just shot trash into space and given how things are going, I woudlnn't be shocked if some smarmy billionare tried it today.

To save the earth though our heroes have to get past the foe of all selfless endevours: petty spite. Specifically wernstrom is the mayor's science advisor... and h'es easily passed by as they get a message from neptune. This episodes pacing is just.. not great? There's not a lot of time to build up the urgency and most of the jokes , with a few great exceptions are loaded into the back half of act 2 here and act 3. My fond impression in hindsight mostly comes from that second half of the episode.

It is a good half thougH: our heroes are sent to blow up the garbage ball and we get the god tier simpsons refrence we opened with. IT's also a bit of a continuity gafe nowawayds as bender.. is fully simpsons canon. He lived with them for an episode and currently sits in their basement, for the third time in his life (not counting all the paradox clones), taking the slow path to the future. I also love that they did that, that's a runner in simpsons that Bender's just.. in the simpson basement now, and that in futurama bender just.. constantly gets stranded in the past and takes the easy way home.

They DO get a good "the professor's slipping with age" gag as while most of his "he's senile get it gags' dont' work (not helped that senility isnt all that funny to me after knowing someone who had alhimzers), him accidently making the timer way too short because he read the directions upside down kills me. As does fry nearly choking on a six pack ring.

With the armageddon plan failed the Mayor turns to wernstrom for the best bit of the episode, requesting tenure and grad students.. then leaving because "i'm set for life". As for why he's not arrested..

The solution is clever though, true classic futurama. While the earlier episodes have a different feel they still have the series ingenuity, In this case fry of all people has a valid plan. I mean he wasn't at his dumbest yet.

But still isn't bright enough that this isn't a suprise. It' ssomething Il ike about fry: even when he becomes really dumb as the series goes on. .he can still be clever on his feet.

His solution: make another garbage ball, something more difficult than it sounds as it's established everything's recycled in the future. Him just casually makign everything garbage including "this photo of your wife" I also love bender's face when after he smashes a bottle the Mayor demands his assitant to "Get this robot more beer!

Perfect facial animation here. John DiMaggio sadly dosen't get a ton to do but the animators give bender a LOT this episode.

The final scene is , like the U2 scene in the other episode this special just.. one great gag after another after another. From wernstrom hoping he's right only to realize if he is then he's gonna die, to the professor counting the same numbers over again, to fry missing the button, cumilating in a great heartbeat gag i'd replicate if I could you just gotta see it. If you have you know and the earth being saved. And I love the ending: Leela questions won't the new garbage ball just come back.. but Fry brushes it off as the future's problem. Once again humanity saves itself.. only to dick itself down the line.

A Big Piece of Garbage is okay. Not as good as I remember but it not only has a lot of important setup for the series, Farnsworth's rivarly with WERNSTROM, the debut of Morbo (Which isn't super funny but it gives us morbo and that's enough), and the first disaster plot. It's a step towards what the show would be. It's not as strong as other season 1 episodes as it lacks the emotional components of "A Fish Full of Dollars" and "My Three Suns" , isn't as consiently jokey as say loves labours lost in space and dosen't combine the two like "The Series has Landed. " Granted that episode casts a large shadow as despite being the second it not only helps with more setup, but is character rich and joke dense. I mean an episode that has this

Is hard to beat. All in all a solid duo. So give a larbage, thorow out your garbage and thanks for reading.

#earth day #the simpsons #futurama #homer simpson #marge simpson #phillip j fry #professor farnsworth #bender bending rodriguez #wernstrom #animation #fox #steve martin #a big piece of garbage #trash of the titans

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