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oatmealwrites · 1 month ago

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Catch Kira, Not Feelings! Ch.2

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L x Fem!Reader

Part 1 | Part 3

Ch.2 is finally done hehehe

this fr a slow burn so the plot takes the longest for me to write. SFW (for now, some NSFW in later chapters hehe)

Word Count: 5.7k

Masterlist

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You knew fieldwork wasn’t always chasing bad guys and psychoanalyzing strangers to look for clues, but this was excruciatingly boring. Even more so than you initially thought.

With Light as an undergraduate and you as a master’s student, you shared the criminology building but not the same floors or classes. While he attended large intro-level lecture halls about the basics of criminology, you sat in specialized classrooms with only 15 other students max.

You gently tapped the desk at a steady rhythm and leaned your head into your right hand, watching your prof speak idly while marking up the chalkboard. You should be paying attention and taking notes, but you couldn’t help but watch the red cellphone Ryuzaki had given you sit motionless on the corner of your desk.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Peeling your eyes off the device you notice the rest of the class; staring out the window, doodling in their notebooks, and even a few drifting to sleep. You suck the inside of your cheek between your molars and gnaw gently; the professor continues with his back to the class.

Maybe I should text him? Say ‘there’s no use in a stakeout where I can’t even see the suspect’. But if he feels there’s no point in having me monitor Light, he’ll just have to come to campus and spend time following him instead. And then there would be no point in having this phone-

The realization sends an uneasy pang through your chest, you didn’t want to give up this connection only you had with Ryuzaki. While you were certain that other members of the task force had his phone number or other form of contact, him pulling you aside and personally asking you this favor felt different. Like a shared secret.

Your eyes drift back to the professor before returning to the phone. Taking your head out of your hand and sitting back in the chair casually, you gently lifted the device and lowered it beneath the wooden desk. Inconspicuously, you wake the phone from its sleep mode and open Ryuzaki’s contact.

Ryuzaki:

Please be careful tomorrow. Let me know if anything goes wrong.

You:

Will do! I’ll let you know how it goes

Read ✓

You purse your lips and sigh gently, the ball in your court for continuing this conversation. Scratching the frame of the device absentmindedly while thinking how to respond, your stomach lightly growls in hunger.

Having slept past your regular alarm and only waking up for the ‘get up now or your gonna miss class’ ringtone, there wasn’t any time for breakfast. Waiting a moment, an idea passes through you. Placing Ryuzaki’s phone back on the desk, you reach over into your backpack and dig through it with one hand.

Feeling the cool screen of your actual cell phone, you hastily pull it into your lap and quickly scroll through your contacts. Finally reaching Light’s contact photo creates a stronger hesitation than you expected; L’s suspicion of him weighing heavily on your shoulders.

The same guy who you knew for several years, who went from being your boss’ son to something in between an acquaintance and friend creating a weird dynamic. Being accused of Kira on top of that left an emotion so sour and depressing that you almost felt guilty for watching him without his knowledge.

With a defeated exhale you open his contact and ensure the professor is still occupied with the board before typing out a message, deleting it, and then rewriting until it matches a casual vibe.

You:

Hey Light! I’m not sure if you’re on campus today, but want to grab lunch after class if you are?

I get out at 12

You did know he was on campus today, obviously, but you had to make it seem casual. Like two friends just hanging out. Definitely not one observing the another for a criminal case.

Satisfied with the message you turn to your notebook, now somewhat content with the minimal progress on the case and ready to try to pay attention to the lecture again. The moment you lift your pen a slight vibration hums across your desk.

You blink for a moment, unsure of which phone is making the noise and hastily grab both and slide them onto your thigh before anyone turns to see where the noise is coming from. After a second vibration, you realize it’s Ryuzaki’s phone humming with a notification.

Flipping it over in your lap, you open up the two new messages from L.

Ryuzaki:

How are things going at the school?

Should Watari still collect you later?

Flicking your eyes to the other students and then back at the phone, you hastily type out a response.

You:

Light and I don’t have any corresponding classes unfortunately. But I think we'll get lunch together.

After hitting send you can’t help but feel a small swell of pride in taking the initiative in extending an invitation to Light and proactively trying to get some more exposure. The phone vibrates again.

Ryuzaki:

I would advise against that. Unless you regularly get lunch with him, he will immediately be put on guard of your invitation, especially if Mr. Yagami has already informed him of your recent membership in the task force.

Shit.

Your shoulders slump forward slightly in disappointment for not thinking it all the way through. Of course if you suddenly get lunch with Light and then he realizes you're on the task force and he’s a suspect, he’ll never trust you on campus again.

Maybe I can cancel? Say I actually have to meet with my advisor regarding my thesis and I completely forgot about it.

Before you can even answer L, your actual phone vibrates against the denim of your jeans and your heart sinks. You don’t even have to turn it over to know it’s Light, the uneasy feeling like you made a mistake sitting uncomfortably in your gut.

Light:

Sounds good Y/N! Let’s meet at the cafe near the south exit of the school? I can send you the directions.

“Fuck” you mumble.

“I’m sorry did someone have a question?”

Your professor adjusts his glasses, the lenses nearly as thick as a roll of quarters, and gazes across the students. You squeak silently and slump into your seat, trying to look as concentrated as humanly possible at your empty notebook as if you were pondering any of the things he was droning on about for the past 45 minutes.

He blinks and then mumbles to himself before raising the chalk in his fingers to the board once again, “Anyways… As I was saying about Article 3a on the legislation from the 1980 law in regard to -”

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

The autumn air is cool and refreshing compared to the suffocatingly dense atmosphere of the 5th floor of the criminology building. Leaves scatter the ground and you weave in between students passing, gently nodding to the beat of the music playing in your headphones.

Stopping just before the south exit gate, you step off the pathway and lean against the supporting back of a campus bench. Sliding the red cellphone out of your back pocket, your gaze hovers over where Ryuzaki had warned against meeting with Light. You never answered back in class, too conflicted as to whether to admit to L you made a mistake or tell Light nevermind and raise his suspicion of you regardless.

The wind gently pushes your hair, and you subconsciously cross your arms over your chest to retain some warmth, digging your nails into the fabric of the jacket. With the hand still holding the cellphone, you begin drafting a message to Ryuzaki.

You hunch forward a small amount, still leaning on the back of the bench and delete and then rewrite the message again.

“.. I’ll just meet you later this weekend.”

The conversation itself isn’t what makes you look up, but instead it’s the sound of the voice speaking. Leaning on the bench and facing away from the path blinds your field of vision, but you’re nearly certain it’s Light. Looking down at the unfinished message for a moment, you then shift your weight to the side and turn your torso to face the brick walkway.

It only takes a few seconds for your eyes to catch onto Light, his back turned to you and completely engrossed in a conversation with a woman. You raise an eyebrow and look back at your phone, resigning to send a simple ‘whoops…’ to Ryuzaki, and slipping it back into your pocket.

The two don’t notice when you push off the bench and casually slide your headphones off your ears and around your neck.

“When are you going to take me on that dinner date? You’ve rescheduled twice now, you know.”

You pause slightly. Since when has Light had a girlfriend? You keep walking forward towards the gate exit and make no move to be hidden. Light knows you go here, and if his dad told him about your task force membership, he’s going to be suspicious of anything you do. Assuming that he’s actually Kira.

The best thing is to act like you would always do; snooping around and eavesdropping would be too out of character. You have to go back to just being his friend, and if he asks, you’ll be his friend who is on his side and defense. It’s the only way to actually progress the case.

You continue towards them, ignoring now the steady wave of vibrations in your pocket; each one from the cell phone L gave you.

“I’m just saying it would be nice if you-” The woman catches eyes with you and stops mid sentence, not wanting to continue the conversation with a third party joining.

Light notices and instantly pivots, now noticing a casual smile painted on your lips and slight wave.

“Oh, Y/N! It’s nice that we bumped into each other here.”

“Hey Light! I know, right? I thought my professor was going to hold us hostage in that lecture based on the rate we were going.”

You laugh lightly and turn your attention to the woman next to him, subtly indicating you wanted an introduction.

Light follows the que as smooth as ever, “I definitely can relate to that,” he opens up space for the woman, “This is Takada by the way. We’re classmates.”

You smile at her and extend a hand, immediately analyzing her attire. She had a clean look with short black hair swept neatly to the right with bangs hovering just above a set of storm gray eyes. A tan jacket covers her shoulders and red turtleneck sweater while a sophisticated set of heels boost her height and sit just under the hem of her black slacks. Her posture is perfect and you take note of the softness of her hand in yours during the shake.

“Nice to meet you Takada. I’m Y/N”

“Y/N has been working for my father for a few years, so we’re pretty close.”

You watch Light casually drift further back from her and stand next to you. Ah, I see.

“Light, should we head out now? I only have 90 minutes before my next class starts.”

“Ah that’s right. Yes let’s go,” His voice changes slightly to a higher pitch, “Takada I’ll see you tomorrow?”

The woman glances at Light but focuses on you the entire time, her eyes calculating your relationship to him for a few moments before giving a curt ‘goodbye’ and walking back towards the main campus.

You and Light watch her walk off for a second before walking side by side out of the brick columns of the school’s gate. Act natural Y/N, it’s just Light. Not Kira.. just Light.

“So… Takada?” You give him a slight glance and he huffs while shaking his head and leading you down the main road.

“She’s very insistent on using my time with her. But she’s just a classmate.”

Natural Y/N.

You laugh slightly and wiggle an eyebrow, “Yea classmate hmm?”

Light laughs and gently elbows you in the side, “Oh come on, you know how busy I am.”

The smile doesn’t leave your lips as you both continue walking along the sidewalk, you on the inside and Light closer to the road. The feeling is nice, and for a moment you forget about the case entirely; just enjoying your company and the nice fall weather.

That moment ends abruptly, with now a constant vibration in your pocket indicating an incoming call and not just a text.

Shit. I completely forgot to text Ryuzaki back.

Light looks at you expectedly, “You going to answer that?”

You swallow nervously and look off to the side, “O-Oh, yea..”

Sucking in your bottom lip, you reach for the phone and turn the ID to the side so Light can’t see who’s calling. You give your companion a slight look of acknowledgement before lifting your phone to your ear.

“Hey what’s up! Are you on that date you talked about? Or did he never show?”

The voice is barely recognizable and you can’t even tell it's Ryuzaki until he’s halfway through his message. The emotion and cadence are something like you’ve never heard him speak before; though you’ve only known him a short time.

His message is really in regard to Light, and it’s not hard to tell, but to anyone else it would seem more like a nosey friend.

You grip your phone and catch a glance at Light, who’s gaze remains steadfast on you. Turning your body away you fake a nervous stutter and wave your hands as if the recipient could see them through the phone, ��D-Date?! It’s just lunch… nothing that serious.”

Light catches your response and chuckles quietly to himself before you swat at him like you would a friend listening in on your conversation.

With the phone to your ear you can hear Ryuzaki shuffle a bit before continuing, almost as if he was relaying your response to someone else, “Ah I see. That’s good then, I didn’t think a date with that guy was a good idea anyways. Totally not your type.”

You try to ignore the chastise he gives for your lunch plans, and sigh into the receiver. You keep a distance from Light, though this one is more natural given the assumed topic of conversation on the phone.

“This is just a quick bite to eat, can I text you when I’m out of class?”

Light doesn’t mind the conversation, though you can tell his ear is listening to every word you're saying, but his posture is strange. The way his head tilts whenever you’re listening to Ryuzaki’s answers gives the impression he’s trying to discern who’s on the other line rather than decipher what you’re actually saying.

“Okkkk sounds good. Let’s get coffee when you’re out, so meet me at the north exit,” There’s a slight pause and his voice almost falters back to his natural tone, “ You can pick the cafe though, I trust your decision.”

The tone is upbeat and it’s enough to lift some weight of stress off your shoulders; you make a mental note that Watari will be picking you up from the North gate later. You can't help but lean into the phone and smile at his voice, “Yea of course… See you then.”

You stare at the phone an extra second before Light gives you a slight elbow in the side.

“And who was that?” He raises an eyebrow just like how you did before, “A classmate?”

You push him lightly to the side and he lets out a hearty laugh.

“You’re such an ass. And for your information, yes, it was a classmate.”

Light scoffs and rolls his eyes, now crossing the street and pointing to the restaurant sign just a bit a further. He tugs on his bag and looks down at you, “Alright, it must be an important classmate to get you blushing like that though.”

Your jaw goes slack and you raise your hands to your cheeks, unable to tell if it’s to feel the warmth or hide the color of them from Light. Or both. He laughs at your reaction and stops in front of a small cafe, opening the glass door for you to enter before him.

“Geez, I can’t tell if you’re a gentleman or just a dick.”

He doesn’t say anything, but his laugh and simple navigation to an open table is more than enough to solidify the second option.

This whole moment felt so weird and so… nice?. Making jokes with Light after class and getting food, Ryuzaki calling you to make sure you’re ok, thinking about the material for your next class; it felt so normal it almost hurt.

Light glances at you from over his menu and his grin falters when he notices you on the verge of spacing out.

“Is everything ok? Sorry if I overstepped a boundary there.”

You snap back up at him and shake your head gently, now scanning the lunch menu in your hands, “I’m fine, just busy. Got a lot to think about.”

Light nods slightly and gives a brief scan of your surroundings before peering down at his menu casually. His voice is just above a whisper, “I can imagine. My father told me you’re joining the task force.”

He knows. Ok that’s fine, you knew this might happen.

You let your eyes widen in a surprise and glance around the tables to make sure no one can overhear you before turning back to Light, “He told you?”

His eyes haven’t left yours, “Yea, he didn’t give a ton of details,” his face softens but his voice doesn’t change at all, “but I’m glad to have you on the team.”

You sink into your seat and pick at the laminated edges of the menu, your eyes now staring down at the ‘drink options’ section.

“To be honest, it’s one of the reasons I wanted to meet with you.”

Light’s eyes widen slightly; he knew that was the reason but it’s your quick honesty that seemed to be what threw him off. He exhales and places the menu on the table flat, his chin now resting in his left palm.

“I figured as much,” he has a slight smile, “Don’t get me wrong, but it has been like 3 weeks since we last hung out.”

Ok now I need him to think I’m confiding in him and being vulnerable, then maybe… even if it’s just a little… he’ll be able to trust me more.

You raise the menu higher as if you're embarrassed and look onto the floor at your shoes, slowly fidgeting your left foot side to side.

“Well, it’s just..” You suck in a deep breath, “you’re the only one I can talk to about this.”

Light’s face is indiscernible; he's focused and patient for you to continue.

“Aren’t you,” You latch eyes with him, “scared?”

Your confession seems to have genuinely thrown him off and it takes several moments for him to process it fully and respond.

“Scared?”

You nod slightly, “Yea, I mean we’re the youngest members and Aizawa told me someone on the team already died…aren't you nervous Kira might kill us too?”

Light doesn’t move, but his eyes shine with thought and registration, as if he’s searching his brain for a pre-recorded response.

You push again, “I’m sorry, I just don't know who else to talk to about this,” your gaze falls before shooting back up with a panic and your voice raises in awkwardness, “Please don't tell anyone though! I just joined and I don't want them to think I'm getting cold feet.”

Light seems to have caught up in the conversation and snaps out of his thought process, gently resting his hand on yours in support. The feeling of his touch is cold and forced, his fingers press into your wrist like he isn’t aware of the pressure he’s using; it’s nothing like the way L had taken your hand to give you the phone last night.

“I understand it can be scary but,” his eyes are nearly glowing as he speaks, “Kira only kills criminals and those who are brazen in their search for him, which was unfortunate for Ukita. However you and I are different, if we stay stealthy and gather evidence quietly, we’ll be fine. Ok… Y/N?”

It’s almost like the pressure around you both has changed; it’s tense and thick and extremely uncomfortable. The feeling of it nearly makes you crack the character you’re playing and you realize you need to end the conversation.

“Thanks, Light… that really makes me feel better. Sorry for bringing up work things while on our break,” you’re the first to break eye contact and look back down at the menu.

As if a switch is flipped he breaks his gaze on you and smiles before looking around for a waitress to place an order. It feels as if the stranger you were just talking to has switched back to the friend you recognized.

“What was the second reason though?”

You blink and look back at him.

“You said that was only one of the reasons you wanted to meet with me,” he leans in on the table, “what was the second?”

Despite the close proximity you don’t lean back at all and hold eye contact before smiling and shoving him lightly, “I just missed hanging out with you,” you sigh lightly, “even if you are an ass half the time.”

He laughs and you can’t help the grin on your lips, ignoring the way the waitress he flagged over raises an eyebrow at you both and the way your chest still felt heavy.

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

The sun setting so early creates a wave of depression that envelops you as you watch the glow dip lower and lower despite it only being 4pm. Campus lights have already flickered on, and students huddle in groups, gripping their jackets, heading for the metro station down the road.

You zip your jacket and adjust the straps of your backpack to even the weight distribution on each shoulder, waiting for Watari to arrive. Students pass by the brick columns of the North Exit and you lean against the gate wall for support, watching the cars pass by. Light should still be in class, only scheduled to regroup with the task force an hour after you.

You take deep breaths of the cool evening air and move to take your actual cell phone from your pocket before a recognizable black sedan pulls up in front of you. No one leaves the driver’s seat and you hesitate to approach the car before the window cracks the smallest amount and Watari’s voice pours out, “Y/N, I’m here to escort you to headquarters now.”

You smile and push off the column, slinging a strap off one shoulder and opening the passenger door. You slide into the leather seat and use the momentum to unhook the other strap of the backpack and land it between your feet.

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

You pass Mogi smoking a cigarette outside and chatting with Aizawa when you enter the hotel lobby; exchanging brief ‘hellos’ with both of them. Following Watari up the elevator and back onto the suite floor, you buzz with slight excitement to get back on the case, to tell L about Light’s behavior. The older man smiles gently at you and leads the way down the hall before opening the familiar room door swiftly.

Without missing a beat you slide your backpack on the floor next to the couch and shimmy out of your jacket and toss it onto the bag. Matsuda is halfway through a vending machine bag of chips and Mr. Yagami sips on a take out coffee cup.

“Hey Y/N, how was class?”

You’re fluffing your hair slightly and smile down at Matsuda, a hand still combing across your scalp, “Oh, boring as ever. I was actually excited to come back.”

Matsuda gives you a grin and holds up his chips, “It’s easy to say that when you’re not here all day. We’re still on a break though, so fuel up while you have the chance”

“I’d actually like to have a quick word before we resume,” Ryuzaki’s voice drifts from across the room, right in front of the bedroom.

I didn’t even know he was there.

Mr. Yagami stands, “I’ll run to the coffee shop outside and grab you a few things,” his hand pats your shoulder while he shuffles on his suit jacket, “Matsuda, let the two downstairs know we’ll resume in 10.”

Matsuda begins to do a slight whine but cuts it short when Mr. Yagami shoots him a sideways glance. The two men excuse themselves and leave the room, leaving you, L, and Watari standing in the living room.

Ryuzaki waits a few moments after the final ‘click’ of the hotel door and turns back to the bedroom, “Come on, we have to be quick.”

You blink at Watari who just looks at you expectedly, and you peel your feet from their spot to walk towards the bedroom door, “But everyone just left..” You slide through the opening, “why do we have to do this in here..?”

By the time you’re in the room, L swiftly shuts the door and locks it before immediately turning to you, so close you can smell the scent of laundry detergent on his shirt. There’s no room to back up and your back flushes against the wall, your hands instinctively raising up in defense.

“How did it go?”

You blink a few times, still pushing against the wall before Ryuzaki walks backwards and leans against the frame of the bed. He doesn’t blink, waiting for you to answer. The distance lets you breathe fully for a few moments, “It was good…?”

He tilts his head, waiting for you to elaborate further, dark hair tickling the apples of his cheeks at the movement.

“In an investigative way and normal way,” Your hands fall to your sides, “He, at the very least, knows more than he’s letting on. His attitude was strange whenever we discussed anything related to the case, almost like he rehearsed all his answers.”

L takes the nail of his thumb between his teeth and looks off in no particular direction, thinking as you speak, “Yes he’s very smart and well prepared for any circumstance it seems. That behavior is rather unnatural for people his age I’d say.”

You run a hand through your hair, “It’s more than that though, I mean I’ve known him for a while,” its almost feels like a guilty confession to admit your friendship with someone now suspected of being Kira, “And the whole atmosphere shifted several times when he spoke. It felt like I was talking to a stranger.”

L nods to a steady beat as you talk, agreeing with your description but now searching for another detail, “You did well at acting natural on the phone when I called.”

“Oh, yea thanks. I wasn’t expecting you to call and change your voice.”

“But you stayed in character, it seems even Light thought you were on the phone with a classmate,” He drops his hand to his side and looks at you steadily, “Does he always ridicule you when you speak on the phone with men?”

You blink once. Then twice. And then rapidly. Words are caught on your tongue and are unable to form a coherent sentence in any language.

L snaps his fingers, “Yes that character there, I assume it’s the one you put on for Light? Do you do that on command?”

Huh? HUH?

The heat of your face could probably fry an egg if you cracked one on your cheeks, “W-what are you talking about?”

Ryuzaki tilts his head to the side and looks earnestly stumped for a split second, the bed post digging further into his hip as he leans.

“I could hear Light mention you looking flustered,” he says while noticing your stumped face, “You never ended the call, it just dropped once you presumably sat on the phone after you entered the cafe.”

The analog clock ticks absently in the background as you stand frozen staring at Ryuzaki and him mirroring the confusion back at you. With any dignity left you shake your head and wave your hands, “it’s not… I didn’t mean to..”

FUCK.

“It has nothing to do with you!”

The tone is loud and you wince as soon as it leaves your lips, the clock still ticking away distantly. L hangs on to your every word and brings a hand up to scratch a section of his bangs out of his face in slight confusion.

“I already assumed it had nothing to do with me. Were we not discussing how you can act flustered in front of Light? Why would you mention m-?”

Your eyes widen and your heartbeat is only one more bpm away from cracking a rib. He stops talking as he realizes the implication of his words, taking a moment to look at you in a slight surprise.

His hand falls back to his side and he lifts his leaned position from the bedframe to hastily walk away, a faint red dusting his cheeks and tips of his ears. Ryuzaki lets out a slight awkward cough, “Anyways, we should uh.. Talk about concrete evidence now..”

You wish the world would swallow you whole, or better yet, if Light really was Kira, that he would’ve just killed you at lunch instead. Remaining frozen in your spot, your eyes follow L walking towards the desk and fiddling with the lid of a cardboard evidence box absentmindedly.

“He’s seeing someone, I think.”

Ryuzaki stops and breathes in to collect himself before turning over his shoulder, “A girlfriend? I don’t believe he’s mentioned this to me..”

“Someone in his class named Takada. I’m not sure it’s solidified, but she seems especially drawn to him. They both stopped talking when I entered the conversation.”

You shrug lightly, there’s a lack of physical evidence to accuse Light of anything, and simply saying ‘his vibe was off’ isn’t proof. L remains looking at you over his shoulder and nods once, “Most men would mention a significant other of sorts, usually not in explicit detail, but at least once or as a reason to avoid doing something.”

“He’s not the kind to be inherently vulnerable about anything, which is weird considering he really enjoys talking about himself,” you mumble the last part but he catches it anyways.

Ryuzaki follows along and takes the corner of his bottom lip between his canines for a moment, “Regardless, if he’s making contact with anyone outside of this group who we haven’t cleared yet, I’ll have Watari increase the security presence.”

“You think she might be the Second Kira? Or some kind of Kira sympathizer then?”

Ryuzaki shrugs and avoids eye contact, now opening the lid of the box and skimming through the manilla folders, “It could be, though Light’s chances of being Kira are already low, meaning Takada's chances are even lower.”

You step closer to L, continuing to talk without really filtering the words out, “I mean, even if it isn’t Takada as the Second Kira, it would make sense if either Kira is a student.”

Ryuzaki slows his movements in interest but doesn’t turn around, only offering a small hum to indicate that he’s listening.

“As in, what if the clue in the Second Kira note wasn’t just Aoyama, but ‘showing notebooks’? Between two students that would be easy to use in casual conversation, sharing notes, so for Kira(s) this would be-”

“Showing each other how the other one kills.”

You pause and stumble slightly, Ryuzaki looking at you with wide eyes. You weren’t sure if you would’ve ended the sentence in that way, but the emotion on his face is too intense to correct it.

He looks at you as if you’ve told him someone just keyed his car, or stole his bike from the campus rack; eyes wide in surprise and mouth slightly slacking downwards.

“We should be extra careful then, right? What if Aoyama is some kind of test for each other?”

Ryuzaki doesn’t answer, though his face is becoming more relaxed and it seems his head is no longer reeling from this potential lead in the case. It's like he solving math problems in his head without even needing to write them out first. You swallow and begin to feel out of place, the clock continues to tick and you give it a sideways glance as you both stand there in silence. It’s definitely been 10 minutes by now.

L blinks abruptly and slides the lid back on the box and prepares to grab the slotted handles on either side, but he turns back to you instead.

“Yes, that would be bad.. But we’ll keep this between us for now ok?”

“The notebook..?”

“Everything. Takada, Aoyama, the notebooks, your-” He pauses and glances off, “Just everything. I’ll give Watari some security instructions and when the time is right, we’ll alert the rest of the group.”

You nod and rub the back of your neck before turning for the door, pausing to placed your hand on the knob; your back facing him, “Sorry about snapping earlier, it didn’t mean anything. Light just caught me off guard is all.”

Ryuzaki’s steps behind you, evidence box in tow, and falters slightly before he stands diagonally behind you.

“Oh, I understand, it must’ve been weird to have your.. boss.. suddenly contact you” there’s a slight pause as he waits for you to open the bedroom door, “Hopefully next time I call, it won’t make you as uncomfortable. Sorry about that.”

Your heartstrings tug at the quieter tone of his voice and you spin around, the door now partially opened.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that I…-” a slight shiver of nervousness runs up your spine and you can feel your face getting hot. Your mouth remains slightly open trying to explain how it actually made you feel.

Wait, how DID it make me feel... the fact that he called... since he was worried? Shit, shit, SHIT

Ryuzaki remains examining your expression, his eyes lingering on yours. There's a ghost of a smile on his face as he nudges the door open wider with his foot, “I think I know what you mean.”

He steps out into the living room and greets a snacking Matsuda on the couch while you stand in the bedroom doorway just watching him walk away. You swear you can almost see the tips of his cheeks and ears red again. Gently grazing your fingers over your cheeks and remaining motionless when your fingertips hum with warmth.

..shit…

#l x reader #death note #fanfic #lawliet x reader #death note x reader #light yagami #misa amane #L #lawliet #oatmealwordslawliet #oatmealwords #oatmealwrites

54 notes · View notes

pizzatowerconfessions · 2 months ago

Note

Re: hot take Fake Peppino anon I kinda both agree and disagree, in a way? Yeah, Fake Peppino is indeed popular, and he's also a mysterious blank slate in terms of personality... but it's not like he's got nothing else interesting about him to spur that appeal. I think that does a disservice to the game's portrayal of him.

Fake Peppino's ingame presentation is a character who is intentionally hidden in the intro, and then introduced in a very explicitly surreal, "what the fuck" horror boss fight that is a surprising twist on classic doppelganger bosses. It's unexpected and stood out to a lot of people!

It's also a noticeable tone shift and contrast with the game leading up to that point, which is maintained into Floor 5 as the game becomes more of a horror-comedy, so the fan intrigue around Fake Peppino almost certainly arose from that context and the general shock factor / mystery around him. I feel like the lack of solid characterization is intentional to convey a certain unsettling, unknown vibe around him as well, considering his lack of overworld appearances compared to the other bosses.

Of course, I agree the fandom interest is maintained because of how easily you can mold Fake Peppino into whatever you want. Everyone has different ideas around Fake Peppino's true nature beneath his canonical horror presentation (is he a sweet froggy guy who is just misunderstood? a horrifying malicious monster? a complete weirdo? something in between? intelligent, or acting purely on instinct?) but I don't think the appeal of Fake Peppino is all projection. I'd say it's equally split between his canon portrayal being memorable, his design being a humanoid monster that relies heavily on surreal body horror and uncanny valley, and his deliberately-vague characterization leaving wide open gaps for people to fill with specific interpretations and headcanons.

TLDR; What Fake Peppino lacks in character, he more than makes up for in weird atmosphere and tonal contrast, and the fandom's fascination with him started from there rather than him just being an unremarkable fill-in-the-blank (although him being mysterious and easy to interpret in various ways is certainly part of the appeal)

‎

#pizza tower #pizza tower fake peppino #reply to confession

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am-i-the-asshole-official · 8 months ago

Note

Am I an asshole because I told someone to shut the hell up about his autism?

Now, please read this before making your vote.

I (21 F) started going back to school recently, I signed up for classes late because it took so long for the paperwork and processes to be finalized. I was taking a speech class in the morning and we had to do a group project in class. Now, I spoke with the professor and told her I did not do well in group projects because I either get treated like literal crap or I do all the work. She said she didn't care, either I join a group or get a 0. Someone (20 M) was watching, we'll call him Ed for clarity. I asked if I could join Ed's group and he said yes. I tried being really nice to Ed and waited for our group members to meet with us after class. He showed me which music he liked and I said it was nice. So, during the entire time period of this project I would meet a lot with my group mates and we'd do the project. It was very difficult because professor wanted over 10 resources and a certain length for the report, then to top it off a PowerPoint we'd be presenting too. Ed did a lot of things to make me feel very uncomfortable, but my group mates ignored it and didn't say anything. He'd talk about how he visited the dark web and looked into hitmen. Then he showed us an intro to a porno. I felt very uncomfortable and mentioned it to the other girl in our group, she said she would talk with the other boys in our group about it (they all had been friends since highschool except Ed) , she said the assignment did require us to find an intro that was terrible, but maybe a porno intro was too much. The assignment in question was basically a research project about why introductions are very important. They ended up choosing some 90's tv show intro, I don't remember which one it was, just that the show got 2 seasons and the intro was too stereotypical for the time. During the time Ed would send me random "hi"s and he added/followed me on all my social media. He would comment on everything and would try to make conversations on them when I wouldn't text back. I kept the texts as bland as possible. Ed just gave me a bad vibe and kept doing shit to make me uncomfortable. Now here's where the autism part comes in. I was talking to a guy I had a crush on instagram and I guess Ed noticed. So Ed basically calls me and asks if I'm not attracted to him because he has autism. I said what the hell and hung up. It made me feel so uncomfortable then he started bringing up his autism on all my photos, posts, tweets, you name it. I didn't know what to do anymore. Ed kept blowing up my phone too. He'd message me every 5 mins and would get mad when I wouldn't answer right away. So back to my crush, Ed messaged him I wasn't interested in dating him! Like dude! So my crush says he doesn't have time for immaturity and blocks me despite me trying to defuse and apologize hundreds of times for that. So I asked for some advice and basically I got that his autism was making him act like that. I don't want to sound ableist, I'm sorry if I give off that impression, but enough was enough. I told him to fuck off or else I'd get the authorities and school involved since what he was doing was harassment. He said he can't harass since he has autism so I told him to shut the hell up about his autism since it wasn't a "get out of jail" card so i finally blocked him everywhere. I don't know if I'm being an asshole or maybe I'm just not patient or equip to handle Ed? Even then, I am in no shape or form attracted to Ed nor was I ever. Now I just never want him bothering me again.

#aita #am i the asshole

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br4inr0tx · 1 month ago

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Here we go with another match, this time for 🐻 Anon!

Another note, yes I’ve been gone for like two months.. Halloween season is a busy season for me every year since my dumbass decided to become a scare actor. Even better, I got sick right after! Yay! Now I’m back, I’m going to go on a marathon and get all the matches in my inbox out of the way.

TW - Toxic Replationships, Forced Affection, Torture, Guns, and Knives.

Your Boyfriend to Death matchup is… REN HANA !!

• This may have been an obvious one, but I think Ren is the best for you!

• Ren’s type is generally alt people. Anyone into nerd culture regarding media series definitely catch his attention first. Seeing an artsy, pinky person like you immediately makes him have heart eyes for you. I guess you could say he just wants an anime looking bf/gf/partner. Since you fit in that category, you got him pretty easily!

• Hazzah! You’re taller than him! Don’t think he’ll let you get away with bullying him about it. He’s a little bit self conscious, and will most likely punish you with the shock collar for it.

• As I mentioned before, Ren is a sucker for cute things. Seeing anything cute, especially something from you, can pull on his heartstrings. If you wear any anime related stuff, or even those Japanese lolita dresses, he’s going head of heels.

• He loves putting you and/or helping you pick in certain outfit. As you’d expect he loves seeing you in anime character cosplays, or just anything cute. Seeing you in lingerie is a special treat.

• Now uh.. about the bear thing. He might get mad jealous because as a beastkin fox, he’s nothing close to a bear. He might get a little lowkey offended, but it’s probably him just being bratty. He’ll get over it.. maybe.

• Unfortunately for you, Ren likes bringing up and doing the things you hate and fear, just to provoke you when you’re not feeling your best. Those little reminders showing you he’s in control are his favorite.

• While he’s mostly cheery, Ren seems to have the ability to go from 0 to 100 REALLY quickly. Some people might consider him the nicest out of all the candidates in BTD, but I like to think he’s equally as dangerous as the rest of them.

• Ren is calm when listening to you, which is good, although most of the time when you seek advice he recommends killing. Please don’t listen to him, or else he might invite his friend Lawrence over for a little fun.

• He thinks you’re super creative! All of your art makes him mesmerized. His form of art comes in the form of snuff films mostly, but I think he has a decent hand at art too.

• Ren most likely listens to anime intros, or alt electronic pop music. Think MSI or And One. I can see him vibing with your music though!

• He gives you all the sweets in the world to fulfill your sweet tooth, unless you’re bad for him. In that case he forbids you from sweets.

• He tends to talk about how much he loves you a lot. Uniquely for him, I feel like he’s the most loving out of all the guys. You tend to be high maintenance, and need reassurance, he’s your guy to remind you all the time of his love.

• He forces you to be close to him a lot. He’s always touching you, not always in hugs and kisses. Even having his claws a little ways into your flesh gives him the power boost he needs.

• Oh.. you like being abused? You already know loves fulfilling all of your naughty desires, exactly how you want them. Beg and cry all you want, once you make any sign at him for him to start, there’s no off switch until he’s says done.

• Ren is a little clinging and teasing. Like a fox, he’s sneaky and isn’t always truthful. He’s a king of manipulation, but.. this is what you wanted. I’m sure you’ve told him yourself, and now? He’s NEVER letting you go.

#self ship #horror #self ship community #matchups #boyfriend to death #matchup #boyfriend to death matchup #boyfriend to death x reader #ren hana x reader #ren hana

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the-thing-in-the-dark · 5 months ago

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🐛 Noa's 200 follower event 🐛

🍄 intro post 🍄

🥺 tysm to the 200 lovely people who decided to follow this shitty blog

send me as many asks as you want idc my inbox is literally covered in cobwebs at this point and i'm actually organised and have less work now so i'm bored

sorry i got a bit carried away with the backstory lol

You are exploring the forest and come to a clearing with many weird plants and animals. Echo, the Phantom Whisperling that's been following you around since you discovered it, chirps from under your hat, wondering why you stopped. You are an explorer and you are documenting many undiscovered flora and fauna of the Forgotten Woods. Certain plants an animals are hard to find. If this is your first time you can only find a limited number of plants - no animals. If you have explored before but not the Forgotten Woods, you can find all the plants - but only some of the animals. If you are a seasoned explorer and have been to the Forgotten Woods before, you can document all the plants and all the animals. Which plant or animal do you document first (if you can find it)?

🌱First timers (followers)🌱

🍄🌌: Phantom Glowcaps

I'll give you a really weird fun fact

🌿🌒: Moon shade Ferns

I'll drop some lore about the Forgotten Woods

🌙🕯️: Ebonfall Blooms

I'll give you a weird/creepy quote from me or one of my books

🐾Explored before (mutuals)🐾

🐦‍⬛🔮: Spectral Shadowcrow

I'll describe your blog in three words

🪻🪬: Gloomveil Blossoms

I'll make you a playlist that suits your blog's vibe (i don't hv spotify so keep that in mind)

🦊🌲: Forestflame Faerie

I'll make you a moodboard based on your blog/vibe

🫎Seasoned explorers (close mutuals or ik u irl)🫎

🦌🌫️ : Wraithglow Stag

I'll make your explorer persona as a DnD player

🐆🌧️ : Stormfeather Leopard

I'll write you a letter on why I love you + I'll give you a nickname

🦅🌪️ : Whirlwind Harpy

I'll drop some crazy/weird/funny lore about me. I don't have that much so the first three people who request this one will get it. (2/3)

💀Ask me anything (everyone) 💀

🦝 : Echo!!!

Ask me anything and I'll answer it

Remember mutuals can access anything in followers and close mutuals can access anything in mutuals and followers as well as their own sections. I stole the divider from canva and all the images from pinterest. This will end when it is not pinned.

tagging all my mutuals because it's been a week and this has like 8 notes

@moutainrusing @delusionaltogether @annabannnananana @shipspainfulships @whydontyourealize-viennawaits4u

@onlyinitforthefandoms @ashes-to-ashesxx @y-o-n-t-a @pastels-and-chaos @lilythefirst819x

@totalcharliespringsimp @moonysm @bartyjrsevan @thatdambreadcat @prongsbitch

@bleep-bloop-boo @ivysfandoms @pangothepangolin @mentally-unstable-childofhades @im-ur-sleep-paralysis-demon

@noahher @bonksyoucutely @yourlocalbadgerscales @last-great-all-american-bitch @moonyswarmsweaters

@mo0ns-and-stars @winnienora14 @undergroundglendower @lovemike0 @enbysiriusblack

@ros3kill3r @beauty-queen-official @reggiesswimteacher @the-marauders-are-ghosts @a-great-tragedy

@prideandfanfics18 @wastingawayinmyroom @cheekyboybeth @sunnysolace7 @gems-and-jewels

@hehenorahhehe @stars-on-my-bedroom-ceiling @zombie404 @hunterofartemis-12 @anything-for-my-moony-1971

@onlytenstarsinthesky @fiveguysshake @regulus-cannot-swim @ddanthedumbass @damsnackbar03

@reggiesswimminginstructor @williamgayers @fangirlghost-19 @blueandyellow7 @martukyymm

@im-on-crack-send-help @thearcher1003 @liggy-not-potter @queerthirsttrap @piedpiperlikesthings

@outromoony @garden-of-runar @obsessedwith15deadwizards @lilcri84b1 @cafffeineconnoisseur

@wishiknew224 @daydream-of-a-wallflower @swiftlybyler @throwbackgaylor @james-potter-yall

@chaserofstars11 @rudamaruda520 @marylily-my-beloved @thedvilsinthedetails @jamespotterbbg

@onlymelonlyy @ratsinpots @idk-what-to-put-here-123 @discoveredreality @mysticalthingphantom

@starchaserandsunseeker @notmybabies @vampiregirlsblog @byler-invested @androgynous-bhajipav

@miseryoforpheus @ghostofyourvampiregf @besthingiveverdone @rhettaisokay @rhysthedarkforestfey

@p3arlsgardenn @dakarihopsrealities @staringathesunbabe @pumpkin-gizzards @themortalityofundyingstars

@morninggloryrising @longtallglasses @deadchaoticcosmos @stranger-theory @ollieolioly

@gaysforbyler @greentealycheejelly @leodores @my-beloved-fandoms @imaddticedtobyler

@my-castles-crumbling @internal-organs58 @questionablebookmouse @the-lionsheart @normal-is-a-raging-psychopath

@starpupsys @supercitofus @willbyerslove @strawberrybyers @wakeupthemembersofbylernation

@justremuslupininamask @sweetronancer @willbyersoffical @e-reblogs @bylertruth3r

@fire-but-ashes-too

#noa emerges #noa's 200 follower event

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eremorte · 10 months ago

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thronecoming heritage hall gifts (rewritten)

The Thronecoming heritage hall gifts bug me. Most of them don’t feel like a parent has gifted them. They are so uninspired for the biggest moment in their child’s life.

I’ve listed my replacements below. I’m hoping for the gifts to have a, if had-to-do-it-again-here’s-what-I’d-want vibe.

blondie lockes

OG gift: running shoes

rewritten gift: a new piece of tech that helps her with her mirror cast. A shiny new microphone or even just a cute news reporter accessory that acknowledges her unintended break from destiny (or rather extremely developed hobby/career because her story can be over in like 30 minutes) it also gives off the initial impression that blondie’s story is “just right” the way it is until.. boom! There’s a note.

That mentions that as Goldilocks has reflected on her role and how she regrets hurting the bears the ways she has* and with an extra perceptive daughter like blondie she is sure to find a worthy story (within bounds) that won’t cause baby bear to develop a complex. *insert long list of things here that blondie could comment on in her stead because the story book of legends didn’t write every worthwhile critique of the bear house and the bears despite “forgiving” her won’t let her talk to them about this* and a small comment of how she is super proud about blondie that hopefully eases some of her attention seeking behavior so she’s less of a brat later on.

cerise hood:

OG Gift: picnic basket with an electronic mirror lock.

revised gift: honestly I have no comment. This is a great gift. My only question is how recently the presents are placed in the hall seeing as how that basket spit up a whole bird leg. Maybe it has a special note of the picnic menu they have in celebration once the whole shebang is done.

o hair twins:

OG gift floating hair brushes

rewritten gift given how Rapunzel’s story is that she was locked away her whole life because her bio mom ate a magical plant while pregnant that the witch wasn’t sure of the side effects of and had to lock her away because damn sure bio parents couldn’t do anything if the witch was second guessing herself. What I think should be there are odd bits an bobs function like an Easter egg hunt of a map and post fairytale notes one what they are that Rapunzel is certain her girls can figure out because they have her plant powers (though probably diluted hence the helpful notes incase they have to solve things like their adoptive grandma ).

briar beauty

NOW FOR THE GIRL WHO INSPIRED THIS POST. Her gift makes me so angry. It is the most nothing gift of the whole bunch. You mean to tell me that a hundred year sleep doesn’t come with any regrets at all? Not one thing?

OG gift A neck pillow.

revised gift: A SCRAPBOOK. The first few pages could be filled with pictures of her family. Bonus points if they’re are people Briar wouldn’t have gotten the chance to meet but knows who they are by virtue of her mom. It hits home exactly how big her sacrifice is. Also all the storybook imagery? The intro? Imagine if there was a dark time line where we were being told everything that happen through briar who missed all of it and is trying to piece back something familiar?

either way, mental breakdown and existential crisis guaranteed.

also bonus. It’s totally merchandisable. Half the book mercy was essentially scrapbooks/concept art anyhow.

Cedar wood: revealer rays

it’s a good gift but something she wouldn’t be able to use in her story at all. They are not subtle and most everyone who knows about Cedar knows that Pinocchio didn’t mess up her eyes to the point she’d feasibly need glasses. Revised gift: letters from the blue fairy (well wishes, maybe an helpful hint or two) Gepetto and Pinocchio (things to to try (and not repeat) once she’s no longer wooden and how to lie effectively) I can’t think of a physical possession for Cedar to have. But I feel she’d appreciate these. Maybe a special cricket/donkey whistle?

duchess swan:

no gift shown but what I have in mind is a mix of briar and blondie’s gift.

a collection of letters (written on leaves and paper or something) from both her mom and her bio dad detailing the bitter sweet love in the tragedy to reassure duchess it’s not all bad. And a special pair of dancing shoes for her last night as a human. I imagine this gift would only make duchess mad.

Madeline hatter:

no gift shown and honestly idk what the mad hatter gives his daughter it’s probably perfect. An old hat that looks very normal actually? A crazy new teapot? Who knows?

raven queen:

og gift wand wishing well coin

honestly I want to know the logic behind the wand. Is it a back up battery in case apple thwarts raven through zapping away her powers somehow?

I have multiple suggestions

Something that contains directions to the true SBOL

recipe for the poison apple

something that originally belonged to someone in the Snow White family that she is proud enough to share with her daughter (raven would probably give it back).

*blondie branches out mentions how Goldilocks promised to be a better person.

#ever after high #eah #blondie lockes #briar beauty #cedar wood #cerise hood #duchess swan #holly o'hair #madeline hatter #poppy o'hair #raven queen #thronecoming #eah headcanons #eah parents

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magenta-embers · 1 year ago

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My Jikook Journey

Part 2 of my intro.

From "multi-shipper" to "...wait a goddamn minute."

This will be a messy and detail-lacking overview because I could easily do an individual post on each thing I mention here and delve deeper (AMA!).

When I became an ARMY in 2018, I was excited about the treasure trove of fanfics now available to me. The ship didn't really matter, but my bias was/is Jimin (bias wrecker Tae then) so the very first fic I read was a vmin camping one (there was only one sleeping bag, gasp!). For me, shipping meant I'd read fanfics or save fanart of certain pairs together because in a fictional sense/in another universe, they make a good couple. I think this is a healthy approach, keeping that boundary between reality and fiction.

When I mentioned to my k-pop fan step-sister that I was reading vmin, she gave me a weird look. She said taekook is THE ship of BTS, which confused me because vmin seemed to be closer and have better chemistry than Tae and JK. Turns out, she was right. Searching by most kudos on ao3, you get a shit ton of taekook. I accepted it readily and just thought I must be missing something since I was a baby ARMY, so I read those super popular fics and started to enjoy taekook too. I started to focus more on them because... it felt like that was what I was supposed to do.

It's a common problem, isn't it? Baby ARMY who are open to shipping are quickly found and "guided" to taekook before they have a chance to glance in another direction. If they try, taekookers, who are the majority in the shipping sphere, will convince them that taekook is THE ship. Even if they aren't ARMY (my step-sister), they know that much. As a new fan, you just want to fit in, so you'll go along with what's most popular. Some people eventually find their own way, but many don't. Asking questions is vital, but if you do it aloud, you risk getting attacked by a small but extremely aggressive portion of the most infamous fanbase.

Even back then while just innocently reading any well-written fic I could get my hands on, I noticed that Jungkook was usually portrayed as a lot edgier and darker than he really was (manifested the 2023 JK aesthetic) and Taehyung was constantly portrayed as... Jimin. Especially in fan art. For some reason, a lot of the time, the appearance/vibe/personality of Taehyung was truer to Jimin than to himself, and that confused me. "Why not just make it Jungkook x Jimin?" I kept seeing them trying to force Taehyung into the dynamic that Jimin has with Jungkook when their own dynamic was perfectly fine.

Slipping down the pipeline, I started to watch taekook moments/analysis videos because I thought gotta be missing something, right? That's how I found out people are convinced they're dating, and it wasn't just a fun fic/art thing. The videos themselves were... something. There were just way too many red circles, too much slow-mo, and too much mind-reading going on for me to take any of it seriously. Plus, the moments that weren't exaggerated were just close friend skinship. Hell, Taejin were doing more sus shit together than taekook.

And yet people insist on taekook even when taekook do nothing to insist on themselves.

At this point, it was deep into 2019. Jikook were wilding in 2019. Even I was noticing all the... little things that made me raise an eyebrow. The touches that lingered just too long in rather intimate areas, the fond/awed looks at each other, the shameless flirting, the complete lack of physical boundaries, and the normalness of it all between them. That's telling. Even though I was mainly a taekooker with a shit ton of fanart and fics saved to my phone, if you looked at my liked YouTube videos around that time, I had jikook moments videos saved, not taekook, because their moments were just more fun/juicier to watch overall. They just interacted differently than they did with other members.

A quick example would be a video compilation of taekook holding hands. Sure, they're holding hands, maybe even interlocking fingers, but they're usually standing side by side and looking in different directions or just having a neutral expression. But if you watch a jikook one, not only is it much longer, but it's just different. I feel like I'm interrupting sometimes. Even in such a simple action like holding hands, there's a softness, an intimacy there that doesn't exist in taekook. Jikook wouldn't just be holding hands (usually for absolutely no reason), they'd be looking into each other's eyes, smiling sweetly, fully turned toward each other, attention completely captured by the other. How can I explain the look in their eyes? It just doesn't exist with vmin, yoonmin, jihope, etc.

Sidebar: All of those pairs have flirty/sus moments as most really close friendship dynamics do, but they're lighthearted to me and never invoked a true sense of.... whoa whoa whoa, hang on. If Jungkook and Jimin were my close friends IRL and I saw the way they are together, my alarms would go off. As either, "Oh my god, they're fucking," or "Oh my god, they wanna fuck each other." People always say, "Oh, Jimin's like that with everyone." No. No, he's not. Pay attention. Really pay attention to the differences in the dynamics between members. None of them have the "same" relationship. Especially pay attention to how the rest of the members react to Jikook.

Anyway,

So here I was noticing this... deeper intimacy in simple interactions with those two (because I'm a human being with eyes and life experience), and yet my Twitter timeline would just dismiss them entirely. "I love their friendship," "Wow their brotherhood is so beautiful," and "They're all so close," and normally these statements wouldn't bother me because technically they're true, but I started noticing that taekook or yoonmin would brush shoulders and everyone would be like, "Omg taekook/yoonmin married/boyfriends/real," over nothing. Their moments are cute/sweet/funny, but never more than that. The blatant hypocrisy did frustrate me a little, but ultimately I didn't overthink it; I didn't want to be delulu or look too deeply into anything because I still thought I must be missing something. Taekook is the most popular for a reason, right? Right?

But Taekook died for me when Tae told Taekookers to get out of their imagination. I respected that from him and took it at face value. It was the most aggressive shutdown of shipping we've ever had. I couldn't brush him off. It's disrespectful. He's uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, over the next couple of years, Jungkook and Jimin only got more suspicious in the minor interactions and in the big staple moments. Rosebowl. Hickeygate. Etc. Everyone was bending over backward trying to explain away the things these two did with each other, and it's always the same excuses. I was also trying extremely hard to think of any reason other than the simplest one because I didn't want to be delulu.

Because there was no way two members of a boyband were actually in a long-term relationship together. Especially in a conservative country.

Ridiculous. Unrealistic. Delulu.

I was basically telling myself in a mirror that they were just extra super duper close friends with muddy boundaries that meant sucking ears and giving neck hickeys was okay. I did allow there to be the thought that, maybe they're friends with benefits and that unavoidable intimacy now bleeds through into their regular interactions.

That opinion carried until 2023.

Isn't that funny?

2023.

The year so many jikookers gave up and bemoaned that those two weren't close anymore or had broken up is the year that finally convinced me.

What tipped me over?

Jungkook's vlives.

The way he kept watching videos of Jimin when he could just phone him. It reminded me of me watching Jimin, but I'm just a fan; I watch those videos because it's the only way I can appease my yearning to be close to and connected to Jimin, and absorb everything that he does or says or is.

Jungkook doesn't have that limitation, so why's he sitting there like a lovesick puppy with the fondest/most loving eyes when he could have Jimin over with just a call? Why's he sitting there looking like he's also yearning for something he can't have like us, the fans, when he can have it? He has Jimin's number. You don't need to watch yourself tease Jimin. You can just go do it. Just text him, bro.

It felt like he just wanted to bask in Jimin without interruption, without distraction, without having to force his attention elsewhere. Beyond being incredibly sweet, it also felt like Jungkook was making a statement, a point, because he kept doing it. Why? Is he somehow obsessed with his friend and bandmate whom he's seen almost every day for over a decade? If it was to promote him, he really didn't have to do all that? He didn't do it for the others, not to that extent.

Watching Jimin, talking about Jimin, singing Jimin's songs, fkn playing Letter on guitar. (The naked vlive flirting session? Lord, what.)

The man kept having vlives with a significant Jimin focus. He insisted on it enough times that it felt like he was trying to slap some sense into me. His insistence bothered me enough for me to finally do a deep dive into jikook.

Down the rabbit hole, I went. The more I learned, the more my jaw dropped. Where the fuck was all this info on my timeline when these motherfuckers were celebrating the most basic kpop boy interactions as if they were wedding vows? I even ended up seeing pictures/info we as fans were never meant to see at the bottom of that hole. If you know, you know.

Eventually, I ended up on this video (bless this fucking channel).

youtube

I want everyone to understand that I had zero knowledge of established relationship timeline theories. I went into this video blind, just trying to find the point in time when JK started to warm up to Jimin. That's not what I found. I found something so much better.

Especially 2013-2015 had me in awe. I think I cried. Jimin and Jungkook had a fattest, cutest mutual crush on each other. Absolutely. And because they were young, not that famous, and still rookies with media and camera training, we get a lot of insight into those two that we wouldn't get in later years when they learned how to mask and behave more "idol"-like. Jimin was especially loud, almost sadly loud. If you haven't watched the timeline of at least those early years, I implore you to. It actually blew my mind and broke/healed my heart. It's really bittersweet to see two teenage boys with little to no experience in anything romantic trying to come to terms with themselves while also coming to terms with each other. It's like watching a coming-of-age romance movie.

I saw clear shifts from when the relationship hit turning points in certain years. I proposed a timeline in my head based on that. Imagine my fucking surprise when I found out other people have also come up with timelines, and more surprising yet, they were all unbelievably similar to mine, down to what changed in what half of the year. I, who had no previous knowledge that this was even a thing. I just noticed it all on my own. We were all seeing the same thing. The same changes. No red circles, no slow-mo, no mind reading. It's all in the body language.

I panicked a little because overall it seemed too good to be true, so I reached out to a taekooker friend to send me her best evidence videos and receipts because I just had to make sure I wasn't going totally delulu here. I needed to see that the other biggest ship had interactions and moments on the same level with that same consistency, maybe even their very own relationship timeline to bring me back down to Earth. But... there's nothing. Really, there's nothing between taekook. Not one moment where I was like, oh? You'll find hours-long jikook content videos that are absolutely jam-packed with content, significant content, but that sort of depth just doesn't exist for taekook. Instead, you get conspiracy theories.

I watched most of the videos on that best of jikook channel and several other staple channels. It wasn't as if I bought into everything presented. I still rolled my eyes at many things that were blown out of proportion by some creators, and jikook isn't free from red circles and slow-mo and bullshit. And yet, I was still overwhelmed by the mountain of crisp receipts dumped on my head.

Jikook have much, much more solid evidence supporting the theory that they are together than evidence against it. I took the facts as they are, took my social experiences for what they are, took my psychology background for what it is, and concluded that they are most likely together, probability-wise. At the very least, they are the ONLY pair in BTS that have ANY legitimate possibility of being romantically involved. If jikook isn't real, then none of the other ships have any hope whatsoever, let's not kid ourselves. It's them or none of them.

They also have much, much more evidence that they are together than with any random man or woman you wanna throw at them. There needs to be valuable evidence or a total shutdown for me to tip the scale. I'm going to need Jimin or Jungkook to state, "I am not dating anyone at all," or "Get out of your imagination," or a bighit relationship announcement, or a clear video of lip-on-lip action or very intimate interaction with someone else.

Frankly, I don't give a single fuck about a grainy pic/video when it's 2023 and there's no excuse for that. I don't give a fuck who owns the same vase or cooking pots. I don't give a fuck if either of them hugged a woman. These are not evidence. These aren't even as good as the worst Jikook evidence.

At this point in time, Jikook is still the only viable option with the information we currently have available to us. This is my opinion and I stand by it.

At the end of the day, the thing I want most is for Jimin to be happy. Currently, it seems that Jungkook makes Jimin the happiest (as Jungkook says). As long as that holds true, I'll be here. If that changes at some point in time, I'd accept it.

But until that day comes, what the fuck else am I supposed to think?

#Jikook

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navybrat817 · 1 year ago

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As Red as a Ruby

Pairing: Soft Dark!Andy Barber x Female Reader Summary: You're still finding your footing as a stay-at-home spouse. Word Count: Over 1.4k Warnings: Gaslighting, coercion, creepy vibes, Andy Barber (yep, he's a warning) A/N: Andy and Ruby's Intro for my Disturbia AU! ❤️ Beta read by the lovely @whisperlullaby, but any and all mistakes are my own. Divider by the talented @firefly-graphics. Please follow @navybrat817-sideblog for new fics and notifications. Comments, reblogs, feedback are loved and appreciated!

You suppressed a sigh as you checked your perfectly manicured nails and waited for the casserole to finish. The last time you attempted this meal, you burned the food and the dish. You weren't going to win any cooking awards anytime soon, but you were trying your best for Andy. He deserved to come home to a nice meal.

Even if you needed to get help from one of the other wives.

A well-fed husband is a happy husband.

Rose reminded you earlier on the phone to check whether the top was browned and crisped, and to make sure the liquid had significantly decreased. She also noted to use a food thermometer once finished to ensure you cooked the dish thoroughly at 165 degrees. Admittedly, it already looked and smelled better than the last attempt as you checked it through the glass. That had to be a good sign.

Andy will appreciate a home cooked meal.

You blinked when the timer went off, praying you didn't drop the dish as you grabbed the oven mitt and carefully removed it. "Shit. Come on," you muttered to yourself as you tried to shut the door with your foot, getting it on the second attempt before you set the food down. After a moment, you laughed at yourself and grabbed the thermometer. Looking the part of a housewife was easy, but actually living it?

It's what I signed up for though. I'm a housewife in progress and my husband is proud of me.

"What's that?" you heard from the doorway.

"Fuck!" you yelled, the thermometer falling to the floor with a clatter as you clutched your chest. "Jesus, Andy. You scared the shit out of me," you said, your heart pounding still as you took a calming breath.

A good wife should speak like a lady.

Your husband casually leaned against the frame with a chuckle. He already had his jacket off and loosened his tie. You hadn't even heard him come in. You must've been too invested in making sure dinner turned out right. It didn't surprise you in the least that he stood quietly for God knows how long.

He liked to watch you.

"Sorry, honey. I didn't mean to scare you," he said all too innocently as you frowned at him. "You're lucky Steve isn't here. He'd scold you for that language."

"Steve isn't my husband," you pointed out.

Thank God for that. I wouldn't last one week as his wife.

Most of the men expected a certain level of decorum out of their partners, but Andy was lenient as long as you didn't embarrass him.

"No, he isn't. I might take issue if you suddenly wanted him," Andy agreed, crossing the room to press a kiss to your warm cheek. "You made a casserole."

You straightened up a little. He kept his tone light, but you wondered if he was judging it. And you. "I tried. Rose gave me some tips."

"That was kind of her. And probably the best one to give you advice since she's one of the best cooks on the block."

A twisted sort of smile formed on your face. Though you agreed that Rose was a wonderful cook, you couldn't help the surge of envy that worked its way into your chest as you thought of her and the other wives. Cherry baked the best treats. Rumor had it that Ginger wanted to start teaching exercise classes for the other wives.

What the hell do I bring to the table?

"Yeah, she is," you said, bitterness creeping in as you bent down to snatch up the thermometer.

Andy stepped back to let you go to the sink. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Nope," you said, glancing over your shoulder when you felt his deep blue eyes on you.

"I don't like it when you lie to me," he said in a low voice.

You almost dropped the thermometer again. Andy grew up in a world of secrets and lies. Though it shaped him into the man you loved, he didn't want you to keep anything from him, especially after his first marriage fell apart. No matter how big or small the issue or what your feelings were, he wanted the truth.

A good wife is truthful with her husband.

"It's just," you started as you tore your gaze away, not wanting him to see the vulnerability in your eyes. "I suck at this homemaker thing, Andy. I'll never be able to make masterpieces like Rose or anyone else. I'm lucky I don't iron a hole in your shirts."

"You know I couldn't care less about your cooking skills or any of that," he said, slipping his arms around your waist from behind. You went limp in his hold, happy that he wasn't upset. "That's not why I'm with you."

Why are you?

"Don't you mean my lack of skills?" you mumbled.

"Well, I didn't want to say anything, but…" he teased, brushing his beard along the column of your neck. "You're special to me, okay? Isn't that enough?"

Warmth replaced the envy that previously bloomed in your chest. While Andy wasn't a hero in the traditional sense like Steve or Bucky, he helped many as a lawyer. With his confidence, charm, and good looks, he could have anyone he wanted. Choosing you to be his side was much more than a dream come true.

It was a chance at a better life.

"It's more than enough," you promised.

"Before we sit down to eat, there is something we need to talk about," he said, turning you around to face him. "Something I need you to do for me."

"What is it?"

"I'm sure you already heard through the grapevine that Bucky has a wife," he said.

You nodded. Like the other wives, you were sure she had some kind of skill or hobby that would make Bucky a proud husband. You wondered how the two of you would get along. The last thing you needed to do was piss off the wife of the former Winter Soldier.

Her opinion doesn't matter. Only Andy's.

"Steve and Cherry plan to have a small get together after they get settled to welcome her to the neighborhood."

"And you want me to make her feel welcome?" you guessed.

"Cherry is the welcome wagon. You are going to keep an eye out for her," he corrected you. "The Haven is amazing, but it can be a bit of an adjustment. We need to make sure she fits in and falls in line. Be her friend. Be her confidant if you need to."

A good wife does what her husband says.

"I'll be her friend," you assured him, especially if it meant Andy would be happy. "Have you met her?"

"Not yet. They're still in their honeymoon phase," Andy replied.

So she's getting her back blown out.

"But you come right to me if anything feels wrong," he said, grasping your chin so you knew how serious he was. "Understood?

"I'll make sure she knows her place if she forgets it," you promised.

The Haven is euphoric and every wife is lucky to be here.

"Thank you," he smiled before he softly kissed your lips. You melted into it, the casserole long forgotten as you opened your mouth to him. He ended the kiss just as abruptly as it started, leaving you wanting more. "I'm sure we have nothing to worry about, but we can't be too careful."

"Of course," you smiled.

However Andy needs me to help, I'll do it.

"Now why don't you set the table while I pour us some wine?" he suggested, brushing his thumb along your bottom lip. "That red one you love."

You nibbled on his thumb with a smirk. For everything you lacked in the traditional sense, you kept him happy sexually. A faithful, giving wife through and through. "Good because the white one gives me a headache."

"We can't have that now, can we?"

"No, we can't," you said, sneaking another kiss in before you slipped out of his hold to get the plates.

"Oh, Ruby?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"I'm proud of you for cooking," he said sincerely, your cheeks hot from the praise. "And I know you'll keep making me proud, won't you?" he said, turning the stove off for you.

"I will," you smiled.

"That's my girl."

I'll be the best wife for you and more.

Everything is FINE. Love and thanks for reading! ❤️

Masterlist ⚓ Andy Barber Masterlist ⚓ Ko-Fi

#navybrat writes #andy barber x reader #andy barber x female reader #andy barber x female!reader #andy barber x you #andy barber x y/n #andy barber #soft!dark andy barber x reader #andy and ruby #disturbia au #andy barber imagine #andy barber fanfiction #andy barber au #chris evans x reader #chris evans x female reader #chris evans x female!reader #chris evans x you #chris evans

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peaterookie · 4 months ago

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Trials and Tribulations of Scanning: Lupin III Manga

Hi!

It's been a while since I've made a proper Lupin essay, and this one is going to be a bit different from all the ones I've done too.

Throughout the years in the manga community, I've gotten very accustomed to the process of scanning and archiving this series, it's something that I sincerely do enjoy doing so I wanna just dedicate a post talking about it and also bring attention a huge project of mine.

Disclaimer that this isn't really gonna be a comphrehensive history with a bunch of details about the scanning process done on the series before I entered the fandom, I just wanna talk about certain parts that I think are worth writing and my experiences doing it myself.

Okay this intro's gotten long enough let's get started.

Let's talk about the tokyopop scans of the OG manga and HOW SHIT IT IS.

Oh poor og manga... you were doomed from the start from the moment you were uploaded publically. Because who the hell is going to want to read something that looks like this???

An important step when I scan my pages is cleaning, it is the process where you take the initial scans, which I call raws, and polish them to make it prettier. When you see the scans of the og manga, it is very very clear that the person did not bother to clean any of these at all.

The coloration of the pages (which should not have been there at all if they decided to scan in grayscale) gives it an unpleasant old vibe, and should have been editted to turn into something more black and white.

I honestly do not understand why anyone would just leave a page this bad and assume that people would be fine reading something that looks like this. I am very convinced that the quality detered some people from checking the manga out any further because at its worst, it's unreadable and the details of the art is hard to decipher.

It's very easy too!! I can easily take this place and edit it on my phone to turn it into...

This!

Ain't that much better already. and it only took me a minute to do just that, imagine just how better the rest of the scans would've been if the person gave a bit more effort to clean their pages?

One of the many things i've learned is that when you do something for a community, whatever you put out might stay there forever and become a permanent impact on the people using your product, so it's important to make it look good!!!

What is good about the OG manga + new adventures though is that there exists high quality scans of it, just in japanese. So while there is still no good scans of the english version, people can always find a better alternative elsewhere.

Shin Lupin III though... is a different story.

(insert cool transition here or something)

Here is what I really wanted to talk about.

Shin Lupin III, literally. has. no. good scans. It's all shit. You get trash or garbage and that is it.

"But Peater! What about the Tokyopop scans! They're pretty good right?"

You're absolutely correct! Until you realize that Tokyopop did not fully translate Shin Lupin III, leaving approximately 100 chapters worth of manga in horrible quality 😂😂😂

Those missing parts are the ultimate problem, and the guy that is now in charge of translating the rest of Shin Lupin, Oranges, does not do the scanning justice (the one above.)

I do not know what kind of source he uses, but it is absolute horseshit, and again, he doesn't seem to bother with editting them to make them look better. I'll just provide more examples, to really emphasize how horrible it looks. You can barely see what's going on with some of them.

Someone pointed a flashlight while scanning this

(Editor's Note: So it seems like Oranges did the bare minimum and fixed the scans on the San Francisco arc so he is slightly forgiven)

And what the Japanese scans? Hahaha, it gets worse.

From an simple look at it, you might be tricked into thinking that this is a good scan! has nice lighting, black ink, BUT THIS IS WHERE YOU'RE WRONG.

Look closer. The lineart is melding into each other, the cross hatching is blurred, the kanji is barely readable.

This is the works of an Al upscaling tool.

AND THEY DID THIS, FOR EVERY SINGLE PAGE! THEY LURE YOU INTO A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY LIKE "omg!! san francisco scans!!" AND THIS IS WHEN THEY TRAP YOU INTO A MELTING POT OF AI SHIT TO NEVER BE ABLE TO HAVE GOOD SHIN LUPIN SCANS EVER AGAIN AND AM SICK OF IT!$_+$(2!(_(!_(+7(0#+#?@!

And so that's why I'm going to be doing something about it!

My project for this year is to rescan Shin Lupin III in higher quality. No AI upscaling involved, everything will be done by hand. Here are the previous panels again but scanned by me!!

See the differences now!! This is what happens when someone puts effort on their scans!! wowwwww

I've already finished scanning the raws for every single page, and now it is only time to clean them.

When will I finish this? I can't tell you, but I promise that it will be done and released before the year ends. I hope you guys are looking forward to this!!

Darn, I actually didn't get to talk much about my process and how i got into scanning huh? Maybe some other time if people are interested.

But for now, goodbye, and thanks for reading!!

#lupin iii #lupin the third #lupin iii manga #monkey punch #peater rambles

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manzaza · 3 months ago

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perirep with airpods promoting mY WHOLE REVIEW OF THE NEW WISH SOUNDTRACK BECAUSE OHHHHH MY GOD IT GOES SO SO SO HARD (under cut feel free to listen here (also on apple music + yt do in fact give it a listen please yay) !!)

theme song (all the singing songs)

— although i can never truly let go of the og the new theme song will always be a bop

— so upbeat, so happy !!!

new yorkity york

— hazel’s va is such an amazing singer PLEASE if there’s a season 2 give them a musical episode there are not enough musicl numbers

party possum’s friendship song

— better than the chuck e cheese one i heard in the theater earlier lollllllll

— the live band version ate i liked the difference

— unhinged version was so fun the nickelodeon drummer ate up

lovely love song

— still haven’t watched this episode (i was shopping when it aired oops)

— hazel was so silly idk what happens i just remember cupid being there (idk if he was in this at the end that might’ve been hazel’s dad)

i love fries

— HAZEL’S VA SLAYING AGAIN !!!!!

— banger song so real live laugh love fries

— cosmo + wanda contributed yay let them sing

time loops

— addiction,,,,, brainrot even,,,,,,,,,

— cosmo and wanda singing yayyy !!!

— the actual little yay at the end was so silly got a good chuckle

proud of my son — dubstep remix

— this was actually the funniest thing to watch i had this episode pulled up in a panera’s and i was just staring at it like “bro just took over the world for THIS”

— dev is ten so it does make sense

— almost

a new wish (yay background music !!)

— i love all the jazz in the ost just soooo so good

— reminds me of a sam and max kinda intro

— listening to this + the rest just makes me want a video game for ANW so so bad it would genuinely be so much fun to play (will genuinely plot out a tumblr post for this idea)

fly hazel

— banger warmup vibes in the intro

— love how some of the insteuments give like a fly-feeling gimmick (cause she’s a fly)

— little intro chord at the very end eats up

teacher’s pal

— might be one of my fav tracks

— nickeloxeon pianist and saxophonist are eating uppp

— 1:15 was so good

— nickelodeon symphony when

fearless

— somewhat out of place but still fits in with the show vibes

— very lurking

— fnaf 3 am jumpscare (idk i see more poppy playtime in this despite never watching or knowing anything about poppy playtime

— very cheerful kinda scary at the end (yay jasmine!!!)

wellingston hotel

— i rlly like hotel music play this at a marriott hotel NOW

— still haven’t seen this episode (i’m dying to watch it i need to see winn’s introoooo)

— sudden rich person music change

— love you nickelodeon saxophonist !!!!

dev dimmadome

— classic dev intro

— 0:54 is so cruel just label this project h whyyyyyyyy

— just sheer pain in the middle but then they remebered at the end “oh yeah he’s ten”

— it gets so intense at 1:30 broooooo

fairy heist

— i love spy music

— little dev-ness in the middle with the certain gimmick in his track (i might be crazy for this one but idk the “waeahwow” reminded me of something from his track + i think this was in the breaking into school scene idk)

prime meridian love

— literal anime ost

— eats with the dramatic intro

— it faintly reminds me of an ok ko track but just slightly at the beginning of some of the melodies idk might be crazy for this one too

peri and irep

— no way.

— actually no way.

— ship interacts once and they get their own song.

— the twist at the beginning of the track was so hype like the beat is just constantly at odds during this song (and because i’m just like that i have the track times put down too when they swap)

— to not make this any longer the noticeable parts after their intros are like 0:50–1:02 is peri-sounding and then 1:03–1:18 is irep-sounding and from then on their themes are always at a clash with more differences spotted at the end

— will say i love irep’s part at 0:32 and 1:03 that’s so funnnn ahh

— the little villainous laugh at like 1:50 was silly

— the little theme at 3:00 ahhh !!!!!

— might be another fav……. yeah def another fav my airbuds says so

viozalea

— feels so medieval at first and i love it

— quick just like viozalea’s appearance (rip)

rattlleconda

— fire western theme

— still in character with the show the beat was firee

— the soft violin gahhh sheer joy

— intense pressure put on at the end ate

love and games

— rock paper scissors core

— me when rock paper scissors

— wait i actually never watched the valentines episode

— uhhhhhhh second half might be rock paper scissors

— BANGS

— love u Nickelodeon drummer

battle of wands (FINALE)

— shut up this is too glorious of a melody

— ok intense

— oh might’ve just hit one million wishes idk how this song is following the episode

— the chaos in the rhythm eats

— littlt theme at 2:30 aghhhh won

— peri lying dead right after again idk how the episode paces through songs i can spot little scenes here and there

— banged

— little clock beat ahh the happiness

— can’t even tell what happened but good finale

OVERALL i really enjoyed the soundtrack i love how it tries and takes you through the course of the episode and it’s so so fun!! almost feels like video game music sometimes which is so so good for them like YES drop a new wish video game it would be so good !!!!

#fairly oddparents #fop a new wish #nickelodeon #fairly odd parents a new wish #fop peri #fop irep #music listening #the soundtrack goes so hard #PLEASE AT LEAST GIVE ONE SONG A LISTEN #will be no 1 for the artist on airbuds sorry guys ive had this looping for an hour #actually put airbuds on ghostmode for this i lied i cant have the irls see this #peri & irep has been looping for almost said hour im sorry it goes soso hard #rip my spotify stats always remembered always have next year lol

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invisiblekatanaartwork · 3 months ago

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Artist’s Blog #138 - The Beach Girls and The Monster (1965)

A Groovy Introduction to The Beach Girls and The Monster

Stereotypes often feel subjective. For me, the 1960s are perfectly captured in The Beach Girls and The Monster. It’s one of my favorite films, and the intro is exactly how I imagine that incredible decade. It sets the tone for the entire movie. Don’t expect a deep storyline, stunning effects, or a cinematic masterpiece—just sit back and enjoy a vintage adventure. If you’re around my age, this might be how you picture 1965 too. For those who actually remember 1965, your experience might be different. If so, share your thoughts in the comments. Now, grab your surfboard—let's go surfing!

1960s Fashion in The Beach Girls and The Monster

I may have mentioned this before, but I have a confession to make. I often regret certain decisions, especially missed purchases. My wife and I, both antique junkies, were on vacation in Florida when I found a handmade pink and white 1960s bikini. It was priced at $65, and I passed on it. In hindsight, I should have bought it. The Beach Girls and The Monster opens with similar bikinis and classic ‘60s shimmy dancing on a beach to surf rock. At this point, I’m half-expecting the monster to join in the dance. After all, it’s 1965—monsters weren’t exactly terrifying back then, right?

A Retro House Tour in The Beach Girls and The Monster

Let’s talk about some of the "1960s stuff" in The Beach Girls and The Monster. The house in the movie really caught my attention. According to IMDB, it belonged to the film’s art director, Shirley Rose, and her husband, Henry. Located at 816 Glenmere Way in West Los Angeles, the house is now blurred on Google Maps. You can, however, watch a YouTube video of it today here. I think it was far more impressive in 1965. The view over the city lights of LA from the poolside is breathtaking, even in an old film like this. Inside, the house features a bar with steps leading down to it, allowing a character to serve drinks at the proper level, casually grabbing a Coke from the fridge. The photo below is of the house today.

The house also boasts various 1960s furnishings. Highlights include the eclectic wall textures, unique light fixtures, a pottery kiln, and an unusual doorbell. The rooms feature multiple wall textures—one might be brick, while another has period-patterned wallpaper. The living room fireplace is quite impressive. There’s a wooden wall with a patterned cutout leading into the bar, providing partial visibility into the next room. And there’s what looks like an indoor wind chime, which is actually a doorbell. You can see a similar one here. I’ve never seen one before. It’s clear from these glimpses that the Roses were quite affluent in 1965. Look at the lights I'm referring to in the screenshot below.

Scooby-Doo Vibes in The Beach Girls and The Monster

Though Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? didn’t premiere until 1969, The Beach Girls and The Monster shares a similar vibe. The monster is obviously someone in a costume—this is clear from the start, especially considering the film was made in 1965. As the plot unfolds, this becomes even more obvious. In the final scenes, a second mask is found, and during a confrontation, the monster’s mask is removed, revealing a man. The "meddling kids" are then in a car chase with the police, ending in one of the most hilariously fake crashes I’ve ever seen. This scene could be from a bad special effects reel. When the son tries to approach the crashed car to check on his father, who was the monster, the cop says, “You can’t get within 50 feet of that vehicle.” And just like that, the film abruptly ends.

Speaking of cheesy effects, the driving scenes deserve a mention. Have you ever seen those old movies where a stationary car is surrounded by projected footage to create the illusion of movement? That’s exactly what The Beach Girls and The Monster does. The film features some standout vehicles, like a '63 Corvette Stingray, a '63 Cadillac Eldorado, and a '59 MG A 1600—all of which look great on screen. I never thought I’d say this, but I actually liked the Stingray more than the Caddy—Wow! Check out all the classic cars in the movie here. The photo below is of a model car but, this is very similar to the Stingray you get to see in The Beach Girls and The Monster.

Surf Culture Highlights in The Beach Girls and The Monster

Night surfing just doesn’t sound like a good idea—though, to be fair, I’d need to learn how to surf during the day first. If you’re into surf culture, this movie is a must-watch. Here’s why: The Beach Girls and The Monster includes a fair amount of filler. Normally, I’m not a fan of filler, but it works here. The movie features authentic vintage surf footage, projected within a 1960s high-end home, giving viewers a genuine taste of surf culture and ‘60s tech. This pairs perfectly with the movie’s score. The opening song, “Dance Baby Dance,” written by Frank Sinatra Jr., is a catchy surf rock tune. The soundtrack seamlessly transitions between surf rock and music reminiscent of The Pink Panther skulking around.

Naturally, surf rock means beaches, girls, and bikinis—and The Beach Girls and The Monster has them all. This brings us to the film’s most comedic moment: a nighttime beach party. I haven’t laughed this hard in a while at something so poorly executed. Did kids really have beach parties with dancing and bonfires in 1965? If you know, please let me know in the comments. This scene features ventriloquist puppets, annoying voices, spontaneous singing, make-out sessions, and silly glasses with springy eyeballs. Thankfully, this filler segment doesn’t last too long.

Unexplained Twists in The Beach Girls and The Monster

Like many films, The Beach Girls and The Monster has several unexplained elements that don’t quite add up. For instance, one character is hobbling from an unspecified accident, unable to save a friend from the monster, make out, or even go to work. Yet, he somehow disappears from conversations like a ninja, scales cliffs, and steals cars. When the police arrive, their sudden appearance is unexplained—no one called them, there were no gunshots or screams. Someone, please explain—who called 911?

1960s Beach Party Fun in The Beach Girls and The Monster

Despite its flaws, The Beach Girls and The Monster has enough 1960s beach party fun to make it a memorable movie from that era. If you watch it expecting a fun, nostalgic trip filled with shimmy dancing and a goofy monster, you’re in for a great movie night. But if you’re hoping for scares or suspense, you’ll be disappointed. Retro fans, antique collectors, sci-fi enthusiasts, horror history buffs, and vintage surf lovers will likely enjoy this film. You can even watch it for free on YouTube here. If you have answers to any questions I’ve asked in this blog, please share them in the comments.

In conclusion, if you know of other movies like The Beach Girls and The Monster, please share your recommendations. I genuinely enjoyed this one. On an art-related note, the poster for this movie is fantastic—I’d love to frame a copy and display it if I could find one at the right price. Follow my art journey on social media, visit my website, and consider buying my art here. If you liked this blog or the movie, please share it. Peace.

#The Beach Girls And The Monster #1960s Horror #Retro Movie Review #Vintage Surfing #Classic Cinema #1960s Style #Monster Movies #Beach Party Vibes #Pop Art Inspired #Obscure Horror Film

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choochooboss · 11 months ago

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Introducing your station master & Magma event host!

Since there's already a lot of passengers visiting this station and I haven't spared much time to get to know my fellow submas fans over Tumbrl yet, an introduction would be in place!

I'm Jun, nice to meet you! *offers a hand for for a shake* I am a devoted submas artist & a monthly Magma event host! I go by ChooChooBoss everywhere (Twitter/Bsky/Twitch/Ko-Fi)!

This will be a long post! I will write a short intro as well which you can just skim through but here is a more in depth view how I got into submas, my other interests and life in general, in case you'd wish to know more about your conductor on this silly train!

How did I get into submas in the first place?

PLA. I met this certain mysterious & cool fellow time traveler and got curious! After the cave scene I went to read his Wiki, found out about Emmet, and... yeah. The emotional impact blasted me right out of a miserable cycle I was going through back then and set my soul on fire!! A month later I set up my first art account on Twitter, and the rest is history. They've become my greatest source of strength and inspiration and I enjoy drawing them every single day!

I love both twins very much! I tend to vibe with Ingo a little more than Emmet, but I draw Emmet more. People say I remind of butler Ingo the most, hehe. I certainly don't mind because I'm a big fan of butlermas!! In fact I got into submas & started playing Pokémon Masters EX in April 2022, a week before butler Ingo banner rolled in, so they truly got a special place in my heart ahah! (pssst draw more butlermas for me pls pls pls-)

However I don't draw warden Ingo as much as I would like to. I still get pretty emotional over his fate ahah, I can't draw him without a single tear! This sweet & kind man leading a good life and being an inspiration to others has been torn from literally everything he had for seemingly no reason apart from his name, clothes and the muscle memory and even those are barely intact. It seems like a miracle he's still standing and breathing after put through everything judging by the wear and tear on his uniform and body. Despite all that he carries a positive attitude, assists everyone in need, and does his best to help people and pokémon understand each other, unconditionally... Oh, my face is wet again...

My other interests besides submas?

Monster Hunter! Zelda! Genshin Impact! Super Mario! Trine! Crash Team Racing! And many many more! My favourite genres are platformers, kart racers, and action games, with a side of rhythm games. I'm a big fan of co-op games! I also watch my sis play JRPGs!

Monster Hunter is the dearest to me out of all. I've been hunting for well over a decade starting from MHFU. The games have charmed me with their incredibly satisfying combat system, world building, creature design, great attention to detail, character customisation and the games being nearly fully co-op!!

Other things I do:

Pokémon is practically the only turn-based game I enjoy, mainly because of the characters and collection aspect. However!! I adore Pokémon Colosseum (the first pkmn game I ever played!) and it's double battle focus, so The Indigo Disc has been a delight after the long starvation for double battles, coming up with different combinations makes the battles much more fun to me!!... I sound like Emmet here do I ahahah! We also share the fact we are both left-handed!

Shuffle dancing, daily pull-ups, and expanding my ever growing VGM collection! I also enjoy traveling and taking photos to keep as a diary! I've played piano in a music school for 9 years, and I can also play kalimba. I've done casual boxing, gymnastics, horse riding and medieval swordfighting. I used to read comics/manga and watch movies and anime but nowadays I barely do that, I just rather use that time for drawing instead of just sitting and watching, unless I have company!

I share the apartment with my anxious brother and our two sweet female cats, Laku (11, stubborn and cuddly) and Kalevi (21, demanding and full of love) in a city center. My parents are both entrepreneurs and run a farm in the countryside & I have 4 siblings with me as the middle kid!

Where can you meet me?

I am a game artist by profession, with 4 yrs of studies and roughly 7 years of EXP in the field doing game art, UI design, character/prop design, in mobile games as well as PC titles, 2D and 3D. At the moment I am looking for work; I keep up the motivation and learn new skills by running my art accounts while looking for new opportunities.

I hail from the land of darkness, snow, salmiakki, metalheads and renownly reserved people, Finland! (UTC+2)

Despite having my roots here I am pretty much the opposite of a typical Finn in almost every sense ahah! I'm a small guy who's not afraid talking to strangers and laughs a lot. And I dislike coffee for the contrary, it's very popular amongst finns.

With the inspiration from submas I've finally stepped into the world of cosplay so you can usually meet this small and excitable Ingo in the biggest local conventions, Desucon and Tracon! Come say hi!

About my social battery:

I'm both social and socially anxious ahah! I love making new friends and talking to all sorts of people and writing comments, and gathering together with my mutuals to do cool stuff together! However my social battery is very small... I often struggle with my AD(H)D and anxiety issues, so my replies can be extremely slow. I'm easily overwhelmed when life gets busy and I deal with it by withdrawing to minimise the the stimuli and then sorting my stuff out one by one. This is a frustrating shortcoming, but I'm working hard to find a balance I can maintain without getting exhausted. Please be patient with me! If you don't hear from me in a while, please don't take it personally! In fact, it makes me really happy if you contact me, for any purpose!

Which pronouns do I go with?

I go by they/them! I am also aroace, so if I appear to show any sort of romantic interest, it's definitely not that. I love meeting new people and am quite interested in people in general so I'm excited to get to know you better, but the thing is... I have been confusing people on several occassions for saying things that could be taken as flirting. I am terribly sorry for that, that's just the way I show how I care!

I don't really identify myself by any specific gender either, but rather by my roles or interests (Magma host, submas fan, game artist etc.). Submas encouraged me to enjoy dressing formally even if I'm just sitting at home, because I love formal clothing in general and wearing them makes me feel confident and stand taller! I usually wear collar shirts and black or white slacks.

More about my AD(H)D:

I don't have an official diagnosis but deal with the same problems as AD(H)D people do; poor work memory, dissociation, hyperfocus (drawing and people), sleep deprivation, impulsiveness (juggling too many things and going with the wind), getting sensory/information overloads, and feeling like I don't fit in. I figured it out after I finished school & lost my job for that I am unable to handle big tasks without anyone giving me directions. It has taken a while but I've figured out things that help me manage my daily life as well as have a medication that mainly boosts my capability to get things started which is another great struggle ahah.

How do I manage to keep myself on track?

I use a Pomodoro timer to keep up a good flow and remember to take breaks! This is what I use the most:

I should set it up on my tablet as well. I think it's really cool to see how many hours I have actually put into drawing! Last year I clocked in well over 3k hours, ahaha!

How to catch me?

Right now I have great difficulty managing replies, but usually you can reach me by DMs! I check Discord and Twitter the most often! However I must ask you to respect my current DNI status. It means I am really overwhelmed so I wish nobody comes asking for my attention until it has been lifted, unless it's really necessary. I really love talking to you all but I also have to accept and deal with my own limits strictly like this or it won't work out.

What am I working on at the moment?

Besides the holiday set I have several short comics under works as well as one big comic (100+ pages!). That one is my personal greatest goal! I started working on it in June 2022 and I have currently 40+ pages sketched and 60+ thumbnailed.

I was afraid of starting any comic projects before submas, but the sheer excitement over them carried me over that personal wall ahah!

The story's beginning and end are looking good and somewhat functional but there's still a lot to work to do and holes to fill in the middle before I dare to start fleshing out the pages. I have little experience in writing or comic making so I hope you forgive if some things don't make sense or the dialogue is a little on the nose so to say ahah!

The story will be packed with action with the overall tone being on the darker side, but it sure won't be lacking in humor! The project's main goal is to make it a celebration of all things submas & to prove to myself I can handle a big scale project despite my shortcomings!

This train has reached the terminal!

Thank you for riding my silly submas train!! I adore reading all your tags and comments! They brighten up my day & fuel my passion even more!! I hope to bring many more fun things for you to look forward to!! See you again soon!

ALL ABOARD!!

#Personal #Introduction

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