#actually only 27

[madeleinejubileesaito]

30/30 ✨

read all 30

[reunitedinterlude]

we all knew it wasn't a hiatus

happy one year since dapg returning <3

[creativity-deficient]

Thinking about how if you don’t count Tweek x Craig (since that mostly takes place before they become a couple), we only have one creek centered episode 😔😔😔

[jtl-fics]

Fluent Freshman - Part 32

PREV

He had the first week back from Thanksgiving break off from both classes and practice.

The week off of classes leaves FF feeling like getting stabbed has been a net positive experience for him.

First he feels like it really cemented the apparent friendship he had with at least Andrew and Neil. Second, he technically had a job offer in his Freshman year. Third, and most important, his language professor who had wanted him to come and speak to his gen-ed Latin class of over 100 students told him not to worry about it and that he had gotten one of FF’s friends to agree to the presentation instead.

His relief was so immediate and all-consuming that he hadn’t even had the energy to pretend he was upset that he had been replaced. Thankfully his teacher just chalked it up to relief that he wouldn’t have to stand up and present when his stomach was healing from the surgery.

Coach Wymack and Abby wouldn’t even let him go to the Court. Kevin had tried to argue quite a few times on Sunday when that decision had been made. Argued that he could sit in and watch for strategy purposes if nothing else.

However, even Kevin couldn’t guarantee that FF wouldn’t get accidentally run into / knocked against considering his complete lack of presence.

Matt had rushed into Abby’s house having made a bee-line for it upon reaching the airport.  “Smiths! You got stabbed!” Matt yelled as if informing him of his own predicament.

“Yeah.” FF agreed as if it were something that could have been debated.

“What happened?! Nicky just sent a pic of the flowers he got you and the card?” Matt had asked pulling his backpack off his shoulder and to his front as he unzipped it and rooted around for something before pulling out an orange envelope. “This is from me and Dan, you remember her right?” Matt had asked.

FF thought of quiet conversations he has overheard over the phone and not so quiet noises Matt makes when engaging in some phone sex with his girlfriend.

“Yes, I remember Dan.”  FF had said diplomatically and accepted the card.

The card was sitting on the nightstand at Abby’s house next to the card the Monsters, his grandma, other teammates, and some cards from friends he had made outside of Exy. It feels nice to look at the multiple cards all wishing him well.

His Grandma was going to stay for two weeks and Abby was being incredibly kind to put them up

He spent most of that week sleeping, spending time with his grandma, getting yelled at by Abby for trying to do chores, and spending time with the Foxes that came to visit him.

Nicky had come over to hang out every day without fail. Most of the upperclassmen who were on the original ‘miracle’ team of the Foxes stopped in to see him regularly. Even Jack stopped in to complain about how Captain Neil presented a danger to the rest of them before giving him a Get Well Soon card and leaving.

It was a strangely thoughtful card that he’s near positive Jack’s girlfriend picked out for him. When the end of the week and the first game that FF would need to sit out from approached Coach Wymack asked if he wanted to come.

“You can’t play, but you’re still a Fox.” Wymack had said and his grandma had encouraged him to go and spend time with his friends. She’d hold down the fort for Abby, cook up a bunch of food for the the team to enjoy when they got back late.

So FF climbed onto the bus and sat next to Nicky who had declared himself FF’s bodyguard for the evening who’s safety he would only pass off to Coach Wymack during the game proper.

***

They’ve come so damn far from the worst team in the Division. His kids are thriving and because of that he’s gotten a larger budget. A larger budget to better help his kids with. David would be lying if he said he didn’t spend some nights wishing he could tell himself of a few years ago just how good it would get.

Still, the match is a lot closer than it should be.

He looks to his side and sees FF sitting there watching the game with rapt attention.

He looks as Sheena fumbles a pass that his newest problem child had mastered the timing of a month before. He sees Kevin’s shoulders go up in anger but Neil’s quick reflexes save it before the play is fully fumbled.

Neil makes a feint to pass to Kevin and the goal lights up putting them in the lead by 2 goals. David thinks of the numerous plays that would have gone smoother with the kid next to him playing instead of Sheena but there was no point in wishing for things that couldn’t be.

FF wouldn’t be playing until the Spring Championships started up and David would need to address FF’s medical hiatus and Lisa’s ‘family emergency’ that had her leaving the team.

It always stung when a Fox left but it hurt less when it was of their own volition instead of in a body bag.

He looks to the side again and thinks of the numerous decisions he had needed to make as Kevin slept in the car on the way to the hospital. Honestly, if he still was thinking about going after the hospital.

How the fuck did the hospital just leave the damn kid in a hallway for over an hour? He hates the thought of FF laying there in pain and bleeding watching as people went by.

He’s grateful that the kid didn’t seem to remember it.

He wasn’t going to mention it to any of the other Foxes, not even FF if he could swing it. He has no doubt that at the very least Andrew and Neil would go on a rampage and he’s near positive that Kevin would take special delight in it considering a week on he was still bitching about what he had seen in the Nutritionist office.

He’s not sure what Nicky would do but he knows it’d give him a headache.

Nicky takes a hard hit that has him subbed out for one of the freshman backliners. Nicky’s a little woozy and Abby confirms a very slight concussion that she’ll keep an eye on during the trip back.

They win by slimmer margins than they should but it’s to be expected.

“Coach Wymack?” FF asks.

“What’s up?” David asks.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom. It...uh...well it takes a while now.” FF says and David can read the embarrassment.

“Meet us at the bus. Be careful.” he orders.

FF nods and heads off.

Neil and Matt are on press duty and David preps the press to let them know about FF and Lisa. There are some questions about what kind of medical hiatus but David declined to answer knowing that Neil and Matt wouldn’t let it slip either.

His last two players get showered and on the bus.

He does a count and gets the correct number and starts the bus.

They’re just about to get on the highway when there’s a shout, “Wait! Where’s Smithy?!” Nicky exclaims full volume over the general conversation that had been going on throughout the bus.

David frowns, he had counted-

Abby. He had counted Abby’s head next to Nicky.

“Oh god dammit.” he says.

***

FF looked at where the bus should have been waiting for him.

He closes his eyes and hopes that the bus will appear between blinks. 

He opens his eyes again and finds...nope just fans milling about heading to their own cars and home. He gives a hopeful look across the parking lot wondering if the bus maybe just got moved back somewhere so that they could get out easier after he went and made them wait?

A lot of people. Some kids. Some disappointed Belmonte fans. Some excited Fox fans. Some general Exy fanatics who were discussing what the Belmonte team would need to do to stay in  for the Spring Championships.

No Palmetto State Fox team bus.

He swallows a bit of disappointment and moves past it.

He pulled up his phone to plug in Abby’s house and saw that it would be a 4 day hike from Belmonte. He looked down at his shoes contemplating if they’d make the over 300 miles of walking. The doctors and Abby had been very clear not to do too much exercise but surely it wouldn’t count since he was just going to walk? They said walking was fine right?

FF sighed at the thought.

Yeah, it wasn’t going to work.

His stomach hurts at the thought of a 5 hour car ride. Maybe there was a bus station nearby and he could make his way back via greyhound.

He was looking at his phone again when it started to ring and Nicky’s face was on his screen to let him know who the caller was.

He hit the answer button, “Hello-“

There was an inhale and FF had been on the receiving end of this quite a few times at this point so he held his phone the entire length of his arm away from his ear, “SMITHY, ARE YOU ON THE BUS OR DID WE FORGET YOU?!” Nicky screeches and it hurts his ears even from an entire arms length away. He wonders how in the world Nicky can stand being that loud with his minor concussion.

He stares at his phone dubiously for a few moments, worried that Nicky may shout again.

“Smithy?! Smithy?” He hears Nicky’s not quite as loud but very concerned voice. FF decides to bite the bullet.

“Hello Nicky, I am not on the bus.” He says.

“We fucking LEFT SMITHY!” Nicky yells and FF can hear a collective groan from across the line.

He may even hear Coach Wymack yelling something about ‘again’ and feels shame burn in his stomach. He should have just held in his pee. He hadn’t really needed to go that badly and it’s not like Coach Wymack doesn’t take bathroom breaks.

“It’s okay.” He rushes to assure Nicky. “I can…grab a bus or something. You don’t need to come back, I’m-“

“Young man, if you say that you’re fine I can not be held responsible for what I will do when I see you in the next 20 minutes.” Nicky threatens. “I also can’t be held responsible for what I’ll do to Neil since I feel like he’s infected you somehow.” He says.

He hears a distant “Hey” followed by an even more distant “Man, I hate to say it but I think he’s right.”

“I don’t want to bother you.” He says.

“Smithy, you are so far from a bother it is insane. How about I stay on the line with you okay?” Nicky asks but something has caught his eye.

Two kids haven’t moved as the rest of the world continued to. He watched as they clung to one another and no one seemed to take notice of them. He doesn’t understand how anyone could miss them with the bright orange children’s jerseys they had on. One sporting 01 - Josten and the other 10 - Josten on the backs.

“That’s okay Nicky. Call me when you’re close.” He says and makes his way over.

He can see the little boy’s hand holding the little girl’s hand tightly and is careful to walk around them in a way so that he wouldn’t appear out of nowhere. “Hey,” he squatted down to their height and the little boy still jumped slightly, dropping a small book to the ground, and the little girl hid her face in his shoulder. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I just noticed you looked a little lost.” He says and his muscles won’t pull in a way to offer a reassuring smile but he hopes he can convey it through his tone.

The little boy visibly swallows down nervous spit, “I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.” He says holding on tighter to the little girl.

“Smart, continue to do that.” He says immediately, “Can you just nod yes or no for me?” He asks instead.

The boy thinks for a long moment before nodding affirmatively.

“Great, good job.” He says, “Did you come to the stadium with your parents?” He asks

A nod in the affirmative.

“Do your parents know where you are?” He asks.

He shakes his head in a negative.

“Are you lost?” He asks.

Another negative.

“So you mean to be right here?”  He wants to clarify.

A nod in the affirmative this time.

FF takes a moment to piece together what he knows and looks down at the book.

An autograph book. “Oh, you wanted to get an autograph from Captain Neil?” he asks.

The little boy looks up but it’s the little girl who answers. She finally takes her face out from his shoulder. FF’s eyes can’t help but see the large burn scar on her cheek but also see how her eyes sparkle with delight, “You know Captain Josten?!” she exclaims in delight.

“Millie!” The young boy says. “He’s a stranger!” he hisses.

“Nu-uh!” she shakes her head, “Number 13!” she points at his jersey he had worn in solidarity. “He passes to Captain Josten!” she says brightly. “See Brandon?” she smiles.

It could just be a fan jersey though FF highly doubts that anyone would buy fan merch for him. He is no Kevin Day, Captain Neil Josten, or Andrew Minyard.

Still the little boy, Brandon, looks at him with wide eyes, “You’re Smith?” he asks.

“Yeah.” FF nods, “Captain Neil is my Captain.” he says.

“I love Captain Josten! I wanna marry him!” Millie says and FF can’t help but wonder if Andrew would squash such adorable competition. “His face is like mine!” she giggles.

“Yeah, your face is as cool as Captain Neil’s is.” FF agrees with completely sincerity.

“We came out here to get Captain Josten’s signature” Brandon says with a pout, “All the adults were in the way and it was...kind of scary.” he admits with a flush.

A thought occurs to him. He doesn’t want to leave these kids and brave the crowds to find someone to announce the lost kids. It would only be about 12 more minutes before the bus comes. Coach Wymack would be able to help and...

“They’re coming to pick me up pretty soon. How about we stay right here and we can get Captain Neil’s autograph together?” he asks.

Both kids light up at the idea. “Really?” they both ask.

“Yeah, I also want Captain Neil’s autograph.” he says because he does. He’s wanted Captain Neil’s autograph for AGES but had been too awkward to ask. Then Greg had come and made it seem like FF would want it just to sell it or something.

Now he has the perfect excuse.

***

David pulled into the spot he had left almost half an hour ago and barely managed to put the bus into park before most of his more senior players were prying the door open to go look for FF.

Nicky had called but FF hadn’t picked up and it had set his more paranoid players’ teeth on edge.

The only one that stayed on the bus was Nicky since Abby had a firm grip on him.

David sighed and told everyone else to stay put before exiting the bus and began the herculean effort of trying to spot FF in a crowd.

It actually wasn’t too hard as he found his players standing and watching as FF crouched with his back to them as two little kids in orange Fox jerseys were re-enacting something for him.

He’d be tempted to let them keep going if he didn’t remember Abby’s list of specific things FF shouldn’t do with his still healing stomach and squatting like that was definitely on the list.

“Smith.” he says and watches as the Freshman jolts and tips over, thankfully onto his side, from his squatted position.

The kids get nervous when they see him but then their eyes both lock on Neil’s face. For a moment his heart aches for his player, plenty of kids have cried about Neil’s scars but then his eyes land on the little girl’s face more properly and...

Oh...

Those are stars in her eyes. David looks at the two different Josten kids jerseys that the Palmetto store had released.

FF recovers from his tumble admirably, “Coach Wymack,” he says getting up onto his feet. “These two are lost, can you see if there’s a way to contact their parents?” he asks.

David nods and pulls out his phone and steps away slightly.

He watches over the interaction that happens next.

**

As promised, FF had taken the awkward lead of asking for it and had them form a line. It had been weird but he watched as understanding dawned in Captain Neil’s eyes as he saw the two Josten jerseys. It had felt even less weird to get Captain Neil’s autograph when Matt had jokingly gotten in line behind Brandon because he too wanted Captain Neil’s autograph.

FF felt a little bad that Captain Neil had been so flustered by the requests but at least he finally had the Captain Neil autograph he’d wanted since last March. It also felt nice when Captain Neil had smiled the way he did at Millie when she babbled about how they matched.

Andrew had bumped into him in the way that FF was learning meant that he was pleased with whatever FF had just done. Kevin and Aaron had been the ones to ask if his stitches were okay after his startled tumble.

Millie and Brandon’s parents were incredibly grateful and swore to continue to be lifelong fans of the Foxes. Millie and Brandon themselves had been more excited about their Captain Neil Josten autographs than being reunited with their parents. They had waved goodbye with Millie loudly proclaiming that her and Captain Neil would get married someday.

Climbing onto the bus he was subjected to a check over by Abby when both Kevin and Aaron dragged him to her. Then he was sat down next to Nicky who shoved him into the window seat and cuddled up. “I won’t lose track of you if I’m on you.” was his logic.

The bus ride resumed.

���I didn’t know you liked kids.” Nicky says head on FF’s shoulder. “I’ve watched you go to the other side of the street to avoid middle school kids.” he adds.

FF feels ice in his stomach.

“Middle school kids are mean.” FF says and doesn’t properly answer the question but Nicky is just concussed enough to not call him on it.

MASTERPOST FOR ALL PARTS OF FLUENT FRESHMAN AU

NEXT

Like I said in my last part I will be tagging people separate from the actual update going forward. Still any requests to be added to the tag list feel free to put in the replies here.

[concordewillfly]

guys i think i might be a little cooked rn

[dykedvonte]

You wanna talk about House and Benny? Let’s talk about House and Benny. Let’s talk about how House says he saw Benny as a son figure ans a rightful successor to the strip. Let’s talk about how Benny was so charmed by House’s offer that he literally killed a man to get the position to agree to it. Let’s talk about how House was intentionally priming Benny and regrets not doing better, not for the wasted time but of Benny’s wasted potential, how it was misplaced. Let’s talk about how Benny didn’t question House’s leadership until the guy started going radio silent. Let’s talk about House and Benny:

[fogwitchoftheevermore]

everyday i become more tempted to assign every single fob song to the life series. i could do it. it would be very easy, even.

[ilottthepilot]

having many thoughts about "natural talent" vs growth and development and how that manifests differently in f1 vs other sports

[cassettedec]

VOTED MOST TOXIC BISEXUAL IN THE OFFICE! (real tough competition too)

[acediaedeus]

petition for ppl to stop trying to deny Ichigo’s title as a delinquent on the grounds of him being a good student. you know delinquency and good grades aren’t mutually exclusive, right? you want to tell me Kurosaki Ichigo, THE Kurosaki Ichigo, a mix of 4 different races, can’t be a delinquent AND 11th in his school? yeah, you’re delusional.

no one’s gonna call you a delinquent just bc you have bad grades. a bad student? yes. but a delinquent? no, bc the definition of the word is “someone who tends to commit crime, particularly minor crime”, and as far as I’m aware beating up ppl is a crime, even if they start it and even if they’re bad.

embrace the reality of Kurosaki Ichigo, saviour of all three worlds, being a dumbass teenager who’s face is known to every cop in the area. the responders for 119 calls know Ichigo’s voice by heart, he says “hi” and they just sigh and ask “how many?”.

this is also a kind of continuation to my post about Grimmjow being in shock when seeing Ichigo out of Shinigami robes, bc we all know he likely thinks of Ichigo as a do-gooder and a law-abiding human (derogatory) and so he’s not surprised when he comes to the Human World and fucking everyone from officers to doctors smile at the guy with exclamations of “Oh, it’s Kurosaki!”. he is significantly more surprised when Tatsuki tells him exactly why they react like that. he loves it and Kurosaki gains two points of respect from him, but he’ll never know.

[toeatagod]

Destroying the Corrupted Gaze: An Analysis of Momose Amane’s Second Trial

In case you don't know, MILGRAM is a Japanese interactive music project by DECO*27 and Takuya Yamanaka, established in April 2020, where 10 prisoners are put into three rounds of trial to gradually express their guilt and sins into a song. The viewers, representing an ungendered guard named Es, vote if the prisoner should be “innocent” (forgivable) or “guilty” (unforgivable). Each prisoner has a different experience and style of music and visuals, but have a single thing in common: they all have committed murder.

This will focus on one of the 10 prisoners, a 12-year-old girl named Momose Amane who has known to have been brainwashed into a cult’s practices, and will analyze four aspects of her music video: the visuals, lyrics, song title, and the convention defied (hopefully, once I submit this to my professor, I too will also be forgiven for the length of this analysis since I am very fond of this series; I apologize in advance).

Visual and Lyric Analysis

The music video starts with an army of countless Amane’s, all poise and flawlessly in position. Each row waves four flags of different colors, representing the cult’s “commandments”. The following are the official English translations of the lyrics, with the original Japanese beside it:

Thou shall follow thine destiny. / 人は運命を生きよ

Thou shall discard vulgarity. / 人は卑しきを捨てよ

Thou shall deliver unto those thou believest in. / 信じたものに納めよ

Thou shall stay thine course, then perish. / 道を外れずに果てよ

The way these were written were imperative, and were enumerated with the word “ひとつ” (hitotsu, which means firstly or one) before it. This shows that there is no order to their commandments—all of them were of utter priority. Additionally, these lyrics were made to look like actual commandments, but the following are the actual meanings of the lyrics:

People must live out their fate.

People must abandon the lowly.

People must submit to their beliefs.

People must meet their end without straying [from their path].

Moving on, one of the Amane’s is holding a blue flag, which represents the second commandment, fails to deliver the correct pattern in the march. The leading Amane catches her mistake, summoning clouds that caused rain to sink her down the “snow” as a punishment. After an uncomfortable sequence of her struggling, she is then pulled back to reality, where she is soaked and kneeling on her bathroom floor, gasping for breath. A hand is in front of her, holding a showerhead, showing that she had been waterboarded by her own mother. Another detail to notice as she was sinking is that she still reaches out to the flag. It is common one to turn to their beliefs in desperate times, and since Amane was still at such a young age and didn’t have much to rely on, she relies on the same beliefs that hurt her. As she sinks, the “snow” covers her drowning body, a sign that no one saw (or ignored) abuse she was going through.

At the next scene, Amane is seen administering first aid to a wounded cat, and is spotted by two figures, no doubt members of the cult. They then tell this to Amane’s mother, and the poor girl gets tased as soon as she arrives at home. This was a punishment because she interfered with fate, thus violating the first commandment. It is possible that Amane receives different punishments depending on the commandment violated. The balloon that moves away from Amane’s apartment has a symbol with all four colors, encapsulating the commandments.

Amane returns to the spot where she took care of the cat, and only a torn collar and her bloodied handkerchief is found. She eventually realizes that her disobeying these commandments, intentional or not, will only bring her misfortune. Her face is covered in bruises, as she looks up and smiles. The army of Amane’s runs with the same eerie smile, with the flag and mascots symbolizing the four commandments in hand, showing that the brainwashing has been effective. She does the usual pattern with her baton, but in the third sequence, it is stained with blood.

In the scene of the crime, Amane stands over her mother’s dead body, wearing her same outfit from the march. This symbolizes that it was the beliefs taught to her that pushed her to that extent. Additionally, her voice as the song prolongs becomes more aggressive, compared to when she started the song, where she was more soft-spoken.

The lyrics of the song is Amane implying the things taught to her and the punishments she endured for violating them. On the second verse, she can be heard constantly muttering the commandments over and over again in the background, and the following lyrics are one of the phrases that are sung over and over again: “After you cry, repent, and kneel, it’s now your turn to say that hopeless ‘I’m sorry’!” That sentence of apology can often be heard from children who promise they won’t act up ever again.

Title Analysis

The Purge March’s title is written as 粛清マーチ in Japanese and pronounced as Shukusei Māchi. It can be broken down into two parts: the Chinese characters “粛清” and “マーチ”. 

Shukusei is usually written where, when the characters are combined, it would literally mean solemn justice. But in this case, it is written differently (although pronounced the same). The first character stays the same as solemn but the second character “清” means pure, cleanse, or even exorcise. This implies that the beliefs brought upon Amane can be viewed as unjust to some.

Conventions and Conclusion

Songs with an upbeat tempo are often associated or assumed to have wholesome lyrics. Not only does this case defy that stereotype, but The Purge March also mixes in a haunting sense of reality in both the lyrics and the song in the fictional case of Momose Amane. She sings with threats that attack both believers and non-believers alike, because she only knows about the incoming punishment if she doesn’t obey. 

To think that there really are people out there—children, specifically—who experience this lingering fear with their beliefs is incredibly concerning, and even more so with the possibilities that might happen once they are pushed to their limits. I speak from pure experience, and I have chosen this piece of media not only because it is dear to my heart, but because it also reminds us of the reality we are in. It is better to be educated and afraid than to be blissfully ignorant.

[EDIT] Additionally, Amane mentioned in her voice drama that those who run away from trials are the worst kind of people, and in the last scene depicting her murder, droplets of water are trailing outside of the bathroom, showing attempts of escape. The trail ends in the living room, where Amane hovers over the dead body. She really is just trying to live the way she was taught.

[lokh]

i dont know if i can finish this movie

[ashleybenlove]

Me watching Sofia Caccimelio: this lady looks familiar.

[finally checks the Internet and see the end credits]

It's fucking Téa Leoni.

[trianglesimpfordpines]

(...used an image of miguel in the movies but a lot of those points are from the comics, here's hoping his backstory is the same and this meme doesn't age like milk when beyond the spider verse comes out)

[skyland2703]

what happened to the Skyland2702, Skyland 2701, and Skyland2704?

Skyland2701 and 2702 died. And Skyland2704 is my ao3 actually.

[quillkiller]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA my dad is dead