#and it's entirely bc ritsu is just so used to doing things on his own now that he Forgets he has people to lean on

[quirkle2]

the angst in your zombie au bREAKS MY HEART INTO PIECES (I LOVE IT VERY MUCH)

okay, okay, so!! if the kagebros got separated from reigen and teru when mob is still fine, i imagine that their reunion would be hEARTWRENCHING also, i'm a bit curious, would mob still be able to recognize teru and reigen? or would he thought about them as strangers?

(tbh, following your lore, i imagine mob would act a similarly like nezuko from demon slayer? but instead of little hums, his zombie sounds would more like babbling and incoherent mumbles :"D)

the reunion is fuckin AWFUL man it's SO gut-wrenching. both reigen and teru feared this for Months while looking for the brothers; pretty much the worst case scenario was that mob or ritsu or Both turned—a lot of humans prefer death over being a zombie any day, so the idea of ritsu or mob having to go through that and wander around aimlessly until starvation or smth else gets them,,,

it hurts them so much to think about. teru forces himself not to dwell on it and he's pretty good at that but reigen thinks abt it a lot and he's honestly not sure what scenario is worse. best case is that they're both alive and unturned, obviously, but what's the worst case? you'd think it's both of them getting killed, or turning, but reigen also knows that if One of them got killed/turned, the other would probably lose their mind, especially if they had to watch. the fact that they're kids makes this all three times worse and reigen has to act like he's Not worrying himself sick over the brothers while he tries to keep teru in high spirits

the reunion itself is rly fuckin gut-wrenching for them. they see mob from afar, wandered off just a bit from ritsu and tome who are just around the bend looting a place, and they book it bc ofc they do, it's mob!! but then they see how pale he is, and when he turns around they don't see that light in his eyes that's usually there and the red is dulled and dead looking,, teru almost moves in for a hug before he realizes mob looks vastly different when he Rly takes him in, and mob doesn't rly react too much besides staring at them blankly. the obvious answer is almost too horrifying to even consider, so it takes them a minute to rly,,realize what's going on

tome comes around the bend and shouts, cuz when humans and zombies mix it's usually guns pointed at zombie heads. ritsu comes running out after her and when he sees reigen and teru his thoughts go, in order: holy shit is that reigen and tero ohmygod oh my god they're alive they're alive ohmy god i could fucking cry, and ohmy god they see shige ohno oh no oh no

ritsu sounds like a lunatic when he pulls mob away from them on instinct and says that he's safe to be around and that he's "still him" and he's "not gone" and he's very aware of that. he's very, intimately aware that he sounds fuckin crazy, bc ofc he does, this is what all the crazy people in zombie movies sound like. but he doesn't care, he doesn't care if reigen or teru dismiss him as nuts—he has to make them understand that his brother is still in there somewhere

and yeah, they both kinda think that ritsu's lost his marbles a little bit, but while teru is focused on that and the fact that mob doesn't look like he's rly tuned into Anything that's happening rn, reigen is a bit more focused on the fact that both ritsu and mob look awful? they're both very skinny and very dirty, obviously barely scraping by. they're cut up and ritsu's jacket is basically blood and dirt with a little bit of green fabric mixed in. and just by the look in ritsu's eyes, reigen can tell, man ... reigen can tell ritsu is like.not okay at this point he's kinda lost it.

i think the most painful thing about this whole reunion in general is that later that night, when reigen and teru r finally like ok we get it he's,, he's still mob. we believe you (they want to believe him... [they Do believe him, later, wholeheartedly]) and they settle down someplace safe, teru asks how long mob's been like this. and ritsu has to answer "since we got separated" and they both have that to stew over while everybody else sleeps

they realize that ritsu likely watched mob turn, watched the entire process, and that process takes a long time. it's at least a week of deteriorating motor functions and cognitive skill, and the fact that ritsu stayed for that to keep mob company is .ough. and it doesn't end there bc ritsu obviously stayed after that too

given how these things usually go, ritsu probably did think about killing mob. it probably did cross his mind, bc that's basically what everybody's been told to do. kill them before they have a chance to do any more damage. and it's obvious that ritsu did not have it in him

ritsu not only did not have it in him to kill him, he didn't even have it in him to leave him there. the kid fucking took him with him. a zombie. and he's somehow made it work, for months. and the next few days are filled with watching him still treat mob like a brother and take care of him and gently steer him away from a bird he tries to follow down the wrong street.ritsu is as gentle and kind as he's ever been with his brother. and even tho they're both hungry and tired and barely making it, ritsu is doing a rly good job taking care of mob with what he's been given

the kid obviously wholeheartedly believes in a cure and that mob is still There. he's gone through the trouble to take care of him, and the grief of continuously seeing a loved one that many would consider effectively dead, to get him that cure. to get him his brother back. and mob doesn't seem to be in any pain or distress, so reigen and teru think that this path ritsu has followed is probably infinitely kinder than the mercy kill method they've been taught to do

i think they have a new respect for ritsu, after that reunion

[heatwa-ves]

@deepeststrawberrymoon oh boy. here we go. looks directly into your eyes. so. izuleo.

izumi and leo are both members of the unit knights that they formed together in the past (long story) anyway izumi is a model and he's so annoying and he's a bitch and I love him so so much. leo is a composer he's extremely talented at writing music and its his biggest passion, anyway they were close friends and izumi was basically half of Leo's impulse control and everything was great. and then stuff happened. by stuff I mean eichi and the reformation of yumenosaki but that's a story for another time and tbh I don't fully understand it myself 😭

anyway izls previous unit, chess, was disbanded and all the members split off to form their own units, mostly named after chess pieces which is where knights came from. izumi got his friend arashi (enstars' one and only woman 😭😭 unless you count anzu but she's like barely a character) to join their unit and also ritsu who he found sleeping on the ground and was like hey. join us. and ritsu was like ughhhdhhshhh fineee but only if I have to.

they had a big live concert called checkmate against one of the other units originally from chess, and before the live leo went over to them and was like "hey if you had to pick between having all my songs for free but me being your enemy or us being friends still but you never being able to use my songs what would you pick" and they said they'd pick his songs over him and that fucked up Leo a bit like he'd just had the revelation that the unit he had loved so much was using him for his music which was extra devastating bc songs are his way of showing love he writes songs for people he cares about (izumi has an entire ipod full of songs Leo has made for him. jsyk)

checkmate happened Leo said that even if the whole world hates him he'd be happy as long as he had izumi. okay. both of their mental states deteriorate Badly and their relationship develops into codependency they love eachother so much, too much, that it's hurting them both and both of them have this underlying self loathing that they don't know how to deal with so they require external validation to be able to function, izumi needs to be pretty he wouldn't know what to do with himself if people didn't think he was beautiful and so he relies on leo loving him and calling him beautiful and for leo izumi is his muse they need eachother and it's very unhealthy for the both of them until eventually they both break

and then more stuff happened idk exactly I haven't read all the pre ! stories but Leo breaks down entirely and shuts himself away in his room becomes extremely self destructive (haha. remember checkmate epilogue 2 where izumi is like "leo will bite his hand and write songs even as he bleeds" haha. lol.) (I took that line and fucking ran with it and so now I have a fic set in the time period of Leo isolating himself and he's just slowly destroying himself and izumi is breaking too and it's sooooo fun) and this. this is where lionheart comes in.

lionheart is the number one thing that ruined my life. it's 3k words from izumis pov that discusses his relationship with Leo and has some fun character introspection, there are some scenes that make me die like "sena, instead of hating mozart, I might be jealous of him" and leo talking about the tower of babel (SYMBOLISM. I am foaming at the mouth) and Leo saying he feels like simply a burden on his family and they'd be better off without him (have I mentioned I am not ok about leo tsukinaga) and at one part after leo shut himself away izumi has to visit him for knights reasons and when he arrives Leo's little sister Ruka starts crying and asks him to please tell Leo to come out "Izumi-san...? If it's you, I think he'd listen." and there's this.

and then izumi leaves Leo's house and goes down to the beach and plays his ipod of Leo's songs and has a bit of a moment and then a song comes on from when he was new to being an idol and his singing wasn't that good and Leo is like "your singing is out of tune lmao but you have such a pretty voice it'll get better with practice!" and then there are the most soul destroying words ever this makes me insane I am not ok over them!!!!!

while leo is off doing his thing (isolating himself and then travelling the world idk) izumi is uh. not doing great. he reunited with a childhood friend that he met when they modelled together and becomes borderline obsessive over him and he becomes the replacement to leo bc izumi can't deal with anyone else leaving especially not someone so important to him. so he feels since he failed leo he has to do everything to protect makoto and keep him safe. obviously tho this is not great for makoto who doesn't want any of this

anyway then leo comes back and tries to destroy knights or something idk I haven't read judgement or requiem (yet) but eventually he rejoins knights and hands over the title of leader to a new member tsukasa. and izl are slowly healing again!! they're not perfect but after graduation they moved to florence together for izumi to pursue modelling and Leo to work on his music tho they do still go back to Japan semi frequently to work on knights stuff. also they're roommates now. teehee ( I haven't read next door either but I Will. Soon)

so yeah. izuleo. I'm normal I'm fine I'm ok.

[originlist]

pasting this (minus a tangent) from disc so i dont forget to do things with it

professor jstor slime — Today at 10:51 PM

ritsu complaining about how storing enough mana to actually process into spells do shit instead of sending it thru external systems or firing it off into servants and yakos just "PUSSY SHIT" ritsus gonna learn how to fire gandr on their own tho and slowly just ritsu voice so what limits a gandrs size and explosive potential sion: i dont think anything is actually i think most mages just have different spells since gandr's pretty all-purpose and specialties are usually easier but idk what ur specialty is. ritsu: inchresting.

charri — Today at 10:53 PM

oh oh sion is a uhSPIRITRON HACKER so she might have some Techniques if they deign to up their bond level with her

professor jstor slime — Today at 10:54 PM

NICE she can just fuck around with ritsu until they both figure out ritsus shit. i still just think its super funny for ritsus main technique to be mystic codes and continually increasing caliber of gandr

charri — Today at 10:55 PM

they can have reinforcement too it's the most basic of basic spells which is why it's so fucking funny when rin is like WHY ARE YOU CREATING AN ENTIRE NERVOUS SYSTEM EVERY TIME YOU'RE USING THIS SPELL at shirou

professor jstor slime — Today at 10:56 PM

ritsu can have gandr, reinforcement, and i want them to have a low-level heals

charri — Today at 10:56 PM

yes healing spells are also a regular part of a mage's toolkit

professor jstor slime — Today at 10:57 PM

good. glad for that. theyre gonna have SHITTY heals but theyre gonna have heals i think ritsus heals suck be ritsu keeps trying to do shit too fuckign sciency when they do healing spells so theyre holding themselves back in a sense of like. the equivalent of trying to pull in calculus to prove their work when the work is "2x4". sion, anyone: stop doing that ritsu: i. want to know. exactly what the cellular level is doing sion: YOURE DISTRACTING YOURSELF AND MAKING THE SPELL WORK CELL BY CELL YOUD BE THERE FOR HOURS JUST BIG PICTURE FOR A SECOND ritsu: AAAAAAA

charri — Today at 11:00 PM

it's a good thing yako isn't there because her spellcasting is like 'it's just like, bam, you know? you push it out and kinda squish it so it does the thing'

professor jstor slime — Today at 11:00 PM

HONESTLY thats a little more ritsu's explaining speed its just that the healing issue is a problem bc they get Distracted thats how ritsu processes a gandr they can do the "well u just concentrate and go bam" except when it comes to biological magic and they immediately go LIKE OKAY BUT HOW DO I KNOW THERE ISNT DAMAGE AT THE GENETIC LEVEL AND COULD I HEAL THAT IF IT H--

charri — Today at 11:02 PM

robin holding his bleeding arm out not commenting

professor jstor slime — Today at 11:02 PM

half of ritsus brain: youre trying to close a cut, the nucleus of your cells is not the issue the other half: but what if it was

when ur brain goes so fast u cant concentrate on one thread of thought and u end up getting nothing done because you have three different things ur trying to think about and figure out at once and in the end it looks like ur just being lazy. ritsu with heals.

charri — Today at 11:03 PM

yuuya's is literally 'it erases the concept of injury' meanwhile yako can do shit that's more like stretching the skin to get it to close up and form a scar

professor jstor slime — Today at 11:04 PM

ritsu is Attempting to do "speed up the biological process of healing to the point where it would become instantaneous" but they get lost in the weeds

[strawbrymilkshake]

i just watched the first six episodes of the mp100 netflix show for no good reason other than that i apparently hate myself, so to not put my pain to waste here’s a half-review half-rant thing

i guess ill start with the good and make my way to the shit i hated about this show, but as you can probably guess there’s hardly any good

tome was fun, i guess. she’s got that same chaotic™ energy and had some of the only lines i genuinely laughed at, but also she’s the only member of the telepathy club for some reason? and they merged her character with mezato’s, so i guess she’s got more to do. but judging by the sfx i doubt they had the budget for even one (1) more actor, so ig i can forgive them for that. overall probably the only adaptation that both wasn’t painful to watch and actually warranted the changes they made

teru (from the little i saw of him) was also pretty good. the fight had some....changes, but on his own i thought he was fine, pretty harmless adaptation overall. i stopped watching once i realised that they weren’t gonna go all in and give him the cactus hair so points deducted for that

and the last thing i liked about this show: ritsu! they got a young actor who was good and i didn’t have many issues with him. there was one interaction he had with tome that i liked when she introduced herself and he said ‘oh! tome’s my grandma’s name!’ and tome was like ‘...yeah you and mob are definitely brothers.’ the reason why he’s lower than tome and teru is because. for whatever fucking reason. he is in every. goddamn. scene. like even when it doesn’t make any sense. when mob joins the body improvement club? he’s there. when mob is taking down the lol cult? he’s there. the teru fight? he’s there. i lost count of how many times i was asking myself ‘why the fuck is ritsu here?’ he was inescapable. his presence in those scenes didn’t even add anything to the story. also he’s friends with tsubomi for some reason....i guess to give him more things that mob can be envious of?

speaking of tsubomi.....god. not to be like ‘they didn’t understand the source material!!1!!11!1!!!’ but like. please. it hurt. i get that they were probably trying to lean into the ‘guy gets the girl/high school romance’ type show more but uhh....way to horribly misunderstand the source material, guys. the problem with her is that she is in it so much that it almost entirely defeats the point of her character & what she’s supposed to mean to mob. they interact like every other scene! she’s a pretty close friend to ritsu, so that means they interact even more! she’s their next door neighbour ffs! i only watched the first six episodes and i think i still saw more of her than her entire screen time in the anime put together

and apart from her being so close to mob that it completely destroys the point of him idolising her, it also meant that the writers had to come up with a full personality for her and an actual dynamic for her and mob. and hoo boy they really went and decided that the two of them would have the most awkward, unappealing dynamic ever, huh. like there’s this running gag where she always messes up the words to common phrases, and mob has to correct her, and it’s painful every time. which, i guess (????) makes sense for what their relationship is in the manga & anime, where they’re not close anymore and mob doesn’t even know what she’s like/what he likes about her, but in this show, they were trying to push them together to lean into the romance tropes, so their uncomfortable dynamic doesn’t make sense anyway??

the stageplay got it fuckin RIGHT when they went and cast NO ONE for tsubomi. like. the legend jumped out. they got mob pining for a silhouette. chef’s kiss

holy shit this got long fast. ok the rest is under the cut

i guess im just going character by character now so: dimple. weird guy. the cgi was awful, but you knew that already. but he was just....so weird. and by that i mean he was awkwardly,, never there? when teru exorcises him it’s supposed have at least some impact, but in this show he had like three (3) scenes before it (rather than a couple episodes leading up to it) (and also they cut a shit ton out of the middle of the lol cult arc for...whatever reason) so when he gets exorcised here it’s like...oh no.....that guy...........did mob even speak to him more than once.....

speaking of the pacing of this show: it’s horrendous!! good lord i hate it!! the pacing is shit awful, and it feels like they’re just throwing in ‘’’’’’’’interesting’’’’’’’’ scenes that should take place later in the story bc they know that the audience isn’t going to want to stay around for the atrocious writing! case in point: we see the flashback of mob and reigen meeting in the second episode. the second fucking episode. the reason why it’s delayed so much in the anime (and even more in the manga) has a lot to do with the unfolding of reigen’s character depth and they just?? throw it in so early?? it feels like they’re just going ‘oh by the way, he’s good, or whatever. yeah, he’s totally complex and interesting. just trust us, okay, keep watching the show’ and the pacing of that completely throws off reigen’s character arc

i can’t really remember which episode(s) this was in but they also have this weird subplot with reigen going to the bar alone (yknow..like....s2 scenes...) and lowkey being friends with the bartender guy?? i gotta be honest i wasn’t paying much attention during these scenes but suffice it to say: god i hated reigen. like sure, he’s a sleazy character, but they just made him disgusting. netflix reigen does not drink his respect women juice, and that’s all i wanna say about that

also why is he like 40 years old

anyways back to the pacing, apart from throwing in scenes from wayyy later in the plot, this show also tried to have like four or five plot threads going at once. the place that this hurt the most was probably the teru fight, where the anime spends like two episodes entirely on it and nothing else, but in this show it keeps cutting to the start of the big clean up arc (probably just so they could keep showing ritsu) and reigen’s weird subplot 

and there’s other stuff like that, where they kept cutting to the awakening lab & the scars doing psychic stuff or whatever, i guess trying to entice the audience like ‘we swear there’s plot stuff!! it’s not just slice of life!! there’s evil™ people!!’ and i guess they were gonna pull the ol’ switcheroo™ where the audience thinks the awakening lab and the scars are working together but oh no!! only the scars are evil!! the awakening lab was actually on our side!! but i can’t be bothered to watch that far

also in the teru fight, they got most of the message across (don’t use your psychic powers against other people....mob and teru are the same...) but because they kept cutting away from it they lost the dramatic impact of all of it. the choreography and sfx weren’t as bad as they could have been i guess, but they definitely showed the budget. it also didn’t take place in a school (which...fine, whatever) but it led to something i actually did like: teru attacked mob with glass shards instead of knives, and although i do like the knife metaphor + imagery, you could also argue something about the destructive nature of his power use coming back to hurt him in the shards of glass, and also something about reflections or...something. i just thought it was neat, although i don’t know why they changed the setting from the school in the first place

also in the teru fight: it was raining and ???% stopped the rain katara-style mid air, and even though the cgi still wasn’t all that good, i thought that was a rad concept. but then he just made a tornado instead of ripping buildings apart and you get the idea not a lot of it was good

back to things i hate because i don’t have a good segue!! the writing!! bad!!

i see the writers of this show engaged in the age old storytelling practice of ‘tell, don’t show’

when reigen tells mob to be a good person: “ok, i won’t show off my powers or use them against other people. i’ll become a good person”

when mob loses control of his powers and hurts ritsu as a kid: “these powers are awful and cause nothing but trouble. i’m not going to be using them again”

god i wish i was exaggerating

and, going back to the lol cult, for whatever fucking reason they decided to have that latter line of dialogue to be the full explanation of mob’s complex. like i get that there’s a time for exposition and a time for subtly, but take some cues from the original author and maybe fucking explain the main plot device of the show and not the protagonist’s sad vague backstory rather than the other way around. want to confuse and alienate your audience? good fucking job!! you’ve done it!!

and just because this was my favourite episode in the anime and im fucking bitter!! they cut out so much of dimple’s monologue and just had mob get to 100% pretty much after all dimple says is ‘get a clue.’ like. he puts the mask on, it doesn’t work, ‘get a clue,’ 100%. yeah im totally gonna care when this character comes back to try and manipulate mob later.

also....mob...........

i havent talked about him that much here, have i?

okay specifically w the lol cult first, the whole thing where they put the mask on and he’s not smiling is completely devoid of any impact because!! he’s full on emoting throughout the rest of the show!! like he’ll look worried, embarrassed, he’ll cringe or smile or whatever, and the most it looks like is that he’s just slightly uninterested, but otherwise has a pretty good grip on his emotions. unlike the anime + stageplay where it’s clear that he’s (seemingly) completely unemotional. the reason why i bring up the stageplay is bc, while i know that setsuo ito is 10ish years older than the guy that plays mob in the netflix show, i kinda wish that they just....cast him anyway.....bc they clearly didn’t have any hangups on casting adults for all the other middle schoolers, and ito did such a good job in the stageplay. he’s the only guy who is mob to me lmao (kyle mccarley is on thin ice but he can stay)

i mean mob just straight up showing emotions through the show could have been down to the directing as well. also i’m pretty sure a majority of it is bc he’s constantly around tsubomi, so. stupid decisions lead to stupid outcomes!

and that’s basically it for my weird review/rant on this show. the writing’s bad, the pacing’s bad, they didn’t care at all about the source material, i’m not entirely sure if they cared about the audience either, there was maybe two (2) changes i liked, if that, and everyone should go watch the stageplay. there were probably way more points that i wanted to bring up but i think my brain is already repressing the memory of it for my own safety

if i ever try to watch the rest of this show, shoot me

[snowstories]

I’m creating an esper girl AU because of course I am, and it focuses on the girls teaming up to save pretty much all the other espers of Seasoning City, who have been kidnapped by a mysterious organization. Anyway here’s a rundown of everyone’s powers I have so far:

Mezato: brainwashing, but like, mostly subtle. She basically has a form of telepathy/empathy that focuses on projecting her emotions/thoughts/wants/needs onto others, and uses that to influence people’s minds. She usually does this over a longer period of time, because that’s harder to detect or resist, but can brute force her way into your brain if need be. 

Tome: spacey powers; gravity control, wormhole creation, light manipulation (or rather, darkness manipulation; mostly the ability to take light away from places and make it dark, though other abilities sneak in too). Also has some very basic psychokinesis. 

Emi: written curses/talismans. She can curse anything she writes on, as well as make portable curses on paper. In addition, she can also protect anything she write on and create written talismans for people to carry. Also has the ability to see curses.

Tsubomi: necromancy and control over living beings. More specifically, she can control physical aspects of both dead and living things, such as bones, blood, tissue, etc. Can also create decay, and has chlorokinesis.

Rei: extrasensory perception/clairvoyance. Yes I know she’s a canon esper I just wanted to make clear she’s involved in my AU.

More details about their powers and a little bit about the role I’m planning on giving them in my AU under the cut.

Mezato:

Her powers manifested when she was too young to remember, and she’s used them on an almost daily basis since. This made her spoiled rotten and used to getting her way, creating an ego similar to that of Teru or even Touichirou. However, after the Divine Tree Incident, she got some character development and realized that always getting what she wants through mind control has left her hollow, which, combined with the newfound knowledge of just how scary it can be to be on the receiving end of mind control, has knocked her down a few pegs and made her use her powers less. 

Is mostly a support member, searching out information by brainwashing people into giving it for her and/or using her brainwashing to get access to places she shouldn’t have. 

Has the best control of her powers out of everyone in the group, and functions as something of a mentor for the rest because of that, despite her distinct un-mentor-like personality and the fact that her powers aren’t really comparable to most of the group’s.

Her power level is rather high, somewhere around Teru’s and/or Takenaka’s level, but she’s not and will never be as overpowered as Mob.

Has a very faint, sickly yellow aura. Can brainwash you into overlooking it, forgetting you ever saw it, etc. 

Avoided the organization’s detection because her power is very subtle and hard to recognize, and even telepaths and empaths generally don’t pick up on her aura because she has a unique mix of the two abilities.

Tome:

Her gravity control functions basically the same as the leader of the Seventh Division’s, but much less powerful (and she can’t create orbs at the start of the story).

Her wormhole creation is basically just cool space themed teleportation, with the added bonus of making it easy for to teleport large groups (but she develops it relatively late into the story).

Light manipulation mainly focuses on being able to take light away from a place, so it looks more like she’s controlling darkness than light. However, later during the story, she develops invisibility (and maybe even the ability to manipulate colour? idk I think it’d be cool).

By ‘very basic psychokinesis’, I mean that she can do basic esper things like create barriers/have raw explosions of energy, but can’t do anything more advanced. Doesn’t even have telekinesis. Cannot shape her raw psychic powers like the vectors Teru/that one Seventh division guy uses. At most can blast people somewhere like Serizawa, but it’s much weaker than his. Mostly, her psychic powers lie in her space themed powers.

Her powers manifested when she came under Rusty’s curse, as a desperate reaction to try and keep her alive, but since they only manifested as a slight increase in gravity and some darkness swirling, everyone assumed it was Rusty’s curse and didn’t pay it any mind. Tome later found out that they were her powers, and was planning on telling someone, but then all the espers got kidnapped.

Has really shoddy control of her powers to start with, bc she only just manifested them, but learns and grows quickly.

Has impressive powers but a moderate to moderately high power level, a little weaker than Ritsu to start with and eventually developing to somewhere around his level.

Acts as one of the front line members and is often on the offense, because her powers are very well suited for it, and she’s the only one of the team who can create barriers. Later also helps with stealth missions, after she masters her darkness control/invisibility, and acts as the transportation for the team after she manifests the ability to create wormholes.

Has a very noticeable galaxy aura when she’s using her powers, but it’s faint if she’s not. It gradually becomes more and more noticeable even when she’s ‘in rest’ over the course of the series.

Evaded detection by the organization because her powers had only just manifested, and nobody except her knew they existed.

Emi:

Manifested her powers during the last exam period, after she got way too stressed and her powers pulled a Ritsu and awakened. This happened about a year prior to the start of the story. Found out about her powers after she noticed she had accidentally cursed her teacher with her exam, and suddenly gained the ability to see spirits.

Is bad at detecting esper auras, because her power set is very unique and has little overlap with either psycho/telekinetics or telepaths/empaths.

How powerful her curses/talismans are is almost entirely dependent on how much time she’s had to prepare them; she stores up energy into the curses/talismans, which releases when the curse/talisman is activated. 

She does have an upper limit, of course; the most extreme talisman she could create would be a one-time protection against death, and the most extreme curse she could create would either cause minor decay in a person or collapse a building. She cannot store power for longer than a week.

Has a moderate to moderately high power level. However, her unique power set makes her hard to compare to others. Would, with practice, maybe be about as powerful as or just a little weaker than the curse guy from the Seventh Division, but her power is less suited for battle bc she needs to store energy first.

Has really bad control over her powers bc she’s scared of them; accidentally curses almost anything she writes on, and doesn’t really know what her base powers are. Doesn’t even know she can make talismans at the start of the story. Eventually becomes more confident and gains better control over them.

She didn’t tell Mob or any other esper about her powers because of the aforementioned fear of them. Was, however, working up to asking someone for help after realizing she can’t control them herself; had told Tome in confidence, who was planning on asking Reigen for advice on this (since he may not be an esper, but he knows pretty much all the espers in Seasoning City). 

Avoided detection by the organization partially because she’d told almost nobody of her powers, and partly because her unique power set gave her an aura that’s practically invisible to most other espers.

Has an ink black aura that rises up from her hands like thick smoke/ghibli tears when she’s writing her curses; otherwise doesn’t have an aura at all.

Rarely to never goes out into actual danger situations, because her powers are basically useless for spur of the moment defense. Almost a complete behind the scenes support member, making curses for the team to use and talismans to protect them.

Note to self: prime damsel in distress material. Might get kidnapped at some point.

Made friends with Tome online after finding out they both liked the same game. 

Tsubomi:

Her powers give her the ability to, among other things: have rudimentary brute force control over animal’s bodies (sort of similar to blood bending but harder to maintain; this drains a lot of energy and is generally impractical), deform tissue/blood/bones in animals (hard to control, but easy to manifest), control over plant bodies (the easiest for her), control corpses (very easy), cause decay in things (pretty easy in organic matter, a lot harder in inorganic matter), and heal living thigns (very difficult, requires fine tuned control).

Manifested her power about one to two years after she stopped being friends with Mob, but rarely if ever uses it because it really freaked her parents out and they encouraged her to keep it secret, and because her powers are by and large useless in day to day situations.

She’s not particularly bothered by the nature of her powers herself, but does recognize that it’s very morbid to others, and can be pretty self-conscious about that.

Her control over her powers is decent, but not great. She has a fairly good grasp on what her base abilities are and doesn’t have wild explosions of power, but is bad at knowing where her limits lie and unpracticed in a lot of areas of her power. 

She’s extremely powerful, about at Touichirou’s level, and if she was more practiced, she might even be able to hold her own against Mob. 

Is the tank of the team; because of her raw power, she often brute forces her way through obstacles. The biggest issue with her is that her control isn’t fine tuned enough to ensure that she won’t seriously injure or kill people if she goes against them, which, in the beginning, makes it difficult to send her out into the field. However, once she gets the hang of that, she’s easily the most powerful.

Evaded detection by the organization because she never told anyone she was an esper, and because she moved out of Seasoning City about a year prior to the start of the story.

Emi was a friend in school and she maintained contact with her after she moved.

Gets dragged into the story after Tome, Emi, and Rei evacuate Seasoning City and come to her. 

Rei:

Only canon esper in the gang, and mostly maintains her canon powers. However, due to frequent practice over the course of about four years, her extrasensory perception/clairvoyance now has about an 80% accuracy rate, and she can even sometimes sense nebulous things from the future, such as ‘danger’ or ‘happiness’. 

She actually was detected by the organization, but she felt a sense of danger before they came to kidnap her and booked it. When she realized that almost all of her friends weren’t answering their phone, she figured out that espers were probably being targeted by someone, and went to Tome for help, who seemed like the safest option at the time. Tome realizes she might be watched bc of her work at Spirits and Such, and brings them both to Emi, after which they decide it would be saver to go out of town entirely and go to stay with Tsubomi.

She went to Tome for help because she was one of the two (supposed) non-espers involved in esper shenanigans she knew. The other was the Awakening Lab guy, but after being kidnapped by Claw, she realizes that he would almost certainly be watched, and opted for Tome instead. 

While they aren’t close, acquaintances more than friends, she knows Tome from Spirits and Such. 

Functions as a support member, primarily; while she does go out into the field if necessary (usually paired up with Mezato, because she could point to people who probably has information/are important and Mezato could take care of them), she also often stays at home base, sifting through documents and internet rumors to find the ones that she can sense would be the most useful. 

As in canon, her power level is very low, but she is definitely one of the most practiced members of the group and has good advice on how to train your powers. Along with Mezato, functions as something of a mentor as a result, and is very nervous about it.

[serenlyss]

Growing Up

Rating: G Pairing: Background terumob Summary: Shigeo decides to branch out a little. Crossposted to AO3: Growing Up

Here's my second stab at @bisexualwinry​‘s fluff prompts!

On an unrelated note, I've been looking for fellow mp100 writers here with the potential of creating a writer's discord! Specifically I've been looking in the mp100 fandom since that's the one I'm most active in rn but it's open to all fandom writers. I haven't created it yet bc I haven't seen enough interest but I feel like it could be a really fun place for writers to get together, find beta readers, workshop ideas, etc! If you're interested, hmu here on tumblr or my discord (LyssaGirl1998). You can send me an ask or an im, whatever you prefer!

“Master Reigen,” Shigeo says one day from his spot on the couch in Reigen’s office, “I think I’d like to learn to play piano.”

Reigen looks up from where he’s tapping away at his keyboard. It’s still odd to hear Shigeo call him that, after he’d admitted to being a fraud, but despite his insistence that he doesn’t need to anymore, he still does anyway. Shigeo reclines against the couch, one leg lifted so that his ankle rested atop his opposite knee. He has a book open in his lap, which he’s been quietly reading up until now.

“Piano?” The voice of Reigen’s unwanted and self-imposed secretary butts into the conversation before Reigen can reply. Tome leans forward in her seat, the seat that used to be Shigeo’s, before he’d stopped coming around as frequently. “What would you want to learn something like that for?”

Shigeo shrugs with a small smile, slipping a bookmark between the pages of his novel and setting it aside for now. The smiles are less rare now, more generously offered and less stifled and withheld. “It was thinking that it could be fun to learn how to play an instrument,” he explains. “I don’t have a lot of hobbies, after all.”

Reigen’s more than a little surprised that piano is the thing that Shigeo has decided to pursue. He’s never seemed like much of the musical type, aside from whatever music he liked to listen to in his free time, and he’d only ever taken interest in a few random activities, like exercising. But he’s in his third year of middle school now, and he’d finally started letting go of the tight hold he’d kept on his emotions for all those years, so it’s only natural for him to want to explore those hidden and repressed sides of himself now. Besides, Reigen finds the idea of careful Shigeo sitting at a piano quite easy to imagine, once he puts his mind to it. “Hmm, I think it would suit you,” he comments. “Why piano, though? Any particular reason?”

“Well, Teru knows how to play, and he’s even offered to teach me a few times,” Shigeo replies, his smile turning a bit more shy and fond with the mention of his boyfriend. “He’s really talented, and I bet he’s a good teacher.”

At her desk, Tome makes choking noises and pretends to be sick.

Reigen ignores her entirely. “I think it’s a good idea,” he says. Shigeo deserves encouragement and support, and if he wants to try something new, Reigen firmly believes that he should.

Shigeo, at least, seems pleased with the answer, nodding with a confidence Reigen still isn’t quite used to seeing before returning quietly to his book. Reigen lets himself stare a moment longer, noting that Shigeo’s gotten taller. It won’t be long before he shoots over Reigen’s head and starts rivaling Serizawa.

He huffs out a breath that ends up sounding annoyed, turning back to his work. These stupid kids, they really do grow up way too fast.

---

Teru and Shigeo meet after their club activities often to study and, occasionally, to have a brief piano lesson. Teru can’t fit a keyboard in his little apartment, so he comes to Salt Mid instead, and the two of them take up residence in one of the school’s open practice rooms in the music wing.

Shigeo’s fingers are inexperienced and uncertain, and he’s quick to doubt the soft way he presses the keys, so different from Teru’s quick and confident playing. He’s stubbornly dedicated to learning, though, and his ear is incredibly sharp. He picks out his mistakes quickly after he makes them, fingers jerking into the correct positions with little need for Teru to correct them for him. Teru’s quick to praise him for his progress and gentle when he points out his missteps, and they quickly fall into a routine in their lessons of sitting on the bench together, close enough to brush shoulders, Teru leaning over to mess with the music while Shigeo does scales and arpeggios and sight reads the kind of music meant for three-year-olds and pretends not to notice how the proximity makes his chest warm comfortably.

---

Ritsu hears Shigeo practice, sometimes, when their mother goes to run errands, their father isn’t quite home from work yet, and it’s just the two of them in the house. Usually it’s when Ritsu is up in his room, working on his homework. He’ll catch the faint, distant sound of piano melodies as Shigeo plays whatever comes to mind: random little tunes that Teru’s taught him, old folk songs and nursery rhymes, and occasionally something of his own creation.

The tunes start out rough and shaky, large breaks between bits of the music Shigeo hasn’t quite committed to memory yet. Ritsu wonders how he can see so little progress and yet still not find himself frustrated. He shakes his head and goes back to his homework, drowning out the quiet plinks of the piano beneath him with headphones and his own music.

---

Shigeo graduates middle school.

Reigen gets invited to come sit with his family for the ceremony, and Teru does as well. They find a seat off to the side, easy to spot but not too overbearing. The ceremony is widely unnecessary, in Reigen’s opinion, and drags on for far longer than he believes it should, but that doesn’t stop the rush of unprecedented pride he feels when he hears the principal call Shigeo’s name.

He watches, speechless, as the boy he’s known for the last five years of his life crosses the stage, and hides the fact that he’s on the verge of tears by pretending he’s sleepy and rubbing his eyes. Ritsu shoots him a look that says he sees right through Reigen’s bullshitting, but not even Shigeo’s snarky younger brother can steal his good mood away from him when he eagerly goes to congratulate his student after the ceremony has concluded.

Shigeo’s parents shell out to buy him a nice graduation gift: an electronic keyboard of his own, one that he can easily put up in his bedroom and take with him when he eventually goes off to college. It’s full-sized, with the nice weighted keys that feel like a real piano’s, but compact enough that he doesn’t need to worry about how much space it takes up. Reigen pitches in to help pay for the accessories as his own congratulations, and it’s beyond satisfying to see the way Shigeo’s eyes light up at the sight of the crisp, new black-and-white instrument already set up and waiting for him when they all go back to the Kageyama house to celebrate.

---

Shigeo keeps practicing. He gets better every time Ritsu hears him, his pacing more consistent, repertoire more confident. It makes him happy that Shigeo has found something he likes, that he’s willing to practice and get better at. He hopes he sticks with it.

---

Shigeo grows older, taller. His daily exercises with the Body Improvement Club show in the lean muscles he hides beneath the sleeves of the better-fitting high school uniform. His shoulders broaden and his face loses its childishness in favor of more mature, angular features, but it retains its softness in the laugh lines around his eyes and the toothy smile he no longer hesitates to show.

Larger hands and longer fingers make playing the piano that much easier, after the initial adjustment he has to make to account for his newfound clumsiness. He runs into things constantly now, banging his feet on chairs and tables that he swears are too far away to be problematic and hitting his head on low-hanging objects and shelves he used to be able to walk right under. He forgets sometimes that he can reach the high shelves now, the ones even Reigen can’t get to unless he uses the little step stool by the pantry.

He joins a music club at his new high school and uses it as his designated practice time, putting his hours into the well-worn pianos in the music room while the other club members hone their own talents all around him. It’s been months since he first touched a piano, and he’s grown confident and deft in the way he moves his fingers over the keys. He can sight read now, at least certain things. He plays whatever he feels like playing, not confined to classes or grades or any sort of classical training. He picks out song with tunes he thinks sound pretty or interesting and then he recreates them, with or without music, content to play on a whim instead of by necessity.

He never becomes so good at the piano that he’s asked to perform outside of occasional pieces he plays for his friends or classmates at his music club. He learns a few duets, with Teru or with friends who play other instruments, but he doesn’t perform in front of large crowds or even attempt to.He’s perfectly content to play for himself, and only himself.

---

Shigeo loves playing the piano. When he feels stressed, it’s an easy way for him to relieve some dormant energy and express those feelings in a productive way. He plays happy things when he’s feeling sad, somber things when he’s feeling contemplative, whatever comes to mind in the moment. He plays easy things and complex things, whatever sounds pleasing to the ear, and challenges himself by picking up pieces that he thinks may be a bit beyond his skill level. He surprises himself by putting in the time and effort into making what seemed impossible his new glass ceiling, and shatters it with every day he pushes himself out of his comfort zone.

Sometimes he plays out loud, for anyone to hear, and other times he plugs in a pair of headphones and plays just for himself. He plays as a break between homework assignments, putting his brain to work in a completely different way, plays when he’s feeling bored and has nothing else to do.

Sometimes he doesn’t play at all, too wrapped up in the business of his schedule as he balances occasional work for Reigen with hanging out with Teru and his brother and all of their friends. He never goes too long without playing, though, his attention inevitably going back to the keyboard set up by the window in his room, where he can glance outside at the neighbors walking their dogs down the street while his fingers drum against the plastic keys. It’s peaceful, and takes his mind off his other concerns.

---

When he finally leaves his parents’ house, he takes the keyboard with him.

[comicteaparty]

November 4th-November 10th, 2019, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from November 4th , 2019 to November 10th , 2019.  The chat focused on Princess Pop by carcarchu.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Princess Pop by carcarchu~! (https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/princess-pop/list?title_no=173793)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PDT), so keep checking back for more! You have until November 10th to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. What do you think Kizumi’s secret is that she seems to be hiding? Why is she convinced it would change how others saw her? Additionally, how does Ritsu know the secret and why is Ritsu willing to keep it a secret?

FeatheryJustice

Just started reading but I wish I knew more about the poor girl who left her spot for Kizumi. Must be so disappointed later.

carcarchu

@FeatheryJustice I actually have plans for her but it'll will take forever to get to them at the pace i'm going

FeatheryJustice

Ohhh! I'm glad, I want her to be actually really good and it's like the feels bad moment if she just was able to stay in line long enough she would have been able to get in XD

Also so far I don't trust Rain, bubbly girls make me scared XD

carcarchu

ok this is somewhat of a spoiler but goldie (girl who's spot got taken by kizumi)'s entire character gimmick is that she has horrendous luck. in season 1 she tried to audition but got horrible food poisoning and couldn't make it too. basically her greatest enemy is herself

FeatheryJustice

RIPPO I love her

RebelVampire

@carcarchu Just so you know, spoilers get archived along with the rest of the chat. So make sure it's something you don't mind the public knowing before posting spoilers.

carcarchu

Yep it's no problem! Thanks for letting me know!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 4. Given Yuna originally didn’t do so well at the beginning of her own season, what do you think changed how she sung and eventually caused her to win? How will this play a role in Kizumi’s story?

snuffysam

3) Hmm... I'd say my favorite character is... Luna. She's abrasive, but she's very practical rather than just being mean for mean's sake, which I like. Like, I find it interesting that Luna's deciding to be Kizumi's friend even after she (allegedly) tried to screw her over, because Luna knows Kizumi can be helpful to her. 4) My guess as to how Yuna's story plays into Kizumi's story is that Yuna sees herself in Kizumi. Like, she sees the potential for Kizumi to go beyond like she did (which I'm guessing is why she was disappointed in Kizumi's team performance). As for what specifically caused that change... no idea. Could be something like "she sings from the heart", or perhaps a really rigorous singing practice regimen?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What has been your favorite illustration in the comic so far? What specifically about it do you like?

QUESTION 6. What do you think Ritsu’s story is given how cynical and serious she is about the world of idols? Do you think her mind can be changed, or will she continue to suffer through everything?

jaciopara

5) any panel with Luna being a snob in it. Shes my fav. We stan a queen 6) shes gotta have some kind of like,, tragic my parents were celebrities bg or like a bad experience with kizumis kind of hopeful personality

RebelVampire

1) My favorite scene so far has probably been the group session where Kizumi enacts her plan to have everyone just skip solos. It was nice to see Kizumi and Luna work together, and I kind of liked that someone not Luna was the "villain" in that moment. It really spoke to the fact that no matter how nice all the girls might be, they're all also rivals. 2) I feel like Kizumi must have some past as a celebrity. Either through her parents, or maybe she had been a failed child star. Or maybe she was a baby in a diaper commercial. I kind of feel like this isn't her first time singing though, granted probably the first time singing for people on such a large scale. Which I think this must be how she knows Ritsu. Ritsu recognizes her for showbiz way back in the day.

3) My favorite character is probably Kizumi. I like her overly polite attitude, because I kind of relate to that in a lot of ways. That and I respect her attitude to just want everyone to get along. I also like that this is kind of a double-edged sword, where sure she can play peace keeper, but then she get walked all over and dragged into contests she didnt want to be a part of. So I just really like this cute and sweet aspect about her. 4) I feel like Yuna must have had some transcendental experience. Like maybe before she wasn't inspired and that although she tried her best, she didn't have the right motivation to win. And then she met a singer who really inspired her and who changed how she viewed singing in general. And instead of something that sounds nice, she strived to make her singing something that changed the hearts and minds of those around her. As for how this plays into Kizumi's story, given this mysterious Nagato figure, I assume that is who changed Yuna's life. The joke dark theory I have is a storyline ripoff from one of my fave mangas where the singer made herself sing better by tapping into sad emotions. Which she made herself sad by killing people close to her. So maybe that's what Yuna did.

5) It's definitely the illustrations from Yuna's performance. https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/princess-pop/chapter-12/viewer?title_no=173793&episode_no=15 I like the color schemes used, but legit, I am super biased this time in terms of favorites. I just honestly really love Yuna's outfit. I could look at that outfit all day. <3 6) I feel like Ritsu was happy go-lucky, maybe kind of like Kizumi, and then got super betrayed and super burned because showbiz is cut throat. And I also feel like she must have people around her who have put intense pressure that she has to succeed as an idol. So Ritsu feels trapped while also incapable of showing trust. So this makes her cyncical and mean because that is not a fun way to live. I feel like Ritsu's mind could be changed, but I think she either has to be convinced to trust again or convinced that showbiz is dumb and do things that make you happy. I feel like either is a challenge, but I do think Kizumi could help her since they have this mysterious past connection.

carcarchu

@RebelVampire THANK YOU for your long and thoughtful comments!! i won't say how close you got on some of your theories but it was a joy to read them!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you?

QUESTION 8. What do you think this story has to teach us about rivalry, competition, and how people handle it? In what ways do you think rivalry will get the better of the characters, and what ways will they triumph over those obstacles?

redbeanbunny

1. Favorite scene is definitely Kizumi making the plan proposal to Luna, and their meeting afterwards. It's one of the most intriguing personality bits we've seen of Kizumi, and it's cool to see that Luna isn't a cookie-cutter prissy rival. Kizumi is a nice girl but she's not just passive! I'm so interested in what Kizumi will bring to the table in the future! >:3 (alsoluna'soutfitsareallstylish) 2/4/6. I think Kizumi may be related to Nagato, the singer Yuna likes, whether he was a relative or maybe someone who she met up with randomly and joined during singing sessions. IDK, maybe in a park somewhere lol? There's no way she would just be a wildcard singer with no training or interest! Yuna was probably fibbing a little bit about seeing herself in Kizumi, she really made a connection between Kizumi and that singer even if it was just through her voice or style. Maybe Kizumi didn't want to be judged for being related to a celebrity. Or maybe... when she was a child she accidently did something in the past that prevented Nagato from continuing to sing. Depending on what it was it could possibly make people angry with her and she avoided a great opportunity for it. Is it really a coincidence her home is so near the filming site of this contest? :3c I think Ritsu knows about it from childhood bc showbiz and is angry at Kizumi for giving up on something she worked hard to get but was easily given to Kizumi, and maybe she knew Nagato too so thought that Kizumi wasted his efforts on her. Maybe she was involved secretly maybe accidentally and this contributes to her anxiety? Who knows.... but someone is definitely putting pressure on Ritsu maybe forcing her to stay in the biz.(edited)

redbeanbunny

3. My favorite character so far is Luna. She's kind of mean, but she's direct, confident and knows what she wants. Not to say she's not complex, but right now being straightforward makes her stand out from the cast. But my favorite design is definitely Yuna. I think I need to know more about everyone. 5. Probably the last panel of Ritsu in the group concert. Her pose is so powerful. It's so different from her backstage anxiety, makes me wonder about her! (I also love the endcard of Kizumi in a black dress and pink teddy jacket ) 7. It was short, but definitely Luna and Kizumi for the aforementioned reasons. They both have potential to be successful for different aspects and really compliment each other! Like Rain is nice too, but I feel like she doesn't have much going for her right now and it's also a reason she didn't have the presence to bring together her team. Marina is hilarious (I'm sorry for laughing at your suffering Marina but I can also relate to people not pulling weight on a big production T^T...) and I thought the scenes where she was reacting to Kizumi to be great, even if it's more as commentary than them interacting. 8. I think there will be lessons about taking what you're given and working with it to solve problems and move forward. You can only go so far without support, but you can't just go with the flow with others. You can already see the differences in the group elimination. I'm not really sure what the winner of Princess Pop gets, but maybe the girls will find something else out of their time on the show.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention?

QUESTION 10. Who exactly is Nagato, and why is Yuna so obsessed with them? What does this have to do with Kizumi? Additionally, how might Yuna’s obsession bias how she judges the contest, and what consequences might there be for that?

RebelVampire

7) I enjoy seeing Kizumi and Luna interact the most. At first, I thought they were gonna have the typical bully/rival relationship. But then not only did Kizumi willingly say "Hey, let's work together," but then Luna through a curve ball saying, "Hey, let's be friends." Nothing about their relationship is typical for what their characters would normally be expected to do, so I like this aspect of figuring out exactly what their relationship is. 8) I feel the story shows us that there are two ways we can go about rivalry. We can use rivalry to drive us to a better place and use it as motivation to do better, in a respectful and friendly manner. Or, we can let rivalry and competition bring out the worst in us in the most self-absorbed way possible. Sadly, I think this comic is true to life in that we've seen a lot more of the worst than the best, and that when it comes to competition, we should probably prepare for the worst (and not think ourselves immune). I feel like the characters will are going to overcome the obstacle of having to hate your rival. But I think there's going to be lots and lots and lots of betrayals as characters have to pick between new friends theyve known a short time and their lifelong dreams.

9) I've really enjoyed the inclusion of bits from the last episodes in the new episodes at the very beginning. I know this is one of those things people will feel really mixed on, but I think in terms of not reading the comic in bulk, it's super helpful in the presentation. Sometimes people need a refresher if it's been a while, and the moments are pretty short so it doesn't hurt the bulk read all that much either. 10) As I theorized earlier, I think Nagato is someone who Yuna was moved by and influenced her own singing to the point she won the competition. I would say that maybe Kizumi is Nagato's reincarnation, but not sure that's the direction this story is going. Maybe Nagato is one of Kizumi's parents or something though. Also, yes. Yes this obsession will totally bias Yuna. We already saw it happen since she criticized for not being able to hear each singer individually. And I think the others will pick up on the fact she has a preference for Kizumi and get super mad at Kizumi for that. It's legit probably just gonna make Kizumi's life hell. ;_;

RebelVampire

QUESTION 11. What do you think are this particular comic’s strengths? What do you think makes this comic unique? Please elaborate.

QUESTION 12. Given recent events, why do you think Luna is suddenly interested in being Kizumi’s friend? Is it genuine, or does Luna have ulterior motives? What do you think Luna’s backstory is in general?

jestershark

11. I think this comic's strengths are definitely in the character interactions -- like all good idol competition shows! I also think one of the most compelling things is the subversion of some of the expectations that you have going in. 12. I think Luna is both interested in Kizumi and in it for her own purposes-- I think she's genuinely curious and interested in Kizumi, but maybe thinks of it as more of a self centered move.

redbeanbunny

9. I think a plus point is that everyone has a really unique style that i think matches their personalities, even ahen wearing different clothes. I also like when the artist tries to do something fancier with panels for moments like showcasing Ritsu in the group song or for Yuna singing. 11. I think the comic's strength is where some of our expectations of characters are challenged, while keeping it light-hearted though. 12. I think its probably that she's genuinely interested! I mean Kizumi technically reached out first after all. But she'll probably be okay with some messing and around and manip, but not malicious. Its competition. And you know what they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer xD

RebelVampire

QUESTION 13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

QUESTION 14. At the end of the day, who do you think will win the current season of Princess Pop? Will it be Kizumi or someone else? What do you think will become of the winners and losers?

RebelVampire

11) I think this comic's strengths are how it kind of defies expectations. There are a lot of moments in the comic where you think the story is gonna go one way based on past story flows and general character types. But then it doesn't. Instead, it takes you to a new place, so each plot point is really interesting to explore since the outcome keeps you on your toes. 12) I think Luna sees Kizumi as useful. So instead of trying to oust Kizumi from the start, she's decided keeping Kizumi in the competition longer is more interesting and more beneficial in the long term. As for this longterm benefit, it's hard to say. Maybe Luna feels that Kizumi's lack of cutthroat passion to slay the competition at all competition makes her sort of a weak leak when it comes down to individual competitions. So Luna can essentially focus on getting rid of the opponents she feels are stronger first and then easily oust the weaker links, so to speak. As for Luna backstory, I feel she's the type of person who must of had parents who put constant pressure on her and told her winning was the only important thing. So Luna developed a personality that was highly geared towards being self-confident, snobby, and a little bit manipulative, since those are the things most likely that have helped her in the past to win.

13) I am actually looking forward to Kizumi coming to a head with her roommate (whose name escapes me atm). But either way, I feel the roomie is not as innocent as she pretends, and I want to see their relationship pushed as the competition gets more heated and they both come to accept they can't both win. 14) I don't think it'll be Kizumi. I feel like though the experience will inspire Kizumi to go on to have a singing career, I think ultimately it'll be someone else who wins. As for who, I'm torn cause I need more backstory. I think it's gonna depend on who reason for singing is simultaneously sad but filled with surprisingly innocent and sincere passion. I feel like the winners who wanted a singing career will get that. But I think a lot more of the girls will discover showbiz sucks and instead pursue other things that fulfill them more. Cause kind of how we see through Ritsu, showbiz looks glamorous from the outside, but is 100% not for everyone and constantly exposes you and make you vulnerable. And I think they'll also learn you don't have to have a professional singing career to sing for fun and spread music around, especially when the internet is all powerful.

Kabocha

It's gonna take me some time to answer questions, but I'm going to answer them out of order! Huzzah! 14. At the end of the day, who do you think will win the current season of Princess Pop? Will it be Kizumi or someone else? What do you think will become of the winners and losers? You know, I'm kind of hoping it's Luna? Ritsu might have the skill, but I think being showbiz is going to destroy her emotionally. Kizumi may make it to finals, but I feel like she might just step back at some point for someone else to win. Seems like her type, especially since she's only going forward with this because her dad suggested it might be a good idea. (Besides, what happened to the REST of Kizumi's life, anyway?)

3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor? My favorite character... I like Rain, honestly. She's so cheerful, and has such starry eyes... ...Literally, too. She's a cute. A shame it looks like she's going home. I wonder if we'll see her some more? Maybe on the outside, she'll exchange numbers or contact info to talk to Kizumi.

2. What do you think Kizumi’s secret is that she seems to be hiding? Why is she convinced it would change how others saw her? Additionally, how does Ritsu know the secret and why is Ritsu willing to keep it a secret? I kind of wish I knew what her secret is! I feel like the audience drama could be heightened by knowing what Kizumi's deal is, and seeing what the potential fallout for the other girls knowing that is. In any case -- I feel like maybe she and Ritsu met in school, but Rebel's suggestion of her being a model or celebrity in the past makes sense too. Maybe there was a singing competition for school or somesuch, and Kizumi did well there, but Ritsu understands the stress of being popular and saw how it ate Kizumi then, and will probably eat her again. Or maybe the secret's just as simple as "Well, you took goldie's place" and that's it. And everyone kiiiinda knows that, but...

4. Given Yuna originally didn’t do so well at the beginning of her own season, what do you think changed how she sung and eventually caused her to win? How will this play a role in Kizumi’s story? Someone in her life died. ...I dunno. I don't think we have enough information at Yuna to really theorize, tbh. But I mean, clearly Yuna had something happen, and it made her want to change. So she did. It could just be realizing that the prize money coulda been used to help someone? Or having the career woulda been beneficial to meeting her goals? Who knows.

9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention? THE DRESSES Gawsh, they're cute! Just... hhh. Yuna's dress during her special performance kind of inspired me so maybe something will come of that. Who knows.

Kabocha

7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you? I really like Kat and Lobelia - and I'm curious to see how they play off one another as siblings. Will they do any sort of duet outside of the group? Will they simply go solo? What if one of them wins? How's that gonna affect their relationship?

Honestly, I can't see that going well in some regards, but hopefully they'll find a way to work it out since they're siblings.

Kabocha

6. What do you think Ritsu’s story is given how cynical and serious she is about the world of idols? Do you think her mind can be changed, or will she continue to suffer through everything? I'm inclined to think that Ritsu just has issues with getting panicky in crowds. It might not be anything more complicated than that, and she's just like, "LISTEN, if you don't do well with crowds, this is NOT THE JOB FOR YOU" But I suppose we'll seeeeee~.

Kabocha

12. Given recent events, why do you think Luna is suddenly interested in being Kizumi’s friend? Is it genuine, or does Luna have ulterior motives? What do you think Luna’s backstory is in general? You know, I wonder. Luna seems like the type who might avoid making friends just on principle. In competitions like these, it would be difficult to keep friendships made among contestants, so it's just better to be standoffish. I wonder if she expects Kizumi to be less likely to backstab her if they're friends? It's hard to tell.

mathtans

I thought the topic for the comic looked interesting and I needed a break from doing report cards so I'm going to participate this week. O.o Will peek at questions before other answers.

1. The scene where Kizumi calls her dad stands out to me, I think because it helped to ground everything in a sense of reality. Having parents is a thing. Also amusing that he was a fan of the show.

2. Kizumi is secretly an android. ... Okay, no, but not sure aside from probably relates to her family. Ritsu knows her from way back, so that makes sense, and I think all of them would hold off on saying things they could use for blackmail. O.o

3. I'm leaning towards Rain. I like her mix of seriousness and goofiness. Also, nice entrance ducking down from the bunk above.

4. Yuna may have been like Kizumi in terms of just going along for the heck of it, until she realized she might have a shot - or possibly didn't want to see someone else win. So that could connect.

5. I kind of liked the Halloween costumes, am I allowed to pick that even though it wasn't canon? Though in general I like how the art flows down the page, a bit like how one's eye would when looking at someone singing. And there's some neat extra arts at the end sometimes.

6. Ritsu may have family issues, could also be why she wouldn't out Kizumi for family issues. She may feel like she has to suffer for her art.

7. I rather like the Kizumi/Yuna interactions. Feels like there's always something under the surface there. What with Kizumi feeling like not measuring up and Yuna kind of dancing around straight answers.

8. I feel like the plan of "flying under the radar" works well when there's multiple rivals, as we kind of saw, but that only works for so long. Not sure what else it will get into. I could see some of the more naive characters falling for ruses.

Kabocha

Yuna? Straight answers!? That would involve Kizumi actually asking a direct question, too XD

mathtans

9. I guess I already mentioned the flowing down the page matching the tracking of an eye. I also think that some of the art reuse is well done, not simply as a quick recap to start, but callbacks to people singing, or in the dream sequence... that was clever. And some of the explanation font stuff (like 'applause') doesn't come across as weird or goofy.

Kabocha: Heh. You're not wrong. She only really seems to have opened up to Rain, and then only in part.

Kabocha

Yeah. I kind of wish Kizumi would come out more with what her deal is - it would save her a lot of drama! But on the other hand, this comic does give me a very shoujo-manga sort of feel, and those sorts of misunderstandings are a pretty staple trope in the genre :3 So it's not a bad thing, it'd just be interesting to see where it went, yanno?

mathtans

10. I don't recall the Nagato thread, I've been reading very sporadically over the past week.

11. Well, the topic seems to have drawn me in. And it seems to have a good sense of which characters to bring to the forefront out of what is theoretically an oversized cast. I'm not great at this sort of analysis. O.o

12. Oh, Luna definitely has ulterior motives, but I think for the moment the offer is genuine in that she sees Kizumi as being someone who would hold her own. And better to be friends with that sort of person than on their bad side. The ulterior motive being a belief that she could win if it came down to the two of them. Something like that - Luna seems to be a strategist too.

13. It'll be interesting to see how the field gets narrowed, as it is the writer managed to cut the field in fifths with one contest. Pity about Rain, I'm wondering how she's going to handle things. Also some of those helpers/employees in the background got full bios, I'm wondering when and how they'll pop up again.

Kabocha: Also good points there too. And yeah, though I like that there's not so much misunderstandings at this point as much as secrets.

14. Goldie will win, in the most bizarre twist ever. Seriously though, uhhh? Maybe it'll be a tie. That'd be a twist too.(edited)

Kabocha

That's fair Math~ And oh god, if Goldie came back.. That would be really interesting

The final showdown is between Kizumi and Goldie! That could be amazing.

carcarchu

Ahahaha very interesting analysis's guys~ it's very difficult to sow all these seeds and then have to wait so long to be able to pay them off, i hope it will all be worth it in the end!

Kabocha

It'll definitely be interesting to see as it goes on!

I have to admit, that starry dress that Yuna wore was sorta inspiring in a weird way. It's sparked the urge to make some new brushes, too so we'll see what comes out of that. XD

mathtans

Been reading through the other comments. Interesting idea about Ritsu having been burned in the past, I can see it. (It's interesting how she was set up as a rival and then Luna became an additional wild card.) I didn't mention Marina, and that's an oversight because she was a fun character.

mathtans

Also, how could I NOT end by doing ships? With so many wonderful female characters? I mean, there's the obvious Kizumi-Rain, but I'm not sure I see that going beyond friendship. Kizumi-Yuna has potential. Ritsu seems like a bit too much of a lone wolf... whereas Reeni could pair with any of them, she's precious. Luna-Yuna I like for the name alone. (Lyuna?) But part of me likes Luna-Kat, having secret romantic walks in the morning.

redbeanbunny

13. I'm excited to learn more about Ritsu and Luna, and I hope some healing from Ritsu. They say that ppl are most critical of the flaws they have in themself, and for now she's still lashing out at Kizumi. Also to get to know the other contestants. I have no idea who the cannon fodder is right now and who will actually stay and make it to the end. For all I know Luna could get booted in the next round (noooo...). I think there are so many ways things could potentially go. And not to be shallow but more outfits for the gals, please!! Excited to see how things roll from here on out ^^ 14. We haven't met everyone yet, have we? So there's still others to consider. And I think that the other bickering characters haven't revealed their full potential yet. We don't even know the interns that well yet and what they have to put in. I mean there has to be a reason they have names I assume others will be getting their time to shine, so to speak. I just have this feeling the winner won't be Kizumi or Ritsu,,, but eh that's my gut. Who will win is one thing, I wonder who will actually continue their singing career. Maybe someone will get an image change (Ritsu? maybe she'll switch to a different style in the future). (Also Kizumi and Luna duet please at some point!). I think the real wildcard has yet to show up, kind of like how Yuna suddenly changed in the middle of the competition. This is one of the reasons why I'm so confused about what she sees in Kizumi (besides the whole Nagato thing and Kizumi possibly being his protegee). Could be Rain even. You know, like those shows that bring back the old contestants to raise the tension(edited)

Kabocha

13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

I'm looking forward to getting ANSWERS! What is your deal, Luna? As far as final thoughts, I look forward to see how this goes forward. I'm glad I read this week's comic, honestly :3

FeatheryJustice

I didn't have time to finish reading but I have to say I like the concept at least

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Princess Pop this week! Please also give a special thank you to carcarchu for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Princess Pop, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/princess-pop/list?title_no=173793

carcarchu’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/kurumadraws

[simkjrs]

assorted fic/msa asks

Anonymous said: msa izuku while an Official Of The Law tries to stop him from doing his usual cryptic stunts: hey where can i go to file a complaint? its not formal. fuck you.

this is just the right level of irritation, sarcasm, and wit to come straight from msa izuku’s mouth. i love that

Anonymous said: someone asks msa izuku what he wants to be when he grows up. he stares at the floor angrily. "a concept. if even that," he says. no one knows how to respond. the silence stretches.

god this is PRISTINE. the silence stretches. im laughing you’ve captured the quintessential msa izuku experience!!!

Anonymous said: msa izuku's saving grace yet achille's attention-pulling heel is his ability to circumvent the powers people use to attack him, linear narratives, and any expectations placed on him

nfljsdfjsd yeah. his greatest strength and greatest weakness... it’s so funny to write. i love it

Anonymous said:  kirishima: deku we actually dont want to screw you over msa izuku: that sounds fake but ok

YEP! thats pretty much it

Anonymous said: Thinking about the wording of MSA!Izuku's deal with Kirishima, Kirishima might actually be able to take advantage of Izuku abusing the wording of the deal. So Kirishima could use the fact that he literaly cannot keep Izuku anywhere and that Izuku could ditch at any time in order to have an actual conversation with him. After all, Izuku always has a way out.

you fucking got me there. completely nailed it

Anonymous said: does msa iz/uku have to deal with shitty dreams too? like trauma from spirit shenanigans comes back to bite him in the ass in his sleep?

yeah there sure is a lot of trauma going around. like, look at this comment i got from crossy, i feel like this is one of the funniest things anyone has ever said about msa

Anonymous said: Okay... blink if the adult supervision in MSA is Aizawa....

you all know me so well!! fucking called me out!!!

Anonymous said: eyy u know that art u made of ritsu on ur art blog, "ritsu's range of normal human emotions?" the part where it said disattached from the social dogma? i imagines that as ur msa!izuku and skdnfsj o h m y g o d

im laughing!!! youre completely right. i need to redraw the panel now

Anonymous said: where is izuku's guardian spirit, you ask? theory: izuku is his own guardian spirit. he finds out and "well i must be doing a pretty shitty job. i hate myself. bye"

Anonymous said: ..... izuku is a gaurdian spirit but his ""quirk"" is being alive...... thats why getting his quirk shut off by eraserhead compeltely shut his body off

YOU ARE... almost completely correct

Anonymous said: since msa mido is like half a quirk himself does that mean he's his own guardian spirit? because if that was true and you told him that he would be so so tired. "my life's a sick joke already but thanks for that addition" or something. this poor child.

that’s pretty much the mindset he wakes up with every day!

Anonymous said: Ok so idk if im the only one who does this but whenever i read fanfic/any kind of writing i kinda come up with like a general color palette that fits with the whole story or like colors from a certain time of day or somethin as a general base for any fanart i might make for the thing but for Byggualom i imagine pinkish, orangey golden sunset colors with hints of plant greens and reds and for msa i imagine a lot of things happening in almost completely grayscale with gold highlights and-(1)

(2)- surreal moments where a bright/contrasting color is present(like the scene where the fox spirit appeared with the red eyes against the silver fur

that’s really cool! i love the sunset colors for byggualom, and the black and white is certainly a fitting ominous atmosphere for msa :^) 

Anonymous said: of fucking course fucking msa/villain izuku was there, MSA/villain fucking Izuku is always there. it’s like one of those universal laws of reality. whenever life takes a turn for the utterly insane, and or disturbingly lethal, msa/villain izuku is somehow right in the middle of it. looking innocent. like a fluffy bunny rabbit. with an innocent look in its eyes and an entire city reduced to rubble in the background, on fire. (I did both b/c I love both the dysfunctional dorks(and both made sense

i think this is more applicable to villain izuku. msa izuku will also be there in the middle of whatever chaos is happening, but he will not look innocent, he will look pissed and tired. you think YOU’RE tired of this bullshit? hah! you should hear about what he’s been doing all day. and no he’s not going to tell you, he’s just going to gripe about it endlessly while also furiously trying to fix everything that went wrong. 

other than that... this is rlly good. i love that. thanks for sending it in

Anonymous said: since i found out u listen to sea wolf the song "spirit horse" has just been violently playing in the background when i think of msa like thanks (not even sarcastically i love seawolf)

hell yeah, love that.... the song’s a bit too horse-y for me to put it on my msa playlist but you know what? its good

Anonymous said: Hey! Just wanted to let you know I ADORE your writing. Your OPM AU (that's what I always call it, I can never remember the acronym) is amazing and I've reread it twice. I decided to give your MSA story a try the other day and I LOVED that one as well. I was initially hoping for a OPM AU update but now I'm psyched as hell for MSA. Thank you so much for your amazing work. Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy both stories :) Have a great day

thank you! i’m happy you enjoy both fics so much <3 

Anonymous said: hi you’re an amazing artist/writer and I hope you have a great day :)

thank you!! i have been having some pretty great days, which is nice, i hope you are doing well too!

Anonymous said: ive reread msa for the like 5th time today and just wanted to tell you what an awesome job you did and i absolutely adore it and hope you have an amazing week!!!

i cant believe you’ve read it so many times!!! i’m glad you like it so much, and i hope you have a great week as well!

Anonymous said: Hey, *finger guns*, I really love your writing!

well guess what... i love you,

Anonymous said: All your stories are so good! I cryyyyy x

thanks! im crying also

Anonymous said: I'm so fucken hyped for literally all you bnha fan-fiction/head-cannons like seriously how do you even come up with ALL of it?!?!?!

mostly i just... actively put characters into situations that i think would be hilarious, or dream up bits of dialogue that spur me to craft an entire backstory just so i can lead up to the one moment. helps to have friends who encourage you to become increasingly unhinged from canon though.

Anonymous said: have *clap* a *clap* nice *clap* day

you too! 

Anonymous said: Okay you prolly get this loads but I freaking love everything you write! Everything is written so well and I die every time you update bc it's so good! I will happily wait five years to read any new chapter if it's written this well okay I'm rambling I love you have a nice day!

this is so nice.... thank you.... 

Anonymous said: HOLY SHIT, ANOTHER NONBINARY FIC WRITER!!! YO WHATS UP!!! WE'RE A P RARE BREED... HELL YEAH THOUGH!!! UR FICS R SUPER COOL UR SUCH A BIG INSPIRATION TO ME!! I HOPE U HAVE A FANTASTIC DAY + YOU NEVER GET WRITERS BLOCK + YOUR HANDS NEVER CRAMP UP!!!

hello there!!! it’s fantastic to see you!!!! hell yeah [i try to dab but accidentally knock over the stack of papers on my desk instead]

Anonymous said: Hey, I just wanted to say that I think you're doing a really super job with trying to write and do school at the same time. I know (personally) that it's really hard to do even WITHOUT extra stuff piling on top, but you handle the blog with a lot of humor and clumsy grace and I just wanted to let you know that you brighten up my day a lot. Thanks! I hope you do really well!!!!!!

hey! thank you, i put a lot of effort into running this blog, as can be evidenced by the week-long stretches of time between short bursts of activity

seriously though... thanks... i appreciate this ask a lot. hope you’re doing well!

Anonymous said: I just wanna say thank you! MSA Izuku gives me life XDDD

hell yeah! im glad to hear that

Anonymous said: dunno bout you or anyone else, but i see your izukus as homoromantic demisexual(s), just wanted to share

nice... 

im cool w/ whatever as long as it adheres to my one guideline which is that izuku is a mlm

[quirkle2]

so one thing i rly like abt mob psycho (shocker !) is that the Incident between the kageyama brothers is kept entirely contained. like, most other shows—at least ones that i've watched—feature long monologues of characters traumadumping to other characters, sometimes in the middle of fights, and while that Does happen a lot in mob psycho, the kageyama bros never do this abt The Incident, and i think that's a fascinating choice bc The Incident is the entire reason why the show starts in the first place. it's the reason mob meets reigen at all, it's the reason mob doesn't fight back against teru, it's the reason ritsu goes through his character arc. it is arguably the Most Important Story Beat and the show has countless opportunities to let the characters spill their guts on screen for drama, and yet neither of the brothers let this spill. neither of them talk about it, except with each other

there's been numerous times i've watched shows where people suddenly traumadump and tell their life story unprompted when truly not a single soul asked, but with mob psycho, both the bros are Constantly berated with questions on Why they do these things; Why are you so off-putting and quiet, Why do you not use your powers, Why won't you fight back, Why do you want psychic powers so badly, Why are you ruining these students' lives now that you have them, Why are you helping me defeat my evil dad . all of these questions eventually loop back around to The Incident, and yet neither of them ever let it slip. neither of them Ever share, and the only time they come anywhere close to it is in the wd arc

it is the event that Shaped Who They Grew Into, and yet it is not known by the main cast at all. teru has no idea, even reigen doesn't seem to understand the full extent of it, even though The Incident is what caused mob to come to his office. their parents prolly don't even know

idk, i just think that's a good detail. the brothers both hold the weight of their troubles close to their chests. and even though that makes it seem as though they figure it out on their own, it couldn't be further from the truth

their own experiences with the people around them allowed them to grow and make mistakes and learn from them, all without sharing their deepest secret, and then both took those new experiences and lessons and applied it to this issue, and learned Again

meanwhile, the rest of the cast is largely clueless abt this Entire issue. it's Crazy to me that most of the cast has no idea what the main issue is, and i think it's a brilliant choice. these characters helped the kageyama bros without ever meaning to or knowing about it, no matter how big or small the role. you truly never know what somebody else is going through !

and even in the end, it's not like there's a big reveal that tells every character the kageyama brothers' Tragic Backstory. nobody fucking knows, still. like Yeah they should totally talk this out and go to therapy or smth but i just like the fact that the story doesn't treat it as some dramatic fanfare for Other Character's Shock Value and doesn't let them air their troubles to the ends of the earth. i appreciate that

[snowstories]

hey anyone wants to hear about the MP100 Lieat AU that I’ve spent way too much time developing? No? Well too fucking bad here it is:

Reigen is the Theo equivalent, obviously. He’s a licensed private investigator who also happens to be a conman pretending to be a dragon with the ability to read minds travelling from town to town looking for money. One day, he wakes up and finds a dragon egg under his bed, and soon has to deal with actual dragon Mob looking up to him for guidance.

The power Reigen pretends to have is less telepathy and more empathy. He generally keeps his explanations vague enough that it’s hard for people to get a good grasp on the limitations of his ‘power’, making conning them easier, but in essence, he says he has the ability to read people’s emotions and intentions to a very high degree of accuracy. Which is true, it’s just not magic. 

The wish Mob was born from was made when Reigen had been run out of town after being exposed as a con for like, the seventh time in a row, and he was pretty done with it, and it made him wish his lies could just disappear. Que Mob.

idk this is subject to change bc it should maybe be a Bit More Serious, but I’m not giving Reigen Theo’s tragic backstory so I’m not sure how to go about this yet.

Reigen generally doesn’t feel guilty when lying to people, which is why his lies don’t manifest for Mob. However, over the course of his time with Mob, he slowly started to feel more and more guilty for lying to him, but he suppresses it, letting everything build up inside him. This is obviously going to backfire sooner or later.

Mob is Efi, a young dragon (about a year and a half old) with the ability to eat lies. Although he is quite powerful, he has little control over his powers and dislikes fighting, so he attempts to use them at little as possible. Unfortunately, since he does need to eat, and since his abilities are very useful to Reigen, he still ends up using them quite a bit, but nevertheless, he’s still pretty small and functionally the equivalent of a human 14-year-old.

For a reason he doesn’t know, he can’t make Reigen’s lies manifest. This confuses him quite a bit, especially after figuring out that Reigen isn’t a dragon and therefore doesn’t have any magic to counteract him. It sort of worries him, but since this is his norm, he figures it might just be a limit of his power.

He knows Reigen isn’t a dragon and figured it out about three to six months into his existence. However, he hasn’t told Reigen that he knows.

In this AU, Mob’s tendency to suppress his emotions/emotionless exterior is because a) he’s autistic and has flat effect, b) he’s autistic and has alexithymia, and c) when he gets emotional his powers go haywire, which he’s scared of. 

I’m not sure yet if ???% is a thing that exists in this AU, but if he does, he’s probably going to some kind of lie ooze monster.

I’m also thinking of maybe giving him an extra power, namely the power to control the lie monsters, since I feel like that would make him suitably overpowered. 

Ritsu is a human(?) kid that Mob picked up after his first job. Ritsu’s parents were murdered, and Mob decided that he deserved good parents, and since Reigen is a good parent, Mob dragged Ritsu with him and Reigen really had no way of protesting.

The three of them travel through towns looking for work and solving mysteries, and I currently have about three to four arcs planned out, More details about those and Ritsu + some other characters in this AU under the cut. 

About Ritsu:

The murder of Ritsu’s parents was the first real job of Mob and Reigen. Ritsu hired Reigen after learning he was supposedly a dragon, because the police weren’t making any progress in solving the murders. It worked out fine since Mob was able to make the killer’s lies manifest and get them caught. During the investigation him and Ritsu bonded and Mob forced Reigen to adopt Ritsu.

Ritsu hates Reigen’s guts, because he recognizes that the man is a con and is pretty livid at him for a) lying to Mob and b) taking up the investigation into Ritsu’s parents’ murders by getting Ritsu to hire him under false pretenses, which yes, that worked out fine, but only thanks to Mob; he could’ve easily gotten the wrong guy arrested just bc he didn’t want to fess up to his lies. In Ritsu’s eyes, Reigen is a selfish asshole with no regard for others using Mob for his own means. He stays with Reigen because he feels responsible for Mob, and also because he has literally nowhere else to go, though he won’t admit that last part.

Ritsu has something of an inferiority complex, believing he brings little to the family because of his lack of powers or even any special skills (like Reigen has), and overcompensates by being unnaturally polite and helpful.

This eventually leads to him subtly lying to Mob and Reigen about his feelings, but since it’s not something Ritsu admits to himself is a lie and it’s more a lie of omission than a real blatant lie anyway, this doesn’t really manifest as a monster and instead just becomes ooze. Ritsu can usually clean it up before anyone sees it, but even if they do, Mob can’t properly figure out what it is or where it came from, so nobody traces it to Ritsu, and so he continues to hide it. 

This will eventually reach a breaking point where Ritsu is consumed by the ooze and Mob can’t really save him anymore because he has trouble eating the slippery oozy lies. Saving Ritsu required the combined efforts of Mob eating whatever lies he could and giving pep talks, and Reigen talking to Ritsu, for the first time admitting to him that yes, he lies to them as well, and that he has similar feelings of self hatred and understands what he’s going through, and that he’s sorry for not noticing what Ritsu was going through, and just generally being completely honest with Ritsu (and Mob) for the first time since meeting him. 

This eventually leads Ritsu to the realization that he’s essentially doing the same as Reigen; hiding his true self because he’s afraid of what people will think of him, and instead using lies to entice people to stay, and this realization is what makes him understand that he can’t keep lying. He knows that Reigen’s way of living is unsustainable, so his must be as well. This realization is what’s needed to finally make him able to break away from the ooze, and have it properly manifest as lies, which Mob then eats. 

This incident improves Ritsu’s relationship with Reigen. While he still doesn’t like him and has justifiable issues with the guy, he does understand him a little better now and sees him as a person rather than a 2D asshole, and makes him believe Reigen has the capacity for change. 

Yes, this is probably going to be something of a combination of the ???% arc and the Big Clean Up arc.

Ritsu may or may not be a dragon. Everyone (including himself) is under the impression that he’s human, but I’m debating whether it’d be interesting if he later turned out to be a dragon, as a parallel to canon.

I also have the basic idea for the world domination arc, so have some characters:

Touichiriou. He is the captain of the police, a human presiding over the dragon department and many crime investigations. He was appointed because the higher ups wanted a human influence on the dragons. Unbeknownst to everyone, he’s still a dickhead bitch who is planning world domination, and he’s grooming the dragons in the department’s care to be his personal army. This eventually leads to this AU’s version of the World Domination Arc.

He and the family have quite a bit of run-ins, because Reigen & Co keep getting tangled up in crimes he’s investigating. He and Reigen do NOT get along, but since Reigen’s technically not committing any crimes, Touichirou doesn’t have an excuse to arrest him. That didn’t stop him from trying once, but Serizawa interfered and Reigen was free to go. Touichirou hasn’t tried it again, since that could attract serious attention, but boy oh howdy is he bad at disguising his hatred.

Touichirou realized pretty quickly after meeting Reigen that he wasn’t actually a dragon, because that’s not an act you can keep up for very long when people actually know a thing or two about dragons. Touichirou knows that Mob is a dragon and he wants him so bad. Mob is very powerful and his abilities could be extremely useful for someone who is planning to be a dictator. Unfortunately for him, everything points towards Reigen being a good caretaker of Mob, and since it’s department policy to not separate dragons from their humans if they don’t want to be separated and aren’t in danger, his hands are tied. It’s one of the primary reasons he hates Reigen so much, and why he tried to have him arrested.

Mob doesn’t really care much for Touichirou, but doesn’t necessarily think he’s a bad guy either, just thinks he’s kind of rude and very no nonsense. Ritsu is somewhat suspicious of him, first because Ritsu is suspicious of everyone, and later because he has more interaction with Shou, and although he doesn’t necessarily see any immediate reason to think Touichirou might be up to no good, having your best friend tell you to keep your brother away from his ‘father’ is not something you forget. Ritsu does not tell Reigen or Mob about this, because he doesn’t want Mob to worry, and because he trusts Reigen about as far as he can throw him. 

Serizawa is a dragon who is nominally Touichirou’s second in command/co-captain, like Brett is to Neil, but in practice, he defers to Touichirou entirely. He is a lot like his Claw self, and is being manipulated by Touichirou.

Serizawa was taken out of the care of his human pretty much as soon as he was born, as his human was scared of his power and kept him locked up in a small room, and called the police to pick him up as soon as she realized she didn’t know what to do with him. He was one of the first dragons placed under Touichirou’s care, and has latched onto him because he had no one else. 

He’s being manipulated, obviously, but doesn’t really realize that the way Touichirou treats him isn’t normal, since he spent so much of his life around him and no one else. He’s slowly starting to suspect something might be wrong after seeing how Reigen treats Mob (i.e. just like a human being), but he’s deep in denial. 

Serizawa’s power is energy manipulation; he can manipulate energies electricity and warmth to form ‘barriers’ that basically roast whatever comes through and attack people with explosions of power or targeted electrocution/overheating. He was most likely born out of a wish to get electricity to become warm, after the electricity in his human’s house stopped working during a snowstorm. 

He’s about five years old in literal years, but about the equivalent of a 30-year-old human, since he’s used his powers quite a lot.

Serizawa and Reigen befriend each other, though Serizawa tries to pretend this isn’t true because Touichirou would murder him. However, they get along very well, and Reigen tries to tell Serizawa to get some self esteem and not let Touichirou treat him like shit, but Reigen doesn’t really realize what’s actually going on and it really doesn’t work for that reason. 

Eventually, during the final battle, he’ll turn on Touichirou to save a bunch of the kid dragons (the Awakening Lab kids) in the department’s care, who would’ve otherwise died from overexerting their powers. He takes over Touichirou’s place at the force, afterwards, and slowly grows into his own.

Shou is a dragon born out of Touichirou’s wish to have someone who would be capable of doing all the sneaky things Touichirou himself can’t do. He has the power of invisibility as a result, and Touichirou frequently sends him on ‘errands’ that are mainly just missions to steal stuff or infiltrate something or another to get information. He’s working to take Touichirou down.

Shou is still very young, only about six months old, but has grown almost as much as Mob has due to his very frequent use of his power. In fact, he uses it so frequently, he’s permanently of the verge of overusing it, and he’s always in danger of dying of it. He’s not planning on stopping anytime soon though, not until he’s taken Touichirou down.

It took Shou about three months to realize what a douchebag Touichirou was, mainly because Shou read some of the comics lying around for the young dragons, and realized that the people who try to take over the world are usually not the good guys. 

Because Shou’s moral system mainly comes from comic books, it’s very black and white, and very oversimplified. He realizes murder is bad, but doesn’t quite understand why, so he even though he doesn’t kill, he still frequently goes too far à la the Kageyama House Fire. He thinks his father is the ultimate evil, and because Shou opposes him, he must be a hero. This mindset doesn’t lend itself to more complex understandings of morality, but that’s to be expected, growing up with a dad like that. It’s kind of a miracle his moral compass is this good.

Shou met the family not long after realizing his dad was a bitch, and immediately related to Ritsu, because Ritsu was complaining about having to deal with a parental figure who lies and manipulates him and his brother and uses him and his brother for his own gain, and Shou immediately went “!!!! same hat!” This led him to project his own negative emotions towards his father onto Reigen, which hasn’t been conductive towards their relationship. He gets along okay with Mob, but frequently gets annoyed with him because, in his eyes, he’s incapable of seeing how Reigen uses him and it reminds him of Serizawa.

Doesn’t like Serizawa, because he’s annoyed by his yes man attitude, and doesn’t really understand that some people react to abuse and manipulation differently than he does.

Shou spends a lot of time sowing the seeds of unrest and rebellion within the dragon police. That’s how he met Fukuda, Higashi, and Ootsuki in this AU; they’re dragon officers who agreed to work with Shou.

One of the main reasons Reigen hates and distrusts Touichirou (aside from clashing personalities and the whole getting arrested thing) is that Reigen is aggressively not on board with the way he treats Shou. While Touichirou obviously doesn’t let people know that Shou does spy stuff, he does frequently bring Shou along with investigations and has him work for the police, and it’s clear that he doesn’t see him as a kid, but rather as an employee at best and a tool at worst. Mob and Ritsu don’t really pick up on how wrong it is, because they’re kids and they have some difficulty grasping the nuances in this situation, but Reigen, as an adult, can see how Touichirou treats Shou completely inappropriately for a child, and he’s Not Having It. 

He suspects that Touichirou may actually be abusive and not just a dickhead, but he doesn’t have any evidence, and since the way he treats Shou isn’t illegal or anything (and even if it was, what’s he gonna do? call the police?), his hands are tied. He does try to get Shou to talk to him, subtly trying to figure out exactly how far Touichirou’s dickishness goes, but Shou trusts him about as far as he can throw him and is unresponsive.

A large part of his arc is going to be learning to be a kid and recovering from everything. It’s mostly going to take place after Touichirou’s defeat, though it starts during it, when Reigen jumps into the fight to try and kick Touichirou’s ass in his place because he doesn’t these fucking kids fighting, damnit. That was a moment of revelation for him, pretty much, and his opinion of Reigen approves afterwards, and so he agrees to travel with him, Mob, and Ritsu.

(Obviously the kicking-ass-thing doesn’t go all that well, and Serizawa and maybe Mob have to jump in to help him, but hey, it’s the thought that counts.)

[serenlyss]

Don’t Thank Me Yet Chapter 1

Rating: M (blood, guns, casual murder, torture, electrocution, trauma, ptsd) Pairings: Ritshou Summary: “Alright then. I’m Shou,” he says, introducing himself more properly this time. “I’m an esper, like you, the first in existence to be forcibly awoken by Claw’s crazy torture machines. They kidnap kids with potential latent psychic powers and break them, over and over, until either their powers emerge or they die. It doesn’t matter either way to them.” His expression hardens as he speaks, clear distaste and outright malice evident in his tone. “I could really use your help here, you know. A partner of sorts, someone to watch my back. What do you say?" Ritsu hesitates. He isn’t a fighter by any means, and the psychic powers now churning beneath his skin are still very new and frightening. It’s all very overwhelming, but Ritsu can’t help but feel a sort of sickening hope at Shou’s promise for revenge. It did have a sort of dark draw to it. In which Claw is a lot worse than they seem and Shigeo isn't able to find his brother after he's kidnapped. Crossposted to AO3: Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Me, writing another Ritshou fic? It's more likely than it seems.

So this is chapter one of an 8-chapter AU I've been developing for a while now. It's a lot darker and grittier than anything I've written in a while, but I have big plans for it in the future! I hope you guys like it! It does contain some heavy subject material, though, so please read the tags if you're worried about violence/injury/torture/etc. I didn't include anything horribly graphic bc I'm just not willing to write it, but I don't want anyone to have a bad experience because of it either.

On an unrelated note, I recently opened up an MP100 writing server on discord dedicated to workshopping, editing, brainstorming, and all other writing-related topics! It's open to anyone who's interested, just shoot me a message here to get a link. It's been a lot of fun so far and the people there are super friendly and fun to talk to! @soapipiadraws helped me with beta reading, thanks a bunch for all your help!

Everything hurts.

Ritsu suppresses a scream, his palms pushing with all his might against the locked door of the pod in front of him. Electricity courses through his body, sending it into frightful spasms as he fights to maintain his footing. His fingers curl against his will, scraping loudly against the thick glass facade, and he feels a few of his fingernails bend and crack under the strain of it. His legs buckle beneath him and he barely manages to keep his footing, feeling hot blood trickle out of his nose. I’m going to die here, he thinks in a panic. His back arches as another jolt of electricity runs through him, his hands clenched into fists so tightly that his nails pierce his skin and draw blood from his palms. He feels as though every nerve in his body is on fire, but the blaze is contained beneath his skin where he can’t see it, can only feel it disintegrating his bones and melting his brain until the only urge he feels is to curl up on the floor and cry. His muscles won’t let him, though, the lightning in his body making him tense up into unnatural positions and vibrate painfully.

Outside the pod, two white-clad scientists observe him, scratching notes onto clipboards. Their faces are completely devoid of emotion, uncaring if Ritsu lives or dies. One of them peers over to a screen on the front of the pod, frowning disapprovingly. “No positive readings yet. Maybe our intel was wrong, and he’s not an esper after all,” she says.

Their apathetic stares stir up an anger in Ritsu that he’s felt many times since coming to this terrible place, harsh and defiant, and he forces himself back onto his feet despite the way his muscles scream at him to stop. “Open the door, you bastards!” he shrieks, pounding at the glass with his fist. Pain shoots up his arm, and his hand cramps painfully, but the adrenaline in his blood numbs it. He can feel something pooling in the pit of his stomach, wild and pleading to be released, but he doesn’t know what. He doesn’t even care, if it can help him escape. Let me out, let me out, let me out, his mind chants over and over, his usually careful thoughts turned feral and instinctive in his obsession.

One of the scientists hums thoughtfully and reaches out to press a button beside the door of the pod. Pain rips through Ritsu’s body once more, a pain even worse than before. It steals the air from his lungs so that he can’t even scream anymore, forcing him down onto all fours. His knees crack against the hard floor of the pod, hands leaving trails of bright red blood on the inside of the glass from where he’s punctured himself. His vision goes black, eyes rolling back in his head.

I’m going to die.

His back curls until he’s hunched over himself with his forehead against the ground, tearing at his hair with his hands.

I’m going to die.

He lets loose a scream at last, long and hoarse, feels the inside of his throat tearing from the force and volume of it.

I don’t want to die!

The coiling ball of tension in his stomach snaps suddenly and then explodes. A wave of raw power surges outward, filling the pod like water until there’s nowhere else for it to go but out. The thick glass barrier keeping him contained shatters into a hundred knives, shooting away from him with deadly force. He faintly registers the screams of the scientists who had been watching him up until now, but his ears are ringing too loudly to process them. There’s blood in his mouth, metallic and sour. A wind of his own creation whips around him, tugging on the blood-stained jacket of his school uniform and ripping his bangs from his sweat-slicked forehead.

Ritsu sucks in a wet, gasping breath, a raging headache hitting him with full force. He braces himself on his hands and knees, taking choking breaths and twitching uncontrollably. The power within him continues to overflow, crashing against the walls like the waves of the ocean on a rocky shore. He digs his fingers into the cold floor of the shattered pod until he can feel his arms again, then reaches up, grasping the edge of the pod and heaving himself to his feet. Shards of glass that that cling stubbornly to it cut into his palms, but he hardly feels it, the signals not quite reaching his brain. His vision is filled with blue and purple and green, shifting hues that crackle with uncontained energy. All he can feel is anger, all he can hear is the painfully loud alarms above his head, all he can think is that he wants out, now. Above his head, the lights shatter, plunging the room into near-darkness, and the alarm nearest him cuts out entirely. Glass flies at him, ricocheting harmlessly off of his body as though he’s made of concrete instead off flesh and bone. When he can finally fill his lungs with air again, he steps out of the pod and begins to walk.

A single-minded rage fills him, emanating outward in a destructive force that blows out the windows and causes the ground beneath him to shatter with every step. His bare feet, torn to shreds from walking on broken glass, leave bloody prints behind him on the too-clean floor. He barely even notices as he walks, calmly, into a thick concrete wall.

It explodes around him, shards of it raining down upon everyone in his vicinity. He pays no mind to the people in his way, who are either frozen in place or run, screaming, from his path. Those who refuse to move are quickly disposed of, tossed away with an instinctual flick of his hand. He doesn’t even wait to see if any of them are espers, too desperate to be anywhere but here, and he doesn't look to see if they ever stand up again.

He goes through two more walls and a ten-foot chain-link fence before he finally finds himself outside of the prison he’s been held in, and even then he doesn’t stop walking until he can no longer hear the sirens and can no longer see the gray concrete building looming in the distance.

He crests the top of a hill, and only then does his brain slow down enough for him to feel the screaming pain in his injured feet and the sticky sensation of blood running down his arms. He stops, feeling his vision fuzz out temporarily as he suddenly loses the ability to take another step. Exhaustion lays on his shoulders like a tangible weight, and his mind begs for rest. His newfound powers absolutely radiate from him in a blue and purple flame, seeping from the bottoms of his feet and the tips of his fingers, but they’re weakening quickly the farther from danger he strays. Eventually they retreat back into his body, a faint glow all that remains. He teeters on his feet, his balance failing. For a scary moment he’s sure he’s going to faint, but then he hears a voice call out to him.

“Hey, you! Don’t you go dying on me!”

Ritsu’s head snaps up, a flash of fear startling him back to his senses and giving him something to focus on as he spots another boy approaching him. He catches the red of the boy’s hair and the pistol in his hand and panics, raising a hand in his direction almost on instinct. He feels his power lash out like a whip and knock the approaching boy back a few steps, though he’s quick to regain his footing. It’s such a weak attack compared to what he’d managed before, but Ritsu still finds himself drained, the well of power within him nearly dried up.

The boy raises his hands in surrender, and Ritsu notices that he keeps the gun pointed away from him. It’s slightly reassuring, but doesn’t do much overall to endear Ritsu to whatever he’s scheming.

“Whoa, tiger, no need to get violent. I’m not gonna hurt you,” the boy says, and his voice carries a tone that’s confident bordering on cocky, with an underlying layer of genuine concern. “You broke yourself out of the labs? That’s impressive, I didn’t think any of Claw’s experiments would ever actually succeed. They must have done terrible things to you, to make you like this.” His voice is laced with thinly-veiled contempt as he takes a step forward, then another, testing his boundaries.

Ritsu hesitates to lash out again, because the way he’s talking makes it sound as though he’s not affiliated with the people who had kidnapped him, and Ritsu really doesn’t want to accidentally kill someone harmless with powers he can hardly grasp. He doesn’t even know if he can manage another attack like before, anyway; his legs are shaking, begging for rest, and he can’t seem to breathe quickly or deeply enough to satisfy his burning lungs.

He swallows thickly, unsure. “Who are you?” he demands, hand still extended in case the boy decides to make a move to attack.

The boy grins at him, confident but honest. “I’m Shou. Don’t worry, I’m not with them.” He nods his head toward the concrete building in the distance. “In fact, I came here to kill them all and blow this place into the stratosphere, but it looks like you may have beaten me to it. What’s your name?”

Ritsu bites his lip, still distrusting, but he can’t sense any ill intentions from Shou, and he’s the first kid he’s met since coming to the lab who hasn’t also been kidnapped by Claw. “Ritsu,” he says after a long moment of quiet, making an ill-informed decision to at least hear the boy out. His hand falls to his side as he finds himself struggling to keep it raised.

Shou’s grin turns into a more sincere smile at hearing Ritsu’s name, his features softening some. “Well, Ritsu, you’re lucky I found you out here. You look like shit, no offence, and I’m sure you don’t want to be stuck out here wandering in the forest until you bleed out, so why don’t you come with me? I have a friend with a car who-” He cuts himself off abruptly, eyes going wide, and shouts, “Look out!”

Ritsu gasps and turns on his heel, catching sight of two white-clad Claw scientists cresting the hill behind him. He feels a surge of panic; they were going to take him back, torture him further, make him into their lab rat. I won’t go back, he thinks to himself, raising a hand. He can’t muster the power to fight back, though, and with a flash of horror he feels his knees buckle underneath him, giving way under his jerky movements. Dark spots dance at the corners of his eyes, vision turning to static as he keels backward.

He never hits the ground, though. A strong arm catches him around his shoulders before he can, and as he regains control of his vision he sees that it’s Shou. He’s rushed to Ritsu’s aid, teeth clenched in determination, and Ritsu sees him quickly lift the pistol and fire off a quick volley of shots even as Ritsu’s weight drags him down to his knees.

The scientists crumple immediately under Shou’s fire and don’t get up again.

“You alright, man?” Shou asks, helping him into a kneeling position and steadying him with a hand on his back. He slips the gun into a holster at his hip.

Ritsu shivers, despite the clear sky and mild temperatures, and feels his teeth begin to chatter. His heart is racing and his head is pounding, a potent fear sinking into his stomach and churning restlessly there. He can’t look away from the two unmoving bodies across the clearing from them. “You killed them,” he manages, breathless.

Shou puts himself between Ritsu and the toppled scientists, a stern expression on his face, but there’s concern in his eyes. He holds no visible remorse for the people he’s just shot to death. “They were gonna kill you first, you know!” he retorts, his words painfully blunt. “Calm down a bit, okay? I told you already that I’m not gonna kill you.” His gaze flicks over Ritsu’s shaking form and his distrustful gaze, and then he sighs. “Look, you’re going to be fine, okay? I can take you somewhere safe and explain what’s going on, but I need you to trust me, alright? Is that okay?”

Ritsu swallows, feeling tears sting the corner of his eyes. Everything about this situation makes him uneasy, and he knows that, logically, it would be incredibly stupid of him to agree. He knows he should refuse, should get himself far away from here. “Okay,” he whispers instead, because he doesn’t know where else he can go, has no clue where he is or how to get home, and Shou is the first person to show him even a sliver of kindness in… he doesn’t even know how long. Days, probably.

Shou grabs Ritsu by the hand and tugs his arm around his shoulders, hefting the both of them up with some difficulty. Ritsu stumbles to get his feet underneath him, and Shou must pick up on this, because he says, “Tell me if you feel like you’re going to faint, okay? I can carry you partway to the car pretty easily.”

Without thinking, Ritsu retorts, “You’re even smaller than I am.” As soon as the words are out of his mouth, he regrets them, certain that Shou is going to get annoyed and leave him behind to die after all.

Instead, Shou laughs, loud and boisterous, and tightens his grip on Ritsu’s arm. “Not with my hands, with my powers,” he reiterates in amusement, then blinks. “Ah, I guess I never used them in front of you, did I? Can you sense my aura?”

Ritsu lifts his head and squints at Shou, searching. He doesn’t know if it's because his powers are new, or because he’s exhausted beyond anything he’s ever experienced before, but he can’t feel a lick of power coming from Shou anymore. He shakes his head no.

Shou just chuckles. “That’s disappointing, but I guess it can’t be helped. Well, there’ll be time for that later,” he says.

They don’t have to walk very far before they reach the car Shou mentioned. He doesn’t have any free hands open, one of them holding tight to Ritsu’s wrist while the other supports his waist, but the door opens itself anyway, and Ritsu spots a flicker of red-orange light through his black-tinged vision. He doesn’t even have the energy to ask as Shou helps him into the back seat of the car and climbs in beside him.

“Higashio, change of plans. I’ve stumbled on quite the discovery, so we’re gonna have to book it back to HQ,” Shou commands. He uses his hand to close the door behind him, Ritsu notes.

The man called Higashio sighs loudly from the front seat, glancing up from his cell phone. He looks like he wants to argue, but he chokes on his words when he sees the injured and near-unconscious middle schooler in his back seat. He stares, wide-eyed, for a second, then swiftly turns and starts the car up. “Geez, you really do wander into the strangest situations, don’t you?” he accuses, but doesn’t hesitate to pull the car away from where he’s parked and start the drive back to their headquarters.

Ritsu feels his body thrust back and forth as they drive on what is most likely not a real road, struggling to keep his balance just sitting up. He feels like it’s been ages since he’s seen so many trees. “What day is it?” he asks suddenly.

“It’s Wednesday,” Shou replies. “They kidnapped you, right? When did you go missing?”

Ritsu’s brow furrows in thought, and after a moment he replies, “It was a Monday, after school. They attacked me on my way home from my student council meeting.” He lets his face drop into his hands, exhausted and overwhelmed. “My brother’s probably going crazy looking for me.” If his brother is even alive. If his brother hasn’t been kidnapped as well and taken somewhere else. That isn’t even taking his parents into account.

Shou reaches out and lays a hand on Ritsu’s shoulder awkwardly, clearly wanting to offer some kind of comfort despite not being very inclined toward it. “Hey, calm down, it’s gonna be okay,” he says, frowning in concern. “You should try to get some rest, alright? You’ll feel better if you do.”

Defeated and emotionally drained, Ritsu can only nod in response. He moves his head to rest against the car window, staring outside as the trees fly by in a blur. His eyes fall closed almost immediately, and he welcomes the unconsciousness that falls over him with open arms.

---

When Ritsu opens his eyes next, it’s to a dimly lit, surprisingly homey room. For a disoriented moment, he thinks that maybe he’s home, safe in his bed, that everything that had happened had just been some weird, unprecedented nightmare, but the walls are the wrong color, and it isn’t his bed he’s laying in.

“Oh, you’re awake!”

Ritsu turns his head, eyes landing on a brightly-grinning Shou. The redhead has hold of one of Ritsu’s hands and is wrapping a white bandage around his palm and between his fingers. Instinctively, Ritsu moves to jerk his hand back, but Shou keeps a steady hold of it.

“Hey, be careful, you’re gonna mess up my hard work,” Shou accuses, turning his hand this way and that as he secures and double-checks the bandages. “You were in really bad shape, you know, especially your hands. What happened?”

Ritsu reluctantly stills, resigning himself to letting Shou move him around how he pleases. “They liked hurting my hands,” he replies softly, turning his head to look at the opposite wall so Shou can’t see his face. He doesn’t want to remember the way they’d cut his skin with knives, trying to force his latent psychic powers to emerge. Some of the wounds are days old and have never been properly checked, dried blood surrounding crude scabs. “The bleeding ones were from myself, though,” he adds as an afterthought, remembering how he’d punctured his own palms in his desire to escape the pain of electrocution.

Shou hums thoughtfully, moving his attention from his hand to the scratches and wounds that cross his arm. Ritsu realizes belatedly that his other arm is already tightly wrapped in clean white bandages, as are both of his feet.

“Sick freaks, it was probably some weird obsession,” Shou scoffs. “How do you feel? You slept all the way back and didn’t wake up when I moved you, so I thought you’d sleep for the rest of the night at least.”

Ritsu doesn’t answer, just continues to stare resolutely at the wall, feeling a sudden protectiveness well within him, a desire to preserve himself. Shou chuckles. “Tough nut, huh? Well, can’t say I blame you. You’re not dead, though, so I guess that’s good enough for me. If you don’t wanna talk, then I guess I can tell you about me. It’s only fair, right?”

Ritsu relaxes some as Shou changes the topic, grateful that he’s not being made to spill his life’s story to a near-stranger. He turns to meet Shou’s gaze at last, feeling curious. His eyes are blue, of all colors, and abnormally light for someone who’s clearly grown up in Japan. Foreign blood, perhaps? “Yeah, that would be fair,” he agrees, if only because he’s dying to know why a boy who can’t be older than himself is capable of the damage he’s caused.

Shou cracks a smile at this, nodding. “Alright then. I’m Shou, in case you forgot, and I guess you could call me the leader around here,” he says, reintroducing himself more properly this time. There’s clear pride in his voice as he speaks, an air of cockiness and showmanship that come across to Ritsu as braggy, maybe even juvenile. As he speaks, he cleans away the dried blood on Ritsu’s arm with a wet cloth. “I’m an esper, like you, the first in existence to be forcibly awoken by Claw’s crazy torture machines. They kidnap kids with potential latent psychic powers and break them, over and over, until either their powers emerge or they die. It doesn’t matter either way to them.” His expression hardens as he speaks, clear distaste and outright malice evident in his tone. “They awakened me three years ago in hopes that I would become their poster boy, but they never could get a very tight grip on me. I ran away the first chance I got and never looked back. Now, I’m going door to door and blowing up as many Claw bases as I can get my hands on. Maybe if I do it enough their leader will finally acknowledge how badly he’s fucking up and call the whole thing off.” He shakes his head, sighing out, “Stupid father.”

Ritsu blinks in surprise, barely catching Shou’s last words as he spits them under his breath. He isn’t sure if they’re meant for him to hear or not, but the impact is the same nonetheless. Shou’s words say a lot more about his past than Ritsu thinks he probably wanted to divulge, too. If he’d also been awakened to his psychic powers by Claw, then he and Ritsu were the same, both victims. He looks up at the ceiling, swallowing. Those guys are really dangerous, then… he thinks to himself in alarm. The one who took me even managed to defeat my brother-

He lets out a gasp, eyes widening. “Shige! Ugh, how could I forget?” he exclaims, sitting up so fast that Shou lets out a startled yelp. “They were after my brother, not me! They mistook me for him, he might still be in danger, he-”

“Whoa, whoa, Ritsu, slow down,” Shou interrupts, standing up and gripping him by both his shoulders. “Your brother is fine. I sent a guy to stake out your house. He made it home alright after whatever fight went down on Monday and he’s not hurt. You’re parents are okay, too.” He pauses, glancing away, and Ritsu is surprised to see his expression turn remorseful. “He tried to find you, but you disappeared without a trace, at least from his side. As far as Claw knows, they succeeded in their mission in kidnapping Kageyama Shigeo and, as long as they don’t find out they got the wrong guy, they won’t go after him anymore.”

Ritsu’s expression breaks, and he lets his face drop into his hands. He doesn't even care how Shou managed to get the information on him and his family so quickly, just relieved that his brother is alright. The relief is quickly overtaken by despair, though, as he thinks of his brother frantically trying to find him and being forced to return home empty-handed to his distraught parents. “This is a nightmare,” he groans miserably. “He must be so worried… I’ve been gone for two days now.”

Shou swallows, chuckling nervously. “Well, it’s past midnight, so, uh, it’s actually more like three now,” he admits, then quickly shakes his head, grimacing. “But that’s not important. Yeah, things aren’t ideal, but everyone’s alive and mostly intact and the Claw base you came out of is smoldering ashes now so, hey, at least we have that going for us.”

Ritsu uncovers his face to fix Shou with a biting glare, annoyed. “I need to get home, I need my family to know that I’m okay,” he insists, but he can only stay angry for so long before it devolves into desperate pleading. “Please, Shou, I need to talk to them!” He reaches out and grasps Shou by both arms, desperate.

Shou sighs, releasing his grip on Ritsu and tugging himself out of his grasp. He moves back to the chair he’d set up by the bed, sitting down and leaning his elbows in his thighs. “You never slow down, do you?” he asks, raising a brow in an unimpressed manner. “Look, I know that you miss your family and that you’re worried about them, but it’s not so simple. You’re an escapee now, a fugitive. Claw won’t let you go so easily, especially now that they know you’re a successful experiment. They know where you live and where you go to school, and they can easily track you down again if you aren’t careful.” He pauses, expression softening some. “I want to take you back to your home, I really do, but it’s just not safe for you there anymore, especially if you want to protect your family, too.”

“What are you talking about?” Ritsu demands, feeling fear and confusion pooling in his stomach. “You said my family was safe!”

“And they are, at least for now,” Shou says quickly, “but that will change if Claw finds out you’ve been home, even just for a little while. If there’s any chance of your family knowing where you are, they’ll use them to find you again. It’s how they work, the bastards.” He grits his teeth in repulsion, shaking his head. “In any case, the most we can do for them for now is keep an eye on them from afar. If Claw makes a move on them, we’ll be the first ones to find out.”

Ritsu takes a shaky breath, falling silent as he processes this information. “What am I supposed to do, then? If I can’t go home, or back to school, or anywhere else until all this is solved, where am I gonna go?” he asks, quiet and broken. He misses his family already.

“Well…” Shou says, clasping his hands on his knees and leaning forward a bit. “I was hoping you might, you know, stick around for a while. It’s safe here, so you can recover from your injuries and get back on your feet. Then, I was hoping you might want to help me on my mission.” His expression goes from slightly nervous and guilty to starkly determined, obviously quite serious about the offer he’s making. “I’ll just cut to the chase, Ritsu. You’re strong, really strong. Strong enough to take out a whole Claw base by yourself, once you get some practice in. What I told you about your family and about needing to lay low is all true, but if you help me take down Claw, you can make sure for yourself that they never come after you again, you or your brother. Plus, it’ll give you plenty of chances to get your revenge.” He sits up in his seat, offering Ritsu a sly grin. “What do you say?”

Ritsu hesitates. He isn’t a fighter by any means, and the psychic powers now churning beneath his skin are still very new and frightening. It’s all very overwhelming, but Ritsu can’t help but feel a sort of sickening hope at Shou’s promise for revenge. Revenge on the people who’ve targeted his brother, revenge on the scientists who had stared at him with those apathetic eyes while they tortured him. It did have a sort of dark draw to it. “So, if I do agree to this, I’ll have to drop my whole life indefinitely? No going home, no school, nothing?”

“That’s right,” Shou says with a nod. “I’m really sorry it’s come down to this, believe me. If I could send you home right now in clear conscious, I would. I still will, if that’s what you want, but I could really use your help here, too. A partner of sorts, someone to watch my back.” He offers Ritsu a smile, small but hopeful. “I’ll watch yours too, of course. Safety in numbers and all that. Basically, I’m offering you a place to stay for the time being, a chance to get back at the people who hurt you, and a way to protect your family. I’ll even throw in some lessons to help you control your powers better. It’ll make you a more useful ally, plus it’s fun.” He grins at this, his snarky cheerfulness back in full force. “You won’t get to be as strong as me, of course, but with enough practice-”

“I’ll do it,” Ritsu interrupts, cutting Shou off mid-sentence. “I’ll join you, at least for now. The faster Claw is destroyed, the sooner I can put all this behind me.” He fixes Shou with a surprisingly fierce expression, strong and determined and angry. “I’ll make them regret ever targeting me and my family.”

Shou blinks, momentarily shocked speechless, as though he isn’t expecting such a fast and passionate response. Then he breaks out into another grin, pleased and impressed. “Alright, then. From now on, we’re partners,” he says, and extends a hand to Ritsu.

Ritsu smiles, the first smile he’s managed since he’d been kidnapped three days ago, and meets Shou for a handshake with one bandaged hand. “Yeah. Partners.”