#anyway godzilla is awesome as always

[ruubesz-draws]

Wwwweeeeeee~

Ion dude probably regretting his life choices

That one scene from the Monarch series ep. 10

(Inspired by this gif:)

[tyrantisterror]

How do you think Willy Wonka would interact with Baroness Von Bon Bon from The Cuphead Show? I think they've got the makings of an awesome rarepair/crackship.

Ok, so, they meet in candyland or whatever we call Baroness Von Bon Bon's land, and immediately the Baroness tries to kill Willy Wonka for stealing her candy secrets. They have a good old school cartoon Coyote and Roadrunner style battle, in which Willy Wonka escapes at the very end, rare candies in tact.

Distraught, Baroness Von Bon Bon returns to her candy castle, only to hear a knock on the door. Opening it, she finds me, hopelessly lost in Candyland. She takes me in, initially planning to turn me into candy and eat me like Majin Buu, but because I’m so cold she lets me warm by the fire first, and gives me a good meal to keep me from getting suspicious. We end up talking and really hitting it off, especially when I share my encyclopedic knowledge of Godzilla movies with her, which fascinates her because she’s never seen them but has always been the kind of person who’d love a series of films about giant lizards blowing shit up if only someone would expose her to them. Eventually she realizes she kinda digs me, and it’s only furthered when she finds out I have a sweet tooth of my own and am pretty good at baking desserts.

Anyway, after a night of extremely passionate love-making she proposes to me, and we spend the rest of our lives blissfully in love, during which I pull a Greg Universe and bone the evil out of her personality.

[mysterystarz]

match up exchange post

for @shxtodxroki because we came to a cool deal so hi there bee <3

you’re actually extremely cool i really enjoyed learning about you because you’re actually awesome

anyways………

after careful deliberation, i’ve chosen to match you with……..

IWAIZUMI HAJIME !!!

runners up: kuroo tetsuro, yamaguchi tadashi

WHY DID I PICK THIS PAIRING?

when i was reading your info, i noticed a lot of softer qualities and a lot of deep and insightful thoughts. literally iwaizumi was the first person who popped into my head because truthfully, i think he would absolutely adore you (let me dive into this)

we all know iwaizumi is dependable. he’s shown time and time again that he can pick up the slack for seijoh when oikawa needs it. he also grows up to be a sexy athletic trainer which means his job is literally caring for people.

i think when he meets you, iwaizumi would genuinely be fascinated by you. i feel like you’re the type of people to have a class together and are paired up for group work simply because of seat proximity. you share some small talk and work on projects and slowly get to know each other. when you open up to him and start rambling about your interests, he’s a goner and he’s in love.

i feel like iwaizumi would absolutely love a soft s/o. you’ve got a lot of amazing qualities and values, and he likes how you’re sentimental. i feel like he’d also be a sentimentalist as well (can imagine you guys sitting on the couch and looking at remnants of past — you and your merch and him and his jerseys)

he is absolutely a conversationalist when it comes to you and would absolutely have a back and forth with you!! he is also super methodical so i think he could also help with your procrastination!

i also think he’d just adore your major. you’re studying something super cool and i just know he’d like to hear all about it.

speaking of love languages — this man will melt for your gifts. anytime you give him a thoughtful token he will literally treasure it with his entire soul. he loves whatever you give him and is always honored to be the object of your affection. even better, iwa-chan is literally the poster child for acts of service and physical touch! he would absolutely do gestures of love for you and reassure you that you’re amazing. his entire presence tends to be pretty soothing and i just know he’d be really understanding about your anxiety and always make sure you feel okay.

he is definitely out and proud with his partner. it’s a subtle way but he is in no way ashamed of you. you will hear from tooru that he thinks about you all the time. he is patient and caring and would absolutely take care of the bugs for you. i can also imagine him watching movies with you in his free time (i think he would also suggest godzilla at least once — indulge him)

and yes swapping playlists too! anytime you’re on drives i feel like the two of you would swap playlists. also spotify blend <3 he enjoys mixing your taste with his and carries it with him.

he’s a soft and patient lover, and i just know he would absolutely ADORE YOU.

SOME QUICK HEADCANONS

- iwaizumi would ABSOLUTELY start to read whatever mangas and watch whatever shows you like. it’s his way of staying connected to you.

- will lend you his hoodies as a subtle act of “hey you see bee. that’s my girl.”

- finds all your merch absolutely adorable. will take the time to learn the history behind each and every single one.

- he’d find your love of teaching just so amazing.

- he love love loves your pink hair. if you’re into hairstyles he would totally learn them just to have the chance to feel it and pop a forehead kiss on you

a song i think would be cute for you two is:

fluorescent adolescent from artic monkeys - light and energetic like your relationship

another potential song could be the walker by fitz and the tantrums

oh and maybe even body talk by red velvet

[turtle--soup]

HIIIII!!! Can you list 5 things that make you happy and ask the last 5 people in your notes :0 (obviously you can ignore if you want <3)

Hello!!!!

I have tried to answer this a bunch of times already but tumblr keeps deleting it 😫

Okay...

1 - Tokusatsu!

If you follow my main blog @hexagonal-nuts you'll be able to tell... I'm a big fan of Godzilla, Gamera, Super Sentai and Kamen Rider - I'm going to blame it on growing up during the 90s when Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was HUGE lol (I am that old, yeah)

2 - Animals!

I've always had a keen interest in animals of various kinds and still like learning about them even though I realised ages ago I wasn't really suited to be a vet like I wanted to be as a kid! Also honestly I can be having a really bad day and I'll immediately feel at least a little bit better if i see a cool bug or a very excited dog or whatever!

3 - Making art!

I love drawing and making stuff, I recently went back to uni to do an art course again too! (It is so hard, send help... 😭)

4 - Turtles! (I had to put this at number 4 - counting to 4 immediately triggers my brain into starting up the TMNT 2003 theme tune lol)

TMNT was HUGE when I was v small, so the Turtles have been around my entire life. I've not always been super into them (but I've had a favourite turtle since I was about 4 - '87 Raph has a lot to answer for!), but I've been solidly into them for a while, and Mutant Mayhem pushed me waaaaay back into it again... hence this side blog! I'm even working on my own version of the Turtles this time though - it's got me that bad... 😅

5 - Flowers!

You know when you see a flower growing out of a crack in the road? Isn't that great? Doesn't that make you feel so happy that nature is everywhere and you can find beauty wherever you go and that life... uh... finds a way? Don't you just feel like it's totally metal that this snapdragon here is just chilling on the roof somehow?

Idk, I just think nature is awesome.

Anyway! Thank you SO much for the ask! I'm sorry I took a while to reply!

[likecrapthroughagoose]

So I've only watched the first episode of Gamera Rebirth, but so far I'm torn, but optimistic. Full opinions below...

On the one hand, it felt kind of middling... I don't love the animation, for one thing. I don't hate it, per se, but... the human characters have a very early-mid-00's Toonami vibe and it doesn't always work. When it does, I like it. It's nostalgic. When it doesn't, it looks really, really cheap. The monster animation is decent, but it doesn't blend with the backgrounds well for the smaller Gyaos. Also, the weird photorealistic smoke effects that appear every time they're on screen are really distracting (honestly I worry they may have been partially AI).

I'll reserve judgement on the story as again, I've only seen the first episode. What I've seen thus far is very twee, which wouldn't bother me that much, except that they also don't actually show any real kaiju action until the second half of the episode. And I know Godzilla Singular Point also did a lot of slow burn stuff, but the difference is that I liked the story there. Singular Point also did its political scenes a lot better, and that's all I'll say about that for right now. Again though... that's just episode one. Pretty much every anime these days takes a few episodes to get going.

All that said... for everything I can criticize, there's a part of me that was just going "yup, that's Gamera" the whole time. Silly and harmless if mildly annoying plot about boyhood adventures contrasted with some surprisingly gory and truly brutal kaiju on kaiju violence. That's pretty much Showa-era Gamera in a nutshell. If you ever watched a Gamera flick and So I guess what I'm saying is, the monster stuff was cool enough that I can forgive the plot stupidity; and really, what more can any kaiju fan ask for?

Speaking of monsters, I like the designs a lot! Gamera's look seems to mainly be based on his Heisei-era design, but make no mistake, it's an absolutely brand new take on the look. 90's Gamera had a sleek, tall, almost modern feel. Something classy that could easily be slightly chibified so the various Heisei trilogy actresses could pose with it. (Which of course would lead to the overly cutesy Gamera the Brave design which I hate).

Rebirth's Gamera is a lot more rugged. There's something almost ancient about him, a bit dinosaur-like. Most importantly, he's a lot chonkier. I always stan thicc kaiju. He's a lot more feral-looking than any other Gamera design (unless you think Showa Gamera looked like he had rabies). He is not particularly cute, so naturally I think he's adorable because that's my whole thing. I want a plushie.

Speaking of feral, goddamn the Gyaos redesign was pretty awesome. They are absolutely nasty looking, especially the juveniles with the big gross eyes. I want a plushie of the baby Gyaos too. They're so nasty and I just wanna snuggle and squeeze them. The big one is great as well, but I wish they had gone even more over the top with it. Not like any of them stay in one piece long enough to really be appreciated... not that I'm complaining, of course.

Anyway I intend to keep watching. I feel like I haven't quite gotten a feel for exactly what they're doing, but at the very least they've piqued my interest.

[yokomation-blog]

OK im going to Take a shower, then we can do more work on my Script.

current Plan is as fellow

get the G.P.N Script done

Thumbnail storyboard it fully

Get the 3D Models done for Yoko Ruby and Godzilla and get models done for more OC´s, most improten ones been Doily, Nat, Kitube, Hercy and Willa Brown with the Quoll Alone models comming first due to them been easier tho minor OC´s are always OK as long as it´s done after Yoko Ruby And Gojira.

get everything set so i can make it to that 100 mark

so far this Script´s Got an Awesome opening to it.

while i can see myself doing a bit of rewriting, Script´s Already fire enough, BETTER NOT SCRAP THIS ONE AND BETTER NOT FUCK IT UP, it´s our 100th video, 6 videos away from it and i want alot of good animated content to build up to this momment.

while i have had a Few Flops, With Doily, Nat and Kitube i think im almost there, i think doing a Workflow List to remind me tho for Yoko Ruby and Gojira might help me out alot.

anyways See Ya soon, the G.P.N is comming up, feel like a hybird between GMK and ghidorah the three-headed monster, gonna be great and a Movie woth the title of my 100th YouTube video for sure.

[rubrofuscus]

watched Godzilla: King of The Monsters (2019) last night

was good

I liked it, anyway

King Ghidora was awesome especially the scene where he roars really loudly and wakes up the other kaiju

all the godzilla scenes were awesome

the main guy was kinda whatever as were most of the human characters

extremely stupid self sacrifice scene from the mom at the end

zilla going thermonuclear and melting the city just by existing was cool

doctor serizawa was cool

I did like the kind of like mythos tie in they'd have sometimes throughout the movie

I thought king of the monsters was gonna be a stand alone movie but I guess it was a sequel

still pretty good by itself though I think

godzilla cool

don't let anyone tell you that kaiju are lame and boring

as always the human stuff was kind of like whatever to me but it was still vaguely interesting enough to keep me watching

[animehouse-moe]

September Art Book Haul

Yeah, a veritable mountain of art books in this haul. It's part of why it's taken me so long to make a post for it, because where do I really begin? Well, the best that I could come up with was to just sorta dive into a few of the "most interesting" entries specifically, while still detailing just what it is that I've got here. So, I'll try me best to grab the most interesting stuff and explain that with this post.

Well, in image number one we've got some cool stuff, two pairs of key animation books for their respective series. Shockingly, the Haruhi set was cheaper than the Yuru Camp, though the latter was also still sealed/brand new and is marginally thicker than the Haruhi ones. I wouldn't say there's anything really "special" with them so I'll skip towards the next image.

A bit more going on here, as each book is from a different series. The Uchouten Kazoku setting material book is massive, filled to the brim with all sorts of stuff. Definitely makes me want to get the key animation collections and other art books. Also, finally got the first season board/keyframe collection for UBW (and at a good price!). Been searching for a set for absolutely forever, and only in July of this year was a friend of mine able to find the second season one for me for cheap (they were in Japan on vacation). Then there's the little Love Lab board collection, nothing special. I think the most interesting is the Ground Control To Psychoelectric Girl art book. When I first got it I was worried I'd somehow accidentally purchased a Blu-Ray for the series, but it's just the packaging. The disc shaped thing is pretty cool though, it unfolds to show a bunch of different keyframes/Layouts, a nice touch for sure.

Anyways, moving on we've got another hodgepodge of stuff. We've got another Love Lab art book, an Umaru art book (a shame they only did one for the second season), a Lycoris Recoil setting material collection (despite my issues with the story, the visual work done is solid), and a Kanon art book. No, it's not for the anime, I couldn't find one, but I did find one for the visual novel. It exists on the rarer side of KyoAni's works that are adapted, and one of the three visual novels that they've adapted (all of which were very early on in KyoAni's life). Anyways, I suppose you could say it's... rather different, which is interesting. I always find it intriguing how visual novel adaptations go, in terms of timelines, choosing routes, removing and adding content, and stripping the mature scenes. For that last reason, I'm not going to show any of the art here.

Onto the next batch! This one is very cool, lots of interesting stuff in here. The Madogatari 40th anniversary exhibition art book might just be my favorite in all of the haul. So much art and content from the history of Shaft that you won't find anywhere else. Finally getting to see production material for And Yet The Town Moves is lovely. Similarly, Kaneko Yuuji's art book is incredibly interesting because it shows their process for some of the super awesome concept art for Godzilla Singular Point. While I don't believe the remaining two to be super important in regards to pictures, they're both still very impressive art books. It's been a while since I last watched Log Horizon, but the environment art displayed in its collection is incredibly beautiful, and I mean Fate/Zero, need I say more?

Alright, even more Fate! I've got a lot of art books for the anime, so when I saw a good deal on the box set for the VN art, I knew I had to grab it. It's a shame the box set was only vols 1-3 (plus the character art book), so vols 4 and 5 are sold separately. An incredible treasure trove of content in regards to the series in all kinds of instances and approaches (and of course a fair share of horny). Alongside it, I'm finally making a dent in my Garden of Sinners keyframe collections again. I've know got 3 out of the 8 or 9 volumes available, so at best I'm only a third of the way there. Such a pain to find, but they're surprisingly reasonable in terms of pricing when you do find them.

And last but not least, Shirobako. Even though I got 4 volumes, and even though it was dirt cheap (something like 35CAD for all of them), it's still a drop in the bucket to the amount remaining out there. Anyways, in the image there's the: setting material collection (bottom right), the two keyframe collections for the first season (top and bottom left), and the second mini fan book (top right). A load of content for sure, and lots of great details and whatnot.

All in all, it's an art book haul that fills a lot of gaps in my collection, in more than a few ways. Getting sets for series that I'm a fan of, rounding out collections for certain studios or series. It gets a lot done, and without entirely breaking the bank (I chose seamail to save a solid chunk on shipping). In the coming days/weeks I'd really like to take a deeper dive into some of the more interesting art books to show what they're all about (for example, Kaneko Yuuji did environment art for Eve Music Videos!), so I'll try to keep my promise on that and show some more interesting stuff.

[eropandasennin]

I posted 4,261 times in 2022

75 posts created (2%)

4,186 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@true-king-of-monsters

@glamurina-vibes

@tokufan400

@retrogamingblog2

I tagged 116 of my posts in 2022

#panda's thoughts - 42 posts

#youtube - 31 posts

#bayonetta 3 - 5 posts

#panda's posts - 4 posts

#bleach tybw spoilers - 4 posts

#bleach spoilers - 4 posts

#naruto spoilers - 3 posts

#bayonetta 3 voice change - 3 posts

#bayonetta voice change - 3 posts

#mature - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 109 characters

#that's technically baragon from godzilla: final wars (millenium era) and not og baragon (showa era) but still

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Almost Every Gaming Youtuber in the late 2000's: "Hey did you know Sephiroth and his theme song, One Winged Angel, are overrated? Kefka from Final Fantasy VI is a MUCH better villain and his theme, Dancing Mad, is WAY better and has more depth?"

Me, after rewatching the Cloud VS Sephiroth fight in Advent Children for the tenth time: "What's that? I can't hear you over this awesome guitar riff dude. Guy just sliced a building in half!"

31 notes - Posted November 30, 2022

#4

I really miss having good talks about nerd stuff without it devolving into mudslinging. Doesn't matter if their take on a subject is widly different from mine (not politically though, I know where I stand on that), I would still like to have a fun discussion about it.

Like, a discussion talking about fanservice in anime, how both men and women are portrayed in that regard, is it damaging the image of anime and so forth. That would be cool but no, it always comes back to the dreaded "culture war" eventually. Pathetic.

47 notes - Posted October 15, 2022

#3

More of "I have a type yes":

See the full post

54 notes - Posted October 16, 2022

#2

So Konami just had it's first Silent Hill related...anything that wasn't a pachinko machine in...hold up

*checks notes*

10 years! Holy shit it's been that long...and no, P.T. doesn't count...kinda. Anyway, to make up for it (and probably for Contra: Rogue Corps) they decided to go ALL OUT with this franchise with 3 games, a movie (oh goody), a interactive series (could be fun?) and lots of merch.

First up is a remake of the classic Silent Hill 2. While I rather had seen a remake of the first game (that technically got a re-imaging on the Wii but still) as I think SH2 still holds up really well it is cool to see the game with next-gen graphics.

If they keep the rest of the game intact and add more stuff and locations (and fix the combat) this might be, not a replacement but a good version of the game to enjoy. Especially because the only proper way to play the original SH2 is either the PS2 version, the PC port or the Xbox version with extra content added. Don't go for the HD Collection on this one guys.

Next up are 2 brand new SH games: Silent Hill Townfall and Silent Hill F. Nothing is really know about these yet (except that F takes place in 1960's Japan) so we only got 2 teaser trailers but they look pretty dope either way.

See the full post

63 notes - Posted October 20, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

See the full post

124 notes - Posted October 15, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[marblesarelost]

Nothing to see here, just me dorking out over Godzilla.

• I miss when Godzilla had this presence about him. He moved slowly, heavily, with a certain gravity that was as terrifying as it was awesome, in the traditional sense. The running scene in the trailer just really didn’t do it for me. Neither did the pink spines and stuff.

Oh my Kamata-kun, THANK YOU. The running scene was just so messed up. Godzilla doesn't MOVE like that! And while I love the color purple, I don't understand the reason for the color changes. They don't make sense. His flame and spines have always been either white or blue, and I happen to think that the MV Godzilla Blue is absolutely gorgeous. So that makes no sense at all to me.

THEY PUT MY BOY IN ICE

I fuckin' know. I know. WHY? HOW?

Where’s the mystery, where’s the majesty, where’s the beauty in these incredible creatures? KotM especially nailed the vibe that the Titans are these absolute forces of nature, and I watched the first KotM trailer for comparison before writing this and oh my gosh, I wish I could see KotM for the first time again. The trailer was amazing.

Agree on the lack of majesty and awe. WTF. Is the guy who did KotM directing this? Because it does not look like it.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE THERE ARE SO MANY INTERESTING TITANS ON EARTH WHY ARE YOU GIVING US ANOTHER APE. No but really, RIP to anyone who had a favorite Titan who isn’t Godzilla or Kong.

I mean....I kind of get it, partially? Because they want us to buy the sweet little baby Kong plushies and all that shit. Capitalism, friends and neighbors, capitalism. But other than that? Yeah, I don't get it either. Okay, Ghidorah/Mecha are dead, sure, but if Inner Earth is supposed to be so huge and whatnot why can't it be something else? Like a superhuge sabertooth tiger or something? Hell, a massive snake or even a giant damn sloth or a hugeass bear? I guess they would say because tools, but these are the TITANS, okay? You can work something out with another mammal of some sort so that it can use tools, ctfo.

It’s a change. There’s a change happening in MonsterVerse in the tone of the Godzilla movies, and that isn’t automatically a bad thing.

I agree that it's not necessarily a bad thing, but at the same time, I'm seeing Hollywood trying to turn the Monsterverse into a formulaic type of thing like the Marvel Universe, and that just doesn't work for me when it comes to Godzilla. I mean, sure, Godzilla movies are formulaic -- in his savior movies, obviously, he saves us from something horrible, and in his terror flicks, he's here to make us pay for becoming monstrous ourselves -- but I don't like the feels I'm getting for what they seem to be doing with the Monsterverse.

That being said, I'm also pretty pissed that apparently they were trying to entice folx to cross the picket lines during the strikes, so as much as I love Godzilla and am looking very forward to seeing Jia as a Priestess of Titans, I'm going to take a long minute to think about whether I'm going to go see it in the theaters. Solidarity, after all.

I don't have Apple TV (I think my intended does though!) so I haven't seen the Monarch series yet.

ANYWAY

Star, I absolutely love your Monsterverse work, you're amazing, and I would LOVE to see you come back to it. I'd especially love it if you decided to exhume the Atlantis fics from the Graveyard, or if you picked "Three Can Keep A Secret" back up -- if you don't want that though I'd be happy to take it off your hands, just sayin'...I reread that yesterday and thought about messaging you and asking if I could adopt it, but I don't think I could match your writing style very well.

Have a great night, and nice to dork out about the Monsterverse with you!

I was asked to share my thoughts on the new Godzilla trailer, so here we go! Of course, this all comes down to my personal preference and opinion, and I do want to say that I am looking forward to seeing the movie, no matter how much I might not seem like it, lol. 

• I miss when Godzilla had this presence about him. He moved slowly, heavily, with a certain gravity that was as terrifying as it was awesome, in the traditional sense. The running scene in the trailer just really didn’t do it for me. Neither did the pink spines and stuff. 

• I like the Hollow Earth in theory, but seeing it in the trailer… I’m a bit more meh on it now. The 2014/2019 movies felt grounded in reality, silly as that may sound considering giant monsters are involved. But it was still an otherwise normal earth, just with Titans roaming around. The whole world inside our world takes the story into a more fantasy-based direction that just isn’t what I’m looking for in these movies. 

• THEY PUT MY BOY IN ICE

• Where’s the mystery, where’s the majesty, where’s the beauty in these incredible creatures? KotM especially nailed the vibe that the Titans are these absolute forces of nature, and I watched the first KotM trailer for comparison before writing this and oh my gosh, I wish I could see KotM for the first time again. The trailer was amazing. 

• It’s too early to tell, but I’m leery of how the human characters will be handled. The decrease in Monarch’s presence in GvK was a big disappointment for me (and the increase in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is why I am so far loving the show). It’s no secret that I think KotM handled the human to Titan balance really, really well, but I loved it in Kong: Skull Island too, and even 2014 didn’t butcher it that badly. GvK did not inspire confidence in me, however. 

• PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE THERE ARE SO MANY INTERESTING TITANS ON EARTH WHY ARE YOU GIVING US ANOTHER APE. No but really, RIP to anyone who had a favorite Titan who isn’t Godzilla or Kong. 

• It’s a change. There’s a change happening in MonsterVerse in the tone of the Godzilla movies, and that isn’t automatically a bad thing. I’m just set in my ways, and I’m fully aware of that. I’m absolutely positive that there’s a ton of people who are really into what this trailer showed us, and I’m thrilled! I hope this series keeps getting more and more interest and fans because that will give us more movies and shows. Just based on this one trailer, it’s not what I would want in a new Godzilla movie. And that’s okay. I genuinely hope I’ll get more hyped about it as the release date gets closer and we hopefully get another trailer or two. I’m excited to see more of Jia, and I will take literally any scrap of Godzilla I can get because I still love him a whole lot, even when he looks kinda silly. 

[lsdjellyfishu]

Happy Halloween everyone! Here is a spooky Godzilla story I scanned and translated into English, from the Godzilla comic. It's "Warning from G" by  Shinobu Kaze.

You can read and enjoy the whole thing here, in PDF, or image by image:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pBneTwlYivW3Rl43nsG5wHoXfQz5aGQu/view?usp=sharing

By "conventional" Godzilla standards, this might be one of the weirdest Godzilla stories to ever exist. It mainly concerns Godzilla being killed by a martial artist, and Godzilla subsequently posessing a baby. Brief panels from this comic have appeared online over the years,often with biwilderment, and it's no surprise why.

While I maintain it's certainly out there, I think it's incredibly fascinating once you know more about the background of the characters  and philsophy behind the story, which is rooted in "Japanese Occultism".

The story appears to largely be based on the philsophies and religious teachings of Onisaburo Deguchi.

The short version is that Onisaburo, according to Wikipedia, was a Japanese religious teacher who believed in a spirit world that reflects humanity. He believed that humanity needed to come together, and that negative energy/vibes, creates and continues horrible actions. While I'm always skeptical to praise spiritual leaders that sound nice on paper, it's worth noting that Onisaburo was a critic of imperial Japan, as he apparently believed that the atrocities committed by Imperial Japan has a negative impact on the human and spiritual world. Therefore, the idea of the story is that ambigiously, post  WW2, perhaps ideas and hatred still linger, or so much hatred exists in the world that Godzilla, a manifestation of evil, appeared (if this sounds a little like GMK, you're not wrong!).

Therefore, the stories titular "warning", is that if humanity continues to be horrible to one another, the world will get worse and worse, before horrible creatures will appear!

You can read more about him here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onisaburo_Deguchi

I think if you're a fan of other Japanese series (Yu Yu Hakusho), this may also ring a bell. It's the type of thing that may be repeatedly referenced in Japanese media (Like Journey to the West), that may not be immediately obvious to "Western"/"Non-Japanese"/"Non-Asian" viewers.

That brings us to the second weird intersection of the story, "martial arts". I couldn't find any English resources on Moshibe Uehara, so I apologize in advance if some of that was a little unclear, or if he was a real person and I've just misidentified someone. It's worth noting that one

Professional Wrestler Jushin Liger is brought up at one point in the story:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jushin_Liger

What adds an extra layer of weirdness, is that Jushin Liger, the wrestler, partially bases his persona on the actual anime/manga series "Jushin Liger", by Go Nagai. We'll get to Go Nagai in a moment...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jushin_Liger_(TV_series)

Seishi Moribe

The character Seishi Moribe was a real martial artist. Unfortunately, little if any, information exists in English. What I can find about him was that his father was a personal bodyguard for Hideki Tojo, and that he was a martial artist before becoming a wrestling promoter. He later trained Masaharu Funaki, a renowned Japanese MMA Fighter. Funnily enough... Funaki would go on to play a small role as the commander of the Mutant Squad in Godzilla Final Wars!

Anyways, Horibe claims to have invented the "bone method" from the story (which really doesn't have an english translation as far as I can tell), and his supposed feats with it are unreliable.

Ootomo Karo, whom the story claims originally invented ed the bone style, was a real general during the Nara period.

So, you wind up with a Godzilla tale that is, one part Godzilla, one part Japanese spirtuality, and one part martial arts. I think it surpsingly works well for what it is.

Shinobu Kaze is awesome, and I recommend looking into his other works. That brings us to "Go Nagai", one of the most famous mangakas who is up there with Tezuka Osamu and Toriyama Akira. While not directly credited, the credit of the story is given to Shinobu Kaze AND Dynamic Pro. Dynamic production was one of Nagai's studios/production crews. It's unclear if Nagai was directly involved with this, but it's pretty significant to have this involvement. It makes sense, as some of the ideas in the story also line up with Devilman's theming and style.

PS: you may have noticed that my scans and image quality are a lot better. I've invested a lot in a better setup and process, so I intend to pretty much translate all of the Godzilla Comic and Godzilla Comic Strikes back over time.

[hermannsthumb]

Maria. *Grabs your face* MARIA. I would LOVE to see 15 bobbing for apples from the autumn fic meme written by you. Nothing would delight me more!

Anonymous asked: Halloween prompt #15 please!!... "Bobbing for apples but we meet accidentally underwater lady and the tramp style." OR "I thought we'd have fun bobbing for apples but you actually hate it and are really mad now"

15. Bobbing For Apples

from autumn fic prompts here

KATE ❤️__ ❤️for you id write anything... and anon the lady and the tramp scenario is so fucking funny/good

---------------------------

It’s a really good thing that Hermann has Newt, because if Newt’s being honest, he has no damn clue what the poor dude would do without him. Work himself to death, probably. Or spend every Saturday night alone in his bunk. So depressing. Newt considers it his big charitable act of—well, of all time—to force Hermann into social functions, whether it's fun nights out at the bar (with Newt!), or down the hall a few feet for awesome movie marathons in Newt’s quarters (with Newt!), or something like tonight, which is a super awesome and fun Halloween party that, like, everyone on the base was invited to (including Newt!).

Hermann was all set to spend another night alone (probably changing the batteries in all his calculators or rearranging the hangers in his closet) when Newt dragged him out, more or less by the collar of his argyle sweater, with multiple threats to make his life a living hell the following week in the lab if he didn't comply immediately. "Seriously, dude," Newt had said, ominously, while Hermann looked at him like a furious cat ready to take a swipe, "you're gonna put in those vampire fangs and get drunk with me, or you're gonna regret it. I mean it." Newt was not opposed to blasting the shittiest depths of his Spotify account over his bluetooth speakers or using Hermann's favorite coffee mug to hold his dissection tools. Luckily for both of them, Hermann decided the risk wasn't worth it.

Newt knows Hermann is bound to recognize how selfless Newt is being and thank him for it eventually. Probably. Maybe a few years from now. For now, Newt is enjoying the warm and fuzzy feeling of having done a good deed, and also of drinking a considerable amount of spiked punch.

Hermann is not enjoying either.

"I did, in fact, have plans for tonight," he tells Newt, sipping his ginger ale and observing Newt with a fierce scowl. He flat-out refused the booze Newt tried to push on him. It's fine, whatever—it's enough for Newt, right now anyway, that he actually came. They'll work up to bigger stuff like that later.

"Like what?" Newt says. "Doing a crossword puzzle and watching the second half of that boring-ass documentary you put on last weekend?"

Newt considers it an affront to the very concept of movie nights that Hermann used his pick on a documentary, and one about the jaeger program that didn't even bother interviewing him, no less. Newt loves a good documentary, don't get him wrong, but movie nights are for escapist shit. You don't see him switching on Godzilla. Plus, having to watch stock footage of Dr. Gottlieb Sr. blabbing his mouth about how smart he was while you were debating making a move on his son (who was currently in you bed, looking super cute in your sweatpants, because he'd forgotten to pack pj's) was kind of a mood-killer. "It wasn't boring," Hermann sniffs, which tells Newt that his guess was dead-on. "It was...interesting. And anyway, just because they aren't your idea of plans..."

"Okay, whatever," Newt says. "Let's just have fun. That's the point of a party."

He throws an arm around Hermann's shoulder and drags him closer, until their heads knock together painfully. He hears Hermann growl low in his throat. Newt doesn't say, soon, we won't have the time to do stupid shit like this anymore, so we should enjoy it while we can, even though he wants to. It's better to not make fun stuff depressing. Plus, Hermann might decide to take that as an invitation to bail and put on his documentary. Instead he reaches up across Hermann and flicks his chin. Hermann's whole body stiffens. "I can't believe I got you into this super awesome party and you're not even pretending to be thankful," Newt says.

With no great deal of difficulty, Hermann pushes Newt off of him. Newt lands heavily back in his chair, making the whole thing wobble, and he laughs as he just manages to catch himself from falling off the other side. "You got me in?" Hermann says. "Newton, I was invited three weeks ago."

Newt stops laughing. "You were?"

"Yes," Hermann says. The corner of his lip twitches up, with a smugness so powerful Newt can feel it radiating off of him in waves. Bastard. "I took it upon myself to ask if you might be permitted to come, too." He adds, sarcastically, "Out of the kindness of my heart. I know how terribly put out you get when you aren't included in these sorts of things."

Newt considers this new information, and then discards it, because it really doesn't fit the image of himself he's been cultivating as the cool, hip friend to Hermann's uncool, unhip nerd. Like, come on, between the two of them, Newt is obviously the one you'd want at your party. Hermann's gotta be kidding. Probably. Maybe. "It's a lame party anyway," Newt mumbles.

He tries to put his arm around Hermann's shoulder again, remembers that Hermann really didn't like that the first time, and then drops it back down at his side instead. "Totally lame," he continues. Newt recalls the Halloween parties of his youth with a warm, fond glow: elaborate costumes, tacky decorations, passing around bowls of peeled grapes in the dark, carving jack-o-lanterns while his dad hovered protectively over him to make sure he didn't take a finger off with the knife. This is none of that. Barely anyone even dressed up! The lack of Halloween spirit is tragic. "There aren't even any party games."

"Yes there are," Hermann says, mildly.

He points across the room at a large metal tub that Newt somehow missed before. It looks like it's filled with water, and...

"Dude," Newt says.

He doesn't wait to ask before he's hopping to his feet and dragging Hermann along after him by his blazer cuff. Hermann swats at his heels a few times with his cane, but eventually—like he does with most of Newt's ideas—gives in. "I'm a fuckin' champ at bobbing for apples," Newt boasts. "I used to—oops, excuse me," (he runs into two guys who are, like, twice his height, upsetting their drinks, and he hears Hermann groan as something purple spills on his sweater), "I used to always win it at the fall fest when my dad would take me." And then when he went back as an adult by himself, but it was less impressive a win when you were up against a bunch of ten-year-olds.

"You do have an exceptionally large mouth," Hermann says, rubbing at his stained shoulder. "I suppose that helps." As Newt bends to investigate the iron tub, he says, "Oh, Newton, don't, it's been out all night. Who knows what sorts of germs are in there?"

Newt gets to his knees and rolls up the sleeves of his PPDC-issued labcoat. He's a mad scientist to Hermann's vampire (vampire librarian?) tonight. Yeah, it's kind of a lazy costume, but it was free—he already had everything he needed in the lab. "I can get it in five seconds, max," he declares. His record is one second, but he's the first to admit he's a little rusty, and he'd rather impress Hermann by beating his estimate. "Will you hold my headlamp?"

Grumbling, Hermann takes it. Newt sets his glasses on the ground. "You're going to get yourself bloody soaking," Hermann says, and then he complains about something else, too, but Newt is screwing his eyes shut and ducking his head into the tub, which makes it difficult to hear him. One second—two seconds—two and a half—Newt emerges victorious from the tub, teeth clenched down firmly on an apple, and accidentally splatters a large amount of water on Hermann's shoes. He pulls the apple out of his mouth with a grin and waves it at Hermann. "See. I'm a fucking pro."

He tucks his glasses back on his face to discover that Hermann is staring at him with a very strange expression on his face. Newt can't decide if it's the blacklight bulbs overhead that are washing him out and making him look so flushed, or something else entirely. Then, in a second, he's grumpy and scowling and tsking over his wet shoes. "A pro," he echoes. "Hardly. It can't be that complicated."

Newt gestures grandly at the tub and takes a bite out of his apple. Hermann can always be relied upon to never turn down a challenge, especially when it means making Newt look—potentially—stupid. Newt uses it to his advantage often. Whatever it takes to help the guy have a good time. "It's all yours, dude."

Hermann grumbles something again about Newt being too arrogant for his own good, and something else about showing Newt how to do it without making a mess of everything, then gets down to his knees with a quiet hiss of discomfort. He shoves his cane, and Newt's headlamp, at Newt, though bewilderingly leaves his blazer on. "I'll be just a moment," he says, and dunks his head into the tub.

He splashes back up no more than five seconds later. Apple-less. "Bugger," he coughs, and then coughs some more. The entire front of his sweater is soaked. "I didn't—I didn't start out right. Let me—"

Newt watches Hermann try to drown himself a few more times in mild interest before he finally intercedes. "Need a hand?" he says, getting to his knees next to Hermann.

"No," Hermann splutters.

Newt takes his glasses off again. "Yeah, you do. Okay, now watch me—"

He emerges with another apple in seconds.

Hermann grits his teeth. "Newton—"

"One more?" Newt says, his grin widening.

Back under. Another apple. He winks at Hermann when he goes in for a fourth time, and this time, he feels the water of the tank being upset as Hermann (refusing to be outdone once again) splashes in alongside him. God, Newt loves riling Hermann up like this—he gets so funny, and kinda cute, when he's mad about something. Red in the face, and scowling, and sometimes (when he's real mad) speaking in a dangerously low and rough sort of voice with his r's rolling that makes Newt shiver, just a little. Like, Newton, you worthless, pathetic little man, cease this immediately, or else I'll... He actually said that to Newt once. It made Newt feel a little warm under his collar. Hermann's probably going to say something similar to him this time, and Newt can't wait.

Ten seconds in. Newt has been cutting Hermann a little slack at first, just to see if he can catch up, but finally decides to just go for the apple that's been bobbing steadily against his mouth this whole time. (He loves beating Hermann at stuff.)

And, well, apparently Hermann goes for it too.

They both miss the apple. Newt's mouth is up against Hermann's for another five seconds before he realizes what's happening (that that is definitely not an apple, that that is definitely a mouth, that that mouth is wide and weird another to belong to only one person Newt knows, that that mouth is parting in surprise, oh my God) and then he pulls away so quickly that he breathes in what feels like half the tub of water. He falls back on his ass, coughing furiously, and it's not until he shoves his glasses back on with a shaking hand that he realizes that Hermann has done the same. "I," Hermann says. His eyes are wide. "I'm sor—"

"It's fine," Newt squeaks.

"It was—"

"I know!"

Newt and Hermann's mouths were touching for five whole seconds. Underwater, while apples bobbed against their foreheads, but their mouths still touched. Oh my God. In elementary school, Newt thinks dizzily, that would be enough to catch cooties. This was so not how he wanted his awesome eventual seduction of Hermann to go down. For one thing, it wasn't even a seduction.

"I'm gonna get a towel," Newt says.

Hermann nods. He looks strangely adorable with water droplets on his nose and his hair plastered to his head like that. Newt has to get out of here before he does something stupid, like take Hermann's pointy cheeks between his hands and put their mouths together on purpose. He doesn't think Hermann would respond to that very well right now.

"I'll get you one too," Newt says, and it takes a lot of effort to force himself to his feet.

Hermann nods again.

"Okay," Newt says, and stumbles away. Out of the corner of his eye, he just catches Hermann raising a hand to his mouth.

[unsaintlike]

Godzilla, no doubt 'bout it. Kong's cool, but, c'mon, Godzilla's called King of the Monsters for a reason. Ain't no beatin' him. Man, I still remember seein' the Godzilla head in, uh, shit, where was it..? Somewhere in Japan, saw it back when I did the G1. Anyway, that was pretty awesome. As for Wednesday, eh, what can I say? Ready as always, I suppose.

[jacksjoke]

Title: a firm foothold Pairing: Pitch/Bank Excerpt:      Pitch looks at the way Bank bites his lip, his fingers holding tightly to the hem of his shirt, and asks, “Bank, are you… okay?”      “Yeah,” Bank says, but sighs when Pitch raises his eyebrows. “Not really.” Ao3 link

Read story under cut.

     “As if we’d leave!”

     Sky shakes his head. His frustrated, overwrought expression has stiffened his features and Pitch doesn’t want to imagine the kind of fear he’s enduring right now. “We won’t know anything until tonight, if that,” Sky says plainly. “And anyway, they’ve already said he can’t have visitors until they’re sure he’s more stable, so there’s no use in all of us hanging around.”

     “So you’ll be going home too then?” Bank deadpans.

     “He needs me,” Sky says. At Bank’s mouth opening once more, he goes on, “Bank, one of my dad’s men is already on the way back with fresh clothes for me. Just go home, eat something. I’ll let you know if anything changes.”

     Bank’s mouth is set, his eyebrows drawn, and Pitch can tell he wants to fight Sky on this. It’s not hard to understand, really; they rescued their friend from a mob kidnapping only to watch another get shot unconscious. They’re standing here alive by the skin of their teeth and to leave Sky like this is the opposite of who Bank is.

     “Bank,” Pitch says, setting his hand hesitantly to the younger’s back. After a second, Bank looks at him, still frowning. “We’re covered in dust and haven’t eaten since morning. Let’s just head back for now.” He gives the slightest inclination of his chin toward Sky, a pointed look in his eyes that says they need to give their friend space, and Bank’s shoulders deflate as he sighs.

     “You’ll really tell us if something changes?” he asks Sky. “Promise?”

     Sky grins a tired smile. “Yes, Bank. I promise.”

     Bank nods once, satisfied, and pats Sky’s arm kindly before turning on his heel with a little wave. “Bye bye,” he says. “Don’t forget!”

     Sky rolls his eyes a little but nods, shooing them away. Pitch glances backward as he follows after Bank and catches the way Sky’s body has sagged forward, eyes already fallen to the floor. He needs time to process on his own, Pitch knew that, but it still hurts to see a friend going through something no one can fix.

     “I’m starving,” Bank announces, sliding into the passenger’s seat.

     “Let’s stop for a bite.”

     Bank nods immediately, then appears to realise something in looking at Pitch. At Bank’s nose wrinkling, Pitch looks down at his filthy uniform. “P’, we’re a mess,” Bank voices.

     “Showers it is.”

     Bank nods again and switches the music on as Pitch turns out of the hospital parking. It’s quiet aside from the Scrubb CD Bank had at one point snuck into the radio of Pitch’s car. He isn’t too into the band but their sound always brings a happy sort of look onto Bank’s face, so Pitch isn’t going to fight him on it.

     Pitch rolls to a stop outside Bank’s gate and looks at him, expecting him to say something like a goodbye, but Bank’s eyes are glued to the house itself.

     “Uh, Bank?” Pitch says. “Bank.”

     “Huh?” Bank blinks. “Sorry. I was going to say you can come in to eat.”

     “You wanted to clean up, I thought.”

     Another blink. “Oh. Yeah, I do.” Bank wordlessly gets out of the car, to Pitch’s confusion, and is halfway to the gate when he turns back around and says, “You can still come in though.”

     Pitch rolls down his window, sure that he’d misheard. “What?”

     “Come inside. We can shower and eat.” Bank shifts on his feet. “You’re already here, as hungry as I am.”

     Pitch waits for Bank to rescind the invitation, but he just stands there waiting. So Pitch parks the car and does as he’s told.

     Bank’s house is massive, though both of his parents being successful doctors lessens Pitch’s surprise on what they might afford. Pitch lives comfortably but this is sort of overwhelming, even for him. Bank being who he is, he likely puts on every light and the television to avoid being spooked when he has the place to himself. The thought has Pitch glancing at Bank, wanting to take his hand as they move for the staircase, but he refrains.

     Bank’s bedroom is much neater than Pitch would have imagined. Maybe it was because Bank held no qualms about jumping drunk onto a bed that wasn’t his own, but Pitch had almost assumed that Bank’s space would be something of a disaster.

     “The floor’s usually a disaster so it’s lucky I cleaned up yesterday,” Bank reads his mind, digging around the dresser.

     The room is decorated sparingly, the majority of it confined to the wall behind the bed, floor to ceiling covered in posters ranging from popular anime to bands Pitch couldn’t begin to guess the names of. Scrubb has made a home in here too; there’s one poster that has its members for some reason holding vegetables? Pitch shakes his head, resigned to just not ask.

     “Here, P’.” Pitch turns to find Bank offering pajamas his way. “It’s just a long sleeve and shorts. We can run the laundry and clean up your stuff.”

     “Thanks,” Pitch says.

     “Mm. You can use my bathroom; I’ll shower in my parents’.” Bank disappears into the hall, leaving Pitch on his own. With time to himself he takes in the room some more. It even smells clean, and like Bank. There’s a small grey sofa and more than one bookshelf besides, each littered with action figures, comics, and textbooks. Pitch can just picture Bank reading on the sofa, or complaining about something or other to Sky at the desk.

     Pitch probably shouldn’t be as oddly giddy as he is to just be standing here, but he can’t help it. Even the bathroom makes Pitch smile; it smells of Bank’s soap, and there’s his infamous hair gel.

     Pitch spots his own reflection grinning stupidly in the mirror and Pitch coughs, looking away. If he doesn’t move a little faster, Bank is going to walk in to find him still standing here like a weirdo. He’d probably laugh and mortify Pitch, and that notion is enough to get him in the shower pronto.

     When he comes out, Bank is on the sofa, head bent as he types away on his phone. The shirt he’d been planning to wear is abandoned on the cushion, like he’d gotten distracted halfway through dressing. Pitch grins and tiptoes up to the sofa.

     “The return of Ticklish Godzilla — ” he begins with a grumble in his voice, but he has time only to finish the sentence before Bank is yanking Pitch onto the sofa by his neck like a rag doll. He flips over with a, “Oi!” to land neatly in Bank’s lap, the air knocked from his lungs at the sneak attack. He must be smiling like an idiot regardless.

     “Vanquished,” Bank says, digging his fingers into Pitch’s sides in retaliation.

     “Don’t — ” Pitch squirms out of Bank’s grasp and jumps to his feet. “Don’t even try it.”

     Bank shakes his head, grinning, and with distance between them Pitch takes in Bank’s damp, loose hair. His lack of a shirt is also sinking in, which has Pitch’s skin itching even though this isn’t the first time he’s seen Bank damp and shirtless this month. He clears his throat again.

     “Are you good to eat?” he asks, wincing immediately at himself, but Bank just nods happily.

     “I ordered pizza,” he says, then frowns. “Unless you want something else. I can — ”

     “Pizza’s fine.”

     “Okay.” He tugs his shirt on as they go down the hallway, much of Pitch’s efforts pointed at not looking at the muscle of Bank’s back or arms.

     “I just messaged the girls about Sun. They’ll go tomorrow to visit too.”

     “Sure,” Pitch says. “I think I’ll head home after we eat, by the way. We could use some sleep.”

     Bank hesitates for just a second at the top of the stairs, then says, “I have every Lord of the Rings movie; have you seen them?”

     “I mean — I’ve seen some of the first.”

     Bank looks at him with wide eyes. “Seriously?” he demands, and Pitch is sort of worried he’s about to be cursed out. “That’s awesome! We can watch them tonight!”

     “Uh, aren’t they, like, pretty long?”

     Bank shrugs noncommittally but otherwise gives no answer as he bounds down the stairs like a hyperactive puppy.

     Two pizzas and a lot of soda later, Pitch is about ready to pass out. Bank seems to have more energy than ever though, so much so that Pitch doesn’t think even Ticklish Godzilla can save him now.

     “Hey, Bank,” he starts.

     “Sh!” Bank hisses. He takes these things incredibly seriously, Pitch has found. He hates when people talk during shows or movies, these times being some of the few that Bank wants total silence.

     “Bank,” Pitch tries again anyway.

     “P’!” Bank whines.

     Pitch pauses the movie on another speech given by a character he doesn’t know the name of and gives Bank a look.

     “It’s past 11,” he says. “I need to get home; I’m bone tired.”

     “But we haven’t finished it yet.”

     “I know, but — ”

     “And we still have two left.”

     “How long are these, exactly?” Pitch asks for another time.

     “Well, they’re the extended versions so they’re…” He trails off into a mumble.

     “What was that?”

     “About four hours,” Bank says louder, cheeks reddening.

     “In total?”

     “Each.”

     Pitch’s jaw slackens. “Each movie is four hours? We can’t watch them all tonight! If we have any hope of getting to the hospital before noon I can’t be awake right until we have to walk out the door, Bank.” Bank doesn’t look at him, his mouth a hard line. “We can watch them another time; I can come back — ”

     “It’s okay. You don’t have to; Sky thinks they’re boring too. I don’t actually care.”

     Pitch blinks slowly at the abrupt change. “Okay.”

     “It’s not about the movies, P’Pitch,” Bank admits after a moment.

     “What is it then?” He looks at the way Bank bites his lip, his fingers holding tightly to the hem of his shirt, and asks, “Bank, are you… okay?”

     “Yeah,” Bank says, but sighs when Pitch raises his eyebrows. “Not really.”

     “Bank, Sun’s going to be fine. And Sky can handle — ”

     “It’s not that,” Bank cuts in. “It’s not just that. I’m… I don’t…” Pitch has no idea what could be the cause of Bank’s sudden despondence, he really doesn’t. Everything had been perfectly normal from the drive home to now, hadn’t it?

     “My parents aren’t in town,” Bank says. “And my brother’s with his friends.” He doesn’t explain anything more, but Pitch can connect the dots from there. If Pitch is honest, he remembers the look on Bank’s face when they’d pulled up earlier. If Bank’s family isn’t here, Bank will have to spend the night alone, something he dislikes having to do on a good day. Compounded by their near-death at the mob’s hands, forget not wanting to sleep alone — Bank must be frightened to death that he’s in danger.

     “I know those guys got arrested but what if there’s more of them, P’?” he asks quietly. “We’re the reason they got caught.”

     “Bank, they aren’t going to come after you.”

     Bank’s eyebrows come together like he’s confused. “P’Pitch, I’m alone for one night, but you live by yourself every night. What if they show up to torture you like they did with Sky, or…” Pitch almost can’t believe what he’s hearing. Bank is scared for Pitch’s life, not his own. This stupid, selfless kid.

     “Bank,” Pitch starts again, too aware of the fondness in his voice, “that won’t happen. They wouldn’t get past me and my bat anyway.”

     “I’m not kidding around.”

     At Bank’s deadly glare, Pitch clears his throat and wipes any trace of jest from his face. “I know,” he says. “But I really don’t think we have to worry.”

     “You’re right — ” Bank agrees.

     “Good, I — ”

     “ — because you’re staying here with me.” Pitch stares at Bank, but he doesn’t look to be joking yet. “I don’t want to be on my own and I don’t want you to be either,” Bank says, matter-of-fact. “So stay.”

     Pitch knows better than to argue with Bank, so he doesn’t.

     “Alright,” he says. “I’ll… stay.”

     The tension melts from Bank’s face, a grin emerging like the sun from clouds, and Pitch can’t help smiling too. Bank goes to grab the remote, and Pitch’s smile drops. He can’t do eight more hours of these movies tonight, not even for the guy he likes.

     Pitch grabs Bank’s wrist, to his confusion. “I think we can call it for now, don’t you?” the former says.

     Bank gives an embarrassed grimace, switching off the television. “Right, P’. Let’s sleep.” Once on the second floor, Bank retrieves a heavy woven blanket from the hall closet along with an extra pillow. Pitch settles them onto the sofa without a word, and Bank doesn’t comment. He leaves the room, returning shortly with a face towel and toothbrush. Pitch thanks him with a small smile that Bank returns.

     Pitch has never brushed his teeth with another person, and it’s super weird, but he doesn’t hate it. If anything, it’s an excuse to sneak glances at Bank in the mirror and then make a dumb face to make Bank laugh when he’s caught.

     Bank shoves his bangs off his face as he undoes the bed, blowing up a little when strands remain stubborn on his forehead. His hair is dry now but as he’s home for the night he never bothered to gel it to the usual. It hangs in his face and may even need a trim, though Pitch is well aware that Bank would be afraid to alter his signature look. Maybe Pitch will get him some sort of glittery, purposely ridiculous clip to keep his hair up at night, so it doesn’t get in his way. Bank would love it.

     “Lights off?” he asks. At Bank’s nod from under his sheets, Pitch switches off the ceiling lights and heads for the sofa.

     They lay in the dark for a minute, then Bank says, “Thanks for staying.” Another few moments pass. “I shouldn’t have used the movies as an excuse to keep you here. Sorry.”

     “Why’re you apologising?” Pitch asks, reminiscent of their botched camping endeavour. He pauses to think of how to proceed. “What I mean is, you didn’t have to pretend, or anything. You don’t need an ‘excuse’ to want me here.”

     Bank is silent, and Pitch worries that he’d accidentally said way too much. He was just trying to be honest the way Bank always likes to be. Bank is so honest that it often takes Pitch aback; not just often, but always. He isn’t sure he’ll ever get used to the way Bank just says what he means, how he feels. He cares so much about every one of them, and having never experienced such a thing before makes it easy for Pitch to believe it can’t be true. So he didn’t tell Bank how he felt at the lake, or in the tent; even now Pitch feels like he’s on far too thin ice.

     But Bank walks into fights with mobsters because he doesn’t want Pitch to face them alone, so Pitch can afford to be a little braver.

     “Just tell me and I’ll… I’ll stay however long you need, whyever you need,” he promises, eyes on the ceiling, heart rabbiting in his chest.

     Pitch is about to hope Bank fell asleep and heard none of that when Bank says, “Can… can you sleep here?” Pitch’s eyebrows furrow, but Bank clarifies, “Up here, with me.”

     Pitch doesn’t dare take a breath, giving Bank a chance to change his mind. But just as the other times today, he simply waits for Pitch to answer.

     Pitch gets up from the sofa instead of speaking. Bank scoots over to make room and Pitch settles the pillow at the headboard before laying down himself. He’s holding his breath still, even while he drapes the woven blanket over himself and Bank too.

     Bank turns onto his side to look at Pitch, so he does the same. His heart has yet to slow down but he does it. The last time they’d slept close like this had been the volunteer trip, and it had ended with their backs to each other, Bank’s outline frigid and small. He’s curled up again, but his face is relaxed, arms held to his chest. He looks soft in the dark, without edges, and for an overwhelming second Pitch is furious with himself over how he’d handled that night in the tent.

     Bank had slept with the belief that he’d done something wrong, that Pitch was somehow unhappy with him. Pitch knows now how he feels, and tried to explain as much to Bank those couple nights ago, but… All he can say is that he never wants Bank to question how he feels for him ever again. For God’s sake, Pitch finds the smell of Bank’s soap endearing.

     If he’d gone home, he would have never slept tonight, the entire time likely spent thinking about Bank and if he’s okay on his own. How is it Bank seems to always know what Pitch needs before he knows it himself? Or maybe they just need the same thing.

     Pitch puts a hand on Bank’s waist, a ghost of a touch, and Bank opens his eyes just a little. He must be exhausted, even worse after having acted energetic the past however many hours, so he doesn’t say anything. He just shuffles closer to Pitch until he can hide bundled up in his arms. Pitch exhales.

     “I need you too,” he admits against Bank’s hair, and because he can’t help being cheeky, “Are you satisfied with that answer?”

     Sleepy, Bank tilts his head up with a quirked eyebrow and smirk. “Mm.” He gives a soft kiss to Pitch’s jaw, just because Bank knows it will devastate him. “This spot is better.” With that, he returns to his snug place against Pitch’s chest.

     If Pitch weren’t already half asleep, Godzilla would be having serious revenge right now.

     “G’night, P’Pitch,” Bank murmurs through a baby yawn.

     Pitch settles for holding Bank as close as he can, which is a damn good deal.

[balioc]

A Taxonomy of Magic

This is a purely and relentlessly thematic/Doylist set of categories. 

The question is: What is the magic for, in this universe that was created to have magic?

Or, even better: What is nature of the fantasy that’s on display here?

Because it is, literally, fantasy.  It’s pretty much always someone’s secret desire.

(NOTE: “Magic” here is being used to mean “usually actual magic that is coded as such, but also, like, psionics and superhero powers and other kinds of Weird Unnatural Stuff that has been embedded in a fictional world.”)

(NOTE: These categories often commingle and intersect.  I am definitely not claiming that the boundaries between them are rigid.)

I. Magic as The Gun That Can Be Wielded Only By Nerds

Notable example: Dungeons & Dragons

Of all the magic-fantasies on offer, I think of this one as being the clearest and most distinctive.  It’s a power fantasy, in a very direct sense.  Specifically, it’s the fantasy that certain mental abilities or personality traits -- especially “raw intelligence” -- can translate directly into concrete power.  Being magical gives you the wherewithal to hold your own in base-level interpersonal dominance struggles. 

(D&D wizardry is “as a science nerd, I can use my brainpower to blast you in the face with lightning.”  Similarly, sorcery is “as a colorful weirdo, I can use my force of personality to blast you in the face with lightning,” and warlockry is “as a goth/emo kid, I can use my raw power of alienation to blast you in the face with lightning.”)   

You see this a lot in media centered on fighting, unsurprisingly, and it tends to focus on the combative applications and the pure destructive/coercive force of magic (even if magic is notionally capable of doing lots of different things).   It often presents magic specifically as a parallel alternative to brawn-based fighting power.  There’s often an unconscious/reflexive trope that the heights of magic look like “blowing things up real good” / “wizarding war.” 

II. Magic as The Numinous Hidden Glory of the World

Notable examples: Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, H.P. Lovecraft’s Dream Cycle

The point of magic, in this formulation, is that it is special.  It is intrinsically wondrous and marvelous.  Interacting with it puts you in a heightened-state-of-existence.  It is -- ultimately -- a metaphor for The Secret Unnameable Yearnings of Your Soul, the glorious jouissance that always seems just out of reach.

It doesn’t so much matter how the magic actually functions, or even what outcomes it produces.  The important thing is what magic is, which is...magical.

This is how you get works that are all about magic but seem entirely disinterested in questions like “what can you achieve with magic?,” “how does the presence of magic change the world?,” etc.  One of the major ways, anyway.

The Numinous Hidden Glory fantasy often revolves around an idea of the magic world, the other-place where everything is drenched in jouissance.  [Sometimes the magic world is another plane of existence, sometimes it’s a hidden society within the “real world,” doesn’t matter.]  The real point of magic, as it’s often presented, is being in that magic world; once you’re there, everything is awesome, even if the actual things you’re seeing and doing are ordinary-seeming or silly.  A magic school is worlds better than a regular school, because it’s magic, even if it’s got exactly the same tedium of classes and social drama that you know from the real world. 

Fantasies of this kind often feature a lot of lush memorable detail that doesn’t particularly cohere in any way.  It all just adds to the magic-ness. 

III. Magic as the Atavistic Anti-Civilizational Power

Notable examples: A Song of Ice and Fire, Godzilla

According to the terms of this fantasy, the point of magic is that it doesn’t make sense.  It doesn’t make sense within the logic of civilized human thought, anyway.  It is nature and chaos given concrete form; it is the thing that tears away at the systems that we, in our [Promethean nobility / overweening hubris], try to build. 

There’s not a baked-in value judgment here.  This kind of magic can be presented as good, bad, or some of both.  Same with civilization, for that matter.

It’s often presented as Old Myths and Folkways that have More Truth and Power Than Seems Reasonable.  Narratively, it often serves as a dramatized version of the failure of episteme, and of the kind of entropic decay that in real life can take centuries to devour empires and ideologies.

This kind of magic is almost always the province of savages, actual inhuman monsters, or (occasionally) the very downtrodden. 

(I think it is enormously telling that in A Song of Ice and Fire -- a series that is jammed full of exotic cults and ancient half-forgotten peoples, all of whom have magic that seems to work and beliefs that at least touch on mysterious truths -- only the Westerosi version of High Medieval Catholicism, the religion to which most of the people we see notionally adhere, is actually just a pack of empty lies.)  

IV. Magic as an Overstuffed Toybox

Notable examples: Naruto, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

Or, sometimes, we care about what magic actually does.  More than that -- sometimes we want to see magic doing really interesting things, and then other magic intersecting with it in ways that are even more interesting.

The fantasy here, in simplest terms, is “magic can achieve any arbitrary cool effect.”  There doesn’t tend to be an overarching system that explains how it’s all supposed to come together, or if there is, it tends to be kind of lame and hand-wavey -- a rigorous system of Magic Physics, delineating the limits of the possible, would get in the way of all the cool effects we want to show!

Once again, this shows up a lot in combat-heavy narratives.  Less with the genericized D&D-style “magic is a fist that can punch harder than your regular meat fist,” and more with people throwing weird and wacky powers at each other in order to show how those powers can be used creatively to overcome opposition.  Sometimes, instead of combat, you get magicians using their cool-effects magic to MacGuyver their way out of problems or even trying to resolve large-scale social problems.  Issues of magic usage within the narrative being “fair” or “unfair” or “cheesy” are important here in ways that they generally aren’t elsewhere, since the fantasy on offer comes close to being a game. 

(Ratfic often falls into this category.) 

V. Magic as Alternate-Universe Science

Notable examples: the Cosmere books

This covers most of what gets called “hard fantasy.”  The fantasy on offer is a pretty straightforward one -- “magic has actual rules, you can learn them, and once you’ve learned them you can make predictions and achieve outcomes.”  It’s puzzle-y in the way that the previous fantasy was game-y.  It’s often a superstimulus for the feeling of learning a system in the way that video game grinding is a superstimulus for the feeling of rewarding labor. 

The magic effects on offer tend to be less ridiculous and “broken” than toybox magic, because any logic you can use to achieve a ridiculous effect is going to influence the rest of the magic system, and special cases that aren’t grounded in sufficiently-compelling logic will ruin the fantasy. 

Not super common.

VI.  Magic as Psychology-Made-Real

Notable examples: Revolutionary Girl Utena, Persona

This kind of magic makes explicit, and diagetic, what is implicit and metatextual in most fantasy settings.  The magic is an outgrowth of thought, emotion, and belief.  Things have power in the world because they have power in your head.  The things that seem real in the deepest darkest parts of your mind are actually real. 

This is where you get inner demons manifested as actual demons (servile or hostile or anything in between), swords forged from literal hope, dungeons and labyrinths custom-tailored to reflect someone’s trauma, etc. 

The fantasy, of course, is that your inner drama matters. 

My personal favorite.

VII.  Magic as Pure Window Dressing

Notable examples: later Final Fantasy games, Warhammer 40K

This one is weird; it doesn’t really make sense on its own, only metatextually.  I think of its prevalence as an indicator of the extent to which fantasy has become a cultural staple. 

The fantasy on offer in these works is that you are in a fantasy world that is filled with fantasy tropes.  And that’s it.

Because the important thing here is that the magic doesn’t really do anything at all, or at least, it doesn’t do anything that non-magic can’t do equally well.  It doesn’t even serve as an indication that Things are Special, because as presented in-setting, magic isn’t Special.  Being a wizard is just a job, like being a baker or a tailor or something -- or, usually, like being a soldier, because the magic on offer is usually a very-simple kind of combat magic.  And unlike in D&D, it’s not like magic is used only or chiefly by a particularly noteworthy kind of person.  It’s just...there. 

The great stories of the world, in these works, don’t tend to feature magic as anything more than a minor element.  The point is to reassure the audience that this is the kind of world, the kind of story, that has magic. 

-------------------------------------------------

Thoughts?  Critiques?  Other categories to suggest? 

[waumpel]

ADHD STUDY TIPS

I have adhd. I'm taking all online classes this semester for college. Somehow, I'm not failing. Here's what I do that works for me!

1. I have an alarm that makes me do math every morning to turn it off, it's called Alarmy! 📚

2. It also plays a different loud sound every day from random-- I have several hundred(?) ringtones downloaded from Zedge, things like songs from shows I like or Pokemon cries or MBMBAM lines, and this helps me wake up to a different sound I'm bound to like which my brain can't get used to (and then ignore). I highly suggest godzilla roars if you need to be startled awake. 📚

3. This is SUPER HARD but I always try to force myself to sit up in bed when I'm turning off my alarm or checking my phone or whatever, so I'm not tempted to pass out again. I also like to get up and loudly tell my cats "good morning" so I wake us both up 📚

4. PLEASE STOP EATING CEREAL AND BAGELS AND STUFF. You would not BELIEVE the difference it makes when you eat things like fruits and eggs in the morning. NO MORE 10AM NAPS, I'M WATCHING YOU 📚

5. I literally schedule in Duolingo time. If you aren't learning a language you can do some other enriching activity like this, idk. I force myself to do it on my computer, not phone, so I can't lay down in bed when I'm doin it. I have a 101-day streak!! 📚

6. ik this isn't available to everyone but SPACE MATTERS SO MUCH!! I got a gaming desk that we put in our living room and I do ALL of my homework there. I also got a second monitor for my laptop with is SOOOO important if you're multitasking (and we all are, bc we're adhders ibdusvcjkn) 📚

7. HAND WRITE YOUR NOTES!!! I know this is super hard for many people-- I have carpal tunnel so I get it lmao. If you can't, at least type them. YOU THINK YOU CAN MEMORIZE INFO BUT YOU'RE WRONG!! Please write as much as you can i swear it will change ur life 📚

8. COLOURED! PENS!!! These changed the game for me y'all. I take all my notes in at least 2 colours, and I cycle through them a lot. My favs are Pilot Frixions because u can erase them :) (the highlighters are epic too) 📚

9. Make your space fun, but NOT DISTRACTING. I have a plant (his name is Yoshi) and a desk Godzilla (his name is Godzilla) on my desk, but they're out of the way so I can't zone out starin at em. But also, when I'm bored outta my gourd, I can smile at Yoshi and tell him how my day is goin :] 📚

10. SNACKING BAD *BUT*... sometimes i do it anyway... i try to associate certain foods with subjects, like I eat cocoa M&Ms (which are awesome) when I'm reading my Kaqchikel textbook. On the upside, I think it helps me recall Kaqchikel better? but also the language makes me crave mnms adkldigurvn 📚

11. LISTEN TO... CERTAIN MUSIC. I have learned that music with words, even in LANGS I DO NOT KNOW, is HELL for my adhd. Right now I'm listening to stuff like "Pokemon and Chill" (lofi album on YT), Studio Ghibli violin covers, and Night on Bald Mountain 5x on repeat ibjnvc.... I highly suggest songs/videos that are, like, 20+ minutes or else you'll get distracted with the constant change. Also, that No One's Around To Help 1hr vid is REALLY REPETITIVE and therefore PERFECT for when I'm reading textbooks. 📚

12.  EVERY NIGHT... i make a super detailed timetable schedule for the next day, down to the half hour. I don't always follow it but it's a really good reminder of what I gotta do. I write it on a whiteboard but sometimes I also write it on a sticky note and on social media so I don't forget. To do lists are so epic you guys 📚

13. THIS HAS SAVED MY L I F E: at the beginning of the semester I looked at ALL of my syllabi and wrote down EVERY daily task, test, homework, etc BY DATE. this is essentially a premade to do list EVERY DAY for MONTHS and oh my gosh it is the best thing I have ever done. 📚

14. I use the Forest app to track my productivity AND lock me out of apps ndsjv... podomoro timers work well too!!! 📚

15. Ok so for me this is like... a religious thing bc my Patron (my God) is a deity of fire AND working, but I like to light a candle (scented like FALL!!) and do a little prayer on it and I have it next to me when I'm workin on terrible, terrible homework. It helps me feel like my Patron is here with me, but also it’s GREAT for grounding and I can just kinda. Stare blankly at the flame and then get back to tryin to focus. 📚

16. Please drink water lmao, to make sure I drink enough I set little goals like "take a sip after every paragraph you read" 📚

17. Each of my classes has a different coloured notebook which I'm consistent with! Like, all my German notebooks through the years have been green! Also I take notes w green pens a lot in Deutsch 📚

18. HELLA STICKY NOTES... I put em on the bottom of my monitor, on a shelf by my desk, in my books as bookmarks (bad idea lol), on Yoshi. When I wanna go look up something random but I need to focus, I like to write it down on sticky notes to look at later. 📚

19. I'm the most annoying student ever. I like to do a bunch of assignments at once so I don't have to budget my time later, so I'll turn in like 5 things in an hour and then NOTHING for a week. ALSO i email my teachers constantly if I have any questions at all. I work at a pace that works for me!!! 📚

20. I turn off my sound on my phone until I'm done with work bc otherwise I WILL open that notification 📚

22. I make a loooot of chai (and also some overpriced herbal teas). It makes me feel fancy, it's better for me than coffee, and it helps me ground and focus! Plus it's a samefood! 📚

23. Hyperfixating on classic literature would be awesome, except I'm hyperfixating on Gothic and I'm taking a lit class for More Than Just Gothic. But I'm figuring out ways to connect them, which is really helpful, cause I get to enjoy my hyperfixation while learning for school! PLZ TRY TO DO THIS (harder when you're hyperfixating on godzilla :pensivecowboy:) 📚

21. When I have extra time I write my notes like I'm plannin to put em on Tumblr and taggin em as #darkacademia... I never post my notes, but when they look nice it's easier for me to look over em later. Plus it takes me longer to write so I remember it a lil better!! 📚

24. I'm in an awesome academia + studyspo server!! We sometimes study together on call and it's SUCH a good motivator! Here's an invite link if u wanna join, we are nice https://discord.gg/fjuX7TN (this wasn’t meant to be a promo post I just really like this group lol) 📚

OK I hope that helps!!! Feel free to add more if you have any tips that work for you :) Neurotypicals, feel free to RB respectfully!

(pics are: syllabus list, daily schedule, Yoshi the plant, and some fancy notes)