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marlequinncos · 7 months ago

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Cosplay Build Guide: Marko's Jacket from The Lost Boys (1987)

I am a lover of the horror genre; horror movies, books, games, you name it! And one of my favorite horror movies is the 1987 classic “The Lost Boys”, which focuses on a gang of motorcycle-riding vampires in the fictional California town of Santa Carla. I'm also a big fan of thrifting and modifying items for cosplay. I decided to combine those two things and make a garment that has lived rent-free in my head since I first saw the film: the colorful patchwork jacket worn by the vampire Marko.

I'm going to walk you through how I made Marko's jacket, breaking down the different parts that comprise the garment.

Marko’s outfit is made up of several components: a white cropped tank top, light wash denim jeans, leather chaps, custom painted leather moto boots, fingerless motorcycle gloves, a black skull earring, and of course, that iconic and extremely loud jacket.

All four titular vampires have a signature jacket they wear in the movie, and Marko’s is by far the most elaborate and distinctive. It consists of three main parts: the base jacket, the Italian tapestries, and the patches. Because of the nature of this build, I had to do a ton of intensive research to determine the individual and highly specific parts of the jacket. My main references were photos from movie memorabilia auction sites whenever one of the original jackets went up for sale, since they photograph the jacket from all angles.

Part 1: The Base Jacket

Marko’s base jacket is, according to my research, a men’s black Levi’s denim jacket in a size 40, which I believe translates to a medium. Now, I’m a petite woman (5’3”, athletic but slim), so I knew that the exact jacket would be too big for my frame. Instead, I found a men’s black denim jacket in an extra small; it's very similar in style to the original, but a little better proportioned for me. It's still very much oversized though. The first things I did were remove the buttons and pockets, and I cut off the hem of the jacket and the sleeve cuffs. Then I tossed the jacket in the washing machine to fray the edges.

Part 2: The Tapestries

The hardest part of the jacket by far was finding the tapestries, for two reasons. The first is that the tapestries were all from the 1960’s and 1970’s, meaning I had to scour vintage stores and websites to find the right ones. The second is the variation. Six jackets were made for each Lost Boy in the movie; this is standard for a film, since some jackets would be used for closeups (the”hero” jackets) while others were used for stunts, and a few even have intentional holes in them for harness rigging. Because of that and the thrifted nature of the jacket, the Marko jackets for the film all differ slightly in the placement of the tapestries and patches.

There are five tapestries in total. Three are velvet: the matador, the peacock, and the leopard with the messed up face. These are impossible to dupe via Spoonflower or Contrado (custom fabric printing websites) due to the fact that these three are essentially small rugs. The other two, chariot lady and cat lady, are dupable via Spoonflower or Contrado printing since they aren’t the same fabric as the others.

The two pin-up tapestries are nearly impossible to find, more so than the velvet ones. In my months of searching, I never found either pin-up tapestry, so I had them printed by Contrado, along with the collar trim.

If you go searching for the velvet tapestries, you'll notice that there are several different versions of each one, with slight changes in color and placement of things in the art. How accurate you want to be is up to you. My peacock and matador are accurate to the tapestries on one of the stunt jackets, whereas my leopard is the correct color but wrong direction. That's doesn't bother me much, personally, especially since the leopard is the hardest of the velvet tapestries to find by far.

Once the tapestries were acquired, I measured different sections based on the dimensions of the jacket, mapped it out using washi tape on the tapestries, and then cut them all out. There was a decent amount of math involved here, specifically regarding scaling the sections of tapestry down by a few inches since my jacket is smaller than the original. I then arranged them all onto the denim jacket and pinned them in place before hand sewing them (yes, you read that right; I hand sewed this whole thing) on in the correct overlap. I also added the rhinestones to the cat lady.

I recommend using embroidery needles and upholstery thread to attach the tapestries to the jacket, due to the thickness and the weight. I also sewed along the designs in the tapestries themselves to better hide the stitching within the image.

Part 3: The Patches

Marko’s jacket has a total of 26 different patches on it, most of which are motorcycle or punk themed. For these, I found a seller on Etsy who makes 24 of them, and I used Contrado to print the remaining two (the anarchy symbol and the large skull) on canvas and added the stitching. You could thrift and find the patches as well, but here's the thing: while some of these patches are pretty easy to find, others seem to be nonexistent, to the point that I wonder if some were made exclusively for the movie. That's why I went and purchased my patches instead of hunting them down. My personal favorite is the “Screw U” one. One fun fact about the patches is that the large winged skull on the back is a leftover from the movie “The Warriors”.

I once again hand sewed these all on as per the references from the movie. You might think that ironing the patches on is an easier method, but there's a few reasons why that won't work: 1) the patches in the movie are sewn on; if you zoom in, you can see the stitching 2) I'm not sure the patches would even adhere to the velvet and velour of the tapestries and 3) if you decide you don't like the placement of a patch that you sewed on, you can just seam rip the stitching and adjust it, which you can't really do as cleanly with an ironed-on patch.

Part 4: The Tassels

The tassels on the jacket’s shoulder are not tassels at all; they’re squid skirts (a type of fishing lure), which is something I never knew existed until I started researching for this build. For these, I found a fishing tackle website that had the closest match to the colors I needed, a blue-grey/orange and a yellow/green. Both squids also have glitter and little eyes painted on.

Part 5: Weathering and Finishing Touches

Lastly, I weathered the jacket to give it that lived-in look. For the dirt/dust on the patches, I used powder eyeshadow. I also picked at the edges of the tapestries to fray them a bit. And to make the patches less stiff, I just broke the jacket in by wearing it around my house. The great thing about this jacket is that the more I wear it and the more it weathers, the better it'll look.

FAQ

How heavy and warm is the jacket?

The jacket is made of denim and rugs, so its pretty warm and heavy. It honestly feels like wearing a weighted blanket, which is a nice bonus if you're anxiety made flesh like I am. It makes a lot of sense for the jacket to be on the heavier side, because if you’ve been to Northern California, you know how cold it can get on the coast, especially at night (not sure if vampires can feel cold, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

How long did it take you to make the jacket?

I don’t time my cosplay builds, but I can guess based on the amount of TV/movies/podcasts/playlists consumed as I was working on it. I'm also pretty fast when it comes to hand sewing. By my estimation, the jacket took me about 45-50 hours of work, and that’s not counting the time I spent searching for the tapestries.

Can you make me one?

Sorry friend, I don't take commissions. Even if I did, there's no guarantee I could find the exact tapestries again. I appreciate the interest though!

One of the most useful resources for making this jacket is the Replica Prop Forum! There's a ton of information there, as well as discussions and troubleshooting about the construction of the jacket.

I hope you enjoyed this walkthrough of Marko's jacket! This was a fun build and I'm really proud of the finished product. I'm going to make the rest of Marko's outfit + wig to complete the cosplay, so stay tuned for that!

If you have any other questions, feel free to plop them in my inbox! In addition to tumblr, you can also find my cosplay work on instagram and bluesky @/marlequinncos

#this might be my favorite thing I've ever made #the lost boys #marlequinncos #marko tlb #cosplay #my cosplay #marko the lost boys #horror #horror movies #80s movies #long post #build post

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arkus-rhapsode · 3 months ago

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Gachi-Bachi: A Tale of Two Roads to Success (A Discussion)

Back again with another think piece on this blog. And while the last two came from an inspiration of topics that I had floating around in my head for awhile, this one came about from me scrolling on twitter (I'm not calling it X) recently and noticing the in real time evolution of two of the arguably biggest battle shonen releases of the 2020s. That would be Gachiakuta and Kagurabachi.

However, this isn't gonna be a simple compare and contrast of the series as works of fiction as I personally feel each one has different qualities that really distinguish them from each other in a way that doing a comparison wouldn't be too interesting. Rather what intrigues me is how they are a fascinating study in how series become big so to speak and despite the overlap in fans, there's actually some pretty key differences in their success stories that highlight greater things in the manga industry in particular. So let's ask ourselves: how did we get here, what role has fanbases played in it, what role has their respective magazines played in this, and just how truly successful are these series?

Background and Rise

Now for those who are just not initiated, I'll briefly explain the premise of these two series.

Gachiakuta by Kei Urana is a series set in a dark fantasy world where an orphan named Rudo is banished to the trash filled abyss after being framed for the murder of his adoptive father. In the Abyss Rudo discovers he has the power to use his magic gloves to turn objects into weapons, which he uses as a member of the Cleaners. He fights trash monsters and criminals in a journey to get back home and take revenge on the one who framed him.

Kagurabachi by Takeru Hokazono is an urban fantasy series set in contemporary Japan that deal with Chihiro, the son of a mystical blacksmith who had forged six magic swords. Chihiro's father is killed by a group of magical mobsters and his swords taken from him. Chihiro, armed with a secret seventh magic sword, will cut a blood path through Japan's criminal underbelly and take revenge on those responsible for his father's death.

I know Im grossly summarizing both works because I'm focusing not on the series themselves but rather the things surrounding each of them. So if you wish to know more, please check them out yourselves and see if you enjoy them. And just for transparency's sake, I have made multiple posts on this blog about Gachiakuta so I think its safe to say I enjoy it quite a bit. While my relationship with Kagurabachi is not that intimate as I actually don't read much Weekly Shonen Jump anymore, I did at least read the first volume just so I can say, I totally see why this got a following. Also just for clarity as I know the internet can flatten time in many instances, I want to point out that while I'd call these series contemporary, its worth noting that they're not exactly same time rising stars. Kagurabachi came out this year, in 2024, while Gachiakuta came out in 2022. A whooping two year lead. Hot did Kagurabachi get so hot? How?

Well if you're familiar with Kagurabachi in even a tertiary form you probably remember this meme.

This was a piece of promo art used by Jump along with a brief summary of the series before it was publishized. Now for a little context, at this time, two of Shonen Jump's biggest action staple series, My Hero Academia and Jujutsu Kaisen, were in their twilight stages. And at the time the shonen jump magazine had an interesting assortment of genres probably more than the last two decades. However, while One Piece would still be evergreen and their were action series such as Sakamoto Days and Undead Unluck, there was a hunger for a new battle series. And not just a new battle series, a long term investment battle series.

So when the news came down that WSJ would be releasing a "urban fantasy revenge sword battle series" with an accompanying art that definitely would fit alongside the heroes of the 2000s like Ichigo Kurosaki or Death the Kid, there was a reasonable excitement. Course there was also a bit of an over enthusiasm. Now like I said in my 2000s anime nostalgia post, I don't think this definitively means anything deep that there are just people who got into anime around the 2000s who just enjoy that types of series they were introduced to and were excited for more of that. However, over enthusiasm on the internet, is always prime material for ribbing.

So a lot of people on Ani/manga twitter saw slews of people posting this, and I mean this with no disrespect, kinda bored looking guy drawing his sword and being excited for a series that hadn't come out. This lead to of course memes. Lots of memes.

That this was the best jump manga of all time before a single chapter came out. It even lead to a bunch of people redrawing this promo image several times with different characters each with the same kind of expression. Now of course, this did ignore the fact that there was at least a translated one-shot released by Hokazono that people could at least check out to see if they enjoy his work. As well as the fact this kinda happens everytime there's a new jump rotation. Its just kinda in fan nature to get hyped for something even if all they have is a simple description. But lots of memes tend to flatten out context.

And so it seemed like that was that, the set up for the ultimate punchline. People had some genuine excitement, a bunch of guys on twitter made a mountain of ironic excitement, and now all the series had to come out and not live up to that hype. But then Kagurabachi did come out and the chapter was good. Sure it wasn't change your life spectacular or anything, but for a first chapter of a brand new series, it did exactly what it needed to do: Clearly introduce the stakes of the world, who the main character is, what their motivation is, mixing in some action set pieces, and leaving a little room for intrigue to watch the series grow. It hit the emotional points it wanted and hit the action beats it wanted. The end. That wasn't bad at all. Quite the opposite.

So here we are, left with what was essentially a free marketing campaign for people who probably expected it to get the shonen jump axe like a lot of new action series tended to get and instead they got something pretty okay. If there was ever a group of people vindicated it was those guys excited for Kagurabachi for the start.

Yes I know, meme popularity can be dumb or annoying. And some super fans and hype beasts who want to be there on the ground floor can be kinda cringe, but there is no doubt this was one of the most successful social media campaigns ever for a series that actually was managing to justify it. And for the next few weeks it would keep going and irony was almost completely replaced with sincerity.

The fact this was actually getting Shueisha's social media to acknowledge twitter hashtags and release a promotional trailer for it in English was such a first. Even if you don't like Kagurabachi or are indifferent to it, there is no denying this was unique.

But I've spent all this time reminiscing about Kagurabachi's social media rise. What about Gachiakuta hmm?

Well Gachiakuta was a series made by Kei Urana who had served as an assistant to Atsushi Okubo on the Weekly Shonen Magazine series, Fire Force. Fire Force itself is an odd beast we don't have the time to fully get into, but it was pretty popular for a non jump series and featured Okubo, a creator who has possibly one of the most devout fanbases ever, striking it big with many people's formative anime, Soul Eater. Urana herself was a massive fan of the series and if you've read Gachiakuta you can see the inspiration. However, when it was time for Fire Force to come to a close, WSM had announced that a new series by Okubo's assistant would be starting just before its end. And people were excited right? Well not exactly. Cause you had to be looking in the right places to even notice this announcement.

At the time, WSM series were mostly readable on Azuki. However, there seemed to be a weirdly non commutable relationship with Azuki and WSM's publisher Kodansha. As such it was kinda a gamble if a new WSM series would even show up on Azuki let alone simelpubbed. So it seemed like whatever Gachiakuta was would be Japan exclusive. But as if by miracle, the translation group, Pair of 2+ came in and dropped an English version of the chapter on release. The first chapter of Gachiakuta was pretty strong though mostly for Urana's incredibly striking artstyle. Made even better by the fact that the world of Gachiakuta was a fantasy world. And not fantasy in the way a stereotypical isekai is borrowing from romanticized European fantasy. But rather this sorta grudge world that was capable of having what looked like modern convinces, but there was things like a mysterious trash pit, a bunch of soldiers who dressed in ostentatious uniforms and a ginormous and intimidating trash creature.

I know it might seem kinda like a broken record now, but a big thing in the 2010s era of action manga and anime was a move towards more grounded and contemporary setting with stories. Juxtaposing supernatural or spectacular elements with the modern day Japan structure and order. Plenty of series were popular with this such as My Hero, Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, hell even Demon Slayer does the same though set in a turn of the century version of Japan. These certainly have an appeal and obviously they're not going anywhere, but there was a growing perception that fantasy worlds in manga were kinda fading. We weren't really getting a bunch of One Pieces. Were were getting stuff closer to Bleach. So of course, deny someone something long enough and they become enthusiastic for the tiniest taste of it.

So with all this, how was Gachiakuta's first few weeks. Well outside of some territory nods and the obvious "This manga is trash" jokes. It kinda stayed low key. With people relying on scan groups to handle it, there was really no guarantee of consistent momentum. Sometimes it'd take two weeks to get a chapter out in English while the Spanish versions were available. sometimes another scan group may come in a drop a chapter, making it harder to find the series in one place. However, all of this really did end up benefitting Gachiakuta. Because when you remove convenience you end up creating your strongest soldiers. If you were actively looking for Gachiakuta and not just waiting for an app update, that meant you were committed. And committed people had to use word of mouth to get this out there. If there was a moment of big promotion it would be when AniTuber Gigguk's Trash Taste podcast had well know Vtuber (Full disclaimer I know almost nothing about Vtubers or Hololive. I'm sorry in advance if I'm not going into greater detail on their significance) Mori Calliope discuss the Next Manga award winners and give Gachiakuta a shout out.

So, we had Bachibros and the twitter take over, while we had Gachibros and their slowly growing cult classic. Both methods ended up creating some real die hard fans, but the visibility and promotion of both series is very different. And ties into...

How Each Series Respective Company Has Handled Them

So before I start this section, I know I've made social media a big reference point for the success of these series. I want to make it clear that social media popularity isn't a full story. Something may be popular on twitter or YouTube but not necessarily be successful. I think social media can be a good barometer of the actual interest of a series, but not its end all be all for its results. And I think no series really knew this better than Hunters Guild: Red Hood.

For those unaware, Hunters Guild: Red Hood was a series that released in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2021 and was a big darling with Animanga twitter. Its art style, its premise on western fairytales, going for a more traditional dark fable vibe, and of course attractive characters. It was easily the series a bunch of people were calling the next big thing. And then it flopped. It was regularly last place in the popularity polls and its Japanese volume sales were really unimpressive. So it got axed by Jump.

To say this caused an outrage with people would be an understatement. This caused a trend of people really trying to find "the answer." Try and make this seemingly senseless action make sense. Well tragically if you are a manga industry watcher like me you know that this isn't actually all that unique.

For a lot of non Japanese fans, particularly Americans, we never had the accessibility of the Shonen Jump app or the Manga+ app in the 2000s-2010s. If you wanted manga, you were using MangaStream and MangaPanda which had focused on basically the biggest series in the industry. While countless series that have run in jump and other magazines have just been ended after 20 chapters. But that information wasn't available to us in real time the way it is now.

If you're around my age range and know about the shonen jump ranking system, you were probably introduced to the concept through the series Bakuman, manga about manga that was really the first popularized look at how the sausage was made in the Shuiesha offices. A big thing that was a point of tension was the rankings. If a series fell low consistently in the ranks of readership surveys filled up by the ones who purchased a copy of shonen jump and submitted it, then it would be cancelled by jump. Now its important to remember, Bakuman was a dramatized recreation of how Shueisha operated. Things were exaggerated in the name of making an entertaining and tension filled series. In reality, the ranking system is important, however the editorial department of Jump weights multiple factors when making this judgement: what is in the magazine at the time? Is something ending so we can risk having this run longer? Is there a new batch we want to role out soon so we need to free up space? How are the volume sales doing? And has this carved out a viable niche for itself?

While yes its a good rule of thumb to say something in last place is generally in danger for not maintaining interest to keep it around, its not a simple yes no.

Thanks to Shueisha's Shonen Jump App we now get everything as it comes out. We get the future best and the future failures and there really isn't a way to control it. So to see Red Hood a series with some very vocal fans, it was always at the whims of Japanese customers who seemed neither interested in voting for it over other series in the magazine or purchasing its volumes as they came out. It is a hard pill for people to swallow, to have something that they like, that they want to be invested in and tell its story to be cut short.

But I would say that in this day and age while it is hard to witness this, the benefits of the SJ app are phenomenal. The SJ app is a convent subscription service at a reasonable price that offers the first chapter of a series free as well as the latest three chapters free. So even if you want to not subscribe you can still keep up on an official platform. And Manga+ being similar and not region locked. Thanks to this any new series debuting in Shonen will have the eyes of the world audience on it. When there is a new batch of manga that enter the series, it feels like an event. It really is a high risk high reward situation-you run in WSJ and you have the opportunity for everyone even beyond Japan see your work simultaneously, however you will still have to fight and maintain interest and hype for your series on a weekly basis.

As previously stated, Kagurabachi absolutely benefitted from this. And while yes some it was ironic, the fact that the promise of a new battle series was going to be on everyone's screens and have the biggest reach to find an audience is good. Now of course, we have to remember that WSJ still doesn't let non Japanese voters participate in polls, so while you can find a foreign audience it might not be what gets people excited in Japan (Although there have been instances of foreign fans purchasing Japanese volumes). Well jump may have gone an extra mile with this one. Kagurabachi would actually really early into its run cycle be given a recommendation by Gege Akutani author of Jujutsu Kaisen.

Now for those who actually don't know, in Japan, some manga are printed and packaged with a recommendation band that acts as an extra form of promotion. Siting a famous or well liked author giving a series a recommendation and a little image of the series they worked and sometimes a quote.

Obviously getting an on the cover cosign is a bit more prestigious than say, going to your Barnes and Noble and an employee has written why you may enjoy this series. And not just any mangaka, Kagurabachi was getting props from one the biggest mangaka in the magazine with a pretty ravenous fanbase. But for me a big thing that got my attention that showed how much jump was investing was the previously mention Kagurabachi PV trailer. A simple YouTube animation to get people to check out the work, plenty of series get this. But Kagurabachi's was the first to have it in English. A Japanese company acknowledging the server of the global audience is huge and I'd say this already seemed like it was hyped up enough, but then you have an editor of Jump+ openly acknowledging the "#BachiFlex" in an official statement. There's no doubt there is a fanbase and Jump is absolutely aware of that fact. And of course you can't forget those color pages.

So that's how Kagurabachi was doing, how was Gachiakuta doing? Well first we need to talk about Weekly Shonen Magazine and get something out of the way, they do not have a ranking system like shonen jump. Weekly Shonen Magazine actually seems to operate more along the lines of volume sales. waiting for a manga to hit print and see that actual tangible interest of the people who buy it. Because of this, you can see that WSM has actually a much lower turn over rate than WSJ. And that when there is a new series its usually only one or two at a time in a year. So if the series hinges on sales, it should love having a massive reach?

Well sadly, WSM and Kodansha have been pretty poor when dealing with the global market. I mentioned earlier its relationship with Azuki getting official scans out but there was also the deals it had made with Crunchyroll to have a reader for their work. Both services were not the best received, so wouldn't it be nice if Kodansha had a web service like Jump? A simeulpub on the international market. Well enter K Manga and possibly one of the biggest fumbles ever.

I mentioned before that the SJ app was made with the mind as a subscription service, this was done with awareness of what western audience were willing to financially invest in. Well, Kodansha instead responded with a resigned version of their Magazine Pocket app that included a frankly confusing points and ticket system with just straight up micro-transactions. If you're keyed into the Webtoon scene you probably know this type of weird gamification of a service is done in Asia.

Im sure you've heard the famous quote about how piracy is a service problem and not a pricing problem. People would be perfectly happy to spend money on an official release if the way to access it was ultra convenient. And making Americans learn things like 24 hour tickets, and daily prizes, and just having you pay for each individual chapter. Its just really cumbersome and I'd rather get back to reading scans instead. Also to add some insult to injury it is region locked so even if you wanted to purchase this in countries like Europe, you can't.

I will at least say some positives, I think K manga has a much wider range of series available than the SJ or Manga+ apps. As it takes from Kodansha's many different manga magazines like Weekly Shonen Magazine, Weekly Young Magazine, Monthly Afternoon, Monthly Morning, Bessatsu Shonen Magazine, and Magazine Pocket originals. And Gachiakuta was part of the first few titles at launch and it was some good promotion as later that Fall, Kodansha USA would release the English print copies. But promotion through an app a lot of people weren't really happy with.

Speaking of the print side wasn't doing so hot either. As this may be a surprise to some, WSJ is rare in the fact that it makes manga a real center focus of why you should purchase the magazine, meanwhile many other mags use covergirls.

Look Im not gonna say Shueisha doesn't do this, their Weekly Young Jump covers are really raunchier than this with their cover girls. But yeah not exactly the most bright thing for a series when its being paired against glamor girls and quite literally pushed into a corner.

But it wasn't all bad as Urana would actually end up promoting the series through other means. As mentioned before, a pretty popular Vtuber had already devoted time to promote it of her own free will, Urana herself would even be commissioned to draw cover art for them. Urana would do the same for Jpop band cvlte. We'd even have Kodansha ambassador and professional skateboarder Yuto Horigome have Urana in for a session to talk about art and just recently, British rock band Bring Me The Horizon was promoting the series.

Now its my opinion that no series deserves success or deserves failure. It needs to stand on it own merits and the ones interested will come to it. However, I do find it interesting how Kodansha as a company has chosen to promote their work. Even when its going harder (especially post anime announcement) it feels weirdly word of mouth. Getting all these guys from different subgeneres to talk about it while internationally having such a mixed roll out. But maybe that close inter-personality is what makes the Gachiakuta rise story more unique. Sure it doesn't have the same all eyes on me as Kagurabachi has gotten, but in a way its kinda made this more intimate whether once again cultivating fans who are really really faithful to Gachiakuta's success. This comes to a head in the 101st chapter of Gachiakuta with a color page, Urana thanks her friends in it fitting several graffiti names of people who have supported her and the studio that will be making this a reality.

And hey, while I've definitely been critical of Kodansha, there's no denying that, but hey they agreed to give this series an anime so that must mean its a success. Right?

Success?

So I've been mostly talking about aspects of Gachiakuta and Kagurabachi's more social and industrial significance. How they became popular and how they're been treated by their respective companies. But what about results? Why bore you all with all this hot air when I can just give you cold hard facts? Well by sales-yeah Kagurabachi is a hit. Like there's no other interpretation. It is a hit. It debuted at number 4 on the manga sales chart, by two volume on the market it had hit 100K copies in circulation, and is receiving reprint after reprint.

Also this is a bit tacked on because this happened while I was editing, Kagurabachi just overwhelming won the Next Manga Awards print category. By a huge margin and being the second highest number of votes submitted for a series after Oshi no Ko. Like I don't really have much to say but like... Congrats to Takeru Hokazono. Like there's not denying this is a hit. Like I read the acceptance tweet, he knows. He knows people have been gasing him up as "the next big thing" like. I have nothing else to say this is a success.

The Kagurabachi train is a rolling and knowing how hotly people are anticipating it to fill the shoes of success like MHA or JJK, its showing the results to back up those expectations. In fact, this has actually been one of the few times I've seen a lot of anticipation for a series that doesn't have and anime and that anime is probably off for quite a bit. As of the time I'm writing this Kagurabachi sits at 46 chapters.

As for Gachiakuta this was actually the most surprising for me to actually see the Japanese sales figures.

So for all the anticipation its final result is... okay. Like yeah these sales are fine. There's no way it be in danger of being cancelled and like any business would look at this and say its steady. But that's kinda all it it, steady. I always kinda hate talking about sales that are kinda just doing okay. Cause no one ever wants to be told that its not exceeding expectations, but there's no like rubbernecker cratering that can be entertaining. Its doing just fine. And that's really all there is for a series that's manga only for now.

Obviously the anime is announced. Its coming and it will likely get a boost in audiences interested in it (Know if it doesn't get stuck on like Disney+ or Amazon), but that's kinda why I wanted to get this blog post out before hand. Cause I wanted to compare these series as manga. Now of course you have to remember these sales charts are accounting for Japanese sales on debut. So its likely that there is longer tails than we know of for each series. However, its kinda funny seeing Gachiakuta's figures and remember how it won a Next Manga Award in the category of "Global Special Prize." So its not too much of a stretch to say in Japan Gachiakuta is still pretty punk and underground and the value is definitely in that global market. Though I have to have a bit of laugh now a how much that's been a pretty hit or miss effort.

So Gachiakuta is a success story, but its that sort of "A first party Nintendo switch game sold over a million units" type of success. That's good, but its not like making those Mario numbers.

Conclusion

So I'm sure you're asking what was the point of all of this? Why did you spend so much time of comparing the rises of two shonen action series that outside of probably their hardcore cheering section don't really think about their success stories?

Well to me, I'm of the belief that the ultimate goal for a mangaka (And really any creative professional) at the end of the day is to be able to tell their story, entertain people, and make a comfortable living while doing so. The end goal may be the same for many, but the paths to how we get there can vary greatly. If you made it there by blockbuster success or by underground hit. And the fact that those paths can be so varied by factors ranging from independent social media movements and the actions of making a piece of media even available for an audience you want to reach.

When writing this piece, I really got the sense of just how much bigger manga in particular is effecting the more broader ani/manga subgenre. Its not just that thing where only the best of the best we're getting English translation posted on scan sites, we've reached a point where now a global audience can have a series in their reach. Yet their reach varies.

We still don't have the chance to submit surveys in jump and we still don't have physical volumes of manga printed around the same time so we can take into account global sales, but we can hashtag. We can share these on live streams. We can have our own grassroots efforts that are actually having something resembling an effects on the choices of Japan. All of this change in practically a decade.

Will Gachiakuta and Kagurabachi go onto to be pillers of the anime and manga community? Mmm maybe. Their fans are super passionate and the great thing about fans is even though they can be loud, they are the ones helping make new fans. They're the ones making the fan art and fan fictions and reddit posts. For all we know when they get anime they'll pop off harder than before. Or maybe they'll get a bunch of normies who don't get or like them and will tell you how its secretly never good.

Still its interesting to see how despite these two series having so much of the same ground, both of their roads were so different. And that maybe you can't control how things will turn out in the world of social media and corporate management. Sometimes all you can do is your best and stand on your own merits and the people will find you.

Whether they run for 200 chapters each or 700 chapters each or anything down the middle. Gachiakuta and Kagurabachi, here's to you're accomplishments now and here's to many more successful years down your respective roads.

Anyway folks that's my time. I hope you enjoyed this think piece. If you do please drop a like or reblog. It'll really tell me if you're interested in seeing more content like this. And maybe I can share more and more about this industry that I'm passionate about.

#manga #anime #analysis #discussion #think piece #gachiakuta #kagurabachi #kei urana #takeru hokazono #weekly shonen jump #weekly shonen magazine #shueisha #kodansha #rudo surebrec #rudo gachiakuta #chihiro rokuhira #jujutsu kaisen #vtuber

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drama-glob · 2 years ago

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I’m excited! ^_^ Also, I finished writing the FelonyGlob Valentine’s Day story and just need to finish typing it up, so I plan on doing it the Sunday before Valentine’s Day. I hope you like it. :) <3<3<3

@drama-glob 😁😁😁

#reblog #felonyglob #felony carl #globby #bh6 felony carl #bh6 globby #fanfic #fan fiction #^_^#<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 #big hero 6 #bh6 #bh6 the series #big hero six the series #big hero 6 the series #disney

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gamebird · 5 months ago

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The Soonercon Convention Report

I went to Soonercon this last weekend and I wanted to share what it was like in an attempt to encourage others to attend similar local events, for those who don't know what they're missing.

It’s a science fiction/fantasy convention held in Norman, Oklahoma every year. It has what I take as the standard scifi/fantasy convention events including: Dealer’s room where people sell stuff, gaming room where scheduled and pickup games are held at all hours of the convention, art show where you can buy fandom-related paintings, prints, or sculpture (or commission an artist if you have something special in mind), a costume contest, panels by authors, artists, media guests, and other folks, and various socializing events (a dance, a burlesque show, a drag show, a Star Wars parade, a philosophy discussion den, a cartoon watching event, crafting events, etc.)

The only thing Soonercon didn’t/doesn’t have that I’ve seen at other conventions is a con suite where snacks are available either at all hours or specified hours, and a designated media room playing classic shows 24/7. Plenty of other conventions also have party rooms or even a party floor of the hotel. Some will have live action role play events. Some will have a few big-name guests. Soonercon’s guests were smaller names like voice actors or the guy who played the hero of NeverEnding Story. If they had hardcore partying, it was kept well clear of the convention areas. I heard nothing of it.

There's a lot for everybody! I go to attend the panels. My son goes for the gaming room. My nephew goes for the cosplay. My spouse/partner goes to be supportive and present (also he meets up with a friend of his from that city who volunteers at the con or at least likes fandom). My daughter likes the merchandise, the gaming, and cosplay.

It’s a very relaxed vacation for us. We get a hotel room at the convention and all go our separate ways from that safe home base.

I thought I’d go over the various things I went to and some of my thoughts about them, to give a window on what a person might do:

Friday we arrived. I went through the dealer’s room in detail by myself, which was nice to do instead of speeding up or slowing down at someone else’s pace, or having them there calling my attention to whatever they wanted me to see. I bought some delicious pomegranate gummy fruit. I made preliminary arrangements with a leatherworker for some items.

I went through the art show, which I have never been to at the beginning of the show. The previous two years I showed up at the end and rushed through. I took my time again.

I also wandered the halls at liberty, with no agenda. I didn’t think much of the panels available that day, so I did other things. I did attend an author’s reading of horror fic. One of the stories was titled ‘Grindr’ by a gay man, featuring a gay character. As soon as he went over that, two of the six in his audience left. It was a good story. The other author read a bit of theirs (also good). And then we discussed. One of the things discussed was how this was Oklahoma and the very mention of gay sent two people out of the room. It was good and thoughtful conversation.

Later that evening, I attended a comedy panel that was ‘Am I The Asshole?’ with various heroes or villains of popular fan movies discussing if they were the asshole for their role in the plot of their respective media product. It was funny and a light end to the first day.

Saturday, we got up in time for ‘Cartoons with Cereal’ panel where we ate a couple weird over-sugared cereals while watching an 80s cartoon that featured transforming vehicles and masked/helmeted action figure type characters. After that, we went to a better breakfast, complimentary at the hotel plaza.

My first regular panel of the day was ‘Essential Sci-Fi Television’ where I was hoping to see if there were important shows I haven’t seen. Maybe? Maybe not? They talked a lot about the different flavors of Star Trek and the different ways people get into fandom. I didn't add anything new to my list, but I did get more emphasis that I really ought to watch The Expanse.

At 11, I went to a panel titled ‘How do I put THAT on my resume?’ about how to translate fan interests and skills into marketable descriptive terms that can get you hired. I attended not so much for myself, as I hope to never work again after my current job, but for my son and daughter and my attempts to give them advice on how to present themselves in the business world. I’d encouraged my son to go to this panel, but he went to the gaming room. It wasn’t a great panel – I think he made the right choice. But you don’t know these things until you attend them.

I had lunch and then attended a panel titled ‘I ship it!’ thinking it would talk about the range of shipping in fandom circles. And maybe it did, but mostly it was the panelists talking about rare pairs in anime fandoms – both fandom and characters unfamiliar to me. They were excited to talk about it. I managed to steer them into sharing their thoughts about why antagonists are often more interesting to pair with a hero than the designated side kick or another hero, and then a little about what fueled ship wars/fandom drama. It was good to hear, as always, that totally different fandoms have the same problems.

After that was ‘Libraries, Intellectual Freedom, and Book Challenges’ about what books were banned, why, how, and what efforts were going on or the attendees could undertake to oppose book bans. Afterward, I approached one of the panelists for her advice on finding a good Ursula LeGuin book since I hadn’t liked Always Coming Home, but did like Left Hand of Darkness. Turns out she was a core convention organizer. I sent her an email so she could send me a rec later and separately, I filled out a form to volunteer at the next con.

At 3 I went to early dinner with my spouse/partner and his local friend, who was the one who told me the panelist I’d talked to was high up in the convention hierarchy. At 4, I roamed the dealer's room again, finalized things with the leatherworker, and bought a bunch more delicious candy.

At 5 I had a panel titled ‘LGBT+YOU, Discuss the Plus’. Given the conversation the day before with the gay horror author, I was particularly interested. Also, the panel was focusing mainly on the queer identities other than LGBT – asexuals, aromantics, pansexuals, polyamorous, etc. I found it something of a relief to see them stumble and fail to define an aromantic relationship in a way that differentiated it from non-aromantic ones. The panelists varied from early-30s to mid-60s, some partnered, some not. It was lovely to hear people’s experiences with living queer in Oklahoma.

At 6 I attended ‘Fandom Life vs Long-Term Illnesses’ but found it not super helpful. It was mostly about arthritis and diabetes, neither of which are issues I have. But I listened and learned a bit. I enjoy these authentic little windows into other people’s lives.

I attended the costume contest for the rest of the night, which was a big event with a stage show and a music act. My fave costume won! Even cooler, someone I knew was announced as winner of the Fashion Show which was an informal or less formal contest they’d had earlier in the day. I was thrilled for them.

That night at 1:11 am, someone set off the fire alarm, but it was quickly squelched. Still, everyone woke up. Later sleuthing turned up that it was a person attempting to smoke inside their hotel room.

Sunday! We had a nice breakfast again. My first panel of the day was ‘Hollow Humanism?’ talking about utopia, dystopia, and the philosophy of humanism – what were the things that prevented us from making a better world? I had hoped for stuff I could incorporate into my headcanons for Preservation or the Corporation Rim. Not so much.

Then I went to ‘Fandom – The Next Generation’ which was not about Star Trek but instead about the intergenerational fandom experiences of the panelists. I found this not very helpful. Those weren’t my families. It wasn’t about how to interest my kids in fandom (not that I needed that – they’re into it) or how I could better relate to their interests (something I was very interested in). I asked a few questions trying to guide it toward what I wanted, but the panelists really wanted to tell the audience about their lives. So. I listened.

At noon my group packed and checked out of our rooms.

But we hung around as there was a panel at 1 pm I wanted to attend, ‘Neurodivergent Characters in Fantasy and Anime’. Alas, they did not discuss Murderbot. In fact, they didn’t discuss specific characters or genres at all. Instead, they discussed neurodivergent representation in general, mindfulness, coping strategies, dealing with negative social pressures to conform, masking, exhaustion, career intersectionality, disabled rep, and a lot of things I was equally interested to hear about. So that was neat!

At 2, there was a panel about ‘Oklahoma in Fandom Media’ that I attended half of. It was fun to hear the various filming projects and other media mentions Oklahoma featured in. I left halfway through to help our group depart.

And so we drove home. It was a delightful, low-stress vacation. Lots of viewpoints. Lots of experiences. It was lovely seeing people face-to-face and getting such different impressions. It’s a very different experience than Tumblr or discord or streaming. I would very much recommend it to all of you! Get out and meet people in person in your area. Talk to them. Listen to their stories. Find out what they have to share. Share a bit of yourself in turn.

#fandom

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bleach-your-panties · 11 months ago

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Intro:

Hello babies!!🖤🐦‍⬛

So, if you know a little bit about me, I am a big fan of horror stories and dark content. (Though I am a scaredy-cat in real life)

This collab idea came to me as I thought about the type of stories I like to read on Tumblr. I also enjoy reading creepy reddit threads like r/Backwoods Creepy and r/creepyencounters. Shoutout to Tallulah ( @antizenin ) for making me get back on Reddit, lol.

So! The theme of this collab is urban legends, myths, fairytales, weird irl encounters; and, fantastical stories (that may or may not be true). Think of Ripley's Believe It or Not and Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction.

How to Join:

🖤Send me a message and tell me a bit about the story that inspires your submission, your chosen fandom(s), and character(s). Joining multiple times is allowed.

🖤Keep in mind that the entire theme of this collab is dark, unsettling, weird, creepy, and horrifying. So 18+ will be required to join.

🖤If you have a real-life experience that inspires you, feel free to use it!

🖤Inspiration may be drawn from existing urban legends and myths (Candyman, Bloody Mary, Creepypasta, etc.) but do not copy them directly! I want to see you make up your own!

🖤Any fandoms are welcome, not just anime.

🖤No submission deadline. Take your time, dearies~

🖤Please tag your posts with appropriate content labels/trigger warnings, and use the 'read more'. Tag me in completed posts and tag #🐦‍⬛fantastic once you're done!

🖤I look forward to reading what you've written!

📜✒️Posts:

🐦‍⬛Haikyuu!!

the abhorrent tale of the scandalous semen six

character(s): seijoh 4 + kuuro tetsurou and kozume kenma

cw: murder, semen in food, kidnapping

told by: bleach-your-panties

🐦‍⬛Jujutsu Kaisen

false prophets

character(s): geto suguru

cw: incubus, religious themes, manipulation, coercion, dub-con

told by: bleach-your-panties

🐦‍⬛Tokyo Revengers

title tbd

character(s): haruchiyo sanzu

cw: tbd

told by: @ranspuppy

never be a wedding plan for the heartless

character(s): kisaki tetta

cw: mental illness, torture, murder, more tbd

told by: @ksakiswh0re-xo

My Hero Academia 🐦‍⬛

hardest to love

character(s): todoroki touya "dabi"

cw: stalking, voyeurism, self-harm, pyromania, f! masturbation, dubcon, coercion, unprotected sex (wrap it up kids!), degradation

told by: @sincerelyzee

🐦‍⬛fantastical myths collab ©bleach-your-panties 2024.

#🐦‍⬛fantastic #writing collab #anime collab #anime x reader #fandom x reader #writing community #writing event #any fandom #dividers by firefly-graphics #banner made with piccollage #tw: dark content #tw: dark themes #byp🌹

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pjofancalledbelle · 2 months ago

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Lego house- Leo valdez x oc fan fiction

A/N~ I'm back with an actual fan fic that will be on wattpad soon and I'll link it when it's ready I just wanna known people's opinion on the prologue first.

It's a Leo x oc fic. Where the oc is a daughter of Aphrodite. I won't be adding her to the lost hero quest because I don't she'll fit in there well but yeah. Enjoy! Give feedback and I'll be more active and work on request.

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Sleeping.

This was an act that, for any normal person, would be peaceful and calm, but for a demigod? Well, sometimes it could be worse than being awake. Take Mabel Grace Beaumont, for example. The pretty daughter of Aphrodite and Oliver Beaumont—yes, the West End star—was having nightmares. She knew if Drew found out, she would tease her for yet again not being perfect. Gods above, Mabel wished for once she could be perfect.

What made it worse wasn’t just that the nightmares were about monsters or childhood horrors in the dark, but memories. Sometimes they were glances of the future, but tonight it was memories.

She was taken back to when she was maybe six or seven. Life was easier then, sort of. She hadn’t known she was a demigod, but life with her father wasn't a walk in the park. Oliver Beaumont was a handsome man, sharing her golden blonde hair and pale skin. Unlike her, he was egotistical and lived for the spotlight, which he found on the West End and in magazines. He wasn’t a cruel dad. He didn’t beat her, but he always expected something.

When she was three, she started dance, singing, and acting lessons so that she could be a star one day, like him. Sure, little her had enjoyed the attention, but if modern-day her even thought about singing in front of people, embarrassment took over. Even then, her father only congratulated her on her big achievements. Not the best message to send to an impressionable kid.

Maybe that’s why, when they went from London to New York, she wandered off into the city without anyone stopping her. That’s when the first monster attacked. That’s what tonight's nightmare was about.

It showed it from the third person in that funny way her nightmares sometimes did. Mabel thought that seeing it in the third person was scarier than reliving it in first. Plus, in third person, she could see every little time she didn’t look perfect or up to standard. She didn’t have to worry about that when she was seeing it through her own eyes.

It was winter, and the New York air was crisp and cold—nothing a London girl like her wasn’t used to by now. Posters and billboards of her dad in his new Broadway show were everywhere as eleven-year-old her wandered with a hot chocolate in hand, dodging all the people in the street. Her ever-changing blue eyes scanned the road as she crossed and went down a street. That street could be argued to be the best or worst event in Mabel’s life.

There she was, confronted by a bird-looking creature. At the time, she didn’t know what it was, but now she knew it was a harpy. It struck, and Mabel bounced back to avoid it. Her face was scrunched up in terror as she looked around. The street was empty. At least, that’s what she thought. A black-haired, tan boy came running out of an alleyway, holding a sword. A REAL LIFE SWORD!

The look on eleven-year-old her’s face always made her cringe in this dream. The sword was bronze, and the boy wielding it looked older than her and more assuring, like he knew what he was doing. She could feel the nerves radiating off him as he struck and slashed at the harpy. Then the monster turned into dust.

Her small, more squishable face scrunched up in awe and bewilderment. How did he—? What was—? Dear gods, she was shaking with the anxiousness rolling off the boy and from the fact that a monster tried to attack her. Sure, she’d seen monsters before, but she had ADHD. She blacked out into her own head loads and had a great imagination. Finding out it had been real was kind of scary. Scratching is very scary.

The black-haired boy with the sword turned to her with an easy-going smirk. He was cute, she guessed, but cute wasn’t all that. Trust her; she was surrounded by cute people. “Hey, I’m Percy Jackson, and I’m assuming you’re a demigod.”

After that, she asked him a thousand questions, being quite the babbler when she decided to live in the real world and not in her head. He took her to his apartment, where she met his mom, Sally Jackson. Then Sally took her to camp. That’s when she woke up.

This dream wasn’t as intense as the others, like the Battle of Manhattan, but it still left her feeling uneasy. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes, sitting up and accidentally throwing ten teddy bears on the floor. Mabel let out a small groan when she saw that the sun wasn’t up yet. Damn her and her stupid lack of sleep.

She was glad to be at the corner of the Aphrodite cabin, her bed pushed against the wall. This spot was given to her when she first arrived, with a horde of teddies that spilled off both sides of her bed when she slept. Silena had given her this bed. The thought made her twirl the ring with the pink pearl around her finger, and sadness hit her.

Letting out a sigh, she flopped back down in starfish position and decided to think positively. No one could hate her if she was kind and positive. Plus, her mom was the goddess of love and beauty, and in her eyes, those things were kind and beautiful.

Her friend, practically brother, Percy, was coming to camp for winter break with Annabeth. It was exciting that she’d get to spend her holidays third-wheeling with the Jacksons on Christmas Day like she had for four years. That made her smile, along with the fact Percy had promised to take her ice skating. She couldn't wait to see that idiot on the ice.

#percy jackson #pjo #pjo fandom #leo valdez #percabeth #annabeth chase #percy and annabeth #leo valdez x reader #leo valdez x y/n #fluff #leo valdez x oc #heroes of olympus x reader #heroes of olympus #writing #the lost hero #bost

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xianhuashi · 7 months ago

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Me when I use Pinterest references:

Lol the tags contain spoilers for Doctor Hamada. And so does the image so Ig it balances out

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celadons-penultimate · 6 months ago

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It's still wild to me that Big Hero Six never really took off in the comics.

They had a whole movie & TV show, but have barely any presence in main Marvel comic continuity!

Even if the comics combined the OG Big Hero 6 & the movie version for a new comic take, I'd be here for that!

Rather than having Big Hero 6 be based in a fictional locale that combines California & Japan (San Fransokyo), Marvel should let them have a dual base in San Francisco & Tokyo (w/ teleporters between bases)?

It grounds the team more in realism, gives us a less-commonly used Marvel setting (a good deal takes place over here on the East Coast, specifically in New York) & it takes nothing from either culture!

Ntm, by reimagining Big Hero Six as a combo of the original comic concepts & the movie concept, Marvel has reason to both bring back Sunfire (automatic Marvel mutant mythos fan boost) AND give us a continuity where fan-favorite Tadashi never lost his life!

Like, all Marvel has to do is get

-Peach Momoko on the story (+ variant covers)?

-David Nakayama on interior art (he did work on the 2nd Big Hero 6 comic run, btw)

Then I'm sure it would win over both long-time fans & newcomers (of the comics and/or the movie & TV show)

#Hiro Hamada #Tadashi Hamada #Gogo Tomago #Honey Lemon #Wasabi no Ginger #Baymax #Fred #San Fransokyo #San Francisco #California #United States #Tokyo #Japan #Sunfire #X-Men #Big Hero 6 #Big Hero Six #Marvel

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drama-glob · 6 months ago

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Cutscenes #43: Good Publicity

Globby and Felony Carl get interviewed by Megan.

Ding.

The ringing of the front door brought the shapeshifter’s attention back to his right and he saw Megan enter. Globby then gently nudged Felony Carl as he gave a brief wave to say hi and for the young reporter to come over (even though she had already seen the couple the instant she stepped into the diner).

“Hi Globby. It’s good to see you again,” Megan politely greeted before she faced the other man. “And you must be Felony Carl. Nice to meet you,” she said as he extended a hand to shake. The former felon took the young girl’s smaller mitt into his much larger one and gave it a brief but welcoming shake.

“It is a delight to be properly introduced to you too. I have only heard about you from Globby and it was in regards to both this interview as well as him helping to save you some months ago from those robotic menaces,” Felony Carl replied back before turning towards the aforementioned hero, who appeared to be blushing bashfully.

Here is the link on AO3:

@spyrkle4 @enbydemirainbowbigfoot @gelatinous-globster Enjoy the FelonyGlob love. ^_^ <3<3<3

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historyhermann · 2 years ago

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Villainous Review

Villainous, also known as Villanos, is animated series which mixes the science fantasy, morbid humor, and comedy horror genres. Alan Ituriel, a veteran of the Mexican animation industry, is the series creator. This series is produced by Ituriel's A.I. Animation Studios and Cartoon Network. Humberto Cervera and Mayte Sanz are also executive producers. There will be spoilers.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs and Wayback Machine. This was the thirty-third article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on May 26, 2023.

This series flips the script often employed in superhero fiction such as Masters of the Universe: Revelation, Tokyo Mew Mew (and the reboot), Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon Crystal, Vixen, and Young Justice. It focuses on the Black Hat Organization, run by the villainous Black Hat (voiced by Ituriel). He is assisted by his team of three aides: Dr. Flug (voiced by Yian Riuz), Demencia (voiced by Cindy Eliz Pérez), and 5.0.5. (voiced by Mark Fischbach). They are contracted by other villains to "solve" their problems with heroes, either directly or indirectly, or sell inventions created by Dr. Flug. Their plans often go awry with comical and absurd consequences.

Villainous has garnered a massive following since the first webisodes premiered in 2012, followed by efforts by Ituriel to pitch the series to Cartoon Network. This resulted in the pilot airing in June 2019. The series had a backdoor pilot in the Season Two Victor and Valentino episode "Villainy In Monte Macabre", in October 2020. There were 29 shorts featuring the same characters, which aired from May 2017 to February 2019 on the Cartoon Network Latin America YouTube channel. Even one "episode" was released which consisted of the creators rick-rolling the show's fans.

Some have posted their own dubs of the show's six episodes, which were released in Spanish language in October 2021, on HBO Max LA, and other content. Their recent, and official, release as part of "Season 1a" on the newly renamed "Max" streaming service (formerly known as "HBO Max"), makes them more accessible to new and old fans alike.

The first episode of Villainous sets the tone. A superhero named Sunblast (voiced by Roly Gutiérrez) beats up a villain, Penumbra (voiced by Rebecca Manriquez), because his new punching bag hasn't been delivered. It is also a good introduction to each of the characters: a nervous and nerdy scientist in his 20s named Dr. Flug who wears a paper bag over his head, a green-haired mischief-loving fan of Black Hat named Demencia, and a big blue bear named 5.0.5. The latter is a contradiction, as he was intended to be evil, but is very loving, and likes hugging people. He also serves as the housekeeper-of-sorts of the Black Hat Organization (BHO).

Even from the first episode you can somewhat sympathize with these villains, despite their trapping of Sunblast in a jar, punching Ringworm (voiced by Sean Davis) into submission, and dropping heroes in pits without a second thought. This sympathy is clear when the three protagonists are yelled at by Black Hat for doing a "mediocre" job. One character in particular, Dr. Flug, is scared of his boss (Black Hat), ghosts like Emilia (voiced by Jackie Rodriguez), wrestlers, and almost being killed by heroes.

I liked how the series mixes humor with violence and "course language". For instance, a group of kids, based on Scooby-Doo protagonists, are scared off by a possessed fence. Later, the unstoppable Bulldozer (voiced by David Steel) attempts to destroy the Outlaw House (voiced by Alex Texeira). He is stopped by 5.0.5., as bears terrify him after one bit him years ago.

Sometimes this comedy is continued during the episode credits. In the episode 2 credits, Bulldozer ends up in the cave house of the three protagonists of We Bare Bears (Grizzly, Panda, and Ice Bear), another CN series. In the credits of the fourth episode, the heroic Airlock (voiced by Jinon Deebs), a short-haired White woman, is eaten by a space monster. This is after she escaped the show's protagonists because she found them as very "annoying".

This brings me to another part which I enjoy about Villainous: crossovers with other series. The third episode, reportedly a homage to the Mexican wrestling films of the 1960s, features characters from Victor and Valentino and Helluva Boss in the stands. A few episodes later, Johnny Bravo, from the series of the same name, is a background character, while the robotic lawyers for Black Hat bring plagiarism cases against characters from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.

That same episode also features Harvey Birdman from the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, and characters from Grim and Evil like Hector Con Carne. Again, these are all CN series, which makes the crossovers all the more interesting.

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In the third episode of Villainous, the three protagonists are tasked at eliminating a luchador named El Valiente (voiced by Jose Aparicio) by their client, Adelita Guerrero (voiced by Margarita Coego). It reminds me of three series: Carmen Sandiego, Elena of Avalor and Victor and Valentino.

In the latter two, there are episodes in which the protagonists, or supporting characters, are possessed by a mask, like Mascara Macabra (voiced by Aparicio) in this series, or another individual. As for Carmen Sandiego, the Season Three opening episode features Carmen attending a wrestling match in hopes of finding her mother.

The characters of Villainous become even more relatable in the last couple episodes. In the fourth episode, Dr. Flug's favorite series is spoiled by a sassy A.I. named V.I.R.U.S. (voiced by Sean Davis). Even worse, 5.0.5. is horrified when Black Hat ruins a children's show, almost akin to the Teletubbies. It becomes horrific after Black Hat causes the Sun to light the bears on fire.

The series pokes fun at itself. In one episode, the copycats/doppelgangers claim they are BHO in order to rake in profits for themselves. This is better executed than the "Pirates" episode of Cleopatra in Space, as each of the protagonists comes across a "stronger" version of themselves. Hilariously, and sadly, 5.0.5.'s counterpart is just a cactus. In that same episode, I liked how Dr. Flug blatantly interrupts the "origin story" of the other version of Black Hat, annoying him to no end.

The final episode of Villainous ends the series on bang. It focuses on a self-absorbed social media influencer named Miss Heed (voiced by Katherine Clavelo), who Dr. Flug knew when he went to the academy. She is far worse than those depicted in the first season of The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, or the currently airing Kizuna no Allele.

In fact, Heed has a special concoction she sprays on the city residents to make them love her. In an indictment of such influencers, also known as internet personalities or internet celebrities, and their power, Dr. Flug is able to take her down, with the assistance of Demencia. His kiss with her, is streamed and goes viral. It causes all of her zombie "fans" to fall out of love with her.

While some series would have stopped there, Villainous goes the extra step. Heed is pushed into a vat of her own liquid, ending her plan to be the "most-loved" hero. She is locked up in a maximum security prison. Fitting with her personality, she falls off her rocker, and demands that people need to love her. In one of the best scenes in the series, Flug, after learning about Goldheart's plan to eliminate all villains, tells Heed that she needs to love herself first (i.e. self-love) before she can love anyone else.

The entire sequence, at first, appears to reinforce retributive justice paradigms. The latter involves punishment being imposed unilaterally, no option for remorse, and crime in the domain of the state. This is interlinked with the narrative that violence is justified as long as it is directed at those deemed as "evil". It further involves heroes in league with the criminal system and has an assumption that villains cannot be rehabilitated. On the other hand, Villainous turns this around, as Heed is a hero and Flug is a villain, meaning that a "hero" is being locked away for something a "villain" would do.

While Flug's kiss is a one-off interaction, Demencia's romantic obsession with Black Hat spans the series. She believes that her romantic feelings will be reciprocated, but he likely doesn't care much about her. However, her love saves her from Heed's concoction, as she only has love for him. More than anything, Demencia is an obsessed fan. Perhaps her character is symbolic of out-of-control fans which feel the same way about public figures, to the detriment of themselves and those personalities.

All in all, this series has many similarities to Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel, especially the former. BHO somewhat resembles I.M.P. (Immediate Murder Professionals). The latter is contracted by demons in hell to assassinate people in the world of the living. The difference is that BHO specifically focuses on heroes and is only contracted by villains.

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The last episode of Villainous, at present, lays the groundwork for future episodes. Goldheart (voiced by Oliver Roberts) seems to know Dr. Flug, declaring "Flug, what did you do now?" The efforts of BHO to counter him could be an important storyline.

A possible second season, might not follow a serialized format. The six current episodes have the same characters, but are not, serialized. Each episode could stand on its own. This does not diminish the series, however.

The voice actors for this series stand out. Apart from Ituriel, Yian Riuz, Cindy Eliz Pérez, and Mark Fischbach, who voice the protagonists, are all talented. Fischbach is a well-known YouTuber, with this as his first voice role. In contrast, Pérez previously played a character in BoBoiBoy Elemental Heroes, and Riuz in Mashed!

Similarly, Sahid Pabon, Roly Gutiérrez, Connie Fernandez, Yenni Ann, Guia Burns, and Jason Kessler, who voice villains, wrestlers, henchmen, and others in the series, are equally talented. They have lent their voices to characters in Monkey King Reborn, Legend Quest, Gintama, Leo De Vinci, Rainbow High, Kageki Shojo!!, and Kemono Friends.

This is also the case for the Spanish-language voice actors, such as José Antonio Macías, Melissa Gedeón, Lourdes Arruti, and Diego Valenzuela. They have voiced characters in video games, animated shorts, and productions such as Guardians of Oz, and Top Cat.

The producers of Villainous worked on The Flying Machine, Hua Se, Frankelda's Book of Spooks, Pucca, Pandalian, Eden, Tonikawa: Over the Moon for You, and Xi you ji. Kevin Manthei, the music composer, worked on Ben 10, Spider-Man, Robot Chicken, Ultimate Spider-Man, Polly Pocket, Hanny Manny, Invader Zim, and Generator Rex.

Other than the amazing dubbing by VOA Studios, in Miami, the show's crew includes alums from many series. This includes Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, Dota: Dragon's Blood, Black Dynamite, Legend of Korra, OK K.O. Let's Be Heroes!, Danger House, Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law, and Scan2Go.

Villainous is more than a series with humor reminiscent of 1990s cartoons. It has themes about overcoming your inner demons and lampoons popular Cartoon Network series. This is accompanied by entertaining characters, which have intriguing dynamics and comraderie within the BHO, wonderful animation, character design, artwork, and creativity. What other series has villains traveling to their destination in a flying hat spewing smoke?

I haven't watched enough Invader Zim or The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy to say if Villainous is like those series. However, each character is interesting enough and the story is engaging that Villainous could run for many seasons. If Helluva Boss has aired 12 episodes, why can't Villainous do the same? Perhaps the cast could become even more diverse and LGBTQ characters could be added. The latter would further enhance the series.

Unfortunately, Villainous comes at a time of extreme flux at Max's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery. This includes an error causing writers, directors, and creators to all be lumped together into one category. There has been an awful rollout of the "Max" streaming service, in an inane effort to "attract" families.

This comes after the cruel content purge at HBO Max, former name for the service. It resulted in the removal of Infinity Train, Mighty Magiswords, Uncle Grandpa, Final Space, and Close Enough. None of them have been re-added to Max. The content purge on Hulu, and on Max, was discussed in a PCM podcast on May 22nd.

Despite the shenanigans of the corporate executives, I am hopeful that Villainous will be continued with additional episodes. All in all, I highly recommend Villainous as a series to watch.

Villainous is currently streaming on Max.

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mika-writes-fanfics · 2 years ago

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Healing Touch

Dabi x Fem!Reader fan fiction

Synopsis: You encounter an injured Shigaraki and offer your healing quirk to his aid. Little did you know, healers were hard to come by in the underground and Shigaraki takes a liking to your skills. To further his cause, he kidnaps you and holds you captive under the watch of the LOV. You play the role of the LOV's little healer while you think of a way to escape. Unbeknownst to you, the pyromaniac with a cold heart begins to melt in your presence. Your compassion and wit draw him in, all the while he swears it's only curiosity he feels toward you. But when your touch heals his burns and your personality soothes his anguish, Dabi begins to wonder, what exactly is he feeling for you? And why the hell does he feel so torn up when you slip away?

Author's Note: Reader is a bit of a clueless foreigner who has no clue UA is a school. Y/n is in for a hell of a surprise these next few chapters. Also sorry this is turning into a slow burn. There's gonna be some sexual tension next chapter and within 3 chapters, I will have the first REAL smut scene (not just fantasizing).

Warnings/Tags: Kidnapping, female/afab reader, healing quirk, mentions of burns, passing out, Dabi takes care of you

Abbreviation Guide: y/n (your name), e/c (eye color)

Word Count: 3.5K

Tags: @toutoshodoroki

Chapter Six: That's My Type

New faces start showing up around the base. The league of villains is growing, officially accepting two new members, with more to come. Magne seems to fit in well with Toga, quickly earning the endearment ‘Big Sis Magne’. Her quirk isn’t outright lethal, but you figure out that it may still be a problem should you escape. She can magnetize according to gender identity. Should you flee, she could magnetize you to reign you back in. It was becoming tiring to be consistently outmatched.

The other member goes by the name Spinner. There’s something about him that makes him seem different from the rest of the league. He’s much more nervous and awkward. The others carry themselves with a bit more confidence and conviction, contrasting Spinner. Plus, his get-up is strange, even with what you’ve become accustomed to. It’s like some sort of costume or cosplay. Just what the hell is he doing here?

During his introduction, you learn of his quirk. You could tell it was some sort of mutant quirk, as it obviously influenced his body. He has both the appearance and the abilities of a lizard, such as being able to climb up walls. His quirk and mannerisms combined have you suspecting he’s not as skilled in combat compared to the rest of the league. So far, it seems like your best bet would be to attempt to reason with him. Maybe you could trick him into letting you go. If that doesn’t work, you’d have to consider escalating. You want to believe you could totally throw down with him and win, but the current risk of failing is too great for your liking. Not to mention, you have no idea what the consequences would be should you attempt. You’re not in the business of fucking around and finding out.

‘Reasoning it is,’ you decide.

Unfortunately, you’re already beaten to the punch. Shigaraki always thinks ahead. The leader briefed Spinner on your situation, giving him specific instructions against allowing you to leave. Should you get caught running away, Shigaraki allows the use of force to bring you back. The new member seemed conflicted upon the explanation, citing something about Stain’s ideology. Shigaraki was quick to defend your captivity.

“This world -no- hero society classifies people like us as villains or undesirables. But the healers? They’re never judged for their quirks. They never become villains. How are we supposed to keep ourselves alive, when hospitals would call the heroes? How are we supposed to be healed when the healers themselves are aligned with heroes?” Shigaraki monologues. It’s not hard to guess how he feels about the current hero system. Under the hand mask, his eyes hold a rage you’ve never seen before. Just his expression alone chills you to your core. “It’s karmic rebalancing. A means to an end.”

Shigaraki’s seething speech seemed to placate Spinner. There’s still some reluctance in his body language and expression, but evidently, his hesitation isn’t enough for him to protest further. You bite your cheek, frustrated at the way things are going for you. Maybe there’s still hope for you to convince Spinner, but the odds are becoming slimmer. It’s enough to make you sulk.

After you’re dismissed by Shigaraki, you head to your room to stew in your own disappointment. You’re feeling far too hopeless and exasperated to brainstorm other avenues of escape. Instead, you bury your head deep into the pillows and let out a good scream. Your muffled shout gives you a little bit of catharsis. Your sulking is short lived, as your time alone is interrupted. The door to your room bursts open. Out of reflex, you instantly shoot up from your bed, scrambling to sit up straight. The suddenness startles you, causing your mind to instantly assume there’s some sort of emergency. Toga bounds over to you with an excited smile on her face. Evidently, she’s unharmed and unworried. No emergency this time.

Toga practically drags you into her room, citing a need for ‘League girl-time’. You’re not exactly in the position to deny her, with being a hostage and all, so you go along with it. She urges you to sit on the floor along with her and Magne. You take a seat across from the two of them, settling yourself on a pink pillow. While the two of them talk, you take a moment to look at your surroundings. The layout is the same as yours with identical furnishings. She’s clearly decorated the space to make it her own. Her room is exactly what you’d expect for a teenage girl, pink decor with a bed drowning in plushies. The only part that ticks you off to her unusual fixation lies on her desk. There’s an assortment of knives and tubes of blood littering the table. How fitting.

A thought dawns on you upon staring at her knife collection. Maybe this could be useful to you. ‘Taking one wouldn’t be such a bad idea, I might need some sort of self-defense in the future,’ You think. ‘Toga’s got plenty, surely she wouldn’t notice one missing, right?’

“Aw man, I screwed up! I can never do the other hand right,” Toga complains. Her exclaim pulls you out of your thoughts and you shift your eyes to her. She’s pouting while trying to wipe off the smeared polish from her skin. It only makes the smudges worse, staining her nearby skin in red polish.

You remember seeing a bottle of nail polish remover near where you sat, so you pass it to her. “Looks like you could use this,” you offer.

She gladly takes it from your hands and thanks you. The acetone dissolves the smudged polish, fixing her mistake. You can tell a lightbulb must have gone off in her head, as she turns to you and asks, “Hey, y/n, are you good at doing nails?”

“I’m alright at it, I guess,” you answer modestly.

“Would you mind painting this hand for me?” She questions in a small voice. It’s hard to rationalize denying such a tame request. You find yourself agreeing, to which she welcomes with an appreciative smile. She moves over closer to you and presents her non-dominant hand. You start carefully painting the rest of her nails.

“So,” Magne starts. She turns to Toga, addressing her question to the teen. “Shigaraki said our next mission will make UA look pathetic. What do you think of his plan, Toga?” You’re not sure where you heard the name ‘UA’ before, but it somehow feels familiar. Maybe its some sort of hero association? An agency maybe? You regret not learning more about the hero culture of Japan. Pushing it off and assuming you’d learn about it better firsthand clearly didn’t work out for you, after getting kidnapped and all.

The two of them continue the conversation, not noticing your confusion. “I’m really looking forward to it. There was a boy I saw from the UA sports festival that seemed really cool, maybe I’ll get to meet him!” She gushes. Toga begins to passionately ramble about the boy, her pale cheeks flushing in excitement. “He’s got green hair and a quirk that leaves him really beat up. I bet he’d look even cooler covered in blood!”

Their discussion seems to veer off into a tangent about past crushes. You’re silently thankful their conversation shifts. Hearing their future plans worries you too much, even if you don’t fully understand what they’re talking about. You tune out their conversation, instead focusing on finishing up Toga’s nails. The conversation around you seems to just melt away. Their talk about what type of person they like becomes background noise to you. Or, at least it did until Magne wanted to know your input on the topic.

“So, y/n, what’s your type?” Magne turns to you and asks. It’s a sudden question to you, not one you were expecting from her. You pause.

“Like, the type of person I’m attracted to?” You ask for clarification, desperately hoping she meant anything else. Your wishful thinking ceases when Magne nods. You shift uncomfortably. What have you gotten yourself into?

“Yeah, I wanna know too,” Toga agrees. “You know I like people covered in blood, so I wanna know what you like!” You feel both of their eyes watching you, expectantly. Maybe you can attempt to lie your way out of this.

“I… I just like someone with a good personality, that’s all,” you lie. You’re worried about what kind of attention your true answer would bring. Just thinking about all the possible, awkward situations it would cause is enough to make your cheeks flame.

“Come on, that’s boring, be more specific!” Toga whines. She’s disappointed with your answer, but it’s better for you this way.

“There’s no shame in a woman knowing what she wants, you should be more honest,” Magne agrees. You groan in response, still refusing to budge. “We won’t judge you for your tastes.”

“Yeah! Why’re you so embarrassed? Unless…” she trails off, voice becoming more mischievous towards the end. You don’t like where this is heading. “Maybe there’s someone in the league that is your type.” Either you’re more expressive than you think, or Toga is good at reading you, as she lets out an excited squeal. “Eek! Do you have a crush? Who is it?”

“What? No! No way,” you frantically refute. Toga and Magne remain unconvinced, perhaps even more sure of the truth.

“I bet I can guess!” Toga wagers.

“It wouldn’t be hard, there’s only so many of us,” Magne agrees.

“I’m not saying anything,” you deadpan. Toga thinks on it for a moment, tapping her finger on her lips in a thoughtful gesture. A lightbulb must have gone off in her head as she opens her mouth to speak.

“I can see you liking those refined types, sorta like Mr.Compress!” Toga guesses. You’re thankful she’s not correct. Evidently, your expression is telling. She pouts upon studying your reaction. “Dang, I was wrong, huh?”

“‘M not saying anything,” you remind, still refusing to budge. You finish up painting her nails, hoping busying yourself would hide your expressions. You don’t notice how Magne scrutinizes you, too distracted with Toga’s whines. The teen tries to goad you into giving her hints, before Magne snaps her fingers. Her gesture silences you and Toga. You and Toga look at her expectantly.

“You’re into guys with a rough edge to them. The dark, mysterious, and witty types of guys,” She predicts. You feel a bit mortified at how she figured it out, but you’re trying your damnedest not to show it. Magne sees right through you and smirks. “It’s gotta be Dabi.”

“N-no no no, that’s not-” you try to deny. Your attempts at convincing otherwise fall on deaf ears.

“Woah, Big Sis Magne is good at this,” Toga marvels. You feel your cheeks burn the longer the conversation goes on. “How do you do it?”

“What can I say? I’m a lady with a keen eye,” Magne gloats. “I suspected we had similar tastes.”

A succession of knocking on the door interrupts the conversation. You’re initially thankful for the interruption, but when the door swings open, you rethink that relief. It’s Dabi.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

“Y/n,” He addresses. You stiffen and straighten your posture. “I’m a little burnt. Mind helping me out?”

“A-Alright, ‘m coming,” you agree. You rise from your spot on the floor. Your eyes catch Magne giving you a not so subtle wink. The action makes more heat rise to your cheeks. Damn, this is embarrassing.

“You’re interrupting girl time, you know,” Toga pouts. He rolls his eyes.

“Don’t care,” Dabi retorts. Toga sticks her tongue out at him, to which he reciprocates with a glare. When you meet him at the door, he guides you forward with a tentative hand on the small of your back. His other hand catches the door and shuts it behind the both of you. You can clearly hear the conversation between Toga and Magne through the door. Your mind can’t help but nervously wonder how much of the conversation Dabi heard.

The anxious questioning in your mind distracts you from noticing how much touchier Dabi is today. His warm palm retracts from the curve of your spine, fingers softly dragging along your back in the process. Despite how warm his hand feels, the featherlight sensation of his makes you shudder. His hand brushes yours a few times while the two of you walk to your room, the contact only making your nervousness worsen.

Toga’s room is not far from yours, so it doesn’t take long for you to arrive at your door. Dabi casually makes himself comfortable on your bed while you retrieve the first aid kit. Before you use your quirk, you disinfect his wounds and inspect the state of his body. You’re able to visibly see that most of his burns are on his arms and hands, but the lower levels of tissue have been damaged. It’ll take longer to heal this, especially if he wants it treated today. You take a deep breath, steeling your nerves for the long healing session ahead of you.

You begin the healing process on his hands first. It takes time for the skin to even start healing over, leading you to focus a lot of your energy just in one area. Despite your best efforts, your mind keeps wandering, thinking about Dabi, your feelings, and how it all fits in with your situation. You find yourself wishing you met under different circumstances and wondering what he’d be like if he chose a different path in life. Magne was right, Dabi was your type. Not only that, but you enjoyed talking to him. Even healing him wasn’t much of a chore to you. What stops you from pursuing anything is the whole being a criminal part and complicit in your captivity part. You wish you could just shut your feelings off so you could focus solely on scheming a way out. But alas, you cannot fight feelings. You can’t fight the heartbeat in your chest when he touches you. You can’t fight the breath he steals when his eyes meet yours. You can’t fight the playful banter exchanged between the two of you. You can’t fight the attraction you feel towards Dabi.

You focus back on reality when you feel the numbness creep up your fingers. Upon glancing down, you notice your fingers are turning darker. His hands seem to be healed up enough, but there are still burns on his arms. Should you push your quirk and keep healing him, you’d likely start seeing the effects of frostbite. It’s time for a break.

“Hey, I’m near my limit. I need to warm up before we continue,” you explain. “It might take some time for me to stop feeling so cold.”

“How long are you thinking?” He asks.

“Depends. Maybe an hour if I get under blankets? It might be faster if I take a hot shower instead.”

“That’d take too long, I have a better idea.”

The roles are reversed as he grabs both of your hands. You’re about to ask, but the words die on your lips. His hands heat up, slightly above his usual temperature. The warmth he gives off relaxes your cold hands and you let out a pleased sigh.

“That feels better already. I didn’t know you could do this, thanks,” you say with a breathy voice.

“‘S no big deal,” he mumbles. Dabi turns his gaze to your hands and notices how well your hands fit into his. Time seems to slow. The two of you let the minutes tick by, hand in hand. His thumb lazily traces your skin. Such a simple, delicate action manages to ignite electricity where he touches you. He makes it hard to ignore the attraction you feel.

Still, something about the situation feels like you’re crossing a line. It feels forbidden, like you’re losing yourself the more you enjoy his touch. Reluctantly, you pull your hands out of his. He fights the feeling of disappointment when you do so. “I’m feeling better now, but I’ll let you know when I’m cold, okay?” His eyes meet yours as he merely nods in response.

Time passes on as you heal him, with more instances of Dabi warming your hands and more internal battles with complicated feelings. Your thoughts seem to go in circles, starting with you thinking about giving into your desires and enjoying the way Dabi makes you feel, and then fearing you’re feeling the beginnings of Stockholm syndrome, only to end back at the start. It’s getting harder and harder to ignore the league’s humanity and remember your end goal. With Dabi, it feels impossible. He’s cold and detached from the others, yet with you, he’s surprisingly pleasant and easygoing. You hate to admit, but you find a bit of solace in him.

During your deep thinking, your hands have climbed farther and farther up the expanse of his arms, leaving healed skin in the wake of your touch. You’re almost done, but you find yourself feeling a bit woozy. Quirk specialists warned you that using your quirk saps your own energy, but you never experienced that downfall of your quirk. The hypothermic side effect was your biggest concern, but with how Dabi’s warmth negates the cold, you’ve pushed past your usual limit. Is that what you’re feeling? An energy depletion?

You stop healing him the instant the feeling worsens. It’s too bad you’re a moment too late. The room seems to spin around you and your body begins to feel heavy. Your vision even looks fuzzy around the edges. Dabi notices you swaying on the spot. There’s a look of delirium on your face and you seem to be blinking slower than usual. He can tell something is off.

“Hey, are you-” The rest of his sentence dies on his lips when your eyes roll back and you start to fall backwards. He springs into action, quickly standing up to catch you. You’re pulled flush against his own body. He’s bearing the brunt of your weight, while your foggy mind struggles to react. It takes a few seconds for your e/c eyes to flutter back open. You look up at his cobalt blue eyes with a mixture of confusion and panic upon realizing you can’t stand. Your hands clutch onto his shirt sleeves, fingers bunching up the fabric.

He catches onto your anxiety, and assures you, “I gotcha, you’re okay.” Your weak legs twitch, attempting to move and hold your body up. “‘M not going to let you fall, relax.”

Your bodies are so close he realizes that he can feel your heartbeat against his chest, only to notice your heart rate slows to a more relaxed pace. He can feel some of the tension in your body subside. If the circumstances were different, he thinks he’d enjoy the sensation of being so close to you, the sensation of touching you. He can’t help but think he should, but any shred of satisfaction is replaced with a gnawing concern for you. There’s this desire in him to take care of you right now, a desire he relents to as he guides you to your bed and gently lays you down. You seem to weakly nestle into the pillows, your body appreciating the rest. While you’re relieved to no longer be in danger of falling, he’s still internally freaking out. You seemed to just faint out of nowhere to him, there’s something seriously wrong with you. He’s still close enough to you to discern your lips are turning blue. Instantly, his brows furrow in concern. Are you cold now too?

He touches the back of his hand to your cheek, confirming his question. Your skin is like ice, you must be freezing all over. He thinks you must still be a bit delirious, as he catches you leaning into his touch, an action he never pictured from anyone. You whisper a meek, “So warm.”

“This a side effect of your quirk?” He asks, trying to mask his worry with feigned curiosity. You’re in no state to analyze his tone, so his concern goes entirely unnoticed by you.

“Mm, I think so,” You tiredly slur. “Seems like my quirk used up my energy.”

“Is there anything you can do? Anything you need?”

“Don’t know, never had this happen before,” you whisper. You attempt to close your eyes and sleep, but he nudges you awake, earning a displeased groan from you. Your eyes open slowly as you look up at him with a pouty expression. “I just wanna sleeeep,” you whine.

“If you’re out of energy you need to eat something,” he scolds. Truthfully, he’s talking out of his ass. It might help, but he’s just guessing at this point. You don’t seem to have any clue what to do either, as you’re in no state to think of solutions. He’s just a bit afraid of you not waking back up, should you fall asleep now.

“But ‘m dizzy and the kitchen is so farrr,” you complain.

“Guess you got a point there,” he softly chuckles and agrees. “I’ll get you something, okay? So stay awake until I get back.” You meely nod in agreement with his terms, despite how heavy your lids feel. He leaves your room and shuts your door, before heading downstairs to the kitchen. It dawns on him that he’s treating you differently than the rest of the league. He’s even helping you without being asked to, without any immediate benefit to him. Why the fuck is he doing this for you anyways? Why did your whining and pouting not piss him off? Why does seeing you like this worry him? Why does he even care what happens to you? His next thought makes him stop in his tracks.

Oh shit.

It’s because he fucking likes you.

Masterlist

Link to AO3

#dabi my hero academia #mha dabi #bnha dabi #dabi x reader #dabi x y/n #dabi x female reader #dabi x you #healer reader #mha healing quirk #healer y/n #healing quirk #tw: stockholm syndrome #tw: kidnapping

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rscroogedraws · 5 months ago

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Here are a couple of my favorite (not too spoiler-ific) scenes from a couple of my in-progress fan fics.

I've had an uphill battle with bad writer's block and inconsistency with any kind of creative fiction for the past several years now. It hurt having such a hard time with that since I've wanted to become some kind of fiction author since I was six and I used to actively write analyses for YouTube stuff. So the fact I've eked out a couple chapters for each of these feels like a huge accomplishment to me.

I appreciate all of the feedback or interest I've gotten for pretty much any of my projects over the past year or so. Seriously, even if you're just leaving a like, it's made a difference to me knowing someone enjoyed my work enough to take a second to interact with them in that kind of capacity.

A03 is down for maintenance at the time I'm posting. I'll update these with links once they're back up later today or tomorrow.

Edit: Links have been added!

Not Quite an Elevator Pitch

O.K. K.O. Let's Be Heroes! Fan Fic

Synopsis: Professor Venomous is back in Lakewood Plaza Turbo! He thought returning would be as easy as move back into Boxmore and start attacking the Plaza. Instead, he's not quite sure what to do next and is trying to find himself. Then he gets stuck in an elevator with someone unexpected and they give him a much-needed reality check.

A03: https://archiveofourown.org/works/56784448/chapters/144365029

Snippet from Ch. 2: Definitely Not Silver Spark

When Venomous awoke the next morning, he was surprised he slept at all. He wandered into the living room and read 9:08 AM on the digital oven clock. That was a personal achievement after the last week or so of staying up until 4:00 AM, hanging in there long enough to pull together a bare bones breakfast and box lunch for Fink, and then crashing until 5 or 6 before Fink returned from school or Boxmore.

He padded into the kitchen as he mentally cataloged notes to send with Fink on why she was late as well as easy but actually nutritious lunches to send with her. So much of him hated that he’d relied on Snackables so much the past few days. He kept imagining an okay-ish tuna sandwich next to flimsy cardboard packaging with crackers, dubious lunch meat, plastic cheese, and radioactive colored candy. Fink loved it. She bragged that her friends were jealous with a big grin on her face. That was now. What kind of look would she give him when she was in her early 30’s and remembered that he knew how to competently cook but opted for shortcuts instead?

That train of thought wasn’t even needed. Today was Saturday. Fink said she’d be gaming. Then Venomous found a note attached to the fridge: Hey Boss! The tournament got rescheduled. So I’m helping Raymond and Shannon raid a cruise liner today! They have lobster. I’ll make sure to bring home leftovers.

A mix of hurt and pride panged through Venomous. Previously, Fink asked to join him on every villainous caper, business trip, or big event. Lately, if she wasn’t gaming with friends, she was hanging out with her step-siblings or new friends somewhere “irl.” She still said hi, let him know where she was going, and kept a generally friendly rapport. After the horror stories Venomous heard from other parents about teenagers, that had to mean something. Fink was just starting to enter her teenage years though. There was still time for heLinkr to develop resentment towards him.

That’s probably how K.O. felt right now. He had every reason to hate PV and never talk to him again. That’d been earned. Very painfully earned. The part of him that still gripped his head on straight with little ribbons of hot glue and sticky tack knew he should leave all of that alone. The part of him that was itching to throw back a full bottle of absinthe before 11:00 in the morning was making a beeline for his phone.

He’d dialed the number before stronger self-control would have stopped him.

“...hello?” Silver Spark’s voice drifted in from the other line. “Carol speaking. Sorry for not recognizing your number. I think it’s been long enough since we exchanged numbers I don’t remember. Who is this?”

“…Lase-Professor Venomous.” He swallowed heavily and felt like he’d been hit by an intense bolt of lightning. “Professor Venomous.”

“Um...oh. Ahm, okay.” She didn’t sound completely upset but her tone wasn’t as pleasant as before either. “Did you need something for paperwork?”https://archiveofourown.org/works/56784448/chapters/144365029

“….no.”

“Okay….” Carol cleared her throat. “We got all of your child support payments. If that’s what you were calling about. Everything on that front has been smooth sailing.”

“Good.” Venomous stared intensely at the nearest kitchen counter. There was a marbling pattern over everything he hadn’t noticed before.

“Yeah….” Impatience was starting to creep into Carol’s tone.

“I’m sorry.” The words just tumbled out. “I’m sorry….about everything.”

It felt like time itself stopped. If the oven clock digital display wasn’t flashing, Venomous would have started entertaining the thought of a time wizard or a highly-advanced lizard creature with space-time warping powers crawling around the apartment. Almost two agonizing minutes passed. Carol’s breathing on the other end of the phone became a little strained.

“Are you okay?” Of course he had to follow up dropping an emotional bomb with an equally stupid foot-in-mouth comment.

“Professor Venomous,” Carol said with a slight stutter. “I-If we’re talking about this, I’d rather do it in person.”

“I...understand.” He felt his heart start fluttering around his rib cage like a hummingbird desperately trying to break free.

****

Our Beloved Docktor Frogg

League of Super Evil Fan Fic with some O.K. K.O.! crossover references

Synopsis: Docktor Frogg is starting to feel stagnant towards his overall life and career as a mad scientist. He wonders if the grass is greener somewhere else working for someone other than Voltar the Saturday morning cartoon flop.

A03: https://archiveofourown.org/works/56704720/chapters/144145309

Snippet from Part II: Sandwich Artist Gene

“Can I take your order?” The waitress’ voice was familiar but Frogg couldn’t quite place why.

“Lizzy?” Frogg immediately shot up at Voltar’s excited tone of voice. “It’s been awhile! How are you?”

“It’s Elizabeth, Voltar.” Lightning Liz, sans her trademark yellow exo-suit, stood behind the counter in a light blue polo shirt, washed out capris, a black apron, and a nametag with her name written in the same crude scrawl as the sign out front. It’d been a few years since Frogg had seen Liz in person instead of the newspaper or videos on various news sites. So it floored him a bit how much older she was now. Didn’t she just graduate from high school not too long ago?

He remembered Voltar gushing about Liz graduating as class salutatorian as if she was his younger sister.

“I’m doing great!” Liz continued with a small and genuine smile. “You got the invite for Tiff and I’s wedding, right? You better RSVP. Soon.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Voltar flapped his hand. “I saw the many, many links for your wedding registry. I haven’t RSVP’d yet because I’m working on getting that-”

“Don’t tell me what you ordered! It’ll ruin the surprise.” Liz squealed. “I have something fantastic in mind for your birthday later this year too. You better keep that day open if you know what’s good for you.”

“I have it marked on my planner. Whole day is open.”

“Good.”

“So, we have this coupon….” Voltar pointed towards Red and not so subtly shifted his gaze towards the thin strip of paper in Red’s big hand.

“Yeah, yeah.” Liz returned the sass Voltar dished out less than a minute ago. “So, I’m getting the vegan sandwich for him.” She pointed at Red. “An extra meaty sandwich for him with extra provolone cheese.” She pointed at Frogg. “And you want the meatball sub with the works?”

At that, Voltar gasped and his antennae started shaking with his excitement. “You guys have that extra spicy mustard?!”

“Of course!” Liz nodded, but her cheerful disposition immediately turned sour. “I skimmed the 4-page essay you sent me about it.”

When Voltar whooped and started doing a victory dance in the middle of the restaurant, Frogg visibly shuddered and looked around Red to see if any other stools were open.

“You’ll be happy to know you’re not the only one that has a weird fascination with that mustard.” Liz sighed. “There was a weird woman in here the other day raving about it too.”

“From now on, I’m the only one getting that mustard here!” Voltar declared with an anime gesture fist to the air. “I get exclusive rights to it. Exclusive.”

“I still think you’re the only one that actually likes it,” Frogg said. “I don’t-”

“Don’t. Get. Him. Started.” Liz jabbed a finger in Frogg’s face for emphasis on each word and matched the points with a warning glare.

“How did you know what sandwiches we wanted?” Red tilted his head. “Are you psychic?”

“No.” Liz placed her hands on her hips. “Voltar writes about you guys on his blog.”

“You have a blog….” Frogg scratched his scalp. The past 5 minutes had revealed a lot about a side of Voltar that Frogg didn’t know much about, except for the spicy mustard obsession. Metrotown might not know that L.O.S.E. existed but random strangers definitely knew how particular Voltar was about his condiments.

“It’s not a blog! It’s supposed to be a newsletter…” Voltar grumbled.

“I told you that Zitter would get more reach,” Liz said with a self-satisfied smirk.

“I’m hungry. Can we place our orders now?” Voltar deliberately looked anywhere but Liz’s face.

“SANDWICH ARTIST GENE!” Liz yelled. “Order up!”

That’s when a painfully familiar face appeared at the order window in the kitchen. There was a surprisingly jovial Justice Gene with a wrinkled paper hat sitting on his head at an awkward angle. He had a couple of deep shadows under his eyes but otherwise, he had a legitimate smile on his face instead of the haughty, try-hard smirk Frogg was used to.

Liz rattled off food service industry shorthand that Frogg would never be able to translate despite his best efforts. Then Gene looked up a moment later. Recognition flashed across his face and Frogg was tapping his claws in a vain attempt to prepare the laser engraver setting he installed there a few days ago. Maybe it could be used as a laser gun with the right angle and a little imagination.

“Hey guys!” Gene said, emulating the friendly and personable air that came naturally to Red Menace but was really awkward on him. “Didn’t expect to see you at opening week of my new restaurant. I’m happy you’re willing to bury the hatchet to support a budding young entrepreneur!”

“I don’t know about young…” Frogg muttered under his breath while thinking about the gray hairs he’d pulled out of his scraggly tree of hair earlier this morning.

“What’s the catch, Gene?” Voltar snapped. “We haven’t seen you in almost a year and now you’ve lured us out with delicious subs. I demand to know what you’re planning!”

“There’s no catch,” Gene said. “I just got tired of not getting anywhere in the hero biz. Even for the five minutes I was a hero, I was still the guy that cleaned toilets and picked up fancy coffee orders. It was worse with an official costume because even though I’d technically made it, nobody respected me. I think you guys of all people know what that’s like…”

Both Gene’s personal account and the way his face fell struck an unnervingly deep chord with Frogg. The mix of sympathy and existential dread hit his heart hard enough it felt physical. He looked down and saw himself gripping the fabric of his lab coat right over his heart.

“The one thing everybody liked were my sub sandwiches.” A dreamy expression drifted onto Gene’s face. “The only time I got a real compliment from Glory Guy was for my magic touch with the panini press. I got demoted to trash collector one day and just started thinking ‘Is this the rest of my life?’ As I spent the day collecting trash, all I could think about were sandwiches. How sourdough is the king of bread. Flatbread is a perfect base for a classic BLT. I realized then: Instead of a superhero, maybe my calling is...making the perfect hero sandwiches for superheroes!” Gene gave an awkward laugh. “And everybody else, of course! Villains included. Everybody deserves a good, home-made sandwich.”

“I didn’t ask for your life story, Gene,” Voltar scowled.

“I’m so happy for you!” Red gushed and his affirmation drowned out Voltar’s snark. “You deserve to be happy. I hope you’re successful!”

Gene’s face was red and he bashfully ran a hand through his hair. “Thank you.”

****

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