#but like... the hairstyles are pretty close to normal. the costumes look normal

[rivalsforlife]

it looks... normal........ they're trying to get me to let my guard down... I know it...

Comparing it to the other three musicals' posters... both musicals 1 and 2 had Phoenix with Leona/Lucia and not anyone else. Musical 3 had a focus on Edgeworth but also Greg, Larry, Badd, and the unfortunate OC love interest Alison. With this one only having canonical characters, it MIGHT be a good sign they're going to stick closer to the actual game this time. still not going to hold my breath over it though.

also, so far no one is blond who shouldn't be and the people who should be blond are. I think this is encouraging. Next big exciting thing is going to be the full cast list which will hopefully come out soon and should give us a better idea of what to expect!

[silver-wield]

it pisses me off when people say is A is the fantastical girl and Tifa is the normal/ordinary one, in that A supposedly represent the fantasy aspect of the game like fuck off lmao

first of all, aside from her limit breaks, all the magic she uses comes from materia which every character from cloud to tifa to even nanaki can use to do magic so the most she is is a white mage. the only thing that set cetra apart from the humans that descended from them is their supposed connection to the planet in that they sometimes know when people die lol good job you're so special, here's your medal. (they exaggerated the shit out of cetras and what A can do as a half in the remakes, it's all so bullshit i want to disregard it as official fanfiction) this makes A nothing but creepy in my eyes.

there are many playable characters in the game that are fantastical in concept (vincent, nanaki, reeve/cait sith) but if any one of them were to be chosen to supposedly "represent" the fantasy aspect it would be nanaki who ACTUALLY belongs to a fantasy race 🙄

second of all. have you ever seen any real human do what tifa can with her martial arts prowess even though she didn't even get any mako enhancement or something. can normal people easily lift things as hard as real life equivalents of dragons? I have to have a laugh. can any of us fight as lethally as her?

and to support this fantasy girl claim some say A has an ""otherworldly beauty"" to her in comparison to Tifa and Yuffie who are in their opinion "ordinary". is this not the most racist shit you've heard about game characters? yuffie is explicitly designed to look and feel east asian and although there's no "confirmation" for it Tifa's character design (and many aspects of her personality) is the ideal Japanese beauty. Beautiful long black hair, clear pale skin, beautiful eyes and a well proportioned body. they even gave her two EA cultures inspired alternative costumes in remake. when people say that we are supposed to be "in awe of" A's light colored hair and eyes and her feminine coquettish way of dressing I see this as nothing but racism and misogyny. from the way they look to the way they dress and to their skill in battle both tifa and yuffie are amazing and beautiful and there's nothing "ordinary" about them

I do like A's hair and outift design, nomura is a good character designer I have to give it to him, but if you take those things out A herself is not even as pretty as some of the npcs in remake let alone yuffie and tifa lmaooo 😒 the ugliest face and let-down-hair model in game if you ask me

another thing I've seen people use to support this idea is their theme songs. they say A's theme song is the more fantastical sounding one and to that I'll just say go and read what uematsu said about how he wrote the song for a scene in which A waits for Zack's return in the train station. L. M. A. O.

Literally nothing about her is magical girl aside from wearing pink and her limit breaks. People really think all those spells she does in Remake, (basic fire and thunder aoe) are something she does without materia. They're not.

Nobody can use magic without materia. Her only spells are the limit breaks and we haven't seen her use them at all outside of player control. Everybody else was seen using their limit breaks in the final battle of rebirth as a group attack. She never does.

That's why I always say she gets credit for doing fuck all.

Idky people keep calling her gorgeous. Maybe they haven't looked closely at her model. She has a massive forehead, big ears, a large jaw, big chin, huge hands and feet. She's like if you took a mop and gave it limbs.

And this is what Nomura sees as western aesthetics.

Also, he literally recycled a monster as her base.

But sure, she gorgy.

What's funny about her model is they can't give her any other hairstyle because she's so generic anime looking that she isn't recognisable as herself if you change it.

Meanwhile Tifa gets every hairstyle going and you still know it's Tifa because Tifa's model is based on an actual person and that means she has proper facial structure so changing hairstyles doesn't lose her basic appearance.

[our-trans-punk-experience]

Mohawk anon here, actually it's a lie that I got all my info from Wikipedia, I did some digging before hand and found this article kinda useful https://www.popsugar.com/beauty/mohawk-hairstyle-history-48916724 look idk if u care abt this topic, it was completely stressing me out yesterday in a way I don't think is entirely normal (idk I think I'm starting to treat politics like religion in the way I berate myself as if I have sinned) I know anything more complicated than a yes or no answer on this topic will never be enough to suffice for me I feel like such a bad leftist and a hypocrite, like I'm happy to change myself when I learn my behaviour is wrong bit not for something that actually matters a lot to me, like I care about my hair SO much and I want to keep it SO much bit I don't want to live with guilt over something that may not be an issue or is at the least a very complex one. Have you ever dealt with anything like this and am I a bad person for feeling this way?

Ok hello, first I would like you to take some deep breaths.

[For context anon sent me two asks in a row, the first being an ask over whether mohawks were offensive to wear, in the same tone as above post]

I am not Native American, but I have been around the scene a while and seen a variety of takes on this. I'll open this ask obviously to corrections but from pretty much everything I've ever seen or experienced, no the hairstyle you refer to is not offensive to wear. It's not a closed practice, and tbh the way that punks style it is so different to any sort of traditional cut that the name "mohawk" is the only thing that still ties it to indigenous people.

Obviously exceptions apply if you were say, wearing it as a "costume" to mock native people, but having a 'hawk as a punk has not ever seemed to offend anyone for being any sort of cultural appropriation.

Second point, while I thank you for having the self awareness to realise that you've started to treat political correctness like a religion and that that's not great, I suggest you maybe go further with that and start doing the work to move forward from that?

I get how hard it can be, especially as someone who when growing up would often have their words taken wildly out of context and spun to make me look awful. You feel defensive, you feel like you could be swooped on at any moment for something you didn't even know was wrong. It is awesome you don't want to hurt people, but take some time to self develop so if you ever do accidentally do or say something out of line, you'll be able to fix it and move on without feeling like you're gonna get dammed to hell?

You're not a bad person for having anxious thoughts about fucking up socially. You're not a bad person for wanting to keep a hairstyle you love while worrying it might be appropriation. But try and not define whether you're a bad person on how PC an Internet dude says you are OK? You care, and that's amazing, so keep on growing, and don't ever feel like you're damned for not knowing all the answers.

[mysteryspotcast]

Supernatural characters and how they physically compare to how I imagined them, in absolutely no order:

Rowena - I always assumed she'd look younger and be a brunette. But she is about the same height as I'd expected, and has a similar dress sense.

Charlie - I heard lesbian hacker and pictured somewhere between Willow Rosenberg and Barbara Gordon. Pretty much spot on.

Gabriel - I pictured him as blond and way more androgynous. Shorter, too.

Jody - She's smaller than I imagined. I always pictured her a bit more muscly and a bit chubbier. The hairstyle is pretty close.

Jack - I don't know why, but I assumed he had curly hair. His bland cishet white guy hair is so disappointing. He's so much less scruffy than I imagined?

Crowley - I didn't have much of a mental image, but he fits it.

Ellen and Jo - They're white? Huh. I imagined them as being mixed-race with predominantly an Indian look? Also I thought Ellen would have shorter hair and Jo would be younger. I always imagined her as like 15?

Lisa Braeden - I imagined her hair curlier, but otherwise spot on.

John Winchester - I thought he was bald? I was so convinced that this man had no hair? Ok. Also, I thought he would be like really visibly scarred.

Mary Winchester - Yeah, that's what I thought she'd look like.

Claire Novak - Thought she'd have some obvious tattoos and probably dye the tips of her hair purple or something, but she's pretty close. Also just pretty.

Zachariah - I was picturing him smarmier. No real physical idea, I just thought he'd have door to door salesman vibes. And a vessel that used hair gel.

Adam - I was picturing him with black hair and multiple piercings. This dude is bland.

Alex Jones - I was picturing a punk with a pixie cut. She looks so normal.

If you want to hear any more, let me know.

absolutely obsessed with this. i love how you imagined a far more diverse cast, and even different looks for people’s hair and costumes than spn making everybody white people who look the same djdjdkdkdjdb

[therealrosebuddies]

Zipper Problems

“Don’t know why they changed zippers.” He continued, his other hand grabbing the fabric of the dress. It was his metal hand- and it was cold. You shivered at the contact and Bucky stopped, sizing you up.

“Cold metal.” You explained, a little quicker than you would’ve liked.

Bucky hummed in response, tugging at the zipper.

It didn’t come down.

Description: Reader has a wardrobe malfunction and Bucky Barnes is the only one around to help out. You'd think these two would be smart enough to outthink a mini dress, but you'd be wrong.

A not so short one shot- that could easily turn into a longer story. I just wanted to dip my toes back into writing for Bucky, so I just wrote something based on the last episode. I had fun with it, so maybe I'll start writing again!

Warnings: none, sexual tension I guess haha

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x Reader, though all the other characters from Falcon and the Winter Soldier are present.

“You know, you're looking a lot worse off in the light.” Sharon remarked, looking you up and down. You couldn’t blame her.

The mini-dress you wore was trying to ride up, dirty and out of place on your body. You were covered in melted slush, the intricate hairstyle you had created sagging off the top of your head like melted ice cream. And you weren’t even going to start on the amount of skin you were showing. You couldn’t pull the dress up and you definitely couldn’t pull it down, so you were stuck in the uncomfortable middle. It had felt weird to be so exposed and on display, but now you just felt tired.

Well, all of you did. When you entered the room, Bucky had been the first to sit down, crashing against the nearest couch. Sam had helped himself to the rack suits, ready to get out of his get-up. Zemo got a drink. You had just stood there, not seeing an option for yourself.

Luckily, Sharon had noticed.

You moved a broken strap with the back of your hand, nodding in agreement. Sharon had the hint of a smirk on her face, gesturing toward a far room.

“There’s some better clothes in there. Pick something a little more manageable- but nice.”

You nodded, awkwardly keeping your arms cocooned over your chest. You hobbled over into the room, ignoring the eyes that followed in your wake. Upon swinging the door closed, you kicked off your heels, letting out a sinful sigh as you freed yourself. Leaning against the wall, you massaged the base of one of your feet, scanning the room as you took a moment to decompress.

It was a nice room. Big, with simple but expensive-looking decor. There was a small bed against the wall, sticking out into the middle of the room. Your eyes roved over the soft material of the bed and for a moment you thought about jumping in.

Realizing what you were thinking, you rolled your eyes, shifting your weight back onto both feet. Eyes drifting towards the closet, you hobbled over and nudged open the door.

Sharon was loaded.

You knew that already- but it was still a surprise to see the line of expensive outfits pressed and tucked in together. You drew your hand across the row of clothes, smiling at the soft feeling against your rough hands. Eventually, your focus landed on an outfit. It was another dress, black, with a longer skirt and a couple tracks of glitter. You weren’t sure if you would need to look like a convincing escort- so you thought it rational to choose something with a skirt. This one actually had sleeves and a high neckline, still managing to feel a bit tactical. Not too crazy, but definitely not casual. The material was going to hug your curves, but at this point, you’d rather have anything besides the mini dress.

You pulled it from the closet, reaching back with one hand to unzip your dress. You fumbled against the fabric, trying to find the zipper. You inched your hand upward, shoulder aching. After a few moments, you switched positions, dropping the nice dress against the bed and going back in with both arms. You flailed around for a few more moments, eventually coming to the conclusion that your arms couldn’t bend that way. The zipper was in the exact place that you couldn’t reach it, no matter where you put your arms.

You sighed, dropping your arms. There was no way to just slip off the dress either, it didn’t work that way. You glanced at the door, gathering your courage and marching back over. Hovering at the door, you pressed your ear against the wood, hearing nothing but silence. You let out another sigh and opened the door.

No one was in the room. At least, no one you could see at first. You glanced around in confusion, wondering if they had decided to leave you.

Then you saw Bucky, unceremoniously sprawled on the floor. The view of his body had been blocked by the coffee table. He was staring up at the ceiling, almost as if he hadn’t heard you.

You glanced around the room again, inching out of the doorway.

“Bucky?”

The super soldier grunted, keeping his gaze on the ceiling.

You crept closer, the padding of your feet echoing around the room.

“Is Sharon still around?”

At the sound of your wavering voice, Bucky turned to look at you, forsaking the ceiling. He took in your expression of embarrassment, perplexed.

“No. She’s prepping Sam and Zemo.” He explained, sitting up. “Did you need her?”

“No… no. Well, I mean, kind of…” You fumbled with your words, biting your lip and inhaling slowly as Bucky stared up at you. “I just needed her to unzip my dress.”

The former Winter Soldier’s eyes widened, just enough that you were able to notice. He nodded slowly, his gaze snapping onto the floor as if to play off his surprise. You would tease him, but you realized the implication of the act- especially for a guy from the forties. That, and you were a little too tired to joke.

You let out a small breath, glancing around the room. You needed to change now. It was embarrassing- especially if your stalled costume change held up everyone else. You glanced back down at Bucky, mouth pressing into a straight line as the feeling in your chest tightened.

“Can you…” You hesitated, catching Bucky’s eye. “...unzip it for me?”

You could’ve sworn you heard the man swallow, gaze dropping from yours.

Bad idea. Stupid.

You opened your mouth to brush it off, to insist that you could get the dress off yourself. Instead, Bucky rose to his feet, eyes trained on his feet. Neither of you spoke for a moment and you were looking at him in confusion, waiting for him to speak. When you didn’t move, Bucky met your eyes, staring as if he was the one waiting. You cocked your head at him and he seemed to flush, gesturing with his hands.

“Are you going to…” Bucky swung his finger around in a circle, eyebrows furrowed. Your eyes widened, getting the idea.

“Oh.Oh, okay.” You spun around quickly, clasping your hands together in front of you.

This was embarrassing. Why did you feel so nervous?

It was just Bucky.

Then you felt his breath on your neck. You almost jumped, your entwined hands clenching together tightly instead. You should’ve known that was going to happen. It was normal when someone was unzipping your dress- they had to get close to grab the zipper. You knew it wasn’t a big deal.

So why did it feel that way?

“What kind of zipper is this?” Bucky muttered, the back of his hand grazing your skin as he grabbed onto the metal.

You chuckled lightly, shrugging your shoulders.

“Don’t know why they changed zippers.” He continued, his other hand grabbing the fabric of the dress. It was his metal hand- and it was cold. You shivered at the contact and Bucky stopped, sizing you up.

“Cold metal.” You explained, a little quicker than you would’ve liked.

Bucky hummed in response, tugging at the zipper.

It didn’t come down.

Bucky made a sound of confusion, yanking the metal again. You fought the smile that crept across your face, realizing the problem.

“Buck-” But before you could explain, Bucky tugged again, a little too hard. The clasp snapped and the zipper shot down, the small of your back suddenly exposed to mild air of the room.

You yelped instinctively, hands scrambling toward you back as Bucky grabbed at the broken metal, frantically offering apologies.

“I didn’t mean to do that.”

“It’s okay-”

“It just wouldn’t come down and I-”

“Bucky-”

“Where’s that stupid little-”

“It’s fine-”

“Why did they change zippers?”

Bucky had his hands pulling tight at the fabric of the dress, keeping the dress from opening any more than it already had. The pressure on your body was tight and his grip had unknowingly moved you closer to the super-soldier, your back almost grazing his jacket.

You let out a calming breath, ignoring the fact that with any move you could lose the small piece of fabric covering your body. You glanced back at Bucky, who had his gaze snapping around across the floor.

“Did you drop the zipper?” You murmured, quiet as if not to spook him.

“Yeah.” He admitted, sounding just as lost as you did.

Eyes closing and heart twisting, you looked up slightly, trying to cope with the situation. It shouldn’t have been a big deal. Sure, you were pretty exposed, but Bucky was a friend. It was awkward as would be expected in the situation. But something felt different. As you thought about it, it didn’t feel awkward at all. You had been wrong. It felt...

You slowly glanced back toward Bucky. He met your gaze and for once, you didn’t shrink away. There was this blooming feeling in the pit of your gut, growing at the same speed your cheeks flushed. His close proximity was rattling, as if you hadn’t been close to him before. You had- but it hadn’t been like this. This was different- your back was brushing his chest and the strength of his arms was pulling at your waist. His shaky breath was ghosting across your skin, sending shivers down your exposed spine.

Oh god.

You were almost naked.

It was completely silent now- but there was a weight to the silence. Something you couldn’t describe. You pursed your lips, wondering if it would be better if you just. stopped. looking. at him.

Bucky’s eyes wandered as if he was thinking, his grip on your dress unwavering. You watched him, unable to think yourself out of this situation as your stomach did loopty loops. You didn’t watch where he was looking- you couldn’t. At the moment you were at his mercy, his hands the only barrier between you and losing your dress. He came back to focus on your wide eyes, and your heart jumped into your throat.

Suddenly, the door on the far side of the room slammed open. The two of you jolted, Bucky recovering a bit quicker than you as he readjusted the shifting dress in his hands. You scrambled to get a hold of the fabric as Zemo walked through the door. The man stopped, taking in the compromising situation with a look that made your skin crawl. As soon as you managed to press the dress against your sides, Bucky stepped in front of you, shoulders raised. You glanced up at his back in surprise, stunned by his suddenly towering stance.

“Having fun?” Zemo asked, his level voice verging on taunting.

“It wasn’t like that.” Bucky responded, trying to keep his voice just as level- but no one could’ve ignored the edge in his reply.

“Of course…” Zemo relented, raising his hands in mock surrender.

Bucky didn’t relax.

Glancing around his arm, you stared at Zemo, then looked back in forth between the two. Bucky’s jaw was clenched, his brows set dangerously over his eyes. Zemo still looked smug, his hand toying with something in his jacket pocket.

Trusting him was dangerous for all of you. Sam had made that known. At first, you felt like Bucky had been nonchalant about it, that he had somehow moved on from Siberia. But at that moment, you knew that was the farthest thing from the truth.

Your eyes fell back to his hands- the vibranium arm squawking slightly at the pressure of his grip. You straightened up behind Bucky, pressing your shoulder lightly into his back.

“It’s fine.” You insisted, stepping out from behind him to glare at Zemo, “Nothing needs to be said.”

The convict raised his eyebrows, baiting you to argue. If it had been a few years ago, you would’ve flipped him off. You probably would’ve yelled. But now you were just tired... and didn’t really feel like giving him the time of day. You blew a short breath of air from your nose and glanced back at Bucky, ignoring the creep. His jaw was still tense, his body turned toward you, but had his gaze boring into Zemo.

“Hey.” Bucky’s head turned toward you, dragging his eyes from the source of anger, “Sorry. I’m going to…” You pointed back to the door with a sympathetic shrug.

Bucky seemed to remember what he had been so protective about in the first place, eyes widening as he realized. “Oh, yeah- go, go.” Bucky insisted, tearing his eyes away as you let out a loud sigh of relief and scampered backward into the bedroom.

You slammed the door behind you, back pressed hard up against the wood. Cheeks burning so hot you could fry an egg on them, you let out a small groan, quiet enough that you were sure no one else would hear.

Had that really just happened?

You pressed the heels of your palms into your eyes, gritting your teeth. With the movement, your dress fell unceremoniously to the floor, puddling around your legs. You glared down at the wine-colored mini, scowling.

“I hate you.” You hissed, kicking your leg and sending the garment flying into the bed.

Because of that stupid dress, Bucky was no longer just your friend. How could he be, when the feeling of his breath was seared into your brain? Just the thought of it sent a thrill of excitement down your spine.

You blinked at the thought, realizing something with dread.

You had a crush- a big, fat, mission-wrecking crush.

And unbeknownst to you- so did Bucky Barnes.

[six-costume-refs]

Evolution of the Howard Costume

For an overview of the Howard alternate costumes, click here.

Student/Arts Theatre Annabel Marlow (Edinburgh Fringe, found on the Six Wiki); Annabel Marlow (Cambridge University, found on the Six Wiki); Aimie Atkinson (Arts Theatre, Dec 2017, @/sixthemusical)

I’ll be going into detail on these costumes in a future post.

Howard 1.0 (Aimie Atkinson) All photos are of Aimie Atkinson. L-R: first costume (1st UK Tour, unknown date, @/aimieatkinson); first costume (1st UK Tour, late Oct 2018, @/aimieatkinson); second costume (West End, unknown photographer, found on @/theatreclubpodcast)

I did an in-depth look at the evolution of Aimie’s two costumes for the Tour and WE productions (both pictured above) here. I’m just including a few of those details that were more relevant to later evolution of the costume here: - The placement of the rows of studding/boning on the skirt were also changed: The first and second columns on either side of the center gap are placed much more closely together on the second costume than they are on the first.  - The ribbons criss-crossing above the neckline were changed several time. Originally they were two criss-crosses as seen in the left photo, but her first costume was altered to attach them at the center of the bust instead during the  UK Tour (looks like it was during the London run but I’m not positive). This alteration was kept for her second (West End) costume. - The criss-crossing part seems to be thin ribbons or similar in Aimie’s costumes. - Aimie’s hair went through a number of developments and changes. It started out as her natural dark brown hair color but was bleached blonde at some point before the Edinburgh run of the tour. It was pretty quickly dyed pink and that was what they kept for the rest of the run and the WE production as well as all future Howards. - Aimie originally put all her hair up in one high ponytail, but later started styling it in a half-up half-down hairstyle

Howard 1.0 (continued) L-R: Samantha Pauly (North American Tour, Oct 2019, @/jennyandersonphoto); Courtney Mack (North American Tour, Sep 2019, @/courtneypmack)

Samantha Pauly and Courtney Mack each had their own bodice, but shared a skirt. Their costumes are a mostly like Aimie’s second costume but have some elements of her first costume. The skirt’s first and second columns of studding are close together like Aimie’s second costume. Their criss-crossing ribbons are the double Xs like Aimie’s original design. Their columns of studding are mostly parallel like Aimie’s first costume. The cups on Courtney Mack’s bodice are mostly but not entirely separated. The rows of studding on the bodice are mostly parallel like on Aimie’s first. Boning was added into the pink trim of the skirt.

Samantha’s bodice is longer and tapers off more at the bottom, while Courtney’s is shorter and more squared. Samantha Pauly has switched her hair between a high ponytail and the half-up half-down style that Aimie wore, while Courtney Mack has only seemed to have worn the half-up style. They also dyed their hair very different shades of pink - Courtney’s looks like more of a faded rose gold in most photos, while Samantha’s generally seems to be more of the average hot pink shade (it appears magenta in that photo but normally looks like a very bright pink like Aimie’s). 

Howard 1.0 (continued) L-R: Vicki Manser (West End, December 2019, @/danny_with_a_camera); Jodie Steele (2nd UK Tour cast, unknown date, @/mbaigentphotography); Vicki Manser (3rd UK Tour cast, 13 Jul 2021, @/vickimanser)

When Vicki took over as the principal Howard for the West End, her costume (left) kept most of the changes made for the North American tour and made a few more: - The criss-cross patterns on her costume are similar to the criss-cross patterns used on Aimie’s original design and the NA Tour costumes. It’s hard to tell in photos but it looks like it’s one large criss-cross with two parallel lines. - Her top was considerably shorter than any previous Howards - The placement of the studded columns on the skirt were changed, moving the second column further away from the gap. - Vicki’s two cups on her bodice were sewn together for a significant length of the front, not separated like Aimie’s/Samantha’s - The columns of studding on the top alternated between vertical and diagonal like Aimie’s second costume.

Jodie Steele’s costume incorporated almost all of the changes from Vicki’s costume, but the cups are more separated like on Aimie’s and her bodice is slightly longer. The length is more to account for her height than anything else and it’s still visually closer to Vicki’s shorter top than the previous longer ones. The criss-cross design attached to the neckline was changed to the two criss-crossed Xs from Aimie’s original design and the North American tour costumes (it can be seen more clearly on Vicki in the right photo). When Vicki took over from Jodie as principal Howard on the UK Tour, she wore Jodie’s UK Tour costume. The only obvious modification made for Vicki is the two added rows of studding on the waistband.

They both wore all of their hair in a high ponytail. Instead of a perfectly circular crown like the previous queens had had, theirs are oval-shaped. Vicki’s UK Tour wig is also ombre with purple and pink unlike all other Howard wigs up to that point.

Howard 1.0 (continued) L-R: Alicia Corrales-Connor (Bliss 1.0 original Howard, 22 Dec 2019?, @aliciatyra_cc); Bryony Duncan (Bliss 1.0 replacement Howard, Jan 2020, @/bryonyduncan); Georgia Carr (Breakaway 1.0, Nov 2019, @/georgia.carr)

Alicia Corrales-Connor was originally Howard on Bliss 1.0, but a few months into the run Bryony Duncan (then an alt) took over as principal while Alicia left the ship. She wore Alicia’s costume. The cruise costumes worn by them and Georgia are a hodge-podge of several former changes and a few new ones: - The netting on the chest for both these costumes was cut in two pieces (instead of the several small pieces or one big piece like the others). As a result the stripes on the cup are primarily vertical (as opposed to the diagonal one piece of the previous costumes).  - Georgia’s costume doesn’t have any studding under the cups of the costume (this is the only Howard costume to not have that) - Georgia’s center line of studding went all the way up to the top of the bodice (several of the costumes went very close to the top but not all the way) - Their cups are both sewn together in the front and not separated to the same degree that the prior costumes were - Georgia’s studding columns on her top are all parallel and almost entirely vertical (only a very slight angle). Bryony’s/Alicia’s costume have more visibly diagonal columns and alternate between vertical and diagonal like Jodie/Vicki/Aimie’s second costume. - The ribbon trim on both of their skirts is higher up, more closely resembling Aimie’s first costume than any of the others. The columns of studding are also more spread out like Jodie/Vicki’s. - Georgia’s outfit has two criss-crossed Xs while Alicia/Bryony’s has three. - All three of these cruise Howards wore their hair entirely up in one high ponytail.

Howard 2.0 L-R: Samantha Pauly (Broadway, @/samapauly); Sophie Isaacs (West End, 19 May 2021, @/thismorning); Sophie Isaacs’ skirt (West End, @/justin_c_all); Courtney Monsma (Six Aus/NZ Tour, 14 Jan 2020, @/courtneymonsma); Rebecca Wickes (Bliss 2.0, @/noirfolklor); Sophie-Rose Middleton (Bliss 2.0 alt)

The 2.0 costume included a complete re-design of the costume and the structure with some variation - It introduced a diamond pattern like the one being introduced on several of the other new costumes. This is made of black vacuformed PVC with cut-outs backed by the holographic pink. - The top is now in two pieces: the first, a sequin and mesh layer that comprises the cups, sleeves, and strip of mesh/sequin at the bottom of the bodice; the second is the PVC bodice.  - The skirt uses alternating diamond cut-out PVC and transparent PVC panels. The design was first introduced in Elizabeth Walker’s teal alt skirt. - Almost all of the bodices have two criss-crosses like the newer 1.0 UK costumes. - They all wear their hair entirely up in one ponytail. Wigs were also worn with all of these costumes. - The crowns were all round unlike Vicki/Jodie’s. It’s hard to distinguish every difference between these costumes as we’ve only seen two good photos of Rebecca’s costume, none of Sophie-Rose’s/Broadway alts, and a handful of Samantha’s. Here’s what I can tell: - How exactly the PVC bodice is structured differs slightly. It looks like Rebecca Wickes’ (and by extension Sophie-Rose Middleton’s) sleeves snap into place in the front on the side of the bust. The other three do not and are fully attached there. - Rebecca Wickes’ skirt doesn’t wrap around as far into the front as the other three. - @lightleckrereins​ pointed out that the panels on the side of the Broadway bodice on display is in two separate pieces. Her guess is that that is an elastic panel. I can’t tell if it’s exactly the same on Samantha’s as pictured but it looks like it is.  - Samantha Pauly’s Howard bodice only has one criss-cross. The others have two. The Broadway alts will presumably also have one.

It was just confirmed that there will be some changes (may be very minor/not noticeable) between the 2020 and 2021 Howard Broadway costumes, so they will presumably be new. I’ll update this with any changes I can find.

Emergency Covers L-R: Zara MacIntosh (West End debut, 15 Sep 2019, @/zaramacintosh_); Courtney Mack (Broadway alt, debut, 10 Mar 2020, @/nila_kay); Alicia Corrales-Connor (unknown date, @/aliciatyra_cc)

Zara MacIntosh debuted for Howard before her contract officially began. Her costume was not finished so she wore an emergency cover/band costume. I will go into detail about these in a future post.

Courtney and the Bway alts were not meant to play any roles during previews and their costumes weren’t supposed to be done until closer to opening night. However, Courtney went on for Howard during previews. She wore her 1.0 (NA Tour) top and Samantha Pauly’s Broadway (2.0) skirt. Her 1.0 Howard top was modified by taking out one of the criss-crosses above the neckline to match the one criss-cross on the Broadway design.

Alicia Corrales-Connor was a temporary understudy for Howard on the 2nd UK Tour. This was immediately after leaving her role as principal Howard on the Bliss 1.0 before the end of her original contract. Her Howard costume was left on the ship (pictured above) and it was worn by Bryony Duncan once she took over as principal Howard. Since she didn’t have her costume she wore the tank top/shorts-style emergency cover/band costume instead. 

[uten4]

Shun and Aren's relationship is simultaneously so adorable and hilarious.

Like first you've got Aren, who when he was introduced had just transferred schools and dropped his usual (very physical) method of befriending others, but is now lonely and wants to make friends.

And then you have Shun, whose main goal in the series before he befriended Aren was to make friends! And he did... sort of... succeed in befriending Saiki and Nendou-- they hung out a lot and cared about Shun in their own way. But clearly Shun still wanted to have a really corny poster-child of best-friendship, showing frustration for Nendou's annoying tendencies and Saiki's resistance to being around Shun almost all the time. Like in one episode, when Shun is daydreaming about being a hero, he fantasizes about Saiki calling him by his given name (as opposed to his family name), so you can tell that increased closeness is something he still really wants. And what gets me about that in particular is that very same episode, Shun and Aren become friends, and from then on you only see them referring to each other by given name ^D^ By being friends with Aren, Shun gets some of that cheesy closeness he really wants, but that Saiki is too reserved to offer him.

But yes, when Shun and Aren first speak, Aren is already disheartened by all his friendship attempts up til then failing... and they do that amazing bit where Shun does his chuunibyou monologue and Aren mistakenly thinks this is how all normal people sound. And THEN, even better, some of Shun's chuunibyou terminology are actually things that Aren recognizes... from the world of delinquency. So they're able to have Aren's first satisfactory conversation at PK Academy, and it's completely incomprehensible to anyone else. Beautiful. Amazing. In the anime I don't think they ever do that again, so I thought it was a one-time joke and from then on Aren has become more aware of Shun's delusional qualities... but they actually do it again in the video game. Several times (you can check it for yourself on tumblr user silenthikari's blog). Shun makes some really weird dramatic statement, and Aren either translates it into something meaningful, or translates it into having some equally weird meaning in the delinquent world, and they are able to have a terrible and hilarious conversation this way. Overall their dynamic of Real-life Delinquent Who's Trying To Seem Nerdy and Real Nerd Who's Trying To Seem Tough And Cool is so funny when you think about it (and made more compatible with the fact that Shun is brave when it counts !!). I honestly don't know if I prefer the version of Aren who responds to Shun's chuunibyou monologues with delinquent monologues, or with passing over it while slightly confused... Maybe both. Both is good.

But yeah, Aren is super concerned about keeping his delinquent past hidden, but when Shun figures it out, he decides to judge him based on his current self and not his past, which Aren really appreciates, and it's sweet.

I also like how they spend so much time together and share their interests. In the manga Shun is really into the series Odd-Eye Persona Cerberus, but no one else he knows likes it or even really likes the magazine it runs in, but Aren shows up and HE LIKES THE SERIES... and he follows the other series in that magazine, and of course he and Shun immediately have a conversation about it that is unintelligible to everyone around them. ❤️ In other words, Shun finally gets to share his nerdy manga interests with someone else now that he's friends with Aren! And in turn, Aren is able to share his interests with Shun-- they of course get really into motorcycles together. Also they just hang out in general all the time; they're constantly sharing panels together and in the manga it's mentioned that they spent one summer break just hanging out all the time, to the point where Shun has been influenced by Aren to become foul-mouthed, which is very funny.

I also like that they're so supportive of each other. They compliment and hype each other up A LOT, on their actions, looks, accomplishments, whatever. That doesn't mean they're blind to each other's faults or unfailingly sweet to each other though, which I think is realistic and interesting. They have their casual petty arguments where they make fun of each other or call each other dumb. Also, Aren is aware that Shun is not the best at drawing and even avoids being paired up to do portraits of each other in art class. He's not a big fan of Shun's writing when he first sees it either, which (along with the disapproval of Nendou and Saiki) hurts Shun's feelings-- but in the manga he at least tries to compliment (pretty awkwardly; that's Aren for ya) Shun on something by saying he used a lot of complicated vocabulary. He also privately expects Shun to show up to the class play unprepared, thinking he can be unreliable. But when Shun shows up with an epic costume, Aren mentally takes it back and thinks he's amazing. And when everyone was stranded on an island, he doesn't put Shun on the raft group even though he wanted to go because he gets motion sickness, but Aren just states this straight-up and doesn't dwell on it. He is a person who's very geared towards showing his feelings and acting on them, so he doesn't spare Shun the harsh truth (except when he does), but to my knowledge he never goes out of his way to put Shun down, esp for things he's sensitive about.

And Shun also has moments of not supporting Aren's actions 100%. When Aren draws the protagonist of their manga with a ducktail, Shun tries to let him know that he finds it weird, and after going back and forth a little Aren's like "yeah sure I'll draw him with the hairstyle you want" and they immediately get over it. And in the video game Aren explains the instructions of something in a really vague way and Shun's like "that's so unclear man, here let me", and after he's finished Aren's just like "as expected from Shun! That was so detailed ^D^". And then there are several times in the series where Aren's about to get into a fight or do something aggressive and Shun holds him back, and honestly that's just a Good Friend thing to do. I think it's cool-- Aren looks out for Shun (ex. taking care of him when he gets motion sickness), and Shun looks out for him in turn. And this is kind of just my thinking but it seems like Aren gives Shun more... confidence by being his friend (and a really supportive one at that) and rubbing his delinquency off on him a little, and Shun helps Aren with his own goal of living a peaceful life by trying to keep him out of trouble and doing non-aggressive activities with him, like building forts, studying, playing video games, etc.!

[marzipanandminutiae]

historical movies and shows whose costumes I unequivocally love: an incomplete list

- Crimson Peak. OH MY GOD. THE GOLD STANDARD. THE A+ 1000/10 EXAMPLE OF HIGH-CONCEPT ARTISTIC COSTUMES THAT ARE STILL REASONABLY ACCURATE AND GROUNDED IN THEIR ERA (1901-ish, if anyone wasn’t sure). Designer Kate Hawley had never done a period piece before, and she now lives in my heart rent-free always and forever.

Just imagine: if you have an adult Victorian woman’s hair up like it should be, you can actually show that the character's in trouble by leaving it down all the time! What a concept! Using departures from era-normal in service to the story! Who’d have thunk it?! </s>

This list is in no particular order, but Crimson Peak is definitely #1.

- Emma (2020). BRB making 5,000 cute Regency spencer jackets. I love the costuming in this movie. I love it so much. A lot of the dresses are copied from or closely inspired by extant garments and it makes my heart sing. They even replicated my personal favorite Regency ball gown, a silk number from the V&A with a red net overlay and chenille embroidery on the sleeves, neckline, bodice, and hem. [chef’s kiss]

- John Adams (HBO miniseries). With respect to the costumers, who I’m sure did a ton of work and research, this one is what I call Too Boring To Be Inaccurate. There weren’t any particular artistic statements being made with the costumes- just normal, mostly New England clothes of the upper and upper-middle class in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Centered around a family that didn’t go in for anything flashy or ostentatious even when they had the money for it. Good, serviceable costumes that never made me want to throw things. Bless.

- Fingersmith (BBC miniseries). This one has a bit more departures from accuracy, mostly in women’s sleeve length and occasionally in hairstyle. But overall, it falls into the same category as John Adams. The costumes are there to cover the actors and inform the audience about age, gender, and status, and that’s it. Perfectly acceptable.

- Marie Antoinette (2006). Everyone talks about how inaccurate the costumes in this are. And they’re not wrong- a lot of details are off. But the silhouettes are reasonably good, they show us a lot about the characters’ world and mental states, and there’s change over time that mimics what happened IRL. It’s heightened, but not in a way that seems to mock the era. I actually really like these costumes. And the “I Want Candy” scene looks like an ideal day with my historical costuming friends.

- The Favourite. Is it time for c. 1700 badger royals being gay? Always. Always and forever. This time period doesn’t get enough exposure on film, and I feel like this movie really did it justice. Artistic liberties were taken, but nothing bad enough to detract from my enjoyment of the movie (and the costumes in particular).

- Titanic (1997). SO. PRETTY. PRETTY PRETTY 1912 PRETTINESS THAT MAKES ME WANT TO MAKE LATE EDWARDIAN CLOTHES AND BE THE PRETTIEST LATE EDWARDIAN PRINCESS. Rose’s hair should have been a bit more Up. That’s my one quibble. “Hair down to show that a character is becoming less repressed” was tired visual shorthand even back then (when I was a wee Marzi of 4 who memorized My Heart Will Go On despite not being allowed to see the movie).

- Moulin Rouge! I. I can’t even offer an excuse for this one. Except maybe that the few non-stage-costume outfits you see (and many of the stage costumes on people who aren’t Satine or Nini) aren’t actually that bad? ...look, it’s really pretty and doesn’t tick most of my particular Annoyance Boxes, okay?

- House of Wax (1953). I was surprised to see a movie from before like 1980 deliver so well on the costume accuracy front. But they do a pretty damn good job of dressing their middle-class characters in New York City c. 1905. There’s even a dressing scene where a female character appears to have all the right layers worn properly- and her tightlacing is presented as unusual, done specially for a night out with a new potential sugar daddy. 

- Hugo. The early 1930s outfits are great, but I really love this movie’s near-perfect recreation of late 19th-early 20th century film costumes. Kudos to the designer (Sandy Powell, natch) and shop workers tasked with going over Méliès’ movies with a fine-tooth comb and getting all the details right from very grainy, low-quality film taken 100+ years earlier.

- The Young Victoria. DAMNIT, POWELL, YOU’RE GOING TO MAKE ME SLIP UP AND ACTUALLY LIKE SOME 1830S STYLES. RUDE.

[recurring-polynya]

Tokusatsu Au where Rukia plays the lead actress in a superhero action show. Renji plays one of the villains and they are The most popular ship in the fandom. Bonus points if Orihime plays the main villain and loves every second of it.

This was the very first prompt I got, and I fell in love. Unfortunately, aside from a brief period of being grotesquely fascinated with Power Rangers as teen, I know almost nothing about tokusatsu. I did as much research as I could and I attempted to watch an episode of Kamen Rider, but my eyes glazed over halfway through. Anyway, please forgive my inaccuracies, I wrote this with my heart.

ao3 | ff.net

🏍    ⚡   🎬

“Uh, looks like we’re almost out of time,” the panel moderator for “High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe!: A Sneak Peak at Season 5” declared, “but would you be willing to take just a few audience questions?”

Head Screenwriter Kurosaki Ichigo glanced at Leading Actress Kuchiki Rukia out of the corner of his eye, and she gave a tiny nod.

“Yeah, sure!” he replied.

There was already a young woman waiting at the microphone, practically vibrating with anxiety. She was wearing a t-shirt that had ZabiTo4Ever!! handwritten in marker on it. Rukia knew, deep down in her bones, what the question was going to be.

“Hi, yes, hello, big fan of your work! My question is: are Tomoe and Zabimaru going to kiss this season?”

“No,” Rukia started to say.

“As you probably know,” Ichigo said loudly on top of her, “the show holds close to the core plot points of Kuna-sensei’s manga, although, because of her minimalist style, we do expand a lot of the dialogue and filler scenes. She has said in several interviews that High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe! is not a romance manga, so the odds of Tomoe and Zabimaru ever kissing on screen are very, very low.”

The young woman stared at Ichigo grumpily. “Does this also count Zabimaru’s secret college student identity, Satonako Takeru?”

Ichigo stared back at her. “Yes. It does.”

The next question came from a person wearing a full suit of HellKnight’s plasma armor made out of overlapping plates of cardboard. Rukia was kind of impressed by it. She wondered if he could sit down.

“Hi, Kurosaki-sensei, I am a huge fan of your work,” a voice emanated from deep within the cardboard. “I was wondering if you are influenced at all by fanworks, and if Episode 73: Pride is on the Line!: The Bake Sale Must Go On! was based in any way on the classic fanfiction, ‘Tell Me All Your Best Lies’? It’s the top story by kudos in the ZabiTo tag, which I might point out is the most popular shipping category on AO3.”

Ichigo cleared his throat gently. “I am contractually not allowed to read fanfiction, although I do enjoy fanart! There are some incredibly talented artists in the fandom, although for some reason, no one ever wants to draw pictures of Lead Screenwriters.”

“I’ll draw you, sleeping on the set like you always do,” Rukia offered, and that got a pretty big laugh. Rukia’s Tumblr of behind-the-scenes doodle comics was beloved among the fandom.

The next question was from a nonbinary person wearing a big poufy skirt and a hairstyle that would make their make-up and hair guru, Yumichika, sit up and take notice. “Hi, this is a question for Kuchiki-san! If the show is going to roughly keep pace with the manga, as it has done up until now, you should be shooting the storyline where Tomoe and Queen Bloodbuzz switch bodies later this year. I was wondering if you could comment on how you feel about filming that storyline?”

Finally! A good one! “Yes!” Rukia nodded eagerly. “I don’t usually like to speak for my fellow cast members, but Orihime and I are beyond excited about playing each other. We’ve been studying each other’s mannerisms and practicing already! Does anyone want to hear my Queen Bloodbuzz cackle?” She wagged her eyebrows as the audience cheered. “Here goes-- bwaHaHaHaHAHAHAHAAHAAAHAAAAAAAA!”

“Bonechilling,” Ichigo commented dryly as the audience erupted.

“Amazing, Kuchiki-san!” the moderator exclaimed. “I think there is time for one more, but this will be the last question!”

A tall girl in a full set of High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe motorcycle leathers stepped to the microphone. She was holding a notebook. “Hello!” she warbled. “In a 2020 interview with the Psychics and Sidekicks podcast, Abarai Renji was asked about his opinion on ZabiTo as a ship, and he replied,” she consulted her notebook, “‘Tomoe is such a cool lady and talented Battle Clairvoyant, and she always follows her heart and stays true to herself. I think that Zabimaru can’t help but be impressed with her, even though they’re enemies, and I always try to roll that into our on-screen interactions.’ I know that in the past you’ve refused to comment on the ship, but I was wondering if you had any thoughts on, y’know, his thoughts?”

“Well, he’s correct, of course, Tomoe is very cool and admirable,” Rukia replied, which drew a few laughs, although it seemed like the audience was leaning forward in anticipation of her answer. “Like I said, I don’t like to speak for other cast members. I’ll be doing a big cast panel with Abarai and Inoue and Matsumoto and Ukitake tomorrow afternoon, and I hope you all can make it! See you then!”

The moderator thanked them enthusiastically, and then Ichigo and Rukia slipped out the back guest entrance.

“Evasive as always, Kuchiki,” Ichigo teased.

“Whatever,” Rukia sniffed. “The higher ups say we’re not supposed to comment on stuff like that, and I was not commenting. By the way, how many secret fanfic accounts are you up to? Four?”

“It’s only three!” Ichigo paused. “I wrote that fanfic the guy brought up.”

“Of course you did,” Rukia sighed. “I do blame you personally for the popularity of the damn ship.”

“Me? Blame Kuna for making up two such sexy, emotionally constipated dumbasses!” Ichigo defended.

“Also, it’s not Ichigo’s fault that you and Abarai have insane chemistry.”

Rukia spun around, grinning. “Orihime!”

Rukia’s two co-stars, Inoue Orihime and Abarai Renji, the portrayers of Tomoe’s demonic archnemeses, stood in the hallway behind them.

“We sat in on your panel!” Orihime beamed. “You two were brilliant!”

“Don’t worry,” Renji added. “We were incognito.”

“Incognito” was relative, Rukia supposed, when you were at Tokyo’s biggest tokusatsu

convention.

Orihime was wearing a Zabimaru outfit so detailed that she probably could have won a prize down at the cosplay hall. She had the gravity-defying ponytail, the eyeliner, the insane widow's peak (complete with forehead tatts), the fangs, the motorcycle boots. The paper mache snake skull helmet was a little lopsided, but it was charming. She had her top zipped a little higher than canon, but that was forgivable, too.

Renji had taken the opposite tack of looking as much like a normal person-- or at least a normal Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe superfan-- as possible. Relaxed fit jeans and an oversized hoodie de-emphasized his ultra-fit physique. He was wearing a t-shirt with a very dramatic rendering of Orihime that said “Queen Bloodbuzz can step on me!” and a ball cap with the logo of Seireitei University, the fictional college Tomoe and Takeru attended.

“You think you’re in disguise,” Rukia pointed out, “but there are thousands of teen girls in this place with entire Tumblrs dedicated to your stupid face when you’re out of costume.”

Renji cocked an eyebrow at her. “You underestimate me, Rukia. I have bought… new sunglasses.” With a flourish, he whipped out a pair of the dorkiest wayfarers she’d ever seen, and flipped them onto his face. “I’ve disappeared! Who am I? Where am I?”

“You look really great, Orihime,” Ichigo said, his cheeks coloring a little bit. “Did you get Uryuu or Yumichika to help you with that costume?” In his continuing theme of doing things he wasn’t supposed to, Ichigo had finally started dating Orihime on the downlow around the time they finished up filming last season. It had done absolutely nothing for how shy he still got around her. They were, in Rukia’s opinion, cute as hell.

“Oh, no, that would be cheating!” Orihime replied, wagging a finger at him. “Well…maybe I did cheat, just a tiny bit. Renji helped me make the helmet and he held up references for me while I was painting on the tattoos.”

“Only the forehead ones,” Renji quickly added.

“He wouldn’t even offer feedback on my booby tattoos!” Orihime frowned. She leaned forward. “Rukia, how do they look?”

Ichigo turned even redder.

“Perfect, as in all you do!” Rukia replied loftily.

“What’s everyone got coming up next?” Renji asked. “I was thinking of slipping out and trying to pick up some real coffee.”

“I’m judging a villainess-themed cosplay competition,” Orihime chirped. “But I’m dying for a blueberry caramel iced latte. Renji, my henchman, pleeeeease!”

“Of course, my liege,” Renji replied in his Zabimaru voice.

It’s not like it had been a hard decision to accept the role of the motorcycle-riding, badass heroine of one of the most popular manga of the last decade, but it had turned out to be one of the best decisions of Rukia’s life. not just her career. Aside from a few of the money-obsessed executives, she liked nearly everyone in the cast and crew, but the fact that the fact that the ruthless, homicidal, literally Hell-spawned villains of the show were played by the two sweetest marshmallow people she had ever met just took the cake. Renji and Orihime had already known each other from some voicework they had done previously, and their excitement at working together on a live-action project had infected the entire cast from the start. Rukia wasn’t sure, but she strongly suspected that Renji was the one who had hyped Orihime up to ask Ichigo out.

“I have a writers’ workshop I’m moderating this afternoon, and I wanted to review the writing samples people sent in,” Ichigo said, scratching the back of his head. “I’d love to stop by that cosplay contest, though, at least for a few minutes.”

“You’ll be needing caffeine, too, then, eh?” Renji offered. “Hot, black, and in the largest cup they make, as usual?”

“Ugh, you’re the best,” Ichigo groaned. “You wanna power-up this season? Costume update? You know what? Maybe I’ll just have you defeat Tomoe once and for all, no one likes her anyway.”

“C’mon, you know I’m the world’s number one Tomoe simp, don’t do that!” Renji laughed.

Rukia rolled her eyes. “I’m free and I could use some fresh air. Besides, it’s going to take all your dumb muscles just to carry Kurosaki’s vat of coffee back here.”

“Cool!” Renji proclaimed. “We’ll be back soon!”

“Thanks, Renjiiiii!” Orihime waved.

“You need to stop off and put on a disguise?” Renji asked.

“No point in it, I always get recognized,” Rukia sighed, pulling her sunglasses out of her purse anyway.

“Here,” Renji said, plunking his hat on her head. “Maybe this will help.”

“Thanks,” Rukia replied, and then did a double take. “Whaaaaaat is on your head?”

“Shut up!” Renji laughed. He usually shaved his head when they were filming, because it made it easier to deal with the make-up and wigs, but since they were between seasons, he’d grown his hair out into a short, tousled mop of reddish-brown waves. He looked, for the lack of a better word, dreamy. “I shot a movie over the summer, and they wanted me to look softer.”

Rukia looked at him over the top of her sunglasses. “You didn’t tell me you were doing a movie!”

“Oh, it was just a little indy romcom thing. I wasn’t sure it was gonna pan out, I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.”

“You were in a romcom? You’re kidding me!” They ducked out of a side door of the convention center into the bright sunshine.

“Yeah, it’s about a guy who goes to the gym to try to get ripped to impress a girl, and makes friends with me, this nice, already ripped dude who gives him lifting tips and encourages him a bunch. By the end of the movie, it turns out we have crushes on each other.”

“Oh, no, that sounds really cute, actually!”

“It was written by a woman who graduated from one of Ichigo’s writing workshops. The script was really snappy and Ichigo thought having someone like me as the gym guy would give it just a bit of campy cachet. You know what a good sense he’s got for stuff like that.”

“That was cool of you to go out on a limb a little,” Rukia replied.

Renji rubbed the back of his neck. “I’d been wanting to try something like that for a while, actually.”

Rukia blinked. “You aren’t… you aren’t thinking of leaving the show, are you?”

“Huh? No. No! No, the show means the world to me, I would never. But… it’s not gonna run forever, y’know?”

“I would have guessed you’d want to be a big action star or something!” Rukia said, throwing a few air punches. “That’s my dream!”

Renji stuffed his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. “Yeah, that’s what I thought I wanted when I first got into acting. I’d read the Tomoe manga, and I thought playing Zabimaru would be a good jumping-off point, besides just being a cool character overall.”

“Is that… not true?” Rukia frowned.

“Oh, I mean, I guess so! I didn’t really know about the fandom, though and… to be honest, I’m kinda into the idea that there are all these fans who think I’m complex and redeemable?”

Rukia regarded him out of the corner of her eye. “They just want to fix you.”

“Maybe! Ichigo made me read this one fanfic that was eight thousand words of the reader getting sick and Zabimaru making them soup? And feeding them the soup? I still haven’t decided how I feel about it.”

“How does he have time to find these things? Does he even sleep?”

“Anyway, it doesn’t hurt to be well-rounded and it was fun. I’m still mostly an action guy, but I wouldn’t mind doin’ something with a romantic subplot. A period drama or something like that. I look pretty good in hakama, you know.”

“I bet you do,” Rukia laughed. She squinted at him, but his expression was unreadable behind the shades. Renji didn’t have the classic leading man looks, not like her ridiculously famous older brother, but she could definitely see him as the best friend, the B-plot romance, with his cute, messy hair and that big doofy grin.

“By the way, I’m sorry you had to field that question about me spilling my romantic sensibilities on that podcast.”

Rukia laughed. “You didn’t even answer the question, either! These people are relentless!”

Renji stopped at a street corner and peered down the various possible directions they could go. “Which way feels like it might have a coffee shop?”

“You didn’t have one in mind before we left? I thought you knew where we were going!”

“Nah, I just like to go out and see what there is.”

“I can look up a map,” Rukia said, reaching in her bag for her phone.

“Let’s just go this way,” Renji said, stepping out into the street in the direction that had the WALK light. Rukia sighed and had to scramble to catch up with him.

“So, what do you think about it?”

“Huh?” Rukia asked. “Think about what?”

“Our ship. ZabiTo.”

“I can’t believe you just said that word out loud. And you know we’re not supposed to give our opinion on it!”

“Aw, c’mon, we’re not supposed to give public statements on our opinions. I don’t think there’s any harm in talking between ourselves. We’re in disguise, even.”

“‘Disguise’,” Rukia sniffed.

“You don’t like it, I can tell.”

“He’s a bad guy! Everyone always talks about chemistry, and that may be true, but I just don’t think that Tomoe could ever get over his acts of violence and cruelty.”

“Queen Bloodbuzz is cruel. Zabimaru is not cruel.”

“Okay, that’s fair, but still. He’s kidnapped just about all of Tomoe’s friends and or turned them into monsters at one time or another. He’s always setting Karakura Town on fire or flooding it with magic lizard goo. He ruined the sports festival.”

“Maybe the sports festival deserved to be ruined,” Renji muttered under his breath.

“Okay, you’ve got a point on that one,” Rukia admitted.

“It’s really clear though, that he’s got some agenda beyond just simping for Queen Bloodbuzz--”

“The simping for Queen Bloodbuzz is the most relatable thing about him, to be honest.”

“Granted. But, what if he’s got a good reason for everything he does, actually? What if he’s doing all of this against his own moral code as a means of infiltrating Hell itself and getting himself into a position of trust so that he can bring down the Lords of Hell from the inside?”

Rukia slipped her sunglasses down to the tip of her nose. “Does Kuna give you Zabimaru spoilers?” The reclusive creator High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe! was only barely involved with the television show, but she did privately meet with each of the cast members about once a year. Most of Rukia’s meetings consisted of Kuna giving her constructive criticism on her battle poses.

“No, mostly we practice sneering,” Renji replied. “But I gotta play the guy, so I gotta think about this, you know, what motivates him? I mean, you’re probably right, it would never work out. But unlike Tomoe, whose principles would call for her to ignore any attraction she has to him, Zabimaru has the freedom to pine for her, perhaps because his love is futile and he doesn’t think he deserves it anyway.”

“That’s kinda dark, dude,” Rukia frowned.

“Yes, well, that is the kind of character acting that netted me the 2019 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Best Villain Award, Foreign Language Category.”

“That’s literally what’s going through your head when you’re shouting that if I can’t make some sick motorcycle jump, you’ll turn all my friends into stuffed animal versions of themselves?”

“No, of course not! At those times I’m thinking about how much I love my job. OH! and what is that I see!” Renji struck an extremely Zabimaru pose. “A MISTER DONUT!”

“My hero!” Rukia exclaimed, unable to resist an opportunity to shout dramatically. “I’m sorry I doubted you!”

“I think we should get some donuts, too. Orihime loves donuts,” Renji declared.

“Oh, for sure,” Rukia agreed. She was thoughtful for a moment. It would be easy to move on to a different subject, the subject being donuts, but she wasn’t happy with leaving the last conversation hanging. “Look, Renji, just because I don’t like the dumb ship, you know that’s not a reflection on you, right?”

“Huh?” Renji replied. “You mean you don’t mind if I like it?”

“Well… I mean, I don’t, I guess, but what I really meant was, er… we joke a lot, but Tomoe and Zabimaru are just parts, y’know? Just because I don’t think Zabimaru isn’t good boyfriend material doesn’t mean I…” Rukia trailed off, suddenly realizing what she was saying. “Um. What I mean is. You’re very nice and probably one of my favorite people I’ve ever worked with and if someone I knew wanted to ask you out, I would definitely encourage them to, A+ guy, I’d say, probably would make a great boyfriend.”

Renji pushed his sunglasses up onto his forehead and regarded her for a long moment. “For the record, Kuchiki, I think that both you and Tomoe would make excellent girlfriend material.” While Rukia stood there and gaped like a fish, he turned and pushed open the door to the coffee shop. “Ichigo likes crullers and Orihime always wants the most colorful thing they’ve got. Do you know what you want?”

“I need to think about it,” Rukia squeaked. She wasn’t talking about donuts.

🏍    ⚡   🎬 

Bonus: Here are my notes from when I was making up the show. I hope this wasn’t too confusing!

High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe!

based on a manga by reclusive mangaka Kuna Mashiro

Head Screenwriter: Kurosaki Ichigo

🌟 Starring: 🌟

Kuchiki Rukia as Yukimura Tomoe, a spunky college student who can see ghosts and fights demons from Hell! She rides a motorcycle!

Inoue Orihime as Queen Bloodbuzz, a Lady of Hell, who seeks to gather energy from the Living Realm so that she can become the Supreme Ruler of Hell. Very aesthetic. Much bees.

Abarai Renji as Zabimaru, Queen Bloodbuzz’s ruthless henchman. He leads a double life as fierce-looking, but gentle-hearted college student Satonaka Takeru! What is his long game??

[light-miracles]

Would it be okay to ask for a writing prompt with SuperBat? Maybe idk Kate’s been missing for ages and Kara has been looking for her non stop and she finally comes back and like visits Kara and Kara just basically breaks down because her best friend was missing and she missed having her worlds finest buddy by her side? I realise this is a long prompt but like I love them and we need more SuperBat fanfics.

Freakin finally, L

......

It was Ally's call what woke her up in the middle of the night, after spending more hours than what she should working in a report for the Senate she had to deliver in two days. Her niece was direct and clear, like all Danvers through the generations. Faintly behind her in the background noise, she could hear Nira Nal's voice telling someone to hold on, not to lose consciousness. Kara immediately stopped feeling any tiredness and got out of the bed. "What?"

"A woman dressed as a bat literally just fell from the sky. Her DNA links her to the Kane family, but she's obviously not Kitty, and her costume seems to be a relic. Aunt Kara, I think it's an accidental time traveler. I need you to-"

Kara ran out her house and in less than ten seconds she was already there.

......

At no point did Kate lose consciousness, but her pain was so intense that she wished she had. She had a vague understanding of everything that had just happened. Alice threatening to blow up the city, the building below her collapsing, she falling, falling, falling uncontrollably and with nowhere to shoot her hook, an excruciating light and then the her painful impact against a car.

Then there was two strange faces in front of her telling her to hold on. Confusing colors. Her mind clouded. At no point the relief of unconsciousness but the blinding torture of pain.

And when she regained her mental clarity, she was sitting in a shiny headquarters, with a couple of weird cables attached to her arm and three people talking around her. Someone had found her and helped her. A great relief washed over her when she recognized Kara. "Super."

"Hey," said Supergirl leaning in front of her. It was Kara. Beautiful, brave Kara. The others must have come to help when they heard of the disaster. Kate wasn't selfish enough not to admit that she was relieved, even if it meant owing Allen a favor. "The city... Alice ..."

"Don't worry, everything is fine," said her friend, putting her shaking hands on her shoulders. "Everything is fine."

"No, it's not okay, the bombs exploded." Kate tried to stand up, remove the cables from her arms, and go back outside where her city needed her. And where was Mary? Luke? Her father?

"Kate, no, don't move, please. You're not fully healed yet."

"I have to help them."

"There's no one to help Kate. Please don't move. Listen to me. Gotham is fine. Everyone is fine. And you have to sit back and let Daydream heal you. She's the best, it won't take long. "

That must be true, because as the seconds passed clearer the image around her became. The lab was very high-tech, bright and white, with things she hadn't seen in her life. The two women next to Kara were strangers and yet they looked familiar. Kara wasn't wearing her outfit but what clearly looked like pajamas, her short hair (short?) tousled like she'd just gotten out of bed.

She looked older. At least ten years older.

"This isn't real," murmured Kate without looking away from her pretty face.

Kara put both hands on her cheeks, holding her gaze. "It's real Kate. I'm here with you."

"Where am I?" she asked trying to control the growing (strange) panic. "What's going on?"

"It's the year 2300," replied Kara slowly. "You have been missing for 280 years."

.....

The only thing that seemed real was Kara's hand holding hers firmly.

Kate thanked her training for her ability of remaining calmed at the face of the strange aspects of her life. It had been useful to her when the Multiverse died because a bald zombie in a robot suit was having a bad day, and it would be useful to her now. If Sara Lance and her team could, so could she. She just had to stick to the facts, evaluate the information, and focus on a way to fix it.

Kara's presence would make it easier.

The brown haired young woman explaining what they thought had happened. In 2020, when Kate fell from the building, somehow a wormhole opened that took her to 2300. For her it had been only seconds. For the rest of the world, centuries.

"Excuse me, what was your name?" asked Kate.

"Ally Danvers," the young woman replied. "I'm Kara's niece."

Kate looked at Kara to confirm, and she nodded. "Great great great something niece, but who counts these days?"

"And I'm Nira Nal, Daydream," the woman a little older than Ally said, stepping forward and bowing slightly. "I think that in your time they shook hands, but we don't do that anymore."

Evidently the little brunette who had been Kara's apprentice had also had a family. Kate nodded again.

"Everything must be very confusing for you, maybe we should give you a moment..."

"How do I come back to 2020?" Kate interrupted. "Someone put me in touch with the Legends. Hell, even Allen would be enough. I don't want to rest, I want to go home and stop Alice."

Ally cleared her throat a little. "It might be a bit more complicated than that. We need a little time to-"

"Look, Agent Danvers 9.0 or whatever, you may have all the time in the world but my city was literally falling apart just now. I have to go back and help my city, now."

It was Kara who answered. "It will take a while, Kate. Time travel isn't that easy anymore. But I'll take you home, I promise."

"This is the future," replied Kate, feeling a sudden rejection for the woman with Kara's face and Kara's voice but that wasn't her Kara. Not completely. "Don't you have loads of time machines and 200 mini Barrys with ridiculous names running around?"

"No, not anymore," Nira Nal replied. "Time travel was completely forbidden years ago. We can bring you home, but it's going to take us a couple of days to get a machine."

"Time travel is forbidden?"

"Yes, I forbade it," said Kara.

Kate turned to look at the blonde woman.

"I'm the President of Earth, Kate."

The bat woman blinked confusedly. "President..."

"Candidate for President of the Solar System next year!" said Nira cheerfully.

It was all too much, and Kate didn't want to show any sign of weakness but it was too much. Kara took her hands. "It's late. Come with me, please. I'll explain everything you want to know at my place, and tomorrow we'll start looking for a time machine. We'll fix it. But Ally and Nira have to go now, someone has to sleep tonight."

Kate still wasn't convinced that she shouldn't just turn around and get out of there.

"World finest, remember?" Kara asked with a small smile.

That helped her make her decision.

....

Kate thought that Kara would take her wherever she was going to take her flying. Instead, they both entered what would in the past have been described as a car but to Kate's eyes looked like a mini tank.

They didn't talk on the way, Kate intently looking at the incredible futuristic city around her, the glowing towers, the long, labyrinth-like streets, the flying vehicles in the sky, and the Kryptonian carefully staring at her at her side. Only Kara could not pay attention to the street at all and drive with absolute safety. Like everything else she did, she did it perfectly.

They left the city towards a two-story red house, which seemed totally mundane. And old, at least for what seemed to be the rest of the future. It had a porsche, two roofs and a small garden where Kate could see a lot of different flowers, dimly lit by the white light coming from the bright lamps.

"I thought you'd live in the White House."

"No, that's still only for the president of the country. I work in the embassy of the planet and live where I want. I use this house when I want to be near Ally and Nira."

"Always taking care of your family."

"You already know me."

Kate still wasn't totally convinced, but she nodded. "The city is not Gotham or National. Where exactly are we?"

"Unity City," replied Kara. "It was founded by Kal 150 years ago."

Still in her Batwoman outfit, Kate got out of the vehicle and rushed into the house, assuming no one was around to see her face or Kara would have said something, the little Bruce in her mind scolding her for having her face uncovered. But she was trying to focus on one problem at a time so she ignored her annoying imaginary cousin.

And it was when the door closed behind them that everything started to feel real.

The place looked so hideously normal that Kate wanted to snap her fingers to make sure no robot butler would come asking for her coat. Kate turned around and Kara was there, by the door, looking at her like she hadn't seen her in centuries and that look of hers broke her heart.

"I know it's only been a few hours for you," said the older-looking short haired Kara. "But I'm so happy to see you, Kate. I thought I'd never see you again. I never knew what happened to you. I thought-" Kara let out a sob.

Kate could never bear to see her sad, so she hugged her. It was the first time all day that she felt like herself. The only thing she felt familiar.

It was Kara. Older, with another hairstyle and almost imperceptible wrinkles around her eyes. But she smelled like Kara. Her hugs felt like Kara's. So Kate closed her eyes and returned her hug with all her strength.

..........

After taking off her batsuit and laying it on a chair, Kate Kane took a quick shower in a bathroom that looked normal except for a small water fountain next to the toilet and the fact that the shower water floated around her instead of falling. After coming out, she dried off and put on a comfortable green pajama that seemed never to have been worn. Probably because it wasn't pink and she didn't imagine Kara's fashion tastes changing, ever.

Kate came out of the bathroom with her hair still wet, studying the house some more. Strangely, Kara no longer had photographs, when in the past she used to have many photos of her friends on her walls. The decor was less colorful too, more sober, fewer kitten figurines and more desks and books and strange objects that Luke would surely kill to use. Kate took one that looked like a remote control, pressed a button, and a small hologram of Saturn appeared in front of her eyes.

"That's a letter they sent me from Titan," said Kara entering the living room, having changed out of her old pajamas for a clean new set. "It turns out that on some of Saturn's moons there are favorable conditions for living. A group of explorers founded a colony fifty years ago."

"Sounds like something out of a bad movie."

"Nobody watches movies anymore, but you're right."

Kate put the remote control down on the table. "Nobody watches movies anymore?"

"Well, I suppose some people still do, but cinematography is considered an ancient art now. They're not as popular as they were in the early 21st century. They're hard to find too."

"Do you still watch movies?"

"You know me, Kate. I couldn't survive without my weekly dose of Frozen," she said smiling and turning away from the door. "Would you like to have dinner with me?"

She nodded and entered the deceptively plain-looking kitchen, all the while Kara staring at her as if she might disappear at any moment. Maybe she was going to do it. Maybe this time travel thing was only safe if you were a Flash or had a time machine. Perhaps at any moment the universe would simply erase her as if she had never been born.

The food on the white table in the kitchen looked magnificent. It was a stew with potatoes. Kate didn't know how hungry she was until she smelled it.

"All kosher, of course."

That moved her deeply, but she did not allow her face to show it.

They both sat silently, facing each other, smiled slightly and began to eat in silence, until Kate could no longer ignore her own nerves and looked up at Kara. The blonde looked at her with a smile on her face, as if patiently waiting for her to talk first.

"Sorry, it's all so..."

"Confused."

"Weird," said Kate. "I had lunch with you last week and now you're... older, and we're in the future."

"I remember that lunch very well. It was the last time I saw you," she said with a sad smile. "I ... never stopped looking for you, not even when you were declared legally dead years later. No one gave up. Sara and her team even asked Gideon to look for you through the timeline, but she couldn't find you. I don't understand why."

"Maybe the thing that brought me here was something different," said Kate rubbing her hands together. "I'll look into it when I get home, and I guess you will too."

Part of Kate wanted to ask her about the future, and another part of her wanted to know absolutely nothing. She knew very well that she could be influenced and change what was supposed to be her future. However, her future was Kara's past. Or at least this Kara's, who was similar enough to her friend to trust her and different enough not to let her guard down entirely.

"So, you're president of the planet now."

The blonde nodded. "Yes, for ten years now."

"And you banned time travel."

"I did, yeah," she said, looking away for the first time, using her dinner as an excuse. "Eventually we discovered that it was too dangerous and could have catastrophic consequences so we banned it. The Time Bureou was dismantled. Brainy had to go back to his own time immediately."

"Consequences like what?"

"The timeline is much more fragile than it seems. Also, for example, if two people from different times have a child, it can create a paradox that could swallow the universe. It was too risky and I had to ban it. That's why believe me when I tell you that take you back to 2020 is practically a global priority, and you will be back very soon."

Kate's instinct told her that there was something Kara wasn't telling her, but she decided not to press it right away. "Good. Meeting Mia was good, but there are also dangerous assholes like Reverse Flash. And I respect and appreciate Sara and Barry but..."

"They were like lemurs with machine guns?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, more or less," said Kara with a sad smile. Kate realized that she had spoken in the past tense about their friends.

"And... is there anyone left?"

Kara's gaze lit up, and she drank a glass of water before answering. "Kal is still in Metropolis, but he's taking some sabbatical years. He's not as active as before but if anyone deserves a break it's him. J'onn is still alive, but he's very old, and can't move as much as before. His children and I visit him very often."

"Children? Oh, good for him."

"Yes," Kara smiled. "He and M'gann were very nervous at first, no one had had yellow Martians in millennia."

"Yellow?"

"Children of green and white Martians."

"Sounds colorful. Anyone else?"

"Charlie, Sara's friend. She hasn't really changed. It's as if time hasn't passed for her. Andrea Rojas is also-"

"Fuck, your awful boss is still alive? What the hell?"

Kara laughed, smiling like old times and making Kate feel her heart flutter. "She's not been my boss in centuries, thank goodness. And it turned out she's half Jarhanpurian. That was a long time ago," she said leaning forward, as if she were going to tell her a secret. "Do you remember Gemma Cooper?"

"Walmart Karen?" said Kate, and they both shared a laugh as they remembered what they used to call the old hideous Obsidian North member.

"Well, Gemma was secretly part of this group of Jarhanpurians hidden in the planet, Leviathan. At that time we didn't know it but she was Andrea's mother."

"Ugh, so a jerk and with super powers."

"And one of them is to age as slowly as a Kryptonian," Kara drank water again. "She's on Titan now, sometimes she sends me letters."

"Then she must not be a jerk anymore," said Kate quietly. And she suddenly knew she had to change the subject before asking about who she really wanted to ask. Mary. Luke. Sophie. Her father.

Alice

Whenever she thought of her sister she only felt pain.

"I have to go home, Kara."

"I know. I'll do anything I can to make you come back safe and sound."

Kate sighed wearily. "Being here can't be good for the timeline."

"Don't worry about that, the timeline can fix itself when you come back to 2020." Kara reached out and cupped her hand on the table, gently stroking her knuckles. Kate wished she hadn't. She was still as intensely beautiful as she was when they first met, and Kate at the time was too tired to be careful not to do something stupid, like tell her she loved her and ask her to kiss her.

So she just smiled wearily. "World Finest?"

Kara's eyes gleamed. "Always."

[connieslover]

headcanon: when you cut your hair

 ✧˖*°࿐headcanons of midoriya, todoroki and bakugou reacting to seeing their crushes new hair cut 

princess QUEEN yona 

*ೃ☼ izuku midoriya 

ෆ you and the other members of class 1-A were currently having your interships

ෆ you so happened to bumped into todoroki who had a slight panic look on his face

ෆ and so you decided to follow him

ෆ and now, you, midoriya, iida and todoroki were against the known hero killer, stain 

ෆ iida was on the ground, badly wounded from the knife that went through his shoulder blades 

ෆ midoriya was slumped against the wall as his body had been paralysed for a while due to the villains quirk 

ෆ todoroki and you were trying to get hold of the villain who had been running around the narrow hallway, trying to get a cut on either of you

ෆ your eyes had spotted midoriya who had been clutching onto his leg, which you presumed had been injured

ෆ seeing the pained expression on his face, your feet started moving

ෆ the only thing in your vision was the look of midoriya biting his lips and his brows furrowing 

ෆ  you didn’t notice the villain making his way towards you and grabbing a fistful of your luscious long hair

ෆ you gave a small wince at his hard tug

ෆ “y-y/n!” shrieked midoriya, eyes widening at the sight of stain’s rough hold on your hair which enabled you to move

ෆ "so what will it be? the life of this girl, or yours?” he snarled to todoroki who had immediately stopped producing ice

ෆ your eyes met todoroki and you mouthed to him to stall the villain

ෆ you spotted a knife hanging from stain’s waist and you immediately had an idea

ෆ todoroki decided to create an ice sculpture of some sort, earning the attention of the villain

ෆ your hand reached for the knife and in one swift moment, you felt free of his grasp 

ෆ you pulled a mulan 

ෆ stain diverted his attention to you and todoroki immediately started attacking him with ice blocks

ෆ meanwhile, you ran to midoriya, kneeling beside him 

ෆ “midoriya? are you all right?”

ෆ the male gave a small groan and pushed himself up from the ground

ෆ “y-yeah, i think it’s wearing off but he hasn’t noticed yet,”

ෆ and so, iida took the courage to push himself off the ground

ෆ you, midoriya, iida and todoroki had started attacking the hero villain until he was knocked out in todoroki’s ice 

ෆ endeavor came to the rescue

ෆ but so did a nomu 

ෆ a few other heroes gathered to the street where you were located and helped put nomu to rest

ෆ once the whole chaos was over, you gave a tiring sigh and your legs gave up

ෆ you were on the ground, relieved that you weren’t badly injured

ෆ “y/n...your hair,”

ෆ you looked up, eyes meeting midoriya’s large green ones 

ෆ remembering that you had sliced off your hair to get out of stain’s grasp, you ran your fingers through your now short hair which barely went past your collarbones

ෆ it was DEFINITELY uneven 

ෆ “does it look bad?”

ෆ from the illuminated light of the lamppost, you were definitely sure that you saw a faint blush on his cheeks

ෆ “it looks great! like really great! but also uneven....”

*ೃ☼ shoto todoroki

ෆ during the weekends your mother suggested that you should get a hair cut as your hair was really damn long

ෆ  you lowkey had an emotional attachment to your long hair so it was hard for your mother to convince you

ෆ that was until you read a twitter post on ways to get your crush’s attention

ෆ and one of the ways listed was to get a hair cut

ෆ that day, you went to the salon with your mother

ෆ however, things didn’t go as planned

ෆ when you arrived in front of class 1-A, you hesitated to go in 

ෆ you were actually debating on whether you should run back home

ෆ you gave a small curse and entered the classroom, tugging the strings of your hoodie tight

ෆ “y/n! good morning!” uraraka greeted you

ෆ you smiled at her and sat at your seat, trying to avert the gazes from the females 

ෆ   “y/n-chan, why are you wearing a hoodie?” asui asked, tilting her head to the side

ෆ “you normally don’t wear hoodies,” chimed in ashido with a raised brow 

ෆ “o-oh, it’s a bit chilly today,” you lied playing with the sleeves of your hoodie

ෆ “but its summer,” it was jiro’s turn to raise a brow 

ෆ “don’t tell me you’re feeling unwell? we should bring you to the recovery girl!” fretted yaoyoruzu

ෆ “n-no! it’s fine!”

ෆ todoroki who had been listening to your conversation secretly started worrying

ෆ “y/n’s sick?” 

ෆ unluckily, you had forgotten that you had rescue training class today

ෆ which meant that you had to wear your hero costume

ෆ and that there was no way that aizawa would allow you to wear your hoodie on top of it

ෆ whilst you were changing into your hero costumes, you prayed that no one would notice your hairstyle

ෆ but. you were in a room filled with women. 

ෆ and they notice everything.

ෆ “y/n-chan where did your long hair go?” shrieked ashido, instantly running towards you with gleaming eyes

ෆ soon you found yourself surrounded by the girls

ෆ “your short hair looks so cute!”

ෆ “is that why you were wearing a hoodie?”

ෆ “why did you cut your hair?”

ෆ you felt taken aback by the sudden rush of questions and you took a step back

ෆ “i-uh...my mother suggested that i should cut my hair since it was really long,” you answered, playing with a strand of your hair

ෆ the girls continued to pester and compliment you in the changing rooms 

ෆ when you and the girls stepped into the grounds of where the rescue mission would be held, you spotted todoroki immediately and you found yourself hiding in between asui and uraraka

ෆ you weren’t well hidden as the two of them were smol

ෆ after thirteen had explained the tasks, you and the rest of class 1-A immediately split up to find survivors and aid them

ෆ whilst you were running in the streets, shouting and looking for citizens who were ‘injured’ you saw todoroki who was a feet away from you 

ෆ you immediately hid behind the closest thing to you

ෆ “y/n-san? why are you hiding behind a pole?”

ෆ you awkwardly laughed before moving from the pole

ෆ “oh me? i was just uh making sure this pole was sturdy. it wouldn’t be a good situation if it fell on a citizen right?”

ෆ being the dense person he was, he believed you

ෆ todoroki advanced towards you, his eyes never leaving yours

ෆ you felt your heart beat pulsing quickly

ෆ “oh shit is he going to say that my hair cut is ugly? damn it i should have ran back home while i had the chance!”

ෆ instead of commenting about your hair, todoroki placed his palm against your forehead, making you blush a deep red 

ෆ “t-todoroki?”

ෆ “that’s good. you’re not sick,” 

ෆ you gave a small head tilt, slightly perplexed

ෆ once he removed his palms from your forehead, his eyes moved to your hair

ෆ you felt his fingers gently holding your short hair

ෆ you were internally scREAMING

ෆ “your hair is really pretty,”

ෆ “OI YOU DUMBASSES ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE FLIRTING OR RESCUING PEOPLE?

*ೃ☼ katsuki bakugou

ෆ you and bakugou were paired up together for a class where you had to defeat the robots and escape through the gates of ground omega 

ෆ and being the person he was, as soon as the timer started, he used his quirk to make him travel in the air 

ෆ “are you really just leaving me behind?” you shouted at him

ෆ “just catch up dumbass!” 

ෆ you gave a scoff before running off 

ෆ bakugou was in the air, shooting at every robots in sight with his explosion 

ෆ while you were on the ground, shooting at the robots with your quirk

ෆ from the sound of bakugou’s explosion, it wasn’t loud

ෆ meaning that he was pretty damn far away from you 

ෆ suddenly, out of nowhere came a herd of robots

ෆ knowing that you weren't able to defeat all of them at once, you ran into the forest with the robots following behind you

ෆ “if they follow me, i'll lead them to where bakugou is and we can defeat them together,” you mumbled to yourself

ෆ you looked behind you to see the robots following you, but at a slow pace as it was slightly difficult for them to manoeuvre in between trees 

ෆ you heard the sound of bakugou’s explosions growing louder, meaning that you were getting closer to him

ෆ “baku-” 

ෆ you felt your legs halt to a stop

ෆ your long hair had been caught between a few branches

ෆ you gave a curse before trying to untangle your hair from the branches 

ෆ but, you realised that the robots were getting dangerously closer to you

ෆ panicking, you tried taking steps forwards in attempt to run but it was no use as the branches were basically dragging you back

ෆ you saw the group of robots a few meters away from you

ෆ “welp, this is how i’lll die,”

ෆ you covered your face with your arms, waiting for the attacks from the robot

ෆ  but instead, you heard a thump on the ground in front of you and loud explosions

ෆ once the sound of the explosions had stopped, you moved your arms away from your face

ෆ you were greeted with an angry looking bakugou

ෆ “you idiot what the hell were you doing? are you making me do all the work?”

ෆ you gave him an eye roll

ෆ before you could bark back at him, he started laughing

ෆ you were flabbergasted

ෆ this was the first time you had seen him laugh up close

ෆ and it was delightful

ෆ “what are you laughing at asshole?” 

ෆ “d-dumbass how did you get your hair caught between these branches?”

ෆ “just shut up and help me,”

ෆ once bakugou was done laughing at you, he walked to the branches and gently untangled your hair from the tree

ෆ you felt the last of your lock of hair drop to your back and you twirled around in glee

ෆ “yes! im free!,”

ෆ bakugou snickered, “you should cut that ugly long hair of yours,”

ෆ “what? no way! i feel prettier with long hair,”

ෆ “you look ugly with long hair to me,”

ෆ “soooo if i cut my hair, would i look pretty to you?”

ෆ “w-what? no! i never said that dumbass,”

ෆ the next day, you were skipping in the hallways, your hair, which was now short, bouncing as you did so

ෆ you entered the classroom with a wide grin

ෆ “morning!”

ෆ “y/n-chan, you’ve cut your hair!” gasped uraraka

ෆ “yup!” 

ෆ the girls of class 1-A swarmed around your desk to compliment your new hair cut

ෆ bakugou, on the other hand, had just arrived

ෆ his eyes then moved to the cluster of girls at your desk and he gave a small ‘ttch’ before he sat in his seat 

ෆ you had finally noticed that bakugou had arrived and you stood up from your seat with a confident look

ෆ “y/n, where are you going?”

ෆ “what the hell do you want?”

ෆ bakugou’s sharp bright red eyes darted to you who was standing in front of his desk

ෆ “am i pretty to you yet?”

ෆ that’s when bakugou noticed your new hair cut

ෆ you had a light-hearted grin on your face while you tucked a stray strand of hair behind your ear

ෆ you looked stunning

ෆ but he didn’t want to admit it

ෆ he gave a snicker and looked down at his textbook

ෆ unsatisfied by his answer, you gave a huff before turning your heels away from him

ෆ “you’re prettier with short hair,”

ෆ you turned around with a surprised face

ෆ and what made you even more surprised was the light shade of pink on his cheeks 

[peaceisadirtyword]

Dare (Alex Høgh/Reader)

A/N: Hello! I wanted to post this last week but as always I’m a disaster and I couldn't. But I finally finished this so here it is💕 I hope you like it, and please remember this is pure fiction even though Alex is a real person. Enjoy!

The next thing I post will be Hate!♥️

Original idea by @ivaravi

Warnings: mentions of alcohol and sex, my (this time not so bad) writing and Alex being very cute

Words: 2911 -I should write a bit less, I'm annoying-

Summary: Alex has a huge crush on you, but is completely sure you have a crush on someone else, so he tries to ignore it until a game of truth or dare makes him confess everything. (I'm trying, seriously, but I suck at summaries please forgive me).

Masterlist

gif belongs to @justacripple​

"Marco! Will you please stay still?" You giggled, hitting his head softly as he laughed, shaking his head. You had been trying to do his hair for half an hour, but he wouldn't stop moving. 

"Sorry, sorry" he chuckled again, but finally stopped moving so you could start braiding his hair. 

"You need to be on set in five minutes, Marco!" Someone yelled from the door, and you cursed softly, trying to work quicker on his hair. 

He bit his lip, holding back a laugh.

"Don't laugh, this is your fault" you couldn't help but smile. The last thing you imagined months ago, when you started working on the set of Vikings, was to make friends with the cast. Every time you had worked in a big production, the actors had been rude and unpleasant to you -well, not all of them, but most- and a while ago you had convinced yourself that you could never have a cool relationship with them, but then you started working on Vikings.

"It's not my fault you're so slow while doing your work, Y/N" 

You were tempted of taking the hairbrush and hitting him, but he was quicker, standing up before you could reach him. 

Just when you were about to yell a couple of insults at him and throw one of the brushes to his head, the door opened again. 

Both Marco and you froze, looking at the door and expecting to see your boss or one of the producers, ready to yell at you for not getting Marco ready on time. 

You could hear your own sigh of relief when Alex's face appeared through the door. 

"Hey" he smiled almost shyly "Am I... Interrupting something?" 

"Hi Alex" you smiled widely at him, trying to ignore the way your heart started beating faster when you saw him "No, please, come in"

"You scared us, man" Marco chuckled "Did you finish your scene?" 

"Yeah, they're finishing another one with Jordan and Gee now and then yours" 

"You should get going then" you muttered as you finished his hairstyle as quickly as you could. 

Marco stood up, fixing his costume before turning his head to smile at you. 

"Thank you for doing the most beautiful braids I could ask for, Y/N" he winked at you playfully and you laughed, pushing him to the door.

"Leave! Or you will be late and everyone will blame me" you giggled.

He patted Alex's shoulder softly before leaving, closing the door after him. 

You looked at Alex. It was weird to see him quiet and standing awkwardly next to the door. He was always laughing, talking loudly and messing around the set, talking to everyone and taking photos. But with you he was different. You dared to say he was shy. At first, you tried to talk to him as much as you could, at the beginning you thought he was the kind of person you'd like to be friends with, but then you realized it was because you had a massive crush on him. 

But he was distant with you. He was nice to you, of course, but that was all. You stopped trying to become his friend after a while, realizing he wasn't interested. 

So being alone with him was a bit awkward. 

"Do you need anything?" You asked with a polite smile.

"Yeah I... Have another scene with Marco later, and one of the braids got a little loose earlier... Could you fix it?" He fixed his gorgeous eyes on yours, and you blushed instantly. 

"Yes, of course, sit down" you nodded, looking for the small ties you used for his braids "Which one is it?" 

__________________________________________

"I don't know if you've heard" Alex muttered as you worked on his braid in silence. You could feel his eyes on you and that made you nervous and clumsy "But Marco and I are throwing a party tonight, at our apartment... Well, is more a reunion, you know, we told some of the cast and all of that... Would you like to come?" 

You smiled at him, trying your best to remain calm just after your crush invited you to a party. 

"Yeah, I knew about it, Marco told me" you nodded "Thank you for inviting me, I'll be there" 

Alex pressed his lips together and hummed, looking away from you. 

"Yeah, I told you because I know Marco would like you to come" he cleared his throat. 

"That's nice, thank you Alex" you smiled at him again "He invited me earlier, too, so now I have to go" you chuckled, and his lips curved in a small smile that faded quickly "Do you want me to bring something? Food, drinks...?"

"No, it's okay, we took care of everything" he looked at you again "Just come, okay?" 

"Okay" you smiled softly at him before looking back to his braids, focusing again on your work.

_______________________________________

You tried not to get too jealous when you entered Alex and Marco's apartment. You lived far from the city center, in a small shared apartment that barely had any light. Their living room and their kitchen together were bigger than your entire apartment. 

Everyone seemed to have arrived. Marco greeted you at the door and took your coat before shoving a beer on your hand. Immediately, Georgia came to hug you, already a bit tipsy. 

For not being a party, the place was crowded. Marco told you Alex invited some other friends, but you didn't expect to see so many unknown people. 

Georgia guided you through the living room until you met the rest of the cast. All of them cheered, happy to see you had finally joined them. 

"I knew you'd come" Marco joined the group a bit later, when he had already greeted everyone "And I'm glad, there's no party without Y/N" he chuckled. 

You rolled your eyes. Since you went out with the rest of the cast for the first time and beat both Marco and Jordan on a drinking contest -which you regretted the morning after- you had won their respect. 

"I'm going easy today" you took a sip of the beer "I have to go back home early" 

"Of course" Marco raised an eyebrow, holding back a laugh "I bought gin for you" 

You groaned, knowing then that your plan of getting home early and waking up the next day at a decent hour to go to the gym was completely ruined. 

"Hey, where's Alex?" Jordan frowned looking around the crowded living room "He was going to bring me a beer and he's been missing for ten minutes"

"He's on the kitchen" Georgia shrugged "He was flirting with that new extra he invited so... I wouldn't expect a beer anytime soon" 

"The blonde one that played one of the slaves? She's pretty, so I'll forgive him" Jordan sighed "But I still want my beer... Marco?" 

Marco groaned, making you giggle as he glared at Jordan but nodded, making his way to the kitchen. You looked around the room, smiling at some familiar faces from set. Though your smile faded as soon as you saw them. 

Alex had a charming smile on his lips and his gorgeous blue eyes fixed on the girl he was talking to, leant on one of the walls and with his hands playing with his beer. She was laughing, which made Alex chuckle too. 

You pressed your lips together, looking away from them as soon as you could, a bit bothered. She was a new extra that had been working on set for a couple of weeks. Stunning, with blonde hair and green eyes. She had caught everyone's attention since day one, and you had seen Alex talk to her a couple of times, but you didn't give it any importance, as he talked to everyone -well, except you-. 

But knowing he was interested enough on her to invite her to the party, made your heart break a little.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Marco's voice next to you startled you.

"Nothing" you smiled at him "Hey, you said you bought gin?" 

___________________________________

You started to relax when everyone left. 

Only a few people stayed, including you and Georgia. And, of course, the blonde extra that had been glued to Alex the whole evening. 

"I should leave" you muttered, your head resting on Marco's lap as you both laid on the couch "I have to go to the gym tomorrow" 

"No, stay" Marco whined "You don't have to go to the gym, you're already hot" 

You rolled your eyes, but laughed as Marco chuckled, amused by his own joke. 

If you had looked to the kitchen counter, you'd seen Alex's frown. 

"Should we play something?" Georgia giggled from her spot at the other side of the couch- 

"Like what?" Marco looked at her, interested. 

"Truth or dare" she smirked "I'm dying to know your dirtiest secrets" 

"Are we twelve?" You groaned. 

"Oh, honey, we wouldn't play this kind of truth or dare at twelve" Georgia winked at you. 

You looked around the room, looking for someone who would support you, but everyone looked fine with Georgia's suggestion. 

"Yeah, it could be fun" Alex smirked "Let's play truth or dare" 

You'd swear he was looking at you when he spoke. 

Before you realized it, you were sitting on the floor, between Marco and Jordan, listening to one of the extras' sexual life. 

"Y/N" Georgia smirked at you "Truth or dare?" 

"Truth" you answered, taking another sip of your drink. You were a coward and it was the easy answer, but you never wanted to play that in the first place. 

"Is it true...?" She bit her lip and you raised an eyebrow "... that you have a crush on someone that is in this room?"

Everyone stood silent, looking at you with wide eyes. Maybe you should have laughed and shook your head while looking at Georgia with a small smile, because blushing and looking down to the floor gave you away. 

"Yeah" you muttered "But it's just a stupid crush, it's not like I'm in love or anything" you tried to act as normal as you could, shrugging and looking everywhere but at Alex. 

"Sure" Georgia giggled before drinking another sip of her beer. 

Marco had a huge, amused smirk on his face. You decided to ignore it. None of them knew who he was anyway. 

"Alex" Marco cleared his throat, and Alex looked at him. He looked serious, nearly annoyed. You noticed he had sat down far away from the blonde girl "Truth or dare?" 

He sighed, rubbing his eyes before answering. 

"Dare"

Everyone gasped in excitement. He was the first person that chose dare. 

"I dare you" Marco's smirk grew, and you tilted your head with curiosity "To kiss the person you like the most in this room" 

Alex widened his eyes looking at his friend. He expected maybe a prank phone call or running down the street shirtless while shouting the name of the president. Something he'd actually have the guts to do. 

You cleared your throat, biting your lip as you realized you'd have to witness the first kiss between Alex and the blonde girl. Nice. 

"Are you serious, man?" Alex muttered, groaning as he rubbed his face. 

"Yes" Marco shrugged "You chose dare, and that's my dare"

He sighed again, but this time moved to stand up. He moved to the center of the circle and lick his lips, cursing in danish a couple of times. 

You looked away, drinking the rest of your glass at once and taking a deep breath. You shouldn't have drank that much knowing Alex was around, especially after telling everyone you had a crush on someone. 

But then you heard someone kneeling just in front of you. And then you saw his eyes fixed on yours, his brows furrowed and his lips pressed together in a pout. 

The next thing you felt were his lips against yours. 

Alex cupped your face with his hands. Marco hadn't specified if he wanted a proper kiss or just a peck, but Alex didn't seem to mind as he bit your lip, making you part your mouth and give him free access to deepen the kiss and caress your tongue with his. You nearly moaned into the kiss, with your fingers buried in his hair. 

You could have kissed him for years, if someone hadn't interrupted by clearing their throat. 

"I said a kiss" Marco sounded amused "Not a fuck"

Alex broke the kiss immediately, looking as surprised as you were. It was almost like he didn't believe what he had done. 

You were nearly hyperventilating, looking at him with widened eyes. What the hell was that? You nearly expected everyone to start laughing, because that had to be some kind of a prank -a not very funny one-. 

Everyone stayed silent, and your heart was beating so fast you'd swear they could hear it. Alex took a deep breath and stood up again, going back to his seat avoiding your gaze. 

"Marco" he said, completely recovered "Truth or dare?" 

_______________________________

No one mentioned the kiss. Not even Marco, who looked much more excited than you. Alex said goodbye to the blonde girl with a kiss on her cheek and walked her to the door. Everyone left without saying a word about what had happened an hour ago on that same living room. You stayed a bit more, helping Marco to clean up a bit and waiting until Alex stopped being a coward and approached you. 

"It's very late, Y/N" Marco frowned when you mentioned you were going home "Why don't you stay the night?" 

You bit your lip, your eyes traveling to Alex, who was doing the dishes pretending he was completely alone. 

"I don't know, Marco..." You spoke loud enough so he could hear you "I don't want to make things uncomfortable" 

Alex turned his head to glare at you. He was angry at himself for being so impulsive. How could he just kiss you that way? In front of everyone? Knowing you just admitted to have a crush on Marco? He felt pathetic. 

And the last thing he needed were your comments. 

Marco raised an eyebrow. He started to regret that stupid dare, even though he was desperate for Alex to confess that he also had a crush on you and then you both would stop acting like idiots around each other. 

But he didn't really thought you'd react like this. 

"You can stay, Y/N, you're not making things uncomfortable" Marco chuckled "I can sleep on the couch, so you can sleep on my bed"

Before you could say anything, he entered his bedroom, leaving you all alone with Alex. 

He was back to putting plates on the dishwasher, turning his back to you again. You sighed, approaching him. 

"Are you not going to talk to me?" You asked, sounded a bit more rude than you intended. 

Alex stopped moving, but didn't turn around. 

"What do you want me to say?" He muttered, and you scoffed. 

"It wasn't funny, you know" you glared at him -well, at the back of his neck-. 

"What?"  this time he turned around, widening his eyes in confusion.

"The kiss, it wasn't funny" you clenched your jaw.

"Good, then" he scoffed "I didn't mean to amuse anyone with it" 

"Are you sure?" You raised an eyebrow "I'm not stupid, Alex"

He shook his head, rubbing his eyes. 

"Look, I'm sorry if it bothered you" he sighed "I shouldn't have done that without your permission, especially knowing that you like Marco and that you two have this... Close relationship" he shrugged "But they told me to kiss the person I liked the most, and that was you so... It's just what I feel" 

You felt dizzy, and had to lean on the kitchen counter to avoid falling down. You blinked a few times and cleared your throat before opening your mouth again.

"I'm sorry?"

Alex frowned. 

"Y/N, I'm trying to confess my feelings here and you act like I'm explaining the theory of the relativity, it's not that complicated, is it?" 

"Alex, I don't like Marco"

He looked at you narrowing his eyes. Maybe trying to guess if you were saying the truth. 

"What?" 

"I don't like Marco" you repeated "I mean, I like him as a friend, of course, but I don't like him... That way"

"I thought..."

"The reason you won't even talk to me it's because you thought I liked Marco?" 

"I..." He blushed, looking away from you again "I thought you... Had something" 

"Well, we don't" you giggled "We're just friends, Alex"

"Then who is it? You said you had a crush on someone in this room, if it isn't Marco, who is it?" 

You bit your lip. You kind of hoped he had realized it, but he still looked confused. 

You approached him again, leaning into him to kiss his lips again. This time it was much better- you didn't have a dozen of people looking at you and you knew it was completely real... And you finally touched his face softly, smiling into the kiss when he hugged your waist, pulling your body closer to his. Alex broke the kiss but immediately pressed his forehead against yours, with his beautiful blue eyes fixed on yours. 

"I feel stupid" he chuckled. 

"Me too" you blushed "But next time you could at least talk to me, right?" 

"Yeah" he kissed your nose softly "I will do that" 

__________________________________________________

Tags: @mblaqgi @alicedopey @lol-haha-joke @hallowed-heathen @naaladareia @tephi101 @captstefanbrandt​ @love-hate-love @titty-teetee @readsalot73 @moondustmemories  @thevikingsheaux​ @therealcalicali​ @chimera4plums​ @blushingskywalker​ @awkwardfangirl02​ @credulouskhaleesi​ @gruffle1​ @justacripple​ @heartbeats-wildly​ @inforapound​ @winchesterwife27​ @hecohansen31​ @xinyourdreamsx​ @tgrrose​ @jadelynlace​ @flokidottirsstuff​ @didiintheblog​ @scuzmunkie​

I hope I didn’t forget anyone!♥️ thank you for reading and I hope you liked it😘

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #369

“so close, no matter how far  /  couldn’t be much more from the heart  /  forever trusting who we are  /  and nothing else matters”

What are three emotions you experience regularly? Sadness, shame, and stress. Is there someone right now whom you really wish would care for you? -___- Does your job allow visible tattoos? I don’t have a job, but quite honestly, I probably wouldn't take a job that didn't. I just love tattoos a lot and plan on having many, and ignorance and old-fashioned bullshit isn't gonna stop me. Do you know anyone that’s transgender? Yes. Do you think dress codes are unfair? In some places, like schools, yes. Are in a relationship? Tell me about it. I'm not. How is your road rage? I don't have road rage. By god does my sister, though. Favorite cosmetic brands? I don't wear makeup nearly enough to have a preference. The beach or the pool? The pool. I hate the feeling of sand, plus the salty wind and heat. Manga or anime? Anime. Favorites for manga? I've never read any. It's tempting to read Deadman Wonderland since it continues off the very short anime, but I just don't want to. Manga isn't my style. Favorites for anime? Fullmetal Alchemist (including Brotherhood), Ginga Densetsu Weed, and Deadman Wonderland. Favorite academic subject? English. A card game that you’re good at? I'm not exceptionally good at any. Do you eat breakfast? Pretty much always. A popular book you haven’t read yet? To Kill A Mockingbird, to name one I feel like everyone had to read in school. Do you like sweaters? I'm an oversized hoodie person, really. I don't like the look of zippers. Do you like sushi? Never tried it, never will. Do you wear prescription glasses? Yes. I badly need a new pair, because I can't see for shit. Generally, are you more likely to blame others or yourself for problems you experience? Myself. What is one thing about your life that you don’t ever see changing, even if you might wish it would? I have a feeling I'll always have some degree of social anxiety. I'm sure there are other things just not coming to me. At what point in your life have you been the most social or had the most friendships? And at which point have you been the least social? I had the most friends in my childhood years, probably. Or high school when I actually had a friend group. I'm sure I was most social as a kid in elementary school, not dealing with my social anxiety. I've been the least social like... now, honestly. I go essentially nowhere and have very few friends. Do you prefer to have a few close friends or a bunch of random acquaintances? Which would describe what you have now? I want close friends. I have like... two or so close friends and a handful of acquaintances. I don't know which I have "more" of when you consider the actual level of friendship/"quality" I guess. Do you journal? Generally, what do you write about? Do you find it helpful to get your thoughts out that way, or do you prefer another form of self-expression? I don't actually journal, but you could consider these surveys my "journal." I guess it's kinda why I do them so frequently? Like it lets me get stuff that's going on out, so I find it kinda therapeutic versus keeping all my thoughts jumbled up in my head. Have you ever been somewhere and REALLY didn't like a food that you were expected to eat? How did you deal with this? Are you someone who is likely to suck it up and be polite or refuse and save your taste buds? To start off, I am VERY bad at sucking it up and eating something I don't like. My gag reflex is very strong, and I'm also extremely sensitive to textures I don't like, so my reactions are just very involuntary. I can try to subdue my expression when I dislike something, buuut that's extremely difficult. But anyway, yes, I've been to places where I definitely disliked the food, especially this one occasion where we went to a local Southern cooking restaurant that literally ASSUMED you want the staple foods and sweet tea, none of which I enjoy. While everyone else was eating, I just very awkwardly sat there doing nothing and pretty much panicking over looking rude. Thank god, Ashley's father-in-law noticed and called over the waiter for me to actually order something, the way it should be. I was very thankful but still felt bad. What is one way in which you compare yourself to others? In this comparison, do you regard yourself as better or worse off than the people to whom you usually do the comparing? I am very bad and comparing successes with others, but only in ways that demeans me. Like I look at others and am just like, "Why aren't I there yet?" It always leads to anger and disgust of myself. What is something you’ve been particularly grateful for lately? I've thought a lot lately about how thankful I am to have my mom. She does so very much for me, and I don't think I could absolutely ever repay her in full. I wish I could. She's a damn superhero. What kind of change or opportunity would be the biggest help in your life right now? I was initially going to say getting a job, but thinking about it, getting to my goal weight might be an even greater help. It would help my leg pain, not having to carry as much around, I'm sure my hyperhidrosis wouldn't be as bad (I hope), and it would MASSIVELY affect my happiness. Like I cannot tell you how negatively my weight has damaged my self-esteem, confidence, and peace with myself. Is there one emotion that you experience more often than any other? Is there an emotion you rarely ever experience? I'd say I experience stress more than anything. I'm always thinking of something that's causing a ruckus in my life. A rare emotion for me is uhhhh jealousy, even though I've dealt with it more lately. What is one illness you are afraid of having? Do you know anyone who has faced this illness? The disease that I think scares me more than any is Alzheimer's/dementia. I just... cannot possibly imagine. How do you tend to behave when you’re sick? What kinds of things do you like people to do for you, if anything, to help you feel better? I'm very mopey and tired, and I can be a bit more irritable. I really, really appreciate help with things like chores when I'm not feeling well. When was the last time you did something you were proud of? Were other people proud of you as well? Does it matter to you whether or not other people care about your accomplishments, or is your own satisfaction enough? It's a very small thing, but I weaned down from having two cans of soda a day to just one. Mom is proud of me for it, which I appreciate a lot. Admittedly, it does kinda matter to me that those who know it's a big deal to me see and care about my accomplishments. I'm bad about needing external validation. What is your least favorite thing about the season you’re currently experiencing? Are you okay with most types of weather, or are you only happy under certain conditions? Ugh, the heat. Spring and summer are miserable to me because I veeery much love the chilly weather and no damn humidity. Have you made any changes to your style or “look” lately? How often do you change your appearance, hairstyle, fashion, etc? Or is it a pretty constant thing? No; my style is pretty constant. What was the last thing you felt hopeful about? Do you think there’s a good chance of whatever-it-is working out in your favor, or not so much? Getting a job at the tattoo parlor. I'm fearful that they won't be open to the position I'd like, so I'm trying to not get my hopes up too high. We'll find out in two days. Have you ever “recovered” from anything? What does “recovery” mean or look like to you? Yes, a traumatic breakup. I'd say recovery is just healing as much as possible from something, be it physical or emotional. What are some ways your childhood differed from those of others around you? Do you think this difference was harmful or advantageous in the long run? My dad was an alcoholic, if that qualifies. That definitely isn't a *normal* thing for someone's childhood. I think it was harmful, honestly, especially because I've had more than a few nightmares about my dad drunk. When was the last time you did something out in nature? Do you notice a dip in your mood when you don’t get enough of the Great Outdoors? Oh jeez... Probably not since Sara and I went catfishing with my dad. I wandered around with her some as she ventured for toads, haha. I don't really notice a dip in my mood, just because I'm so used to being indoors. I do prefer getting some time with nature, it's just hard and uncomfortable with how easy I sweat, and my knees sure do cuss me the fuck out in the form of a billion cracks if I walk much (by my standards...). What did you dream about last night? I had two dreams, but I only remember one, in which a giant green tree python was eating me backwards so I was conscious through it all. No hard feelings, I still want one as a pet, haha. They're GORGEOUS snakes and no, absolutely cannot eat you even if it tried its damnedest. What were your childhood dreams? To be a paleontologist, then a vet. What are your dreams now? If we're talking career-wise, to be a nature and wildlife photographer that gets to travel a lot. What are some Halloween costumes you would like to wear in the future? I've mentioned that #1 on my list is Ms. Oogie Boogie, then uhhhh... wow, I'm surprised I'm blanking, because I know there are lots I've thought of. Were you born with hair on your head? Yes. Would you rather have a home birth or hospital birth? I'm not having kids, but holy mother of fuck I'd have my baby at a hospital with a goddamn epidural. I do NOT know how some people can do it naturally, bigass props to them. Do you currently live in the house you grew up in? No. If not, what do you miss about it?^ It was just in general a nice house, the best one we've lived in. We had a pretty big yard too, so lots of room to play around as kids. What’s your favorite type of yogurt? I'm not a big yogurt person, really. What were your high school’s team colors? Red and white. Who were your best friends in high school? Hannia, Girt, Maria, Megan, Dennis, Dakota... What would be the best surprise you could receive right now? A tarantula. *puppy eyes emoji* Were there any subjects in school that were really easy for you? If so, what? English courses were very easy for me, and I was pretty good with science. Did you ever skip a grade or get held back a grade? Not like, a whole grade, but I surpassed Writing I in my last college endeavor and started out in Writing II instead. What’s your favorite rock band? Oh brother, you can't ask me this. Who’s your favorite country singer? I consistently like Tim McGraw a bit. How many drawers does your dresser have? My dresser is unnecessarily big. There's like five or six. Have you ever taken a picture at the perfect moment? Yes. One of my favorite pictures I've taken was at Ashley's gender reveal for Emerson; even she didn't know. When her husband pulled the fog thing and it was pink, her expression was just priceless. Was your first car used or new? I haven't had my first personal car. How did you discover your favorite band? By going through my mom's CDs when I was getting into rock music. Ozzy was the first truly metal and not rock band that I ventured into. What was the last big decision you made? BIG decision... I don't know. Probably dropping out of college. What is your favorite thing to go shopping for? I love window shopping for pets online, haha. What was the last thing you changed your mind about? A political stance. Who was the last friend you saw, and what did you do together? Oh yikes, it's been more than a while... It may have been Girt? In which case we probably watched TV or played board games together. Who tends to show up in your dreams? Do you ever wonder if you appear in anyone else’s dreams? Jason just loves to show up in my dreams more than anyone else. I don't really wonder that, no. What is something you wish you could say to someone who is no longer in your life, or something you wish they could know? I wish I could tell Bryar (Jason's friend I got in a fight with) I misunderstood something he said to me ("martyr" has two different definitions, and I somehow didn't know the modern one at the time) that made me seem like an absolute, attention-seeking bitch. It's so fucking embarrassing to look back on, because I agreed with him because I thought he meant it as I would die for my beliefs, which is true. What worries you most about your future? Whether or not I'll ever be in the physical shape I want to be in again. Or if I'll have a stable job. What is something you do to feel better when you’re scared? Find distractions, like funny YouTube videos. I also engage in deep breathing and grounding methods. What is the strangest book you have ever read? How did you find out about it? Oh my god, in elementary school, we read a book where everything a boy touched turned to chocolate. Weird book. Do you prefer to watch movies or tv alone or with other people? Is there anything you refuse to watch alone? Other people, definitely. I like having someone to talk to and comment on what we're watching. There's nothing I won't watch alone. What was the subject of the last video you watched? It was a let's play.

[ryqoshay]

Tri-Arame: Happy Nyan Day

Primary Pairing Trio: YuuAyuSetsu Secondary Groupings: AiRina, ShizuKasu, EmmaKariKana Words: ~2.6k Rating: G Time Frame: Sometime during the 2nd trimester of their 2nd year? Later? Story Arc: Stand Alone

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Author’s Note: I couldn’t help myself. The song is too cute. And I may have hit triple digits at some point for plays...

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“Alright, next order of business,” Setsuna said from her position by the whiteboard “Yuu-san has written several songs for our new subgroups, so we need to decide who gets each one.” She seemed to be barely able to contain her excitement, but must have been tapping deep into Nana to keep up a professional appearance as she and Kasumi lead the meeting.

Subgroups… Ayumu couldn’t quite get used to the term. The Nijigasaki School Idol Club was a group of solo idols; rivals but friends, as they had come to call themselves. Only since their joint performance at the School Idol Festival had they started doing more things as a group. Then Setsuna and Kasumi insisted that they form subgroups, as it was apparently a popular thing with idol groups. But they still were not technically a group…

Then again, she seemed to be the only one who had an issue with the concept. Everyone else had been excited so Ayumu had decided not to voice her dissent.

After much discussion, as well as calling in votes from their fellow students, the subgroups were assigned and Ayumu ended up in one with Setsuna and Shizuku. And for some reason, they had been assigned a couple of peppy, almost embarrassingly happy songs to start, ones that didn’t really match any of their styles as individual idols.

Of course, Setsuna had been thrilled to use it all as an excuse to explore a facet of school idols not normally in her repertoire. Shizuku had decided it would be a way to expand her acting skills. And Ayumu found herself just going along with them. However, she couldn’t deny that she was having fun. A lot of fun, actually.

Ayumu was distracted from her thoughts as a stack of music sheets was passed to her from Shizuku sitting beside her. She flipped through the pages and started skimming to get an idea of what Yuu had written for them.

“Ne, Karin-chan.” Emma said from across the table as she pointed to something on one of the sheets in her hand.

Next to her, Karin leaned over a little to get a better view before nodding approval. She then held up a page and motioned to Ai who was in her usual spot on the couch next to Rina. Ai found the indicated sheet in her own stack and also nodded. Seemed like DiverDiva may have figured out which song they wanted to claim.

“Yuu-san.” Setsuna suddenly uttered.

“Mm?” The twin-tailed girl next to Ayumu responded.

“Is this one based on that anime we started watching?”

Yuu chuckled. “I figured you’d be the one to notice that first.”

Oh, Ayumu knew that expression. Mt. Yuki was about to erupt in explosive excitement.

“That’s amazing!” Setsuna exclaimed. “It works so well! It could be the opening sequence for the second season, easily!”

“A song based on an anime?” Kasumi questioned. “What’s it about?”

“Ohmygoditssogood!” Setsuna gushed as she grabbed the younger girl’s hands before launching into a rapid fire, overly detailed description.

Ayumu empathized a little with the expression Kasumi displayed. She looked like she just had a chalkboard eraser dropped on her head, despite by all rights knowing of the trap’s existence based on prior experience. However, over the last few months, Ayumu had come to find Setsuna’s passion for anime, even her soft spot for certain cliches, to be rather endearing. As such, she just smiled as she watched her fellow second-year geek out.

“Andtheyallcompeteforthemastersaffectionandthereisanadventurousbutclumsyoneandatsundereoneandaseriousoneandatimidoneshesthecutestbyfarshessopureandsheliterallyisascaredycat” Setsuna’s verbal torrent continued “Honestlytheyreallcutecatgirlsingeneralaresocute!”

Wait. Catgirls? That’s the series that had inspired Yuu to write a song? The one where the protagonist rescues a bunch of cats that end up magically transforming into girls? That horribly written harem, chock full of overused tropes, fanservice and plot holes? What the heck was Yuu thinking?

Sure, the protagonist was pretty cute with her twin tailed hairstyle, and she was a heck of a saint for putting up with the antics of all the catgirls living with her. But that wasn’t enough to make up for all of the other shortcomings of the series as far as Ayumu was concerned. So why that one? Why was that the series that inspired a song?

“Hmm…” Kanata hummed from the other side of the table. “Seems like A・ZU・NA has their song decided.”

Oh gods, no…

“I have no objections.” Shizuku spoke up. “The song does seem to fit well with the others we’ve already performed. However, given the primary subject, are we to then act as cats?”

Shizuku-chan, not you as well…

“Or course!” Setsuna proclaimed, releasing Kasumi as her attention shifted.

How embarrassing…

“Hrm…” Shizuku pondered. “I may have to practice that.”

“Well to help with that,” Setsuna began speed walking toward the club’s storage lockers “we should get some cat ears!”

“We have cat ears?” Ayumu asked aloud before realizing she had done so.

“Of course!” Kasumi was the one to chime in this time. “Every school idol should wear cat ears at some point. Setsuna-senpai is right that catgirls are cute. The fans love that kind of thing and they make someone like me even cuter!”

“Rinari and Ai-san have already dressed as cats for that one animal themed photoshoot we had.” Ai reminded.

Oh, that’s right. Ayumu had ended up being a rabbit and had to endure Yuu’s teasing the entire time.

“We still have the ears you two wore.” Setsuna’s voice came from within the open locker. “And here are the rest.” She stepped back, revealing a box filled with various costume accessories.

“Setsuna-chan’s already getting into it.” Yuu chuckled.

Sure enough, the raven-haired girl was already wearing a grey set of cat ears with darker grey stripes and red inner lining. With an ear-to-ear smile, she practically skipped back to the table to set down the box.

Shizuku leaned in to inspect the selection. “How about this one?” She retrieved a set with a calico pattern.

“Those suit you well, Shizuku-san.” Setsuna approved. “Now for you, Ayumu-san.”

“Eh, me too?” Ayumu startled.

“Yes.” Setsuna nodded before turning her attention to the box. “Let’s see…”

“How about this one?” Yuu reached out and grabbed a pair of pink cat ears.

“Yuu-chan, wai…” Before Ayumu could finish, Yuu had already slipped the headband on her.

“Perfect.” Yuu declared. “And they’re at least as cute as the bunny ears, though I may still like Ayu-pyon a bit more than Ayumyan.”

Ayumyan…? Heat gathered in Ayumu’s cheeks.

“So, now that we’re all wearing cat ears, what else should we do?” Shizuku inquired.

“We act like cats.” Setsuna stated decisively.

“Yes, but how?”

“We act like they do in the anime. Hrm… Perhaps like this!” She dropped to her knees next to Yuu. “Goshujinsamya!” She cried, curling her fingers and hands to mimic paws and placing them on Yuu’s legs. She looked up excitedly as though she was about to jump into the other girl’s lap.

“Wha? You’re making me the master, Setsunyan?” Yuu laughed.

“Well you do look a little like the protagonist.”

“I do? Hrm… maybe.” Yuu shrugged before reaching down to pat Setsuna’s head.

Ayumu felt a sharp pang of the all too familiar jealousy she had been working hard to get past. But seriously, she knew Setsuna was capable of being embarrassed. How was she able to just shut off her shame like that and behave in just the right way to make Ayumu feel like this?

Movement by the whiteboard caught Ayumu’s eye. Oh no, Kasumi was walking toward them. Ayumu followed the first-year’s gaze down to Yuu’s free hand. Ayumu was significantly closer, but if she didn’t make her move now, Kasumi would beat her to it.

But everyone else was here. Watching.

Setsuna let out a sound that could pass as a cat’s mewl, closed her eyes and pushed up into Yuu’s hand.

Geez…

“G… Go… Goshujinsamya…” She squeaked out, sliding off her seat to mirror Setsuna.

“Dwaaa…” Yuu cooed. “Don’t worry Ayumyan, I won’t forget about you.” She patted Ayumu’s head as well.

Ayumu had to suppress making a sound like Setsuna had a moment ago, though she now understood the cause.

“Sen~pai~” Kasumi wailed, predictably. “Don’t forget about Kasumin… I mean Kasumyan!”

“Sorry, Kasumyan, but my hands are full.” Yuu apologized. “Maybe a raincheck? And while I’m at it, to complete the subgroup, I suppose I could get Shizunyan in as well.”

Really? Were they all going to get their names nyanified now?

“Thank you for the offer, Yuu-senpai,” Shizuku said “but I shall pass.”

“Ah ha!” Ai laughed. “So that was Yuyu’s plan all along! Surround herself with catgirls.”

Yuu shrugged. “It’s a school idol club and we already had the props. It was bound to happen eventually anyway.”

Yuu surrounded by catgirls? Ayumu didn’t particularly like that idea. However… she glanced over at the girl opposite her. Perhaps… if it was just them… maybe it would be alright? Maybe. Just maybe.

“Kyaa!” Kasumi shrieked. “Sh-Sh-Shizuko, when did you get…?!”

Ayumu looked up to see that the theater student had made her way behind the boastful idol and placed a pair of cream-colored ears on her.

“There, there.” Shizuku said gently, patting her fellow first-year’s head. “That’s a good girl, Kasumyan.”

“I… I’d still prefer Senpai to give me head pats…” Kasumi grumbled.

Shizuku’s shoulders slumped, she dropped her hand and donned a hurt expression. “So, I’m not good enough to substitute?”

Kasumi turned, made eye contact with Shizuku and winced. “That’s not what I meant! I’m sorry Shizuko! You’re head pats are great! Please, uhm… please continue.”

Immediately, Shizuku brightened. “Shizunyan.” She corrected cheerfully and resumed patting the other girl’s head.

“Wait, were you just acting?”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Ayumu detected a small change in Shizuku’s smile. “You’ll have to figure that out on your own.” Had she actually been acting?

“Hmmm… nya~n…” Kanata drawled sleepily.

Emma giggled in response which pulled Ayumu’s attention to that side of the table. The redheaded third-year had found a light brown set of cat ears with cute purple lining, placed them on Katana and started petting her like Yuu was doing to her and Setsua and Shizuku was to Kasumi. She had also found a red pair with green lining for herself.

“Here, Karinyan.” Emma smiled and held out a blue set.

“No thanks, Emma,” Karin started to refuse “I’m goo… eh?” Pink started to dust her cheeks as the accessory was moved closer. “Fine…” She sighed and relented.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Karin reached up and placed a hand on top of Emma’s head. The redhead responded with a content hum and pushed up a little into the affectionate gesture.

“Ainyan’s not going to be left out of this!” Ai proclaimed, practically jogging to the table. “Ne, Rinya, don’t these look a little like Hanpen’s?” She held up a set.

“Mm.” Rina confirmed. “They are very cute. I like them.”

“Perfect.” Ai grabbed what looked like a yellow set for herself and made her way back to the couch.

So, did that mean everyone in the club was now wearing cat ears? Ayumu wondered. No, everyone except… She looked up.

“What’s up, Ayumyan?” Yuu asked with a gentle smile as their eyes met and she paused her pats.

Geez, there was no way Ayumu was going to get used to that nickname. With heat gathering in her cheeks, she averted her gaze. Yuu seemed to be all too willing to dismiss the disruption as she hummed happily and resumed her affections.

As a peaceful quite settled in the clubroom, Ayumu turned her attention once again to Setsuna. So often she had thought of the excitable girl as likened to a puppy. However, as she was now, Setsuna looked very much like a cat about to curl up in Yuu’s lap, start purring and fall asleep.

Adorable.

What might it be like to be the one petting her? Ayumu considered. What if Yuu-chan and I swapped places? Would they both look up at me like that? Would they call me… Goshu… Geez, she couldn’t even complete the thought. Still, as embarrassing as it might be, it was more than a little appealing. Perhaps next…

Wait, didn’t they still have practice?

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Setsuna felt heat rise in her cheeks as memories from earlier in the day suddenly sprung forth in her mind. She shook her head, though was unable to avoid the oncoming thoughts. With a sigh, she sat back in her chair for a couple minutes of break from her studies.

Geez, she had really let herself get carried away. Sure, new songs from Yuu were always worth excitement and one based on a beloved anime series worth that much more, but…

Had she really needed to do that with Yuu? Setsuna mentally checked through other possible candidates. The first-years were out as calling someone younger master seemed strange. She didn’t feel quite as close to the third-years, though any of them probably would have been fine with it.

That just left her fellow second-years. Ai would have probably teased her about such a display, which would have been a bit embarrassing but otherwise alright. However, how would Rina have reacted? Of course, by that logic, targeting Yuu had resulted in upsetting Kasumi. So that only left Ayumu.

Ayumu-san…

While Yuu’s affection had been great, really great, wonderful in fact, Setsuna couldn’t help wondering how it might have felt if Ayumu had taken Yuu’s place. She then immediately realized she already had a fairly close approximation by way of how often Ayumu styled her hair.

And on that topic, was it Setsuna’s imagination or had Ayumu been the only one to work with her hair as of late? Though many of the prepping duties before their Lives were divided among anyone able to assist, ever since Ayumu had taught her how to make her adorable signature braided buns, it seemed she had been the one to style Setsuna’s hair.

Setsuna racked her memory. Had Yuu really never helped with that? Ai? Emma? Anyone else? She couldn’t recall. Strange. But, was it intentional? Surely Ayumu wasn’t the type to quietly manipulate a situation to ensure a desired outcome, right? No, it had to be a coincidence. In either case, Setsuna was unable to come up with a reason to object to the situation.

Setsuna blinked. That had been an odd tangent.

A different thought occurred to her. Had she overstepped her bounds earlier? Had she put herself in a position that could be interpreted as trying to come between Ayumu and Yuu?

Setsuna ran a replay of their walk from school to the station after practice. Neither seemed to behave differently toward her or attempt to exclude her from conversation or anything like that. It had all seemed quite normal, as far as she could tell.

The three had talked about plans for choreography and costuming for the new song. Of course, Yuu had used several opportunities to tease Ayumu who responded with her predictable flustered adorableness while Setsuna enjoyed the show. Just another enjoyable walk with them, same as yesterday and hopefully tomorrow, and as many other days as possible until the end of their school year. And maybe next year as well.

So no, it would seem Setsuna had not overstepped her bounds and was still on good terms with her two closest friends. That was a relief. If anything, perhaps she had actually strengthened her bonds with them? That would be nice. Really nice.

Setsuna smiled to herself as she suddenly had the urge to rewatch the catgirl anime. She glanced at the clock and determined she had spent enough time studying and it was late enough that her parents were unlikely to walk in on her. She slid her laptop in front of herself, navigated to the streaming site and started watching. Tomorrow, she would have to be sure to talk with Yuu and Ayumu about it again.

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Author’s Notes Continued in Followup Post

[shizukateal]

Judging Magia Record’s Outfits [Part 12]

The last part. The 3 rules.

Hikaru Kirari

I would have prefered a more traditional plated skirt, but I’ll accept this one. The cape is my real problem tho. I just don’t see its purpose, considering that the hoodie surely won’t fit with the hat, and I also think that the feather on top is a bit overkill, at least in this outfit. Still not like it when I can’t tell which is the soul gem.

Sunao Toki

Haha, her name means sand clock.

So ok, this girl doesn’t have the aestethic excellence and balance of Touka to justify all of the decisions of her outfit, but I won’t deny that most of it is pretty interesting and cool. Insanely complicated to draw and animate with all that lace, but cool nonetheless. Still, I’m not sure if removing the pointless sheer fabric layer would magically solve all the problems. I like her hairstyle, but I’m not sure it fits with this aestethic.

Mikura Komachi

Repeat with me kids: less is more. I am going to assume that those are sakura’s, so they kind of get points for creative thematic cohesion, and perhaps if this outfit was more concise I would accept them. What I am not willing to accept is lapels without jackets and the overstuffed tail. It’s a shame though, she was very close to being almost as interesting as Homura.

Seira Mihono

Not sure if she’s suposed to be a penguin or some kind of fish, but in any case, this is girl is a case of outfits not matching the appeared age of the user. Even ignoring the socked tits, this girl just seems a bit too tall and her facial features are too sharply drawn to convince me that she should be wearing this kind of thing. I mean, apparently she sold her soul for the sake of always having enough money to make her projects so if that doesn’t tell you something about her age I don’t know what does. Outside of that, I think her hairstyle would be a lot better without the ponytails, since they also seem innappropiate for her age and apparently have their own holes in the hoodie. The boots don’t convince me, nor do the cuffs with handless gloves. Bonus points for the clackerboard pockets, tho.

Midriff Count: 17

Temari Kira

Much like Seira above, this girl isn’t really doing anything wrong, but she doesn’t have the body for this outfit.

Here’s the thing about Mami Tomoe: she knew perfectly how to balance her sexiness with her more girly side and she did that without barely showing any skin. Her corset perfectly hugged her figure, so it wasn’t necessary for anything else in her costume to show off her body in any way. This girl has a similar dress shape to Mami’s, but her chest is too big for it. Sayaka can pull off this sweetheart neckline under cape schtick, but that’s because her breasts normal sized and don’t look like they are about to flop out. 

It just looks disonant like this. Like, I’m glad that she’s not wearing some ugly sexy halloween costume, but she still looks way too mature for this outfit. Even her hairstyle, which isn’t technically wrong in any way, seems like something she wouldn’t wear at her apparent age. If there’s a lesson you should take from her is that you have to be careful in how your artstyle affects the age your characters look.

Characters ruined by the Male Gaze: 17

(the next part)

[writersrealmbts]

Protect Them: Lollapalooza

Description: Safe with Me Sequel! Hoseok x Reader. Halloween Special! 

Fluff?

Posted: 10/31/2019

Tags: Hybrid!au, hybrid!Hoseok, Safe With Me Sequel

Words: 3,347

A/N: Not Okay. See Rant Post. But I’m posting this. So. Happy Halloween. This was the one that got the most attention. I tried really hard to comply with what was requested. I hope you like it.

“Thanks for helping me get ready, Emma,” You said, looking at her in the mirror.

She just grinned back. “Thank you for taking the triplets. They’re so excited for trick-or-treating, and the sleepover. And Jin and I are excited to actually sleep.”

“It was nice of the Jimin and Ariel to take the twins,” You added.

She nodded. “And Yoongi is staying with them with Eunyeong so if there’s something that Ariel can’t handle, he can. I’ll have an empty nest.”

“Empty of children, but still containing your husband,” You pointed out, checking out the twenties hairstyle she’d managed to give you, pulling together your costume. “And aren’t you and Jin going to dinner?”

“Drive in movie. Yes, we’re very excited. There, I think that should do it. Hold your breath.”

You did, closing your eyes as she applied the hairspray.

“Okay.”

You opened your eyes and examined your hair. “This is great! Thank you.”

“No problem, now seriously, I have a question.” She leaned on the back of the chair.

“Oh?”

“Weren’t you and Hobi going to try for kids right away?”

“Oh. Yeah. We were. Did. Are.”

She looked worried and amused, a strange combination that she pulled off well. “Care to elaborate?”

“Well, my medication for the seizures was making things difficult, so we had to find a different medication, and that was around when I started having all those other health issues earlier this summer, and I’ve just recently gotten back to a somewhat healthy state with the medication I’m on now—just in time for me to be working overtime,” You explained, rolling your eyes. “Not to mention Hobi gets so worried about me when I have a bad day that sometimes he sort of forgets that I want to be with him when I’m having a good day.”

“Well, good luck keeping his hands off of you tonight.”

“Is it really that sexy? I got the bigger size so that it would be long enough to cover the worst part of my scar.” You stood up and checked that it was covering. Didn’t look that sexy to you.

“I was referring more to you looking extra gorgeous tonight. This look suits you. I’ll let you finish your makeup and go make sure the kids are ready for tonight.”

You nodded, leaning closer to the mirror to apply lipstick. She’d done your eye makeup since today was one of your blind days for your left eye.

“Y/n? You almost ready?” Hobi called from downstairs.

“Coming!” You called back, blotting the lipstick and then limping towards the stairs as your muscles twinged, protesting you sitting for as long as you had. You were walking a little more normally by the time your reached the bottom of the stairs, though. “Sorry I took so…what? Is there lipstick on my teeth?”

Hoseok was staring at you, eyes huge, ears alert. A grin broke out on his face. “You look fantastic!”

You smiled. “Oh, thank you.”

“Y/n-unnie! You look so pretty!” Nari chirped as she skipped over. She was dressed as a bunny (it was apparently her third year going as a bunny, but she was very insistent), completed with a bunch of carrots hooked on a belt someone had strapped around her, and another that she kept munching at.

“And you look adorable, little bun-bun!” You replied, scooping her up and rubbing your nose against hers.

She giggled. “Jungkookie is gonna be there too, right?”

“Yes, he’s meeting you at the Sanctuary and going trick-or-treating with us, then he and Tae-tae are going to do other halloween things while you, Monnie, and Min-min go to Hobi’s and Y/n’s for a sleepover,” Emma told her, sounding like she must have said it at least a dozen times.

Hoseok was still looking you up and down.

“Hobi-hyung!” Minsu called loudly. “Can we stay up late?!”

You waited for Hoseok to reply that—no, there was no way they were staying up late. You were even under strict orders to make sure they only had three pieces of candy, despite Hoseok’s desire to let them have four.

But Hoseok was still looking at you, as if in a trance.

“Min-min, we’re all going to be so tired after we go trick-or-treating! Why don’t we decide if we want to stay up when it comes time to it?” You finally answered instead as Minsu looked over at Hoseok in confusion.

Minsu shrugged. “Okay! But we’re not taking Kae’s vote! He’s always sleepy!”

“Where is Monnie?” Emma asked, looking around.

“With appa! He put his costume on wrong,” Nari said, then leaned over toward Hoseok. “Oppa!”

Hoseok’s tail was swishing now and then.

You huffed. “Hoseok!”

He blinked and met your gaze. “Hmm?”

“Head out of the clouds,” You told him, looking purposefully at Nari.

“Oh! Sorry, Nari,” He said quickly, taking her and nuzzling up to her. But he kept glancing at you.

You looked him over then snorted. “Nari, why don’t you go grab your stuffed animal and get Minsu to grab his?”

“Okay!”

Hoseok set her down.

You nudged him. “You need to calm yourself down. We’re taking care of them tonight and you can’t have your head in the bed.” You glanced down meaningfully.

He cleared his throat. “Sorry. You just look so ravishing…I just want to—”

You pushed his face away as it got closer. “You really don’t want to have to take a cold shower right before we go out there. It’s cold. Take a chill pill.”

“But I don’t want to,” He muttered, lips on your neck. “I want you.”

“I want you too, but not right now.”

“I want you to have our kits,” He whispered hotly.

You rolled your eyes. “Yes, we’ve established that, and—Hoseok, your mother is literally across the room from us. Please calm down.”

He groaned, finally pulling away.

Emma came over, looking over a list. “Alright, here’s the things you wanted written down about their bedtime routine. It hasn’t changed that much, but Minsu can’t sleep with a nightlight now and Kaemon needs one. Nari doesn’t care either way, in true Nari fashion. Also, they’re at the age where they still want to scent you goodnight, but don’t seem certain that it’s okay, which is ridiculous considering they get scented all day long by whoever happens to be in the house, but it’s probably from school. Apparently there’s a very…precocious little boy running his mouth. Jin and I are meeting with the teacher on Monday. Just one more thing, I think I should mention.”

“Oh?” Hoseok looked surprised.

She gave him a pointed look. “Try not to traumatize my children. They come to your door when you least expect it.”

He nodded slowly. “Yes, ma’am.”

She shook her head, then turned and smiled brightly at Kaemon as he came racing out in a lion costume.

Minsu had the pirate hat on his head now, and Emma quickly got the kids to pose for pictures.

“We should have coordinated,” Hoseok murmured, pressing a quick kiss to your shoulder. “Aren’t you going to be cold in that?”

“I’ve got a coat, besides, this is more because I know Emma wants pictures of us,” You told him. “And it’s fun to be something else for a night. Nice to feel different.”

“Different?” he sounded confused. “Different how?”

“I don’t know, I just feel…really pretty in this.”

“You’re gorgeous,” He whispered. “All the time.”

You smiled at him, and gave him a kiss. “Stop standing on my blind side.”

“Sorry,” He laughed out, switching to your right side and kissing that cheek.

“Nice pictures,” Jin called out, laughing at the surprised look Hoseok got.

Emma looked rather pleased. “Alright, last pictures: Kids go stand with y/n and Hobi.”

They hurried over, giving her big grins along with you.

She set aside the camera, then knelt and opened her arms. “Last hugs!”

They rushed to her.

“Now, I know you’ll be the best-behaved little pups in the world for Y/n. Have fun trick-or-treating, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.”

You sighed wistfully, watching the way the kids looked to her and Jin.

Hoseok’s arm went around your shoulders. “We’ll have our own kids soon.”

You nodded.

“Besides, I know for a fact that they tend to go to each other when they have nightmares these days. I bet we could manage to get some time in together. I mean, y/n is pregnant and they haven’t had any babysitters in quite some time,” He whispered.

You looked up at him, then looked back at her. “How can you tell?”

“Her smell. Plus the way Jin’s treating her. He always knows before she does, and he also knows that she wanted to stop after the twins.”

“Does she know?”

“Hard to say.”

“Is it weird to call someone your mom when they actually aren’t that much older than you?” You asked.

“Eh, sometimes. But…she’s really the only mother I’ve ever known. Jungkook started it. To be fair, he was basically Jin’s kid anyway, and so was Jimin. I just…I was so happy that she let me be part of her family even though I came later than the others.” He growled slightly. “You keep changing the subject.”

“You keep letting me—I will remind you one last time that getting caught with a boner by a six-year-old that asks about twenty-million questions a day is probably one of the worst things you can do today because I’ll sleep with the six-year-olds instead of you.”

“You’re fiesty today, I like it,” He said, a chuckle to his voice.

“You’re persistent. Is this really that attractive to you?” You asked. “Because I could take Emma’s offer of the witch costume instead.”

“Please don’t! I like that you feel pretty in this, because you look so gorgeous in it and you look…confident and sexy, and you’re not scared of letting some of your scars show and I’m just so, so proud of you so please don’t take this away,” He murmured pleadingly, pressing his forehead to your shoulder.

You stroked your fox’s head. “Are my scars really showing?”

“The smaller ones, yeah, but I’m still really, really proud of you.” He pressed kisses along your bare shoulder. “I want you to feel confident. You’re so sexy when you’re confident.”

“You’re getting worked up again and the kids are ready to go,” You murmured pressing a kiss to his temple. “If you’re really good and the kids are sleeping peacefully, maybe we can try.”

He looked at you with an excited grin and bounced toward the kids. “Let’s go have fun!” He scooped up Nari and Kaemon and bounced out the door with them.

You looked down at Minsu, who looked up at you after looking at the suitcase the three of them were sharing. “I’ll get that, Min. Why don’t you run out and hop in the car?”

He nodded, grabbing three stuffed animals that had also been abandoned. “Monnie! Nari! Your stuffies!” He ran out the door.

“They grow up too fast,” Emma murmured.

You nodded sympathetically, flashing Jin a knowing smile before heading outside.

“I didn’t forget you, Min-min!” Hoseok said cheerfully, nuzzling up to the boy. “And there’s no possible way for me to forget Y/n!”

“You were gonna leave without us,” Minsu pouted, but you could tell it was his playful pout.

“What do you mean I’m pregnant?!” Emma’s voice carried out of the house.

“What’s wrong with mommy?” Minsu asked, looking bewildered at her incredulous tone.

“Uhhh….”

Hoseok cleared his throat. “I don’t know. Let’s let dad take care of her.” He quickly plopped Minsu into the car, making sure all three were buckled up before both of you hopped into the front seat, sharing looks a amused fear.

The rest of the evening was spent watching Hoseok, Jungkook, Taehyung, and Namjoon run the triplets until Kaemon was actively hugging onto you to prevent the older ones from sweeping him away into their activities. You didn’t mind Kae hugging onto you, though, since you knew he was one of the best sleepers. Nari was the one who usually had nightmares these days.

Kae really didn’t like trick-or-treating though, and while you were surprised, the others weren’t. Even those living in the Sanctuary seemed to know that Nari and Minsu would be trick-or-treating for their shy brother.

“No Ava tonight?” You asked Namjoon while he stood back with you at one of the houses, looking pretty tired.

“She’s not feeling well.” He took Kae since you were starting to struggle.

Six year olds aren’t nearly as light as five year olds, especially since you were pretty sure Kaemon and Minsu had each grown another two inches since the spring. They were skinny as rails, but they had definitely grown.

Nari hadn’t grown as much.

“Hoseok is looking at you a lot,” Namjoon teased.

“He’s incorrigible.”

“You’re smiling.”

“Don’t tell him. He’s very excitable today.”

“When was the last time you two…?”

You checked that Kaemon was actually asleep. “Two months?”

His eyes widened. “Oh.”

“Yeah, and I think it’s actually been longer.”

“And so, obviously, he gets in the mood to do it the one night you guys have other people in the house.”

“Obviously,” You huffed, shaking your head. “If I’d know that dressing like this was all it took for him to remember that we should have a love life, I would have done it long before now.”

Namjoon laughed quietly.

Hoseok came running over, arms wrapping around you with his ears back and tail wiggling back and forth in excitement. “Hi.”

You giggled softly, reaching up and petting his head, which made him cuddle up to you more and his tail wag even more. “Silly fox.”

“Want to take you home,” He muttered, giving your neck a lick.

“Are the kids done trick-or-treating?”

“Please?” Nari said, looking exhausted from Jungkook’s arms. “I’m hungry.”

Minsu nodded, but he was still hopping with every step he took.

“Alright, let’s get back to the car and you can say goodbye to Jungkook and Namjoon, then we’ll go pick up dinner and head to the house.” You gently pushed Hoseok away, pecking his nose so that he knew you weren’t just rejecting him.

He quickly tucked back in, kissing your neck briefly before whispering. “I think that dress would look good while you ride—”

You shoved him that time. “Walk. Car. You. Maybe take of that coat, you seem a little overheated.”

He laughed, but managed to cheer up Nari and Minsu into racing him to the car, with Taehyung and Jungkook following after to make sure none of them were lost.

You shook your head, glancing at Namjoon, who was extremely amused. “Can I blame Emma and Jin?”

“Sounds good to me,” He replied, walking back to the car with you.

Hoseok had somehow re-energized the two kids with him. “Alright, now we gotta say goodbye to Jungkookie, Taehyungie, and Namjoonie.”

Nari’s smile immediately melted into a tearful face and she latched onto Jungkook’s leg. “Nooooo!”

Jungkook quickly dropped to hug her and pepper her face with kisses.

“Can’t they come with us? Please?” Minsu asked, puppy pout on full display.

Taehyung pressed his hands to his heart with a sympathetic sound.

“They can’t, Min-min. They have other plans,” Hoseok said gently, crouching beside the boy and carefully stroking the boy’s head. “I’m sure they’ll be happy to arrange a sleepover with you guys some other time.”

“Yeah! I’ll talk to Eomma!” Jungkook said bright.

Taehyung was nodding as well, hugging Minsu—who had run into his arms the moment he had crouched and opened them for the pup.

You met the gaze of your man, going closer to him. “I think you might have exhausted them too much.”

He pouted a little.

“Now we have hangry babies, we better feed them quick.”

“I’m gonna be hangry for you,” He muttered, still pouting.

You kissed his lips, then pointed toward Kaemon. “Get the sleepy one first. I’ll get Minsu.”

He nodded, taking the child from Namjoon, nuzzling Kae as the boy emitted a soft whine of displeasure at being detached from the heat source.

You crouched next to Taehyung and Minsu, rubbing the little boy’s back. “Min-min, you’ll probably see them tomorrow.”

“I want them to play tonight,” Minsu whined.

You kissed his forehead. “I know, Min, but they can’t. We’re gonna go get food, though. Hamburgers and french fries.”

He shifted. “No ‘maters.”

“Okay, we’ll make sure there are no tomatoes on your burger,” You told him gently.

He sighed and looked up at Tae.

“Yoongi-hyung, Eunyeong and I are moving closer really soon, and she’s right, I’ll see you tomorrow and we can play then,” He reassured the little one, then glanced at you. “Hey, do you want me and Kook to pick the kids up?”

“Oh, I don’t—”

“We’ll bring pizza and have lunch with you all, and then you and hobi would have the house all to yourselves.”

You glanced over at your boyfriend who was cooing lovingly at Nari as he buckled her in, the little girl crying because she was tired and wanted her “bunny-oppa”.

Jungkook was looking like he might start crying.

“Joonie?” Kaemon’s voice came out scared. “Namjoonie-hyung?!”

Namjoon hurried to the boy, hearing the distress in his voice.

You nodded. “Yeah, it might be a long night.”

As everything continued to descend into chaos, you met Hoseok’s gaze.

Jungkook tugged on your sleeve, holding Nari again. “Me and Tae can change our plans.”

You nodded. “I think you might need to. Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine, the kids are more important.”

Namjoon managed to shift Kaemon over to clinging to Hoseok, gently telling the other two that he had to go and that he loved them, scenting them, and then walking away looking pained. He would definitely be checking in via phone later.

“We walked here from Jiminies, so we can ride in the back seat, if that’s okay?”

You nodded. “Alright, everyone in. Taehyung and Jungkook are coming to sleepover too.”

Hoseok looked disappointed but resigned to his fate.

It was utter chaos until all five children were tucked into the huge pile of pillows and blankets on the floor in your living room and you and Hoseok finally collapsed in your own bed.

“You knew we’d be too tired, didn’t you?” He groaned softly.

“There was a seventy-five percent chance.”

“How’s your leg?”

“Sore. We’re on the wrong sides.”

“Oh, we are. Okay. I can fix this.” He pushed himself up and crawled over to you pulling you farther over onto the bed. He then got mostly on your other side and flopped, draped over you almost completely. “Glad you suggested everyone put their pajamas on. I don’t think I could take another minute to change.”

You shifted so you could kiss him goodnight. “I’ll make it up to you tomorrow night, baby. And you’ll make up the last two months to me tomorrow night as well.”

“Two months?” He propped himself up a bit as he thought, then his eyes widened. “Oh man.”

“You’ve been neglecting me, Seok-seok,” You whispered, pecking his lips again.

He made a sound in his throat that you adored, always made you warm and fuzzy. “I think I know how to fix that.”

“Tomorrow?”

He nodded, going limp on top of you again. “Tomorrow.”

“I’ll wear the shorter dress that I bought on first,” You promised.

“You are very good to me,” He whispered. “Did you take your medicine.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. As much as I love the triplets, lets try to get everyone out by one. Then we’ll have two whole days to do as we please and you might be sore on Monday.”

“Sounds like a treat.”

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