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popculturebuffet · 4 years ago

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Scotrospective: Scott Pilgrim Vs the World (The Comic)

Hello, Hello, Hello scottaholics! And what a beautiful day it is: After decades lost in the lost woods, at least it had that catchy tune to keep it company, Scott Pilgrim Vs the World: The Game is FINALLY back and performing for you on all platforms!

Even Stadia, the platform most likely to disappear like this game did for a while! Cheap shots at the stadia aside as a huge fan of the franchise as a whole and of this game who played it back on the 360, and had since sold said 360 so I had no way to get it back or ever play the dlc packs. Seriously who didn’t want to play wallace but never got to? Everyone, everyone is the answer. But with those the entirety of what I consider to be the main cast is playable, it has online so you can beat up hipsters, guys in costumes and robots with your friends, it’s a good damn feeling. And since i’m in a celebratory mood, naturally i’m also feeling like a review. And since it just so happens the next volume up in my look at the comics is Vs the World, seriously I planned this review for this month without thinking to have it come out on the same day as the game until a week or two in, I felt there was no better way to celebrate the biggest day for Scott Pilgrim fans in some time.. and for Brian Lee O Malley as he’ll stop getting twitter asks about it. So with all the exposition taken care of LAST TIME, and the link right there if your curious, we can jump right in. On with the show!

After our opening titles, and yes this comic has opening titles, with Ramona sitting solmely in the rain.

And Scott caught in the title. The rain shot is real pretty by the way. But yeah once we get past those we’re taken back 7 years ago. Finn found out his father was an asshole, and voiced by Stephen Root so hey you take the good with the bad, Steven just learned the horrifying truth about Gem Monsters, Guardians of the Galaxy saved the MCU and I was trying to find work after college.. wait... sorry sorry that was 7 years ago from THIS year. The comic came out in 2005, though the comic takes place on a sliding timescale where only like 2 years pass so I dunno when this is. Let’s just say 98. Okay so 1998: Bill Cllinton’s sex scandal breaks, and puts way too much of hte blame on the young intern whose life came to be defined by one stupid mistake she made with a man who was way older and should’ve known better, the tide of the Monday Night War turned in favor of the WWF as Stone Cold Steve Austin became a household name, and it was an utterly standup year for video game relaases with Ocarina of Time, Banjo-Kazooie, Crash Bandicoot: Warped, StarCraft, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, WWF: War Zone, Pokemon Stadium, Spyro The Dragon, Pokemon Yellow, WarioLand 2, Oddworld: Abe’s Exodus, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Pokemon: Trading Card Game and Sonic Adventure. It’s like someone took a good chunk of my childhood and squeezed it into one year holy shit, I did not expect this when looking up what came out in 98.

And while the movie pool wasn't’ quite this amazing, we still had The Wedding Singer, The Big Lebowski, the dude abides, Batman and Mr Freeze: SubZero, The Truman Show, Mulan, the good one not the one made near concetration camps that makes her into a demigod, Saving Private Ryan, Blade, Simon Birch, Scooby Doo on Zombie Island, Rushmore, Bride of Chucky, HalloweenTown, Plesantville, and the Prince of Egypt. And in music Weird Al changed from his first signature look to his second, getting Lasik and growing out his hair. Seirously had no idea that was this year. Good to know. Also Elton John got his knighthood. Super shooters. I could go on with 1998 triva for days but I cannot go on for 8 weeks so let’s get to the point here.. during alllla this Scott Pilgrim, age 16, was starting St. John’s Catholic School and a couple of guys who were up to no good started making trouble. . by threatning to beat him up for no real reason. A fight insues and we cut to the principal’s office as Scott’s still a minor and not allowed to get into death fights just yet under the people’s freedom of choices and voices act.

It’s here he meets Lisa Miler, a peppy and sarcastic blonde, who’s intrigued by the fact Scott somehow got beat up after being here just 15 minutes and wants to be friends. Naturally for scott next we see him he’s busy playing video games, and annoyed someone else is around and wondering who this person whose now in his basement is. God no wonder teenage me related to him. So for the next few pages we see their friendship in time lapse: Lisa joins him at lunch, then geninely wonders since Scott’s Untentionally a dick if he hates her.. it’s part of why I think Scott has some form of autisim. And not just because I tend to belivie a character is on the spectrum all the damn time, it’s because of the way he acts: while he is nice and charming at times.. he also clearly has trouble relating to people or realizing how his actions effect them and as seen here in a younger form can often be compeltely distanced from normal social queues, not getting how his actions might be seen until Lisa outright talks to him about it. I mean.. it’s not a huge stretch, and it dosen’t mean he’s nto responsible for his own actions, but it does EXPLAIN a lot of them better: why he just sorta forgets about Knives post-ramona but at the same time still cares enough he dosen’t want to hurt her despite you know, that ship sailing just by having moved on.

But now the two are friends and his parents, who we meet for the first time and sister inquire about her being his girlfirned.. and by next jumpcut his parents apparently don’t want him hanging out with girls? What exactly the fuck? Also they mention Laurence, Scott’s brother whose missing for most of the books and has no real payoff for not being around. Next cut we get KIM!

Thank you Prissy. And she’s.. not all that different, assuming, correctly that their partner project, how she meets scott will just result in her doing all the work.. which not only is how these things usually went when I was in high school a decade later, but reminds me of the time me and my friends curtis and justin were put on a project and when asked who the alied powers were, guessed “Germany?”.... you can understand my fear. And also Curtis punching him for getting nothing done.. and not hard or brutally mind you just once quick in the gut and with full warning. Ah... the adaquate old days.

So back to Lisa as, since Scott’s Mom has a guitar.. a fact I.. never honestly thought about. Seriously I never realized her children, since the Bass Scott has for most of the books is Laurence’s, getting into music was probably due to her. Also Lisa makes her case for WHY be a band: the school has a regular event called Lunchapalooza, where everyone goes to and since by teen logic, just being in a band is automiacally cool, she figures they can jump from not QUITE being in any cliques to being super cool. Which honestly yeah... while I didn’t know any bands in high school, the fact one of my friends, ironically named Scott, was a DJ automatically made him pretty damn cool once he got past his awkard phase. I never got past mine but somehow was loved by all except that one douchey kid in our group who mocked me for naming my Luxray kim, assuming it was based on Kim possible and not Kim Pine... though frankly how that’s an insult when Kim Possible was a fucking awesome show and character is beyond me but he was just 17 and also a douchebag, it didn’t have to make since it just had to piss off the easily pissed off kid with aspergers. So Scott poses how they can be a band with just their guitars and Lisa concedes drums WOULD help.. I mean it’s what MADE Shallow Gravy.

So while Kim wonders if Scott is dating Lisa, because teenagers don’t really get girls and boys can be friends without wanting to be together, though not often as teenage boy brains can be rather stupid and horny... can confrim from personal experince. So it becomes clear Scott has a thing for Kim, and when Scott tries broaching it with Lisa she dosen’t take it well and he backpedals to asking her to be her drummer and plans to monday, proving Scott has somehow not gotten better at reading women, or anyone after 7 years. Can relate.

So yeah he decides to ask Monday, same day as their presentation.. and thankfully missed the bus as he arrives to find the Benvy Tech boys came in, took everyone out and abducted Kim. Because yeah, just in case you were wondering Scott’s life was always like this.. or was it? Questions for later. So one Canadian Version of River City Ransom later, Scott’s made his way to simon... who, since most of you have probably seen the movie or art of the movie.. looks an AWFUL lot like Gideon. Hrmmm. Simon is naturally the final boss here and wonders if this is the best St. Joels can muster. Scott quips back as only Scott can.

So cue an unsuprisingly awesome actoin sequence. IT’s part of why I love these color editions: While they already LOOKED thoroughly fantastic the added colors really help the series shonen manga meets old school video game vibe REALLY fucking pop. So Simon pleads mercy which like Scott delivering a good quip.. should’ve really been a red flag to younger me and is foreshadowing for later in case I was too subtle. He then does what any noble hero would do.. kicks simon into the sunset, tells Kim how he feels and asks her to play drums. They then make out. Awwww.

Lisa suprisingly takes it well as the next montage shows.. granted we’ll learn in Feburary she wasn’t QUITE as over scott as it seemed, but the three, along with a friend of Lisa’s whose name I forgot and who DOSEN’T come back so I’m not going to bother learning, form their own friend group, Scott and Kim get an A, and Scott, Kim and Lisa’s band is dubbed sonic and knuckles, which is an objectively awesome band name. Something the series really does great: Video Game Based Band Names. Crash and the Boys, Sex Bomb-Omb, Clash at the Demonhead... we need more bands like this in the real world dammit. So then they play their big game, the two loose their vrigniity.. and then Kim asks scott “your moving to tornoto?” And.. for now.. that’s that.

While the framing of that will be VERY important in the last volume, as notice how KIM’S the one who brings it up and it’s not explicitly stated scott actually told her, this flasback is great. While it does contribute to the volume’s drifty pacing, more on that as we go, it brilliantly sets up a LOT of stuff for later, paticuarlly Lisa who I assumed wouldn’t be back and younger me’s jaw fucking DROPPED when she popped up in Volume 4. Granted i’m spoiling that suprise for you now but odds are most of you reading this have either alreaddy read these or were probably wondering if the girl from the animated short ever had any actual relevance in the books. So yes, yes she does. She’s also the pink haired girl you see pop up in the game in the background, as a nod to O’Malley’s comic strip style which had her and Kim as the leads. Also yeah for fans of the game or movie or even the comics who were unaware.. this prologue got an animated adaption on adult swim to promote the movie. Naturally Micheal Cera and Allison Pill reprised their roles as Scott and Kim, with Mae Whitman voicing lisa.. and honestly being perfect for the roll, and Jason Schrwartzman voicing Simon naturally. While the animation is slightly limited, it still looks decent and expertly translates O’Malley’s art, while sliming things down slightly where needed to fit a short, and the anmation takes a huge bump for the fight scene which like the comic is short but awesome. While it has no real bearing on the film as Kim’s former relationship with Scott never really comes up or has any impact, as the Film while good was based primarily on volumes 1-3 with small pieces of 4 (paticuarlly the iconic “Lesbians gag”), with Wright working off outlines and drafts of 5 and 6, so the last half hour or so is mostly Wright’s invention.

Not a bad thing as it’s still awesome and not o’malley’s fault but it means kim dosen’t get to do much, and is a big reason why I want an adaptation on netflix or hbo max. While i’d still want changes both because there’s no sense doing an adaptation if your not going to make some tweaks of your own and because it’d be intresting to update the series to modern day, both in societal conventions and so everyone stops saying the r word. Seirously the most telling sign of the series age is that word showing up quite a bit during the first half of the series. Point is there is merit in doing another remix of the story and doing a longer form one so we can get more of the characters, as well as flesh out ones like Steven, Neil (Who was done WAY better in the movie adaptation thanks to the wonderful Johnny Simmons), and Stacey who got the shaft in the books. Again, not slagging off the movie, it’s really great. Just saying there’s always room for more Scott Pilgrim content and we all know it.

We’ll get back to the comic proper, and the present day of 2005, after the cut.

So the story proper opens with Scott dreaming of playing video games... because of course he is with Ramona walking in. and finding it charmingly pathetic but wanting her boyfriend to you know, get out of bed. It’s 11:30. So with Scott’s ass out of bed, we find Scott, Age 23 idiot with a heart of gold and Wallace, 25 king of all gays, on the bus as they talk it getting warmer and Lucas Lee, movie star and jason lee stand in coming to town to film a movie.. and Scott being Scott gets him confused for Luke WIlson. He’s also seen Bottle Rocket which.. good on him. Seriously while not wes anderson’s best film, those were made long afte this comic was published, it’s still a damn good one.. where was his career at this point... looking it up life aquatic was his most recent films and is still one of my favorites. So yeah he was in a good place career wise.

Scott proudly talks about having Ramona over in a couple days so she can see his place and meet Wallace. But as explained by Wallace for those of us just tuning in, he already met her last volume. You know during that time Stacey thought she could magically make her date not be attracted to someone else.. and yes even almost a month later not letting that one go. Stacey should know better. Not saying i’ts right Wallace keeps poaching her boyfriends, but she still shoudlnt’ try and force a relationship with a guy or even finish a date with one who makes out with someone else, regardless of gender, mid date. She deserves better. In general not just in this one scenario but we’ll get to that.

Point is while Scott, as usual, is a bit pissy about this Wallace.. has no time for that and issues an ultimatium

And he’s not bluffing, as he fully intends to tell Ramona the minute she walks in the door if he dosen’t break up with Knives. It really shows Wallace off at his best and why he’s Scott’s closest friend: Kim and Stephen do care about him but Kim both has a LOT of unresolved issues and sexual tension with him and keeps eveyrbody including Scott at arm’s length. And Stephen.. while he will OCASIONALLY call Scott out mostly just enables him, either ignoring his college buddy’s shittier behavior or playing along with it and backing him up when Kim rightfully calls him on being a dickhead. While both love their friend they just aren’t the best at dealing with his shit or getting why he does the things he does good and bad. Wallace on the other hand geninely likes Scott. He’ll lock him out of the house and tell him to sleep elsewhere so he can bang one out, he’ll not wear pants if he dosen’t have to and he’ll certainly hit on Scott just to get a rise out of him, phrasing.. but he also genuinely cares for the guy’s well being. He lets him sleep in their house basically rent free since scott has no money, buys most of their stuff, and is, as we’ll see in this one, the ONLY one of his friends to take an active part in the fight against the exes, training Scott and researching his opponents when he can get info. He won’t baby Scott as seen here, but he will help him, and he will be the harsh voice of reason his friend needs. And he did TRY doing a softer approach last time, simply telling scott to break up with his fake high school girlfriend. Scott had every chance to dump Knives during the last third of the first book.. it’s just a combination of both Knives and Ramona being in the same place and Scott getting panicky meant he balked. He NEEDS to be pushed into leaving Knives or he’s not gonna. And he also gets it’s not just Scott being a shifty coward: Scott DOES like Knives.. he just found someone who actually challenges him, intrests him and connects with him on his level, versus someone who worships and adores him like a puppy who just happens to be skilled with knives. The relationship with Knives. was an ego boost, an unequal paring that gave Scott the illusion of moving on from Envy. Ramona is him ACTUALLY moving on and given how badly Envy fucked him up, which comes into play in this book and the next, Wallace recognizes that Scott does need her... but this relationship can’t go anywhere if Scott is seeing someone else, and they both know it. Wallace is just the one who’s willing to do something about it to force scott to do something about it. He’s doing this for Knives too: it’s very clear he cares about the girl, was against this from the start, and knew this was going to end in pain and the faster Scott rips off the Band-Aid the faster she can move on to someone closer to her age and far more equal to her. Scott.. takes this about how you’d expect, even calling Double Standard, as Wallace does sleep around.. and while Wallace will be a homewrecker to Stacey.. otherwise it’s not remotley the same. Wallace does his sleeping around either casually or when he does get a partner, with their consent from what we can tell. He never cheats or anything, he just likes to bone. So yeah Scott doesn’t have a leg to stand on and acts accordingly.

One of my faviorite gags in the series and one that’s etched in my head for keeps. So with a justified Ultimatium over his head Scott calls knives to hang out. Knives.. shows off that as adorable and trusting as she is.. she’s also kind of creepy and shows up just outside the phone booth he’s calling her from. So the two go to a record store and Knives tries to get Scott into Clash at the Demonhead, her faviorite band. But since i’ts you know, headlined by Scott’s ex as we’ll find out, he’s not into it. But before that can get awkward.. it gets awkward in another way as Knives invites Scott to dinner at her parents place. Which is an objectively bad idea even before you get into the fact Scott wants a way out and as Volume 4 will show us her dad is both not happy with the idea of her dating a white guy and willing to use a katana to prevent it so he dodged a bullet there. Scott TRIES weasling out of it, but his “I’m too old for you” thing falsls on deaf ears.. and actually explains why she thinks this is normal: her parents are 9 years apart. of course obviously two consenting adults with a decade between them is a mite bit diffrent than 5 years between a teenager whose taking this way too seriously and a grown man whose taking this not seroiusly at all and dosen’t get how effed up this is. But Knives is too naive to get that, and papers over any possible concerns about her parents not wanting her to date a white guy with i’m in love. Seeing that he has no EASY way out of this, as he shouldn’t, Scott just rips off the band aid and bluntly breaks up with her, saying it’s not going to work out. Knives.. is clealry devistatd. To her this was a serious relationship.. and Scott realized that too late.. and thankfully while he didn’t break up with her in the best way, at all, simply syaing i’ts not going to work out and confirming to her he means it, it’s clear from his face this hurts to do and he knows he’s REALLY hurting her and REALLY shoudlnt’ of dated her to begin with. IT’s why Scott dating a teenager dosen’t make him a morally rephrenisvie monster: because he was genuinely intrested, didn’t use her sexually, and there are tangible consequences for his actions. Knives just dosen’t disappear neatly into the sunset so he can be with ramona. The rest of the series covers her emotoinal recovery from being with Scott, and how she very horribly handles it and that’s why this plotline works at all: she’s not some act one contrivance to be thrown away, sh’es a human being, and more than that a young woman who got hurt REALLY bad and got way too in over her head with someone who just..wasn’t the one fo rher no matter how much she can’t admit that.

We also get one of my faviorite sets of pages as Scott relfects on things and the sheer devistation on Knives face, which credit to a series that even at this early point loves it’s big bold facial expressions.. her’s being more subded just makes it sting MORE.

This bit to me is vital to keeping Scott sympathetic and to his character. We see he really does regret what happened, dosen’t know how to process it and genuinely feels awful. As I said instead of some exgerated face that would still hurt him.. her face is quiet, clearly unable to process this and clealry lost and hurt.. and that hurts more than any fuck your or sobs he was probably expecting. Just her clearly not getting WHY he’s doing this or why he hurt her, and he KNOWS why he just knows telling her the truth would hurt her even more. But.. as he thinks.. his thoughts move to something else.. and the WHY of why he did this.

He did it for Ramona. Wallace was as harsh as he was right: he needed a clean slate to actually give this relationship a shot and the smile comes off less as him being a calous dick whose just happy to move on, I mean he is a little, but more jus tsomeone READY to finally move on. He found the right person, he let the wrong one go if clumsily.. he has a future to look forward to and he can smile about that.

Granted he’s still his usual unteitonally callous self and his way of telling his friends he and knives broke up is to casually say so and say “dont’ worry you’ll meet my new girlfriend soon.” Their reaction.. is my own.

Look just because Scott is a nuanced douchebag dosne’t stop him from being a Douchebag. It just means he isn’t intolerable to watch and you actually care about him growing as a human being is all.

So with that out of the way, it’s date night and Ramona is coming over.. also Scott is considering calling her Ramy which no. I'm genuinely in favor of a pet name that’s just a variant on someone’s name but a bit cute, as it’s just the right level of obnoxious, but no, just no Scott. No. Ramona enters, meets Wallace again and sits down while Scott tries to shoo him out.. because turnabout is fair play bitch. They also see Ramona’s new hair as she dyes it something new for the first time, in this case a very lovely two tone, the purple from last volume but with a darker purple bellow it. I honestly wish she went for multiple colors in her hair again, but likely didn’t since the book was originally in black and white... which still dosent’ make sense as it would’ve been EASIER that way. Regardless Wallace makes himself scarce proving that he’s more than willing to be equal in terms of one of them spending the ngiht elsewhere. What a guy.

Ramona finds out a few things about Scott: That his apartment is VERY small, just one room with a bed, a cabinet, a small kitchen and a bathroom, which despite what scott says I REALLY dont’ count as another room. Just common sense. She also learns that he can COOK. Yeah while you’d expect Scott to just get a wad of “I did the ultimatum thing okay now gimme” money and buy dinner but no.. he made the whole thing himself from his own recipe. And once we cut to them eating on the floor.. turns out yeah he not only can cook but is REALLY good at it. She wishes there was a table which, small as the place is.. fair point. I mean at least get some tv trays. You have chairs. Or at least the easy chair. You can get nice padded folding chairs so you have a second chair guys. I know your poor but come on. Also Scott leanrs bread makes you fat. Good stuff. Also Scott freaks out when , while making out with Ramona in bed later, she mentions his hair’s getting kinda long and could use a cut... which turns out to be a thing for him. He isn’t an ass about it he just panics a bit because he’s partially convinced his last relationship’s nightmarish breakup was because of a bad haircut he got. As we’ll see next week, that’s a no but as someone whose a touch neroutic myself I get blaming a larger issue on something trivial.

So we then get to the next chapter where it’s KIM’S turn to have a dream.. and the only time we see someone else's dreams. Honestly.. I really would’ve liked if it was a recurring device, even have Ramona pop into other people’s Not used ALL the time but I could easily see it being used with Knives to convey her obsession with Scott and her pain or kim again to help move her plots along or Wallace because I want to know what’s going on in his head. It must be a maze of male gentalia and fine liquor the likes of which has never been seen. It’s scotts funeral as Simon killed him and Scott’s corpse wonders if she dreams about this a lot.

So we see her get ready and wake up her roomate Sarah whose a bitch. And as we’ll see in one of the backups, so’s the rest of her roommates. So drifting into work. Hollie is a character I really liked... the past tense will be explained later. And the first scene is probably why as her and Kim banter effortlessly, with Kim suggesting maybe she was a happy kid... only to admit quickly no she wasn’t, she was pretty withdrawn and then pretty angsty over someasshole who will be named Scott. “Your a holy terror kim, and i’m glad your on your side”> It’s a short scene but the kind this series excells at: just realistic, fun little exchanges bursting with character. I also GENUINELY wish we got more of this kind of thing, as only Knives really gets these kind of scenes to herself for the most part. There ARE scenes without Scott, but not enough like this that just give us as look into what his friends lives are like during the moments they aren’t putting up with his dumbassery or watching him engage in mortal combat. It’s why i’ve been hoping a spinoff will happen even though it likely won’t SOON. I’m sure O’Malley will return to this world some day, but between Snotgirl and Wicked World, which will come out when it’s ready but should be good.. he’s just really busy. But i’d love to see more of Kim.. or Wallace or Knives. The latter two are a no brainer: Knives is the tritagonist of the books, and it’d be intresting to see what she’d be like 5 years at the book, at the same age and stage in life as Scott. And with Wallace it’s because we really DON’T see his friend circle, life or what goes on with him. We hear him talk about a new boyfriend, who we don’t meet until near the end of the series, though you can see him in stage 3 of hte game if your curious, we see him with some random friends in volume 4, but we really don’t KNOW what hyjinks and lojinks wallace gets up to. He’s pretty isoalted from the rest of the main cast, something I hope an adaptation could fix as while realistic i’td be curious to see what his relationship with Kim or Steven would be like. Just food for thought.

Point is this was a good scene. But as is typical for Kim’s life just when she has some serenity her ex crashes back in. In this case Scott needs to rent some movies, kim works at a rental store and god teenage me really wanted a clerks style spinoff.. but enough spinoff talk. Scott asks kim to bororw them, of course and explains he’s training for his fight with Lucas.. which Kim reacts to finding out her second best friend is in a series of death matches.

She has understandable questions such as how the hell doe she know that and is he stalking Lucas and just hoping he’s an ex.. which let’s face it would be a very scott move. But nope Wallace told him, likely learning in an interview he dated Ramona or is coming for scott because he knows everything. We also get one of my faviorite exchanges when Kim wonders why Wallace and Scott are roomates.. a valid question he deflects by saying i’ts a long story.

Also yeah, as much as casting Micheal Cera backfired for the movie.. that panel there proves there wasn’t another choice at the time. When you want a loveable, somewhat douchey, but also somewhat innocent and oblivious slacker.. who you gonna call. Also before we move on.. Kim.. how are you this suprised. You were there for the fight with Matthew. And Ramona giving out the exposition on why he’s there.. and you even did that whole weird space channel 5 thing no one ever did agian and to this day I will never understand what O’Malley was going for and only know the refrence by hearing that’s what it was. Point is you shouldn’t be this suprised. Anyways we next cut to Ramona and Stacey, as Ramona enters her workplace, second cup, and they talk and Scott’s spider sense goes off...

I mean it’s just a bad feeling but still.. weird. WE’ll get back to that later. Scott is in the middle of his training.. and I love the mentor side of Wallace and feel it didn’t get used enough as the series went on. As said before he cares about Scott, so he serves as his Shounen Mentor and a great one: he’s stern and makes Scott work, but he also gets his student and what Scott needs to work. I just wish he’d taught Scott some actual combat, but as we see Wallace’s combat skills boil down to yelling useless info from the sidelines.. I mean he can be useful, we’ll see that next week, it’s just he’s not an action guy. But spirtually he’s the guy scott needs to kick his ass into shape. That being said his “training” consists of watching Lucas’ movies, playing tony hawk and when Scott wants to play more Tony Hawk, having Scott do pushups while Wallace plays Tony Hawk. Before we turn... there is an elephant in the room I just gotta shoo out: Lucas.. is easily the worst setup of the 6 exes. Patel SEEMINGLY comes out of nowhere but his letter and email hint SOMETHING is coming up, and his flashy dynamic entry intro is damn cool and is what turns the series on it’s head, from an indie comic about a guy getting it together.. to that but with huge shonen dustups with epic visuals. Todd is introduced masterfully here, and is a presence from the start of volume 3 as a result, Roxie gets a slight tease in the free comic book day issue, and her not attacking for two months not only sets up tension but allowed for a red herring.. im’ not only hiding that the fourth ex is a she because anyone whose seen the movie or played the game knows the fourth ex is a woman. The cat’s out of the bag, no sense hiding it. The Kentangis show up pretty early on and Gideon is hinted at and built up, as this towering, mysterious figure, his relationship with Ramona, who he is, why he set up the league, and just how fucking strong he is is all obscured, with his only four apperances simply teasing the big final showdown and giving him that much more mysitque.

Lucas.. is just sorta intorduced like “Hey I gotta fight this guy”. There’s just.. nothing. Scott’s just gotta fight him because he’s next up and Wallace knows that because plot convience. It’s VERY lackluster given what comes before.. and frankly while I like Lucas, he’s the weakest plot and character wise. HE’s not even really EVIL, just a sellout and is more doing this because he has to I guess, and likely because of stuff we find out in Book 6 but sssssshhhhh. We’ll get more into that when the fight happens but it’s one of the books weakest points. The evil ex.. just feels like an afterthrought again despite there being no reason to. Thankfully this would never happen again as I said, but it dosen’t make this any less frustrating.

So we cut to Sex Bomb-Omb practice, and after that we get more tease for Clash at Demonhead. And Stephen.. is cool with them and entirely happy one of them made it, while Scott is understandably pisssed off about it and not happy one of his best friends is you know, promoting the band of his ex who broke his heart and as we’ll get more into next time, said rising career is what tore them apart. So yeah Stephen’s a dickhead, and I was wrong last time that he got better. He really.. dosen’t. He gets less CREEPY.. but out of the main 6 characters he’s the weakest: he dosen’t have much of an arc, does some very questionable shit in the second half, and his being around means we have to suffer through Julie. I’ll tear into him more on a case by case basis but for once Scott’s not overreacting. While Kim does nothing she also has no idea just HOW bad things were and Scott won’t tell her. Stephen was there the whole fucking time. He just saw Scott’s rebound with a teenager. He knows he was kind of messed up after this. Dosen’t justfiy knives but still he looses the moral high ground he tries to have at times.

So while Scott shops a song for Ramona to her, Knives calls Scott’s place clearly setting up another suprise apperance. Wallace.. figures out what sh’es doing quick and simply gives her a stern “You have to go” And to me it’s not him being a dick.. he’s both trying to save her from seeing Scott with Ramona and fucking her up worse... and is looking out for her. She needs to move on and moving up to stalking Scott’s not going to help that. Scott dosen’t WANT her anymore, and while he handled it bad, Wallace gets she needs to see that. Granted he could’ve you know explained it to her and tried talking, but as i’ve said he’s not a perfect person and he was also on a time table to get her out of there in case Scott you know, showed up with his new girlfriend and made things a billion times worse. And the two are indeed headed to his place to watch one of Lucas’ movies, and part of that weak setup is that Ramona.. just has no connection with him. It was high school. Scott also pretends he dosent’ remember his. You are a lying liar sir stop that. So they watch the film together hanging out, and it’s.. really bad. The good one was rented out. I miss rental stores.. a magical time. I mean i’ts better now, streaming means 80% of movies are avaliable if you have a bunch of services and even if you just have netflix or hulu or hbo max, you still get a pretty decent selection each month. Plus digital rentals are super easy. Do miss redbox though. I mean it’s still there I’m just warry of something that relies so heavily on touching things in a state with a lot of trump morons. You CAN get Covid twice and I don’t wanna. Also we get some dated Dialouge as Scott commenting on Lucas being hot, he is good taste Scott, is given a “good job convincing me your not gay”. He and ramona end up having sex though so .. yay? I dunno. The series has a really weird thing about not getting bisexuals exist and as someone whose bi, and really against bi errasure it bothers me, it bothers me a lot. Though given O’Malley apparently has not only far more queer rep in snotgirl but a bisexual lead, he’s clearly learned so i’m not going to drag him too hard on this. It was the early 2000′s. People were pretty damn stupid about this. Creators have gottten MUCH more important issues much worse.

So the next morning, Scott gets a call from his well meaning but ditzy mom, and reacts like you’d expect. His parents are in Europe to keep them out of the action and what not. Though apparently according to the last book his mom did read volume 3 at least. Or Wallace told her about the relevant bit. You make the call.

So i’ts Ramona’s turn to meet Sex Bomb-Omb. The group hang out and discuss Gordon Downie.

Look I don’t know indie bands. I have no idea who the tragically hip are I just know the name is really hipstery. We also get the recipe for Vegan Shepards Pie. None of them are vegan they just wanted to try it and I.. really want to make this some time. Just to see if it’s any good. But yeah it’s in general a fun casual scene, as Kim reveals she and Scott dated, just to break the tension, and Scott tries out Rammy but quickly backpedals. Just fun slice of life stuff. Oh and Knives is watching them from the window and takes Scott dating someone else as well as you’d expect.

So she gets some hair bleach to do some highlights and calls her friend Tamara over. We met her last volume as she dragged her along to the show, but it’s here we really get to know what she’s like.. i.e. the sane one in the duo, rightfully pointing out Scott’s not that great. Also Knive’s points out ramona’s “fat”, which is thankfully portrayed as petty sniping as while Ramona does have some curves it’s you know.. not remotely a bad thing and the kind of thing a teenage girl would harp on. Still she’s just in STEPS from this happening.

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But yeah.. it’s clear here Knives has some underlying issues to address and really needs therapy not to go after her ex’s current girlfriend with knives. I mean it’s in the name but still. Then again volume 4 has her dad going around with a katana or something like it wanting to murder her daughter’s older ex boyfriend he dosen’t realize is ex so it’s clear her whole FAMILY needs some therapy. But this does round her out and show there’s more to her.. a pretty violent and obessive side sure, but it shows she wasn’t just some one dimensional ego boost for scott but a person. One whose just as flawed as the rest of the cast.. but more sympatheic because they’ve all got about 6 or 7 years on her and at this age that’s a lifetime. And while Scott DID set this off by dating her which was objecitvely a bad idea... the rest of this isn’t remotely on him. He handled things BAD.... but all he wanted was for both of them to move on. Knives.. simply can’t admit Scott is not a nice person, was probably two timing her as Tamara points out, which as we know he 100% was, and is not some perfect guy she can’t replace: like Knives.. he’s just a person with faults and she’s too blind to see that.

So before we can get to the crazy stalker ninja fight, let’s instead get to Scott and Ramona hanging out where we meet Gideon, Ramona’s Cat who i’ll call Cat Gideon, both because I love steven unvierse and because it’s less confusing. This is a pretty slight scene as Ramona admits not a lot happened with Lucas and Scott’s apartment is a hole.. which yeah, yeah it is. Also she DEFINTLY dind’t cheat on him with any cocky pretty boys. Which would come off worse if it wasn’t for the pact Ramona was clearly doing it out of regret and Scott just liked like 50 pages ago about rembering his exes when one of them is his second best friend.. which neither would admit but you know it’s true. Stephen is third where he belongs.

So next morning it’s fight time, and Scott is glad wallace is going with him. It’s awkard going to fights alone. Which leaves me to wonder if before this comic Scott just.. fought random guys letterkenny style. Like they’d call up, schedule it and then he and one or more of his friends would go beat up a guy. It’s just.. hilarious knowing that this kind of thing is common in canda minus the ki attacks , flash effects, wizards, vegan psycics, ninjas, and roboticists. But damn I now want a scott pilgrimized letterkenny now more than ever. You know you do too don’t deny it. I”d love to see the hard right jay fight but iwth a loud “KO!” when he gets his ass knocked out. Also Casa Loma is a very real, very cool Toronto location, as I never realized as a kid, to the point that the lucas fight was filmed there for the movie.

So Scott approaches Lucas a bit star struck and upon finding out scott is.. punches him out as seen in the header image and throws him into a tower. When Scott regains conciousness, Kim and Neil have arrived and Lucas calls a time out. And it’s here we get to, while being the weakest of the 7, why I like Lucas.. he’s actually a pretty nice guy. At WORST he sold out. But the two have a pretty nice conversation over ritz and baby carrots, with it turning out, unsuprisingly Ramona did cheat on him with a cocky pretty boy, and while like Ramona he’s clearly moved on, it still hurts a bit and understandably so. He also warns scott while she might seem nice i’ts an act.

I mean it isn’t ALL an act, but she does have a tedency to put up walls and act pretty badly as we’re slowly finding out.. though given Scott does the exact same it only means.. she’s human. She’s not MUCH higher above him in terms of morality and this is where we get our first peaks into the fact the series isn’t just about Scott’s development but hers. But it’s understandably absent from volumes 1 and 2 since we need to know her first, and this volume is about getting to know her a bit and get a feel for who she is, something I ddin’t really get a grip on as a teen, but do now. We see more of who she is good and bad as the walls go down. She’s more SURFACE LEVEL functional than scott, but beneath it has a lot of the same exact issues. Lucas and Scott continue to GENUINELY bond, as Scott genuinely thinks the guy is talented and Lucas want’s an Oscar this year.. maybe not for the current film which is a romantic comedy with a teen star but hey, stars have done far worse in their Oscar years. I mean at least he’s not making a comedy about himself in a fat suit domestically abusing himself in a wig while he also plays an asian sterotype. He explains he almost didn’t get into the league but felt too important to ramona’s past.. plus he looks cool. Plus they let Patel in despite barely being in a relationship with her and being kind of a tool so they kinda had to let the handsome affiable movie star in. Scott wonders “wait league” and Lucas is understandably frustrated to find out Patel just sent a letter Scott didn’t read.. and at Matthew let’s be clear. I mean.. Gideon has to have known Scott wouldn’t read that since he’s been in his head. We’ll get to that in part 6. Point is they formed a league, hence why their organized enough to come after him like this and Scott understandably glares at Wallace for you know, having him play tony hawk and watch movies yet missing the fucking obvious clue they were all working together and they were only coming at him one at a time by choice.

Lucas offers to just.. take a bribe and SAY Scott beat him, Scott calls him a sellout jokingly and Lucas proves that while not AS bad as the rest of the League, he’s still a dick by telling him to kiss ramona’s sweet ass goodbye pilgrim. Okay either he’s seen her since high school or he’s fondly remembering a high schooler’s ass. Neither one is nice to think about. But Scott gets out of his ass beating by pointing out a ramp, real thing too used for the movie, and asking him to skate down it. Lucas says i’ts impossible, and Scott just whistles. So Lucas tries skating the impossible and dies via velocity. Yes really. Scott collects his change and gets a gift, a mytryil skateboard he.. can’t use because he dosen’t have a proficency for it and bemoans not picking it up in 5th grade. Also he didn’t get his autograph. He does get some coins though so neat. Yeah I mentioend Lucas was the least of the exes and I stand by it: He’s an intresting character, not a GREAT person but clearly a charming and nice enough guy who likely offered the bribe not because he’sd a sell out but because he genuinely liked scott, and is easily the best adjusted of the exes. But obviously a near non existant setup and a really hilarious and unsastifying finish just.. don’t really feel sastsifying. I mean i’t slampshaded, but after all the build up of her having 7 evil exes, the next one is just..filler. Not BAD, but not really anything special and giving Scott a an early pokemon victory, but unlike ash having done nothing to really DESERVE it. Thankfully both adaptations so far VASTLY improved on this. While Lucas is still affiable in the movie he’s also smarmy, if on better terms with Ramona, saying “he seems nice” after the tower throw and throwing in some stunt doubles. His fight goes from one of the least satisfying and weakst of the series, to easily one of the best of the movie. We’ll talk about that more there but obvious Chris Evans version is far superior, keeping the good traits while giving us an intresting fight.. and still keeping the skateboard death because it’s fucking hilarious and the movie improves on THAT too by having scott give flat wows as he slowly dies. The game likewise keeps teh skateboard death, if shortening it, and the skateboard, and while not changing his apperance does make him a hell of a tough boss. Took three tries and some online grinding to take him out. Still a hell of a fight. Point is while I genuinely like Lucas story wise.. this just dosen’t work for me and is pretty damn weak, even if it gives us some godo character insight we could’ve got that, and a fight and still had the finish we did.

That being said.. we DO get a fight instead, likely why the Lucas fight was so truncated. Next chapter and that evening or the next day or whatever, we pan over the real life tornto refrence library. It is a VERY nice touch thatt the comic and it’s adpations use either real places in toronto or reasonable subsittues. While not canadian myself I love the place and hope to visit Tornoto some day when the world isn’t a living nightmare and it’s really nice that like New York for Marvel, Brian Lee O malley really makes the city feel integral to the comic, like it’s own character. But Knives is ominously perched above. At second cup Scott is horrified to find Julie. Seconded. Julie takes the moment to give out to scott about him dating Ramona despite telling him no. Okay...

Yeah as you can probably guess I don’t like Julie. She’s not a good character. The movie did her better, with the bleeping gag and aubrey plaza’s performance, but in the comic.. she’s just the worst. She sucks bad. If she were an ice cream flavor she’d be pralines and dick. While she’s fine on OCCASION, and actually works in the next volume, outside of that she just gets more unplesant, more unlikeable, more bitchy, more unfathomabbly assholish every. damn. volume. I”ll give out about that a bit then too but I have to put up with her for the entire damn comic. Now her being bitchy to Scott is fair to a point: Scott is a mess, and she’s loyal to Envy in the breakup, and Scott’s own friends drag him on a daily basis. The problems are that she’s like that to EVERYONE, even Knives who isn’t about to stab her much as i’d like that. She’s unberable to Stephen whose tolerance for her is unfathomable, though the ending bits of volume 6 show maybe he just has terrble taste. She’s just a throughly unplesant, social climbing bitch who thinks she’s better than everyone. And it sticks out badly against the main cast; Scott is very bad with women and relating to people, but is also nice, charming and most of the damage he does is not intetional. Ramona puts up walls to keep others out but is also a responsible adult and often cuts through Scott, and at times others, internal bullshit. Wallace is an alcholic, but still a very responsible, very loveable guy who clearly cares about scott and supports him finacially and emotionally. Kim is VERY emotionally distant, very misntrhopic.. but also a good person who as we see as the series goes, has an inner light to her and often drags on Scott because she’s been putting up with his shit the longest and WANTS him to be better. Knives is an obessive and violent stalker.. who was also deeply hurt by an older man, dosen’t GET that her realtionship with scott was wrong and uneven, and is clearly not emtoinallyr eady for the deep feelings she’s having. And Stephen.. well he’s a talented guitarist but also enables scott and julie. Especially him enabling Julie.

Point is their all pretty well rounded, llikeable characters with flaws. Julie.. is just an ass. And this scene demonstrates that with flying colors. While Scott does ignore her because he’s too worried about his sister and girlfriend becoming friends, understandably given Stacey knows all his dark secrets, Julie spends two pages giving out and treating scott like some bad guy for persuing Ramona against her orders. And i’m going to break down why.. this dosen’t work.. on any level for her. 1) Ramona is not Julie’s property. She’s a big girl with her own free will. They aren’t even remotely close: Julie met her only barely before Scott, and given the dream thing probably not even that. And you could say Julie is just looking out for her... she dosen’t know Ramona well enough to KNOW if Ramona is still smarting over Gideon. She probably was.. but she readily, once the awkwardness passed, went out with scott and dove right into the relationship. While there’s still some scars as we’ll see.. she CHOOSE to move on and that’s her choice. If she wasn’t ready, she woudl’ve turned him down or broke it off by now realizing it was a mistake. 2) Scott has no reason to listen to her. She hates his ass, somewhat justifably but still, she hates him and has been against him since fucking colllege. She took his exes side in the breakup despite Envy still being partly in the wrong but paints him as some abusive dickhead and not just an insesntive dickhead. To him he’s just some villian she needs to reign in for her cool friend who wants nothing to do with her and grows to justifably hate her over time. Scott and Julie TOLERATE each other. They are not friend,s they do not like each other and never will. They are around each other because of Stephen. That is it. If Kim , Wallace or Stephen had asked, or at least made him wait for kinves. he probablyw ould’ve or at least considered it since while they take the piss out of him, they genuinely care about him and actually have shown they care about something other than themselves! Speaking of which the cou de gras 3) She’s a selifsh bitch: She is NEVER not in any volume seen as out for anyone but herself, and thus scott has no reason to trust her judgement. She berates Stephen, him and anyone who will listen, is only so loyal to envy because she’s famous, and as I said treats EVERYONE like dogshit. And given Scott is still a very flawed guy.. it takes a LOT for him to be so right and he runs out screaming when Julie mentions her.

So back at the library, Ramona brought Stacey along because the place is a maze. Scott calls Stephen and calls julie evil.. which given the last two paragrahs. Yeah. She is. She really is. But that goes nowhere as he dosen’t have Stacey’s number. He also thinks Julie was responsible for this which while she’s very much not.. would it REALLY be that suprising that if Julie were there she would’ve introdcued the two and set up their little hangout just to piss scott off? God I’m so sick of talking about her.

So the two after dropping off Ramona’s package decide to hang out a bit.. not long as Ramona’s got shit to do, but hey I agree with her logic i’m curious about this palce too. But before they can go up an elevator Ramona spots incoming.. and thus we get the fight of the volume. Though given the next one has two climatctic fights and one or two before that, they easily could’ve had both.. this is still the highlight of the volume. So Ramona snaps off a railing and before Stacey can give out about that she finds out WHY as Knives attacks with a pair of sais. And O’Malley did his homework as while you’d THINK it was just another dumb white person mistake.. O’Malley is asian, thoughw ether he’s candaian korean or canadian chineses, as his last name is korean but he has a large chinese cast in this very comic that might come from experince, I do not know and if you do know tell me. I’d like to refer to him properly as I don’t LIKE lumping all asian cultures into one basket. But not only that he did his home work, as Sai’s, while popularized in Okinawa Japan, were also used in other countries. I bring this up since I assumed it was just a simple mistake even knowing Brian was mixed-race, and was plesantly suprised to fine that know, I was the moron. And i’m fine with admitting that.

So we get a damn good fight.. and Knives figures out Scott WAS cheating on her. Granted she assumes so due to seeing Ramona at the refrence Library, before he actually cheated and clearly blames Ramona for it, but still, it fucking hurts. Plus while her attacking Ramona, who initally assumes she’s gideon’s doing, which.. yeah sending a teenage assasian just to mess with her head does sound like him. So while Stacey does complain “ramona you can’t just tear out art objects” to which I say... yeah high, Stacey? NOT THE POINT RIGHT NOW SCOTT’S EX IS TRYING TO KILL HER. SHE’S DEFENDING HERSELF. So we get one hell of a fight. It not only shows off that Ramona is one hell of a fighter herself, as is knives, but just how immature knives is, resorting to constnat fat jokes and taunts showing just how immature she is.. and unlike volume one where it was endearing and we just saw how sweet she was here it just comes off as mean, bitter, and uncomfortable. But again part of the series biggest charm is the main cast are all well fleshed out and throughly human. She’s doint this because she dosen’t know better and was raised in a house where, again as volume 4 will bear out, finding out her dad is going after scott with a samurai sword just warrants a “dad’s are so weird aren’t they” my point is her frame of refrence is a mite skewed. Plus this is a world where everyone but Stacey just calmly accepts big shonen fights break out, so it’s not that unsuaul to want to settle things with a fight and while i’ve joked about her killing Ramona we genuinely don’t know that was the goal> Could’ve been, easily given murder is peachy in this setting and just leads to a respawn according to O’Malley and would’ve just sent ramona back to her apartment. But I genuinely don’t think she has it in her to do it and while she could’ve planend to, she never would’ve. Plus Ramona easily leads the fight as while Knives uses hit and run tactics and tries make her follow.. Ramona is more annoyed than anything as she has shit to do. Knives only gets one hit in and while i’ts a pretty nasty scratch on the cheek, if thankfully not scarring.. Ramona shrugs it off when she brags about it and easily takes knives down with a potted tree. Knives runs and while she tells herself it’s to fight another day.. its really because her opponent was WAY stronger and way more ready for something like this than she probably planned on. She did defintely want a fight, she just wasn’t prepared to be outmatched so handily. It’s also a nice parallel to last book’s fight: Like with Scott and Matthew, while the fight SEEMS pretty even, in reality our hero/heroine was alwasy teh one in control and easily took care of the less experinced and less ready upstart, who likely wasn’t expecting a fair fight much less to loose.

So Ramona and Stacey wisely get out while Stacey explains Knives is indeed Scott’s ex, though is unaware of the cheating thing. Speaking of Scott he’s playing sonic and knuckles, and in fact kept wallace on the line before just to get advice because of course he did hence why stacey didn’t get through to him, but gets a call... from Envy.

This is easily the second best sequence in the boook, which was lovingly and wonderfully adapted to film and as a result I cannot read it without hearing Brie Larson’s voice for Envy , a nice mixture of seduction and condescension. It’s CLEARLY painful fo rhim, and we do get some things established as Envy toys with him, that it’s been about a year and that she left him for a cocky pretty boy, familiar.. and while Scott claims to not know what he looks like.. given Todd is clearly on her band cover... it’s not exactly hard to put two and two together. So after some awkard catchup and Scott telling her about ramona against his will, we get to the reason she’s here with Scott understanndbly being supscious and calling her a user.. which while Envy denys.. she ends up admitting to. She’s coming to town as estalbished and her opening act backed out, and since Scott has a band, and one that 2/3 of which she knows, she wants them to open for her. Scott naturally isn’t too intrested and thinks it’s just pity. The sequence. is masterful, using a watchmen style 9 by 9 panel layout and intercutting scott’s pained reactions and clear lack of comfort with flashes of envy on her side.. never showing her proper, but showing his memories or what he’s seen in magazines. It’s really striking and really sells the sheer discomfort Scott’s going through. So soon after Wallace gets home.. and finds Scott, drained and miserable on the floor, not even responsive. And this really is the scene that shows me that Wallace cares for the guy and cements that asshole he may be, he loves his buddy. He goes through possible scenarios that fit scott: Food poisoning, finding out Wallace saved over his final fantasy save (though he rules it out as last time that happened he was crying), that ramona dumped him.. before Scott let’s out a pathetic and miserable “Ennnnnvvv”. Wallace , who was at ground zero for that relationship as we’ll find out, realizes this and lets out a little shit, unsure how to help and pissed off at that bitch for once again hurting him like this. As I said it shows how Wallace knows scott in and out and loves him dearly.. and how he knwos about this paticuarly heartbreak better than anyone but Scott and Envy themselves. IT’s just a really tearjerking scene, as we get a sense of WHY scott spiraled into an ego boost of a relationship: His last one REALLY tore him in half, and he’s still not completely healed from the emtional bisection.

So Scott gets more bad news next chapter as Stacey tells him about the fight and he’s worried he’s going to loose ramona on top of this. I mean he desrves it.. .but it’s clear she’s the best thing to happen to him after a really rough year of denial and poor decisionss and loosing her will likely only make him WORSE. He also breaks the bad news, to him at least to the band about the gig. Stephen, being kind of a dick who while understandbly excited about a big gig fails to see his friend REALLY isn’t happy about this nor remembers you know, that the person offering this tore his heart out indiana jones style and while they should take the gig despite the risks, it’s too big an opportunity not to, he should be fucking senstive about this. Kim however... has a suprising and heartbreaking reactoin to this. Which is spread over a few panels but i’m gonna string into one image for convince sake.

Just.. DAMN. I honeslty missed this both as a teenager and as an adult when I read through the books last time but holy shit is this a heartbreaking little moment, even more with the development she gets in later books. Keep in mind, over two books so far, Kim.. really hasn’t shown a lot of emtion. The most upset she’s gotten was getting a bit pissed about another a girl drummer. The only other time we’ve seen her sad was at 17 when Scott left. Her only emotions that we could see were angry and surly. But here? She’s genuinely upset and we see her walls break down for the very first time.. and it’s with the clear indication she NEVER really got over Scott. She never got proper closure and while she hasn’t let it so.. it’s been VERY clear she's been grossly uncomfortable with how he just likes to brush off their history, something that very clearly still bothers her and understandably so: 6 years , while a lot of time, still really isn’t long enough to just .. FORGET your first boyfriend , how he made you feel or the fact he took your virginity and you took his. Stuff like that sticks with you.. I’m ony assuming on the virginity thing but my point remains: To Scott it’s SEEMINGLY nothing, when really he’s probably just trying to brush it off because he dosen’t like dealing with things and given how Kim is wrongly assumed she can’t feel pain. I mean to anyone else i’d be a fair assumption and even i’m not convinced if she touched a hot stove she’d burn, but that’s phsysical this is emotional. DIffrent playing fields. Point is Scott’s kind of a dick and not having ANY closure for anything, Kim is still smarting from him leaving as much as Scott is smarting from Envy dumping him. And it somehow gets MORE painful.... which should’ve been the tagline for Bojack Horseman now I think about it but yeah: her line is what cuts me up the most “I saw her on the cover of Now. She’s pretty”. It’s a little line, it’s easy to see why I missed it .. but the subtext really stings. It’s that despite being VERY pretty, I had a crush on her as a kid and I still do now.. Kim just can’t help but compare herself to someone whose now a glamrous rock star. Their equally attractive but all Kim can see is ANOTHER person who Scott cared about more than her. Which seems petty but again he just.. abnadoned her. His moving wasn’t his choice but his not telling her as was framed earlier sure as hell was. And then just.. look at the next people he dates: A glamorous rock star (She wasn’t at the time but that’s for next week), a much younger girl who can’t possible challenge him, and an ultra cool american. To her.. it must feel like he just looks right through her to every other person intersted in him and never even consdered her as a person anymore. I mean.. jesus christ that hurts.. and makes me hate Stephen more since you know he dosen’t notice any of this.. though at least unlike with Scott it’s a bit more understandable because Kim’s so unflappable and he’s already ignoring very obvious and transparent emotional pain why shouldn’t this be any diffrent. So yeah no one’s happy about this, and that ends up including Stephen as he’s so insecure about his band’s talent he’s pretty sure they suck when their probably at least adaquate.

So while Scott dosen’t say anything, it’s clear he’s at least consdiering the offer as when we next see him he and ramona are heading to Envy’s show. And honestly it’s just a really sweet scene as Ramona asks about envy and the two banter and hold hands. A really nice palletee clensar since hte last few pages were like I was the one lucas socked in the gut. Also she assures him she dosen’t hate him, and asks about how the breakup happened, turning down any offers to hear the good times. It was new years eve one year ago, and he mentions it was over her leaving to meet some guy named Todd.. and Ramona finds the story familiar but brushes off Scott wondering if her todd and Envy’s todd wer ethe same guy as a douchey joke. When prying about what happened otherwise, Scott admits it was all a blur.. Ramona isn’t ahppy with the answer.. but it’s nto like it’s that unresonable: he was in deep with Envy, and the breakup was damn bad to the point it took a year for him to recover and end up in the relationship he is now and the one before this was clearly a cry for help. It also helps reinfroce just how much Wallace was there for him and probably WHY Wallace hates Envy so much. They probably live together simply because Scott needed a place after college, was in zero condition to get a job or do anything given his zombie like state.. and Wallace just had him move into his bed, platonically and into his place. It’s probably why while Wallace will complain ocasoinally he isn’t that on scott to find a job. He dosen’t need a paying roomate, they do fine just on his sallary and he has a steady, secure job in some sort of calling office, probably working in medical stuff like my mom. He needs his friend to be safe and happy, then he can get on his ass about being functional, as he is in present day. If nothing else this volume made me realize just how good a person Wallace is. The one thing he CAN remember, to Ramona’s disbelif is a restraunt opening up, the job story he hinted at last volume: basically it was a fancy tex mex place called, and this is one of the best restraunt naems in the history of fiction brace yourself: The Gilded Palace of Flying Burritos. Naturally, as would I as I love tex mex and that name, Scott loved the place, ate there most of the week and like me with some places I liked waited impatietly to get a job. He did and they were even super generous as the food was FREE. Which is a euphoric feeling I relate to, though I also liked any discounts I got. seriously when I worked at Bagel and Bagel a good chunk of my paycheck was eating there for dirt cheap every shift. I miss that place so much. Like even after I left there I still like a good bagel sandwitch. And it wasn’t covid or anything it was just low staffed and slowly coming apart due to a lack of a solid manager after Crystal, the manager who hired me, transfered to a store closer to her home, which I do not blame her for.

Point is I get it even if Ramona thinks this is all made up. Anyways at Lee’s Place, based on the real life Leo’s place, everyone’s gussied up: Steven got an awful haircut and Kim...

But no time to dwell on how great kim’s..everything is.. who DID Neil bring to the concert?

While Kim is VERY much enjoying this, everyone else is a bit freaked with Ramona getting assurance her and Scott dated breifly, with Kim quipping her and neil will probably date even breiflyer, and Stephen.. freaking out, wondering if she seduced him, and asking if they should take him out back and kick his ass..

Just..... that’s a lot of douche to unpack and this review has been VERY long and suprisingly hard already.. but fuck it, we don’t have much left to go let’s do this. Okay one did she seduce him.. I mean I GUESS, but really let’s be clear here: Neil is a horny, lonely, monosolobic 19 year old who lives with his sister’s college friend and whose life revovles around said guys band. Knives is adorable. She likely barely had to flirt with him to get him to say yes .As someone who was a lonely 19 year old doofus, I guarantee no matter the red flags I probably woudl’ve said yes provided she was 18 instead of 17, despite the abudant red flags such as neil vaugely looking like scott, neil being the one single man within scott’s circle to get her way back in, as Knives hasn’t realized she’s bi yet or given how much she looked up to Kim, she probably WOULD’VE gone for it. As would any sane person, which neither knives nor I entirley are. So she didnt’ so much seduce him as offer him a girlfriend he didn’t have and him being too intrested in having a sweet, caring girl on his arm to see the giant army of adrestian soldiers needed to carry all the red flags this presents.

And as for “do we need to kick his ass. “ Stephen.. did you kick SCOTT’S ass? No, you fucking abetted him and only stepped in for the good girl thing. You did NOTHING to stop his relationship with knives or tell him he was screwing up or look out for that girl’s well being. This will bite him in the ass even harder in volume 5, but even now it just makes him look REALLY fucking bad that, even if he probably dosen’t mean it, that’s at all on the table. Also.. Neil, unlike scott is doing slightly less wrong. While he is 20 to her 17, three years.. it’s HALF of what Scott and her’s age diffrence is, and far more equal in power structure. It’s still not.. GREAT, but my point is you did NOTHING when Scott did this, for far flimiser and less forgiavble reasons.. but when NEIL, whose been nothing but weirdly loyal to you dates her, you want to kick someone’s ass. I mean yes he’s being stupid: in a clear role reversal of the Scott and Knives situation, it’s obvious just from her expression that KNVIES is the one in control here, and the one using someone to ease her own pain. Granted it’s wrong, if not as wrong as Scott should techincally know better and Knives very clearly dosen’t, as well as get into a show of her faviorite band. Is what she’s doing wrong.. yeah... while she can’t see it again it’s what Scott did just not QUITE as fucked up due to not being AS embalanced. Should neil probably be dating her after scott did ? No. But should you be threatning him and not scott for you know, setting all this in motion? No. Jesus christ you suck Steven.

Thankfully while Scott presumibly calms Stephen down, Kim spots Hollie and her roomate Joseph, who will be suprisingly important. He’s very gay, very quite, very bearded and is only hear because the bass player is hot and when prodded on it....

Well said. Also I read that with John Heder’s voice fo rsome reason.. don’t know why, his career ended as quickly as it began because he REALLY did not pick his films well. He saw that he was going to be in a film with David Spade and Rob Schinder and didn’t fire his agent for suggesting it. Meanwhile Scott and Ramona run into Sandra and Monique, Scott’s old classmates who just sorta.. show up every so oftne, often backing up Julie because every Alpha Bitch needs a posse. As Boscha has proven once you loose your posse you loose your bitchy powers. They also ask if Scott and Ramona are an item which leads to a fantagious visual gag.

Also Stephen awkardly talks to the new couple, about how much Knives loves the band, and because why start reading the room now just sorta.. CASUALLY slips in the fact he knows her is because she and scott dated.

Granted Knives action this book really EARNED her that curveball.. but still, it’s transparently clear she’s both not over Scott and Neil’s a placebo, and that she loves the band... how the fuck did you get through college, much less get two loyalish friends Steve.

Kim tries to hide when she runs into Sarah whose with.. someon O Malley does not know, literally captioning it “I don’t know htis girl”. Fucking love that gag even if SOMEHOW kim is the roomate they all hate. Despite hte fact as the side story will bare out, her roommates are all pretty obnoxious, so i’ts probably because she’s the only sane person in that group and their VERY lucky kim just dind’t set the place on fire on her way out and let god do what he should’ve a long time ago. Also we meet Lynette, the band’s drummer who smokes “She must be evil” “Still hot though”... both accurate. Also Luke wilson is there.. no really. Just holy shit that’s awesome. Okay so with all of that out of the way, it’s time for the show. So after a full volume’s build up , and a really cool build up in the page before we finally properly meet clash at the demonhead, and miss envy adams.

Heck of a reveal and not the only one as ramona realized what the audience probably already guessed....

Dun dun dun! And since I don’t like leaving a cliffhanger dangling lest I have to... we’ll be getting to this next week.. what you thought i’d say right now or tommorow? This was a lot. But no i’m not leaving you too long. Next week, Evil Ex Crossover! Ramona and Wallace become BFF’s! We learn what the deal with Scott and Envy is! Scott faces the Ken to his Ryu! And Wallace gets a boyfriend. All this and more next week. for now...

Final Thoughts: This one.. was a VERY rough one to review and it ties back to this volume’s biggest problem: it is not paced very well. Like the series as a whole it has a pretty easy going, slice of life pace. The only ones without this kind of easy pacing are 3 and 6, and even 3 has some slice of life bits, their just both more focused due to the events going on. This one... well....

Pretty much. While this one has very important stuff going on, Scott and ramona getting closer, ramona getting more fleshed out, Wallace showing how deep his character is, Kim also getting fleshed out quite a bit, Knives showing off her crazy side, setting up the next volume, the second ex fight.. it’s all just kinda.. jumbled together. It’s not really until the knives fight onward the book takes on some really solid pacing and really gets going.It’s not a BAD book: ther’es some REALLY good character stuff as I dug into.. but the pacing is just really loose and without the Evil Ex fight as an anchor and with ramona and scott just sorta.. getting to know one another, in both biblical and non biblical senses, it dosen’t have either of the series main narrative thrusts. Even the knvies subplot really amoutns to nothing for now, as Ramona dosen’t find out Scott’s a cheater, and only distrusts knives now. That’s about it. It does improve on book one in characterization, with eveyrone being MUCH cleearer in terms of who they are and settling into their iconic selves nicely. Wallace’s more selfless and protective side pops up, Ramona starts to show mroe of her personality good and bad, Scott’s better traits are mixed a bit mor eeven with the douche ones, Knive’s far more unstable and violet stalker side emerges, and Stephen.. well fuck him, point is things are coming together.. but O’Malley still isn’t quite at peak power yet. Not bad and still worth a read like last time, just a bit uneeven is all. That being said... if you want O’Malley at his peak.. well then come back next week. Until then i’ll be doing my usual buisness of reviewing birds, refrencing simpsons and letterkenny, and putting my eyes back in after kim’s look up there. For now the sun’s setting and i’m out of here.

#scott pilgrim #scott pilgrim vs the world #ramona flowers #kim pine #stephen stiles #wallace wells #envy adams #lucas lee #oni press #Brian Lee O'malley #knives chau #neil nordgraf

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manggaetteokkie · 4 years ago

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So what are your top 5 favorite BTS songs and then top 5 favorite BTS videos?

Then what are you top 5 favorite Jikook moments? Lol Haaaard questions

Gonna combine these two cause I think these are from the same anonie, who I’m starting to think likes to make people suffer djfhskdh (if it’s not from the same person, then big rip)

Sorry this took so long, I was really trying to narrow it down to top 5 and I think I still ended up failing... I actually do this with my friends but usually, we’re a little bit more generous by narrowing it down to stuff like: top 5 title tracks, top 5 rap-line, top 5 vocal line, top 5 albums, etc... Asking me top 5 songs from their entire discography is absolutely savage.

For my top 5 BTS songs (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER BECAUSE I BARELY NARROWED IT DOWN TO FIVE, YOU CANT MAKE ME RANK THEM):

Blood Sweat & Tears: the monarch, the goat, putting it simply, the absolute best. I honestly remember when the Wings short films started dropping, my friend and I panicked HARD because we were like “WTF IS GOING ON WHAT IS THIS”. And then the teaser dropped, and it was so different from the “typical” BTS we’ve been getting, so we were even more confused. But then... The MV dropped and that was honestly just such a massive turning point for everything. Also, as an ARMY with a Jimin bias, I almost didn’t survive it.

Attack on Bangtan: okay this is honestly just such a fun hype song that never gets old no matter how many times you listen to it? It’s honestly a classic and whenever it plays on Run BTS, I know I’m either about to witness an epic moment or it’s gonna send my ass on the floor from laughing. (Also, let us never forget Tae’s “Nico nico niiii~”)

I Need U: okay this was The song that got me learning all their names and holy shit, I’ve listened to this song so much, it’s currently 5th most played song (out of nearly 2k songs) in my iTunes with 1,338 plays. When one hears “Fall...”, one does not simply resist the urge to belt “EVERYTHANG” with feelings. Also, funnily enough, the one that first caught my eye was Yoongi, there was something so eye-catching about the way he rapped in such a despondent manner at the start of the mv.

House of Cards: I definitely need to put this one because I’ve listened to this song a total of 2,104 times, if you add the Prologue (short) version total (861) to the full length one (1,243). This was my “hoe” anthem long before My Time was born. I deadass fell in love with the song 10 seconds in, there was no saving me and you cannot stop anyone from doing emo bodyrolls when it comes up. Jikook’s bridge? I can’t sing to save my life but you can bet your ass I’m lipsyncing to that shit every single time.

I HATE THIS. I HATE PICKING THE LAST ONE, I WANT TO FIT THEIR ENTIRE DISCOGRAPHY INTO THIS LAST SPOT FFFFFFF.

And now, the last one... can I cheat and throw Euphoria, Serendipity and Seesaw all at my 5th spot? Cause I REALLY can’t pick one out of these 3 skjdhfkshdkf I have such an emotional attachment to Serendipity and Euphoria at this point (DJ Swivel remix of Euphoria? Hello?? I almost cried??? You are me, I am you?? HMMM????), and Seesaw just really surprised me. I absolutely was not expecting it, but holy shit, Seesaw slapped and it slapped hard. At this point, I’m like, anything Yoongi touches turns to absolute gold, I can’t resist him.

Okay I have so many other faves (Spring Day, Baepsae, etc.) but since you only asked for top 5 and not, like, top 100, I have to stop myself here, but I also very curious about your top 5s if you guys wanna share!! Let’s see how well you do, only narrowing it down to 5.

For my top 5 BTS videos (I only counted Bangtan Bombs and live performances, excluding MVs, since you didn’t specify. Otherwise there are too many... just thinking about how many Run BTS episodes I could fit otherwise lmfao):

Perfect Man: I’m a Jimin stan. What did you expect, me to not include this masterpiece??

As I Told You: Good lord, Jungkook was so fkn attractive in a hockey jersey of all things. I honestly loved it so much, I can listen to the live audio as is.

2018 MMA - IDOL Intro Performance (3J focus): Again, I am a Jimin stan. But seriously, from Hobi hitting every. single. beat. while dancing on a raised platform, to Jimin’s fan dance (I streamed the show live and I couldn’t focus on anything else after), to JK lounging like the absolute king that he is, what’s not to love?

It’s Tricky Bangtan Bomb: oldie but goldie, honestly. All of them were babies but holy shit, if their casual dancing didn’t absolutely make me fall in love with them all over again. It honestly never gets old no matter how many times I watch it.

BTS Carpool Karaoke: I have to admit, I honestly got stuck picking the last one so I went with this one because I feel like this is a really really good video to introduce others to BTS to. From their amazing acapella vocals (JK belting Finesse lives in my mind rent free) to how they were so perfectly themselves? You had Hobi’s sunshine smile in the middle, Baby Mochi, Jin’s “I don’t know what he said, but let’s laugh ha ha ha ha”, etc.

Okay I have to admit something, I probably forgot like 90% of their videos so if any of you guys mention a video, I might go “AH SHIT I FORGOT ABOUT THAT ONE SKDJFHKSH” so take this list more as a “bangtan videos you should 100% watch” :^)

For my top 5 jikook moments (you absolutely devil, how could you ask me such a question), in no particular order because, again, I actually cannot physically bring myself to rank them:

Jimin comforting a crying JK during LY: (6:05) the way Jimin ran over as soon as he saw Jungkook bent over, facing the backstage. My heart. And he kept JK company for a bit, making sure he was fine before leaving. This whole thing just makes my heart melt into a puddle no matter how many times I think/see about it because it’s like, the timing is just? Anpanman barely started and he just looked over, saw, and ran over. Jesus Christ.

That Jikook moment during SY Seoul Finale: Just how much comfort Jimin must represent for Jungkook to let the dam free once again just seeing his face aghhhhhasgdahj I literally made an entire post about that moment because of how incredibly soft it gets me. I’ve linked it but it’s also my pinned so it’s very easy to find.

“Are you guys dating?”: (start) holy shit okay so this moment is so sdjkfhkdshkfdhks the way both of them were so giggly? It never fails to make me laugh how absolutely done Joon sounded when he said “push quickly!” Also, just how soft did Jimin make his voice when he asked “are you ready”? and how JK, the single most competitive member of BTS, was just giggling the entire time and didn’t even try pushing Jimin before Jimin ended up eliminating himself. Not to mention how JK couldn’t into Jimin’s eyes and only finally made eye contact with at the very end :^)

MMA 2018: lmao okay so I’m just gonna throw this entire fkn night into the mix. I still remember how it was the wee hours in the morning for me when I started following the live stream and damn, they were literally inseparable the entire time. My TL was exploding in Jikook content and between watching them through the official broadcast and watching the fancams, I was BUSY. They did everything: whispering to each other’s ears, slinging their arms around each other’s shoulders, JK massaging JM’s nape, JK pulling JM down to sit... phew.

GCF in Tokyo: Okay so this is one of those things that the more you think about it, the more you can’t believe it’s real. I couldn’t not include this simply because of how meaningful the whole thing was. There’s so much about it that makes me ????? because JK really booked a two-person trip to Tokyo for Jimin’s birthday. And Jimin genuinely had fun on that trip. The whole thing just shows how comfortable the two of them are with each other because they’d never had gone on a trip together elsewise. I recently saw a Korean movie director’s reaction to GCF and the whole thing didn’t have any subs, but the two reactors were like “ohhh... these two... these two must be really close” (they’d reacted to BTS MVs before, but they’re not familiar with how the members are outside of that). From my limited Korean understanding, the movie director then commented “Because the model and the director are so close, it’s very natural” (if I’ve gotten any Korean followers, I’d love to get confirmation on the words said because my Korean understanding isn’t perfect and I don’t want to be spreading crap around). GCF in Tokyo is also the first video posted under the GCF label, with JK editing the whole thing himself. He filmed, he directed, he edited. And his main actor was Jimin.

I was this 👌🏻 close to adding LY lap sitting and Rose Bowl moments but I had other faves to include so I thought I’d go with something else :^) GCF forced its way into my list, I had no say in it.

Okay so I hope this was enough skdjfhkdshfs this post got really long cause I couldn’t help myself from giving reasons for why I included the ones I did, I’m sorry sjkfhdks Please feel free to share you’re own fave songs/videos/jikook moments!!

#thanks for the ask!#bts #bangtan #jimin #jungkook #jeongguk #jikook #kookmin #my post #my stuff #anon #anonymous #answered

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xcactusarto · 3 years ago

Text

Heaven Help Me

an Aoyama Yuga x Iida Tenya university au fic

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33615358

Summary:

What would happen if you found out the person that ordered art prints from you is the guy you’ve been interested in and lives 2 dorms away from you?

Poor Aoyama is denying his feelings from all the times boys broke his little heart, but this guy seems different and became even more special after Aoyama finds out this dude is a big fan of his art! Will he deliver the art prints himself or just leave the package at his door?

Part 1 / ?

Chapter 2 -

Aoyama was anxious to spill the tea on what had just happened to Bakugou once he could go back to his dorm. Even if he was excited to spill the beans, his stomach was not in good shape. He knew this feeling all too well.

He wanted it gone.

Aoyama arrived 5 minutes late after having to change routes and hiding between the bushes next to the art building to throw up dramatically. Thankfully his teacher was late so he could calm down and sit down. Aoyama felt seasick despite only having butterflies. Throw up could happen or the shits. ‘Not in this outfit’ Aoyama thought as he gripped his phone. The class only lasts 30 mins. Since his teacher was late probably less. Maybe he could text Bakugou about how sick he felt maybe they could walk together to the dorms.

Baku dear! My stomach is being very bitchy ~(>_<~) could you pick me up???

5 mins passed and Bakugou didn’t answer. Nor did the teacher show up yet. Aoyama looked around and his classmates looked confused as well. Aoyama looks a little to his right and whispers to his classmate.

“Dear, uh do you know if we had class today?”, his classmate looked at him and whispered back.

“Gurlie I’m not gonna lie, this is the first time in the semester I have come to class”, The classmate giggled and said,” Oh, but dude your outfit is hella cute”. Aoyama smiles at his classmate. A girl with a pink afro, a pink headband that made the knotted ends look like horns on her head, and hazel eyes.

“Oh thank you! But I gotta say you look absolutely dashing! Love the colors!”, Aoyama looked at his classmate up and down scanning her outfit. A blue tie-dye crop top with purple spots that went down to her chest. A black bralette under and some pastel yellow sweatpants that gave Aoyama the idea that she could be a dancer. White sneakers with colorful shoelaces. “What’s your name dear?”, Aoyama asked smiling. A small link formed and it was the start of a very nice and stylish friendship.

“Mina Ashido! And you?”, Mina said excitedly as she almost jumped from her seat. She could see this dude could be a great way to pass the class without having to show up. “Yuga Aoyama. Pleased to meet you.” Aoyama and Mina chatted as they waited for their teacher to show up. Slowly the people around them would get up and leave or just chat with each other. The silence of the room cleared up as Mina and Aoyama laughed and talked about their passion for fashion and their hobbies. Aoyama’s perception of Mina was right, she was a Dance major. She was currently doing ballet because she didn’t want her parents to know she was an underground street dancer. On the other hand, Mina learned Aoyama was a digital artist and even got to see some of his pieces. Both were very passionate and frankly, they could be each other’s moral support.

“Hey how about we exchange numbers?”, Mina said and quickly looked around. They were the only ones in class. The classroom was empty and the clock ticking at the front of the class. The class had just ended. Maybe coming to class wasn’t so bad since Aoyama was here. They both looked at each other and laughed. Aoyama’s butterflies were gone and Mina took away his anxiety of shitting himself.

“Yeah that would be wonderful”, Aoyama and Mina then tapped their phone and so they could now talk to each other without having to be in class. Maybe even hang out sometime. As they walked to the door and parted ways Aoyama could notice Bakugou never replied, but his bitch ass left Aoyama on seen. Aoyama was used to it and knew Bakugou would come. Bakugou often forgot to reply , but would do stuff Aoyama texted him to do or asked.

Aoyama waited outside the building for a while. He then sat down and looked at his phone. Scrolled down on his Twitter and Instagram timeline for some time. Aoyama then let out a sigh and got up. He then plugged in his earphones and as he was about to walk away his dorm neighbor called out to him. “Aoyama-kun! Wait up”, A slightly freckled buff guy with green fluffy curly hair called out to him. He wasn’t very stylish , but was always kind to Aoyama. Even though at one point our little Aoyama stalked him because he wanted to be friends with him. I mean he needed a reference for his styling assignment and he was perfect for the outfit. Aoyama stood there and waited for him to catch up to him. “Did class just finish for you too?”, The green-haired hunk asked Aoyama. Aoyama looked at him and explained his situation of waiting for Bakugou.

“Ah, Kacchan didn’t come to pick you up? I can walk you then since we are going to the same dorms!”, his dorm neighbor was always a lifesaver. “Denki is probably at our dorm so I can text him if he can check if Kacchan is there”.

“Please Midori! I’m worried he is oversleeping again. Which I doubt it...He’s probably working out”, Aoyama said as he locked arms with his neighbor. Midoriya Izuku or as Bakugou called him, ‘Deku’, shared a room with Denki Kaminari. Both Midoriya and Denki were his dorm neighbors and often came to watch movies or just help Aoyama with styling assignments. Midoriya was known by the fashion majors as the guy that wore weird shirts. Today he was wearing a pastel blue pullover that had ‘tiny weenie baby’ on it. Aoyama wanted to chuckle , but decided to hold it in. Midoriya’s boyfriend could probably say that was true. They walked to the dorms and as soon as Aoyama got close to the door he slammed it open.

“BITCH YOU HAD ME WAITING FOR 20 MINS OUTSIDE!”, Aoyama said hand still on the door. Midoriya looking over Aoyama’s shoulder. They had caught Bakugou at a...uh special moment.

“CAN’T YOU KNOCK?!”, Bakugou shouted back as he was making out with a purple-haired dude that looked exhausted. Bakugou was still in pajamas while the other was dressed like an e-boy that had just come out of hot topic after his mother had given him an allowance of $10 to spend on my chemical romance merch. That emo boy was Shinso Hitoshi, Bakugou’s boyfriend, and Aoyama’s ex-boyfriend which actually ended well with no heartbreak. I mean they lasted 1 week. Midoriya sneakily walking away then bumped into Denki who was joined by his dark-haired friend. Aoyama looked behind him and immediately then pulls Midoriya as to show proof in an Ace Attorney game.

“I can’t believe poor little Midori had to take time out of his day to walk me back!” Aoyama said as he hugged Midoriya with puppy eyes.

“W-Well uh technically I was walking back so might as well accompany him, right?” Midoriya nervously smiled as Denki walked into the room and held in the laughter he had from seeing Bakugou slightly flustered from being caught getting it on with Shinso. Bakugou then of course starts arguing with Deku as if Deku was the one at fault. Oh well, Aoyama needed to spill the beans on the guy he saw and interacted with so he gathered Denki, Shinso, and Denki’s friend who was just watching the chaos happening in a room full of gays. Except for Denki he had a girlfriend. I mean he isn’t straight, but bisexual so yeah a gay too. Aoyama shoved them to the other side of the room onto his bottom bunk. They all proceeded to sit down and let Aoyama sit cross-legged in the middle while he held a pillow.

“Oh my gosh, guys please help me snap out of these feelings I’m having! I’M GONNA DIE!”, Aoyama said as he swung his arms around dramatically.

“Is he gonna scooter ankle or is he being dramatic?” Denki’s friend leaned over and whispered in Denki’s ear.

“No Sero, he is just being dramatic about something .”, Shinso said as they looked at Aoyama giving them puppy eyes. Sero Hanta, Denki’s friend who was wrapped up in this situation. Sero is a black-haired dude with a nice wide smile. He often just wore pullovers and looked like those dudes that sits right in front of you in computer class and just watching memes or editing Shrek on Ronal McDonald’s body. Those dudes are pretty chill once you start talking to them.

“Just let him spill the tea guys. I wanna know what made him so anxious”, Denki said as he nudged both of the boys to listen.

“So I was walking to class alright?? And then and then I bumped into this guy while I was checking the time on my phone! And then bam this dude was holding me so sweetly and he was so strong might I add!!”, Aoyama said excitedly as he gripped the pillow close to his chest. The boys on the other hand looked at him. Maybe he’s being dramatic, Denki thought. The room of course was still noisy while Aoyama spilled his feelings on the hunk of a man that literally held him as if it was a shojo manga.

“And then he even HELD MY HAND!! MY PRECIOS HAND TO HAND ME MY PHONE!! He also told me to be careful and walked away as if nothing happened!!”, Aoyama sighs after this and just lets his body lay on the boys legs as he dramatically puts his left arm over his face.

“Well, that was something. How did he look like wey?”, Sero asked as he held Aoyama’s arm away from his face. Denki and Shinso nodded. Aoyama then puts a finger on his lips and thinks for a little. “Mind if I sketch him out?” Aoyama says as he signals Shinso to pass him his sketchbook.

After a few minutes, he then shows the boys as he had decided to sit between Denki and Sero. “He looked like this!! He had some weird eyebrows that looked like the Nike symbols!”, Aoyama pointed at the drawing. The boys felt like they had seen him before. They just couldn’t find this dude’s name in the glossary of their minds.

“Isn’t that Iida-kun?”

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chocojjk · 5 years ago

Text

Dreaming

summary: idol minho, fan reader ??? lots of smiling and overall just soft things...nothings changed, i still suck at summaries

words: 2.1k

a/n: not my best work and also not edited but i haven't written in so long and i kind of just forced myself to write this,, hopefully someone still enjoys it lol

you noticed the boy ahead of you panicked as the cashier behind the counter gawked, slightly yelling out a “omg, are you lee minho???!!”

this definitely caught your attention, especially since you were a huge fan of said idol

“uh? what?” he says, as you noticed his fingers fidgeting from behind the counter

“you’re the guy from stray kids!!” she says out loud, her voice beginning to catch the attention of others

you couldn’t really tell if it was him or not as he was wearing a face mask and his bangs mostly covered what was left of him

however you scanned him up and down and noticed the little cat paw airpod case hanging on his belt, hidden behind his large sweatshirt

and so you confirmed that the person standing in front of you was indeed, the one and only, lee minho from stray kids

“n-no th-that’s not me , i-i uh…” he replied frantically, his hands quickly yet unnoticeably playing with the hem of his black sweatshirt

seeming as the boy has entered panic mode, you decided to step in and help him out

linking his hand around yours, you turn to him “babe, what’s taking so long?,” you say, smiling sweetly as your eyes gave him a stern look seeming to say ‘play along’

minho couldn’t explain it

there was just something about you that made him put his trust in you

maybe it was your smile

maybe it was because he recognized your face

or maybe it was just due to the outburst of the situation that he found himself in the middle of

whatever it was, he played along with your little act

“uh….. uhm I forgot your order, what did u want again princess?”

princess ?/!:?;??? holy fuck!?!?!? he catches along quick...u swear u could die right there but instead you playfully slapped his shoulder, “Oh cmon, I've told you like 5 times now,” you say jokingly

facing the cashier, “add a matcha frappuccino with a pump of hazelnut please,”

“uhm yes ma’am, will that be all?”

“yeah that’s all,” you say as minho fished for his wallet, getting ready to pay

“so you’re really not the guy from stray kids???” the cashier asked again

‘gosh, when will she let that go’ you thought to yourself

“he looks like lee know huh!!!” you say enthusiastically, at this, minho seems to freeze up by your side until you continued with “I tell him that all the time and he never believes me!” you finished with a pout as you and the cashier shared a laugh

minho handed her the total of your drinks as she bid you two a goodbye with “our waiters will bring your drinks out to you once they’re ready”

you made your way over to an empty table, expecting the boy to sit with you yet he had other plans

“what are you doing???” you whispered as he sat at the table across from you

“uhm... sitting?” he replies as it’s the most obvious thing in the world

“ uhh yeah, why are you sitting all the way there??”

“am i not allowed to?”

BITCH OMGJAHDJDHSHS

“hello,, in case you haven’t noticed i’m supposed to be your girlfriend!!” you say as you quietly stomped towards him and took the chair by his side

“look, don’t worry I don't want anything, I'm just trying to get you out of this coffee shop in one piece,” you explain since you start to feel the nervousness oozing off of the boy and that was the last thing you wanted to make him feel

“why?” he says puzzled as to why you were helping him

“because i’m a fan, and i would like it for my idol to go back home in one piece,”

“y-you know it’s me?”

“y-yeah, you’re gonna need a better disguise if you wanna go out in public and not be recognizable” you reply, giving him a soft smile

at this, his eyes turned into little moons and you realized that he was smiling behind the black face mask sat upon his face

“thank you,” he says sweetly

you stare at him, mirroring his expression when you realized “oh!, i need to pay you back!” you say as you opened your wallet, however right when you were about to grab your money, he stopped you, his hand quickly enveloping yours but leaving as soon as it came

“you don’t have to... think of the coffee as my way of saying thank you,” he says, his voice gentle and soothing

“uh, okay, thank you,” you stutter, the feeling of his hands around yours still hazing your mind, making him laugh

you couldn’t believe it, you were really sitting in front of your idol, and not just any idol,, your BIAS...having a conversation with him, making him laugh

holy fuck you really are “y/n” from all the aus written out there

you stared at him until you realize that you’ve been staring for too long

clearing your throat, you try to open up a conversation

“so what are you doing out here anyways?”

“huh?”

“you just finished a concert, shouldn’t you be at the hotel with the rest of the boys...getting some rest?” you wondered

“oh well uh- i came out to clear my mind”

“ah, okay,” you say, not wanting to ask anymore as you felt like you were crossing territories that you shouldn’t be crossing

a couple of minutes later, your orders were finally brought out to your guys’ table

“Well, i guess this is goodbye,” you say as you guys walked out of the coffee shop together, sadness taking over as you realized that you would have to part ways with him

“Actually, I was gonna ask for one last favor,” he said, breaking you out of your thoughts

“Uh-yeah sure, a-anything,” you reply, trying to hold back the smile that was forming on your lips

“I forgot the way to my hotel,” he says sheepishly, scratching the back of his head

“D-do you want me to walk with you?” you ask, slightly baffled at his confession

“If you don't mind, my hotel is [enter name of hotel in your city] and it's just, I don't know the city that well and what if something like what happened back there happens again...i just wouldn’t know what to do and-” he continued

He said this all in a matter of seconds that it was hard for you to understand so you finally cut off his rambling by stretching your hand out and grabbing his

“ok cmon boyfriend, let’s go get you back to where you belong,” you say dragging him towards the way of the hotel, earning a laugh from him

As you guys walked side by side, you expected him to drop your hand already, however it seemed like he held on to it even tighter

However, you weren’t sure if he did or if it was just a figment of your imagination and so you asked him, “are you okay with me holding your hand?”

With this he smirks at you, “well, you're supposed to be my girlfriend, right?”

You let out a small giggle, “ that was back in the coffee shop, you don’t have to keep holding my-”

“No,” he says abruptly, causing you to to turn and look at him

“I-i like it, it’s nice,” he continues, slightly nodding his head, almost like he was telling himself ‘good job for speaking up’

reader , I honestly have no idea how you're still holding on, I would have fainted already

“Besides with the life I live, it's not everyday I get to hold a pretty girl’s hand... and even have a girlfriend,” he said softly, the vibe in the air slowly changing from a lighthearted one to a more serious one

You, being the cheerful one that you are, decided to break the tension, “what do you mean! You get to hold pretty girls’ hands all the timee!!,” you exclaimed

He looked at you like ‘what the fuck do u mean’

“Stays!” you reply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world

Again he let out another laugh, this one different than before...this one more alive… I guess the mention of his fans just sparks something different in the boy

“..yeah but that's different,”

“ how is that different? I'm a stay just like them and were holding hands,”

“They're not as pretty as you,” he says smiling, as he took a sip of his drink, acting like those words didn't just come out of his mouth

‘Oh minho, you smooth mother******,’ you thought to yourself, trying to regain your senses

“I like your necklace” you say, changing the topic to ignore the butterflies erupting in your stomach, yet you couldn't hide the smile that was begging to be shown

he doesn't reply and just continues smiling, his hand still in yours, as the two of you continued to walk side by side, the hotel getting nearer with each step you take

After a good 3 minutes of silence, you contemplated what to say until the boy beat you to it, “you look familiar,” he says aloud

“Huh?”

“I feel like ive seen you before,” he said, eyebrows furrowing as he continued to think, which honestly he’s been trying to remember where he’s seen you ever since he first laid eyes on you

You laughed out loud and he looked at you, an eyebrow raised, curious as to why you found his statement so funny

“That's because you have,” you pointed out

‘Huh??? Where ??”

“I was at the hi touch today,” you say, giving him a smile

“oh..Oh, OH!,” he replied, his hands swinging yours in large motions as realization finally kicked in, “you were the one that called me your brightest star!” he chuckled, slightly teasing you

“ohmygod,” you say laughing along with him

your guys’ laugh mixing along together in the night air, creating an almost perfect melody

“yeah that was me,” you say breathlessly after the both of you calmed down

perfect timing as well, as you stopped right in front of the hotel, “well, here you are,” you say with a soft smile

“Thank you for tonight -uh,” he was about to say your name then realized he never even did ask you

“y/n,” you say, finishing it for him

He smiles at you, “thank you for tonight, y/n,” he says softly

“anytime,” you say back, mirroring his tone

“maybe next time i get lost in this city, I’ll have you by my side again to help me find my way,” he continued as he brought his mask down

you were now seeing all of him, and damn, his pictures don't do him any justice

this man was truly the definition of beauty

you almost forgot that he was holding on to your hand until he brought it up to his lips, giving the back of your hand a soft kiss, breaking you out of your thoughts as you watched him do the small action

the same action that got your heart doing flips all over the place yet you composed yourself

“I hope I helped clear your mind,” you whisper, having a hard time regaining your voice after what the boy did

for the umpteenth time this night, he smiled at you, “get home safely okay,” he says as he turned his back from you and disappeared into the hotel, leaving you breathless and unsure if you were dreaming or not

It wasn't until a tall man in a black shirt came up to you that you finally regained your senses

How long were you standing out there for? You honestly weren't too sure

“Are you y/n?” he asks

“Uhh y-yeah, who’s asking?”

“Thanks for getting minho back safely to us, we've been worried for hours,” he says, as you finally realized that you were talking to their manager

“Oh uhm- it was no problem! I had nothing to do anyways,” you say sheepishly

“Well, he told me to make sure you get home safe so i'm here to be your uber driver,” he replied with a laugh

“Oh no, you don't have to, I know my way around,” you say, not wanting to cause a problem

“Please, it's the least we could do,” his manager retorted

Not having the energy to argue, you nodded and accepted the request

“By the way, he asked me to give this to you,”

and there in your hands, lay the cold, shiny, silver necklace that was around the boys neck, forever reminding you of the carefree night that you two shared

‘I guess it wasn't a dream after all,’ you thought to yourself, your smile as bright as the stars in the sky

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awkwardlittlepringle · 5 years ago

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Queer ‘n Crazy

CHAPTER NINE

Hello, fellow Fanders!

I really hope y'all are doing okay, with the virus going around and everything. School just shut down where I live, and the gravity of the whole situation is just getting to me, really. I might release this chapter a day late, sorry about that; I'm just a bit shaken up. :)

Are you guys doing okay? You better be! If you aren't just mention it and I'll give you a virtual hug. Here's a virtual hug, even if you don’t need it. 🤗

(Is that a hug emoji? IDK.)

ANYWAY, HERE'S THE CHAPTER!

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

WARNINGS: Swearing, obliviousness, nicknames, mention of suicide, depression, yelling, disaster gays, watching people when they sleep... I think that's it.

.................

"If you're sad, and depressed, cause your life's a fucking mess, if you're sad and you know it clap your-"

Virgil groaned, trying to will his heavy hand to rise. It wasn't working.

The tinkling tune kept playing, and Virgil, instead of turning it off, buried his head in his pillow instead. Usually he'd slap it off immediately, but Logan had suggested leaving it on the other side of the room in an effort to help Virgil get out of bed.

Needless to say, it didn't have the intended effect.

Virgil heard a noise from the other side of the room. "Turn that bloody thing off." Logan grumbled, shifting in his bed to squint at Virgil. Virgil poked his tongue out at him, before turning the other way and clamping his hands over his ears. Logan groaned into his pillow, before lifting his head and putting on his glasses.

Now able to actually see Virgil he glared at the teen, who was watching him with a smirk.

"If you're suicidal and you know it-"

"Why the hell did you make that you're alarm, you bitch." said Logan, cricking his neck. Virgil tossed the covers away from himself and sat up, rubbing his face. "Patton said to change it to If you're happy and you know it. I thought this would be more bareable."

"Well it clearly isn't." Logan scrunched up his nose -How the fuck is he so cute?- and yawned. "Turn it off..." "You do it, you're closer!" "It's your alarm!" Pretty irrefutable logic.

Virgil grimaced before dragging his unwilling feet to hit the frigid ground. You'd think carpet would be warmer. He trudged over to his dresser and grabbed his phone; dismissing the alarm. Upon doing so, he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror.

Almost subconciously, he hissed at his reflection. Gross.

He froze, shoulders hunching, and whirled around to face Logan. A bewildered expression graced the other's usually stoic features, accompanied by a heart-stoppingly hot smirk.

"Did you just hiss?" Oh shit he thinks you're a weirdo. Great job dumba- "That is adorable." Virgil started, heat rushing up his neck.

"What?" "I said, that is adorable." Logan's face softened as he gazed at Virgil. (Who was still frozen.) He thinks I'm cute? "How the hell is it cute?!" "I have no clue. How come you do it?" Virgil hunched in on himself, bewildered. "I dunno, why do you wanna know anyway?" "My roommate, who's already cat-like enough, hisses. It's only natural for me to be curious." "What do you mean, cat-like?"

"You sit on top of high surfaces, humm when you're pleased, are attracted to warmth, curl up when you sleep, you hiss-" "You watch me when I sleep?!" "I- uh-"

Logan began to stammer, his face turning a brilliant crimson. Despite his extensive vocabulary, he seemed lost for words. His sleep-shirt hung off his shoulder, and a dull light filtered through the gap in the curtains. It illuminated his pale skin and reflected off his glasses, casting a halo-like glow around his flustered figure. His bedhead was ruffled and sticking up awkwardly, and a beautiful blush dusted across his exposed collarbones and cheeks. His hand came up to cover his mouth as he avoided Virgil's gaze.

God, he's gorgeous.

Virgil felt his blush returning, and he snapped his open jaw closed. He turned back toward his mirror to see he was grinning. For once, it didn't look too bad on him.

"Uh, so, what class do we have first?" He watched Logan's reflection as he turned back to Virgil. "English." "Shit, I forgot to finish my draft." Virgil snatched his hairbrush off his dresser, running it through his bed-head frantically. Logan chuckled, stretching his arms out. "You can finish it at breakfast." "How long do we have 'till then?" said Virgil, now rummaging through his closet. "40 minutes."

"Okay." Virgil turned toward Logan. "I'm assuming you're gonna take a shower?" "Mhm. I honestly don't understand how you go without one." he said, finally getting out of bed. He grabbed a towel out of his chest. "Is it alright if I go first?" "Go ahead."

Half an hour later the two of them were rushing around, doing a few final checks. Well, at least Virgil was rushing around. "Are you sure I can finish it at breakfast?" Logan frowned. "I don't know, it's your writing." "I'm just editing." "Well then why wouldn't you?" He replied, straightening his tie. Virgil shrugged, grabbing his pencil case off his desk and shoving it into his bag.

"I dunno, Lo. I'm just a mess in general." "You're a pretty great mess, if I do say so myself." Warmth flooded through Virgil at the compliment, leaving him confused. This was the third time this morning he'd blushed because of Logan...

Logan, however, didn't seem to notice his roommates reaction. He grabbed his bag off of his desk before turning to Virgil. "I feel like I'm forgetting something..." said Virgil, ruffling through his bag. "Keys?" "Ah, right. Thanks, Logan." "No problem."

Just as Virgil was about to leave, he spotted an empty pill bottle on his desk. He grabbed it, before shoving it into his pocket. Logan shot a questioning look at Virgil as he joined him in the hallway.

"I'm seeing my phsyciatrist today, she said she was going to switch my meds. Wanted to know which ones I was taking." Logan nodded.

The two walked down the hallway in silence, enjoying each other's company. While it was peaceful, Virgil couldn't help but adress the slight giddiness that seemed to have settled in his chest. It was confusing; he had no reason to feel this way. It was a nice feeling, though. Kind of like he was floating.

He followed Logan down the hallway to an elevator, and stepped inside. As the doors closed, Logan asked-

"How come you didn't finish your draft?" Virgil shrugged. "I dunno, I just couldn't get it done." Logan frowned. "Weren't you staring at your computer screen for like 30 minutes last-" "Shhhhhh~!" Virgil held up a finger.

"What?" "You're ruining it." "What am I ruining, exactly?" "My excuse." The doors opened at the lobby, and the pair stepped out, and began walking to the doors.

"I'm just saying, you can't exactly tell Mrs Von that." Virgil scrunched up his nose. The two walked up to the sliding doors. Just as they cracked open, a familiar voice filtered through.

"Hey guys!!!!" Despite his confusion, Virgil found himself smiling.

Standing in the middle of the courtard was a grinning Roman, waving madly at them. Patton was with him, also waving, although in a much calmer manner. Logan exhaled as he adjusted his bag strap.

"Good morning you two." They joined the others in the courtyard, and the four of them began to walk toward the dining hall. This had become the usual routine for them. Each pair would come out about eight minutes before breakfast, wait for the other, and then they'd walk together.

"Have you guys finished your drafts for english?" "Yup." "Pretty much. I'm gonna look over it at breakfast, though." Virgil groaned. "I swear I'm the only one who isn't finished." He said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "How much do you have left?" asked Patton, falling into step beside him. "Just editing." "Well then you shouldn't have a problem, should you?" He said, smiling encouragingly. Virgil shrugged, looking away.

What if he didn't finish though? He was fine with being in trouble, but being called out in front of everyone was a high possibility, and certainly wasn't one he liked.

"C'mon, Virg!" Patton brushed his shoulder against Virgil's. "You'll be alright. All the teachers are understanding, they take illnesses into account, remember?" Virgil chuckled. "It sounds like you'rer talking about cancer." Virgil's eyes widened. "N-Not that I'm joking about cancer, of course- that's kind of stupid-" "Virgil, I know. Calm down." Patton linked his arm through Virgil's. It was a simple touch, but it certainly helped calm him.

"And anyway, I have something else to mention." Patton slowed his pace, tugging Virgil along with him. Virgil let out a small noise at the movement, before steadying himself and glancing at Patton, worried. Noticing Virgil's expression, Patton let out a small chuckle.

"Nothing bad I promise." Virgil raised an eyebrow, causing Patton to gasp. "How do you do that? You're like Doctor Who!" Virgil scoffed. "Hardly." "Anyway, I just wanted to ask... Are you good?" Virgil looked at strangely. "Yeah~? I mean I haven't got worse since I got here-" "No no no, not like that. I mean, this morning, you looked kinda spaced out." Was it that noticable?

"I was? I didn't notice." "I'd like to make it clear that I don't believe that for a second." Apparently Patton could see through him. "Tell me~! That is if you want to, of course." "I'd prefer not to." Patton pouted, but left it alone.

But now Virgil was even more confused. There isn't any reason for him not to tell Patton, so why didn't he tell him? Maybe to avoid sounding crazy?

"Hurry up, slowpokes!" Virgil looked up to see Roman watching them from around 20 feet away, tapping his foot impatiently. "At this rate all the hashbrowns will be gone." "They refill them, Roman." "Shut it, Calculator."

"Roman! What did I say about name calling!" Roman rolled his eyes. "Okay, dad." Patton grinned mischeviously. "That's right. You're all my kiddos now." Logan blinked.

"You're younger than me-" "Hush, Lolo. Respect your elders." "Roman what have you done." said Virgil jokingly. "We're gonna be late!" said Roman, grabbing Patton by the hand. "Accompany me, Padre!"

Logan watched the pair's retreating backs with a dumbstruck look.

"I have never been more confused in my life?" Virgil snickered at the look on his face, before grabbing his elbow. His skin tingled where it met Logan's. "Come on, Logan. If we leave them alone they'll probably find a way to burn the hall down.

"There are no fires lit in the hall?!"

................

Summary : Virgil and Logan are getting ready for bed, Virgil being a blushing gay mess the whole way. They meet the others in the courtyard, and walk to the dining hall. Patton notices that Virgil's spaced out today, to which he responds with "I didn't notice." It doesn't fool Patton though. Platonic Lamp shenanigins ensue, and Virgil is left wondering what the elated feeling in his chest is.

TAGS :

@someone-idk-is-here

@true-chaotic-dumbass

@tired-babyboy

@666frostwolf

If you wanna be added to the list, shoot me an ask. :)

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kimmimaru · 5 years ago

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Remake Randoms

I’m replaying the Remake. I tend to do this, play through first time on easy mode for the plot and then go back and do it all again on a harder mode to challenge myself.

I did a stupid. For the battle against Airbuster I equipped Cloud with Elemental-Lightning (not only was I obsessed with the way this looked, it’s been my go-to choice of materia links since...forever). BUT I fucking FORGOT to change it out so I went into the Reno fight with lightning damage on my sword...and Lightning as my only attack materia. That was incredibly stupid. I KNEW that fight was coming but forgot what materia I had equipped until the fight began and I was like; oh fuck. Still beat him somehow. I dunno, I keep beating myself up over it lol. Still kicking myself even now. Either way, I beat him. It’s over. (I’m sorry Reno, I hate beating you) Am I the only person who gets irritated by Chadley? I heavily suspect he’s a robot of some kind. He’s what...ten? And talks like an adult. Either he’s some sort of...weird scientific prodigy who has no idea what children do or sound like or he he’s a robot built to collect information. And we all know of one person who builds realistic robots and has a hand in helping out rebels...Reeve Tuesti you naughty boy (man). Honestly thought Chadley was some kind of ff7-world boy scout at first. Also later, when you meet him in the ShinRa building...no one bats an eye. There’s a child standing in the middle of everything talking to three extremely heavily armed people (one in a SOLDIER uniform so he’s naturally going to go unnoticed) but still no one asks; who the fuck are these people? (at least about Tifa and Barrett WHO HAS A GUN ON HIS ARM PEOPLE) They’re just striding around. I’m honestly surprised someone wasn’t like; hang on a minute...wasn’t the leader of Avalanche a guy with a gun for an arm? But no, everyone just keeps their heads down and ignores it all. Maybe they’re just so used to weird crap in ShinRa that they’re immune to it. Oh, there goes some weird people again, ah well, I have paper work to file! Or maybe just the fact that they’re with a guy in a SOLDIER uniform kind of automatically makes them invisible? Like, people see Cloud and are like assuming Cloud’s there for a reason and just sort of ignore the other two? This also goes back to the fact that no one in the slums seems at all bothered by the fact that when the first reactor blows up a bunch of heavily armed and armoured people get off the train. No one questions it. At all. Even when they’re all being very loud and probably look sweaty and awful. There are ShinRa guards there too who just...don’t even notice. No one else seems to carry obvious weapons apart from the neighbourhood watch. And I get how Cloud manages to go unnoticed as much, again, the uniform probably gives him a shield. After a terrorist attack you’re going to expect SOLDIER to be wandering around. I think that there’s some level of ‘don’t look, don’t notice, don’t get involved’ in the slums. It’s the only reason no one says; these people are suspect as fuck, and very probably the reason the reactors are blowing up because they stand out so much. Those who agree with Avalanche won’t say anything anyway since they probably don’t want them caught but even in the slums there’s some who don’t agree, you’d think they’d have said something. Edit to add; I like how Shinra don’t show the public Cloud. The video of Avalanche breaking into the reactor has been edited so it doesn’t show Cloud. I understand why, having a SOLDIER running around who’s not under Shinra’s control will scare the public shitless. It’s why they never mentioned Sephiroth’s freak out. Would reflect badly on Shinra. But I like that the game made sure to do small things like that. Generally yes, I understand that the MC’s will be invisible because it makes sense for game play but I just find it hilarious that NPC’s are blind like that. Also I overheard two women arguing about which outfit colour combination is best; black and white or pink and red. Hm, I wonder who wears those colours? Oh oh oh, also, I have yet to mention; I love Johnny!!! I was beyond pleased they kept him in! He’s so funny and weird. And I really enjoyed doing all those mini-quests with him in Wall Market, I hope we meet him again like you do in the OG in random places around the world. Play a game of ‘spot the Johnny’. AND I overheard some people talking about how there’s reactor job open even to people under the plate and it pays so much! Yeah...sure, THAT’S not even remotely suspicious. Lol. Her friend does tell her it sounds dodgy but that interaction made me chuckle. Lastly, Cloud’s summary of the Turks as ‘professional bad guys’ is...so perfect.

#remake randoms #final fantasy 7 remake #spoilers

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jujywrites · 5 years ago

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WIP Challenge

I got tagged by @kikithedeceiver to do this!

Challenge: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous.

Here’s the thing. I don’t have many separate WIP files; most of them are in one huge doc. and most of the separate wip files are... pretty dead? but ok whatevs. under a read more since it’s long...... and my ego won’t let me skip snippets hjkhkhk thanks for the idea Kiki

From my main miscellaneous folder:

50 Grades of Steele. 1 and a half chaps of a role-flipped 50 Shades of Grey rewrite (i haven’t read the books so I extra don’t care about the characters lol). why do i still have it i’ve lost interest.... *side eyes her entire wip ecosystem* ...Then I see my interview subject, seated at her desk.

"Mr. Grey. I'm pleased to meet you."

And I stop breathing. [end CH1]

[open CH2) I forgot to mention something: I exaggerate occasionally. But I'm not now. I literally stop breathing for a few seconds. A thousand thoughts are racing through my mind, which doesn't help my chest stop seizing, but the main problem here is that Anastasia Steele is quite possibly the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.

Fanfic idea masterlist. my most active file and where I keep most of my WIPS, unless they get too “large”. Organized by fandom. lotta stuff i keep passing by & may as well be dead but don’t wanna delete. here’s a zero-draft snippet of probably the next chapter of my G-rated yukyoru fic collection

He grabbed a pillow and placed it to his chest, grabbed her arm, and yanked her to him, praying his idea would work.

Seconds passed and he didn't transform. He put his arms around her gingerly. Should he try to immobilize her or would that make it worse?

She made the decision for him. "Mom," she sobbed, clutching him with an iron grip. "N-Need to help...!"

His stomach dropped to his shoes.

Thudding footsteps announced Yuki's arrival. "What's wrong?! Honda-san--"

He didn't say "What did you do?" The thought raced by and Kyo said, "Grab a pillow and help me!"

As Yuki positioned the pillow and himself without having to ask, Kyo said, "She won't wake up. I don't know what to do!"

"Night terror," Yuki said tightly. He was too close but it almost didn't matter. "Not much you can do besides wait."

MayxWard BDSM fic agents of SHIELD. mix of notes and actual writing. kind of a half AU. Melinda climbed into the driver's side and buckled in, then started up the car. "If you've not ridden on the left before you might have motion sickness. It's normal. Just close your eyes until—" She paused as she looked at him; his hands shook so much he couldn't manage the seatbelt. "Here, let me."

"Thanks," he muttered with a sigh, looking rueful.

Modern AU Zelink. What it says on the tin~ Teenage-ish Zelink, with a mash of supporting characters from other games. another mix of notes and fic. Link wasn't sleeping tonight. Tonight was the night he'd been planning for and awaiting for weeks. He was going on a quest: the quest to meet Princess Zelda.

She wasn't really a princess, of course. That was just her nickname. Zelda Nohansen was Hyrule's sweetheart, the most sought-after young actress in the movie business. And Link had fallen in love with her the first time he'd seen her, two years ago in a tiny theater in Kakariko.

PMMMfic homumado. Madoka Magica. AU, been around since about an hour after I finished the series (5 years yikes, still gotta watch Rebellion). Homura's time power still somewhat involved, but Mami's an adult, everyone's at a boarding school (I think?) where ~things aren't as they first seem~ and Madoka has mysterious powers and night terrors. just notes at the moment.

SoubixHitomi. Loveless. 3 unfinished/dead first-person Shinonome-senseixSoubi snippets, all of ‘em spicy.

yvy abo. Yuri On Ice. Yuri (Katsuki!!)/Victor/Yuko(!!?!), my attempt at. well. omegaverse(!!!!!!!). orignally started as part of a “bad YOI fic” bigbang and now I’m taking it seriously dgdgfg. Alpha Yuko. “Please, please stop,” she whispered, like saying it aloud would make any difference. But the pressure in her head kept building. Her limbs had begun to itch restlessly.

And Victor wouldn’t let go of her hand.

With the last scrap of her control, she straddled him quickly and kissed him awake.

Even in half-sleep he arched to meet her, and when he opened his eyes sapphire blue had already turned stormy with lust.

yvy canonfuturefic. Yuko-focused following of canon, or: how canon can I keep YOI while still rareship OT3ing it. She and Yuri fall in and out of love, in between falling for Victor. Victuri is still my life I swear

“You have got to watch this,” she tells Yuri. She watches Yuri’s face instead of the video, having seen it at least forty times by now.

Yuri’s eyes transform into beacons of awe, and Yuko swallows around her rapid heartbeat, breaths coming too short. She sees everything she’s feeling and more on his face. She remembers that she loves him, that he’s real and here and more important than the beautiful boy on her phone who’s trying to pull her under to a scary new world.

ZnT ot3 bdsm AU. Zankyou no Terror, 9/12/Lisa. mix of notes and fic, not just PWP. in heavy need of editing bc a lot was inspired by a non-spicy book.

“But it’s not just me. It’s everyone. You need everyone because you have no idea how to need yourself. Or even how to be yourself.”

“You’re wrong.” The force and volume of her voice shocked her and pushed her onward. “You and Touji. I don’t need anyone except you and Touji! Because you both taught me how to be myself-- no, how to find that on my own. I know exactly who I am, and that me isn’t complete without both of you!” She could feel the tears streaming down her face, yet somehow her voice didn’t waver. She felt so full of conviction she could burst into flames. “Don’t you understand, Arata? We’re all meant to be together.”

From my SnK folder:

Cave of the Crystal Maiden (working title). Aruani. Modern AU. MMORPG shenanigans with a dollop of magical realism/supernatural. Just notes. @portraitofa-girl suggested “meeting online” and it’s been there literally for years oh lord im sorry. no fic yet, just notes.

Falling Anthem (working title) Modern AU Levihan, art student Hange and young professor Levi. just notes. fic one in a planned series. also has been years ;_;

Raindrops and Soft Steps. Jearmin. unsurprisingly, modern AU. One morning, when Jean looks out of his bedroom window, he sees a boy dancing across the street. In the street, to be exact. There wouldn't be anything unusual about that, Jean supposes, except it's raining cats and dogs outside.

In my IAMXfic folder (fff i almost skipped this):

2ndPOVCalberto (DO NOT CORRUPT WITH HET) ChrisxAlberto? not much to say?? yes i know they’re real people??? which applies to everything after this oh my god *crawls under desk* Of course she knows; she is annoyingly perceptive when it comes to romance. The only thing preventing you from asking her (like a fucking lovestruck teenager) if Alberto likes you back is emptying that beer bottle. By then the only thing on your mind is ordering another.

CalbertImmi. i can’t even keep my poly shit outta RPF ahaha omhg Imogen has a conversation with her lover's lover. (AlbertImmi, sequel to...) Imogen finds herself in an unenviable position. (emerging CalbertImmi)

Alternate summaries (CC POV, first fic?): Chris loves two people. He doesn't want to choose. Chris has fallen in love a few times in his life. But he's never fallen for two people at once. (Chris also isn't good at choosing.)

ChrisxJ. several self-insert fics bc CC is just that powerful, apparently. haven’t looked at the file in a long time,,,,,

He started calling people to the stage with him, and one by one, my row emptied.

"Come on, yeah, come on," he was saying, waving his hand in an inviting gesture and grinning like a little kid. "Hey, you want to?" I did a double take.

"Me?" I mouthed, pointing at myself just to be sure. He nodded, smiling wider.

So it was that I walked unsteadily down the ramp and waited in line, feeling like I didn’t belong there. Soon I was next in line. What would I say? What would I do? I was sure if I opened my mouth I’d either burst into tears or faint.

Genderswapped IAMX sci-fi. The sci-fi was inspired by a word prompt, genderswapping by my own brain. (play spot the Immi lmao) Across the aisle, Sam rolled his eyes. “Leave Chris alone; she’s nervous.”

“And put on your own seatbelt, Johann,” shouted Jess, two seats back and in Sam’s aisle.

Patrick turned to look at Chris. “Subspace travel is a bitch,” he said simply, and turned back to his book.

“Oh, I feel much less nervous now,” Chris said with a sardonic grin. “How do you know that, anyway?”

"I'm not exactly what I seem to be." He didn’t look up.

Chriimmi (While I Was Gone inspired). Chris/Imogen, inspired by scenes from Sue Miller’s While I Was Gone.

"You really ought not to do that, you know," he said softly.

"Do what?"

"Sneak up on me."

My eyes slid from his face. "I didn't mean to. It just... happened."

"Mm." I glanced back at him; he wore a lopsided smile. "Not that I minded." The tension was so strong the air nearly vibrated with it, yet I held my tongue, terrified that I was the only one feeling it. He took a breath, deep, nearly rising on his toes. "No. I didn't mind at all." He took my hand, circled his thumb over the back. My breath caught as I felt it, as I watched him looking down at our hands.

Chriimmi bathtub dream. dream inspired Chris/Immi smut.

Chriimmi twitter. twitfic plus some, inspired from an actual tweet iamx made that i’m still not over.

@ imogenheap Come sing your lovely lyrics with us in London. @ IAMX misses you. CCx

ChrisxImmi main. grab bag of Chriimmi I was too lazy to put into separate docs.

“What do you think?” She grinned, twirling.

He cleared his throat. “Ah, I-Imogen, what are you wearing?”

“Well, I didn’t want to clash with your theme… Janine helped me. Does it work?”

Scandalously short skirt, midriff-baring top, knee-high boots.

“You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you? You’re trying to fucking kill me.”

Her grin only widened, even though a blush had started.

Fic edit chriimmi ver. yeah. editing someone else’s original fic to be chrimmi. either never posting or editing the frick out of. ~_~

He kissed her neck, whispered into it, “I love you.”

Imogen laughed. “Bollocks,” she said lazily.

”I do!” Chris protested. She looked down at him, nestled on her shoulder. He looked back, open, a little adoring. “I fell in love with you halfway through the show; I sang every note just for you.”

”Oh, please. You couldn’t have seen me.”

”No,” he said. “But I knew you were out there… I knew it had been you the minute I saw you backstage.”

Hospital Chriimmi. In which my guilty feeling over RPF are even worse bc of the inspiration ^_^U “Ms. Heap. What a pleasant surprise.” It’s surprising, how well she remembers his voice.

“Mr. Corner, what have you got yourself into?”

“Oh, just a bit of lingering insomnia. You know how it is.”

She takes a seat in the chair near his bed, crossing her legs. “Well, I’ve certainly had a sleepless night here and there, but I’ve never ended up in hospital from it. So no, I don’t suppose I do know.” Her tone is light, but her smile has begun to crack.

ImmixChris genderbend smut. the my secret friend video is... fertile material. have not actually written the smut yet.

...he saw us as characters– we put on those clothes and become separate from ourselves, removed. Whereas I simply felt like myself in men’s clothes, and instead of feeling what He felt for Her, I just kept right on feeling what I felt for Chris, amplified to a distracting level.

ReluctantdommeImmixSubCC. ...shrug emoji? notes and uh. visualizing.

Vampire Chriimmi. based on a dream. smutty. inspired by True Blood so wow that’s old.

From my Markipairings folder:

demon dream. markiplier self insert...... ughhhhhhhh o///o

"You can have me," I tell the creature. "But this one," I jerk my head toward Mark, "comes with me. He's mine, you see." A bold proclamation to make, but in the moment I know that the truth in those words surpasses everything I've ever said. He is mine, and saying the thought out loud fills me with courage. He squeezes my hand, two short and a long one so strong I think he might break it.

I know we’ll win.

DommeJujY. same as above, same as the next four. smutty.

Fight team AU. i forget where i got this one from. vaguely inspired by loveless i guess. The first clear thought I had was, He shouldn't have gone ahead of me. The second one was, I should have been able to protect him. But these came later, after the rage went away, after I hugged him and apologized, after I bandaged him…

Gaming meetcute. i win some contest or whatever to secretly tagteam w/ Mark. stuff happens and yeah......

The adrenaline surges through my veins as I take in the scene. Mark's avatar is flailing around, backed into a corner by some Eldritch Abomination and holy shit, the graphics in this game are amazing.

"This is not good, I can't move, I can't move…"

There's a voice in the back of my head screaming to shut the game down, to get that horrible thing off the screen. I ignore it.

Markinpanties. .......smut.

shifter-slight sci-fi AU. shrug emoji.

I looked up from the ground and saw I was heading straight for a brick wall. There was no time to slow down. I braced for impact...

It didn't happen. I opened my eyes and found myself in a café.

What.

Looking behind me, I saw a door. On impulse I walked over and opened it; the tree-lined street I could see through the glass was indeed there. No brick wall to smack my face into. Bewildered, I turned around and looked for a seat, choosing one near a window.

Gouldiplier~. master doc of ficbits of my cracky mccrackship, MarkiplierxEllie Goulding.

I check my phone during break time again. My selfie has been liked and retweeted thousands of times, and I shake my head in disbelief; I don't think that will ever stop surprising me, deep down. To make things even better, Mark's liked it! I'm in the middle of a happy jig when I realize there's a text from him and a squeak of joy slips from me.

hellooo gorgeous

looks like you're having fun. Hope the shoot's going great! <3

I quickly send a reply. it has been. Be glad when it's done tho. Missin u lots xo

Markipicbunnies. fanart of Mark for Gouldiplier insipration. photographer au.

"Ms. Goulding, I'm really not sure about this…"

"I produce pictures that are intimate because I'm an intimate being, Mark." Ellie looked at him directly, a hint of a smile shaping her lips. "Deep down, I think you are too. We just need to draw you out a bit."

showersexgouldiplier. WELP. IT’S SMUT.

Also I have folders for my 2010/11 nanowrimo novel that are kinda still WIPs but also kinda not

i’m gonna tag.... @kippielovesyou @kiridork and @mistergrass and anyone else who wants to do this can too :3

#JujYwrites #Mintyblather #i have too much stuuuffffff

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silentprincess100 · 7 years ago

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SEKAIICHI HATSUKOI ONODERA RITSU NO BAAI Chapter 27 Preliminary Translation (for the impatient)!!!

**MAJOR SPOILERS**

If you’re like me, you see the new foreign language raws of Sekakoi and are dying to read them right away. For those people, I’ve drafted a preliminary translation of the long-awaited twenty-seventh chapter of The Case of Onodera Ritsu, which just came out on the 29th!!! My translations are from Chinese, so I can’t vouch for how closely they follow the original Japanese text. As a die-hard fan of Sekakoi, I tried to translate Takano and Onodera as I understand (and LOVE!!) them as people. Just a note, though, my translations air on the liberal interpretation side and hope to refit the text to sound natural (or as natural as possible) in English, so if you’re looking for a word-for-word translation, you won’t find it here. Additionally, I know that there is a group who is officially scanlating SIH, and I do not mean to step on anyone’s toes or offend anyone. This is not a full scanlation in the slightest – it’s just for those who want a quick translation. I would be MORE THAN ECSTATIC AND EXTREMELY HONORED if the scanlation group covering SIH wants to work off of any of my translations, but please contact me if you do. :D

Credits for the scans that I used to translate go to Tong Meng Hui同萌繪（ cute and clever name by the way – my inner Chinese history geek heartily approves） scanlation group. The link to their scanlation is here, and I take ABSOLUTELY NO CREDIT for it: https://weibo.com/u/1582384823?is_hot=1#_rnd1514689495071.

Lastly, Shungiku Nakamura’s works belong to her, of course. Please buy the originals to support her work!! (By the way, there is a special thirteenth volume coming out in May with an extra booklet and some sort of marriage related special??!!).

So!! Enjoy, and feel free to send suggestions. Any errors are mine alone!

*Edited for a read-more function and some small errors. Sorry everyone and thank you for your patience.

Title Page:

Surely, these minute details of everyday life will one day become precious memories.

[May 1st Release – Onodera Ritsu no Baai Volume 13 (special edition and extra booklet) Now in pre-sale!!

Also on sale are the extremely popular SIH volumes 1-12 and Junjou Romantica 1-22.

Ultra-capable Editor in Chief x Newbie editor’s sightly realistic publishing company world love story!

SIH will be released as an app-game for smart-phones!!!!

Page 2:

Every time I cross over

Those pink tracks…

Page 3:

clang clang clang

Page 4:

Ritsu: Eh? You’ve moved there?

Mutou Sensei: Oh, do you know the area?

Ritsu: Yes, that was the closest station to my high school! Mutou sensei: Ahhh... I see!

Ritsu: Ah yes, but that you have moved to Tokyo is really quite the surprise.

Mutou sensei: Ahaha. Because handing in the manuscripts on-time and securing assistants was never that convenient…. (I’d about reached my limits!) Ritsu: Ah.

Page 5:

Ritsu: Also, I know you must be very busy unpacking… but regarding the manuscript… Mutou sensei: It’s no problem at all. I’ve just finished it!

Ritsu: Really? Fantastic! Thank you for your hard work!!! Ah, so could I come pick it up now?

Ok, great, thank you so much, you’ve been a great help. Ok, I will see you soon.

RItsu (thoughts): it has been so long since I’ve been to XX station….

Looking out the windows of the train on my way to school, every year there would always be cherry blossoms lining the tracks…

Page 6:

[And

Day

After day

I would be secretly watching Sempai from behind on my way to school.

GAHH~!!!!! Stop thinking about that dark history!!!!!

page 7:

Takano: What the hell are you doing?

Ritsu: !?(startle!) Why are you here?

Takano: Um maybe because I work here…?

Here are the materials for the meeting. Remember to look them over before tomorrow.

Ritsu: Huh? Ah, okay!

Oh, I am headed over to Mutou Sensei’s house to pick up the manuscript.

Takano: Mutou sensei’s?

Ritsu: Yes, it seems she just moved to Tokyo yesterday.

Takano: No way.

page 8

Takano: Where does she live?

Ritsu: Um. Well …

At XX station on YY line.

Takano: XX station?

Ah!

That's –

[Don’t say it!!!] stands up abruptly Ah, well, then I’m headed off.

Takano: Hang on. I’ll be heading out to meet with an author as well, so why don’t we go together?

Ritsu: Ah… but… um…

Takano: What?

Ritsu: It’s nothing.

Ritsu (thinking): If I seem too flustered, he’ll think that I care about it too much!!

page 9:

Takano: Achoo

Ritsu: Have you caught a cold? Takano: Well, it’s not at full cold status yet, just the first signs.

Ritsu: (Hmph!) Takano-san, it seems that someone hasn’t been taking care of themselves.

Takano: Ah… maybe.

So, why don’t you come over to my house today to take care of me. I’ll make dinner for you. (Aren’t you done for today after picking up the manuscript?)

Ritsu: Blush I’m not going!!

Takano: Oh, right. Here, take this.

page 10

Ritsu: ?

Takano: It’s the key to my apartment.

Ritsu: Huh?

Takano: You can come over whenever you want. Also, as a thank you in return, give me the key to your apartment.

Ritsu: Wha?

Takano: Or why don’t we just move in together. Otherwise, you might die alone at your house and I might never know.

If we live together, the house would be super neat and there would always be hot food to eat, now doesn’t that sound nice?

Ritsu: Huh? Wait!!!

Takano: And then I wouldn’t have to worry about your friend anymore.

page 11:

RItsu: Wha – what are you talking about?

Takano: Anyway, come over today.

Ritsu: No thank you – please allow me to decline!

Takano: Why? Ritsu: Well because judging by past experiences… (t/n this could also be “well because common sense tells me…”)

[Ah. The key to Takano-san’s apartment. I remember.]

Takano: What?

Ritsu: … it’s nothing.

Takano: If you have something to say, just say it.

Ritsu: I don’t…

Takano: Onodera.

Ritsu: …

…

Well, that is,

That key to your apartment.. wasn’t it… that was Yokozawa’s before, right?

page 12:

Ritsu: ...I just suddenly thought of it, that’s all!

An-anyway I’ve got somewhere to be, so I’m heading off. I’ll see you later.

Takano: Onodera.

I’ve already had him return that key to me.

Ritsu: Huh? It’s not as if - I’m not –

Takano: I’m sorry.

page 13:

Takano: I should have told you properly. I’m sorry.

I had already asked for the key that I gave to Yokozawa back. The key I just gave you is a new one.

Ritsu: Huh? Ah! I already said that I’m not –

[No no – it can’t seem as if I care about this too much!!]

Ritsu: A-and anyways we rent our apartments, how could you give one to someone else? What will happen when you leave that place?

Takano: I talked it over with the building management before I made this one, so it’s not a problem.

Because, I wanted you to have it no matter what.

page 14:

Takano: So take it. clink

Ritsu: Wai-

Takano: Bye-bye. I’ll leave Mutou sensei to you then.

Ritsu: Takano-san!!!

Woman: Good work.

Takano: You too.

Ritsu’s thought: ……Heyyyy…., even if you give me that thing…

page 15:

slam

Ritsu (thoughts): I’m returning it to him. This is me returning it to him!

Ugh god, what is that person thinking?!

Kisa: Ricchan, you haven’t left yet?

Ritsu: Hahaha, ah, no, I forgot something…

Ritsu (thoughts): Just because he gave me a key, he tells me to give him my key and to live with him. I totally cannot understand what he is thinking!

[but]

Ritsu’s thoughts: this way…

[He took his key back (from Yokozawa)]

page 16:

ding

Nao: oh, hey! If it isn’t Ritsu!

Ritsu: Nao! You’re working at Marukawa today?

Nao: Yep. I’ve gotten another job here besides the photo collection book. And what are you up to?

Ritsu: I’m on my way to pick up a manuscript.

Nao: (?!) Oh? So you have to go door-to-door to pick up the manuscripts yourself?

Ritsu: No, not every time. This time the author had just happened to have recently moved here, so I thought I’d pay a visit.

Nao: Oh okay, is it nearby?

Ritsu: No, maybe 30-40 minutes by train. Seems to be near my old school – which caught me by surprise!

Page 17:

Nao: Huuuuh. Did you suggest that place to sensei?

Ritsu: No, it was just a coincidence!

Nao: Uh-huh…

Ritsu: Then, I’ll see you later!

Nao: I’ll go with you.

Ritsu: What?

Nao: Well, I was just getting ready to head back anyway.

Ritsu: Huh? Um… but I’m going for work…

Nao: It’s fine, it’s fine. I won’t go with you to the author’s house.

page 18:

Ritsu: Ummmm..but.. Nao: I just want to see what your old school was like! After I take a look, I’ll head back on my own – so there’s no issue, right?

Ritsu: That is….. Errrrr…. Um…

Page 19:

Announcement: XX station. XX station. Doors will open on your left.

(sound effect: clang clang clang)

page 20:

Nao: Ritsu? The gate finally went up (Ah. Sure took its time.)

Ritsu: Oh right, sorry! Um, it’s this way! The school is about five minutes walking distance from here.

Nao: OK. Nao: Hey, is it that building right over there? Ritsu: Ah, yes.

RItsu (thoughts): The uniforms haven’t changed at all.

Nao: Wowww, pretty impressive school you have here!!

page 21:

[Ahhhh…. Right. Takano-san and I have definitely walked this path before…]

Startle

Ritsu (thoughts): It seems I’ve started thinking of a lot of different things….

(muddle muddle)

That sort of sordid history can’t be summed up with simple “nostalgia….”

Nao: Has it changed?

page 22:

RItsu: Huh?

Nao: The school.

Ritsu: Oh, I’m not sure. From the outside, it looks like it hasn’t changed…

Nao: Well I’m sure they’ve renovated it since then.

Ritsu: Ah, that’s true…

Nao: …. Uh huh…. Ten years ago, you met Saga-sempai here huh….

Ritsu: What? (*heartbeat*) Ah, um…. Yeah.

Nao: Hmm….

page 23:

Nao: I clearly don’t know anything about the Ritsu of that time, and yet that person does. It really doesn’t sit well with me.

Ritsu: Huh? What are you talking abou-

Nao: Ritsu.

I really do love you.

Page 24:

Ritsu: …..

…. What?

Nao: At first it was just because I thought you were at risk and couldn’t stop worrying about you that I became your friend.

But after that, after spending each day with you, slowly but surely, I started to really understand you. And then, I fell in love with you.

Narration: [He did recently say, “I’m serious about this.” Could it be… that it was true?]

Page 25:

Ritsu: B-but, in all the time I’ve known you, you’ve never…

Nao: Well, that’s obviously because I didn’t want to let you find out.

It was, after all, under those circumstances, and I also thought maybe I was confusing feelings of empathy with romantic interest.

But later I realized that it was, in fact, interest.

And you never mentioned anything about Saga-sempai again. I even breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that you had finally given him up.

Because I had seen how depressed you were then, I thought that any confession that I would make might cause you even more pain.

So, I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

page 26:

Nao: Rather than risk pushing you away with a confession, it would be better to continue to be friends… is what I thought. So I didn’t say anything.

… but… in the end, I couldn’t accept that.

After we parted I also had a lot of different experiences, but in the end, from then until now, it was always you that I loved

Ritsu: O-oh, is that so… I’m sorry. At the time, because I was so caught up in my own affairs, I never noticed.

Nao: Ahahaha. You really are thick-headed.

page 27:

Nao: Are you still in love with Saga-sempai?

Ritsu: Huh?

Nao: Ritsu, don’t let yourself get hurt like you did last time.

Ritsu: Hu-hurt? I was never-

Nao: So… it is just that you’ve been restrained by these feelings of “I liked him,” am I right?

page 28:

Nao: I don’t want to see you like that ever again.

Ritsu: Nao… Nao.

Nao: Even if he has changed his name, he is still that same guy that hurt you!

Since he is your boss, I can’t ask you not to see him again, but to be honest, just seeing him by your side - it pisses me off.

page 29:

Nao: I hope that you will take some time to think this over properly, so you don’t have to give me an answer right now.

But from now on I hope you can see me as a potential romantic partner.

Well, then, I’m heading off now. Bye bye!

Ritsu: Eh – Nao!

Nao: I’m satisfied by seeing the school; hurry up and pick up your manuscript!

Ah. Ritsu. I just want you to remember this.

page 30:

Nao: I definitely treasure you more. At least a lot more than any “Saga-sempai” or “Takano san” ever could.

page 31:

[… … … Nao.

He is serious about me. He truly is a good friend. When I had fallen so deeply into the pit of despair, he was always there to support me. It’s hard to even say just how much he helped me.]

Ritsu (thoughts): Because I had always seen him as a friend, I never even noticed… He said he didn’t need an answer right away, but I should have let him down right then.

Even if he says that he wants me to see him as a romantic partner, I still only see him as a friend.

[And what’s more…]

Memory: Nao: So… it is just that you’ve been restrained by these feelings of “I liked him,” am I right?

page 32:

[…. Could that be it?]

Ritsu (thoughts): No, that can’t be right. My past was always a dark patch of history devoid of any sort of happy memories.

And what’s even more, with the ten years intervening, it is hard to even glimpse a shadow of what it was like back then.

Yes, that’s it.

[Not only tyrannical, but also unyielding, his personality is the worst, and he is always doing all this inappropriate stuff to me].

……

[But.]

[He’s very capable when it comes to work, and every manga that he has a hand in creating is interesting. He does say things that are way over the line… but in the end, his advice is always on the mark.]

page 33:

[When I succeed, he praises me, and he also has always believed in me… moreover, he says that he has never stopped loving me over these past ten years.]

….

I should really clear things up with Nao.

[I’m not being restrained by old feelings. And I’m not being controlled by them either. I really need to tell him that it is not like that at all.]

page 34:

Ritsu: Huh?

Hatori: Welcome back. That took a while, huh.

Ritsu: Ah, I’m sorry about that. When I picked up the manuscript, we also chatted about content for next chapter.

Takano-san isn’t back yet?

Hatori: He said that he was headed straight home after his meeting with the author.

Ritsu: Huh?!

Hatori: Did something happen?

Ritsu: Eh? Ah, no! I see, so that’s what he said.

Oh, well, then I’ll be headed off as well.

Hatori: Okay, good work today.

page 35:

[Anyway – his key! What should I do with it?!]

Ritsu (thoughts): Since he went straight home, that means that he has to have another key, right? Then, it’s a non-issue. I’ll just leave the key here and go straight home, right?!

But what if some sort of accident happens if I leave it here – that’s scary to think about.

We-well, but, why does it have to be me who worries about this kind of stuff?

phone rings

Ritsu: Hello?!!

Takano: I don’t have a key, so I can’t get into my house.

Ritsu: What?

Why?

Takano: Didn’t I just give my key to you?

page 36:

Ritsu: Huh? But that’s a spare, right? Don’t you have another set?

Takano: I left them at home.

Ritsu: What?!

Takano: Aren’t you finished with work already anyways? Come back; I’ll make dinner for you.

Ritsu (thoughts): Okay, you DEFINITELY did that on purpose just because I didn’t agree to eat dinner with you. You KNEW your other key was at your house, and purposefully gave me your only key…

Takano: If you don’t come back, then I can’t make dinner, so get moving.

Ritsu: Please don’t be so difficult! Why couldn’t you have just not given me the key in the first place? Takano: ACHOO

page 37:

Takano: Achooo

Ritsu: Hey, wait a second, are you alright?

Takano: sniff What?

Ritsu: You have a cold, don’t you?

Takano: I don’t.

Achoo

Ritsu: Ahh, you do, though. Okay, okay, I get it, I get it.

[DAMNNIT!!] grabs

[Doing this sort of childish thing just to play around with people– it would clearly be best if I just let him deal with things by himself.]

Ritsu (thoughts): But, if his cold gets worse and he tries to pin this all on me, that’ll suck.

page 38:

[I really want to tell him that he is just getting what he deserves. Are you an idiot?! What the heck is going on in the brain of yours? This isn’t for Takano-san at all. It’s only because I have a lot that I want to say that I’m running…. And bringing Takano-san’s key…]

page 39:

Ritsu panting from running

Ah ha ah hah

Ritsu: WHAA?

Takano: I’m starving. (It’s hot out.)

Ritsu: And I just ran all the way here from the station!!

Takano: You’re kidding.

Ritsu: I’m not! Because if you died in the doorway, I’d have nightmares. (You just figured that out now, didn’t you?!)

Takano: ….

Ah….

page 40:

Takano: Thanks. pat pat Sorry, but I’m super happy right now.

Ritsu: Please! Please don’t do such childish things!

Takano: All I did was give you my key.

Ritsu: So, I’m saying, this sort of thing –

Takano: Here. Drink this.

Ritsu (thoughts): Huh…? Isn’t this already half empty? Which means…

Takano: Our relationship is past the point of being embarrassed over indirect kisses, no?

Ritsu: TAKANO-SAN!!!!! (blush blush blush!)

Takano: Alright, alright.

Were you able to collect the manuscript?

page 41:

Ritsu: Ah, yes. Sensei also sends her regards.

Takano: Where’s her house near?

RItsu: Oh, remember the bus station in front of the school? It’s that apartment that you can see right after you turn onto the side-road.

Takano: … Ah. It’s sort of coming back to me. Actually, I remember standing in front of the street-gate waiting for it to go up and getting pissed when it wouldn’t. (Ritsu – bdmp)

Is it still the same?

Ritsu: Eh, ah, yes. B-but I never thought I had to wait long there.

Takano: No way.

Ritsu: … Ah. B-but Nao also complained that it took forever.

page 42:

RItsu urk : Ah….

Takano: …

You. You went with Nao to pick up the manuscript?

Ritsu: … Um… about that… Please let me explain.

Takano: In the hallway?

Ritsu: Huh? Ah, ummm. Then I’ll just send you an email when I get home.

Takano: Didn’t I just tell you? I don’t have a key.

Page 43:

Takano: Open the door.

Ritsu: …

k-chak

Takano: Go on.

blocking the way

Ritsu: Ta-takano-san. Um. Nao was at the company for work, and I just happened to run into him in the lobby.

page 44:

Ritsu: I – after I said that Sensei’s house was close to my old school, he said he wanted to come see it. I turned him down, but in the end I wasn’t able to lose him.

Ah, but of course, I didn’t tell him Mutou Sensei’s address. We just walked together next to the school, and then split up.

Takano: What did you talk about?

Ritsu: Just some regular topics.

Takano: What do you mean by “regular?”

Ritsu: J-just. About school. About old times.

Takano: And you were confessed to as well, weren’t you?

page 45:

Ritsu: startle

Takano: …. So what did you say.

Ritsu: Please don’t use such leading questions to interrogate me!

Takano: But if I didn’t do that, you wouldn’t say anything, no?

Ritsu: O-okay yes, he confessed, but I said before that I only see Nao as a friend, so I was surprised.

Takano: And how did you respond?

Ritsu: I- I didn’t. Because he said that I didn’t need to respond right away.

Takano: …

Ritsu: And!

page 46:

Takano: And what?

Ritsu: ….

Ritsu: I’m heading back. Here is your key!!

Grab

Ritsu: Wha-

Takano: You still haven’t answered me.

Ritsu: Please let me go!

Push

Ritsu: Waa!!

Takano: So. After I find out that the person I like has been confessed to, you expect me to hold my composure?

page 47:

Takano: Even when it was just that the guy knew things about those ten years of yours that I didn’t, I was pissed. Why did it have to be at this time, another moment in which I wasn’t there, that you were confessed to?

[E-even if you say that]

Takano: …

Even though I’ve resolved myself to waiting for you, I can still get worried.

So. How many more times do I have to hold you for you to finally belong to me? (t/n also could be read as how many times do we have to sleep together for you to finally belong to me.)

page 48:

Takano: Ritsu. I love you.

So, hurry up and give your full self to me

page 49:

mouth mouth

RItsu: Haaa

Tremble

Ritsu: Ha

Ritsu: Wai-

Drop

RItsu: Ah, ha tremble

Takano: You’re so warm.

bite

page 50:

glub glub

Ritsu: hah hah

page 51:

Ritsu: Hah, hah hah

suckle suckle suckle, kiss kiss kiss

RItsu: Ta-takano san! (hahh)

Liiiick

Takano: What?

Ritsu: It’s – it’s already…

If you contin…ue…

Mouth

Jolt

page 52:

Ritsu: Ahh!!

Ritsu (thought): Ah. Because there is a layer of cloth between us, I feel like, somehow, it’s not enough.

Fondle fondle, grope, grope

Takano: Is it uncomfortable?

RItsu: (hahh) I-it…

Takano: Do you want to get off?

Ritsu: Didn’t I just tell you to stop these leading questions?

Takano: And didn’t I just tell you to give your full self to me?

Ritsu: Hah. Hah.

page 53:

RItsu: ……

…. It’s too embarrassing. Please don’t look.

page 54:

RItsu: Ah, ah. Ah ah.

Thrust thrust thrust

Takano’s thoughts: Ahhh…. Feels great.

page 55:

thrust hahh

[Right now, what I’m feeling in my heart, it isn’t just old emotions.]

Ritsu (thought): Ah, so deep.

RItsu (thought): Ah. Why does he always touch there….

What should I do… It feels so good.

[There is a sort of feeling that doesn’t solely belong to then, and yet also doesn’t solely belong to now, that is slowly blossoming within my chest.]

Lick

Memory: Are you in love with Saga-sempai?

page 56:

Takano: Ritsu.

[But to think that this feeling might be “love”?]

thrust

Ritsu: Ah!

turns over

Takano: Man, you’re a mess.

page 57:

[On the other hand, if this isn’t “love” then what else can it be called?]

Ritsu: Takano san. Hah hah.

[This feeling is slowly building up, and the more it builds up, the stronger it gets.]

[How much longer will it be until I finally escape his hold on me?]

page 58:

Takano and Onodera: ACHOOO.

Takano: Your greeting?

Ritsu: Good morning!!

Takano: Morning. What, do you have a cold?

Ritsu: NO!

page 59:

Ritsu (thoughts): It can’t be that I caught Takano-san’s cold. That would suck!!

Sniffle

Ritsu: Takano-san, you’re up early today.

Takano: I have a meeting first thing. (pain in the ass!)

But that means we can head to the office together.

clang clang

Takano: By the way, when I heard you talk about old school memories, I thought of something.

Ritsu: What?

Takano: On my way to school and on my way home from school, you were always following me, no?

page 60:

Ritsu: Wha-wha-wha- what are you saying? Hahahahahaha.

Takano: Ah, so it’s true.

Ritsu: Why would I do something like that? We went to the same school; of course we took the same route to and from school!

Takano: Well, whatever, it’s an indisputable fact that you were my stalker, though.

Ritsu: Th-that was your imagination. Takano-san, don’t you think that you’re flattering yourself?

Takano: Flattering myself shouldn’t be a problem though. Anyway, it is just around you that it happens.

page 61:

Ritsu: Huh?!!!

[We will soon be arriving at Fantian Bridge (t/n not sure what the Japanese is here) station.

[Every time I cross over those pink tracks…

Overtime, that street-gate became infamous, and everyone grew to hate it.

But, for me, that street-gate was always a place that I looked forward to.

Because it was there, day after day, that I could see the person I loved.

page 62:

RItsu: ….

Takano: I’m being watched again… (What the heck is he doing?)

[Days until Ritsu falls in love (completely): 36.]

[The end]

#sooooo worth it #omgomgomg #finally my Chinese comes in handy #sekaiichi hatsukoi spoilers

349 notes · View notes

unto-myself-together · 7 years ago

Text

Of Stories and Songs: A Haunted Mansion Fanfic (Overture)

Here is the alternate (and true) prologue that I was working on. It’s much, much longer than the prologue I had up before (which was actually not a prologue so much as a teaser?).

I have edited this. This is a better version now.

BEFORE YOU READ: This is a story based off of Disney’s ‘Story and Song of the Haunted Mansion’. The following trigger warnings are for this entire fic. If you are affected by the triggers listed right under the read more, you might want to skip this whole story (as there will be plot points tied to these things).

It also occurred to me that I can’t edit things before a read more and have it show up on people’s reblog of this post. :/ Which means I’m going to just put the trigger warnings underneath the read more, just in case I forgot something and need to add it. That way, everyone who reblogs will always get the most up to date version of the trigger warnings (which is the safest way).

Trigger warnings: ghosts, death concepts/discussions, murder, suicide, abuse, blood, lots of scary stuff (horror), implied sexual abuse, cursing (damn and hell), drug abuse, domestic violence, attempted rape (never completed; in a later chapter).

(The audio file is mine. I made it. You have to open the link to listen, as it will link to another tumblr post.)

~~~~~~~~~

Table of Contents:

Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3 , Chapter 4 , Chapter 5 ,

Chapter 6 , Chapter 7

Prologue (Overture)

“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream.” --Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a silver flask.

Probably not the first thing that would be in the forefront of your mind. And already, I’m sure, you must be asking:

Is it magic?

To which I will say: No. It was nothing more than a flask used to hold drink. Often the strong kind.

And then you might ask:

Is it beautiful?

To which I must say: Why, certainly not. It was small, barely holding 3 ounces, and had no decorations whatsoever. No set initials, no carvings or gems set into it, nor even a bit of polish to hide the jutting pewter layers that betrayed the idea that it was of pure silver.

And by now, you must be thinking:

Is it important?

Perhaps to some.

But to you?

To this tale?

I would hardly think you would notice it missing beyond this chapter.

And you must surely be furious now. ‘Why ever would I want to read about boring flasks that are neither magic, nor beautiful, nor important?’

Ah…but you see, my friend. All of us have such knickknacks in our lives.

Our little baubles.

Our collections.

And while these things, by themselves, may not necessarily spark the events that shape us as people, they do often bear witness to them.

Mementos of our first steps.

Our first job.

Our first kiss.

Weddings, anniversaries, funerals, murders…

Who we are…who we aspire to be…our dreams, our goals, our past and the promise of our future…

We cling to these items because they represent these times. A physical reminder we can touch...evoking the feelings we have for those we care about…an embodiment of our memories.

Who would we be in life, without our memories?

…Who would we be in death, without some token to leave behind?

After all, what are gravestones, if not markers for the living to remember the dead?

Yes…this particular item was well worn and used, and much beloved by its owner; a man that clung it to himself as any thief might cling a nugget of gold.

He was a plain looking man with a plain look about him. A goatee, a mustache, brown hair, brown eyes. Plain clothes and a plain hat. In the light of day, he might have looked like anyone else, perhaps even an upstanding citizen, albeit one that never won popularity contests. But in the dreary dead of night at the cemetery of an abandoned mansion, with his back hunched over and his eyes always shifting to look behind him? Even the most righteous of people would look suspicious.

A quick drink from the silver flask for courage, and the man creaked open the cemetery gate, lugging behind him a burlap sack and, inexplicably, the large case to a concert contrabass.

Once he chose a friendly spot among the gravestones, he took out a shovel from the sack.

For the longest time, he dug in silence. The only noises he made were the sound of shifting earth, accented by the occasional pause by which he took another swing from the flask. He spoke no sound, but it was just as well, as there was no one in sight for which to speak to.

No one…in his sights….

One foot…

Two foot…

Three foot…

Somewhere, deep in the bowels of the mansion, a grandfather clock struck midnight, and the echoes of its chime, remarkably, could be heard all the way through the cemetery. The man paused in his labors to listen; it caught his attention not just because it was strange for there to be a working clock in an old mansion, but because of the song it played. It sounded vaguely the same of the Big Ben chime, the usual song any respectable grandfather clock would use, but it was warped and distorted as though the clock had grown tired of telling time:

Listen to the clock audio file

Little did he know, for he was nowhere near the clock to see it, that this grandfather clock was…special. It had eyes. It had teeth. It had a tail, it’s pendulum, swinging gently with each second. And its bony fingers graced a face that held thirteen at its height. An impossible thirteen hours. As the chimes finished counting out their marks, the fingers began to move….backwards.

They started slow, but, with every passing of the thirteenth mark, they grew faster.

And faster.

And all around the halls where the clock stood proudly, the walls seem to vibrate in delight. Doors seemed to open on their own; the very air seemed to trill with excitement.

But of course, the man could not have known of any of this, as he was firmly in the graveyard, busy once again with digging.

Four feet…

Five feet…

Six feet…

A crow grabbed at his hat, right as he stood to drink again. He made a valiant effort to grab his precious flask, but it was no use. The flask fell to the ground, the little bit left emptied.

The crow perched at the edge of the hole, puffed up with pride and eyeing the man gleefully.

“Stupid crow,” He muttered, hopelessly shaking the flask to his ear for any signs of leftovers.

“Stupid man,” The crow croaked back at him.

The man glared at it. “I won’t look so stupid to you when I get back up there.”

“Caw caw-You will, you will. When they catch you, little fool. Caw caw.”

He’d heard of crows mimicking words, but holding actual conversations?

“Oh, but if I catch you, my feathered friend.” He began the tumultuous climb up the sides of his nicely dug hole. “I feel as though I should light you on fire. Do you know I could roast you so thoroughly, no one will ever know what you once-“

A green dress.

“…were….”

There was a green dress in front of him right as he hoisted himself up the edge. As his gaze drew upwards, there was a matching green striped apron. And upwards again, there was a face.

“Good evening,” The girl said, quite pleasantly.

He swallowed thickly. “Good evening.”

She seemed a child, but perhaps too old for his sense of ease. Teenagers that just turned adult were the worst brats, but at least she didn’t look threatening. Curious, perhaps, in the way she stared at him, head cocked to the side. Strange, perhaps, in her clothes and how the rain never quite fell on her. But most certainly not threatening. Dark brown hair that was cut neatly just as they reached halfway down her neck. In contrast, her bangs were messy and clumped in three, long, uneven strands, but at the very least they did not reach far enough to impede the view from her startling, brilliant blue eyes.

“What are you doing all the way out here?”

“I could say the same, girl. This isn’t a place for children to play games. Run along home.”

“I am home. And I’m not playing games….Yet.”

He hoisted himself the rest of the way up and stared at her harshly. “Didn’t your parents ever teach you not to lie?”

“On the contrary, they taught me how to.”

“Ha! Tell me, where in the hell are your parents that they let you run around in the middle of the night, dressed like that, at an abandoned house.”

“They’re dead,” She said, matter-of-factly. “And I’d rather not consider them to be in hell, thank you very much.”

“Oh.” He made himself busy with the latch on the case. “My condolences. I don’t envy them that.”

“You won’t have to. Would you care for a drink?”

The offer was sudden, but it was enough to perk the man’s attention. His hand hesitated on his contrabass case, before he made the slow, tentative effort to open it. Inside the case was another burlap sack, wrapped loosely around something (or somethings) so that they were undiscernible. He gave the object a poke in several places, as if assuring himself that it was still there, before clamping the case shut quickly.

“…What sort of drink?”

“Name your poison.” She said, smiling in a disconcerting, daydream-like way.

The man reached to feel for his silver flask, empty but safely tucked in his inner coat pocket.

“…I’ve always been partial to gin. But I don’t suppose a little girl like you carries around alcohol, especially visiting a place like this.”

“Au contraire, good sir. We happen to have a few good bottles, unopened, from 1883. I wonder, sir, if that might hold your interest…?”

“Ha. You’ve got to be joking. You’ve got a bottle that’s made its way all from the eighteenth century?”

“Nineteenth.” She corrected, “And yes, we do.”

“Whatever century, that’s got to be nearly a hundred years old. That’s quite a find.”

“If you say so.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “Once you get older, I think you’ll better appreciate the quality of an aged drink.”

“Of course, sir. I do hope you’ll allow me to lead you inside, so that we may provide to you the very best gin we have.”

There was an odd twitch in her smile, which made him suspicious that she was keeping something from him. His gaze was drawn back to the case.

“I assure you, your…case will be left undisturbed.”

The call of the drink was stronger than his desire to keep the case secured… There seemed no one here except the two of them. Surely no one would touch it, the man thought. ...and yet….

“It’s coming with me.”

He put the effort into hoisting the contrabass case onto his back once more.

She made an elaborate display in opening the door to the house and bowing to him to enter, which he did after shifting the case around.

“Follow me, please.”

She took a nearby lit candelabra, an ornate thing that had carved monsters and five candlesticks. As he followed behind, he considered the girl once again. Something was strange about how she moved, how she dressed, how she seemed perfectly at ease in an eerily empty house that she was likely squatting in. But she didn’t seem to have any weapons on her person, despite the air of confidence she emanated; not a hint of an anxiety in the way she carelessly walked in front of him, not once looking behind to see if he would stab her in the back. Perhaps that was what discomforted him.

This child had no fear of strangers, and the man could not for the life of him tell whether he should be wary of this fact.

“Is it far?” He asked, not at all liking the idea of having to trek through a whole mansion and then finish his digging.

“The parlor isn’t, no. At least, not at this time. You aren’t afraid of the dark, are you?”

“’Course not. Only children are….are afraid of…”

The strangeness in the air had magnified gradually as they walked. The eyes on the portraits seemed to follow his every move, but only out of the corner of his eye did he ever notice.

“…I’m not afraid of the dark.” He said, resolutely. He whipped his head at the latest portrait, intending to catch it in the act of spying, but froze as he stared at it.

Because his own face was staring back at him.

It was the very painted image of himself, and his hat, in front of a building that was…

......

“Where did you get this from, girl?” He hissed at her.

“Get what?” She said, in that infuriating innocent tone of hers.

He turned angrily at her, nostrils flaring.

“This! This portrait of me! How do you know about this…this?! What happened back then-Where did you get this from?!”

“A portrait of you? Here?” She came to take a look.

But when he went to present it to her, his face and the building were gone. Instead, the visage of a man, quite impossibly tall and with a gnarled face, stood in the frame. Each of his eyes was unique, and each of his hands held something unique as well; in one was the end of his long noose, and in the other was a sinister looking axe.

“…Is this you?” She said, incredulous, “It doesn’t look much like you. If it is you, you certainly did a good job cleaning yourself up, as the man in this portrait looks rather downright ugl-ouch.”

His mouth was still agape when he turned to witness her sucking her finger.

“I guess I deserved that.” She said, smiling at him with her finger between her teeth. His alarm and confusion was still a little hard to gulp away.

“Candlewax,” She said. “Shall we continue then?”

“But the portrait…” He eyes darted back to it, daring it to change again, utterly at a loss as to what to do about it.

“Could it be that you’ve had too much to drink already? That you’re seeing things that don’t exist? Perhaps I should withhold the gin from you…”

The man hesitated, and tried to consider the logic.

The incident he thought he saw in the portrait happened ages ago. He had a solid alibi, the police never once considered him a suspect, and half the community didn’t even remember him when he passed through years later.

Nobody looked for him, nobody knew it was him; why on earth would a girl in the middle of nowhere half the country away know anything about it?

Perhaps the stress took its toll…

And then there was still the one-hundred year old gin.

“Let’s continue,” he said, motioning for her to continue on. “I must…I must just be imagining things. It’s been a long night.”

And surely, the man thought to himself, he could still kill her if she blackmailed him.

“I’m sure. Right in through here.”

The parlor was a small room, as many old parlors were, but it was far too cold for comfort. Between the couch on the one wall and the three cushioned seats surrounding the fireplace, it was perhaps only designed to comfortably satisfy, at most, ten people. The far opposite wall of the couch had a three tier, long bookcase and a service table replete with glasses and decanters. The mantelpiece was decorated with a long mirror above it, and cherubs that no longer looked angelic carved into the wood. His throat grew tight simply looking at it.

“I do apologize for the lack of light,” The girl said, placing her candelabra up on the mantelpiece. There was still something so very odd about the way she moved. “We don’t have much firewood at the moment. If you’ll sit down, I’ll pour you a drink mister…?”

He waved her off. “It doesn’t matter. Call me whatever you’d like, girl.”

“A pleasure to meet you too then,” She smirked, “And you may call me ‘Nell’. I’d prefer it to girl.”

He huffed, unloaded the burden of the contrabass case, and took his relief in the cushions of one of the fireplace facing seats. They were still soft, despite looking like antiques that ought to be in a museum.

“Do you mind someone to drink with?”

“You’re too young, Nell.” He said, flatly, rubbing his arms to get some warmth.

“Oh no, not me. It’s just that the Master was wanting to see you, and he’s certainly not one to pass up a good drink.”

The man couldn’t tell if she was serious or not and eyed her funny.

“’Master’…? Who is this ‘Master’?”

“Someone who doesn’t like gin.”

He laughed. A short laugh that gave off his unease, as the tightness in his throat was still there.

“Sure. Sure, if he isn’t drinking any of my gin, by all means.”

“Well then, your drink, sir.”

She handed him an unopened bottle of ‘Collison’s Gin’, dated 1883 in its feeble looking, plain tag.

“Heh. The best service is a fast service.”

“I do try.”

Between his chair and the empty one to the left of it, she placed a slew of items on the end table. First was a unique looking glass that had a bulge straight in its middle. In it, she poured to the top end of the bulge a liquid that was of a sickly green. Next, she placed a strange looking slotted spoon over the lip of the glass, and a white cube (sugar?) on top of it. Finally, she added a clear liquid, steadily pouring over the cube so that it dissolved and the rest of the glass was filled. Almost instantly, the green clouded into a murky white.

She noticed him staring. “It’s the Master’s favored drink, and it needs to be prepared very specifically.”

The man swallowed, the tightness beginning to irritate him. There was something so very ‘off’ about the girl, even up close, and he had yet to put his finger on just what it was.

“Tell me, what brings a respectable gentleman such as yourself out in the middle of a cemetery attached to, and I quote you, ‘an abandoned house’?”

The man took a long swing of his newly gotten goods, contemplating on just what to tell her.

“You know the old mine to the east of here?”

“Sightseeing at Big Thunder Mountain? I’m sure a lot of the buildings of the town of Rainbow Ridge still stand, though I can’t imagine there would be much to see.”

He paused. “Last I heard, the town was called Tumbleweed…”

“It’s been called many things over time. Haunted would be another.”

“I don’t much believe in silly superstitions. The miners back then were just out of their depth in trying to rake a twisted forming mountain.”

The girl laughed, her shadow dancing in the light of the candles in an unnatural way.

“Perhaps you should start believing in superstitions. You never know, sir, just what sort of place you’ll end up at. Better late than never...But, may I ask, does this mean you wish to try and re-open the mine?”

“There’s gold to be had. Plenty of it. If others want to avoid claiming it, that’s all well and good. More for me.”

“Is it gold that you have in that case of yours that you were burying?”

He hesitated. He had hoped she wouldn’t have brought up the subject of his case; that she had just forgotten about it, despite its presence in the room.

As he took a slow and steady drink, letting the alcohol linger and burn, he looked towards the ‘Master’s’ glass.

…It was empty…

He nearly choked on his sip.

“That…the glass. That ‘Master’s’ glass…”

Nell turned to it. “Oh. Dear me. I must have forgotten to pour the Master’s drink. How silly of me.”

He watched, the goosebumps creeping, as she painstakingly repeated her earlier actions.

Pour the green liquid up to the top of the bulge.

Balance the slotted spoon on its lip.

Put the cube on the spoon.

Pour the clear liquid over the cube.

With each action, his throat tightened more, and he fiddled with his collar to relief the pressure.

“Now, where were we?” She said, returning to him. “Oh yes. Tell me, what brings a respectable gentleman such as yourself out in the middle of a cemetery attached to, and I quote you, ‘an abandoned house’”

The hair on the back of his neck stiffened and prickled. Hadn't she just asked this question?

“You…you know…the old mine…to the east…”

“Sightseeing at Big Thunder Mountain? I’m sure a lot of the buildings of the town of Rainbow Ridge still stand, though I can’t imagine there would be much to see.”

“T-tumbleweed…” He sputtered out, correcting her.

“It’s been called many things over time. Haunted would be another.”

“Don’t believe…No superstition is going to stop me…Not the earthquakes or the flash floods they say about it…”

“Or the runaway ghost trains?”

He fiddled nervously with his collar again.

The tightness in his throat irritated him again…and then he heard it.

Slow and mournful, a musical voice. A human voice. She was singing, singing so beautifully and slowly and mournfully that it sounded like the lament for a loved one long since dead. The hallways carried her chime-like, enchanting voice very well, although the echoes made her sound like an unearthly creature.

“What is that?” He whispered to the girl, mesmerized.

It was the most alluring sound he had ever heard in his life.

“What is what?”

“The singing…someone is singing…Who else is here?”

“No body is here. Except, of course, the ones we ourselves dragged here.”

“The singing…Beautiful singing…I-“

He froze, as if remembering something, and twisted his head around back to the ‘Master’s’ glass.

His stomach dropped, the singing stopped, and the goosebumps multiplied down his back.

The glass was empty again.

“The…the glass…” He managed to sputter.

“Oh. Dear, dear me. I must have forgotten to pour the Master’s drink. How silly of me.”

Bulge. Green liquid. Spoon. Cube. Clear liquid.

“So tell me, what brings a respectable gentleman such as yourself out in the middle of a cemetery attached to, and I quote you-”

“Just what are you playing at here?” The man spat, trying to work himself towards a rage.

“Playing?” Nell asked, her clearly faux look of innocence infuriating him more.

“What do you take me for, hm? You’ve filled that glass three times, asked that same question three times.”

“Have I really filled the Master’s glass three times already?” She asked, and her faux innocent smile twitched to a smirk. “And to think, after all these years, the Master still has a drinking problem.”

The room began to shake, bristling and threatening to topple over the candelabra. The man held onto his seat, a gnawing worry in the back of his mind that maybe the stories about Big Thunder and earthquakes were true. But the rumbling stopped almost as soon as it began.

“Now you see?” The girl said. “A true gentleman can easily show his discontent by giving the room a little shake…not pouring hot wax on me. You should take notes and follow the example.”

“What are you talking about?” The man was on the very end of his seat, nerves galore, as the girl hadn’t even been looking at him.

When she did, a layer of surprise clouded her face, as though she had briefly forgotten he was even there or perhaps didn’t think he would comment.

“Oh. My apologies if you thought I was talking to you.”

He couldn’t take it anymore. In mere seconds, the man had the girl up against the side of the mantelpiece, the blade of his three inch folding knife against the pretty little girl’s pretty little throat.

“Now you listen here, girl,” He hissed, “I’ve played house with you long enough. You better start wagging that tongue of yours and tell me what in the Hell’s going on around here or else I-“

HE WAS BACK IN HIS CHAIR.

It had happened so fast, it was almost a blur. At one moment, he had the girl’s life in his very hands while she stared, unconcerned and without a trace of fear, back at him. The very next moment, he was being driven back by a powerful and invisible force; powerful enough to send him sailing through the air and crashing firmly back into the chair.

He sat there shaking, trying to get up again. But an unseen heavy weight kept him anchored against the cushions, his knife somehow lodged into one of the creepy cherubs out of his reach.

“My, my, my,” Nell sighed. She looked unconcerned by men flying through the air, just as unconcerned as she had been when he had held his knife against her throat. “And here I thought we could all be civil about this. But I suppose that was too much to ask from someone like you.”

“Someone…someone like me-?” He croaked out as the tightness in his throat got phenomenally tighter.

It suddenly occurred to the man that tightness wasn’t the result of nerves.

She took hold of the candelabra once more.

“You aren’t here for gold…”

She stepped closer to him.

“You don’t care for riches…”

With every inch made towards the man, the man felt his neck tighten even more.

“And you don’t give two wits about Big Thunder…”

She stood directly in front of him as he struggled for breath.

It was like a rope…

A rope that had been pulled tighter and tighter around his neck this entire time, and he only just started to pay it heed.

But as he struggled and gasped and scratched at his throat, there was nothing there.

There was never anything there.

“L-l-ll-little b-b-bi-” he heaved.

“Insulting the woman you just tried to kill? It won’t do you much good from where you’re sitting, but by all means, keep digging your own grave. You’ve already dug a physical one for us. That was so very kind of you, by the way. Did I ever thank you?”

The man could no longer speak. He was forced to glare at her instead.

“No, someone like you isn’t much interested in mines. And I can especially understand why you might be uncomfortable with ‘silly superstitions’. I mean, given what you’ve been up to these past few months.”

The man’s eyes grew wide.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that, good sir. I know someone who knows things. So much so, that I happen to know what’s really in that case. …And it most certainly isn’t gold from Big Thunder Mountain.”

He tried to resist the invisible restraints, wanting more than ever to run.

“No. What’s in your music case is far worse than gold, isn’t it? And you’ve been worried that people were going to come looking for you because of what you did. You would kill to keep that from happening. ….And you have killed, many times. Yet in your attempt to get away, you’ve made one very fatal mistake…”

She loomed over him, the light source in one hand. And in that terrible, terrible moment, he finally realized what was strange about the girl.

Her shadow was too tall.

Her shadow was too impossibly tall and thin. And, though the girl was holding a candelabra, her shadow was not.

It was holding something much different. Longer and thinner, with a bladed edge.

His terrified eyes flicked back to the girl. Something about her demeanor, the smile that grew on her face, suggested that she knew what he was thinking. That she knew what he’d just noticed.

“For someone who doesn’t believe in ‘silly superstitions’, you seem to have great faith in the silliest of all,” She said, her smile wide as she held a finger to her lips,

“Did you honestly believe the dead tell no tales?”

The candles in her hand went out, plunging everything into darkness.

The sensation in his neck grew tauter, and he reached out, grasping, yearning for anything that might bring relief.

Take the axe and cut the rope Take the axe and cut the rope Take the axe and cut the rope Take the axe and cut the rope-

Chanting. The chanting in the room grew mind numbing. Something heavy was in his hand.

He could feel his fingers growing colder. The world becoming fuzzier.

He knew what he had to do.

Take the axe and cut the rope Take the axe and cut the rope Take the axe and cut the rope Take the axe and cut the rope

With the last of his strength…as he still struggled for breath…he swung the heavy object in one fell swoop towards his neck.

But there was no rope. There was nothing there.

There was nothing there.

There was nothing there but flesh and blood and the remnants of the man’s final screams.

#of stories and songs #my fanfiction #haunted mansion fanfiction #haunted mansion fanfic #the haunted mansion fanfiction

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infinitehours · 5 years ago

Text

Prologue

(The audio file is mine. I made it. You have to open the link to listen, as it will link to another tumblr post.)

~~~~~~~~~

Table of Contents link

Prologue (Overture)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a silver flask.

Probably not the first thing that would be in the forefront of your mind. And already, I’m sure, you must be asking:

Is it magic?

To which I will say: No. It was nothing more than a flask used to hold drink. Often the strong kind.

And then you might ask:

Is it beautiful?

And by now, you must be thinking:

Is it important?

Perhaps to some.

But to you?

To this tale?

I would hardly think you would notice it missing beyond this chapter.

And you must surely be furious now. ‘Why ever would I want to read about boring flasks that are neither magic, nor beautiful, nor important?’

Ah…but you see, my friend. All of us have such knickknacks in our lives.

Our little baubles.

Our collections.

And while these things, by themselves, may not necessarily spark the events that shape us as people, they do often bear witness to them.

Mementos of our first steps.

Our first job.

Our first kiss.

Weddings, anniversaries, funerals, murders…

Who we are…who we aspire to be…our dreams, our goals, our past and the promise of our future…

We cling to these items because they represent these times. A physical reminder we can touch...evoking the feelings we have for those we care about…an embodiment of our memories.

Who would we be in life, without our memories?

…Who would we be in death, without some token to leave behind?

After all, what are gravestones, if not markers for the living to remember the dead?

Yes…this particular item was well worn and used, and much beloved by its owner; a man that clung it to himself as any thief might cling a nugget of gold.

A quick drink from the silver flask for courage, and the man creaked open the cemetery gate, lugging behind him a burlap sack and, inexplicably, the large case to a concert contrabass.

Once he chose a friendly spot among the gravestones, he took out a shovel from the sack.

No one…in his sights….

One foot…

Two foot…

Three foot…

Listen to the clock audio file

They started slow, but, with every passing of the thirteenth mark, they grew faster.

And faster.

And all around the halls where the clock stood proudly, the walls seem to vibrate in delight. Doors seemed to open on their own; the very air seemed to trill with excitement.

But of course, the man could not have known of any of this, as he was firmly in the graveyard, busy once again with digging.

Four feet…

Five feet…

Six feet…

A crow grabbed at his hat, right as he stood to drink again. He made a valiant effort to grab his precious flask, but it was no use. The flask fell to the ground, the little bit left emptied.

The crow perched at the edge of the hole, puffed up with pride and eyeing the man gleefully.

“Stupid crow,” He muttered, hopelessly shaking the flask to his ear for any signs of leftovers.

“Stupid man,” The crow croaked back at him.

The man glared at it. “I won’t look so stupid to you when I get back up there.”

“Caw caw-You will, you will. When they catch you, little fool. Caw caw.”

He’d heard of crows mimicking words, but holding actual conversations?

A green dress.

“…were….”

There was a green dress in front of him right as he hoisted himself up the edge. As his gaze drew upwards, there was a matching green striped apron. And upwards again, there was a face.

“Good evening,” The girl said, quite pleasantly.

He swallowed thickly. “Good evening.”

“What are you doing all the way out here?”

“I could say the same, girl. This isn’t a place for children to play games. Run along home.”

“I am home. And I’m not playing games….Yet.”

He hoisted himself the rest of the way up and stared at her harshly. “Didn’t your parents ever teach you not to lie?”

“On the contrary, they taught me how to.”

“Ha! Tell me, where in the hell are your parents that they let you run around in the middle of the night, dressed like that, at an abandoned house.”

“They’re dead,” She said, matter-of-factly. “And I’d rather not consider them to be in hell, thank you very much.”

“Oh.” He made himself busy with the latch on the case. “My condolences. I don’t envy them that.”

“You won’t have to. Would you care for a drink?”

“…What sort of drink?”

“Name your poison.” She said, smiling in a disconcerting, daydream-like way.

The man reached to feel for his silver flask, empty but safely tucked in his inner coat pocket.

“…I’ve always been partial to gin. But I don’t suppose a little girl like you carries around alcohol, especially visiting a place like this.”

“Au contraire, good sir. We happen to have a few good bottles, unopened, from 1883. I wonder, sir, if that might hold your interest…?”

“Ha. You’ve got to be joking. You’ve got a bottle that’s made its way all from the eighteenth century?”

“Nineteenth.” She corrected, “And yes, we do.”

“Whatever century, that’s got to be nearly a hundred years old. That’s quite a find.”

“If you say so.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “Once you get older, I think you’ll better appreciate the quality of an aged drink.”

“Of course, sir. I do hope you’ll allow me to lead you inside, so that we may provide to you the very best gin we have.”

There was an odd twitch in her smile, which made him suspicious that she was keeping something from him. His gaze was drawn back to the case.

“I assure you, your…case will be left undisturbed.”

The call of the drink was stronger than his desire to keep the case secured… There seemed no one here except the two of them. Surely no one would touch it, the man thought. ...and yet….

“It’s coming with me.”

He put the effort into hoisting the contrabass case onto his back once more.

She made an elaborate display in opening the door to the house and bowing to him to enter, which he did after shifting the case around.

“Follow me, please.”

This child had no fear of strangers, and the man could not for the life of him tell whether he should be wary of this fact.

“Is it far?” He asked, not at all liking the idea of having to trek through a whole mansion and then finish his digging.

“The parlor isn’t, no. At least, not at this time. You aren’t afraid of the dark, are you?”

“’Course not. Only children are….are afraid of…”

The strangeness in the air had magnified gradually as they walked. The eyes on the portraits seemed to follow his every move, but only out of the corner of his eye did he ever notice.

“…I’m not afraid of the dark.” He said, resolutely. He whipped his head at the latest portrait, intending to catch it in the act of spying, but froze as he stared at it.

Because his own face was staring back at him.

It was the very painted image of himself, and his hat, in front of a building that was…

......

“Where did you get this from, girl?” He hissed at her.

“Get what?” She said, in that infuriating innocent tone of hers.

He turned angrily at her, nostrils flaring.

“This! This portrait of me! How do you know about this…this?! What happened back then-Where did you get this from?!”

“A portrait of you? Here?” She came to take a look.

His mouth was still agape when he turned to witness her sucking her finger.

“I guess I deserved that.” She said, smiling at him with her finger between her teeth. His alarm and confusion was still a little hard to gulp away.

“Candlewax,” She said. “Shall we continue then?”

“But the portrait…” He eyes darted back to it, daring it to change again, utterly at a loss as to what to do about it.

“Could it be that you’ve had too much to drink already? That you’re seeing things that don’t exist? Perhaps I should withhold the gin from you…”

The man hesitated, and tried to consider the logic.

Nobody looked for him, nobody knew it was him; why on earth would a girl in the middle of nowhere half the country away know anything about it?

Perhaps the stress took its toll…

And then there was still the one-hundred year old gin.

“Let’s continue,” he said, motioning for her to continue on. “I must…I must just be imagining things. It’s been a long night.”

And surely, the man thought to himself, he could still kill her if she blackmailed him.

“I’m sure. Right in through here.”

He waved her off. “It doesn’t matter. Call me whatever you’d like, girl.”

“A pleasure to meet you too then,” She smirked, “And you may call me ‘Nell’. I’d prefer it to girl.”

“Do you mind someone to drink with?”

“You’re too young, Nell.” He said, flatly, rubbing his arms to get some warmth.

“Oh no, not me. It’s just that the Master was wanting to see you, and he’s certainly not one to pass up a good drink.”

The man couldn’t tell if she was serious or not and eyed her funny.

“’Master’…? Who is this ‘Master’?”

“Someone who doesn’t like gin.”

He laughed. A short laugh that gave off his unease, as the tightness in his throat was still there.

“Sure. Sure, if he isn’t drinking any of my gin, by all means.”

“Well then, your drink, sir.”

She handed him an unopened bottle of ‘Collison’s Gin’, dated 1883 in its feeble looking, plain tag.

“Heh. The best service is a fast service.”

“I do try.”

She noticed him staring. “It’s the Master’s favored drink, and it needs to be prepared very specifically.”

The man swallowed, the tightness beginning to irritate him. There was something so very ‘off’ about the girl, even up close, and he had yet to put his finger on just what it was.

“Tell me, what brings a respectable gentleman such as yourself out in the middle of a cemetery attached to, and I quote you, ‘an abandoned house’?”

The man took a long swing of his newly gotten goods, contemplating on just what to tell her.

“You know the old mine to the east of here?”

“Sightseeing at Big Thunder Mountain? I’m sure a lot of the buildings of the town of Rainbow Ridge still stand, though I can’t imagine there would be much to see.”

He paused. “Last I heard, the town was called Tumbleweed…”

“It’s been called many things over time. Haunted would be another.”

“I don’t much believe in silly superstitions. The miners back then were just out of their depth in trying to rake a twisted forming mountain.”

The girl laughed, her shadow dancing in the light of the candles in an unnatural way.

“There’s gold to be had. Plenty of it. If others want to avoid claiming it, that’s all well and good. More for me.”

“Is it gold that you have in that case of yours that you were burying?”

He hesitated. He had hoped she wouldn’t have brought up the subject of his case; that she had just forgotten about it, despite its presence in the room.

As he took a slow and steady drink, letting the alcohol linger and burn, he looked towards the ‘Master’s’ glass.

…It was empty…

He nearly choked on his sip.

“That…the glass. That ‘Master’s’ glass…”

Nell turned to it. “Oh. Dear me. I must have forgotten to pour the Master’s drink. How silly of me.”

He watched, the goosebumps creeping, as she painstakingly repeated her earlier actions.

Pour the green liquid up to the top of the bulge.

Balance the slotted spoon on its lip.

Put the cube on the spoon.

Pour the clear liquid over the cube.

With each action, his throat tightened more, and he fiddled with his collar to relief the pressure.

The hair on the back of his neck stiffened and prickled. Hadn't she just asked this question?

“You…you know…the old mine…to the east…”

“Sightseeing at Big Thunder Mountain? I’m sure a lot of the buildings of the town of Rainbow Ridge still stand, though I can’t imagine there would be much to see.”

“T-tumbleweed…” He sputtered out, correcting her.

“It’s been called many things over time. Haunted would be another.”

“Don’t believe…No superstition is going to stop me…Not the earthquakes or the flash floods they say about it…”

“Or the runaway ghost trains?”

He fiddled nervously with his collar again.

The tightness in his throat irritated him again…and then he heard it.

“What is that?” He whispered to the girl, mesmerized.

It was the most alluring sound he had ever heard in his life.

“What is what?”

“The singing…someone is singing…Who else is here?”

“No body is here. Except, of course, the ones we ourselves dragged here.”

“The singing…Beautiful singing…I-“

He froze, as if remembering something, and twisted his head around back to the ‘Master’s’ glass.

His stomach dropped, the singing stopped, and the goosebumps multiplied down his back.

The glass was empty again.

“The…the glass…” He managed to sputter.

“Oh. Dear, dear me. I must have forgotten to pour the Master’s drink. How silly of me.”

Bulge. Green liquid. Spoon. Cube. Clear liquid.

“So tell me, what brings a respectable gentleman such as yourself out in the middle of a cemetery attached to, and I quote you-”

“Just what are you playing at here?” The man spat, trying to work himself towards a rage.

“Playing?” Nell asked, her clearly faux look of innocence infuriating him more.

“What do you take me for, hm? You’ve filled that glass three times, asked that same question three times.”

“Now you see?” The girl said. “A true gentleman can easily show his discontent by giving the room a little shake…not pouring hot wax on me. You should take notes and follow the example.”

“What are you talking about?” The man was on the very end of his seat, nerves galore, as the girl hadn’t even been looking at him.

When she did, a layer of surprise clouded her face, as though she had briefly forgotten he was even there or perhaps didn’t think he would comment.

“Oh. My apologies if you thought I was talking to you.”

HE WAS BACK IN HIS CHAIR.

He sat there shaking, trying to get up again. But an unseen heavy weight kept him anchored against the cushions, his knife somehow lodged into one of the creepy cherubs out of his reach.

“Someone…someone like me-?” He croaked out as the tightness in his throat got phenomenally tighter.

It suddenly occurred to the man that tightness wasn’t the result of nerves.

She took hold of the candelabra once more.

“You aren’t here for gold…”

She stepped closer to him.

“You don’t care for riches…”

With every inch made towards the man, the man felt his neck tighten even more.

“And you don’t give two wits about Big Thunder…”

She stood directly in front of him as he struggled for breath.

It was like a rope…

A rope that had been pulled tighter and tighter around his neck this entire time, and he only just started to pay it heed.

But as he struggled and gasped and scratched at his throat, there was nothing there.

There was never anything there.

“L-l-ll-little b-b-bi-” he heaved.

The man could no longer speak. He was forced to glare at her instead.

The man’s eyes grew wide.

He tried to resist the invisible restraints, wanting more than ever to run.

She loomed over him, the light source in one hand. And in that terrible, terrible moment, he finally realized what was strange about the girl.

Her shadow was too tall.

Her shadow was too impossibly tall and thin. And, though the girl was holding a candelabra, her shadow was not.

It was holding something much different. Longer and thinner, with a bladed edge.

His terrified eyes flicked back to the girl. Something about her demeanor, the smile that grew on her face, suggested that she knew what he was thinking. That she knew what he’d just noticed.

“For someone who doesn’t believe in ‘silly superstitions’, you seem to have great faith in the silliest of all,” She said, her smile wide as she held a finger to her lips,

“Did you honestly believe the dead tell no tales?”

The candles in her hand went out, plunging everything into darkness.

The sensation in his neck grew tauter, and he reached out, grasping, yearning for anything that might bring relief.

Take the axe and cut the rope Take the axe and cut the rope Take the axe and cut the rope Take the axe and cut the rope-

Chanting. The chanting in the room grew mind numbing. Something heavy was in his hand.

He could feel his fingers growing colder. The world becoming fuzzier.

He knew what he had to do.

Take the axe and cut the rope Take the axe and cut the rope Take the axe and cut the rope Take the axe and cut the rope

With the last of his strength…as he still struggled for breath…he swung the heavy object in one fell swoop towards his neck.

But there was no rope. There was nothing there.

There was nothing there.

There was nothing there but flesh and blood and the remnants of the man’s final screams.

#prologue

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aliceellablog · 7 years ago

Text

I know! Why don’t I go on a blind date on the tele....

Hello you lovely wonderful amazing blog readers… enough to make you wanna read on?! I hear flattery will get you everywhere!!

Soooo these last two weeks have been pretty surreal! - I’ll start where I left off, two weeks ago…

So I started the week resting in bed, yaaaaay! - (please note the sarcasm)… but then managed two days in the studio with Warren and Scott who I LOOOOVEEEEEE :)

We are working on a bunch of J-pop tracks (think pop on acid for the Japanese market) so that was really fun and I really love spending time with them.

We found out this week that two of them are on hold!! Yaaaaassss!! (this means that the artist who we wrote them for has basically put them in a pile of yes’s and then chooses which songs to actually release from that selection!) So definitely a massively exciting step in the right direction but can’t get too excited about it just yet! Eeeek!

However (dun dun duuuuuun) on the second day there I had pretty much lost my voice and was feeling worse than usual - annoying huh!! So I went home that evening and low and behold came down with a bladdy full on fluey coldy thing. Feck.

So I spent the next say 5 days fully in bed (and maybe an hour or two in the garden working on ma tan ;) and lost the will to live! Yay!!! (Sorry, today is a sarcastic day it would seem!)

I wasn’t well enough to see me dad on Fathers day - sorry pap!! And had to cancel all of my plans yet again.

It’s been 11 days now and I am still feeling like I’ve been hit by a truck. I’m still coughing a lot but the rest of the cold symptoms have gone - I think this is one of the most frustrating things with the old M.E. - that you can be getting on the right track and then get a cold or virus and it completely knocks you for six (not even sure what that means but my mum says it a lot so….) It’s almost like once the cold has gone it’s given you a mini M.E. relapse to deal with too. Thanks for that.

I did however have a much better day on Tuesday - I’d spent the day in bed but then felt a little better so got up, put my face on and had one of my best friends Ewa come over - she has been away in Asia for like 8 months or something! It was SO good to see her - even though she is a tanned goddess of a woman!!!! - the jealousy is REAL! Hahaha ;) But catching up with her was like we had never been apart (Ewa you’d better be reading this) hahah, we are so on the same wavelength, you know when you fully just click with someone? Yea… that’s her <3 - this pic is from last year when we went to Freinds fest togeths :) :)

So... that evening was one of the most surreal moments of my life I reckon!…. Watching myself go on a date on TV… as you do… on Channel 4’s First Dates!!

I think the reason I felt a bit better that day was actually because I had so much adrenaline and was so freakin’ nervous!!! The date was filmed months and months ago so it was quite the build up!!

My best friends and I all sat around the tele watching love island before hand… everyone was chilled and on their phones and I was sat there having a nervous breakdown… I could not keep still or quiet and pretty much had the most energy right there and then that I’ve ever had (yes I may be exaggerating as per) - but nerves do strange things to a person eh!

So then the clock struck 10pm and it was time!!! ARGHGHGHGHHHHHHH!!!!!!

At one point we didn’t think I was even going to be on it because they kept our date right until the end but then suddenly there I was… what a strange moment!!

Cringe cringe cringe cringe cringe….

WHY did I talk about cats so much!!??

And WHY did I cry on national TV?! - actually I’ll tell you why!! When they do the interview bit they ask you questions for about 2 hours, so by the end I was exhausted and obviously trying to act positive and ‘well’ the whole time.

When they got onto the subject of my health they really did push it a lot…. ‘That must be awful’ ‘How do you cope?’ ‘How does that make you feel?’ ‘What about all your friends living their normal lives?’ yea… they found my weakness and basically asked me about it until I broke and cried… AWKWARD!! But I really don’t blame them at all, it’s one of the things I put in my application and something that I guess makes me who I am. They want to get the best tele possible and I guess I am glad in a way as it does truly represent how I feel about it!

It’s now up on Channel 4’s 4OD website by the way (my date comes on at around 30 mins in incase you don’t fancy watching the whole thing) and here is the link: (Series 8 Episode 10) : http://www.channel4.com/programmes/first-dates/on-demand/65067-009

Now here’s the thing… I had such a lovely time - luckily I was having quite a good day for the date so genuinely enjoyed it but it was so so tiring!! And you’ll never guess what- I caught a cold that evening and then died for quite a while afterwards!

Anyway, Luke was (as you will have seen) LOVELY and we really got on so well! He was funny and respectful and when I spoke about my health issues he seemed really understanding, I couldn’t have asked for more really!…well…ok I guess I could have, but it’s in no way his fault… I didn’t feel a spark or that ‘thing’ you feel when you meet someone and you really fancy them. I really honestly thought I was going to go on this date and fall in love so was actually really sad when I got home that evening…how embarrassing lol…

So during the date I went into the toilets (which for some reason they kept in) and then I called two of my bestests Katie and Grace on the phone- I spoke to them and said that I really wasn’t sure, and that I was a bit disappointed as there wasn’t that spark - Which they edited out?? But fair enough- they edited out a lot to be fair! We were there for hours and you guys saw maybe ten minutes!

Then at the end when you go into the room together and speak to camera about how the date went they said ‘so do you want to see each other again?’

Luke said yes straight away, and I then kind of pulled an awkward face, Luke said ‘ohhhhh… hesitation!!!’ And we laughed a lot. It was genuinely all good vibes. Then I went on to apologise and say something along the lines of ‘I’m so sorry I’m just not sure, like I don’t feel that spark etc but yea… I think you’re a lovely guy and we got on great so we will def keep in touch!’ ….First dates decided to just keep the latter part in the edit, and then at the end when they show all the ‘what happened next’ stuff, there was nothing about me and Luke!

They had called and asked if we had seen each other again which we hadn’t and they decided not to put that in.

I think that they maybe just wanted it to all come across really nicely and positively, which I do think is lovely but it’s not quite how it happened! That’s ok with me though :)

But… there is one bit that I really do wish was edited differently!!!! The money bit. WAHHHHH

So here’s what you guys saw pon d tele box:

The bill arrives and I say ‘Ah, I forgot my money’ - Luke offers to pay and I thank him.

What really happened:

Before the date you are kept in a greenroom - separate from your date of course as it really is a genuine ‘blind date’.

I was there for maybe two hours and was nervous as hell. You know your date is going to be soon but you’re not told an exact time. All of a sudden it was ‘Alice, we need to go and get you mic’d up’

So I went with them and left all my bags, and purse etc in this greenroom.

From being mic’d up and meeting various producers etc it was straight into the restaurant for the date and I was so nervous that I‘d genuinely forgotten that I hadn’t brought anything with me - not even my lipgloss!!! LOL

I was going on TV and having a blind date and had so much rushing around my head! To be honest I just wanted to get through it!!!

Then after our date when it came to paying I insisted on paying my half and Luke insisted on paying for it which was of course really sweet of him but I said no. I reached for my purse and looked around me and then had a moment of realisation!! I said something like ‘oh my god!! I am so so so sorry!!! You’ll never guess what I’ve gone and done?! I’ve left my purse in the greenroom!! Ah I forgot my money!!’ We laughed a lot about how badly it was going to come across and they just kept all of that out, so now I have to read all of these horrible tweets from people thinking that I just turned up on a date with no money - I would NEVER do that!!!!!

NAT COOL :( :( :(

The next day I did a little interview with Unilad and basically said all of that to them! I was happy to do that and they kept it true to what I had said :) But then the Daily Mirror stole their article and twisted it saying I had said the show was rigged!! Not fair! Not what I said at all! Oh well…..

Anyway I guess the people who know me and love me know that I would never do that, and I’ll just have to let the haterz hate ;)

Speaking of haterz (sorry it feels wrong to spell it with an ’s’) there have also been a few tweets or Facebook comments, from people who so clearly don’t understand M.E. and what its like to live with it :(

‘How come she can do wedding gigs but isn’t well enough to date?’ - I have recently had to take two years out from gigging due to having an M.E. relapse. This of course has broken my heart and been pretty damn hard to feel with, but VERY long story short I am now at the point where I am gigging again but not as often as I would like. I have a stool that I take with me that I kinda lean/sit on and try and style it out. I have to rest for days before and about a week after a gig. It’s really hard but I am trying my best. If anyone dares think I am exaggerating or lying they can absolutely do one!

M.E. is one of the most misunderstood illnesses as we usually look ‘fine’ and it is an ‘invisible illness’ but I am getting used to people not understanding now after 14 years of it!

I do remember once being in a food shop with my mum pushing me around in my wheelchair- she left me to go and get some bits for a few minutes and I wanted a sandwhich which was just out of reach from where I was sat. I got up out of my wheelchair, walked maybe 3 steps and got the sandwich - I noticed a man giving me the most kind of shocked ‘you liar’ look!! So I looked him in the eye, sat back down, brought my finger to my lips and did a ‘shhhhhh’ before my mum returned.

It was just like the Little Britain sketch! It’s so funny how people think that for example if you are in a wheelchair it HAS to mean that you can not walk at all!! At that stage I think I could walk a few paces, get in and out of the car and that’s about it- just because I could get the sandwich didn’t mean I could walk all around the shop or town!!

It’s a weird one to deal with and I know I talk about it a lot but it’s SO hard to explain! But like I say… I’m gon let the haterz hate.

On the other hand, I have received literally hundreds of messages from people thanking me for talking about M.E. on the tele and getting that little bit more awareness out there!

This in itself has made the whole thing completely worth while :)

I even had messaged saying things like - ‘I was watching with my sister and she hugged me for the first time about my M.E.’

I mean - wow…. messages like that just make me cry basically!!! (In a nice way!) And people saying that they feel inspired to see that I’ve made so much progress from the wheelchair days and that it IS possible to get better (even though of course I am nowhere near where I want to be but I can also see how far I’ve come). This makes me so so happy and I am going to do all I can to keep raising understanding and awareness of this illness.

Oh yea and one more thing that didn’t come across exactly how it happened or how I would have wanted it to was when Luke opened up to me about his mother having passed away. I was of course so shocked and felt so so sad for his loss - On screen you saw me say how sorry I was to hear that and then it jumped straight to a comment I made which was ‘I can’t even imagine what you went through, I’m very lucky I haven’t had to deal with grief really before. The only time I have is when my cat died’ ... now this is NOT what I meant - I had said for a fair few more minutes than was shown, that I was so sorry for his loss and I was trying to explain how I couldn’t relate or even imagine it- yes I mentioned my cats death but mean it in the way of - I have never been through anything like it.... and it kinda sounded like I was comparing the two. AGH!!!! not what I meant!! Also we were getting on and having such a laugh that the subject somehow got changed again so quickly after he’d said that, that we were just laughing again within minutes and he was specifically taken away and asked to talk about his mum as the subject hadn’t naturally come up in the first place.

I am now working with a charity called ‘Action for M.E.’ and hope to do lots with them including raise money for them at my next gig :) (https://www.actionforme.org.uk/ )

Also keep an eye out on July 10th as I will be going on the TV Channel ‘London Live’ (available on Sky and Freeview) at 6.15pm to speak about M.E. etc :)

Live tv…. That’s gonna be interesting!! This whole thing was bad enough hahahah

Soooooo… keep in touch peoples :) I am going to go and cook myself a nice gluten free spag Bol now, and then have a few more days of resting planned but am praying that I don’t have to cancel the rest of my week! We shall see!!

Huuuuge thank you again to everyone who has been in touch, it means so so much to me and every message gives me such a lift :) We can do this! :) xxx love and strength to anyone suffering, well, anything really! :) xx mwah

P.s. here’s the link to the pre order for my new single ’24 Obsession’ just incase you are interested ;) …. can’t blame me can ya? ;) http://ambiel.uk/24ObsPreOrder

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lcscuties · 8 years ago

Photo

Documenting my first experience at LCS in LA: Week 9 of Spring Split 2017

(writing about my experience, first impressions, + more pictures n videos/fancams n stuff inside :D click keep reading!! Note: this is a REALLY long post)

Henlo everyone, whew, it was such an exciting weekend! I want to write about my experience so here I go:

some notes before I start talking about it:

there are spoilers in this post so if you don’t want spoilers go watch the games first :3

FOR DESKTOP USERS: Whenever I try playing the videos in the post on my blog, for some reason every video after the first will not play. I don’t know if it’s because of my browser or theme or it’s just flickr, but if you want to play the video and it’s not playing for you, all you have to do is hover your mouse over the video and click on the title link of the video that’s right above my flickr username “Theberrylily8889six” right here:

[EDIT]: If you’re still having trouble playing the videos, here’s a link to my Flickr profile, you can just watch the videos from there.

also btw i know im not wearing a bra in the first pics hopefully that doesn’t bother you guys lol but I don’t really have boobs to begin with and like wearing the smallest bra just feels like putting unnecessary discomfort on myself like it’s not like I need to hold something nonexistent in place so it’s just bc i need to cover my pepperonis for society?? I wore them when I was younger and i would get like rashes and even scars from the underwire and i was like WHY AM I DOING THIS ok i can keep ranting about this but dis post is not about dat so onwards

this is quite a long post

I was supposed to go Friday but I remembered that LCS starts later on Friday, and I was taking public transport from like an hour away so I didn’t want to be dealing with that late at night in LA because it’s a little dangerous since I was alone. So unfortunately I didn’t get to meet Team Dignitas :(

Saturday

Anyways, Saturday was CLG vs IMT, and P1 vs C9.

CLG vs IMT

IMT stomped on CLG pretty hard, because Stixxay got really sick last minute, so they had to fly in Joey to sub support (he flew in at like 4 am OMG!!), and I was also surprised with the Aphro adc. I didn’t know who to cheer for as usual for most matches, I just wanted both teams to have fun rip. Also props to Joey for subbing last minute, the crowd was really kind and always cheered and clapped for his efforts haha.

Also I would like to point out that FLAMEDOCH IS REAL, the camera doesn’t capture this all the time but off camera Flame and Dardoch talk to each other the most on the team, they’re always laughing, they’re pretty touchy, and just overall super cute. Also I recorded a video of this on my snap but I’M SO ANGRY I FORGOT TO SAVE IT IT WAS SO CUTE but after game one Flame and Dardoch went to the break room holding hands and swinging their hands back and forth like a couple, I don’t think the camera caught this. TL;DR FLAMEDOCH IS VERY REAL GUYS AND IF YOU SEE THEM BEING TOUCHY ON CAMERA THEY’RE JUST AS TOUCHY ALL THE TIME OFF CAMERA TOO AO;SIFNAOIW;ENF

Then came the CLG and IMT fan meet. You have to take a picture with both teams btw. When I went up to take a group picture with IMT, Pobelter was like “Hi” and I was like “hi” back xD

After you take group photos you can talk with players and take some selfies real quick before they head back. Since I already met CLG, I didn’t take more photos with them but I talked with Darshan. Actually, at the CLG meetup I went to earlier, it was Darshan who told me exactly “Well I really hope I see you again in LA this season to support us!” and Saturday I told him “I remember you told me this exactly so I took a 13 hour train all the way down here just to support you guys!!!” lol. We had a nice conversation. Darshan is a really nice guy, and I also want to say that Aphro is too. This is the second time I met them and I’ve noticed this, they seem to be the ones to talk with their fans and really care the most.

I was also able to get a selfie with Dardoch, Pobleter, and Flame.

Dardoch to me seems like a kind person. I know he has a controversial past and I do believe he wasn’t the kindest in the past, but I really believe in “reformed” dardoch. He seems to care about his fans a lot these days. Also, when you take a picture with Dardoch he pulls you in so close a;oiewnefia;ejf....like he holds you so tight and snug and basically i was ded

Pobelter seems like a funny guy. Like...his personality is exactly like how his snapchats are LOL. Kind of like a slightly awkward yet super memey funny guy lmao.

and let me tell you about Flame man...this man is so BEAUTIFUL. Like, I’ve noticed he’s not too photogenic, but the photos really don’t do him justice. Like he’s actually EXTREMELY handsome in real life, it’s unexplainable, but he’s such a beautiful man OTL. Also Flame’s personality, he really is a “pup”! @pikaniuu always refers to Flame as a cute mans and a pup because he literally is one!! He gets distracted/immersed by little things and is a little oblivious in a cute way.

C9 vs P1

C9 also pulled the win against P1 pretty easily, well, they’re C9 so they always do pretty well. I brought the big light up C9 sign to the stage, and the camera actually caught me with it! Woooh (here’s a twitch clip of me hahaha)

Also they took a picture of me with the sign and put it on the riot flickr! wow much HD

here’s a video of me touching hands with C9 lol

Soo I got to take photos with P1 and C9 of course. I also had the giant light up C9 with me as well. When I went to go take a group photo with C9, sneaky was like ooo what’s that and he said it was really nice. Also, SNEAKY AND CONTRACTZ WERE BEING REALLY CUTE TOGETHER because Sneaky kept poking at his cheeks and Contractz was looking back at Sneaky doing the same. Idk it was really adorable, I didn’t get to capture too much of it but here’s a short video (I’ll try to gif it soon, it’s just sooo cute)

lmao I think Sneaky saw me recording them at the end xD RIP

After the group photos I was able to take a selfie with Meteos, and all of C9 except for Jensen (Jensen leaves the fan meet pretty early so I missed him).

not gonna lie Dark meteos is pretty hot irl. I also asked him to sign my C9 poster for C9. NO SHAME

Smoothie’s super nice. I told him I liked his new hair hehe. He talked with me for a while, ahh I love Smoothie so much

OKAY IMPACT’S PERSONALITY IS LITERALLY LIKE FLAME. THEY BOTH HAVE PUPPY PERSONALITIES, IT’S SO CUTE. When I asked them to sign my sign, Impact got really immersed and fiddled with my sign for a while. He was like, really excitedly, “WOW SO COOL!! , DOES IT LIGHT UP???? CAN I TURN IT ON??? *turns it on* WOWWWOWOWOOW OMG SO COOL.” And it was so fckin cute just seeing him so intrigued by my sign lol.

Contractz is a little shy but still cute as ever. Ahh it’s weird to think that he’s younger than me xD

Ray is such a QT! He didn’t talk much and is also a little shy, but nevertheless I loved Ray!

Lastly, I need to talk about Sneaky Daddy. Oh my god, he’s the one that left the biggest impression on me. He is literally so kind and friendly, he talks to you immediately when you go take a group photo with him, and if you go up to him to take a picture or sign something, he always makes a conversation with every fan no matter how shy they are. The way Sneaky talks to you, he talks like you’re already best friends. He makes you super comfortable around him, and he really seems to enjoy interacting with the fans. Also out of all the members, he’s the one who stayed behind the longest to chat with all the fans, even when it was time to go. He makes sure he gets a good conversation with everyone. My respect and fangirlism for Sneaky went up 1000%. Also not to mention his hair is fucking beautiful and graceful and his eyes are literal marbles and his skin is fair and smooth as fuck??? Sneaky is actually beautiful, like, he’s so pretty, his face is like art tbh. I’ve always noticed this but especially now I really feel like out of all the pros, Sneaky is the one who enjoys his job the most and to the fullest. I mean like he doesn’t just like winning, he enjoys learning from his mistakes and losses, he enjoys streaming, he values every one of his fans, he always seems to be a very good sport, he's extremely passionate about the work he has to put in to scrim all the time and improve. TL;DR, Sneaky is an incredibly kind-hearted, friendly, and genuine person.

They also signed my C9 Fansign! :D (lul @ Meteos’s signature on a C9 fansign)

FOX vs NV

So I only got tickets for NALCS1, but I stuck around a little longer and one of the employees said that they could let me in the other theatre to watch the last FOX vs NV that was still going on. Yay! So I got to catch the last game, which Echo Fox won. Unfortunately Team EnVY didn’t come out for pictures or the fanmeet (I really wanted to meet Apollo <3 T.T), but it’s understandable that someone wouldn’t want to go to a fanmeet when the team isn’t doing so well in the standings. Oh well. Anyways, I got to meet Echo Fox, and I took a selfie with Looper and Akaadian and I got to talk to Akaadian for a while.

I asked Akaadian who his favorite Brodie is. He was like “My favorite brodie? Hmmm...that’s a good question” and he said Zedxlol (for you guys who don’t know, he was on Team Liquid Academy with the rest of the brodies Moon and Dardoch, and they’re all really close). Then I was like, “Not Moon?” And then he was like, “Ah this is such a hard question, I love all my brodies in different ways. I guess as well it would probably be Moon, we’re really close. He’s really such a nice guy deep down.”

Looper is just so precious???? He’s so cute lmao and he’s also a shy boy >.<

Sunday

Sunday was TSM vs P1 and FLY vs TL. Sunday I also met up with @liquidhunny and her friends and it was really fun! (das us in the last photo of my photoset)

TSM vs P1

TSM played really well against P1. Oh, and let’s not forget that drink that Hauntzer spilled LOL. This matchup was really conflicting for me because in the particular matchup between TSM and P1 I’m a bigger fan of TSM and I wanted them to win, but if P1 won that mean C9 would take first place so it was like...AHHH CONFLICTING FEELINGS.

Here’s a video of the hand touching part. SRY THE CAMERA’S SMUDGY

When I took the group photo, Bjerg said hellooo to me and I was like helloo. If you look back at the group photos Sven is blinking...they took two photos and Sven was blinking in BOTH pictures OTL. Then after the group pictures, they had to leave quickly so I didn’t have much time to take selfies. I quickly found my favorite boy from TSM, Biofrost <3 and took a selfie with him. THE CAMERA ANGLE AND LIGHTING IS SO BAD BUT I DON’T CARE IT’S BIOFROST AND I’M HAPPY

Biofrost is very polite and kind of shy. He’s so cuuute >.<

And also, I would just like to say this. God DAMN Hauntzer is cute as FUCk. Jesus Christ lord have mercy. So, I’ve never been a huuuuggee fangirl of Hauntzer, just lowkey kind of liked him, but nothing crazy. BUT NOW THAT I MET HIM IRL YOU HAUNTZER FANGIRLS I FEEL YOU GUYS. I FEEL YALL. @ahriyoudoneyet I UNDERSTAND NOW. HE GOT ME SO SHOOK. WHEN HE TALKED WITH SVEN AND LAUGHED AND SMILED I WAS LEGIT ATTACKED. I WAS ATTACKED!!! HE LOOKS 1000000X BETTER IN PERSON MAN AND IT’S ALL THAT DUMB SMILE. WHEN HE SMILED I LEARNED THERE EXISTS THE BRIGHTEST SHADE OF WHITE IN ALL OF EXISTENCE RIGHT THERE IN HAUNTZER’S SMILE. CANCER WAS CURED AND WORLD HUNGER HAS ENDED. JESUS CHRIST. HE GOT LIQUIDHUNNY AND I SO SHOOK IN THAT MOMENT, I LEGIT HAD TO GRASP MY HEART AND HOLD ON TO MY LEFT BOOB FOR DEAR MERCY. TL;DR HAUNTZER’S SMILE MURDERS PEOPLE

FLY vs TL

Oh god. I just wanted both teams to have fun, as usual. I think I’m just slightly more of a Flyquest fan because I loved old C9, and also because I LOVE MOON. Fortunately after game 2 Flyquest won enough to get to playoffs, so in the 3rd game I was hoping TL would win so they would avoid relegations. Flyquest ended up winning, so I was a little happy for them, but maaan I felt so bad for Team Liquid T.T

A video of the Flyquest victory hand touching :D

lmao you can hear me saying MOOOON oh im such Moon trash

Anyways, it came time for the fan meet. And oh god, it was so painful to see TL out there. They looked incredibly depressed :(. Lourlo and Piglet seemed to be the saddest out of everyone, I really hope they cheer up ;_; Even taking the picture with them, I felt so weird because they were just so sad. You can tell they couldn’t even smile for the photos T.T

After the group photos, I didn’t want to inconvenience TL too much because of the loss, but I did just quickly ask Reignover to say hello in a video to @reignover and @yinglol, because I know how much they love Reignover xD It’s just a short little 4 second video, but hopefully it made their day.

With Flyquest, can we just take a moment to appreciate how smol Balls is? Someone gave him a flower crown to wear and he kept it on for my group photo, IM BLESSED.

After the group photos, finally, @liquidhunny and I went up to Moon. If you guys don’t know, she worked REALLY hard on a gift to give to moon which was made up of a fan art poster, a customized hat just for Moon, and I little notebook filled with notes and letters from fans. (Here’s here tumblr post about her gift)

And here is her final poster design:

ISN’T IT SO GOOD?!?! She printed me another copy of the poster THANK YOU SO MUCH AHHH

Anyways, we went up to Moon and she told him about the presents and gave it to him. Moon said it was so awesome, and then Hunny asked “Can I take a selfie with you?” and then Moon was like, “Can I hug you?” AND SHE WAS SHOOK AND I WAS SHOOK FOR HER!!! Moon hugged her, and I was so happy for her, and then Moon hugged me and i was shOOK like A;OWFEIAEWF I DONT DESERVE THIS BUT THANK YOU. You’re actually not supposed to hug the fans during the fan meet, but we didn’t even ask to hug him, HE asked Hunny if he could hug her and also hugged me!!! Ahh this was all so touching, and he’s such a nice guy.

Moon posing with Hunny’s hat gift :D

AINT DIS PHOTO SO CUTE Moon was so touched and it was overall just a super happy moment.

Moon actually thanked Hunny on twitter! AAAaaaaaahhhh

I also asked to take a selfie with moon:

I told Moon that he was like my FAAAVORITEE and I love his jungling and everything. Ahh. And HIS EYES ARE SO BEAUTIFUL ok I say this about like every pro but seriously they’re like green-hazel and just so pretty...??? That was the last pro interaction I had and it was just so great to end the day meeting my favorite player.

At the end of the event, we all took a group picture with the backgrop.

League/LCS brings people together and I’m so happy about that :D

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I had sooo much fun. It was super nice meeting @liquidhunny and all the pros.

One thing that I want to state is that: I expected that meeting all the pros would be very...perfect and happy? Idk how to explain it much, but, the reality is, pros are very, very human. Unfortunately, the losing team can get very sad, and it’s heartbreaking to see them in that state. But that’s the way that the pro scene works. Also, meeting these people in real life, you could really tell which people care about their fans a lot and are just really warm, kind, friendly, and genuine people on the inside (like I mentioned that I saw that Sneaky is like this, as well as many others). I don’t want to say or judge that the people that didn’t appear as warm as Sneaky or interact with fans much are bad people, because like I said, pros are very human and you’ll never know if they could just be having a bad day or are really down after a loss.

Also, I’m lowkey facing withdrawal LOL especially Biofrost withdrawal currently bc he was so adorable and honestly I should have looked at him more on stage >///<

Wowow what a long post and a fun weekend! I actually have the BTS concert next weekend MY HEART CAN’T TAKE THIS IT’S ALREADY BEEN DESTROYED OVER THE WEEKEND AND I’M NOT PREPARED!! AHHH!!

Thanks you guys for reading this and I hope you all can see them play in person one day!

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