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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 6 months ago

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Psycho Analysis: Buffalo Bill

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Back in 2019, I started Psycho Analysis with a review of one of cinema’s most overshadowed and underrated villains. Now that I’m better at this, I've decided I'm redoing those old reviews, giving them a fresh coat of paint, fitting them into the modern Psycho Analysis style, and updating the scores. I figured there’s no better place to start than with good ol’ Jame Gumb.

Jame Gumb (yes, Jame, he doesn’t have an “S” in his name) is the enigmatic serial killer from The Silence of the Lambs known as Buffalo Bill. He’s left a trail of flayed women in his wake, his motives unknown, and it’s up to Clarice Starling to stop him with a little help from a smarmy cannibal asshole. He’s the perfect sort of twisted, perverted freak you’d hope to find in a grim, gritty detective story. In fact, he almost seems a bit uncontroversial and unremarkable in terms of villains, doesn’t he?

Oh, if only. Unfortunately, there are aspects of Bill’s character that have made him the second most controversial villain of 90s cinema after Ray Finkle from Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. And we’re going to discuss all of that, because the big question when discussing Bill ultimately isn’t whether he’s good or bad, but is he good despite the unfortunate implications he ends up carrying due to what is and isn’t adapted from the book?

Motivation/Goals: Bill just wants to play dress up. Unfortunately, his idea of dressing up involves skinning women and then sewing said skin into a woman suit he can wear to dance about in his underground dungeon, penis tucked between his legs. To accomplish this Ed Gein-esque goal, he uses the playbooks of other killers like Ted Bundy to lure in unsuspecting women of considerable girth, traps them in a well in his basement, and forces them through a strict skin care regiment until it’s time to kill and skin them.

All of this is just incredibly fucked up, and also isn’t elaborated on to quite the degree the novel does due to Bill not being a character we focus on to gain real insight into. The full reveal of his plan is a shocking twist, but we don’t have the full psychological scope of his actions that was laid bare in the novel; while it doesn’t diminish Gumb in my opinion, it does leave the door open for some… problematic readings of what he’s up to, which we’ll discuss later.

Performance: While I don’t think I could possibly say he is an actor who manages to achieve the lofty heights of Hopkins, Ted Levine is still absolutely fantastic in his role. He’s an actor who always manages to inject his characters with a sort of unsettling air; just look at his brief appearance in Shutter Island if you need proof of this. Those skills are put to good use here, as he manages to make Gumb truly unnerving, and arguably far more realistic in his depiction of a serial killer than Lecter is.

Final Fate: After stalking Clarice Starling through his blackened basement while wearing night vision goggles, the tables are turned on Bill and the hunter becomes the hunted as Clarice unloads her gun into him. It’s a rather fitting death; as he preyed on women at their most vulnerable, it only makes sense that a woman strip him of all his power when he appears to be in control.

Evilness: I really don’t think there is any good argument against Bill getting the full 10/10. I mean, the man skins women so that he can wear their skin as a suit. How much fucking worse can a person even be in a story like this? It says a lot that Lecter comes off as more reasonable and less evil than the guy (even though this is decidedly not the case).

Best Scene: You know what it is:

youtube

And it’s even Jay and Silent Bob approved!

youtube

Really gotta compliment the song choice here; Q Lazzarus’ ominous dance tune “Goodbye Horses” forever had its image altered by its use here, but it really heightens the mood and feeds in to the unsettling nature of Bill’s dance. You can’t hear the opening notes of the song without this scene immediately coming to mind. And to think, its inclusion was all because she happened to pick up director Johnathan Demme in her taxi during a blizzard and showed him her demo tape.

Best Quote: From the above scene, Bill drops one of the most famous serial killer quotes in cinematic history:

“Would you fuck me? I’d fuck me. I’d fuck me so hard.”

Final Thoughts & Score: Buffalo Bill is horrendously underrated as a villain, though clearly there are some out there who appreciate him (Seth Green for example, who based Chris Griffin’s voice in Family Guy off of Buffalo Bill’s). That being said, the movie unfortunately ends up dipping into problematic territory as by excising most of the elaboration from the novel, Bill can unfortunately be read as an unflattering depiction of a trans woman.

Now you and I know that isn’t true, and anyone else who has read the book knows it isn’t true, but do you really think the average moviegoer in the early 90s cared about that? They see the freaky man dancing around with his schlong tucked away, wearing a woman’s skin, and find it unsettling and grotesque. It is incredibly easy to see how someone could see this as something akin to a villain in a crappy JKR detective novel, and it really didn’t have to be that way because the book really goes out of its way to not demonize trans people; while a bit outdated by modern standards, the book explains that trans people are not inherently violent and that Gumb is merely deluding himself into believing he is trans as some sort of warped justification for his actions. It even pointing out he was rejected for gender reasignment surgery. The movie has a few lines, but that’s kind of disappointing compared to the original novel, isn’t it? Then again, perhaps over-explaining would lead to the same criticisms the ending of Psycho gets, where laying things out for the audience in a way that tries not to demonize marginalized individuals is seen as tacky and unneeded.

Considering that Gumb was inspired by real life killers and their motivations (particularly Ed Gein, who has a higher number of fictional characters inspired by him than he does victims) and because I read the book, I don’t necessarily find his portrayal all that offensive, but I am a cis guy. If you do find his character tasteless, I won’t exactly blame you. It’s a rather unfortunate side effect of the transition from book to film that we lost the details that would ameliorate the problematic image of the character. With all that said, I still think he gets an 8.5/10. He’s certainly not as iconic as Lecter is and he’s too problematic to score any higher, but he is a very effective villain for the film he’s in and Levine’s performance is chilling and entrancing.

If nothing else, his existence led to the greatest open RP of all time. That’s gotta count for something.

#psycho analysis #Buffalo Bill #Jame Gumb #silence of the lambs #the silence of the lambs #Ted Levine #Youtube

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cetaitlaverite · 4 months ago

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Anything to Anywhere

Masters of the Air - Bucky Egan x OC

masterlist is here <3

02. A Great Story

As Stella was leaving the ATA hut, having completed her debriefing and picked up her next chit, Bucky Egan was dawdling in the grass. He had his flight suit on and his hat in his hand, squinting into the morning sunshine as he walked in idle circles.

Stella furrowed her eyebrows. She’d been under the impression that only the air executive of the inbound Yank section, the 100th Bomb Group, had arrived. Their planes certainly hadn’t. So what business did an air exec Yank with no crew, no plane, and no mission orders have wearing a flight suit?

Her confusion about the entire affair was the only thing propelling her feet towards him. She lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the sun as she slowed to a stop before him. She had to tilt her head back to meet his gaze and squinted to look up at him. “You off?”

Bucky mustered a small twist of his lips which might have been construed as a smile by someone more generous. “Waiting for my driver. Got my first mission today flying as observation pilot for the 389th.”

So he was deliberately seeking out combat flying with a different unit while he waited for his boys to arrive. Stella frowned. “Why?”

He scoffed a laugh. “Wanna get a taste of the action. How can I send my boys out there if I got no idea what I’m sending ‘em into?”

Stella hummed her acceptance of this, shifting her stance in the grass. She was trying to make herself appear taller, unsettled by how he towered over her. She wasn’t used to feeling quite so small - at five feet and eight inches she wasn’t the tallest woman she’d ever seen but she was far from the shortest, and besides, there was something about flying that drew short men like moths to a flame. Many of the airmen she’d met so far had been her height or shorter. She wasn’t best pleased that Bucky didn’t fit the role description set out in the script.

“Any advice?” Bucky asked next.

Stella gave a sour smile. “None. They don’t let me fly combat.”

“It’s dangerous,” Bucky acknowledged.

“So’s flying broken aircraft,” she fired back. “So’s landing a Lancaster Bomber with no hydraulics. But I’m not too frail and soft to do that.”

“Oh, I don’t think anyone’s thinking of you as frail, Finley,” Bucky replied, grinning.

“Most unfortunately, most men consider all women as frail,” Stella informed him bitterly. “I fly a bomber better than any male pilot I’ve ever seen take off from this base but they won’t let me cross the Channel. I fly so much better than my fellow male ATA pilots, in fact, that sometimes they pass their chits onto me. But god forbid anyone sends a woman into combat. God forbid you mighty men let anyone else have a turn.”

Bucky held his hands up in mock surrender. “Hey, I didn’t make the rules.”

“No,” Stella acknowledged, “but you benefit from them, which makes you my enemy by proxy.”

The distant buzzing of a jeep and the crunching of stones along the path interrupted their conversation. Both parties turned in the direction of the noise and frowned.

“Well,” Stella said decisively when the jeep came into sight, “good luck and all that.”

“Yeah,” Bucky replied distractedly, his eyes set firmly on the jeep coming to whisk him away. “Thanks.”

“Let me know what it’s like after, won’t you?”

This drew Bucky’s attention. When he looked down at her he found wide, earnest blue eyes staring up at him. He stared at her silently for a moment, waiting for the instant her face contorted back into a smirk, but it didn’t. She just waited patiently for his answer, gazing up at him like a puppy awaiting a treat.

“Yeah,” Bucky replied at length, still distracted but now for an entirely different reason. He shook his head to clear it and painted on a smirk. “Sure, I’ll tell you. But you gotta tell me your name.”

“You know my name.”

“Finley,” he complained, drawing out the vow sound at the end of her name. He tipped his head back and shut his eyes into the sunshine. “You’re killing me.”

Stella laughed. “If you tell me a good story about your very first mission, I’ll tell you my name. But it’s got to be a good story.”

“A good story,” Bucky echoed, grinning. “Sure. I’m sure I can do that.” He turned to her with a mischievous look in his eye. “What do I get for a great story?”

“An interesting fact about birds.”

Bucky barked a laugh. She was constantly surprising him. “I was thinking something more along the lines of a dance.”

Stella scoffed. “Absolutely not. I barely even know you.”

“You don’t gotta know a guy to dance with him!” Bucky protested.

Stella shrugged. “No dance for you, Major Egan. You can take the bird fact or you can leave it.” She began walking backwards away from him, heading off to prepare for her next ferry chit. She laughed as she watched him fight to find something to say, then tilted her head to the side and offered a smile before turning on her heel and picking up her pace.

Behind her, Bucky’s shoulders heaved as he let out an almighty sigh. “Fine!” he called after her just as his jeep pulled up beside him. “I’ll take the fact!”

“It costs a great story!” Stella reminded him over her shoulder.

She disappeared around the corner of a building before he could reply.

The next time Stella saw Bucky Egan he looked world-weary. Gone was his bright grin and that mischievous glint in his eyes. Instead, furrowed eyebrows and a frown slumped over the bar, his beer safe in the circle of his arms. There were still lingering red marks on his face from his oxygen mask, still what must have been blood crusting along his hairline.

Hesitating in the doorway to the officers’ club, Stella considered her options. On the one hand, she could go over and talk to him, but she didn’t really know him yet, and he didn’t seem like he wanted to talk - not that that had stopped him when the roles were reversed the other day. On the other hand, some of the other ATA pilots were sitting huddled around a table in the corner and if she went over now the chances were that Bucky wouldn’t even notice her.

Stella fiddled with her fingers as she weighed each option in her head, one of her feet tapping at the floor, before she decided to slip over to the table in the corner with her friends. It would be awkward, she decided, to go and sit with Major Egan.

Stepping in that direction, Stella adjusted her jacket and prepared to move as quickly as she could as inconspicuously as she could.

“Finley!” called Atley from behind the bar. “Beer?”

Stella cringed. She froze where she was, mid-step, like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar. In her peripheral vision she watched as Bucky turned to look at her, that harsh furrow still in his brow.

“Um,” Stella hesitated.

Bucky raised a lazy hand. “On me,” he informed Atley, turning back to face the bar.

Stella gritted her teeth and swore under her breath. Now she had no choice but to go over and sit with him.

She ambled over, taking as long as she possibly could to give herself time to think of what to say, but when she got to the bar she came up empty.

Bucky didn’t look up at her, just kept on staring into his beer. Finally, Stella said, “You know what you look like?”

Humouring her, Bucky glanced up. “What do I look like?”

Stella smiled. “You look like a man in need of a fun bird fact.”

Mercifully, Bucky cracked a grin, but still he objected, “I didn’t tell you a good story.”

Stella shrugged. “I asked you for a great story in exchange for my fact, if you remember correctly, but I’m feeling generous.”

Bucky stared at her for a moment, considering her, before inclining his head in the direction of the bar stool beside his. As soon as she sat down Atley placed her beer in front of her, which Stella took a long draw of, before she turned to Bucky decisively. “Thank you for the beer. Do you want the fact?”

He’d been watching her the entire time, she realised when she met his eyes. She raised an eyebrow and he laughed, rolling his eyes. “Absolutely. Hit me with the fact.”

Stella sat up straight and smiled wide, pleased with this response. “A bird’s eyeballs take up over fifty percent of its head.” She stared at Bucky, smiling brightly, waiting for a response. After a moment, she added, “For comparison, a human’s eyeballs take up five percent.”

Bucky watched her for a moment longer while she sat there staring at him in anticipation of a reaction. Then he chuckled to himself. “That was a great fact, Finley. Thank you.”

“You are so very welcome.”

“What is it with you and birds anyway?” he asked around a sip of his beer.

Stella shrugged. “I like them.” She considered the foam at the top of her beer and then added, “I also like butterflies. And planes, obviously. Things that fly. But birds are my favourite.”

Bucky turned his body away from the bar so he could face her entirely on his stool. He rested one elbow on the bar and perched the other hand on his thigh. “What about penguins?” he asked, leaning towards her conspiratorially, as though he was sharing a secret.

“Penguins,” Stella echoed with furrowed eyebrows.

“Yeah,” Bucky replied easily. “Penguins. You say you like birds ‘cause they fly, so what about penguins? They don’t fly.”

Stella stared at him, waiting for his next comment, but he just kept on watching her, awaiting her answer. And, slowly, Stella started to smile. Penguins. He was right, there wasn’t a single type of penguin which could fly. Their incredible ability to swim, in fact, had cost them their ability to fly.

She shook her head, turning to her beer. “I like penguins,” she informed him.

“But they can’t fly,” Bucky said.

“I know they can’t.”

“Then why do you like them?”

“‘Cause they’re funny looking,” Stella said, arching a brow at him sidelong. “And I like the way they waddle. I met some penguins once - king penguins, in Edinburgh Zoo back when I was a little girl. Incidentally, Edinburgh Zoo was the first zoo in the world to successfully breed king penguins.”

“Which ones are king penguins?”

“The ones you’ll be imagining in your head,” Stella explained. “White on the front, black on the back, with bits of yellow and orange at the tops of their chests.”

“They your favourite type of penguin?”

“No. Rockhopper penguins are my favourite. Those are the ones with the yellow eyebrows.”

Bucky clicked his fingers in recognition. “I know the ones you’re talking about. Those little guys who’re always short and a little fat.”

Stella grinned. “Yes! Those ones! I think they’re funny.”

“What’s your favourite type of bird?”

“Hummingbirds,” she answered immediately.

“What’s cool about them?”

“They’re the only type of bird that can fly forward, backward, sideways, and upside-down. And they fly fast, up to sixty miles per hour. Their wings beat about seventy times per second during regular flight, but they can beat more than two hundred times per second when they’re diving.” She smiled, sitting up straighter on her stool. “If I was a bird, I’d be a hummingbird.”

Bucky was grinning. “And what type of bird would I be?”

Stella hummed as she mulled this over, tapping her pointer finger against her chin. She eyed him curiously, considered his size and the few characteristics of his he’d shown her so far, before deciding, “White bellbird.”

His eyes sparkled. “Why’s that?”

“They’re the loudest.”

Bucky barked a laugh. “Finley, you’re killing me here. What’s it gonna take for you to extend an olive branch?”

Stella shrugged, taking a casual sip of beer. “Not sure. I’ll have to get back to you on that.”

Some of the other ATA pilots must have spotted her, then, for they started calling her over, as if they thought she hadn’t seen them when she’d come in. Turning to them over her shoulder, she called back that she’d be over in a minute, then turned back to Bucky. “Those are my friends, who very much do exist, contrary to popular belief. You can come sit with us if you want.”

Bucky smiled to himself and turned back to the bar. “I was about to head off anyway.”

“To the pub?”

“Yeah.”

“What have they got that we don’t?” Stella challenged playfully.

Bucky rolled his eyes as he downed the rest of his beer and pushed himself to his feet. “Women who’ll tell me their names, for a start.”

“Oh, where’s the fun in that?” Stella replied with a scoff. She followed his lead and got to her feet, too, then picked up her beer and started to walk backwards in the direction of the table of ATA pilots. “Have fun.”

Bucky laughed. “Yeah, I sure will.”

With a shrug, Stella turned and sat down with her friends, and Bucky disappeared out the door.

“New American?” one of her fellow ATA pilots, Jessop, asked as she sat down. He had one eyebrow raised, his head tilted as he looked between Stella and the door Bucky had just left through.

“Indeed,” Stella confirmed. “A major. Just flew his first combat mission today in observation for some other American regiment at some other base.”

“He’s been sat over there nursing a beer ever since we came in about an hour ago,” Jessop replied, settling back into his chair but not releasing his raised eyebrow. “Wondered what was the matter with the fella.”

Stella brushed this away. “He’ll be fine. He’s gone off to chase skirts down the pub.”

“You reject him already then, Fin?” asked one of her bunkmates, Alice, from beside her.

Stella rolled her eyes, lifting her beer to her lips for a sip. “If I was interested in sacrificing my hard-earned reputation over a man I would’ve taken Jessop up on his offer back in 1940.”

“I knew you fancied me, Finley!” Jessop cheered.

Stella rolled her eyes. “You knew nothing, you lying bastard, now sit still and drink your beer before you wear it.”

The gathered pilots chatted idly about the chits they’d flown today. Stella had been sent to a nearby base which was short of ATA pilots of its own to ferry a damaged Spitfire to a repair depot and had then picked up a freshly repaired Bristol Blenheim to fly back. Her day had been long, she said, but not difficult. Nonetheless, she headed off to bed prematurely, seeking a warm shower before the other female ATA pilots in her hut stole all the hot water.

#my writing #ata #masters of the air #masters of the air x oc #masters of the air fanfic #masters of the air fanfiction #john egan #john bucky egan #bucky egan #john egan x oc #john egan fanfic #john egan fanfiction #bucky egan x oc #bucky egan fanfic #bucky egan fanfiction

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misc-obeyme · 9 months ago

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I loveloveLOVE the idea of a FarmSim! AU! Like yourself, I assume a lot of us weren’t raised as farmer’s children, and more or less grew up on Story of Seasons/Harvest Moon. (Altho I do know a bit about living in Indiana, land of the Corn and home of the Indy500, if that counts towards anything lmao). In any case, I hope you like mytake on the Sides!

In terms of Farm Sim tropes, I’d be willing to say that The Royals (Dia, Barb, and ‘Phisto) are a part of some sort of local govt. bc I cannot see them as knees-in-the-mud farmer types lol. Maybe the farm is the “ROYAL FARM OF DIAVOLO” or something to try and convince Dia’s (not-in-a-self-induced-slumber) Mega-Corp father that farms are important, and corpo factories are bad. Diavolo has no idea how farming works but he likes to watch and play with the baby animals. Barb does not appreciate the farm visits bc Dia gets super excited and cannot be told “NO” if he wants to walk across a muddy field and up to a bull like “You are a fine specimen! A complete winner!” Luckily he is blessed with “Animals Love Me” kind of luck. Barb makes sure to get the Young Master dressed appropriately for next time. You need to talk to Barbatos about ordering tools, supplies, and contractors to build/repair things like stables, wells, and greenhouses. Mephistopheles takes care of the buying and selling of animals, and you gotta “prove to him” that you can be responsible enough to handle a horse (he does inspections of the farm and makes EVERYONE take riding/horse care tests).

The angels run the local cafe/store where you can get food and seeds, among other things. They buy your products and sometimes make presents (like sweaters made from your sheep's wool). Simeon and Luke run the Cafe side of things, while Raphael runs the store. Since Luke is a bit young to be running a business, he’s more like an assistant baker and he runs the morning collection at your farm. When he has time, he’ll sing to some of the animals.

Thirteen would probably the the Farm Sim Mine Spelunking Monster Trapper or smth like that? She’ll toss some coin your way if you bring her monster parts or rare ore, and maybe she’ll give you some “recipes” to make mining tools/weapons/traps.

And like... How funny would it be if Solomon just... didn’t change? Like at all? He already fits the “supernatural element” of other farming sims. An interesting and mysterious figure that lives just on the edge of the village. If you come to him with the monster parts/ore instead of Thirteen, he could help artifice some of your farming equipment with special traits, or craft potions that help you talk to animals or w/e.

IDK what do you think?

PLEASE I AM LOVING IT.

Okay okay so I totally agree about Diavolo, everything about that is spot on. He's fascinated by farm life, but knows nothing about it just like he is with humans in the game. Totally gets himself dirty because he just wants to experience things! Come on, Barbatos it'll be fun!!

And the corporation dad, that is perfection, too. Of course Dia's trying to convince his dad that farms are good!

Barb is forever suffering lol. While he does have a garden, I can't see Barbatos doing any kind of hard farm work either. He's definitely more suited to getting permits and such, but I could see him frequenting the angels' bakery because he likes to cook. They swap recipes a lot. Maybe he hosts the cooking competition, mostly because I think that'd be so funny.

Mephisto as the animal guy is perfect, you better believe he's gonna make sure your horse area is up to par before he'll even consider letting you have one.

Love the angels running a cafe and store, that's something I could easily see them doing. And oh my heart Luke singing to the animals!! My precious baby son. I kinda see him also being partial to flowers in general, since that's the only thing he's grown in the actual game lol. Maybe he starts making bouquets or perfumes...

Oh man Thirteen as the miner/monster hunter type! She's got a forge and spends untold amounts of time wandering the woods.

Solomon is such a menace and honestly I can't see him doing anything other than being the supernatural being. I keep thinking of Witchie from Story of Seasons/Harvest Moon. Like it'd be funny if he was more like Dessie and lived in a pond, but let's be real, he's definitely the one making weird potions and magic tools and such.

And of course all the characters are also marriage candidates, so if you marry Solomon, he's gonna come live with you on your farm. Spends all day in his wizard tower on the edge of town, but at night he comes home to his lil farmer spouse lsadlkjdfjkfdkjl.

Wow my worlds are colliding so hard right now I can't even deal with it. What I wouldn't give to have all these characters in a game where I could deliberately pursue and marry one of them!

Anyway, I totally love this and your ideas! I'm pretty sure I would do some unspeakable acts to have an Obey Me farm sim game like this.

#this is fantastic and I love it #thank you for sharing this with me #now I really wanna play one of those games again lol #obey me #obey me side characters #dread-bard #misc answers

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causeitsagame · 2 years ago

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Fic: Aquila (6/8)

Pairing: Hajime Hinata/Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu

Author: @miggylol

Notes: HOPE Y'ALL LIKE TALKING

Previous Chapters: in the tag.

Excerpt: All of those conclusions ran rapid-fire through Kazuichi's eyes, and he further relaxed. "Huh. Well, gotta say that this is a big surprise, man."

"You're telling me," Hajime said dryly. "His first reaction was to get pissed off at me about it."

-----

The next morning at breakfast, Hajime tried not to be obvious as he studied Kazuichi. Sonia would easily notice such an appraisal, while Akane would ignore anything short of a bullhorn against her ear while she ate. Kazuichi fell somewhere between those extremes, but unfortunately, Hajime wasn't quite sure where.

At least Kazuichi hadn't resented Hajime moving over to the cottages, thanks to a brief excuse of not wanting to leave Fuyuhiko out there alone. All of them knew far, far better than to say this out loud, but Fuyuhiko would be the least able to extract himself if some collapse, earthquake, or other crisis left him trapped. He might have as much raw determination as the rest of them combined, but determination alone couldn't lift a toppled tree.

At those few words of explanation, Kazuichi nodded knowingly and said nothing more. If Fuyuhiko insisted on going off somewhere, then at least he would tolerate Hajime's presence while throwing one of his anti-social fits. That was a good compromise until Fuyuhiko stopped stalking around like an angry cat and was once again willing to rejoin the group.

The cover story worked, but the ruse did leave Hajime feeling a little guilty. The excuse Hajime had given wasn't really a lie, but eventually, continuing down this path would result in straight-up twisting the truth. That, he wasn't willing to do.

Even so, while Kazuichi was a good and enthusiastic friend, he was…

Hajime paused to consider what label to use.

Kazuichi was reactive. Fuyuhiko was the one whose body might work against him if a crisis erupted, but it was Kazuichi who was the most likely to fall emotionally apart, by far. Hajime and Fuyuhiko pairing off might earn well-wishes from him, for all they knew! But it could also trigger a spiral of self-doubt where Kazuichi looked at the survivors, counted up the odd number of their small group, and then obsessed over every harsh rejection Sonia had ever given him.

"You keep looking over there," Fuyuhiko muttered as he worked at an orange's peel. "Going to tell him?"

"I know we'd talked about just staying private for a while," Hajime murmured back as he also reached for one, "but it feels different now that Sonia knows."

As if she'd somehow heard them, Sonia smiled knowingly from her nearby table. Perhaps they were leaning in a bit too close.

"Yeah," Fuyuhiko admitted. "Fine. Let's get it done."

Hajime nodded, but settled in for a real breakfast, first. According to Sonia's stated plan, the other three were headed back to the fifth island, while he and Fuyuhiko had another day of work ahead of them here. He'd need some calories in him.

"Okay, let's do it," he eventually whispered, and stood. Fuyuhiko followed suit, and went over to catch Akane by the arm before she could rush off to the dock.

Almost immediately, Hajime heard Akane say, "Oh, huh. Is that all? Sure, whatever." That easy? Dammit, Fuyuhiko knew what he'd been doing by claiming the girls as his targets.

"Hey, Kazuichi," Hajime said, and also caught Kazuichi by the elbow before he could head for the boat. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Huh? Oh, sure, man. What's up?"

"It's, uh…" Aware of Akane studying him, clearly about to comment on the situation, Hajime pulled Kazuichi into a nearby hallway. Its walls were lined with faded, yellowed posters about the musical act that was making a three-month visit to the islands, advertisements for businesses over in the second island's charming village, and encouragement to take advantage of the world-class room service menu. A small framed sign reminded them that reservations were recommended for the restaurant.

"Seriously," Kazuichi said once they were alone. Unfortunately, he was tilting visibly toward concern. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no, nothing's wrong. Me and Fuyuhiko got to talking, and we might…" Hajime shrugged, striving for casual.

"…Stay out there?" Kazuichi prompted in the silence. "You both said the cottages are a lot nicer. If you want to bother redoing the roofs—or managed to find some good ones—then hey, more power to you! Maybe I can try to get those electric carts up and running, huh? That way, you wouldn't have to keep walking back and forth." A grin erupted, and he leaned in with an amused, conspiratorial whisper. "Or you could just run him here and back. Ha! I just pictured his face if you offered to carry him."

"Ha, yeah, probably best to avoid that," Hajime weakly chuckled, and tried not to flash back to Fuyuhiko's proximity-versus-strength test from the day before. It'd be unfortunate if he started blushing here in the hallway. "Maybe we will stay. They are actually a lot nicer. But mostly, I wanted to mention that he and I…"

Kazuichi waited as Hajime fell back into silence, and popped his eyebrows up to prompt him to continue.

Wow, Hajime apparently did not have any Ultimate Tell Your Friend That You're Well On The Way To Hooking Up With Another Friend in his quiver of talents. After a moment of thought, he held up two fingers like he was making a peace sign. "He and I are thinking that we might want to be…" The fingers crossed. "…He and I, y'know?"

"Huh?" A moment later, clarity struck, and Kazuichi blinked and shook his head like a dog throwing off water. "Wait, seriously?"

"Yeah." Again, Hajime strove for casual, like this was a typical romantic pairing instead of forty percent of their known universe changing the social rules.

Kazuichi stared back at him in continued befuddlement. Then, unfortunately, he slid into worry as he turned to look toward the hall of hotel rooms. His stricken expression clearly said that he was recalling the wealth of other hotel options and homes left by previous residents.

Would Akane soon want to relocate to the second island that had been most popular with American tourists, to take advantage of its protected swimming areas and climbing cliffs? Would Sonia relocate to the elegant sprawl of the fourth's island top-end resort? Had Hajime and Fuyuhiko moving out and pairing off only been the first step in everyone choosing a path that led directly away from him?

Now for this, Hajime did have talents to draw upon. He silently thanked the therapist and psychologist at the back of his mind for putting labels onto all of those shifting emotions. Rather than acknowledge Kazuichi's deepening worry, he lightly continued, "Weirdly, it happened after a dream I had. I—well, Izuru, but it felt like me—was watching him lead a fight against the Foundation. We talked about it, afterwards. And got to talking about other things."

That was technically a lie, but Hajime didn't mind bending the truth of the timeline if it made Kazuichi feel better. As he'd suspected, it did work. Weirdly. But it worked.

Kazuichi worked through that, nodding slowly, and calmed down as he assigned deeper meaning to Hajime's words. It wasn't that people were finding better options than him; it was that Kazuichi Souda was, against all odds, actually the one in a better position. And he hardly ever got to experience that.

Hajime had been Hope's Peak's world-shattering triumph, and then the mastermind behind very nearly bringing back Junko Enoshima. Fuyuhiko had been at the head of armies that ruthlessly brought cities to their knees before putting bullets into civilians' heads. Kazuichi had certainly brought his own horror to the world, with all the devices he'd made for manufacturing Monokuma robots and helmets, or performing executions, or detonating dirty bombs across European cities. But his guilt had a slightly different feeling than theirs, for Kazuichi had always been following someone else's orders. Hajime and Fuyuhiko's memories had no such padding, as slight as it was.

If they'd formed a connection based on that recalled bone-deep regret, then it was understandable. It was a good thing to support each other, even. All of those conclusions ran rapid-fire through Kazuichi's eyes, and he further relaxed. "Huh. Well, gotta say that this is a big surprise, man."

"You're telling me," Hajime said dryly. "His first reaction was to get pissed off at me about it."

"Hah!" Kazuichi covered his mouth as soon as he'd barked out the laugh, and looked with continued amusement toward the restaurant door. "Is it wrong to wish you good luck?"

"Yes," Hajime said flatly, instinctively wanting to come to Fuyuhiko's defense. But then he paused, and couldn't help but say, "Thanks."

Kazuichi's grin held a few seconds more, then ebbed a bit. "So, is this, like, serious?"

"I don't know," Hajime admitted with a laugh. "I have zero idea. I know that I can wake the pods up, but not when, exactly. It would actually be nice to have those electric carts handy, but I don't know if it's worth clearing the trails for them, yet. And I know that I'm… I'm something with him, now, but I don't know what the label is. I really don't know these things. Believe it or not, that's actually a nice feeling to have."

Kazuichi's grin turned lopsided and softer, and he reached forward to clap his friend on the shoulder. The contact left him looking speculatively at Hajime, then at the doorway to the restaurant. If Hajime had to guess, Kazuichi's brain was reclassifying the number of romantic options on the island, rapid-fire.

Hajime held up his crossed fingers again. "Me and Fuyuhiko, remember? Literally just started something?"

Kazuichi stepped back. "Right, congrats! Hey, I'd better get to the boat, okay? Sonia and Akane are probably waiting for me." The girls' names brought that speculative glint back to his eyes, and Hajime said a silent prayer that all of them would return from the fifth island with no drama. The two of them adding romance to the equation really might have changed things.

Once the other three were headed for the dock, and it was once again time to focus on animal control, Fuyuhiko shot a hopeful look toward Hajime. "So? How'd it go? He looked like he was in a good enough mood heading out, but…"

Hajime nodded. "Yep." He paused for the length of a few steps, then carefully phrased, "He even wished us good luck."

"Hey, there's something." Fuyuhiko grinned. "Obviously, Akane didn't give two shits. Like I expected."

"Yeah, I noticed you grabbed the easier people," Hajime laughed, and lightly elbowed him. "You owe me."

"I owe you? You could've grabbed the girls before I did! Not my fault you don't know how to negotiate."

"You owe me," Hajime repeated. "I'm making you catch the first animal before I start working."

"Lazy ass," Fuyuhiko grumbled, and went off in search of a rope. "I'm not starting with the fucking chickens."

Hours later, they'd located several favored grazing spots and managed to relocate more than a dozen goats. The animals complained while they were being led, but now they happily grazed, or investigated a barn that their mothers and grandmothers had long abandoned. "So," Fuyuhiko wondered as they studied the ranch. "What do you do with goats, exactly?"

"Do?"

"It's not really like you eat them like the chickens, yeah?"

"Of course you can," Hajime idly mused, running through recipes in his mind for appetizers, entrees, and dessert. "Braised, curried, stewed. And with some fruit, honey, and goat cheese, we could—" He paused, then corrected himself. "No cheese." At least, not for Fuyuhiko.

Fuyuhiko nodded, his mood improving after Hajime remembered that without being prompted. But then it plummeted, for his gaze shifted to the adjoining coop, now repaired and ready to once again hold a flock.

"Let's go catch some fucking chickens," Hajime prompted with amusement.

"They shit everywhere, you know," Fuyuhiko complained as they walked toward their next task. "All across the hotel sidewalks, all over the island. That's my biggest problem with them."

"I know. So you've said. Repeatedly."

That earned a sharp sidelong look. With a wry smile, Hajime shut up.

Ahh.

Romance.

At dinner that night, it felt rather like they were zoo specimens. Sonia and Kazuichi studied them openly with every bite, while Akane also made no secret of her curiosity whenever she reloaded her plate. "So," Hajime prompted, very deliberately. "Did you find anything at the police dock?"

"We did," Sonia nodded, but kept looking between Fuyuhiko and Hajime as she spoke. "They're set up for scanning for boats in distress out in international waters. We'll be able to track any approaching vessels from quite a long range, once the power supply is back there."

"That's good to hear," Fuyuhiko agreed, and speared a wedge of melon. "Stop staring at us."

Sonia obligingly focused on her plate.

"You too, Souda."

Kazuichi tried to act like he wasn't staring, and did a piss-poor job of it.

They'd calm down soon enough, Hajime told himself, and shoveled in some rice taken from the restaurant's stockpiles. (Across all six islands, he estimated that there was enough rice to last a group of fifteen people approximately eight hundred and fifty-seven years, if everyone consumed it with every meal.) This was the most exciting change for their group since Hajime confirmed that he had a strategy for waking up the pods, and it was no wonder that they were the center of attention.

It was still annoying, though, and so it was a relief when dinner ended and they could escape back to what they'd decided was home. "I sure hope we picked the right cottages," Fuyuhiko muttered as they sped their pace. Heavy clouds had begun to roll in overhead.

"We should be. I didn't notice any water damage on the floor from other storms." Still, those clouds were heavy and swollen, and so low that it looked like they might be able to reach up and touch them. Hajime's first instinct was to set off running to beat the storm. His second instinct was to offer to scoop Fuyuhiko up, as Kazuichi had laughingly suggested. He thankfully fought back both instincts, and they made it to the cottages with minutes to spare.

"Good luck," Hajime laughingly told Fuyuhiko as they each reached for their cottage door, three doors down from the other.

"Good luck," Fuyuhiko wryly echoed, and stepped inside.

When the rain started, Hajime held his breath for long, purposeful stretches, waiting to hear any traitorous plink-plink-plinks that would warn him he'd made the wrong cottage choice. None came. He slowly walked through the cottage's expansive footprint, lingering in a reading nook across from a wall-mounted television, and then in a small breakfast alcove, and finally before a small lounging deck above the water.

A glass door led to that small deck. For a while, Hajime watched the rain through it. There was no lightning, so thunder wouldn't wake him. The wind howled, though; they'd want to check the roofs again once the storm passed.

He wondered how long it'd take until rain on a tropical island stopped feeling out of place. For all that perpetual sun had felt suspicious while inside the simulation, it was pleasantly easy to get used to. Ah well, Hajime thought, and turned for his bed. (Across the islands, they'd located several thousand sets of bed linens. It'd be a lot of laundry to do, eventually.) Storms would refill the reservoir tanks.

With the sound of rain soothing him, Hajime flicked the overhead light switch conveniently placed next to the bed, and let the noises steer him toward sleep.

"Hey."

Hajime blinked awake, some minutes or hours later. Pressure gripped his chest as he struggled to see anything. After a few long moments, with effort, he could barely make out Fuyuhiko's silhouette at the cottage door. There didn't seem to be any rain behind him, now, but what scant light there was must have to fight its way through thick clouds.

His heart beat more freely as he focused on the shadow Fuyuhiko made against that backdrop. On most days, Hajime honestly could handle his years-ago memories, but he never did well when it felt like he'd woken back up into blindness. "Hey. What's up?"

"I thought about how it was even darker, tonight. I didn't know if it'd be a problem. And if there was a problem, I thought maybe it'd help if…"

Hajime bit down hard and didn't point out that he hadn't noticed how dark it was until he'd been woken up. "Yeah. Thanks. You didn't have to, but thanks."

"So, hmm, let me just…" Fuyuhiko murmured to himself as he walked carefully into the cottage, trailing his hand against the far wall for guidance as he went. The door automatically swung shut behind him and even the faint glow from outside vanished.

Memories reared up and clawed deeply into Hajime's mind, whispering that he was back there. He was fading. He was alone. But light soon erupted, and Hajime instinctively threw an arm over his eyes before he processed that it wasn't bright enough to hurt.

A lamp would keep him awake if it were close, but Fuyuhiko had cleverly chosen a small one around a corner, near the door that led out to the deck. Its light reflected dimly off the walls, and showed up over in the bedroom as only a faint golden glow like a faded memory of the sun. That was enough, though; when Hajime looked around, he immediately saw where he was. "Good idea," he admitted. "I should have thought of that."

Fuyuhiko nodded as he walked back to the sleeping area, unconcerned. "I did the same thing, at first."

"At first?" Here on the real island?

"After this," Fuyuhiko clarified, and gestured to the heavy scarring over his useless right eye. He'd left his eyepatch in his own cottage, but Hajime hadn't paid any mind to the injury until he pointed to it. "Heh. Should clarify that, I guess: after the second time I lost it." He grinned wickedly. "Losing an eye from the same socket three time's gotta be a world record, right?"

"Must be," Hajime agreed with dark amusement. At least it apparently wasn't a source of trauma, by now.

"Anyway," Fuyuhiko continued, slouching comfortably into an armchair next to Hajime's bed. "I couldn't see for shit, at first. My brain still expected to be seeing out of an eye that wasn't there, and so it was…" He trailed off and sat in silence. When he continued, his good eye directed enormous sympathy toward Hajime. "And so it was dark. Not all the way, but a lot darker than it should be."

Hajime nodded back, and found himself relaxing into the mattress. No, it wasn't the same thing, but it was a surprisingly strong relief to be understood even halfway.

"So, I left a low light on overnight in the bathroom," Fuyuhiko continued. "You remember how they had those glass walls? Wish I'd been able to turn it down even further, but it worked. It felt weird to be sleeping with a nightlight, but in case I needed to get up, I didn't want to trip into something and rip this back open." His thumb drew a line low across his stomach. "It worked for me, then, so I thought it might work for you."

"It's a lot better, thanks. Seriously, I should have thought of that." For all of the knowledge and abilities that had been forced into him, an ingrained social norm of 'only kids sleep with a light on' was apparently too strong to overcome. Hajime needed to get over that. There wasn't reason to follow everyone else's expectations, any more.

Silence took over. In it, Fuyuhiko's words echoed. When his stomach had just been stitched up, huh? Hajime frowned against his pillow in thought. That meant that Fuyuhiko had been struggling inside his cottage, feeling like he'd lost even more than half his vision… when Hajime had been completely alone with him at Hotel Mirai. Just like the two of them now. Huh.

Slowly, Hajime pieced together memories and really considered the aftermath of Peko's execution like he hadn't, before. Fuyuhiko had been left dying in front of them, drowning and choking on his own blood. They'd all been so caught up in adrenaline and fear that Hajime never really thought that deeply about what was happening to someone who still felt like a stranger.

"Hey. Fuyuhiko?"

"Yeah?"

Hajime hesitated before asking, "Tell me if you don't want to think about this, but… do you remember what happened when you got rushed to the hospital?"

A slight smirk edged Fuyuhiko's voice. "Which time?"

That put a smile on Hajime, too. "The first one."

"Yeah, I do. Not as well as the second time, but yeah." As he spoke, Fuyuhiko's voice sobered. "It was just me and him in that fucked-up hospital, and he was… laughing." Shuddering, Fuyuhiko rubbed his arms and looked surprised by the strength of his recollection. "That bear's fucking laugh. You remember it, right?"

"Right. Of course."

"I couldn't move at all, by that point. He said he needed to sew up some internal bleeding, and he…" Troubled, Fuyuhiko folded in on himself more. "He… twisted. Warped. I didn't understand what I was seeing, and probably thought it was just my brain dying off with the rest of me. But after what we learned at the end, I guess it must have been the Junko A.I. flickering in, a little."

Hajime frowned, picturing some horrific Monokuma/Junko monster looming over a barely conscious Fuyuhiko. "How do you mean?"

"He needed fingers to hold the scalpel. And after he warped… there were fingers. It looked." Fuyuhiko struggled for the word. "Wrong. Not that I could pay much attention to how that damn bear looked, but when I make myself think back on it, it was like I was being operated on by some glitch. Some hole in reality."

Hajime shifted uneasily. Scalpels had been mentioned, but no anesthesia. He didn't want to clarify. "Sorry for asking. Looking back on it now, I suppose I assumed he'd just… edited your code to not be dying, any more."

"Maybe he did that, too. But you know that sadistic prick would never give up the chance to slice someone open when he's got an excuse to do so. He'd want to hear them hurting." Fuyuhiko's gaze grew even more distant, and he looked suddenly, agonizingly sad. "I hope Nekomaru wasn't awake."

"Oh. Shit. Yeah."

"He couldn't have been," Fuyuhiko decided, though it sounded more like he was convincing himself. "Think about how the guy didn't have a care in the world, afterward. There's no way he would've been like that if he remembered that fucking bear ripping out all his body parts, one by one. He… he wasn't awake. There's no way. No way."

Whatever awful memories he'd earned on Monokuma's operating table now seemed irrelevant. Fuyuhiko's expression warped further for Nekomaru's imagined mutilation than it ever had for his own surgeries. Eventually, he laughed weakly and rubbed at his reddened eye. "You pick some dark fuckin' topics to focus on when you're trying to fall asleep, you know. That probably doesn't help things."

"Sorry." Hajime smiled lopsidedly at him. "You mentioning your stomach got me thinking, and… and this sounds really selfish," he admitted. "But it was easier to worry about what you went through. It was something else to think about."

"Easier to think about someone else," Fuyuhiko quietly echoed, and still sounded shaken by picturing whatever hell had happened to Nekomaru Nidai. Maybe, after everything, it felt wrong to worry about themselves. But at least they could still worry about each other.

They sat for another good while in silence, until Fuyuhiko stood abruptly up. "I'm talking about something else," he decided, and surprised Hajime by taking the far side of the bed. "And I'm talking," he repeated emphatically as he stretched out against the mattress.

Hajime let the brighter tone carry him back toward smiling. "We're not outside, now," he pointed out.

Fuyuhiko propped himself up enough to shoot Hajime a disbelieving look. "No, we're not outside, but what kinda fucked-up mood just got set? Anyway, I'm gonna talk, and you're gonna focus on my story and worry about me, until you fall back asleep."

"Okay," Hajime said uncertainly. Worrying about Fuyuhiko didn't sound like a good way to give him a restful night, but it seemed like a plan was in place.

"Kinkaku-ji," Fuyuhiko began. "One of the temples in Kyoto. You know it, right?"

"Never been there, but by name, yeah."

"Well, my parents decided that Natsumi and I needed to appreciate our cultural heritage. Or whatever. They were big on that. So, off we went to Kyoto, to see all the temples and watch all the people."

"And you were…"

"Four." Fuyuhiko laughed once. "So yeah, I didn't give a shit about anything I was seeing. We were at Kinkaku-ji when I started running around to burn off some energy, and fell hard against a stone staircase. Hard. Ripped the skin open down to the kneecap."

Hajime grimaced. "Ow."

"I was probably screaming loud enough to wake the dead. So I get rushed to the nearest hospital, and here's the thing: my parents had always told me not to trust any doctor I didn't know. Because otherwise, someone could dress up like a doctor and shoot you up with something, or convince you to go off with them, y'know?"

"Sure. I guess." That had certainly not been a concern in Hajime's own childhood, but he supposed it made some sense for Fuyuhiko's.

"So anyway, I'm screaming my fucking head off, and then a doctor that I don't know comes in to take a look at me." Fuyuhiko laughed at the memory. The warm, pleasant sound washed over Hajime and he felt himself smiling, too. "And so I grab a tongue depressor and try to stab him with it."

A laugh burst through Hajime's drowsiness. "A tongue depressor? One of those round sticks?"

"Yeah." Fuyuhiko laughed again. "It was handy to grab, but it didn't work very well."

"No kidding."

"So… that meant I just had to keep trying, obviously."

The imagined visual of a barely-out-of-toddlerhood, blood-drenched Fuyuhiko going absolutely ham with a tongue depressor on some bewildered doctor brought actual tears to Hajime's eyes. "Oh my God."

"They had to pin me down," Fuyuhiko proudly added. "And I never had to go back to another temple."

"I seriously don't even know how to respond." Hajime smiled up at the ceiling, noting how the dim light etched shadows around all of its beams and planks. It was good to have something to focus on. His gaze wandered downward, and Hajime sleepily amended: it was good to have someone. "Got any other stories?"

Fuyuhiko looked over to him and smiled, then began a calmer tale. "So I had this dog, once…"

Soon, Hajime realized that he'd missed a couple of words. Then, half of them. His breathing steadied and he slowly sank into calm, deep nothing. Memories stayed blessedly quiet as sleep took him, for the trauma that marked Hajime expected him to be alone.

By morning, the clouds were gone.

#kuzuhina #hajime hinata #fuyuhiko kuzuryuu #my fic #fic: aquila

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mofffun · 11 months ago

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Music Collection vol.3 repo

note: i don't know a thing about music somebody please please do a musical analysis of king-ohger some day

There's still no "Mysterious Debut" from ep4!!! Did you guys forget it??!!

1: I didn't even knew i needed the narration bgm but thank you narration bgm. recgonized it immediately.

2: this is my favourite (non-obstructing) version of instrumental Zenryoku King so far

Shugoddom 2 years after: there's still kind of a solem march disciplinary rhythm but it feels more upbeat and cheerful than authoritarian

N'kosopa: my instinct reaction is: freedom. contrary to Shugoddom, i don't hear a single instrument as the melody it feels more background noise in a good sense. As in it suits the environment as opposed to dominating the scene. Maybe you can make a theory about there's no single driving force and N'kosopa is all about community

Ishabana: I don't have much of a reaction to it but i think it's more… subtle? as in v1 was very much announcing Himeno's appearance and you're supposed to fall head over heels for her and v2 is "I'm exerting beauty regardless of your worship"?

Toufu: it's so fun. you know you're in for a ride. wouldn't be out of place if it plays at the mall during new year.

Gokkan: I LOVE YOU. this part brainwashed me back in 27 and i kept thinking if this is the Gokkan theme or the Shugddom theme because they share that orchestral repeat and it plays into Jeramie and Gira transforming (btw Jeramie is not in that medley). In the middle it turned sombre again but the melody comes back on it's like regaining control and the song is proper balanced!

8: i think this is an earlier bgm we don't hear as often now. very comforting while alluring you to a bedtime story. i like the strings 1 minute in

9: YES JERAMIE'S CHOIR DEBUT SONG IS HERE. *blast it at highest volume* love the wind chimes 0:37-0:50 you really need to turn it max to hear, and it stops when the drum starts building tension. there's beats of "8. A story wiped from history" at the end too.

10: i see it… ep26… buganarok national day *wipe tears*

11: 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 RITAAAAAAA

12: violin INFERNO!!! i love this one. my strongest impression of it was in ep11 the orphans griefing about Gira. What do you mean it's called "A king's compassion for his peole" 😭😭

13: the! the touching bgm!

15: love Dugded's theme. SW vibes if i say so, knowing Hidetsuna did use SW as an inspiration for chapter 2. strong impact the first time i hear it.

16: i can sing along to this

17: ?… OH "Racles's schemes"!! Hello old friend! Another one to sing along.

(these dug themes are melting together for me…)

20: Does this share some sounds with "18. Uchuuoh's Iron First"???

22: compared with "Assemble! The five kings", I like the ch2 assemble theme is more [穩重]… more mature and grounded. There's still the same insipiring quality but a sense of you can really trust them to take care of everything instead of just raging on an adventure. I guess it's they are working better as like a team.

ringtones:

gira/racles: evil vs hero. will believe racles's ringtone is the official shugoddom anthem.

yanma: THAT'S OUR PREZ! (anything i can say will never be as GOAT as Hidetsuna-san designing a wblue matching ringtone)

himeno: afternoon tea

rita: i hadn't noticed there's a "dun-duh" after the chibi moffun chirps. Rita is always getting calls and always cutting their ringtones short 😂 sorry Rita but gotta say the sharp chirps is not good for my ears

kagu: i almost forgot his bgm is like this 😂 very fitting i guess

jeramie: medieval european bard

out of the 8 the only one i'd consider using is probably jeramie's. and maybe yanma's racles song 😂

now we need a retro rpg with the ringtones as bgm

insert songs:

Pride and Brave: ooh the full song is much better than just the ed segment! something about Takatori-san's voice being nostalgically reassuring. Like the crossover itself, very traditional-flavoured sentai. I always thought of "Waking the King" as an "ura-OP", the OP King-Oh would have if it's born 10 years earlier, and this is the special edition crossover movie dancing ED.

Just we go: This is the "image song" of ch2 so it hasn't been used in the show yet. Contrary to "Waking the King" this feels more like an "ura-ED" but not a dance one, closer to a Rider ED. The lyrics is very affirming of the kings' journey this past (three) year(s) - that i feel like, a message that i receive from the show, is you can always make up for your mistakes and you always have a second chance, and the lyrics is saying that. It maybe the same vague hopeful words but it's about taking everything that happened to you, ackowledged how hard you fought, to protect your home and then facing the future without reservations. cliche of cliche but it works!

I'm still alive: I love this song. I've waited for it since ep 2. TWO. (now it's released the crown of longest-waiting bgm is passed to Mysterious from ep4).

and I feel so sorry and mean if I critique the grammar because the artist and team worked hard on it and musically it's wonderful! The grammar just takes it a little bit out of immersion. Now i'm curious if the lyrics has a japanese blueprint that better convey the message. Reagrdless, it's interesting to think of the english language is part of Yanma's antique/retro hobby. Maybe English is an antiqudated language on Chikyuu so the gramma is odd to modern Chikyuu ears.

#kingohger #mon mon

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tsaritsa · 1 year ago

Note

Congratulations on winning Nano!!! Any hot takes or unconventional tips on how to achieve a huuuge milestone like that in so little time?

Also, if you'd like to share, I'd love to hear more about the piece(s) you worked on during this year's event! Big yay if you want to tease us with a sneak peek as well. 🙂

Congratsss again!!!

ty!!!! i am afraid my tips might seem kind of obvious and not that much of a hot take but here's what worked for me:

writing sprints. do 10 min. do 17 min. do 30 min. whatever it is, just get words down on the page. after each sprint was finished i'd look at what i wrote, fix up the most glaring mistakes (espe if the words looked terrible. i've learned to live with a lot of spelling errors bc otherwise u waste too much time. during nano each day i'd prolly manage between 2-3 sprints -- usually enough to net me between 1000-1500 words each day. i wouldn't stop if i hit the daily total, i'd stop when i could feel the motivation waning. my lowest day was under 300 words, my biggest was just over 4000.

get a community. writing sucks alone. i feel very grateful that i've made some friends on here who were also trying to write regularly, so now there's 5 of us in a little discord i've made. we do sprints with each other and share lots of snippets, memes, pretty pictures etc. it keeps us excited about our own projects, but also allows us to cheerlead each other on.

get used to placeholders. i use TK. anytime there's a word i need but it's not on the tip of my tongue? TK my beloved. sometimes i'd write like she sighed in a TK kind of way, or like harry opens his mouth to argue about TK TK some work thing he's doing TK TK. it just keeps u in the pace of writing ur in, but allows for a few words to be spent writing down a piece that needs further expansion.

establish habits and goals. for me, it's stuff like trying to write the bulk of my writing with a nice candle lit, but also the silly stuff like putting on lippy so I feel like. Ready to do shit. have a few drinks avail. one to hydrate (ice cold) one to caffeinate (also ice cold). play music or sounds that will help u get into the zone without overly distracting. now that i've won it i'm gonna treat myself to some silly purchases as well bc i should reward myself for such hard work and dedication. i'm thinking a v comfy hoodie.

overall if i didn't have the community i had this month i think my external motivation would've been lost quickly, so find friends to yell at about ur project. watch yt videos about ppl doing writing! make posts and don't give a flying fuck about being cringe or not suiting ut 'aesthetic'. this is u. do it for U.

in terms of this project: the short version is hermione goes back to hogwarts post book 7 and has to slowly begin to recover from/learn to live with the PTSD she's gained. alas, draco is also back and she's gotta learn to make peace with the fact that he's allowed to want to change and that he's making small steps to become a better person than who he was. they're gonna kiss and be disgusting with each other. ultimately this is a story about hermione's journey, as the whole thing is written from her perspective, so although the dhr aspect is there, there are also other important relationships i want to focus on -- especially her and harry.

i'm ignoring/expanding on a lot of canon, and using some details from the movies i prefer over the books (namely her mudblood scar bc mmmmm parallels). i don't really know if anybody is in character but i don't care! this is my story and i'll do it how i see fit haha.

the following excerpt comes from late sept in the current draft. at this point dhr has been forced together a few times already. draco has surreptitiously managed to drug slughorn with a potion of his (slughorn's) own making during their potions class bc the potions professor was spending an entire lesson just showing off instead of. u know. teaching.

#ask #live by the cringe die by the cringe #i'm seriously thinking about starting a little vlog journey for this so i can just keep myself even more motivated haha #ty for the ask!!!! basically u just gotta write. doesn't matter how bad it is. it counts!

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nadekofannumber1 · 5 months ago

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For the cafe collabs for nademono I always imagined a 5 piece but after thinking I realize a 4 piece with a sauce would also make sense

You see if you get 4 different fried things and a sauce it adds differentiations to the concept of them being written and drawn as dipping in sauce is like dipping a pen in ink + you can even write a nadeko signature at the bottom as a concept.

However the reverse could also work, one type of fried dish with 4 sauces on the side as a representation of nadeko putting on different forms of nadeko to become a different facet of self.

There’s a lot of ways to go about it tbh, I could also see them doing yakisoba bc that’s just Nadeko’s actual favorite food. They haven’t been doing noodles for Nadeko collab dishes just for the hair bit.

Granted they could always go for the 5 dessert plan or a thing with 4 distinct toppings/things on a greater object that is nadeko.

I don’t see society as ready for the 5 layer nadeko dish/drink. I think tart flavors better represent nadeko for sweet things bc of the clash of sweet and not and the tartness of a dish can be raised relative to arc, I think a nadeko drink should be a “pick me up” but not super refreshing. Refreshingness in my mind is a sliding scale relative to character vibes or coping mechanisms or openings. But that’s not the same as how caffeinated or how sweet a drink is. And the type of refreshing also depends on the vibes. Does one think of sodachi as more affogato or dalgona? Or is she more of a fruit based drink with egg foam or cheese foam (that may or may not be caffeinated)? That’s up to personal interpretation. I think Nadeko for desserts leans for fruitier tastes bc of fruit and flower symbolism but I wouldn’t say that Nadeko has a tea vibe or a chocolate vibe, Nadeko is more in line with fruit like flavors I wouldn’t say red bean or taro quite suits her but I’d new willing to see arguments. (I think Nadeko would be the type to like red bean as a flavor but be irritated by the bean skins so the experience becomes net neutral) For things like nutty flavors I could see it working mildly but I feel like it sort of runs back around to fruity flavors though the sweet soy sauce flavor you can have on some dango could work it’s an acquired taste and doesn’t fit the type of old fashioned I think Nadeko goes by for (even if she might like it). Nadeko has historically had generally peach to strawberry flavoring in Nadeko drinks, which make sense as peach is pink to orange, and can range from sweet and floral to acidic. And the non humble strawberry plays a big symbolic role in the adaptation of nadeko Medusa. Though that’s a false strawberry but strawberries are fakes in a sense anyway bc the “seeds” are the fruit and the red part is a swollen fruit ovary. Plus false strawberries don’t taste like a lot and when someone sees the word strawberry they lock in and expect that flavor. Character color also often factors into it but I’m getting nadeko out of pink character hell you will become purple. Nadeko blueberry shake with lines of chocolate white chocolate strawberry and raspberry sauce in it would make sense tho for a drink representing the arc of nademono. Nadeko changes so much that you gotta keep inventing new drinks which is why developing a flavor system is very important to consider if you want flavor continuity between these things. I think arc by arc drinks summarizes monogatari characters better because it accounts for change. Granted, coming up with individual flavors is fine too.

The moral of the story is I should probably post my monogatari flavor in theory drink chart based on ops but with side content beliefs. And then refine it with the people of this site’s beliefs in what is ideal as a flavor profile for a character even if they dislike the flavor (I consider flavors I don’t like too and not everyone is gonna be a flavor you want.)

#nadeposting #this is part of my food based brainrot #naderamblings #sengoku nadeko

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little-peril-stories · 10 months ago

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Character Backstory Playlist Tag

I was tagged in this post by @mysticstarlightduck. Thanks for the tag!

Rules: Pick 5 songs you feel represent/inspired your OCs' backstories, or just otherwise fit their past's vibe/aesthetic. Choose as many or as few OCs as you want.

I'm leaving this an OPEN TAG - please play if you want, and let me know if you do! 💕

So I did once make a playlist for The Prince of Thieves (find it here), but it is a typical WIP playlist - not backstory-focused. (I *did* steal a few songs from there, though.) So this was a fun challenge!

Will and Jamie Wardrew

Tough to be a Dreamer by Felix Hagan & The Family

I built my castle on broken dreams, and as time goes by, I must admit it seems that I was sold a lie.

In the Meantime by Randall Kent

You’ve got a friend when times get mean; yeah, in the meantime, I’m on your team.

Same Suit, Different Tie by The Maine

All done up in my hand-me-down clothes, shaking off the dust and assuming a pose. Well, these threads are so old, but they'll never know. No one will ever know.

Is It Really You? by Loathe and Sleep Token

Face away, deal with the pain your own way.

Some Days by Brent Morgan

Some days I'm overwhelmed. Some days I'm lost inside this hell.

Bree Cooper / Breanna Hatchett

Sleepless Nights by Faber Drive

Put yourself in her position; all she needs is recognition. Love's not enough when you say it. Don't you know you gotta mean it?

Because of You by Kelly Clarkson

I will not make the same mistakes that you did; I will not let myself cause my heart so much misery… I was so young; you should have known better than to lean on me.

Running Away by Midnight Hour

I'll never let you find me; I'm leaving you behind with the past. No, I won't look back.

All I've Ever Known from Hadestown

I was alone so long, I didn't even know that I was lonely. Out in the cold so long, I didn't even know that I was cold.

(Un)Lost by The Maine

And you are not allowed to be anybody else. Control what you can and confront what you can't, and always remember how lucky you are to have yourself.

Colette Meunier

Boulangerie by Recent Rumours

She's gone, she's gone, she's gone; she's not coming back.

The Man by Taylor Swift

I'm so sick of running as fast as I can, wondering if I'd get there quicker if I was a man.

mars by YUNGBLOOD

She can't be herself when she's somebody else... Do you feel like you're irrelevant?

Perfect by Simple Plan

Hey, Dad... Did I grow up according to plan? Now it's just too late, and we can't go back. I'm sorry I can't be perfect.

Safe by All Time Low

Gotta take your time, find your space.

Geoff Marks

3 Hours of White Noise

Bonus Songs

Jamie & Will: I Steal Everything from Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier

Want food, but got no money? I’m screwed, or so it would seem… That’s why I came up with this brilliant scheme! Just steal everything!

Bree & Colette: What the Hell by Avril Lavigne

All my life I've been good, but now I'm thinking, "What the hell?"

Will: I Will Follow You Into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie

In Catholic school, as vicious as Roman rule, I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black, and I held my tongue as she told me, "Son, fear is the heart of love," so I never went back.

Will: Where Dreams Go to Die by The Downtown Fiction

Teacher thinks you're rude, says, "I don't like your attitude." Well, maybe you're just condescending. But bring us up to follow rules and throw us all in cubic rooms - but we're not gonna sit by idle.

Breanna H: According to You by Orianthi

According to you, I'm stupid, I'm useless, I can't do anything right

Me begging my sisters for song recs because I had NO CLUE…

#tag game #character backstory playlist #also if you're wondering why the banner looks different #like different fonts and stuff #I'm learning to use Photoshop! and I wanted to practice #so I didn't have access to my usual Canva fonts etc #anyway nobody talk about how often Twisted shows up as inspiration for me #I just love it. OKAY?#and on an administrative note: the songs for Bree are obviously applicable to Bree (TPOT) and Breanna (TQOL)#and actually there's so much overlap between Bree and Colette's backstories lmao #so a few of them are applicable to both gals #anyway this was really difficult because I mostly like cheesy love songs or cheesy emo PINING FOR LOVE songs #neither of which have anything to do with my characters' backstories #le sigh #despite that it was fun!

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dailycass-cain · 2 years ago

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Thoughts on Batgirls #15

Batgirls #15 is the conclusion of the series' fifth arc (though you could say it is the fourth since both arcs go hand in hand). Did the arc deliver a nice punch after the series' best issue (thus far)?

This is is a "sort of" tonal shift and fits perfectly to bookmark what the last issue gave. This issue is all about Steph with some Cass moments sprinkled in throughout.

That said I'll start off with the negatives I had with the issues. The first being well... something is missing on Cass as the issue introduces her.

I get it.

The issue has two different artists. But it just feels so off to have an important part at the end of one issue disappear in the next.

Also, this issue crammed A LOT into just one issue. We have the end of this arc which has Steph confront her father. We have a history and just how far down the wagon Cluemaster has gone being resurrected.

I'll give the issue credit giving us some nice emotional payoffs with Cass really caring for Steph. And boy do they have "couple" energy this issue.

I get why Cass wouldn't confide in Steph she read her letter. I truly feel this will be a plot point down the line. It's just gotta be. The way Conrad and Cloonan have Cass react her is totally in character.

The whole experience of this issue was unsettling and Steph went thru A LOT. I get why Cass would be standoffish.

But yeah this issue was DARK. Like a much more tonal shift than the earlier issues. We have some rather traumatic stuff going on with Steph dealing with her abusive dad. Arthur realizes how much a monster he is (curious where this goes).

Not to mention the ending of this issue has Grace get a severed head delivered to her doorstep. Her response feels a little unnormal. I don't think it has to do with Mad Hatter but more either the missing Saint or Shiva wanting to expose the rogue sect of the LoA.

I did love Cass evading death traps like the gremlin we know she can.

Besides the end stuff with Cass/Steph this was my highlight of the issue. Just see Cass be Cass and the villain being totally outclassed by who she is.

Overall, after a messy start (if we go with the opening in Batgirls 2022 Annual or Batgirls #13) the issue did end strongly.

The art by Neil Googe (and the colors by Rico Renzi) was exceptional here. They compliment Jonathan Case's two prior issues but Googe has his own frantic tone which works to finish this arc.

I have to confess the art he has here feels much more polished than #12 for some reason. Just more details in the characters and panels.

It almost makes me wonder given the switch-ups just how long it took him and a miracle it still turned out good.

The last two issues really made the arc. I know some of us long-time fans weren't happy with the results of the annual or #13, but these two issues were exceptional nonetheless. But for new fans?

These issues work (if only we could get an Omni of Kelley Puckett/Damion Scott to further that in showing the full evolution of Cass/Steph).

So yeah I did enjoy this issue (even with the slight flaws). I felt the arc closed out better than it opened (Cass taking a stupid pill in Steph's body, Shiva's confession). Just better notes to close this arc.

That all said I just hate we can't be consistent with Cass's suit being bulletproof. I know for the sake of the story it gives peril, but knowing Puckett made sure those suits could take small arms fire.

But can get shredded with a higher caliber weapon.

But it's a minor nitpick on my part. It always depends on the writers if these characters have this or not.

#dc comics #cassandra cain #stephanie brown #my thoughts

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theevilthatismokke · 2 years ago

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IT HAS BEGUN

/bakeneko ryokan AU twitter event spoilers/

Ahh!! I was looking forward for this one!! And it’s here!! Ahhh!!

unfollow me everyone this is all i’m gonna talk for the rest of the week

Ahem. Excuse me.

Anyway, I figured we’d be “playing” this AU event as the Minamoto siblings (Kou, in this case), but I was kinda surprised we didn’t start already at the inn. But it’s nice to see this little introduction!

Poor Aoi-chan, looks like she was harassed to the point of quitting her job… From what I understood, apparently she told Teru she was going to come back for her diary (that she got from Akane?) after she got a better job (?)…

But then she invited Akane to go with her to the spooky inn, that’s infamous for UMA sightings and people turning into cats.

Hm.

I’m unsure whether Aoi is already thinking about “disappearing” (like whoever was suicide baiting her wrote), and invited Akane to go with her for one last pleasant moment, or if her choosing the cursed cat inn isn’t that intentional, and the place is calling to her instead, because she may feel unhappy. Maybe it’s both. Maybe it’s neither. Maybe it’s something more… normal? We’ll see.

Watch it be a third, crazy option like, Aoi was a cat/bakeneko/nekotama who tried to fit in the human world, realized it sucked and now’s going back home with her bf lol

“If could see that beauty one more time… I would gladly turn into a cat…!”

Did I ever mention here that I love Natsuhiko? Because I do. I love Natsuhiko. The funniest guy ever, hope you and your lady meet again and live happily ever after on cat heaven, Natsuhiko (lol).

On a side note, I’m curious about Natsuhiko’s earring. It’s green in the colored merchandise for the cafe, a color commonly associated with Sakura in JSHK. It’s also just one, so it might be just a fashion/style kinda thing, but it makes me wonder if Sakura may have given that to him.

Or maybe Natsuhiko just bought it because it reminded him of her. Either way, I like it, and it’s, to me, a nice parallel to the brooch Sakura always wears, which matches Natsuhiko’s hair color.

Look at them. Loook at theeem!!

Sumire peaking from behind (Hakubo’s too tall lol). Hakubo wearing a suit. They’re so cute.

Also, lol at their small exchange about political marriages. It kinda looks like Hakubo was trying to placate/dissuade the paparazzi and Sumire took him too literally. Or maybe, in a way that’s classic them, Hakubo didn’t know that Sumire wanted to get married to him (even if it was a political marriage). And likewise, Sumire didn’t get that Hakubo likely disliked the notion that he would marry her only out of political gain, since he emphasizes on the absurdity of a political marriage. (In other words, he’s saying he’d marry her out of love)

Well, who knows. Glad to see they’re still bumbling about, the idiots.

Makes me wonder what they’re gonna do at the ryokan. Is it going to be their honeymoon? Are they eloping? Just hoping to get away from the press and their yakuza families? Did their families send them there? I mean, I doubt it, but gotta think of all the options

I am… pretty amused that they are part of the yakuza, though. I was just thinking a while ago, that if you were to write and adapt Hakubo’s story belonging to a more modern time, he’d probably be part of a mob family.

Same with Natsuhiko’s situation? Him meeting Sakura as a child and being persistent in seeing her again was one of the scenarios I had considered for them before. As in, what their backstory might be like. Good to see it’s an option in one of the AUs, haha.

Though, this one might be a common theory among the fandom? I actually don’t know.

Very peculiar that Amane is already a nekomata here, but Tsukasa doesn’t even seem to be a bakeneko (if the flashback and newspaper are anything to go by. his cat ears were also a headband in the original shikishi).

Sooo. Considering the myths around neko mata and bakeneko, I’m going to assume that:

a) Tsukasa and Amane might not be related in this AU;

b) Amane took the form of his owner (Tsukasa);

c) Amane might have started the fire.

Also, judging by Teru’s reaction towards Natsuhiko’s declaration of love, and the assumptions above, it makes me how is the “general” relationship between kaii and human in this AU.

I mean, kaii in this seem to be part of daily life; no one calls Natsuhiko crazy for seeing a beautiful bakeneko lady, nor does anyone seem to bat an eye at Hakubo the oni appearing in the news. But maybe relationships between kaii and human are looked down on? Thus, why Natsuhiko’s a “freak” for loving Sakura, according to Teru, or why the news seem to jump at the conclusion that a relationship between Hakubo and Sumire could only amount to a “political marriage”.

Teru’s comment also makes me wonder… if something’s gonna happen to him, either in this AU or in the main series soon. You can’t judge other people (specially their relationships!!) without shit happening to you. JSHK’s “talk shit get hit” cosmic rule has been pretty consistent so far after all.

And, last but not least…

Nene?? Is that you??

*sees flower decorations*

It is you!!! Nene!! look at how cute she is

Dancing under the moonlight, Nene is romantic even as a cat, huh? That’s so cute, never change Nene-chan lol.

All in all, I look forward to the inevitable shenanigans. Whether it’s sad, messed up or just plain bizarre, hilarity is still guaranteed!

#a mokke's idle ramblings #bakeneko ryokan bakeneko ryokan #not gonna lie the neko mokke look extremely cursed

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nukavolkov · 1 year ago

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From the Fallout OC Questionnaire ~ I've just met em so I gotta know: 4. Give us a summary of their backstory. and 19. What natural alignment are they? (ex. Lawful Good, Chaotic Evil) For both your beans, please!

Oooh this will be a long one! I am still working on refining Beau so this won't be entirely set in stone for her.

Donovan would be considered Chaotic Neutral I'd say and as for his backstory. Im going to sum it up as best I can but theres a lot lol:

Donnie was born in Vault 101 and is younger than the cannon player character. His life wasn't amazing in there. A bit neglected by his parents who treated his younger sister like an absolute perfect blessing. He was a big scapegoat for almost everyone there. Getting the blame for so many things. It was east with how quite and awkward he was. He never really fought back. There were people who were on his side but the ones who weren't felt louder to him. He had particular disdain for Butch and the cannon PC. James and kid left the vault when Donovan was 15 and in the chaos he snuck out behind them. Looking for a better life than the one he had.

Immidiate regret on that. He found the Wasteland terrifying, hostile and cruel but he managed to make a few friends in Megaton and beyond. One being Moira as they worked on the Wasteland Survival Guide. Things were hard at first. He was afraid of everything, not very strong, lost a couple fingers and struggled a lot. But as time went on, he got stronger, taller and harder to kill abd developed a wild amount of skill with almost any gun he got his hands on. He was still afraid but he had more control. He also made some mistakes. And the cannon PC also got into some absolute bullshit that he pinned on Donovan. Being blamed for both their wrong doings earned him a real bad reputation in the Capital Wasteland. While he wasnt the most moral person around he wasnt full on evil either. He does genuinely care about people. But being labeled brutal, a monster, vicious. Every word they could come up with left him feeling bitter and as hostile to them as they were to him. His general demeanor, general expression and awkwardness didn't help at all. Just made it worse really. He's hard to read and comes across as rude without meaning to.

So he left the Capital Wastes at 34 with his reputation in unsalvageable shambles and made for the Commonwealth after Maccready (one of his few friends). He met Beau in Nuka World on his way there. Helped her clear out the Raiders then followed her to Sanctuary and eventually Diamond City where he settled nearby, got back to mercenary work and earned a far better reputation with friends to boot.

Now as for Beau. I'd consider her to be Neutral Good I think. As for her story. It's still a WIP but here's what I have so far:

Beau was and is a robotics and power armour enthusiast. Even before the war. She always loves tinkering, building and just making the coolest stuff she could. When she met Nate she was happy to settle down though she was plotting out where she could fit a workshop in their home and saving up to get her own Power Armour frame. She was happy to have Shaun and nestle in in Sanctuary until the bombs.

She hadn't trusted the Vault Tec lads from the beginning but didn't see much of a choice. When she woke to a dead husband and missing baby after being frozen, she didn't know what to do. She was scared, alone and confused. But after a couple aimless days she found her resolve. She moved out, helped Preston and reformed the Minute Men. Vowing to wear a suit of power armour with pride and protect everyone she could. Making the Commonwealth safe for her baby when she found him.

This is all I have so far but I'll give her more as time goes on 👍

#thank you very much for the ask 💚💚💚#i very much appreciate it

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vgckwb · 1 month ago

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P4G: Mirror Mirror (A FeMC Story/P4G Rework) Chapter 12: Fever Pitch

Once Yua, Yosuke, and Chie were all back at the Junes food court in their uniforms, they were set to go. “Gotta say, it is a little odd to be wearing my uniform,” Yosuke remarked.

“Again, it is better than getting arrested,” Yua said.

“Ah, you just need to customize it a little,” Chie said. She glanced at Yua. “Do you think a vest would suit him?”

Yua looked Yosuke over. “It’s hard to say.”

Yosuke was embarrassed. “Did you forget we’re here to save someone?”

“Of course I didn’t forget!” Chie snapped. She stood up. “We’ll go, but we’re not done with this conversation!”

“Ugh,” Yosuke sighed.

“Well, we know where to go,” Yua said. “Let’s vamoose!” The group started making their way to the electronic section of Junes to slip into the TV.

Upon entering, they found Teddie pondering something. “Hey, it’s that bear from last time!” Chie pointed out.

“His name’s Teddie,” Yua clarified.

“Huh. How fitting,” Chie noted. “Hey!” she called out. Teddie looked back. “We think someone came in here? Do you know where they are?”

Teddie walked over. “Someone DEFINITELY came in here! I can point you in their direction.”

“Great!” Chie cheered. “Oh, my name’s Chie, by the way.”

“So, what were you thinking about?” Yosuke asked.

Teddie pouted. “I was trying to figure out why I exist. But I haven’t had any luck.”

“Well, to be fair, the answer to why any of us are here is hard to define,” Yua pointed out.

“Still, it’s un-BEAR-able!” Teddie protested.

“Well, you’re just gonna have to grin and bear it!” Yua countered.

“Really?” Yosuke said. ��I expected that from him, but you too Yua?”

“Forgive me for trying to bring some levity to the situation,” Yua snided.

“FOCUS!” Chie said. “We’re here for Yukiko! Now, do you know how to get there or not?!”

“I do, I do,” Teddie replied. “Follow me!” Teddie led the way, as the other three followed. They soon arrived at the castle they saw Yukiko at. “Here we are.”

Chie was stunned. “Isn’t this the castle Yukiko was at on The Midnight Channel?”

“Well, we did see her walk into it,” Yua said. “So we just have to follow.”

“It’s still surreal that we can see this world at all,” Yosuke said. “Even if it is limited in when we can.”

“Furthermore,” Yua conjectured, “why did we see Yukiko’s silhouette while she was on our side?” She turned to Teddie. “Do you have any idea?”

Teddie shrugged. “I can’t say for sure. Maybe it has something to do with whoever is throwing people in here.”

“Perhaps,” Yosuke said. “They must be confident that no one will catch them so they decide to broadcast who their next victim is.”

“Something doesn’t seem right about that,” Yua said. “Why only on The Midnight Channel? Why not hijack an actual signal?”

“Hmmm,” Yosuke pondered. “Maybe it has something to do with this world? I mean, someone’s putting people in here. Even if they have a better grasp on the world than we do, I don’t think they understand all the ins and outs of this world.”

“I don’t even understand all the ins and outs,” Teddie remarked.

“What?!” Yosuke yelped. “How?”

“Well, can you tell me everything about your world?” Teddie asked.

“...Fair,” Yosuke relented.

“So then why give Yukiko this castle?” Chie said. “And why make her say all that stuff? I’ve known Yukiko for a long time, and that didn’t sound like her!”

“I don’t think that has anything to do with the person putting people in here,” Teddie said.

“How do you figure?” Yua wondered.

“Aside from you all, I’ve only sensed people coming in here one at a time,” Teddie said. “All of this belongs to this Yukiko person.”

“That CAN’T be true!” Chie protested.

“Well, it makes sense,” Yosuke said.

“But there’s no WAY Yukiko would say any of that!” Chie said. “Maybe they’re hiding themselves!”

“I’m not so sure,” Yua said.

Chie was growing furious. “Fine! All I have to do is free Yukiko, and we’ll see what she has to say about all of this!” She burst off running into the castle.

Everyone was alarmed. “Chie!” Yua called out. She, Yosuke, and Teddie tried to follow, but their path was blocked when a woman in a white robe flew down to meet them. This one was wearing large, earmuff headphones. “Out of the way!” Yua demanded.

“Hm hm hm, silly girl,” the figure said. “What makes you think I’d listen to you?”

“We have to hurry!” Teddie said. “The castle is crawling with shadows!” Yua drew her sword.

The figure chuckled. “Don’t worry. She’ll be safe. I guarantee it.”

“Like how Saki was safe?!” Yosuke countered.

“Dear child,” the figure said, “she tried to resist. Now, if I’m not mistaken, your friend knows what happened?” They tentatively nodded. “Well then, she knows what happens when you resist.”

“You’re forgetting the X-factor,” Yua howled. “Us!”

“You call yourselves an ‘X-factor’, the figure demeaned, “I call you rubbish. And isn’t that what makes a person?”

They were confused. “I…don’t follow,” Yosuke noted.

The figure grinned. “You can say whatever about yourself, but what others say about you is what makes you you. After all, without anyone else’s acknowledgement, how do we know we exist?”

“Well if that’s the case,” Yosuke challenged, “YOU’RE nothing but a feckless cretin, and I cannot wait until I’m able to punch you in your stupid face!”

“Ooooo. Harsh,” the figure reacted. “Or it would be, were it not to these.” She pointed to her headphones.

“You can hear us, jackass!” Yosuke protested.

“Hang on,” Yua intervened. “This world doesn’t play 100% by our own rules. Perhaps they aren’t blocking the senses specifically, but the pain associated with them.”

“Hm hm. You are one smart cookie,” the figure said. “Although in truth, that was a gift from the mistress.”

Yua was confused. “‘Mistress’?”

“Not only that,” the figure continued. She summoned a hand bell. “She has given us the ability to share our gift. And lucky for me, I have a two-for-one special. Now, if you don’t mind, I have to find my little bonus gift.” She jumped up, and phased into the castle. Once she was gone, Yua, Yosuke, and Teddie rushed into the castle.

Upon entry, they were beset by shadows. Luckily, between their personas, their new weapons, and Teddie’s guidance, they managed to take out a good number of shadows. “So far nothing,” Yosuke said, frustrated.

“It seems we’ve looked through this floor,” Teddie said.

Yua found the stairs. “Well, let’s try the next one!” The three of them headed up.

Once they got up, they found themselves face to face with a large set of doors. “There!” Teddie screamed. “Chie-chan’s behind those doors.”

“Let’s hope we’re not too late!” Yua said. She reached for one door, and Yosuke took the other. Together they opened the door.

Once opened, they saw that Chie was face to face with the figure they spotted earlier. “Crap!” Yosuke cursed. “We’re too late!”

“Not necessarily,” Yua said. They started their approach.

“Out of my way!” Chie demanded. She tried to move around the figure, but the figure would always block her. “I’m trying to save Yukiko!”

“Oh, don’t worry about her for the moment,” the figure said. “This is her castle. She’ll be safe until the shadows frenzy. And in that time, I hope to convince her to join us.”

“Like she’d join you!” Chie snapped back.

“Well that’s why I’m here now,” the figure continued. “Once her dear friend Chie is with us, it’ll be impossible for her to say no.”

Chie readied a fighting stance. “You wanna fight?! Bring it on!”

“Hm hm. I’m not so much a brute that I’ll devolve into fisticuffs right away,” the figure replied. “I’m here to talk you into joining us.”

“Ha!” Chie responded. “Like THAT would ever happen!”

“Well, we’ll see,” the figure said. She peered over Chie to see that Yua, Yosuke, and Teddie had caught up. “Ah, it looks like your little friends have arrived.”

“Let her go!” Yua demanded.

“You know I can’t do that,” the figure said. “I protected her just to gain an audience with her. But she’s as obstinate as ever. I was hoping to convince her before you got here.” She smirked. “But maybe this is better.” She looked back at Chie. “You have to know how most people see you, right?”

“Huh?” Chie replied, confused.

“But those two are new in town, correct?” the figure continued. “They don’t have any idea of the truth you hold.”

“What are you talking about?!” Chie demanded.

“Oh, I think you know JUST what I mean,” the figure said. “Don’t you think they ought to know the truth?” Chie was unsure. The figure summoned her bell. “Or perhaps we can sweep this whole affair under the rug, and you can come with me. And then once you’re with us, Yukiko will be sure to follow.”

Chie got irritated. “Yukiko isn’t someone who bows to pressure! So even if I went with you, she won’t!”

“Are you sure about that?” the figure said. “Let’s hear what she has to say.”

Yukiko’s voice started echoing. “She told me I look good in red.”

“Huh?” Yua said.

“This is just like before, with Saki-senpai!” Yosuke said.

“I always hated my name,” Yukiko’s voice. “‘Yukiko’. ‘Snow’. Snow is cold, and melts under pressure. It’s transient and worthless. Just like me. Aside from taking over the inn, I’m worthless. Just another face in the crowd.”

“Yukiko…” Chie said.

“But Chie said red looks good on me,” Yukiko’s voice said. “So I wear it. Honestly, I’m so jealous of Chie.”

“Huh?!” Chie reacted.

“Chie is energetic, determined, and strong,” Yukiko’s voice continued. “She doesn’t care what others think. She has everything that I don’t. And yet, the kindness in her heart tells her to protect me. Me and my worthless life.”

“Yukiko…” Chie said.

“So,” the figure said. “Now you know. Do you wish to continue to protect her? Because if you come with us, we’ll keep you protected. Protected from the cruelty. Protected from the world.”

“Grrrrrr,” Chie fumed. “I’LL PROTECT YUKIKO HOWEVER I DAMN WELL PLEASE! I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE YOU UP ON YOUR STUPID OFFER! NOW GET OUT OF MY WAY SO I CAN SAVE HER!”

“Hm,” the figure pouted. “This is a disappointing series of events. If you change your mind, just give me a holler. I’m always listening. But perhaps if you won’t listen to me, there’s someone else you might listen to.” The figure disappeared.

Out from where she was standing, another figure that looked remarkably like Chie stepped up. “The kindness in Chie’s heart? What a joke!”

“Hey, isn’t that…” Yosuke mused.

“It’s just like last time!” Teddie said.

“We can stop it this time too!” Yua called out, readying her blade.

The other Chie continued. “Yukiko thinks SHE’S worthless? BAH! I got a kick out of that.”

“That makes one of us!” Chie glared. “Why do you look like me?!”

“It’s simple,” Chie said. “I am you!

“What?” Chie said. Yua and Yosuke nodded to each other. They started charging in, but Chie noticed and turned towards them. “Hey! Stop!” She turned back to her imposter, and readied a fighting stance. “I can handle this.”

“Hold on!” Yosuke said. “They’re really tough!”

“So am I!” Chie replied.

Yosuke was frustrated. Yua lowered her weapon. “Let’s give her a chance.”

“Huh?” Yosuke said.

“We’ll step in when we need to,” Yua said, “but she should have the right to face herself.” Yosuke was still unsure, but trusted Yua. He stood down as well.

“Thanks, but this isn’t me,” Chie said.

“Is it not?” the other Chie wondered. “Because from where I’m standing, we are one in the same.”

“I’d NEVER get enjoyment from Yukiko’s misery!” Chie protested.

“Really?” the other Chie challenged. “Because I think the truth is you need Yukiko more than she needs you.” Chie looked at her with apprehension. “I mean, face facts: Yukiko’s family is rich, well-respected, and the lifeblood of this town. And Yukiko herself is the definition of femininity. You can’t hold a candle to her. No one would take you seriously. It’s only because of Yukiko and her family that you’re even allowed to be.”

“Um Chie?” Teddie asked. “What is she talking about?”

“Nothing!” Chie answered, defensively.

“Heh heh,” the other Chie laughed. “You NEED Yukiko. That’s why her feeling worthless is your asset. So long as she depends on you, you can use her and her family to get what you want! Why, if it wasn’t for them, people would still be decrying you as a ‘boy in a skirt’.”

Everyone was alarmed. “Um, Chie?” Youske asked.

“I have no idea what she’s talking about!” Chie snapped. “I’m a girl! I’ve always been a girl!”

The other Chie shook her head. “Tch tch tch. See? Without Yukiko, you’re cracking under the pressure. You could have said, ‘it’s my tomboyish nature’. But no. Without Yukiko and her family, you cannot hide the fact that you were born a boy!”

Everyone was more surprised. “Um, Chie?” Yua asked.

“THAT’S A LIE!” Chie said, her voice cracking. “Enough of your games! Who are you anyway?!”

“Heh,” the other Chie chuckled. “I know looking into a mirror isn’t the easiest thing for you, but I am you. I’ve always been you. I’ll always be you.”

“SHUT UP!” Chie demanded. “YOU’RE NOT ME!”

The other Chie grinned, and started laughing maniacally. Yosuke looked at Yua. “Now?”

“Now!” Yua said. They readied their weapons, and moved in.

The other Chie spoke up. “Obstinate as always, I see? Well, perhaps I should be in control. That way EVERYONE will know not to mess with me!” She started transforming.

As her transformation continued, a large gust of wind exploded from her, causing Chie to fly back. “Ugh!”

“I gotchu!” Teddie said, catching her.

“Thanks…” Chie said.

Teddie nodded. He looked at Yua and Yosuke. “You two! Give it all you got!” Yua nodded back.

The transformation of the other Chie was complete. She was now a figure with long, black hair, wearing a skimpy yellow leather outfit, complete with a mask, and a series of chains tied to figures of girls in Yasogami high uniforms who were holding her up. “I AM THE SHADOW! THE TRUE SELF!”

Yua charged in with her blade. “Hiya!” It struck, but Yua noticed it was met with a little resistance. She shrugged. “Well, damage is damage, I suppose.”

Meanwhile, Yosuke was readying his persona. “Jiraya! Garu!” He unleashed a torrent of wind. This caused Shadow Chie to fall.

Yua was impressed. “Well damn!”

“Quick!” Yosuke called. “While she’s down, let’s give it all we got!” Yua nodded. They charged in together to blitz her.

Shadow Chie started getting up. “It’s gonna take more than that to keep me down!”

“Well there’s plenty more where that came from!” Yua said.

“Yeah!” Yosuke agreed. They continued fighting. While Shadow Chie put up a good fight, she eventually fell to Yua and Yosuke; her town of girls collapsing from under her.

Chie stood up. “You did it!”

Yua looked at her and smiled. “Now it’s up to you to finish it.” Chie looked over to see that Shadow Chie wasn’t destroyed, but rather reverted back to looking like Chie.

Chie readied a fighting stance. “Bring it on!”

“Hold on!” Teddie said. “If you keep fighting it, it’ll only become worse.”

Chie was concerned. “So, what do I do?”

“You have to accept it,” Yosuke said. “You have to accept that this is you.”

Chie was stunned. “But-”

“I know!” Yosuke interrupted. “I know…because I had to do the same.” Chie was confused.

“Everyone has a side to them that they don’t like,” Yua continued. “That they want to hide. But you can’t save Yukiko if you’re the one that needs help. I learned that, and Yosuke learned that too. I know you can do it. We’re right here.”

Chie looked at her friends. They were serious. She sighed, and approached her shadow. “Look…I guess you are me after all. I…I do have trouble seeing myself for who I am, or who I want to be. I rely on Yukiko to help me, and that makes me weak. And even though there’s a part of me that likes knowing that Yukiko needs me too, in a way, it makes sense. And if I’m going to rescue her, I need you to come along. Because you are me. And if I’m not fully invested in saving Yukiko, then how can I call myself her friend?”

Shadow Chie nodded, smiling. She began floating, and changed form once again. However, now she looked like a figure wearing a skintight yellow suit, with white boots, a white plated skirt, and a white helmet with a horn, and wielding a dual-bladed sword. It turned into a card, which Chie caught. “This is my persona. Tomoe.”

She then collapsed to her knees. Yosuke and Yua collected her so she didn’t fall face first.

“We should get her out of here,” Yosuke suggested.

“But…but what about Yukiko?” CHie asked.

“She’ll be fine for now,” Yua assured her. “The shadows don’t franzy until it gets foggy on our side. And today looks really sunny.”

“We’ll check the weather forecasts once we get out,” Yosuke said. “But we should get you out of here.”

“He’s right!” Teddie chimed in. “You look exhausted. You’re in no shape to save Yukiko now!”

Chie was surprised, but chuckled. “You’re right.” She stood up with Yua and Yosuke’s help. Together, they headed back to the entrance.

Once there, Teddie remarked “Well then, now that that’s taken care of, I have one more thing.” He pulled out a pair of glasses. “Ta-da!”

“What are those for?” Chie asked.

“They’re for helping navigate this world,” Yua said.

“I’m surprised you didn’t comment on ours," Yosuke added.

Chie looked at the two of them. “Oh yeah. I guess I was so worried, I didn’t notice.” She put them on. “WOAH! The fog is COMPLETELY gone! It’s like night and day!”

Yua nodded. “So, now that we have a good understanding of things, we should rest and come back to save Yukiko!”

“Not only that,” Yosuke said, “but anyone who gets thrown in here.”

Chie nodded. “And we need to figure out what’s going on with those figures, and with you.” She pointed at Yua. “Which is why I think you should lead.”

Yua was surprised. “Me?”

Yosuke nodded. “I mean, I saw what you were capable of. Besides, you were there for me when I faced myself too. You’re the only logical choice.”

“I agree,” Teddie said. “I’d be more confident if it was you leading the charge.”

Yua smirked. “Well, how could I say ‘no’ after that?” She sighed. “Well then, count me in!”

Thou art I… And I am thou…

Thou hast established a new bond…

It brings thee closer to the truth…

Thou shalt be blessed by The Crocodile Arcana…

Crocodile-Investigation Team: Rank 1

Yua nodded. “So we know what we need to do: Rest up, check the weather, and strengthen our resolve so that we can save Yukiko!” Yosuke and Chie nodded.

“And I’LL hold down the fort here!” Teddie said.

Yua smiled and nodded. “Thank you. Now, if you excuse us, we’ve had a long day.”

“Roger that!” Teddie said. He summoned the TV. “Until we meet again!” Yua, Yosuke, and Chie left for the real world.

#persona fanfiction #femc #persona 4 golden #p4 #p4g #p4 rework #p4g rework #p4 femc #female yu #yu narukami #chie satonaka #yosuke hanamura #teddie

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