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phoenixyfriend · 4 years ago

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Re: the AU where Anakin, Ahsoka, and Rex are stuck on Tattooine pre-TPM, how much of the truth does Shmi know? Is she aware that Local Weird Mechanic is her baby boy all grown up?

I addressed this in a previous ask but Shmi is the first person to know they’re time-travelers and, for three years, the only person to know.

Base Post

Anakin didn’t actually think to give a fake name at first, because he wasn’t aware that he was in the past, and assumed that between his Very Famous face and Rex’s Very Recognizable armor, people would just know who he was on sight, even on Tatooine. I imagine that Tatooine, despite mostly ignoring the war, had a lot of the lower classes being very eager for information on the Jedi General with a slave name. Like all else aside, That’s One Of Ours.

So Anakin doesn’t bother with a fake name, and by the time he realizes what’s up with time-travel, it’s too late. He’s already cemented himself in the memories of at least a handful of people that, for whatever reason, he needs or wants to stay on good terms with.

[more under the cut]

The next issue is that Anakin doesn’t want his mom to have her choices taken away. She has friends on Tatooine, despite everything. A husband, in the future, that he understands she genuinely loved. Anakin doesn’t know for sure that his mom would want to leave the planet. He wants to give her the choice, but if she wants to stay on Tatooine, then he needs to free her the “legal” way, by buying her (and little Ani’s) freedom, because otherwise she’ll have to be on the lookout for Hutt Law Enforcement who are looking to get Watto’s property back for him.

If she wants to leave the planet, then it’s easy enough to steal in, deactivate/remove the slave chip, and smuggle her out. They’ve done that before. It’s fine.

But it has to be Shmi’s choice, and Anakin is very adamant about that.

This means that he needs to, you know, talk to her. And ask her what she wants. And the thing is, if he just asks “Hey, can I talk to your slave for a bit,” Watto will have very specific assumptions about what Anakin wants, gross ones. Shmi is also likely to have those assumptions until Anakin clarifies what’s going on. If he just asks her the questions about slavery without a specification as to why he cares, then there’s a solid chance she might assume that he’s there to trap her in questions she can’t answer because he’s been hired to find runaway slaves, and that’s just a mess of its own.

What it really comes down to, for Anakin, is that he has to go to his and his mom’s hovel, where Watto can’t interfere OR make assumptions out loud that have Bad Connotations, and talk to Shmi one-on-one (probably he brings Ahsoka to distract little Ani). His options at that point are two versions of the truth: 1. Former slave who is looking to free her and other slaves, and is contacting her at this point because he wants to prioritize those with children 2. Just telling her that he’s her son from the future

But this is Anakin, who often puts his emotions before his logic, and also really misses his mom. He is a dramatic mess who shows up at her door with a hood to hide his face, says something dramatic but with like... whatever code makes it clear that he used to be a slave and is there for that business, and tells her “here, my teenage apprentice can distract your son while we talk.”

And they sit down, Anakin feeling very awkward, and then he just... takes her hands and lets her feel him in the Force because I imagine Shmi was at least a little Force-Sensitive, if only because it’s more convenient for me if she is. Anakin proves that he is the future version of her adorable six-year-old, and he explains the choices and his plans, and Shmi firmly tells him that if he’s a Jedi now, and doesn’t have an official obligation back on Coruscant, then he can help a LOT more people by staying on Tatooine and joining a freedom trail of some sort. People need help, there’s no war to fight, and Anakin can do as much good freelancing at home as he could going back to Official Jedi Work. She’ll stay to help since she’s got more contacts than he does.

Anakin’s like “yes, absolutely, I will do whatever you say” because he can’t say no to Mom.

They have to come up with a cover story for Anakin and Anakin having the same exact name, especially once Little Ani grows up enough to look like his older self, so Shmi and Anakin work out a plan to claim that she once had a younger brother named Anakin, whom she was separated from years ago, when the brother was a child and she was a teenager. She heard through the grapevine that he’d died, and a few years later had a child that she named after the little brother, as one does. Turns out the little brother isn’t dead, he was freed and joined an army of some sort, got married and picked up an apprentice, and is now back on Tatooine to Free His Sister (and also everyone else).

The “I am my own uncle” cover story will not hold up without Shmi’s full involvement, which is fine because Shmi is willing to play hardball in this situation. Big Anakin is a trained Jedi and war general, and Rex is very good at logistics, and Ahsoka’s a sneaky little shit. They are a great addition to the network of freedom trails on Tatooine, especially since the mix of skills they have is pretty much guaranteed to provide a solid cover for a lot of what they do. Anakin is an expert mechanic, Ahsoka is good enough to proudly claim to be his apprentice, and Rex’s logistic management of the paperwork is good enough to hide a lot of the more secret money that flows through once Hutt Tax People show up.

Running a space mechanic shop means it’s really easy to excuse basically any large ship that stops by. That freighter is just here to get a tune-up, sir! It’s definitely spice they’re hiding in the secret cargo holds, not three dozen escaped sentients.

We have all this medical equipment because of the number of burns we get welding things into place, or the incidents where someone slips and gets cut on a saw. Definitely not there for removing slave chips.

Those shipping manifests are definitely just here so we can project our possible income in the next few seasons by guessing who’s going to be coming through the city, and not us trying to figure out how many of Jabba’s goons we can sabotage without getting caught.

#Anakin Skywalker #Shmi Skywalker #Ahsoka Tano #Rex #time travel #Phoenix Answers Asks #lesbianjaskiers #Sandstorm Verse

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linkspooky · 4 years ago

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Gojo and Sukuna: The Strongest vs The Strongest

Gojou and Sukuna are both pictured lounging on top of a pile of skulls: the people they’ve climbed over to reach the top of their respective worlds. Gojou is the strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer, and Sukuna is the strongest cursed spirit. As they both carry the title of the strongest they actually have a lot in common, and are destined to duke it out one day - more details UNDER THE CUT.

1. Individualism

Gojo and Sukuna are both characters who base their entire identity around their individual strength. Their number one priority is the development of themselves. They need to stand out. They need to stand out on top. That’s why they share the phrase: “Throughout the heaven and earth, he alone is the honored one.”

Selfish and self-centered is a personality trait that typically has negative connotations, but being a selfish person is not necessarily a good or bad thing. All it means is you prioritize yourself first, your own thoughts, your own world view, your own sense of self.

“I alone am the honored one” is actually a phrase of self enlightenment. It’s said that after the Budha Sakayuni was born he took seven steps from his mother and said that while pointing to the heaven and earth [x].

Gege has confirmed in his author comments he uses it to confirm the arrogance of the characters, and in doing so he portrays both the good and the bad of having such a sense of arrogance. See, selfishness is considered a bad quality, but what about self-confidence? Self-esteem? Believing in yourself can lead you to good things. Doubting yourself may seem humble, but it can lead you to making mistakes, or even lashing out at others. These aren’t necessarily good or bad they’re just qualities that people have. Personal enlightenment means becoming the best version of yourself that you can possibly be (if I’m WAYYY SIMPLIFYING). Gojou and Sukuna know themselves, and what they desire better than any other characters in the series.

Gojo and Sukuna have such high confidence in themselves that they believe they can do pretty much anything, and usually they can. In their world view if you have the strength to do it, then anything is possible.

Gojo calls this philosophy swinging for the fences. They are both like star players on the team, who do everything they can to stand out and be the best. Their are two competing needs in the story, the individual good, and the collective good. Gojo insists you don’t have to sacrifice yourself and put yourself down for the good of others, which is why he tries to assert his individual will on the world. He wants to make the world better how he sees fit. He generally thinks he’s right, and more right than others. Sukuna is the same way to a more extreme extent.

The flaw of this thinking is that eventually they both tend to see themselves as above other people. When they stop seeing other people and cut themselves off like this, they start to believe they have to do every single thing alone. Instead of asserting their own will over others, it becomes more and more like their own will, their own ideas, their own thoughts and feelings become all that exists to them. That’s when their thinking starts becoming warped.

Collectivism and Individualism are ideas that seem to contradict each other but that’s wrong, they’re actually complementary ideas that coexist. People are individuals. People are a collective group. Both of these ideas exist at the same time.

Gojo’s self confidence, his selfless fighting for others always using his strength for the sake of others, trying to make a better world as he sees fit are all good things, but the fact that he believes no matter how strong he becomes no matter how hard he fights he’ll always die alone because it’s not worth becoming close to others in the Jujutsu World is just... sad. It means ever since Geto left, Gojo has trouble accepting other people and becoming close to them. Whereas Sukuna just doesn’t care. The flaw of doing everything alone is exactly that, you’re eventually alone, you become the only person on earth.

2. Collectivism

Gojo and Sukuna both have an individual mindset, but where they differ is how they use their massive strength. Gojo believes in himself above all else but, he uses his strength for the collective good of the jujutsu world, whereas Sukuna only ever uses it for himself. Gojo parallels Yuji’s grandfather’s advice at the beginning of the manga pretty much exactly. He’s strong, so he’s obligated to help people.

Gojo and Sukuna believes their strength makes them capable of anything, but Sukuna takes that one step further. Sukuna’s strength means he can do whatever he wants to others. Whereas, Gojo holds himself back. It’s why Sukuna is the king of curses, but Gojo isn’t the king of sorcerers.

Gojo is at least capable of acknowledging other people in a way that Sukuna isn’t. Sukuna believes that the world should be run on strength alone. Gojo acknowledges that he’s perfectly capble of slaughtering everyone at the top and declaring himself king, but that he doesn’t really think that will change things ultimately.

The thing is other people exist, even if Sukuna wants to ignore this inconvenient reality. No man is an island, yadda yadda. More importantly though, other people play a big role in individual identity too. If you were a person who never interacted with other people in your life, you’d just be insane. You’d be feral like an animal. You wouldn’t even have a sense of individuality. The individual ego is shaped just as much by our interactions with other people, seeing how we’re similiar and different to others than it is by how we view ourselves. Gojo and Sukuna both grapple with this idea. One thing they have in common is they both have awful peresonalities.

They’re not even lousy, they’re childish. They play games with other people. Gojo makes constant references to video games and pop culture like he’s a really hip teenager. Sukuna makes every fight into a game where he viciously mocks his opponent because he’s just so bored. The reason is because as individuals they’re also stunted, specifically because they have such trouble acknowledging other people and other people have such an influence on our peresonalities. Gojo doesn’t really need to grow up because he’s always been stronger and smarter than all the adults. Sukuna is a thousand year old spirit who acts like he’s thirteen.

This longing to understand other people exists in both of them. Sukuna’s one redeeming feature is that when people are strong he will acknowledge them. He reaches out and connects to Jogo before his death. The problem is if you don’t meet his own personal definition of strength, then by his rules you’re basically nothing.

Gojo seems much more aware of the fact that he’s not good enough to change things alone. What he wants is allies who are just as strong as he is, people he can rely on, people he can stand together and fight with.

Sukuna genuinely doesn’t care about others. In fact, he views the desire to have companions, equals as a weakness. If you accept other people in any other regard, it weakens you and your individual will + desires as a person.

But as I said, acknowledging other people is just as formative in your identity in ackonwledging yourself. Sukuna is just flat out wrong here. He’s the extreme result of Gojo’s tendency to do everything himself. For Sukuna other people just straight up don’t exist. The only people he acknowledges are the ones who meet his standards, his servants like Ura-Ume, and the one he plans on using like Megumi and that itself is a weakness. An oversight.

3. Gojou vs. Sukuna

Sukuna has been planning, since literally the introduction chapters and the very first arc of the manga how he’s going to take Gojo down when he eventually claims Yuji’s body as his own.

However, even if Sukuna were at full strength in Yuji’s body, Gojo would still win. I don’t think Gojo’s being cocky here it’s a genuine assessment of his strength. Which is why Sukuna has gotten crafty. We saw a long, long time ago he took an interest in Megumi the moment he learned he was a shikigami user.

Sukuna notices that Megumi a shadow based shikigami user should have been easily able to beat a one finger curse, and asks why he didn’t. It’s after this point he takes a special interest in Megumi. He sees much more potential in Megumi, then Megumi even sees in himself.

He places his bets in the personal development of Megumi Fushigoro. Over time, we’re reminded again and again the itnerest Sukuna has only in Megumi, and it’s slowly revealed why piece by piece.

We learn two things about Megumi over time, that he intentionally holds himself back all the time, even though among the first years he’s the closest so far to developing a domain expansion. Number two is what we’ve learned in the last chapter.

Megumi actually has an insanely strong Jujutsu ability that he was born with. Among the Zen’in family it’s the only one that could ever possibly equal the six eyes. In the past it was a six-eyes user and a ten shadows user who fought to the death as equals. Megumi is someone who has had the capability to surpass Gojo all along, he just doesn’t believe himself capable and inententionally holds himself back.

Which is why we learn this chapter, the insanely strong spirits that Megumi can summon with his ability we finally get a clue as to why Sukuna has taken an interset in him. Even if everything goes swimmingly and he takes over Yuji’s body, he still has to fight Gojo.

Sukuna is keeping Megumi alive because from the beginning, being a thousand years old he knows this ancient history between the Zen’in and the Gojo families, and he knows that Megumi being a ten shadows user has the potential to be an equal, or even stronger than Gojo.

The Gojo and Sukuna fight is going to happen eventually in the manga and when it does, Sukuna’s planning on using Megumi as a tool against Gojo. That’s what we’ve been building to all this time. That’s Sukuna’s plans for Megumi.

#sukuna #ryomen sukuna #gojou satoru #gojo satoru #megumi fushigoro #jjk meta #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen meta #jujutsu kaisen theory

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hoseas-angry-ghost · 3 years ago

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YES YES YES I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR UR THEORIES

Hello anon! I am very surprised anyone wants to hear my chutney but here's my Strange Man Hot Take with some hopefully interesting info for curious parties:

To be honest, R* included so much misdirection around the Strange Man's identity (especially in RDR1) that I'm not *totally* convinced they're married to any one idea. RDR2 also complicated things by introducing new religions into Red Dead's world (Voodoo, Old Norse, etc.): he's no longer limited to just Christian / Western interpretations, as in RDR1, and it's possible R* might try to syncretise him with figures from other faiths (they did place Bayall Edge in Bayou Nwa, where most of the Voodoo stuff is).

At the same time, though, I think RDR2 actually narrowed things down somewhat in terms of the direction R* chose to take his character, and what we were shown of that. There's still a level of misdirection in RDR2, but IMO, it almost comes off as half-hearted in comparison to what was basically trolling in RDR1 -- it seems like they were a lot more focused on playing the "bad news" angle the second time round.

Based on what we know, and on the balance of things, I'm not convinced that the Strange Man is necessarily meant to be any one thing or figure, but I do think he's meant to fulfil some type of Satanic role within Red Dead's world, either in main or in part.

I won't compare and dissect other theories or anything, I just thought I'd list off some things that people might find interesting:

Armadillo. The deal between the Strange Man and Herbert Moon seems to be a pretty textbook Faustian bargain: Moon is offered earthly rewards ("happiness or two generations"), and although the price was (tellingly?) never specified, it seems like the recent Blood Money update for RDO all but confirmed that the cost was probably his soul. Although it's left ambiguous what Moon actually chose, the Armadillo curse was possibly an unforeseen (for Moon) consequence of the deal's terms, which would fit with similar tales of the devil or demon in question taking liberties with their end of the bargain.

In the files, there's some great audio of Moon off the shits and straight-up saying "I've made a deal with the devil, and I will never truly die!" It's possible this was cut for its own reasons (too overt?), but as a lot of stuff was apparently cut from Armadillo, I'm guessing it was either cut when Arthur in New Austin got cut, or it was part of something that R* didn't have time to implement in the epilogue. Either way, if it's not actually in the game then it's not technically canon, but it is an indication of what R* was thinking during development.

There's a lot of audio from the Armadillo townsfolk in general about devils and "devil curses," but the only thing I know of that definitely made it into the game is a line from the town crier ("Devil has the town in his hand").

There's audio of the Armadillo bartender saying "I heard the Tillworths made a deal with the devil to keep from gettin' sick! I don't wanna die any more than the next man, but ain't no safety worth a man's soul." Possibly idle gossip, but given Moon, possibly not.

RDO seemed to flirt with the idea of soul-selling a little bit with Old Man Jones' line "Well, this is America, so anything can be bought -- even souls," but then RDO pretty much just came right out and said it with Bluewater John in the Blood Money update. Bluewater John also apparently made a deal, almost definitely with the Strange Man (given the Moon deal and how close Bayall Edge is to all the drama); he was based on blues musician Robert Johnson and the myth that he sold his soul to the devil for mastery of the guitar. It's basically a rehash of the Moon deal, except it's... not subtle in its dialogue about deals, devils and souls.

"I GAVE EVERYTHING FOR ART, AND I LEARNED TOO MUCH AND NOTHING AT ALL" written on the wall at Bayall Edge also sounds like a reference to another one of these deals to me ("everything" being their soul, and "I learned too much and nothing at all" the foolishness of accepting eternal damnation for temporary knowledge). I think Bayall Edge might have originally belonged to a painter who struck a deal with the Strange Man for artistic skill, but then the Strange Man slowly possessed him or something -- which could be why some of the landscapes depict RDR1's I Know You locations, and why the writings on the wall kind of look like they deteriorate in quality. The puddle of blood at the foot of the portrait might also be linked to this somehow (whose is it?).

It's the deal-making for souls that really pushed the "devil" theory over the edge for me, because I can't think of whose wheelhouse that would be in except a devil's, or someone similarly malevolent.

Alternative name. The Strange Man's character model is called cs_mysteriousstranger in RDR2, and he's referred to as "the mysterious stranger" at least once in RDR1's in-game text. This could be a reference to The Mysterious Stranger, written by Mark Twain between 1897-1908, in which the stranger is a supernatural being called Satan. (At the end of the last version written, he tells the protagonist that nothing really exists and their lives are just a dream.)

Bayall Edge. Bayall Edge was possibly based on a Louisiana urban myth called the Devil's Toy Box, which is "described as a shack. From the outside, it is unappealing and average. ...The inside of the shack consists of floor-to-ceiling mirrors, including the walls. No one can last more than five minutes in this room. ...According to the legend, if you stood inside this mirror-room alone for too long, supposedly the devil would show up and steal your soul." The Strange Man does show up in the mirror eventually, and it's kind of curious that the paintings that change depending on your Honour act as metaphorical mirrors. This was also cut, but in the files, Arthur's drawing of the interior of Bayall Edge is unusually sloppy, like his faculties were impaired or something.

"Awful, fascinating and seductive". John writes this about Bayall Edge after the portrait is finished, and I think that's as good a description of something like the / a devil as any, but "seductive" is a big red flag for me, because it's such an odd choice of word and, from a Christian perspective, it's so loaded with connotations of evil and sin and temptation.

I Know You. Some have pointed out that I Know You in RDR1 resembles the Temptation of Christ, as it also takes place in three separate locations in the desert, and John is given moral tests in which he must choose between higher virtue or worldly vice. John is also, in a weird way, a kind of Christ-like figure in that he ultimately sacrifices his life for others. I do think the "temptation" in these encounters is very surreptitious but very much there ("Or rob her yourself" -- excuse me??), but they may also be operating on a Biblical definition of the word, i.e. a test or trial with the free choice of committing sin.

RDR1 dialogue. I don't want to get *too* much into this because I feel like we're all just getting punked in RDR1, but I think the Strange Man's dialogue broadly fits with something like a "devil" interpretation, or at least doesn't contradict it.

I'm thinking particularly of lines like "Damn you!" / "Yes, many have" (which would work metaphorically but also literally, given that the devil was thrown from heaven by God and his angels), and "I hope my boy turns out just like you" (of all the leading theories, I think Satan is the only figure who's popularly conceptualised as having a son, or prophesied to have a son -- God obviously had a son, but that ship kinda sailed).

I think the "accountant" line refers to Honour (which even uses an invisible numerical system), and how John's fate depends on the number of both good and bad acts he's committed throughout his life, and how these weigh against each other. If the Strange Man likes to collect souls, then he would have a vested interest in auditing you and seeing if your accounts are in the black or the red, as it were (and providing you with opportunities to push yourself further into the latter...), because if you're bankrupt, you're his.

Blind Man Cassidy. Interestingly, Cassidy seems to distinguish between "Death" and the Strange Man, implying that he's something else beyond his understanding: in one of Arthur's fortunes, after his TB diagnosis, he says "the man with no nose [Death] is coming for you," but in one of John's fortunes, he says "Two strangers seek thee: one from this world, perhaps one from another. One brings hatred; I'm not so sure what the other brings."

Arthur's cut dialogue. In the files, there's audio of Arthur having the exact same conversation with Herbert Moon as John in the epilogue, asking about the Strange Man picture because he "just seemed familiar". I think it's interesting that, like John, Arthur also would have apparently recognised the Strange Man despite (presumably) never seeing him before. Given how strong a theme morality is in Red Dead -- and how much both John and Arthur struggle with it -- my theory is that they find the Strange Man vaguely familiar because they're both familiar with the evil within themselves, or the potential for evil; and likewise, the Strange Man "knows" John because he embodies evil in some sense, so is aware of John's worst sins (like his involvement at Blackwater), or possibly even all of his sins (which would be, like, a lot).

Honourable mention: There's such a greater emphasis on conspiracies, myths, etc. in RDR2 that I half-wonder if the Strange Man's RDR2 incarnation was partly inspired by Hat Man (~excuse the link~ but often it's hard to find good sources for the kind of weird shit R* includes in their games).

ANYWAY, this got a little long but I hope someone found all this at least passably interesting. Thanks again for letting me ramble about the video game man, anon!

#The Strange Man #inbox #Me @ me: God jsut shut the fcuk-

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writhingcreature · 3 years ago

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Are you still doing the character ask thing? If you are- Jason Blossom?

I am ALWAYS doing this, no joke. I've been having so much fun please feel free to send in asks about any of the characters of any of the shows you see on my dash. (based on this post)

1. Favorite thing about them

Okay so here's the thing we don't see a lot of Jason, and what we do see isn't super flattering I'm gonna be real honest. I will say, wherever he started and whatever mistakes he made, the willingness he had to not only protect the love and relationship he had but the willingness this seventeen year old boy had to leave his entire family to be a good dad is genuinely so heart warming. Like you know what, not my favorite character by a mile but this boy chose his new family over his old shitty one and on a lot of levels he absolutely deserved the life he would have had if his shitty dad hadn't gotten involved. I bet it would have been happy.

2. Least favorite thing about them

God I will never forgive him for leaving Cheryl behind. He was valid for leaving! In fact, the narrative I've always gotten from Jason was thus: he was a douche, and then he met Polly and she made him a lot better but he was still very easily pushed around and so he decided the best way to find happiness was to get away. I have no problem with any of this. Only one bump in the road actually: why didn't he take Cheryl with him? Like... he was aware of all the shit their family was facing and all the really really bad things that were about to slam them in the face and he was just going to pass it all onto Cheryl who's even worse off than he was? Like. What the fuck Jason

3. Favorite line

HE DOESN'T HAVE A SINGLE LINE IN THE ENTIRE SERIES PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG. Never says a single fucking thing. Not even one time. It makes me crack up every time I think about it

4. BrOTP

Again we have. So very little context for literally anything this boy has ever done, but I always hc'd that he'd have a really good relationship with Reggie. I think they were like best friends actually and that Reggie and Cheryl bonded over losing someone they both cared very much about. No I don't anyone named Canon sorry you have the wrong number

5. nOTP

Literally any pairings that have him with anyone other than Polly? I hate it. I loved the sort of story we get between them so much and no matter what happened with Polly's storyline after Jason's death I really loved the painfully little amount we get about their relationship. They were each other's freedom and GOD it makes my heart ache. Like they really were both trapped in so much trauma and bullshit and honest to god abuse on both sides and they found something good and it was so good they were willing to leave everything else behind? Amazing! Fantastic! I'm here for it

6. OTP

I have said enough about Jason and Polly at this point. It has a lot of negative connotations in the show as a ship but I think when they were together it was very good.

7. Random headcanon

Jason learned classic "woman work" while Polly and he were planning on running away. He promised her he was going to take care of her and he was going to hold up that promise. They talked about baby names while he learned to sew and cook and clean and Polly learned how to knit and she'd make sweaters and he would sew the buttons on you cannot convince me it was any other way.

8. Unpopular opinion

I am genuinely terrified of posting this because I already know people are going to come for me - "But Cameron they're related!!!" Okay listen here. First of all, they're like cousins five times removed or some shit and at that point it's just too far of a relation to matter. Not as far as I'd like, but like. It was like Betty's dad great grandfather wasn't it? I don't know, but my weird take is that it's a big enough gap. They never hit me as incest, the show was just trying to be really fucking dramatic. (Please don't lynch me oh my god.)

9. Song I associate them with

"Better Man" by 5 Seconds of Summer

10. Favorite picture of them

This is literally the only good image I could find if him so here ya go folks

#jason blossom #riverdale #I am: ready to be attacked oh gof

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jockrightsnow · 4 years ago

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omg I would love to hear you talk more about your tags on that last post—how you research syntax/speech patterns for non-native English speakers’ dialogue. this is something I struggle with a lot in writing fic (esp writing Russian players!) and I’d love some advice on how to get better at it.

god this got long! i just care about this! i will put under a cut for the 99% who will be like u little pedantic bitch.

so my answer is probably not AS helpful for Russian players because i have not written at any length with Russian characters and their language is SO different, so i find it is trickier! but the process is likely the same. i am not an expert at this by any means (only know/have taught spanish <--> english), but i do think it gives you more believable voices and also tends to help you understand the perspective. some people are better at english than others! some are less good! some have been in english classes for a while, some haven’t! there’s variation! you don’t have to do this to write well, but i think about it.

some things i think about:

1. sentence structure/syntax--more than vocabulary, sentence structure is the thing that gives most english language learners trouble and tends to give them away. in order to figure out common mistakes along these lines, it is helpful to look up how sentences are typically structured in someone’s native language. very often, people learning english will rely on those structures. this is actually why swedish is very easy to learn for english speakers--the sentence structure is most often subj, verb, object. but there are tricks: in complex declarative sentences, the verb will always be second, even if there is an adverb or object in the first position instead of the subject, in sentences with subordinate clauses, the independent clause inverts verb and subject. stuff like that does tend to give a sentence a different feel, and it absolutely very commonly almost-always sticks with someone. it’s foundational to how people construct their thoughts, it can be hard to change.

2. pronunciation--i don’t love to see heavy dialect written phonetically and i think many people don’t, but there are ways to consider it and certain ways to write it well. certain languages have different stresses or tone ranges or pitches, which can give off a certain Vibe if you’re used to english, which is on the more expressive end of the scale in tone and pitch (obviously i don’t think that’s better, but it is different and it does affect how people hear a speaker’s voice). certain sounds straight-up do not exist in other languages, certain letters are always pronounced a different way. it leads to predictable mispronunciation. for this, resources like this are very interesting.

3. actual cultural language differences! this is in part about what turns of phrase are common, what’s the cultural (or often, can be regional) “cat who got the cream”-type idioms, what is colloquial that you don’t realize is colloquial, etc, but it can also be about how you talk about concepts on a larger scale.

the recent sidney crosby engaged fiasco is a good example of this--in russian, “girlfriend/boyfriend” has a very casual connotation, so for longer-term relationships, a russian person might say “fiancee” instead. there are certain languages where you talk about love using different words if a relationship is more casual. these are fun, i think, because i do think that kind of thing can be meaningful.

there was some book or study i read about how maybe the way we learn language impacts how we think. i think parts of it were debunked (eg not having a word for something like ‘crush’ doesn’t mean you don’t feel it, that’s silly), but parts of it are certainly true, right? like, if you have a different way of talking about spatial awareness or time, your ability to translate those concepts will be affected because your thoughts are often structured along those lines.

4. vocabulary--less important than you’d think, but still interesting to think about what words someone would have learned. i expect hockey players to know virtually every hockey-related word in english, and even in the KHL, there is some coaching done in english because plenty of non-russian players play there and never learn the language (it is very hard). pretty much everywhere, you’re going to know the english words for many hockey-related terms. but you might not know other complex words, because you might not ever have a reason to or a context where you would’ve learned it or been corrected on it.

i often have to examine or cross-examine spanish speakers, and you actually don’t want to correct every single thing they say--you only want to correct things which might lead to a misunderstanding, because you don’t want to seem pedantic to a judge or condescending to a witness.

this is also true in a lot of social settings. so i do see some things which tend to go uncorrected because they don’t lead to any wrongness. for example, videoS plural in Swedish is video klipp. it’s the same, it’s really the same. but i notice sometimes that plural S is dropped by Swedish speakers or a word like “klipp” that’s so similar in meaning and context to the english word will come it. there’s one video where petey says ‘eller’ instead of ‘or’--it’s close, it’s a word that doesn’t matter, you wouldn’t correct it, it’s normal, you get the point. there are plenty of words that are so similar they might just have a different inflection, or which are entirely the same in different languages. these will not get corrected in daily conversation for the most part.

but there are also false cognates which you DO need to correct (eg in spanish embarazada = pregnant, i do need to correct it every single time because it has a huge impact on proceedings if someone’s pregnant) and being aware of those is also helpful!

there are also some crutch words which differ from person to person (this is also true for native english speakers). when people use those and in what way can be important. there are certain things a specific person gets wrong only when nervous or not thinking or whatever (i personally find the “person realizes they’ve been speaking in a different language while having sex because it was so good” trope. exhausting, to say the least. but it is true that in higher-stress moments, someone might not have the capacity or desire to do internal translation, or might feel frustrated by it.)

i really do think all of this is Very interesting, and mostly my advice on doing it for languages you don’t know is:

1) be thoughtful about stuff, be believable. contrary to what it seems like from this whole dissertation, not every sentence needs to have errors in it, especially for people who are Growing/Learning/Actually Very Good at english. don’t be condescending about it. being at an intermediate stage in english learning might make someone choose a simpler sentence that’s still correct. it might lead to an actual relevant misunderstanding or tonal shift. it might not. it might enhance someone’s understanding of a situation! it’s not all about just fucking shit up--it’s a hard thing to learn another language. you gotta respect people who are doing it!

2) hear people talk, preferably the people in question if available but doesn’t have to be (for characters i care about less, i will often wholesale map a sentence and then copy the structure exactly. i did this for pasta because i didn’t care about actually figuring out so much about him emotionally--i just listened to his ep of sp*ttin ch*clets as i wrote and copied several sentence structures exactly with my own Content and then, as you may be able to tell, gave up on that venture to movie-montage the rest because i am Lazy.)

it’s interesting to hear someone talk both in their native language and in english--you get a feel for the tone and pitch differences, and also i love to see native language interviews because i tend to think they’re more reflective of someone’s actual thought processes when they’re not trying to come up with words or modifying their sentences to be simpler. petey’s swedish interviews, for ex, are far more reflective and eloquent and funny. but again, he is getting better very quickly, in part because swedish and english are more similar than they appear. progress is often slower for russians, because there’s a lot more ground between the two languages and a whole diff alphabet and also strong cultural affinity to where a good number of russians living in america almost exclusively hang out with other russians living in america. (see ex alex ovechkin, nikita zadorov--both have very russian-heavy social circles if Instant Gram is to be believed)

3) actually look up stuff like “common english mistakes for [x group]”--there are plenty of good language learning resources which will show you the mistakes people tend to make, the pronunciation errors, things like that. these are invaluable.

4) google translate stuff if you’re going to have a touching language-teaching moment. once read something where someone was contemplating how to say something, which they wouldn’t have done in reality, because how you say it was Exactly the same in the person’s native language. i also think it’s fun to read google-translated articles and see which things jump out at me as Weirdly translated, because those are often things which are going to be different! but that’s not gospel, it’s something you can look into. sometimes google translate is just bad.

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infpisme · 4 years ago

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4 Reasons INFPs Are So Restless

We see the world for what it “should be,” and this makes it incredibly challenging to remain static in life.

Some say I have the attention span of a goldfish. On the one hand, I can absolutely see where they are coming from. I can be mid-conversation, and if I am not entirely focused on the interaction at hand, then I drift away quickly. However, I would argue that this is a representation of my restlessness as an INFP — one of the rarer Myers-Briggs personality types — rather than a short attention span.

It isn’t that I get distracted per se, but instead I lose interest and drift away into the beautiful world of my mind, where even the most mundane of life experiences can be transformed into a glorious story of good and evil, of love and loss — a tale of blockbuster credibility. In general, INFPs are incredibly self-aware, curious, and have a rich inner world.

To the outside world, the combination of those three traits may sometimes come off as restlessness (though we’re not the only Myers-Briggs personalities whose minds often wander). If you’ve ever wondered if you should try to curb your restless behavior, though, I would like to remind you that it adds a certain mystery and lure to life.

There are solid reasons INFPs get restless, and they speak to the magic that makes us the most idealistic personality type. Here are four reasons you may find yourself restless, and why you shouldn’t feel ashamed about it.

4 Reasons INFPs Get Restless

1. We are dreamers.

At our core, we are dreamers and idealists. We see the world for what it “should be,” and this makes it incredibly challenging to remain static in life.

On the one hand, this rose-colored lens instills an air of excitement and wonder that encourages us to move on and chase beauty whenever we come across it. But if we lose sight of that luster, no matter where we currently are in life, it is incredibly difficult to remain focused. Either way, both of these mentalities leave an eagerness to see more, do more, and feel more.

Regardless of the root cause (boredom with the present or excitement about the future), the result is the same: INFPs want to pack up and move on to the next great adventure. Not only is this normal, but it is a good thing for our development.

This fascination with all the things that should and could be has propelled me into some of the most trying times in my life, but it also has spurred an immense amount of growth and personal development. For example, after finishing my undergrad, my two best friends and I loaded into my truck and hit the road.

We had not much more than a rough map of where we sought to go, but embarked on a five-week journey across North America. None of us had the funds to pull it off, so we brought a tent, and found free camping along the way. From frigid nights in Telluride, CO, to the scorching sun of Moab, UT, we saw, did, and felt so much throughout our travels. Had it not been for my restless nature, I would never have embarked on such a journey.

So keep chasing those rainbows, INFP.

2. We despise conflict.

Another reason we may wrap up parts of life in a nice little box and move on is our tendency to mitigate conflict. I don’t want to say “avoid,” since that has a negative connotation, but many INFPs (myself included) really do try to avoid conflict.

What I mean is we often sense impending doom, and skip town before the situation gets to that point. INFPs have high levels of intuition and perception, meaning we can sense others’ emotions and know when conflict is brewing. As highly sensitive people, we would rather have a somber memory of what once was — a feeling of melancholy — than risk watching a relationship or situation crumble.

This conflict avoidance can be seen in a number of realms — workplaces, friendships, or romantic relationships — but the result is often the same. We will eventually find a reason to justify moving on, so we can weave the impending conflict into a grand story, rather than simply address it head on.

3. We prefer our lives to be highlight reels.

As idealists, life feels as though it is some grand story woven together with beautiful intricacy. The lows are gut-wrenching moments in a heartbreaking tale, and the highs are marks of victory and revelation. Because of this lens through which we view life, we have little patience for mundane activities. We have a bigger and better story to write, so we must move on to the next adventure.

For example, I often reflect on crossroads and the decisions I’ve made there. When looking back with 20/20 hindsight, it’s become clear to me that, more often than not, I follow the path that will give me a blockbuster movie. This is ultimately what led me to quit my engineering job to pursue starting my own company. I was only eight months into the job, but it seemed like the natural progression of the “story of Cole,” which made the decision to change career paths so appealing. I had no solid plan for making money, and was relying on my gut being correct. But what sold me was there was so much more learning to come from having no safety net and forging my own future.

INFPs feel the need to grow constantly, and throwing in the occasional plot twist is often the perfect way to do so. But these plot twists are often perceived as restlessness.

4. We need to understand ourselves better.

The central theme of the INFP story is that of self-discovery. One of my main driving factors in life is to understand myself and find my place in the larger picture of the world. Because of this, I often take a step back from my current situation to digest a number of things:

*First, I am checking in to evaluate what I’ve learned recently. By pausing life, this moment of reflection gives me clarity about myself.

*Second, I am generally looking to what could be next. How can I capture new experiences, push myself further, and understand myself better?

These two factors often create a feedback loop with one another, which further enhances the quality of restlessness. Since INFPs are continually on the search for true understanding, this lends to a whimsical — and sometimes restless — approach to life.

INFPs are naturally wired to possess an air of restlessness. Between the idealistic, rose-colored lens through which we view life, our hatred of conflict, and our deep-rooted need to truly understand ourselves, it may feel as if we are always on the move and ready for something new.

When You Feel Too Restless

However, you may be asking yourself, how restless is too restless? If you feel this way, I want you to keep these things in mind:

*When you feel the stirrings of a new adventure calling your name, sit on it for at least a few days. We often feel differently about ideas throughout various parts of the day, and setting a deliberation period can give you more clarity to pursue only the adventures that are best for you.

*It’s okay to remain static in life for a while, especially when there are external pressures that need to be met. To rekindle the joyous and idealistic nature of your INFP self, take to hobbies during these times. Pick up a guitar or grab a pen and paper. Channel your creative juices and live out your adventures in your head, just for now.

*Finally, don’t feel so bad about being “restless.” Sure, it may be irresponsible from time to time, but the adventurous nature of INFPs truly makes life beautiful and inspiring, both for yourself and others.

These tendencies lend to a beautiful outlook on life, but it is important to always remember to take time and smell the roses. If you wrestle with wondering whether you should dial back your INFP quirkiness, then remember this quote from T.S. Eliot: “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”

by Cole Powers, IntrovertDear

#cole powers #infp #infp personality #infp thoughts #introvertdear #infp quotes #infp things

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bakageta · 4 years ago

Note

Okay idk if there's a certain number of items you're supposed to pick for these memes but I have a lot of them. 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 20, 29, 38!

I don’t think it matters how many you pick so long as it’s not all of them, lol.

1. Describe your comfort zone—a typical you-fic.

Anything with an element of fish-out-of-water. I love fish-out-of-water as a trope: characters learning about new situations, about each other, and coming to new understanding. The potential for it is why the Venom fandom got me writing again after 7 years, and almost all of my fics have some degree of it. It’s incredibly fun for me to write and to read, and I’ve yet to get tired of it.

2. Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

There’s two: wingfic and bodyswap/roleswap. I’ve tried and gotten nowhere with a couple ideas in the Venom fandom, so I’m open to prompts or discussion!

5. Share one of your strengths.

Lately I’ve been really proud of my dialogue! I’m always very happy with the way it turns out.

7. Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

From You In Me In You:

Instead they move in concert through the steps of Eddie's morning. They take a warm, languid shower washing the sleep away and marvelling at the feeling of hot water sluicing over their body. After, Venom sheets the water from their skin and Eddie dresses them in his softest clothes. Their breakfast is bacon and way too many eggs. It eats some of their food raw and Eddie doesn’t do anything but smile and fill their blood with tasty neurotransmitters.

They spend the rest of their morning wandering by the piers, people watching. It’s a weekday and the crowds are as thin as they ever will be in a port city as large as San Francisco. Sunlight glimmers on the surface of the bay and the two of them spend hours wrapped in each other surrounded in turn by constant murmur of humanity.

It brings a new appreciation to both of them. These are the people he would have died for, and this is the world it had glimpsed from the top of the network building. The air isn’t quite as bogged down with exhaust as it is deeper in the city and it tastes good in their lungs as they inhale. They exhale heavily, satisfied.

This is from the last section of the fic. Eddie’s just woken up to Venom surviving the rocket explosion, perfectly aware that they’re there and that they’re aware of him. I wanted it to read like rolling over, finding your significant other still in bed, and realizing that neither of you have anything pressing to do. Peaceful and comfortable. By the end they both see the results of their efforts and know it was worth it. It came out exactly how I wanted it to.

8. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

From Sight Seeing:

“Hah, the great investigative reporter, Eddie Brock, at a loss for words.” Venom laughed aloud as they clambered out of the shadow of the building and onto the roof.

Shut up, asshole, Eddie grumbled. Before he could say anything else he noticed that there was a new sensation tickling across their surface as they stood on the quiet roof. Why is our skin tingling?

“We are in the open, in the light.” Venom casually turned to face the half-moon completely, and a wave of prickling sensation rolled over their face and chest as they moved. It felt to Eddie like the moment before something happened. Like the building tension of a suspense movie but without the release of a reveal or a jump scare.

But I’m not anxious about it; you’re not tense; we don’t feel exposed. He couldn’t think of any other reason they would feel so strangely. Why is our skin crawling?

“Crossed inputs,” Venom explained after a moment of thought. “I am not used to seeing light, and you are not used to feeling it.”

Feeling it? They felt light?

“I do not have eyes, Eddie,” Venom clarified, “but we do. Alone I cannot detect anything beyond the presence and intensity of light. What you feel is your brain’s interpretation of my sense of light.”

The whole point of this fic was to compare and contrast Eddie and Venom’s senses and this is the first bit in the fic where the differences come up. Eddie starts to realize just how alien Venom’s senses are and Venom realizes that they should explain and maybe even adjust how they interpret things. I’m proud of how well I explained the differences in their interpretation of light while keeping the banter interesting.

9. Which fic has been the hardest to write?

Good Things Ahead was definitely the one I had the most difficulty with. I had to get out of my comfort zone with multiple aspects of it because it was an exchange fic, and I had to do that on a time limit. I wasn’t very happy with it while I was writing it, but I’m pleased now with how it turned out.

10. Which fic has been the easiest to write?

Probably Runalong, probably because it was so very self indulgent. I remember being able to write it all in several sessions, picking it up and continuing it easily. It was a great flow.

14. What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever come across?

Any advice that flat out tells you not to use certain words is bad advice. Also that post that went around telling writers to use words that had wildly varying connotations instead of certain ”overused” words.

20. Describe your perfect writing conditions.

Cool enough that I can comfortably wear a light jacket/sweater, either ambient noise if I’m outside or familiar music that I can tune it out if I’m inside, and snacks!

29. If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

Assuming that I’d have permission, manage a similar style, and also manage to finish: I’d do the next fic in Vathara’s Blades of Blood series. There’s multiple plot threads I’d love to see continued and it’s ripe for more character interaction. Both of the written fics are exactly my kind of shit, and I would love more.

38. Talk about a review that made your day.

A comment on You In Me In You left by @shards-of-divinity

I love all of your Venom stories. You have a unique way of writing them that's immediately recognizable as you and pleasant to read. ❤

I compare my writing/stats to other authors a lot. It’s something that I’ve been trying not to do and I’ve gotten better at not doing it lately. It means so much to me for someone to specifically say that my writing style is recognizable and pleasant to read, and it makes me feel seen as an author.

#saja-star #fanfic ask meme #venom #venom fanfic #long post

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thekrawra · 5 years ago

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Ricky (and Gina and Nini but mainly about Ricky): MOVING FORWARD AND BACKTRACKING (WOW OKAY SO EPISODE NINE HAPPENED)

okay.

before i get into this, my usual preface: this is all personal opinion and interpretation based on how i understand the show. ship your ships, love the characters you love, read into what you want and forget about what you don’t. no hate, just a fun love of ships.

that being said: i genuinely am not sure how this season is going to end.

ricky and nini still sees likely. but we are one episode away from the end, and nothing said convinced me that ricky and nini should be together.

that’s not saying they won’t be together...but just that no one really seemed all that enthusiastic about the idea. one of the first scenes we get in this ep is both big red and kourtney, ricky and nini’s best friends, respond negatively to the idea.

“just for a moment” is a great song for sure, and i think it nails the dynamic and joshua and olivia did an amazing job with it. and while it’s very obviously a love song: it’s literally called just for a moment. so it doesn’t really feel like a song that references and/or really embodies leading into a potential longish term relationship.

then when gina shows up, ricky first mentions he’s changed, but then corrects himself saying that maybe he’s gone back to how he was before. it’s about as direct a characterization statement you can get as far as development goes.

now this isn’t a hard and fast rule: but it’s generally a discouraged principle to backtrack on character development. character development is a huge part of writing and characterization and generally rule number one of screenwriting is that your plot and characters should move forward in some capacity. the idea of “going back to as it was before” generally is used as a tool to reminisce on the past, and occasionally juxtapose against forward change: and normally forward change wins. even in stories where the idea of going back is much more extreme (ie apocalyptic films trying to “fix the world” and revert it to how it was before, time travel, etc) normally there’s a point where the characters have to acknowledge that they have to move forward. that they can’t just go back to the way things were before.

further, to backtrack on character development makes most of what happened before seem inconsequential. again: not a hard and fast rule, but when your characters either don’t develop or go back on their development makes it feel like they didn’t come out of their experiences with anything to show for it. it’s normally a tactic used to imply some sort of negative connotation with the character - that they can’t process what’s happened/that they are beginning to hit a downward spiral that they don’t think they can deal with/that it’s too much/that they are scared to move forward. rarely is the backtrack in character meant to imply something good.

by having ricky admit that maybe he’s gone “back” implies that he’s probably been seeking out the regular, and admitting that he hasn’t been moving forward. it’s an interesting choice to have especially this close to the ending because normally, when a character becomes aware they are going “back” something happens that then pushes them forward.

then there’s the fact that now that todd has shown up, ricky now has to deal with an issue that has been pushing his arc (his parents splitting and change) in his mentality of having gone back to how things were in the summer (before the summer even).

there’s no right or wrong answer on how that will play out, and what makes sense to me might not be what writers will go with because no two people would tell the story the same. so this is just what i get from the scenes and what makes sense to me with my style of storytelling.

gina’s return forced ricky to on some level realize that while she’s been gone he’s gone back to “before” (in this case who we were introduced to in the beginning of the series). this isn’t saying that gina and ricky are definitely going to get together but it’s also not encouraging that ricky and nini are going to get together.

then everything happens and todd shows up and all of it mirrors and parallels to the rest of the season. here’s ricky who did the musical originally to impress nini, deals with change and his parents splitting up, grows close with gina and finds a home in the musical (reshapes his support system in a way), and when gina leaves, he focuses back on nini. when she comes back, he admits to having gone back to “”how he always had been...back to the summer”. then, with this mindset and realization, he’s once again faced with dealing with a situation with his parents, and he freezes, and he knows how much this means to nini so he’s giving it up to ej for her (echoing back to: “if you really cared about me, you’d let someone who wants this part play it”). again, i think him doing this 100% shows he cares about nini, but i don’t think it is a good sign for them romantically. he’s ready to give up everything he’s spent the season working towards for nini -- a give and take that really isn’t healthy for him (just look at how happy and how good he was going performing before he saw his mom). point is he’s conflicted, he’s confused, and he’s defaulting. rather than pushing forward, he’s withdrawing and moving back (and before anyone says anything - i can admit this point is super subjective on how you read relationships and ricky. more than anything i think his actions are more about ricky than helping to support any particular relationship, but i thought it was big enough that i’d address my thoughts on it anyway)

all that being said though...

to be honest, i really can’t figure this show out. it either has really great writing or really okay? bad? mediocre? inconsistent? writing and it’s entirely dependant on how they tie up their plot lines in episode 10. they’ve been laying a lot of seeds and have a lot of really interesting character development and its clear they are conscious of their backtracking of ricky’s character when they had gina leave. they’ve played into some sort of element of ricky and nini not being a good romantic pairing (something they honestly laid on pretty thick with a) their friends immediate reaction being hesitancy and very clearly not thinking its a good idea, b) they aren’t looking for the same things, and c) they’ve been unable to really talk to each other about any sort of romantic attraction or feelings (as in any time their romantic relationship is brought up it gets awkward/uncomfortable and they can barely look at each other)). they basically confirmed that gina did change ricky to an extent, and without her he went back to how he was before (they also basically confirmed that when she came back, it was like she’d never left, which is why ricky was as confused as he was when he spoke with her - he didn’t know how to feel because there’s two different mindsets there: who he developed into throughout the course of the series and who he was before the series/in ep 1 and when gina left, rather than continuing to move forward he went back to the second, rather than continuing to adapt)

what does any of this mean? well to me, ricky and nini just doesn't feel right at this point? and even though the pessimist in me thinks ricky and nini are going to get together next ep, i just can’t wrap my head around how it will work considering a) the acknowledgement of a lack of forward momentum with them and b) the lack of any positive connotations with them - both facts that the writers seem to be aware of if the recent episode shows for anything.

and look, there’s obviously no one way to screenwrite and most of what i’ve been talking about is based on the classes i’ve taken by the teachers i’ve had, mixed with my own personal style. so there’s no hard and fast rules. this is slightly educated speculation based on my own experiences with the craft (which aren’t necessarily how the writers feel: there’s not really any right or wrong - just stories some people like and some people don’t)

on the other hand, ricky and gina have room to grow as a couple. they’ve had connotations of moving forward, of helping each other individually and ultimately that helps them as a pair - their give and take seems more equal than the give and take that comes with ricky and nini. so season two definitely seems to lean ricky and gina for me regardless of how season one ends.

and yes, part of me still thinks that ricky and nini are season one endgame - we’ve all been prepared for it all season because it seems inevitable. but so far, the writing of the show just doesn’t seem to lean that way.

of course, there’s a lot more you could talk about in this episode. did ej get gina the plane ticket? who sent the flowers? god can we all just be pissed at ricky’s mom and todd (like come on todd, you couldn’t even show up on time?)? i’m excited for next week to see how they tie the season up.

i’m excited to see how they handle ricky’s character moving forward now that he’s acknowledged he’s moving back. i’m hoping nini realizes those words she says to gina in the sneak peek apply to her as well (that she has a chance with YAC and she should go for it! it’s an amazing opportunity). i’d love to see them talk and realize that they should probably just be friends (really good friends but friends). i’d love to see gina be the one to get ricky to do the show (probably won’t happen but man i’d love it).

point is, i’m curious, excited, and honestly don’t know how this all is going to end. i just hope the writers move their characters forward, not back.

#hsmtmts #rina #ricky bowen #character analysis #ramblings of a slightly educated film student #ricky x gina #wow i love them #ricky and nini are cool and all #but i just can't see it dudes #high school musical: the musical - the series #look there's a lot more i could talk about in this ep #but this was getting long #so i stopped #character development #i might write more later #but for now #its been fun #rina supportive #ricky x gina supportive

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staticscreenwriting · 5 years ago

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All you have to be is here - Part 7

Synopsis: Billy has fucked up and has to do 60 days of community service at a home for troubled kids and youth. Working with the kids there makes him learn a lot about himself. Also there’s a girl there his age who has a phenomenal smile and who is way too nice to him.

I guess I should mention there’s a lot of angst in this. Talk of substance abuse later on, physical abuse, emotional abuse. All that kind of gnarly real life stuff. It deals with kids and teens struggling with a a shitty family life so be aware of that.

Part 7 of ?

Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 // Part 5 // Part 6

Please help a girl out by reblogging. Thank you ♥

Attention ! If you wanna be tagged pls send me a message or an ask it’s easier and faster for me than going through the tags of each part every time. Thank you :)

[additional note: I am German. Sometimes I get the tense wrong or make mistakes. I am useless when it comes to punctuation. Go easy on me, please.]

I never really ever felt so adored before Never really ever felt this type of vulnerable Don’t have to hide, don’t have to fear All you have to be is here Never really ever felt so adored before And I said I wanna feel like this forever Even if forever’s just for now We’re on fire, let us burn As the outside world, it turns We are here and alive In our corner of time Forevermore

Billy’s is perched on top of the lifeguard tower, watching people splash around in the pool. This job is an absolute drag and he can not wait for pool season to finally end.

Tommy has decided to come around and keep him company, which is secret Tommy code for “ I fucked up again and Carol is giving me the cold shoulder “.

“ So, I haven’t seen much of you these days. Carol’s throwing a party on friday, you should come. “

Billy has never had a massive desire to hang out with Carol and her parties are usually pretty shit anyway. Tommy he can deal with, he’s an idiot but he’s an alright guy. Carol is just — mean, just for the sake of being mean. And being around her is pretty exhausting to be honest.

Billy has other plans anyway.

“ Can’t. Got a date “

“ A date ? “ Tommy questions “ with who ? “

“ (Y/N) “

“ Oh “

Something about the way Tommy says oh, irks Billy. Like he wants to say more but doesn’t. There’s a negative connotation placed on the word and it makes Billy really fucking irritated.

“ What’s that supposed to mean ? “

“ Nothing just — “ Tommy says and raises his eyebrow in that stupid way that lets Billy know there’s more to come and he probably won’t like it “ you’re spending a lot of time with her, huh ? That something serious ? “

That’s something Billy’s been asking himself for a while now. Sex, that’s something he’s used to, that he can separate from any emotional relationships. But cuddling ? Holding hands ? Sharing a bed in a completely non sexual way ? Those things are new and he’s not sure what they mean for his relationship with (Y/N). He sure as hell isn’t gonna discuss that with Tommy of all people though.

“ That’s none of your business, amigo “

“ Ah don’t get defensive now. Just wondering. She seems to got you wrapped around her finger. Before you know it you’ll be getting all cozy, moving into a townhouse in loch nora, have her poppin out a few babies. Ah I can just see it, the Hargrove family. That’s a chick’s dream ain’t it ?! “

Billy grows more and more uneasy with every word that leaves Tommy’s lips. He likes (Y/N), a whole lot, more than he ever liked another person. But is this what’s happening ? Is this a future they’re moving towards ? Is this really something he wants ?

What about leaving Hawkins after graduation ? Is that sill in the cards if things with (Y/N) become serious so quickly ? What if she really wants a future much like the one Tommy has just painted ? What if she wants all the happy family stuff ? The stuff that Billy can’t give her.

Not because he doesn’t want to, but because he doesn’t know how. He’s not that type of person, has never had a proper family. Billy doesn’t know the first thing about love and relationships and family. How is he gonna built a future on that foundation ?

(Y/N) deserves so much more than what he can give and it scares him to think about it.

“ Hey Tommy, how about you shut the fuck up ? “

Maybe it’s time to have a talk with (Y/N). The talk. The “what are we “ talk. Thing is, talking is not something Billy is particularly good at. So he’ll just take his girl on a good date and see where things go.

His girl. His girl ?

It’s friday and the clock in his car says 9:02 and Billy hates himself. He’s not supposed to be here, speeding down the winding streets of Huckley, ACDC blasting from his stereo. He’s not supposed to be here in an old black shirt with more holes in it than he can count and with a bouquet of wilting squashed up flowers resting on his passengers seat as a silent reminder of the one thing he will never be good at — romance.

The plan was to pick (Y/N) up from work, have dinner at the Moonlight diner next to the drive in, then see a movie and maybe, maybe if he was real lucky she’d ask him to come back to her place and if he was extra super lucky she’d let him make her cum again

Fact is, he’s two hours late and when he’d arrived at the restaurant they told him she had already left.

It’s not his fault that he’s late, it really isn’t. The thing is, he should’ve known better. That good things don’t work out for Billy Hargrove, that plans never work out for him either.

Not as long as Neil still has a say in his life.

Of course Max wasn’t home on time and of course Billy was the one being blamed for it. The one responsible for finding her and bringing her home.

“ As soon as your sister is home safe and sound you can go running off with whatever hussy you want to, for all I care. But you better bring your sister home first. “

Billy wanted to punch him so desperately then. Just one hit, right in his snarl. Right in the middle of his mean face. Thinking about it, Billy wonders if he’s ever seen his dad smile. A real smile.

If so, he can’t remember it.

So instead of picking up (Y/N) from work, he drove around all of Hawkins to find his sister, who once again wasn’t where she said she was going to be. It took him an entire hour to locate her and drive her home.

It took another half an hours drive to Huckley, even with his leadfoot. By then he was sure (Y/N) wasn’t at her workplace anymore. There was a flicker of hope in his heart, that maybe she was at the restaurant waiting for him. Eating breadsticks and drinking cherry cokes and waiting for him to show up.

She wasn’t though. She’d been there but had left after spending an hour and a half all by herself. The waiter had told him so with one of those ugly tight lipped smiles. Those that pity you and yet they’re quite fond of your misery.

So what is there left to do ? Leave and forget about tonight. Forget about the date and the restaurant and — well, forget about the girl as well.

But he can’t do that, can he ? Not after everything. Not after all he’s shared and all she let him know.

He wants her in his life though. It seems — easier. Life seems easier when she’s around. Lighter. Happier.

So what else can he do ?

Grovel.

Billy Hargrove, doesn’t usually grovel. He doesn’t ask for forgiveness either. Billy is reckless and selfish and careless. But there’s a part of him, one he kinds of likes, one that’s only recently come to light. One that thinks sometimes there are things worth fighting for.

And that part grovels. It asks for forgiveness and swallows it’s pride because the alternative is losing (Y/N) and that’s not something he wants to even think about.

So all that’s left is hoping that she forgives him. That there’s a part of her that wants to keep him in her life. That thinks he’s worth it even though, heaven knows, he’s not.

He’s picked up some chinese food on the way to her place. One might call it a peace offering, Billy honestly just wants to make sure she’s getting some good food after all. Even if it isn’t some fancy restaurant. Really, anything’s better than her cooking.

An unfamiliar sense of dread is rushing through his system. He’s been trying to hard to be enough. To do things right. Or at least what society seems to think is right.

God, he hates feeling like this. Like disappointing (Y/N). He knows nothing he ever does is good enough for Neil and it seems he wasn’t good enough for his mom either, but (Y/N) honestly made him feel like he had a chance. Like he isn’t all bad. To realize he might’ve fucked this up, scares him shitless.

As he walks up to her apartment, plastic bag from the china place in one hand and a sad sad bouquet of flowers in the other, his feet feel incredibly heavy. He never usually feels like this when he’s here. This has become a place that makes him feel comfortable and safe and — happy.

He wants to go back to that, oh god he wishes he can.

As he knocks on her door, for a moment he wants her not to open it, to just ignore him. Maybe that would be better than seeing her disappointed face. Than hearing her confirm what he’s always known. That he doesn’t deserve her and that he’s fucked up once again.

But she does answer the door, dressed in a big sweater and sleeping shorts and she looks — happy.

“ Look I’m s — “

He doesn’t get to finish the sentence as in the matter of a moment her arms are thrown around his middle, pulling him into the apartment and as close to her as possible.

“ Thank god, you’re okay “ she mumbles against his chest.

“ Uh, yeah. “

“ Billy, “ she says and pulls her face away to look up at him. There’s so much worry in her eyes. Worry but also relieve. Did she honestly worry about him ? About HIM ?

“ I thought something happened. I was so worried. I just — I don’t have a phone number so I couldn’t even call you and even then, would you have been at home if something had happened ? No. So I — I’m just so relieved. “

In that moment he wants to hold her as tight as possible and never ever let her go. This girl puts so much trust in him, her first thought wasn’t “ oh Billy the asshole is ditching me” her first thought was “ something must’ve happened “. She worried about him, genuinely worried something wasn’t right.

He does not deserve that trust, not with the way he was and the way he still is. It’s a responsibility, an expectation he’s afraid he can never meet.

But god, it feels so good. And the selfish part of him yells louder than the rest, telling him to enjoy it while it lasts.

“ I’m alright. “ He confirms and places a soft kiss on her head. Her hair is so soft and smells so comfortingly of lavender. She smells and feels like home if ever Billy knew what that word meant. “ Sorry the date was shit. I had to go find Max then bring her home and dad was just being an asshole as usual. I am — “ he takes her face in between his hands “ — so sorry. “

Billy Hargrove isn’t sorry about a lot of things.

He is genuinely sorry now.

A slow smile pulls at the corner of (Y/N) lips “ did you bring food ? “ she asks, eyebrow raised.

Her face is squished between the sad flowers and the handles of the plastic bag containing the food containers and Billy thinks she looks adorable.

“ I did “

Smiles come so effortlessly to him when she’s around. Sometimes he feels them creeping up on him and sometimes they catch him by surprise but he never has to fake them. (Y/N) just make them appear on his face. Like magic.

He lets go of her and walks towards the kitchen, placing the bag on the counter and pulling out the cartons. “ I didn’t know what you wanted so I got a shit ton of stuff, hope there’s something there you like. “

She doesn’t answer and after a moment Billy’s eyes wander up to see what’s going on. But she just stands there, looking at him all soft eyes and kind smile and she’s leaning against the doorway all effortlessly beautiful and unbothered and he thinks he might faint by the way she makes his heart beat in his chest and takes his breath away. She does it all by doing absolutely nothing. By just being herself.

He wonders if she feels it too. He hopes she feels it too.

“ What ? “

“ This feels very domestic. I like it. I like you being here. I — I really like you Billy Hargrove. “

It’s not that he doesn’t know what to say in reply. There’s a thousand things he wants to say. Only they don’t come out easy, they never had to come out before. This entire situation is a first for him. So he keeps the words in and waits for another moment when he feels ready to say them. He just smiles and throws her a wink “ You like Kung Pao chicken ? “

“ Why are all these parents absolute dickheads ? “ (Y/N) asks, taking a last bite of her spring roll while pointing at the TV “ Tina’s mom is shit, Nancy’s mom is — drunk ? And her dad looks like a Ken doll but that’s irrelevant. They’re all so dumb“ .

Billy loves to listen to her ramble. She does it with the same passion, the same excitement that’s always present in everything she does. She exudes an aura of euphoria. Of wonder. Of magic.

“ Oh yeah, because we have such a good track record when it comes to parents, huh ? “

She considers his words for a moment before giving him a shrug in agreement “ Guess you’re right. “

She’s cuddled into his side as Nightmare on Elm Street plays on the small tv in her living room. This feels like it should be, it feels right and that terrifies Billy to the core. This feels too good to be true.

“ So, what did you initially plan for our date ?. I mean after dinner. “ (Y/N) questions, looking up at him through her beautiful eyes.

“ Wanted to take you to see a movie at the drive in. Maybe a scary one so I could’ve held you when you got too scared. Like a real gentleman I’d drive you home, kiss you a little. Maybe make out a little, maybe you’d invite me up … ? “

“ Make out, huh ? “

“ mmh. Would’ve been the makeout of your life. “

“ Oh really, huh. Well Mr. Hargrove let me tell you something. I don’t need a fancy diner with burgers that cost 15 bucks. I don’t particularly like drive ins because the sound is shit and people are dumb. Watching a movie on my couch and pigging out on chinese food is a pretty sweet date in my book. I like ir and I think this is a great date. Even with the flowers looking the way they do. I really really like it. “

“ You do ? “

“ I really do. Now how about that makeout ? Let me judge that for myself ? “

“ Oh baby, “ he says and cups her face “ you have no idea what you’re up for. Makeout of your life, I promise “ .

She pulls him closer by his shirt and connects their lips in a soft kiss, growing needier with every motion. He wants her closer. Closer. Needs her closer. Needs more.

Kissing her feels soft and warm and comfortable. He loves kissing her. It sends electric currents through his body, shivers of excitement. They’re not sexual though, not entirely. It’s more. There’s more when he’s kissing her and it both excites and terrifies him.

For a moment they get swallowed by a feeling of pure and unfiltered bliss. It’s all consuming, tinting their worlds in hues of reds and pinks and all that matter is the two of them. Just them caught in a bubble, forgetting about the world outside and getting lost in their kisses.

Though after a moment, the bubble pops, the wave crashes and the magic vanishes and life is life again. Oh how Billy wishes he could’ve stayed in the moment forever. To kiss her forever.

As they pull away, (Y/N) looks in his eyes and there it is again, this perpetual radiancance. Her hands are softly brushing the curls away from his face before she places some gentle kisses on his cheeks. It’s these moments of affection and being close that he cherishes to dearly. Those feel new, like nothing he’s ever experienced before.

If only he could allow himself to hold on to them.

“ Are you gonna stay the night ? “ she asks, hope swaying in her words.

“ Might as well “ Billy replies as kisses her one more time before getting off the couch.

There’s a little red adidas duffle bag in his car, hidden beneath the passenger seat. It’s been there ever since he’s gotten the Camaro. Ever since he first took off for the night. Just him, the duffle bag and that awful black eye.

It’s there for emergencies, when he can’t go home before school but things are — bad. Teachers start asking questions when you come to school in the same clothes 4 days in a row and not brushing your teeth is nasty.

So Billy keeps the bag filled with clothes and a toothbrush, deodorant and some extra cologne.

“ Let me just go grab my stuff from the car “ he says, already turning towards the door, when a hand reaches out and holds onto his arm.

“ Actually — “ (Y/N) says then rushes towards the bathroom. When she comes back she holds out her hands and it takes a moment for Billy to realise what it is she’s presenting him here. That’s until he DOES realise and his heart sinks to his stomach.

It’s a toothbrush.

“ So, I uh — I just thought that you always dragging your bag from the car to my place to the car, over and over again is kinda exhausting so I got you a toothbrush you can leave here. If you want I can clear some space in my wardrobe for some of your clothes “

She’s so hopeful. So so hopeful.

Tommy’s words come back, echoing around Billy’s mind and taunting him.

This is the first step into a future he so desperately wants to be able to give to her. One he can never see himself in. On he doesn’t deserve.

“ Billy are you o — “

He grabs his jacket from the back of the couch, fumbling around for his keys. “ I gotta go. I gotta go “ he murmurs over and over again.

She wants to keep him around, wants him here. She allows him to be a part of her life. Significant. Important. She trusts him to stay around.

He can’t fuck this up but he will. He always does. Maybe this is his superpower. Billy Hargrove also known as Mr. Fuckup, superpower: ruining everything.

(Y/N) deserves more than that. She deserves a good life in a pretty house with a pretty dog and pretty kids. She deserves so much better than him. So much more. He can’t even take her on a fucking date. Not even one single date.

“ I gotta go “

“ What do you mean you gotta go ?”

There’s so many voices in his head talking over one another. All taunting. All teasing.

You’re a disgrace, Billy. You are never gonna amount to anything, Pussy. That’s a chick’s dream, ain’t it ?

Neil's voice, Tommy’s voice. Billy’s own voice.

And they’re all calling out to him listing all the insecurities he’s ever felt cursing through him.

A chick’s dream, huh ? An emotional wreck that never learned how to deal with his feelings in a healthy way. Afraid of commitment because he’s afraid of rejection, of loss.

That’s a full on dream guy if he’s ever seen one. God he’s so pathetic.

It’s like his body is working on auto pilot and he only regains complete control again once he’s back in the camaro.

So much for talking eh? He couldn’t even bare to look at her. To see her face as she realises what an asshole he really is. To see disappointment in her eyes. To see sadness. All of which he himself put there.

Yeah Billy, you do what you always do. What you do best.

Just fucking bolt. That’s brave. So brave.

It pains him that the voice calling out the loudest, is his own.

The job of a lifeguard has quite a few disadvantages.

You have to boil in the sun while everyone else gets to enjoy the cool water of the pool.

You mostly sit around on your ass all day doing nothing but getting a sunburn

You have to work long hours when others get to enjoy their summer break.

It’s a shitty job all around, Billy is the first to admit it. He hates the job. There are some things about it though, that he enjoys quite a bit.

He gets to yell at kids all day long

He has a set of keys for the property.

Billy’s always felt a certain kind of freedom and liberation whenever he was in the water. Ever since he was little, the beach was his favorite place. When you’re out in the ocean, riding a wave, nothing matters but the here and now. Only him and the water. No Neil, no troubles, no fears.

Just him and the wave.

There’s no waves here and no ocean and no salty breeze. But when the pool is closed and he’s the only one around, sometimes he gets into the water and closes his eyes and lets himself drift on the surface. It never feels like home but sometimes it helps him remember what home felt like.

As he floats slowly around the pool in his boxers, looking up at the stars, he tries so hard to remember home. The liberation. The freedom.

He can’t thought because lately home wasn’t that. Lately home was (Y/N).

There’s a weight deep inside him like as if he swallowed a bunch of stones. It’s a horrible feeling, an all consuming sense of dread. He shouldn’t have left just because it scared him that she cared. He should’ve let her.

But what then ? What if what they have is only temporary. Good things don’t last for Billy why should this be any different ? Good things never last. The trust she puts in him, the affection, he deserves none of it. Never did. Probably never will.

“ Hey asshole “ a voice calls out to him through the sapphire blue of the night.

The lights around the pool, illuminate her like some kind of heavenly goddess. An angel walking barefoot across the ugly cold cement floor of the Hawkins community pool.

Billy swims towards the edge of the pool, as (Y/N) plops down letting her feet dangle into the water.

“ How’d you know I was here ? “

(Y/N) shrugs. “ I didn’t. I knew you weren’t gonna go home but I couldn’t find you at the diner and so I drove around Hawkins trying to spot your car somewhere. It’s a bit flashy, I gotta tell you. “

She was looking for him. No one’s ever been out looking for him before. He’s the one doing that usually. For Max. For mom …

Billy is always the one searching never the one being searched for. Never the one being found.

“ Why ? “

“ What do you mean, why ? “ (Y/N) asks and leans back on her hands “ you just left with no explanation. That’s not how things work with me. “

“ Well tough luck because that’s the one thing I’m good at, other than sex. So you’ll have to get used to the running . “

“ Or you’ll have to learn to let people care about you, you stubborn fuck. “

Every time she swears she gets infinitely hotter to Billy, why ? He has no idea but there’s something about this pretty girl swearing that makes for a perfectly chaotic anomaly.

What shocks him though, is that she so clearly, so effortlessly sees behind his walls and defence and gets right to the bare bones of it all. His inability to let people care about him because he care so little about himself. Because no one ever really did.

“ Yeah, I know what it feels like. Billy, I probably understand better than most people. “

“ What you want — “ he chokes out “ what you deserve, is more than anything I can give you. Just figured it’s easier to get out now before — “

“ Before what ? “

“ You know “

“ Say it ! “

He takes a breath. The words are tingling at tongue just asking to be spoken. Like a whole package of pop rocks popping and sizzling.

“ Before I fall in love with you “.

A silence settles upon them though Billy is sure they can hear his heart beat all the way over to Indianapolis. It’s beating so loud. So hard. He can feel it about to burst out of his chest.

“ Before you fall in love with me.” he adds “ I’m gonna fuck up eventually and I don’t want to pull you into the mess. “

“ That’s my decision to make, Billy. You don’t get to make that one for me. “

“ I don’t — I don’t deserve you caring so much. “

“ Well shit man I do anyway. Maybe no one ever told you this or no one ever made you feel it, but Billy — you don’t have to earn love. Or affection. Or care. People give it because they want to, because you mean something to them. Let me love you. Because I do. I — I’m like 95% sure I’m in love with you and It’s so scary. You literally just walked into my life and at first I thought you were the worst and your hair is stupid. You’re not the worst though, not even close. “

“ What about my hair ? “

“ Still stupid “

He has to laugh. Because what else is there to do. What do you do when someone tells you they love you ? What do you do when you love them back ?

“ I never thought I could get so attached to someone so quickly and all my strong female instincts tell me to be careful and to not let myself fall too fast too quick. I’ve known you for a few weeks now and I — I feel like you’ve been all that was missing from my life for so long. It’s scary. It’s so scary.I know life isn’t a fucking fairytale and I am terrified of this crashing and burning but I — life gives me so few good things, I need to keep them close. I need to let myself feel them. “

Billy pushes himself up on the edge of the pool to be eye-level with (Y/N), hands placed firmly on the concrete floor.

She softly takes his face in her hands and brushes the wet strands out of his eyes.

“ I don’t need fancy dates and flowers and holding hands. I just want what we have to stay. That feeling of belonging. Of understanding each other. Of home. I like us together. I love us together. What we have that’s — good and it’s pure and — “

“ The sex is fantastic “

“ The sex is really fucking great yeah “ she says and chuckles through her tears “ We don’t have to think about the future, that’s so far away. I just wanna feel like home with you for as long as life lets us. Let me love you, sad boy “

Billy carefully, almost as if he fears breaking her, places his lips on hers. Maybe this is worth the anxiety and the fear. If he gets to feel like he’s feeling right now, safe and appreciated and warm and — loved. Maybe if this can stay, it’s worth the fear of losing it.

Maybe being afraid of losing something isn’t so bad.

Maybe it means you care. You love.

Maybe it means that some things do matter.

Billy pulls back and looks deep in her eyes “ You know what ? “

“ What ? “

“ I think you’re way too dry right now “

“ Huh ? “

Before she can really think about his words, Billy has pushed himself out of the pool and swoops her up in his arms, taking a few steps back before breaking into a sprint and jumping into the cool water of the swimming pool.

He can feel her laughter vibrate against his chest. God, he wants to stay in this moment forever. Just them and the night and the unfiltered, untainted bliss of being young and in love. With a person. A feeling. With life.

As the water surrounds them, Billy opens his eyes and looks at her through a blurry vision. And just like that, he remembers. What it feels like to be one with the ocean, to forget all your problems and live for this one single moment when life seems easy. Light. Happy.

He remembers what home feels like.

The moon shines down on the two as they swim around pool, splashing each other and getting lost in themselves and their kisses. In the unshakable truth that home is not a place but a person. A feeling of belonging.

Taglist:

@babygal-babygal / @anxiousamandapanda / @imjusthereforsupernatural / @chhhcherybomb / @tomarisela / @noodlenerd101 / @xxcxrolinexx / @bippity-boppity-boopa / @mcrmarvelloki / @silver-winter-wolf / @thecrowclubsmanager / @theroyalbrownbarbie / @salemlysi

#billy hargrove fanfic #billy hargrove imagine #billy hargrove fanfiction #billy hargrove x reader #billy hargrove imagines #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things imagines #stranger things imagine #stranger things fanfic

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diyunho · 5 years ago

Text

The Joker x Reader - “John Wick” Part 3

Y/N left The Organization 3 years ago for the one reason strong enough to make her settle down: love. But after tragedy crushed her to pieces, she decided to leave The Joker and seek refuge with an old friend and mentor - John Wick. Needless to say The King of Gotham can’t accept his wife running away without a word, especially since he didn’t have a chance to tell her things she might want to hear.

Part 1 Part 2

The Joker listens at the bedroom’s door, impatient to have a conversation with you. It seems you are engaged into a fervent phone call with Winston and figured he shouldn’t interrupt.

“Please, anything you can discover would be a great help! U-hum… U-hum… Thank you,” and you hang up, which queues your husband to walk into the room.

You completely ignore him, scrolling through the numerous text messages you sent to your connections; several are already answering back and hopefully you can get some news soon. The more people are involved into the project, the more chances to find Kase and untangle the mystery of what happened to him after he was removed from the car.

“You left me there,” The Joker sneaks in and closes the door behind him. “Luckily we had Wick with us so he gave me a ride.”

No reaction. He takes a deep breath, trying to get your awareness.

“I didn’t sleep with Evelyn; sex wasn’t the reason why I kept visiting her. I know how that asshole made it sound and he was totally out of line!”

You quickly glance at him, busy replying to Ares since you feel you’re going to explode soon.

“The only skill I was interested in is the fact that she is an excellent painter and a popular art smuggler, OK?” J raises his voice, sort of annoyed you neglect to participate into his monologue. “I did not cheat, alright?” he approaches his wife. “First of all: I’m VERY picky! Second of all: why would I want a woman everyone else had?! I don’t like used toys. Third: nobody’s been polishing my gun as you tastefully addressed the issue! I have one Queen and I married her!!”

A little bit of doubt in your eyes and he utilizes the opportunity.

“You said you saw me going to her house? I did! The Bowery King asked if it was for the last 6 months? Yeah, I did! You know why?!”

At least now The Joker got your attention: you play it cool but he guesses you’re torn apart by his confession.

Many unfortunate events crammed in lately and hating the man you love made life infinitely more unbearable.

“Why…?” you barely muster the strength to inquire and he sees it as a possibility to mend a few broken pieces; although you can hide your emotions well, J can still read between the lines.

Maybe that’s why he answers with another question:

“Do you realize there are just three Monet paintings in circulation on the black market in the entire world? You admire his work and it took a lot of effort and a substantial fortune to acquire The Water Lily Pond painting. Evelyn Black helped with the transaction, then I had her make some modifications to the original masterpiece.”

You keep staring at The King of Gotham, uncertain about the stuff being tossed your way: is he lying or telling the truth?... In your line of work translating feelings is a huge part of the job; ultimately you had the best mentor to teach you the ropes when you started with the organization: none other than the legendary Baba Yaga. Despite his reputation and to your own amazement, John was one of the few hitmen with integrity and perfectly mastered the aptitude of not being a jerk. Such a rare gem… And blissfully unaware of it himself.

On the opposite end, The Joker is a jerk and flawlessly acquainted with his own “captivating” personality that made you fall in love with him anyway.

Also, doesn’t appear to be deceitful for the moment.

And you despise yourself even more for wanting to believe him.

“What… modifications?...” you throw him a bone and J is definitely not going to pass on the alternative of explaining his actions.

“I wanted to surprise you so I took advantage of Miss Black’s capabilities in the art field; I had her add small images to the authentic canvas: an evolution of you being pregnant, the nine frames culminating with a tenth: the new mother holding our son. Similar to a timeline,” he emphasize and you look intrigued, which might be a positive sign. “Needless to say it was tedious, difficult work, especially because she had to apply special pigments you can’t find at every corner of the street. Apparently you can’t mix old paint with contemporary shades, thus I had to order aged, special colors from Italy, Spain and France. That’s why I went to her place so often: I had to supervise the long process and make sure it turns out astonishing. Then…” and The Joker pauses,”…Kase was gone and I didn’t know what to do with my gift: bring it home or not? Would you have loved it? Would it make you sadder? I continued to drive to Evelyn’s and glare at the stupid painting for hours, undecided on what to do…”

J watches you bite on your cheek, then straightens his shoulders as you utter the words:

“… … … You ruined a genuine Monet?”

Your spouse might be a smooth talker when needed, yet he’s not wasting his versatility on this statement:

“I didn’t ruin it; I made it better!”

Silence from both parties. A good or bad omen? Hard to decipher the riddle with two individuals tangled into a relationship that somehow worked despite countless peculiarities meant to keep them apart.

“I have to talk to Jonathan,” you finally mutter and The Joker steps in front of you.

“Talk to me!”

“Unless you know the exact location of the suitcase full of gold coins he’s been safekeeping for me, I really have to speak to him. Or do you want to hammer the whole basement searching for it?”

Y/N walks out of the bedroom and J lingers inside, evesdropping on the conversation happening downstairs. He can’t understand the chat, but you are probably notifying John about the details your husband left out.

Might as well join the party, therefore The Clown pops up in the living room with a plea impossible to refuse:

“Hey Wick, can I stay here? I don’t care if you say no, I’m not going to leave.”

Your friend crosses his arms on his chest, focusing on the random topic:

“How could I deny such a polite request? Of course you can stay Mister Joker; my house is your house.”

You’re watching the free show unamused; usually it would make you smile…now you lack the depth for such connotations.

“Don’t get smart with me, Wick!” J growls and Jonathan pushes for a tiny, unnecessary quarrel.

“I’m not; although generally speaking, I fancy considering myself a smart guy.”

The Joker opens his mouth and you’re not in the mood for whatever the heck they’re initiating:

“I’m going to pump, then after you dig out the suitcase I’ll take half to the Bowery King,” you announce your plans to them.

“You can do that and rest; I’ll deliver the coins,” John immediately offers. “I can stop by Aurelio’s car shop and ask for his collaboration: he has a lot of associates, doesn’t hurt to get him involved. You have plenty of gold.”

“I have two more suitcases in the Continental’s safe and two more at The Penthouse. It doesn’t matter if it’s all gone as long as I can find my son.”

“I know gold coins are preferred; don’t forget we have a lot of money too,” J reckons with spite.

Is he reminding you or Jonathan?...

*************

Your husband spent the last hour in the garden, talking and texting with a lot of people; needless to mention he’s capitalizing on his network also. Winston disclosed Stonneberg’s contract is still opened, meaning the son of a bitch is out there; you have to scoop him before anybody else does.

“Y/N…” The Joker tiptoes in your quarters. “I thought you were taking a nap,” he huffs when he sees you at the edge of the bed.

You glare at the vial on the nightstand, sharing your idea for a future you wish will come true:

“I didn’t have my medicine in two days; I won’t take it anymore because if we get Kase back… I will nurse him. It all goes in the milk and I want to be able to feed my baby… Do you think his little heart is still beating?...” you sniffle and J is currently debating on a clever response since his mind is blank; one could deduce messing up is encoded in his DNA, but on such a huge scale… well, it gives new interpretations to the term even for him.

The grieving woman seeking reassurance for their loss is trying to make sense of the pointless occurrences that lead to Kase being an innocent victim and The Joker can’t render clarification: he has no clue why he asked her to marry him and why she said yes, it’s not that he’s husband material or a family man. Perhaps Y/N thought he could be… just enough to get by, that’s why she accepted his proposal.

Most women would have cringed at the concept. Most women. Not Y/N.

Most women would have flinched at the notion of having his baby. Most women. Not his wife.

Above all, she trusted J with their son and he treated the three weeks old like a trinket: didn’t drive him home because he had an important meeting, didn’t bother to assign escorting cars nor extra security. The King of Gotham took his child’s safety lightly and it definitely had severe consequences. Too late now to fix past mistakes... but he can attempt.

“You’ll be able to nurse him, OK?” he sits by you and hands over his cell. “Can you enter your phone number in here? Or am I not allowed to have the present digits?”

You’re hesitant and he slides the screen while you hold the gadget.

“Lemme help you,” The Joker sarcastically mumbles. “It should be the first on my list, right where the old number you canceled was.”

You exhale and fulfill his demand out of pure frustration when he squeezes in a second innocent petition.

“Chose my avatar.”

You grunt at his rubbish, scrolling through his folders for a picture anyway; J hopes the largest file will get your attention and that’s the point. How could Y/N miss it?!

Entitled “Baby”, the humongous cluster of pics contains 5,723 items. You open it quite absorbed by its size; what’s more puzzling is the collection depicting Kase’s ultrasounds, hundreds of frames with you being pregnant taken without you knowing: there’s a few when your ankles were so swollen you had to sleep with your feet up on 4 pillows, others with you munching on strange food you craved, more with you in the shower focused on your bump, a decent amount of couple selfies when you were sleeping and J had to immortalize the moment without waking you up and approximately 1,500 images of the newborn.

“You didn’t gross me out when you were pregnant,” The Joker reminds a teary Y/N. “Not sure why you would believe such aberration...” he pulls you on his knees and yanks the phone away, tossing it on the nightstand. “I would also like to underline I didn’t have an affair with Miss Black, alright?”

J lifts your chin up, forcing to look at him.

“Let’s put it this way: why would I fuck around with another woman when I have a wife at home that wants to kill me on a regular basis, hm? Where would the fun be? I mean, she didn’t pull the trigger yet but it’s exciting to hope she might. You know me: I’m a sucker for thrills!”

“Do I?”

“Huh?” J steals a kiss and you frown at his sleekness.

“Know you?”

“Yeah,” the green haired Clown acts composed while in fact his feathers are ruffled. Before you catch onto it he has to ultimately admit: “I’m sorry I didn’t drive the car… I should have…”

The Joker holds in his breath when your arms go around his neck very tight.

“I’m suffocating…” he grumbles. “I can’t tell if you’re trying to hug me or choke me to death,” J keeps on caressing your hair, prepared to block your attack in case you’re actually in killing mode.

This is the excitement he was speaking about: with you, one could never know until it’s a done deal.

“I bumped into Magnus at the Continental,” you give him a bit of space to inhale much needed air and The Joker is surprised at your revelation. “I had no idea about his scheme, otherwise I would have skinned him alive right on the hotel grounds! I wouldn’t have cared about the consequences!”

“I’m glad you didn’t,” J cuts you off and he can tell you’re getting mad; maybe you think he doesn’t give a damn but the reason is simple. “You would’ve been declared excommunicado for murder on neutral ground and I don’t want my wife to be the target of such punishment from the company she so proudly retired from. I need my partner!”

The King of Gotham touches your forehead with his as you whisper:

“I hate you!”

“Mmm, regarding this true love affirmation, I’m gonna need you to take a break from detesting me until we have Kase, then you can despise me full throttle again. Deal?” he extends the palm of his hand and you reluctantly shake it, not realizing you’re reacting to his nonsense. “Is that a smile?” J returns the favor with one of his creepy silver grins.

“No.”

“Liar,” he pecks your lips and can’t explain the weird feeling in his heart when you kiss him back.

*************

Jonathan enters the house and becomes suspicious after a few minutes: too much silence.

Omg! Did you and The Joker engaged into a brawling that ended up badly? Did you end each other?!

John frantically runs to the garage, nervous to see your car and J’s are still parked inside. Shit!

“Y/N?” he shouts, concerned about your fate; The Joker’s… irrelevant. Nobody in the garden, patio is empty also. Downstairs is deserted thus he rushes upstairs to your room. The door is not completely shut and he slowly pushes it, knocking.

“Y/N? Can I come in?”

The first thing he notices are clothes scattered on the floor, then he halts his movement at the sight of Y/N and her husband dozing off on the bed sideways: the naked bodies are covered with a blanket, but he can tell you’re snuggled in J’s arms.

Jonathan steps backwards, guilty of invading his guests’ privacy; he certainly didn’t expect to intrude in such a manner and softly closes the door, grateful it’s not what he feared.

You and The Joker are so worn out the sound of your phones vibrating on the nightstand doesn’t wake you from the deep sleep. Your numerous contacts keep replying back to the text messages, the most important one showing up on his cell: one of the people J reached to is Evelyn Black and the two sentence conversation lights up the screen.

“Let me know if you see Stonnenberg.”

“He’s here.”

Also read: MASTERLIST

You can follow me on Ao3 and Wattpad under the same blog name: DiYunho.

#the joker x reader #the joker fanfiction #the joker imagine #john wick imagine #john wick x reader #the joker jared leto #the joker suicide squad #the joker #joker #joker fanfiction #joker jared leto #mister j #Mistah J #Mr.J #dc #dcu

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solacefruit · 4 years ago

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Writing advice meme, 1-10.

I saw this ask meme on this post and I love the concept, so I’m going to take a swing at it myself. The idea is to assess these common pieces of writing advice--i.e., what your interpretation of it, do you like/agree with it, etc.--and as someone who thinks and talks about writing a lot (and is perhaps guilty of giving a lot of advice myself), I have a ton of opinions on what good writing advice looks like and I’m so excited to go through this list with you all. I have to break it up into separate posts because I talk too much, so here’s the first ten!

1. Nothing is perfect. True! But I think this one sometimes feels disheartening to people, because they hear it as “your work won’t be perfect, therefore it’s not good enough and you shouldn’t bother”--which is extremely false. I think this piece of advice should feel liberating, because it’s giving you permission to make mistakes and be human! None of us make perfect work, because perfect isn’t a thing. Your work can (and will) be imperfect and valuable, and powerful, and gorgeous to read, and meaningful to others.

2. Don’t use adverbs. Wrong! A foolish opinion held and shared by people who are silly. There are definitely writers who misuse adverbs--notoriously, Joke Rowling--but adverbs are not in and of themselves bad and I personally love a well-placed adverb. It can so dramatically alter a sentence and frankly I just love the -ly sound, it’s so sleek. Better advice for this one would be “use adverbs with precision.” Fun fact: I have a non-zero number of characters with adverbs as names. That’s how much I enjoy these little guys.

3. Write what you know. This one’s interesting to me because I have a split answer. I think there’s a big truth to drawing on purpose from your personal experience and your unique pools of knowledge when creating, because you can bring so much to a work. You can ground the story in minute details and describe moments with such potency because they are familiar to you. There are so many stories in the world that are enriched by the fact the writer is a historian, or lived through a specific traumatic event that they now explore in their work, or has a love and passion for trains or botany or whatever their joys are. So on that side of things, I say true.

However, I think “write what you know” has a less wonderful underside, which is that writing what you know is often how certain hegemonic ideas and biased are recreated in works and then crystallised within genres. A passive imitation of your personal experience of the world and/or an unthinking loyalty to the tropes and traditions of your genre is not a neutral statement as a creator. I feel strongly that writers who belong to privileged groups--i.e., abled-bodied, white, straight, cisgender, Christian, male--and most especially writers who belong many of these categories simultaneously need to be aware of how writing what you know will produce a very specific, not-universal story.

So short answer: definitely draw on your specific banks of knowledge and experiences, but be aware that you do not exist in a vacuum and neither do stories.

4. Avoid repetition. Depends what you mean by that! A lot of writing is strengthened by repetition: motifs and themes necessitate repetition to be, well, anything. But if we’re talking about word choice, this is a safe general rule. That doesn’t mean grab a thesaurus, though! Just think about another word that you know that will get across the meaning you want--or move the sentence around until it achieves your goal. Swapping out a good word for a worse word with a different connotation is not better and definitely not a solution for repetition.

5. Write every day. Counterargument: write whenever you want. I don’t believe there’s one true schedule that everyone should follow, because people are different and creative processes are different. I myself am someone who tends to sit down and write a lot (sometimes a few days in a row), and then not write anything for the next day or even week. Some people can do the disciplined get-up-and-write-every-morning thing and truly I’d love to be one of those people, but my instinct is that I never will be. My way of doing things is more chaotic and less predictable, but I think any writing is always a win.

6. Good writers borrow from other writers, great writers steal from them outright. Hm. I definitely believe all good writers are discerning magpies who thieve everything that makes their hearts sing, and then spend their careers making nests of said things in different arrangements--but I don’t know if I’d call that “stealing outright.” I absolutely think a great writer needs a certain boldness in order to step out and confidently pilfer without shame or guilt, and then turn all those things into their things, so... I guess I agree? Maybe that’s the teacher in me, but this has plagiaristic connotations to me that I don’t love and don’t approve of, so perhaps I’d say for this one: “great writers make what they take their own.” 7. Just write. Highly contextual advice that is almost never helpful. This is perhaps because, personally, I don’t believe in laziness. I don’t actually think it’s a thing. I think often people will believe themselves to be lazy but what they actually are is afraid or stuck, and with that in mind, saying “just write” to people who’re blocked is about as useful as saying “just walk” to someone with a sprained foot: you need to address the underlying issue before someone can get better. If someone can’t write, it’s not from lack of effort--it’s because either something is wrong and preventing them from writing (which could be fear of failure, or anxiety, or overly stressed, or any number of causes) or they have become creatively exhausted and need to rest and consume art to restore themselves. Sometimes both!

I don’t like telling people to “just” anything, because that word has such a belittling effect. Writing is hard, especially if you’re going through a lot of stuff. I think better advice acknowledges that fact and responds more compassionately: “identify what is preventing you from writing.” Most writers--at least, that I know--thrive when they’re writing and write best when they’re thriving. Not writing isn’t a choice they make for no reason, so if you can’t write, look for the reasons. 8. There’s nothing new under the sun. Basically true! We are all (more or less, some cultural elements are relevant here) playing with the same toys in the same sandpit. However, we are the final component in the work and that makes all the difference. Each of us is the thing that is new under the sun and because of that, our sandcastles are wonderful and unique. I find that very neat.

9. Read. Phenomenal advice. It’s the one I probably give out most often, because it’s true in a way that I personally don’t think can be understated. I think consuming media and viewing art in general falls under this bracket too. Besides being good for you and healthy for your creative brain, it’s going to polish your taste and teach you so much about writing without you even noticing, probably. Cannot recommend it enough.

10. Don’t think! I have never found this relevant or useful. To me, it often comes across as a worse version of seven (see above). Thinking is my primary mode of existence and so far, my writing seems to benefit from that.

#advice #advice meme

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sacredlettersspn · 5 years ago

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Letter #3: Character (Dead in the Water, 1x03)

Theme: Character

Definition: mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual; the way someone thinks, feels, behaves

Welcome to the Sacred Letters of Supernatural. Today we will be covering episode 1x03, “Dead in the Water” while thinking about the theme of character. When I think of character, my mind goes to the first part of the definition above, the “moral qualities” distinctive to an individual. I am reminded of citizenship awards in elementary school and posters in school hallways with slogans like, “Character is what you do when nobody is watching.” Character has a moral connotation to it with the expectation that I should have “good” character. But that is not the only way to define or think about “character.”

Character is also distinctive qualities of any kind that define a person. Being an avid reader and television show watcher, as a well as a writer of fan fiction, this aspect of the definition is also familiar to me. Creating characters for a story involves building distinctive, compelling individuals that viewers will be invested in. Characters can become so defined that we come to expect certain actions and behaviors from them, and when their actions fall short of our expectations, we label them as “out of character.” In fanfiction, keeping characters “in character” can be a challenge for writers. There is a need to place close attention to the actions, motivations, and philosophies of the people that are being written about. Without these elements, stories can fall apart and readers lose interest. Character is important to a story.

In addition to feeling something is “out of character,” we can have other reactions when a character’s actions surprise us, like when the bad guy finds a cause to be heroic or when the grumpy, standoffish character makes a friend. If these unexpected behaviors are written in a compelling way with clear steps of character growth or appropriate catalysts, we enjoy seeing a character change. Humans can also surprise us in this way. The quiet student can stand up against a bully or a person who has been to jail multiple times can decide to turn their life around.

It seems that most of the time, we enjoy these kinds of stories. But there are limits to the amount of change we can accept, and that limit is different for everyone. There are men who stop being sexist, nazis who leave their ideology, bullies who develop self-awareness and try to make amends. Accepting these changes can be difficult, if not impossible for some. Yet many of us love movie characters like Loki who develop from the “bad guy” into something better and more selfless. There is the real life vs. movie screen distinction to take into account when thinking about why we react differently. We also understand Loki’s past and watch his development, so we can empathize with him. However, it appears that we often like the idea of the bad guy turning good, but we have a hard time accepting it in real life. “Cancel culture” is an example of this challenge to accept change in people or to recognize the diversity of character within one individual.

This is not to argue what we should or should not accept, to put a label on right or wrong when it comes to character growth and how we respond to it, in fiction or real life. There are legitimate reasons for not trusting or accepting a person who has committed horrible acts against other humans, or who have passed our own personal boundaries in terms of what we will accept. This discussion is meant to be an observation, one that I think is worth exploring. The purpose of thinking about this idea is to learn more about yourself and how you view the world. I think we can look at this concept of character growth on a smaller scale and consider how we relate it to relationships in our personal lives, and then we can take it and examine how we approach the bigger issues. To begin digging a little deeper into our personal perspectives on this issue, we can ask ourselves, what side of the “acceptance spectrum” I lie on?

So with that question in mind, let’s summarize the episode.

The episode opens in Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin with the morning routine of the Carlton family. There’s Bill, the father, and his two children, Sophie and Will, who live in a small house by the lake. Sophie is getting ready to go for a swim. The weather and the lake is calm, but once Sophie’s out on the water, the swimmer can’t help but feel that something is underneath the surface. She pauses to look around, sees nothing, but is soon dragged under by an unseen force. She drowns and her body is never recovered.

Sam and Dean enter as federal wildlife officers after seeing an article about Sophie’s drowning. This lake has already claimed a life that year, and several more in the past. The Winchesters talk to the sheriff in town, Jake Devins, and meet his daughter and grandson, Andrea and Lucas. Sam and Dean learn that the daughter’s husband was the first drowning earlier that year, and that the grandson witnessed the event. Lucas won’t speak anymore, he only draws.

Dean attempts to gain Lucas’ trust while he and Sam investigate the lake. They try talking to the Carltons, but Bill shuts them out. Soon after this first conversation, Will dies by drowning in the kitchen sink. Sam and Dean visit a second time and try harder to make Bill talk, but he is almost comatose with depression.

With no other leads, Sam and Dean leave Bill alone and happen to meet Andrea in a park. Dean connects with Lucas and receives a picture from him, a drawing of a house by a church with a boy standing by the fence with his bike. They find this house in town, and Sam and Dean visit the house of an old woman whose son, Peter Sweeney, went missing when he was around ten years old. Sam and Dean realize there’s a connection between this boy and Bill when they see an old photograph in the house.

They visit Bill again, but find him riding his boat out onto the lake. While they try to get his attention, something knocks the boat into the air and Bill falls into the lake and drowns.

The sheriff kicks Sam and Dean out of town after the incident, looking up their ranger numbers and finding out the ID’s are fake. But Dean doesn’t listen, he feels like something is off, so he turns around and visits Andrea and Lucas. Lucas is frantic when he answers the door. His mom is trapped in the bathroom, drowning in the tub. Dean saves her, and she tells him she heard a child’s voice in the water saying, “Come play with me.”

Dean looks through Andrea’s old photo albums while in her home and sees a young Jake Devins with Peter Sweeney. Lucas directs Sam and Dean to a random spot in the yard by the lake, and they dig up an old bike. The sheriff finds them and holds them at gunpoint. Sam and Dean tell him they’ve made a connection. They guess that he and Bill killed Peter Sweeney as kids. The sheriff tries to deny it, but while facing his daughter, he can’t lie. He admits to the killing, stating that he and Bill bullied Peter, but one time it accidentally went too far, and Peter drowned.

The adults argue about whether the missing boy is haunting the lake, with the sheriff calling Sam and Dean crazy. Meanwhile, Lucas goes out to the dock, drops a toy in, and attempts to fish it out. He’s pulled in by a ghostly hand. Sam and Dean jump into the lake to save Lucas. Meanwhile, the sheriff runs to the edge of the lake and sees Peter’s face, pale and dirty, pop up just above the surface. While Sam and Dean search frantically for Lucas, the sheriff sacrifices himself by wading into the water and begging the spirit to take him instead. It listens, pulls the sheriff under, and releases Lucas to Dean.

The character in this episode I want to focus on is Jake Devins because of his involvement with the murder of Peter Sweeney. While Bill Carlton was also a participant, I would argue that the episode focuses more on Devins character and family. We learn that he’s a family man by hearing how he helps out with his grandson after the death of his son-in-law. We see multiple conversations and interactions with his family, so we’re able to get a sense of the kind of man Devins is. He comes across as a hardworking sheriff who cares deeply about his family. He appears to be direct as well, sometimes intense or intimidating in the way he talks with Sam and Dean about the lake. In general, we get an idea that Devins is a honorable, experienced man, so it might come as a shock when he later admits to being involved in the murder of a fellow classmate as a child.

While the audience may or may not have predicted Jake’s confession, his daughter Andrea is completely taken by surprise. She wavers between doubt and wanting her father to admit the truth in the scene where Devins divulges the secret he has kept for three decades. She is shocked by learning the truth, never considering her father capable of murder. But the truth doesn’t appear to change how she thinks about her father. At the end of the episode, she tells Dean that whatever Jake did in his past, Andrea knows him as a good father and grandfather who loved and took care of his family. This version of Jake is what Andrea chooses to remember. I can’t help but wonder if I would have the same capacity as Andrea to ignore something like murder. Would I be able to focus on the good parts of a person’s character after learning of an action like that? And why would I want to do that?

While watching the episode, my own appraisal of Jake Devins’ character fundamentally changes after learning that he frequently bullied Peter Sweeney with Bill and this bullying caused Peter’s death. I wonder how someone can go that far with hurting someone and still call it an “accident.” I wonder what kind of child Devins was growing up and the lack of empathy he would have had to be a bully. I think about the inability he and Bill had to tell the truth, which comes across as cowardice to me. Their actions led to the death of someone’s son, and Peter’s mom never gets any answers. She has to live the rest of her life not knowing what happened to her son.

It’s challenging to reconcile the two parts of Jake’s character that we see, the honorable, family-oriented sheriff, and the bully who killed a classmate. In the end, Devins’ family-oriented side wins when he sacrifices himself to save his daughter and grandson. But I can’t help but feel that doesn’t atone for his actions. Somehow Andrea is able to reconcile these two sides of her father. Maybe it’s because of the family bond they have. I am an outsider watching this happen, but if Jake was my father or my brother, my response might be different.

Character is not absolute, although at times we’d maybe like to think it is. It would make things simple for the bad guy to be all bad, and the good guys to be all good. But humans, and fictional characters, exist in the gray. Every one of us responds to that gray area differently. I extend lots of sympathy to Sam Winchester, for example, who in later seasons makes many questionable choices and endangers many people. But when I think about Sam, I don’t define him by those bad choices. I understand the reason he made the choices, and I believe that makes up for the actual content of the decisions he makes. Jake, however, was a bully. He wasn’t acting questionably for a noble cause, he was doing it to be mean and exert dominance. The intention behind the actions matters to me when I’m judging a character, but it's more challenging to judge a character when two juxtaposing actions exist in the same episode. Jake is both a murderer and a loving father/grandfather, and that makes his character very, very gray.

Again, there’s no right or wrong way to view this issue, but I’m offering my perspective as a point of observation. I think it can be useful to ask ourselves how we judge character, by what standards and to what degree of absoluteness, and consider when we are able to forgive or overlook bad choices. Understanding this can give us insights into how we punish and forgive those in our personal life, what issues we feel passionate enough about to draw a line on, and how we may vote on certain political issues. Learning how we respond to fictional characters can give us insight in how we respond to people and issues in real life.

Lectio Divina

The next segment of this letter is called “Lectio Divina,” which is a Christian spiritual practice for reading scriptures that involves interacting with the text on four different levels. I am following Harry Potter and the Sacred Text’s use of this practice and adapting it the best I can to the visual format. Normally, you pick a scripture or a line of text to analyze. I randomized numbers between 1 and 42 (the amount of minutes in the episode), and picked the first full line after the minute mark I was given.

Line: 5:00, “I’m agent Ford. This is agent Hamill. We’re with the U.S. wildlife service.” -Dean Winchester

Now we analyze this line on the four levels of Lectio Divina : literal (narrative), allegorical (metaphors and symbols), reflection (how do I connect to it), and invitational (what is the text asking of us or teaching us).

Literal: Dean and Sam are knocking on the door of the victim’s family. They’re posing as wildlife agents in order to get information from the family about what happened to the victim. They’re using aliases of actors, Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill, who are widely known for their roles as Han Solo and Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise.

Allegorical/Symbolic: The names that Sam and Dean choose immediately jump out at me. The first thing I think of when I hear these names is Star Wars and then I think of the characters, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. The choice of these character names for Sam and Dean can give us an insight into how Sam and Dean are meant to be portrayed, and how Sam and Dean see themselves since Kripke has stated that Sam and Dean were originally based off of these characters. Perhaps Dean identifies with Han Solo, the rugged smuggler who’s a bit cocky but ends up having a heart of gold. But I’m not sure whether we can say that Sam identifies with Skywalker because we don’t know if he chose that alias. It seems more likely that Dean chose the alias’ in this situation.

Personal: Here, Sam and Dean are lying for a good cause, but their lie seems dangerous. I tend to think lying is a bad thing except for rare cases. Sometimes I might lie to avoid hurting someone’s feelings, but even the acceptableness of that is arguable. It’s hard for me to imagine posing as federal agents as comfortably as Sam and Dean seem to. I can imagine myself sweating, a knot in my stomach, and stuttering when I attempt to speak, but the fake agent names roll off Dean’s tongue as smooth as his own. In real life, I would argue against people posing as agents, but I’m supportive of what Sam and Dean are doing. Without their ability to pose as agents, their work would be nearly impossible. I can justify the use of their lying, but I don’t often justify lying in real life.

Invitational: I think this line is asking us to compare the characters of Sam and Dean with their alias’ characters, and to see what insights we can gather from this comparison. With these alias’ used so early in the first scene, I can’t help but think their use is significant, not random. And if we can compare the Winchesters with other fictional characters to gain insights into their characters, then I don’t think it’s too far a jump to say we can use fictional characters to gain insights into ourselves. Characters are powerful, just as powerful as the story itself, and I would argue that this ability to compare and relate to fictional characters is what gives power to a story. We can see pieces of ourselves and our own lives in a story, see courage in the face of hardship, and find inspiration to face our own tough choices. So maybe we can ask what Sam and Dean see in these Star Wars characters, and how might they gain inspiration from Han Solo and Luke Skywalker’s stories.

Before I finish this letter, I would like to end with a question for the audience. This question is for personal evaluation or contemplation, but if you would like a chance for your answer to be featured on the blog or to begin a discussion, please send your answers to my Tumblr inbox.

This week’s question:

Who is your favorite fictional “bad-guy-turned-good” character?

And last, but not least, a special thanks to our patrons!

Jamie S.

#dead in the water 1x03 #character #season 1

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drmedicsgamesurgery · 5 years ago

Text

Danganronpa Togami Volume 3 Part 1 (Summary)

Thanks to @enoshima-pyon @shockersalvage @jinjojess @hopeymchope for helping out! Merry Christmas!

Danganronpa Togami Volume 3 - I'd Stake The Togami Name On It

In terms of the development of talent, we are still in the experimental stage because we do not know how to cultivate talent.

(Eric Hofer, "The Temper of Our Time") [0]

This text was written using the following note-taking system.

K2K System ver2.3

Pseudo books, bad books, and popular books. I think that one must often tolerate these in a world rife with copies of copies of manuscripts. I am left speechless by the solidity and sheer veracity of a system.

Therefore, my job is only to add or delete a few things.

I am very aware of my place, I will hold onto my spirit until the very end.

I pray for the soul of the original.

That is, if there is such a thing.

CHAPTER 11- The Three Byakuya Togamis

It’s a simple story. One young man decided to try to take over the world. After many repeated extraordinary adventures, the young man got what he wanted and was able to return home safe and sound. And he lived happily ever after.

But here is the problem: which of the following young men is the protagonist of this story?

“I believe I’ve given everyone a slice of cake, no? Back during the Yalta Conference [1] when the world was being split up, the president’s daughters prepared food to calm the atmosphere. Since we’re in a helicopter, a banquet is out of the question, but at the very least I can offer some cake…”

“Who cares about the cake? Let’s continue our conversation. After all, at the moment I am allowing you the right to lead.”

“Heh heh. What admirable conduct from you, Byakuya Togami. Well then, let’s get started, shall we? Nee-san, you eat up too. Please sample this sweet, saccharine cake–it’s American, filled with sugar and butter.”

A dreamy expression crossed the boy’s–Kazuya Togami’s–face.

And so began our discussion of world domination–over a tea set, under the watchful eye of countless gun muzzles, within a WHO helicopter.

In the four years since I’d seen my younger brother, he had grown so much that I barely recognized him. His thin frame had filled out with an appropriate amount of muscle, a sarcastic smile stretched across his lips, his eyes which had once been filled with constant fear now sparkled with self-confidence, and he now wore glasses that resembled Byakuya-sama’s. This young man who had only once referred to himself as Byakuya Togami was now brazenly exerting control over us, UN military forces in tow. He was certainly throwing his weight around.

Since I wasn’t restrained, I put a finger to my temple and accessed Borges, intending to get some information.

Borges Search Result

#71009224

Data Type: Person

Title “Kazuya Togami”

The perpetrator behind the Biggest, Worst Incident in the History of the Togami Family. He was the sole survivor of the Burning of Kuchinashi Village, but was raised by Michiko Furuhata as a legitimate son. No body was discovered during the large-scale search that followed the incident, but he was presumed deceased. He has had direct contact with Kudan. One of the top targets marked for assassination by the Togami Conglomerate. Is currently posing as Orvin Elevator, the adopted son of World Health Organization Infectious Disease Prevention Unit director Keith Elevator, and working as the captain of the WHO Infectious Disease Prevention Unit’s task force.

“Byakuya Togami. You are under arrest by the UN-affiliated organization WHO, and currently in our custody. We are acting in accordance with Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter [2] set out by the United Nations Security Council. Considering the weight of your crimes, they will require action on par with the International Criminal Tribunal of Former Yugoslavia.” [3]

“Hmph.” Despite being handcuffed, Byakuya-sama’s usual demeanor was unruffled. “If you are planning to treat me the same way as Pol Pot, I will not forgive that.” [4]

“But you are the one spreading the seeds of massacre around the world, aren’t you?”

“And do you intend to take me to the International Court of Justice as is?” [5]

“Yes. We will cross the border from the Czech Republic into the Netherlands, and you will stand trial. Your crimes are heavy, Byakuya Togami, for trying to pick a fight with the world. Don’t forget that I could allow you to be lynched at this very moment to nary a complaint.”

“You certainly seem like you want to beat me.”

“I’m rational. I don’t intend to contribute to the violence you’ve brought upon the Czech Republic by drawing so many maniacs crazed with bloodlust.”

“What are you talking about, you ‘won’t contribute to violence?’ With all of these guns here?”

“Think of the number of guns as an estimation of how dangerous you are.”

“If that’s the case, then there’s far too few.”

To my delight, the UN forces’ gun muzzles bobbed in surprise at Byakuya-sama’s uncharacteristic smile. Similarly pleased, Kazuya cheerfully responded with: “Don’t move, okay? Byakuya Togami.”

“Obviously. If I couldn’t keep still at a time like this, I would not be fit to be a Togami.”

“Well then, until we get you to the International Court of Justice so you can be stuffed into a cell, why don’t you enjoy this tea time with me?”

“If you do not remove these shackles, I won’t be able to teach you table manners.”

“Would you prefer to eat like a dog? I know you are revered as the SHSL Heir, Byakuya Togami, so it would certainly make for a good story, showing you eating like a mangy hound.” [6]

“To think, such a powerless brat saying things like he’s part of society.”

Byakuya-sama, despite the handcuffs, skillfully pushed up his glasses with his fingers.

“Heh heh. But you see, I am already part of society. I’m the captain of the WHO Infectious Disease Prevention Unit’s task force.” [7] Kazuya, as if to mimic Byakuya-sama, adjusted his glasses as well. “I’m much different from how I was four years ago.”

(Thanks to Jinjojess for the translation up to this point).

“Listen here boy, if you want to have a tea party, how about at least some tea talk? Tell me how much the WHO has this current state of affairs under control.” Byakuya asks Kazuya, and he begins.

"The situation has progressed to the following stage: The 'Despair Disease' can now be spread without the 'Despair Novel'. This is why the tragedy in that village occurred just now.”

Byakuya mocks him by saying that the ‘tragedy’ in the village wasn’t brought about by the disease but by them massacring everyone without distinction. Kazuya retorts calling them all trash and all he did was throw the rubbish away, so there is no big deal. Shinobu thinks to herself that it might be her fault Kazuya turned out this way.

Kazuya then declares that Hope’s Peak Academy is also under investigation, since the Despair Novel was written there.

During the investigation, continues Kazuya, they found out that the academy is secretly working on two projects: the “Sage Plan” and the “Bible Plan”. Kazuya says both names have religious connotations, which is ironic considering Hope’s Peak is a school that worships hope as a god.

He still doesn’t have enough information on the “Sage Plan”, [8] but he says that apparently the Despair Novel was written using the system of the “Bible Plan”. The “Bible Plan” consists of an AI which studies all the books and stories in the world to create a Bible which will bring hope to people just by reading it. The data that the AI works on are input by SHSL such as SHSL science fiction writer, SHSL oral inheritor', SHSL light novel writer, SHSL folk story collector etc.

"What do you think Hope’s Peak Academy is most afraid of? Is it human extinction?"

"No, it is human despair."

"That's right, whether it's a giant meteorite or a nuclear war, I hope that the academy will not budge, but if at that time, human beings are in despair, give up their struggles, give up hope... they will be intolerable.”

Byakuya says that he is boring and to go to a bookstore to buy some actually well written books. Kazuya goes on to say that since they couldn’t touch the hearts of all humans, that they instead, let an AI create a story that could. Shinobu is confused and wants to take headache medicine, but Byakuya is simply and utterly bored by the idea. Kazuya says it’s not in an AIs essence to defeat humanity, such as in Go or Chess and that Byakuya’s way of thinking is backward.

"I will say it is 'boring' on the premise of correctly estimating AI capabilities. No matter how good an AI is, one thing is that it can't be done anyway."

"I would appreciate further details."

"That is 'creation', if you don't have the ability to create, you can't write a story."

Kazuya retorts saying that it has no need to as since it has analysed narratives for so long, it has merely become an algorithmic process. He points out that it’s the same as Dr. Victor Frankenstein’s story: they tried to play God and as a result they created a monster. As Kazuya puts it, "People often compare Dr. Victor to God who is the Creator, and the monster is used to compare with Adam, created by God. However, this contrast quickly collapsed. Dr. Victor as a human being imitated God's behavior, the result is a terrible monster, a monster will only kill everywhere. The story writing AI is also a fake God, it and The Bible that was created, are just a strange monster."

After listening to the talk of Kazuya, the expression of Byakuya became very smug, he took a sip of black tea and said, "Let us not stick to these old literary theories."

"Listen, Dr. Victor who created the monster, and God who created human beings, the situation is exactly the same. If you ask why, it is because both sides have encountered unexpected situations. Isn't it? Yes, that is the death of Christ. Is Christ as God's own being killed on the cross, is this also within God's plan? If Dr. Victor is a rebel to God, then God is also a traitor to God Himself; if Dr. Victor is guilty, then God is. Just like this, after the negation is denied, the result is that God and Dr. Victor are put on the line. In essence, they are equals. Since you are a student of Hope’s Peak Academy, you should know these things in advance."

"It seems that you have read a lot of Zizek's [9] books, but in any case, the books written by anarchists can't save humans. This motive makes me very displeased."

"Motive?"

“It’s a third-rate motive to let an AI write a Bible out of fear of human despair. When Hope’s Peak Academy was subjected to this boring uneasiness, they were already poisoned by despair, which is like making a doctor who got a cold force the patient to give him an injection."

After Kazuya and Byakuya throw witty insults at each other, they both look over at the guy next to Byakuya, stuffing his face with food.

*Chew chew*

*Swallow!*

It may be because their hands are cuffed, or just because they are too greedy, but Imposter is buried in the cake, eating like a pig. He seemed to find it hard to notice that he was caught up in the crowd and slowly lifted his face. His face and glasses were covered with cake. Kazuya calls out to Ultimate “Mr. Pig” Imposter.

“Mr. Pig,” says Kazuya. “To be a student at Hope’s Peak Academy, having ties with those who those who took the ‘Bible Plan’ system and started the “World Domination Proclamation”...who are you?”

To all of this the Imposter responds with this:

"Pardon me but, since you aren’t eating those carbs, give them to me."

Shinobu wonders about who the Imposter is, originally thinking he might be with Kazuya, she dismisses the idea. Is it possible that Imposter shares some sort of relationship with Byakuya, then.

The Impostor snorts and tells everyone to don’t bother trying to figure out their true identity and they are just a teenager. Even when Kazuya asks how many people have joined Super High School Level Despair or if they were the ones who are behind inciting the Reserve Course to to hold their “Parade”, they merely dodge answering it.

“I just said you don’t have to think about my identity. I am just…yes, I am just chasing a star.”

Byakuya seemed to looked bored as he gazed at the Imposter. “What do mean by chasing the stars? Explain it to me.” he ordered.

“I have been paying attention to you. To me you are the ‘Super High School Level Heir’, a symbol of Hope. It is because you are that symbol of Hope that I will fall into despair.”

“How twisted. Also, deal with the cream on your face.”

The Impostor tells the real Byakuya that they should eliminate the WHO, which doesn’t have anything to do with the story, and then start once again the battle between Hope’s Peak Academy and the Despair High School. Shinobu compares this to a girl rejoicing after they confessed their love to their crush and she becomes somewhat embarrassed upon seeing it.

Byakuya-sama is God.

Shinobu believes this to be the absolute truth of the world, though it doesn’t need to be expressed in such a way like what the Imposter is doing. Shinobu is also quite unhappy that other people are now declaring it as truth as she believed that “fact” was her own personal secret. But Kazuya says that the Impostor is the one who doesn’t have anything to do with the story since he is just a fake pig. The Imposter shoots this back at him as Kazuya being the one no one wants to see and that he can’t even match up as an imposter himself. Imposter equates Kazuya’s skills as a fake to a worm. The Imposter then tells him to heed these words and go back home.

"I have been taken away, my hometown, my name, and my life. It is all gone. There is no place for me to be able to return. No matter what people say to me, I will stand in front." Kazuya says.

"Tell me one thing, is life interesting being robbed by others? Hometown, name, life, and even your beloved sister. Has losing all of those made life interesting?" taunts the Imposter with a smile.

The Imposter’s ironic smile makes Shinobu want to vomit, as it reminds her of Kazuya and she avoids their sight. Since the Imposter isn’t Kazuya, she has no idea what to make of them.

Kazuya looks at Byakuya and asks him to return his sister and everything he stole from him, starting with the Kudan. The Imposter also gets in it out as well, since they desire the Kudan as well.This is because, at least how Shinobu sees it, since the Kudan is the secret behind the Togami’s family prosperity:

If you can’t get it, even if you don’t understand it, you can’t really become Byakuya Togami.

“Answer me, Mr. Authentic, where is the ‘Kudan’?”

“Answer me, Byakuya Togami, where is the ‘Kudan’?”

As both demand it, Shinobu notes that the two seems to be acting less like those who want to become Byakuya Togami, but rather those who want to become his enemy.

Byakuya answers that he sealed the Kudan away, since he doesn’t need it to dominate the world. As such, Kazuya demands it back since he found it, though Byakuya believes the knowledge of the Kudan’s prophecy is worthless since the future can’t be changed regardless of one knowing or not. While this is happening, Shinobu looks up information about the Kudan.

Borges = Search Results

#69010922

Classification data

Title "About the various Kudans (short version)"

It seems that you do not understand the meaning of the prophecy.

No matter how many methods are tried and how many means are used, it cannot stop it. This is the prophecy.

——TORI MIKI's Banquet in Parsifal [10]

Kazuya argues that even if one is destined for failure, they would still be able to minimize the loss thanks to the Kudan’s prophecy given him a warning. Byakuya just insults him and calls him a defeatist that was needed to face reality. To prove his point, he then he wraps the handcuffs he is wearing around Shinobu’s neck, and pulls with strength. Shinobu however is loving it, because of how close Byakuya is.

"You have been escaping from reality all this time. I want you to see it clearly,” Byakuya says “Look carefully: this woman, ‘Blue Ink', belongs to me, so I can even treat her like this."

Byakuya-sama raised my head up and rubbed against my cheek. Ah, now i'm really sweating, this feels weird.

Kazuya’s exploding blood vessels appeared on his forehead, and hid glasses trembled without him having to touch them. No, his whole body was shaking, from the top of his head to his fingertips. This was, without a doubt, a sign of true madness. Kazuya’s body trembled, staring at us intently.

“Hey!”

I heard such a voice, and in the next moment, the table was cut into two halves from the middle. The cake and the teacups flew around, and the fake Byakuya screamed with a clearly frustrated voice, "Gah, I haven't finished eating yet!"

Kazuya’s right hand… It’s the same...

The same light sword as that time.

My brothers and sisters, murdered in cold blood with that very sword.

"Your lives... are now in the palm of my hand. So, will you be dying now? Do you want to Die? Answer me."

"My my, what a strange sword that is. How did you manage to pull that party trick off."

"I cannot wait to slit your goddamn throat."

Kazuya approached us with that lightsaber in hand. Byakuya-sama, in Kazuya’s blind fury, whispered quietly into my ear.

“Wait for me.”

Then he finally let me go. Kazuya has snorted and repeatedly gasped in a mixture of pure anger and sexual excitement, restraining the impulse to use the sword on his hand immediately. His expression was so distorted, it looked like a twisted laugh.

"There is still a long time before we arrive in the Netherlands. Now, Shinobu, it’s only been for years since we last met, but let us continue where we left off… Nice and slowly…” [11]

Translation notes:

[0] Couldn’t find the actual quote in english but hopefully this will suffice.

[1] The Yalta Conference, also known as the Crimea Conference and code-named the Argonaut Conference, held February 4–11, 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the postwar reorganization of Germany and Europe. The aim of the conference was to shape a post-war peace that represented not just a collective security order but a plan to give self-determination to the liberated peoples of post-Nazi Europe. The meeting was intended mainly to discuss the re-establishment of the nations of war-torn Europe. However, within a few short years, with the Cold War dividing the continent, Yalta became a subject of intense controversy.

[2] Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter sets out the UN Security Council's powers to maintain peace. It allows the Council to "determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression" and to take military and nonmilitary action to "restore international peace and security". Chapter VII also gives the Military Staff Committee responsibility for strategic coordination of forces placed at the disposal of the UN Security Council. It is made up of the chiefs of staff of the five permanent members of the Council.

[3] The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a United Nations court of law dealing with war crimes that took place during the conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s. During its mandate, which lasted from 1993 - 2017, it irreversibly changed the landscape of international humanitarian law, provided victims an opportunity to voice the horrors they witnessed and experienced, and proved that those suspected of bearing the greatest responsibility for atrocities committed during armed conflicts can be called to account.

[4] Pol Pot was a Cambodian revolutionary and politician who governed Cambodia as the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea between 1976 and 1979. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist and Khmer nationalist, he was a leading member of Cambodia's communist movement, the Khmer Rouge, from 1963 until 1997 and served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea from 1963 to 1981. Under his administration, Cambodia was converted into a one-party communist state governed according to Pol Pot's interpretation of Marxism-Leninism.

[5] The International Court of Justice (ICJ),sometimes called the World Court, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). The ICJ's primary functions are to settle international legal disputes submitted by states (contentious cases) and give advisory opinions on legal issues referred to it by the UN (advisory proceedings). Through its opinions and rulings, it serves as a source of international law. It is located in The Hague, in The Netherlands.

[6] Japanese food culture believes that food is placed and eaten at a table. It’s extremely unsightly to lean over, or on the floor or elsewhere, because that is where dogs eat.

[7] The full name is the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Unit (IDCU).

[8] You don’t get an explanation for the sage plan so my guess is it's referring to Izuru. Also I wasn't sure if it’s actually translated as Sage Plan but thats what im going with for now.

[9] Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher, currently a researcher at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Arts, and International Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities of the University of London. He is also Global Eminent Scholar at Kyung Hee University in Seoul. He works in subjects including continental philosophy, political theory, cultural studies, psychoanalysis, film criticism, Marxism, Hegelianism and theology.

[10] Parsifal is an opera in three acts by German composer Richard Wagner, who you would know for composing Suisei Nanamura’s ever favourite “Die Valkyrie”. It is loosely based on Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach, a 13th-century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival (Percival) and his quest for the Holy Grail (12th century). This exact book by TORI MIKI, however, does not exist, at least, not in this Reality.

[11] So it looks like you weren’t supposed to like Kazuya **AFTER ALL** TV Tropes?

To Be Continued.

https://drmedicsgamesurgery.tumblr.com/GameSurgeryDRTranslations

#Danganronpa #Danganronpa:Togami #Danganronpa Togami #DRT3 Summary #Danganronpa: Togami #Part 1

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