#i will continue to edit down and rework the pitch i have for him and heidi until the fandom stuff becomes less and less apparent | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fightingthetides · 4 months

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A series of small snippets that is like an imagination of how I would change some canon events for thread/characterization rework purposes for @signorinavongola's verse. Guest muses of mine: Hibari, and Haru, mainly. Mostly manga-centric but may have taken some inspo from anime. I did write a bit of some other characters I don't personally muse, so excuse if they seem off.

Word count: 6,400+ [made an edit somehwere and am too lazy to get an accurate word count]

[No chapter number. New conent: Reborn meets Yamamoto before he meets Tsuna for the first time]

“Oi, kid! Watch out!” Reborn suddenly emerged from some bushes he was using as cover as he was making his way to the Sawada household.

A ball was quickly approaching, and transforming the chameleon on his hat into a catching mitt, the child catches the ball with each, much to the surprise of the person. Reborn himself was quite impressed by the weight behind the ball he felt when he caught it.

‘This guy has quite the throwing arm.’

“Wow, you caught that? You’re impressive, little guy! Sorry about that, normally people aren’t in this area at this time of day.” Yamamoto admits.

“I’m a talented guy. Are you practicing your pitches?” Reborn asks, quite curious to see just how skilled this guy was. He looked to be around the same age as his future charge. He had to cut Dino’s education short in favor of raising the next 10th generation Vongola boss.

Seeing as he was practicing in a park nearby the Sawada household… there was a chance they were schoolmates.

“Yeah, I’m on the baseball team and I’m always practicing hard to not let my team down. We aim for Koshien, after all!” Yamamoto grins with pride.

There was some time before he had to arrive at the Sawada household. He was intending to observe her for a bit before starting the home tutor plan anyways, so killing some time with this kid wouldn’t be a problem.

“I can catch some pitches for you. Show me what you got.” Reborn tosses the ball back to the guy. “You can call me kid for now. If you learn my name, I’d have to kill you.” Was this part of his dry humor or was he being serious? Hard to tell with Reborn, sometimes.

Yamamoto takes it as a joke and laughs. “Sure, I’ll call you kiddo then! The names Yamamoto Takeshi by the way. Are you really going to be okay to catch some of my pitches?”

Reborn waves the green catching mitt in his hand. “I caught your first pitch, didn’t I? Stop asking stupid questions and get ready.”

“Aye aye!”

[No chapter number. New conent: Reborn continued to catch some of Yamamoto’s pitches in secret without Tsuna or anyone knowing.]

Reborn was sure of it after a couple of encounters. Yamamoto Takeshi was a guy of talent. His athleticism was impressive, and he had a pleasant personality.

A talented athlete and a pleasant personality was a formula for a popular guy, and that could only help Tsuna who was a ‘no good’ who had virtually no friends.

Having done a background check on the guy, Reborn found out that Yamamoto and Tsuna went to the same school, and that his father was a user of the Shigure Souen Ryu sword style. From his investigation, Yamamoto didn’t learn the swordstyle in favor of prioritizing his love for baseball.

More and more Yamamoto was starting to stand out as a candidate for a member of Tsuna’s future famiglia.

SIGH

“You see, I’ve had to travel a long way to help raise someone on the request of an old friend of mine.” Reborn starts to speak a little bit about himself, knowing that in doing so, he could catch Yamamoto’s attention.

He was a friendly guy, so befriending others was just second nature to him. Learning about someone was the easiest way to make new friends!

“Yeah? Where did you travel from, kiddo?”

“From Italy. I can see that my work is cut out for me, but I can see the potential she has.” Having faith in Giotto’s line, Tsuna had to have the potential.

Look at Iemitsu, after all. He was a force to be reckoned with, so there had to be some potential in Tsuna that would lead her to be an exemplary mafia boss in the future.

Yamamoto couldn’t imagine why someone would travel all the way from Italy to ‘raise’ someone. Maybe he meant something else? Bringing someone all the way from Italy must be expensive, and he didn’t think anyone in the immediate area would have the funds to do such a thing.

“What, are you a part of the mafia?” Yamamoto jokes because of Reborn’s penchant for always wearing suits and being from Italy. You know, those Godfather kinda movies? That’s the kind of vibe Reborn gave off.

“Exactly.”

EH?

Yamamoto dropped the ball that he was idly tossing up and down to stare at Reborn in shock. Was Reborn really a part of the Italian mafia? He came all the way here… to JAPAN to raise someone? That had to be a really big deal then, right?

“Ah… why are you raising someone? It couldn’t be something like finding a long-lost Don or something, right? That’d be like a movie.”

“Close. You’re intuitive.” Even though he knew that Yamamoto was just joking, it was impressive that he somehow got it right. Yamamoto gave off an idiotic vibe, but he wasn’t an idiot. It was clear that he simply used all of his time to focus on baseball.

That kind of drive was impressive and a desired trait for a guardian. Someone who could keep focus was important. If he could move some of that loyalty to baseball to his boss, then Tsuna would be safer from attack—and betrayal.

“She is going to be a future mafia don, and she’s been fighting me every step of the way about it.” Reborn sighs, a bit for dramatic effect to catch Yamamoto’s attention. “She has so much potential that she’s wasting, what a shame. I want for her to make more friends, ones who wouldn’t be afraid of her background.”

Yamamoto was all for making new friends, but there were obviously some circumstances to consider. What school did she go to, how far away did she live, did she even want to make friends with someone like him, etc?

It would be more convenient if they went to the same school, but considering how the kid didn’t give much else information about his charge, it was clear that he was being secretive for a reason.

‘Guess that makes sense, if she’s a future mafia boss, the less people who know, the better, right?’ It made all the more sense why the kid had yet to reveal his name yet. Knowing the name of the next mafia boss’s teacher was big information.

“Right, I think she goes to your school. She’s a good kid, not meant to be a mafia boss.” Reborn laments with another (fake) sigh. It was true that Tsuna wasn’t a good fit for the mafia as things stood now, but he was confident in his ability to raise good mafia bosses.

Look at Dino, he was a great student… if you ignore the fact that he’s useless if his famiglia isn’t around. Tch. It would’ve been fine if he had more time to train him.

Well, that’s history. He’ll be fine in time.

“Why does she have to be a mafia boss then? Can’t someone else take the job?” Yamamoto couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.

“She’s the only one left who can take on the role. Every other candidate died. She’s our last hope, so I’ve been sent to protect her and raise her to be the next mafia boss.” It was a bit risky to reveal this information, but the results should outweigh the risks.

This Yamamoto guy seemed to be a righteous fellow. Knowing that a girl had no way out of a situation that was forced upon her and her life could be in trouble… it would stir something in him.

Chivalry never died, and he could tell that Yamamoto was worried by the way his eyebrows furrowed with the news.

“It’s that dangerous for her, huh?” The kid said that she went to the same school as him… so they should be around the same age, give or take 2 or 3 years. He couldn’t imagine a girl around his age being forced to train to be a mafia boss at such an age.

The fact that all the other candidates died was also worrying him, to know that she might be targeted next.

“If… fate has it so we cross paths, hopefully I can help you look after her. Maybe we can be friends.” It would be hard for him to do if he didn’t know her identity, though.

Reborn smiles. Excellent, all according to plan. He’s gotten Yamamoto somewhat interested in joining the mafia for Tsuna’s benefit. “Thanks. We won’t force you into anything.”

Tsuna wouldn’t tolerate it if another person was forced into the mafia against their will and he didn’t want to act against her wishes.

Still, it was good enough that Yamamoto was willing to consider helping out, even if a little bit.

“Alright, you rested enough. Let’s practice your swings next. Let’s see if you improved from the last time.”

“Yes sir!”

[Chapter 4- Gokudera attitude change towards Tsu-chan]

It was only just a day and the new transfer students attitude towards Tsuna changed. It was like night and day with him starting off by kicking over her desk and now…

“Good morning, Juudaime!” The guy suddenly bows respectfully towards her. The whole class is understandably shocked by this change in development.

Yamamoto couldn’t help but think that the way this Gokudera guy was acting now was almost like… a dog? Maybe something like a Lonewolf who decided that it was okay with joining your pack.

Hearing some of the hushed whispers around him, he notes that it was mostly coming from the girls. Probably the jealousy. The girls had banded together and made a fanclub for Gokudera within a day and some girls were already seething with jealousy over how Gokudera was pouring all his attention into Tsuna.

The athlete makes a mental note that he may look out for her for a while, just to make sure that the girls wouldn’t go too far with their jealousy. The hazing or the bullying that some girls go through because of guys wasn’t new to him, but it wasn’t something he liked.

It may have been the reason why his own fans were more tame in comparison to Gokudera’s fans. They knew that he wouldn’t like underhanded methods and getting caught put you on the fastest track of Yamamoto having a bad opinion of you for the rest of… well… forever!

‘Ah… so Gokudera doesn’t have a filter when getting mad at girls, does he?’ Yamamoto mentally laughs to himself at how the transfer student was getting peeved at the girls. ‘Maybe he’s sensitive to attention? Could be that he’s just crabby 24/7. He needs to get more calcium in his diet.’

This Gokudera Hayato guy is real interesting. A real funny guy.

With that, it made Tsuna interesting as well, considering it only took a day for the two to become friends…?

‘Juudaime, huh? I wonder… is the girl that kiddo is training, Tsuna?’

[Ch. 5 So I did discuss it before that the rooftop scene would have to change for several reasons, but it could be kept if we take into the account that I changed how Reborn and Yamamoto met. Seeing as he knows that Reborn is tutoring Tsuna and trying to make her into a mafia boss, and how he says that she has potential, Yamamoto has the understanding that she has secret skills. He thinks that she is hiding her potential and therefore may understand some of his struggles with baseball. As such, he could still ask her casually about some advice, and that leads him to overtraining himself and hurting his arm.

We talked about how Tsu-chan can save him when he accidentally falls from the rooftop as it happened in canon. This will solidify his interest in Tsu-chan and have him gain respect for her because of her willingness to go that distance for someone. It’s not easy for people to jump in to save another person at the risk of your own life, so he would respect her for that.

Additionally, seeing that her… clothes… yeah, after the dying will bullets are used on her, he’d probably cover her with his jacket and lead her to the nurses office so she can get changed into any spare clothes that she probably has with her (maybe a spare outfit, or gym clothes).

This would be very Tsuna conversation heavy and I won’t godmod a muse’s speech, so I chose to write a synopsis instead.]

[Ch.10 Slight change in how Yamamoto reacts to meeting Reborn for the ‘first time’ due to changes in this verse]

“Hey, Gokudera… what’s up with calling me out and having a silent stare down?” Yamamoto still wasn’t very well acquainted with Gokudera yet, but he would answer to summons because curiosity got the best of him.

He was called out to the field by Gokudera, not knowing it was because Gokudera was somehow unsatisfied with Reborn’s plans to add Yamamoto to the roster of Tsuna’s guardians.

“Dude, you should have some milk. Ill temper is usually caused by a lack of calcium.” Yamamoto truly thought he was giving Gokudera some helpful advice, telling him to consume more calcium. It should help him with his temper.

Before Gokudera could even react by lighting his dynamites, Tsuna arrives with Reborn in tow.

“Ciaossu.”

“Yo, kiddo.” Yamamoto glances between Reborn and Tsuna. He’d had his suspicions but they weren’t confirmed until now. “I thought so, Tsuna is your charge you’re raising, huh?”

“That’s right. You said you’d be willing to be her friend and help out when you could.” Reborn answers calmly, ignoring whatever Tsuna and Gokudera had to say. He saw the potential in Yamamoto, and he wasn’t going to give up on having him join the famiglia for Tsuna’s sake.

Not only that, a healthy dose of competitive spirit between guardians promoted good growth, so having someone who could make Gokudera feel threatened was for the best. If he doesn’t continue to hone his skills and better himself, then the right hand position could easily go to the amicable and skilled, Yamamoto Takeshi.

There was indeed methods to his madness.

Gokudera was still strongly against Yamamoto joining the famiglia while Tsuna was mostly confused about how Yamamoto and Reborn knew eachother, but when did he ever need to explain himself to her?

Just like he would with Lambo, he ignored her questions in favor of putting Yamamoto (and Tsuna) to the test. It’s important to not only test his skills but to also see how well he can work in tandem with Tsuna.

“You did say that I have the option of backing out if I want to, right?” Yamamoto confirmed with the arcobaleno.

“That’s right.”

Well, Reborn didn’t have any intention of letting Yamamoto go. If the guy starts having doubts, Reborn had his ways of making the guy change his mind, so that he’ll never want to back out. It wouldn’t be a lie in that case.

Reborn hops onto Yamamoto’s shoulder, “Tsuna is my charge, the 10th head of the famiglia. Gokudera is a subordinate.”

“Sounds good, count me in for now.”

“Good. First thing’s first, time for the famiglia entrance test.”

[Ch.11 Haru’s introduction chapter- which obviously has to change because of the premise of them being childhood friends who were apart for a bit of time due to school and other reasons]

One morning, Reborn and Tsuna were strolling to school as they normally would in the morning, but they get stopped by a familiar voice (to one of them).

“Hold it! Haru had been observing you for some time now, and Haru needs answers. Tsu-chan, when did you have a new brother and not tell me about it?” She should know how much Haru adored children, so not telling her about a new brother… sacrilege! A betrayal! So mean-desu!

Not only that, “Haru also noticed you play mafia all the time. What kind of bad games are you playing with such a young child, Tsu-chan? Are you being forced into it by some of the neighboring kids?” Though it’s been some time since they last met, Haru and Tsuna were still childhood friends and she liked to believe she understood her friend well.

This wasn’t a kind of game that she would play with a kid, so there had to be a reason behind it. Maybe she was being bullied into it. If her friend needed someone who would sternly tell the bullies ‘no, we won’t play a game that is a bad influence on kids’ she’ll do it! She’ll be the first to volunteer!

“If you’re struggling to tell the bullies to stop playing the mafia game, Haru will do it for you to stop playing such a dangerous game with the baby.”

Reborn decides to act in Tsuna’s stead. “First off, I’m Tsuna’s tutor. It’s my job to raise Tsuna to be the 10th boss of the mafia. I cannot be separated from her until then.”

“… You’re taking the game too far! Tsu-chan, I can’t believe you!” As always, Haru was a firecracker when she was angered. She always acts or talks first and only when she’s calmed down would she listen.

Her phone beeps, and she quickly says her farewells before heading to school.

[New content alert!: Yamamoto consulting with Tsuna after noticing something is off about her]

“Hm? You had a fight with a friend?” Yamamoto couldn’t think of any friends Tsuna had in class aside from himself and Gokudera.

He listens to her recount what happened and the history that she had with her friend. So she had a ‘fight’ with her childhood friend. “To me, it just sounds like she misunderstood the situation because she doesn’t know the full details.”

Understandably, Tsuna didn’t have many friends, so it must be scary to think that she could lose one of her only friends. From what Tsuna had to say about this Haru girl, she seemed to be a smart and friendly person.

She had strong convictions and she was always ready to get mad at bullies on her behalf. Tsuna was worried about Haru finding out about how she is at school, so she put some distance between them. It worked out because as first years in middle school, they were busy adjusting to a new school.

“I dunno her, but from what you had to say about your Haru friend, she sounds like a good person who cares a lot about you.” Haru didn’t seem to care that Tsuna wasn’t the smartest, nor the most athletic. “I think, if you tried to talk to her again, she’d be willing to listen to you.”

This Haru girl liked Tsuna for her personality, so she should be willing to listen after her initial anger wears off. Surely she’d be willing to listen once she cools off? That’s Yamamoto’s theory, anyways.

He pats Tsuna’s shoulder, comfortingly. “How about this? I’ll get up earlier to walk with you to school tomorrow. I can give you support as you talk to her tomorrow, okay?”

Yamamoto Takeshi, the best support.

[Back to regular scheduled programming. Haru confronts Tsuna and Yamamoto at the bridge]

“Good morning. It’s come to Haru’s attention that Reborn-chan is indeed a hitman and he is in fact training you to become a 10th generation mafia boss. Haru will put aside the fact she’s disappointed that you didn’t say anything to Haru.” Was she not your childhood friend?

Do childhood friends not talk to each other about important things in life? Was finding out you’re an upcoming mafia boss not big news to tell your childhood best friend? HM??? Haru would tell you if she fell in love for the first time (and it wasn’t cake)!

“If all that is true, then that means he’s been training you to be strong.” Haru has always known Tsuna to be a bit timid and weak to confrontations. She didn’t like to have fights with others and she’d much rather let things go than to confront someone.

That didn’t seem like a good quality to have for an upcoming mafia boss. Of course, Tsuna had a good heart. She cared for others and wanted things to be fair. She didn’t like to see others be hurt. That was what Haru liked about her… but… the mafia is different from her nature, isn’t it? Would she be able to fit in?

Did she have what it takes to truly be a mafia boss? (Bianchi may have ‘forgotten’ to mention that Tsuna was against being the next mafia boss and was actively trying to get out of it.)

“Haru understands that the mafia has to be strong and sometimes be cut-throat. If so, you may have to fight against old friends turned foe. Haru doesn’t want to, but-! As a friend, she will test you!” That would explain why she was wearing a suit of armor and holding a hockey stick in the morning.

Haru Miura was always so dramatic and… weird. Yamamoto was looking between Haru and Tsuna worriedly. It was good that it seemed that Haru now understood the situation, but… was Tsuna going to be okay with fighting her friend?

To him, it looked like Haru was very concerned with Tsuna and wanted to make sure her friend had the backbone necessary to be a boss. Otherwise, people would only walk over her and not respect her.

Well, that’s his theory anyways, given how she looks like she’s going to cry as she resolves herself to test her friend.

“Nyahaha! Lambo-san arrives! Reborn, I found you! DIE!” Another kid comes out of no where and throws a few grenades out.

Everyone took cover, but Haru couldn’t move so quickly with the bulky armor she had on. She was launched off the bridge and into the water below.

Surprisingly, before Yamamoto could think to react, Tsuna had already jumped into the water after her friend. It was reminiscent of how she also jumped off the rooftop to save him when he accidentally fell.

Not wanting for Reborn to shoot her with a bullet, resulting in her clothes being blown off, he jumps in right after the both of them. The armor looked heavy, so it would be too much for Tsuna to bring Haru back to safety.

He pulls the both of them to safety and helps them both dry themselves off. Haru changes into the spare clothes that she had hidden away nearby, and Tsuna changed into new clothes as well. A habit because of her clothes always being blasted off.

SNIFF

“Haru is sorry… she was just worried about you, and she was scared that you wouldn’t want to stand up for yourself if anyone disrespects you. Tsu-chan has always been too nice and timid to fight for herself.”

That was a fact that no one could deny. Haru had a pretty good understanding of her friend. She wasn’t well suited to be a mafia boss, but it didn’t seem like there was a choice in the matter.

“Haru thought that she could give you some of her own fighting spirit, you know? Maybe then you’ll be able to handle things… but… Haru sees that you do have a lot of bravery that you show in your own way. Thank you for jumping in after her, Tsu-chan.” Haru smiles, feeling proud of her friend.

She jumped in so soon after Haru was blown off the bridge, so she must not have hesitated. That took a lot of courage to do, and if she had that much courage… surely she’d be fine even if she had to be a mafia boss.

“Haha, I’m just glad that things turned out okay in the end. Usually, Tsuna goes into this crazy wild mode and her clothes go missing, leaving her in her underwear.” Yamamoto explains why he jumped in after the both of them so that Reborn wouldn’t have to act.

“Hahi! Your clothes disappear? That’s no good! If only your underwear survives… perhaps you could consider sportswear underneath your uniform?” That would at least offer a bit more modesty than being in only your undergarments.

She had yet another reason to be worried about her friend now. What girl would want to be found almost naked out in public where people could sneer and oogle? Not on her watch! “It’s settled,” Haru grabs Tsuna’s shoulders, “we’re going shopping this weekend. We’ll find clothes you can wear under your uniform so it’s less revealing. Haru isn’t taking no for an answer.”

The arcobaleno was watching over them chatting at the bank of the river from the bridge after having finished punishing Lambo for his stupidity.

“Hm… she looks like she’ll be a good influence on Tsuna. The necessary feminine touch she needs and a good friend to use as emotional support.” Reborn was impressed by the fact that Haru had recovered so quickly after being blown off the bridge.

Not only that, she accepted the fact that Reborn was a hitman and that Tsuna was a next generation mafia boss, but she still confronted her friend. That took a lot of guts. “She’d be the perfect example of a strong wife to the mafia. Tsuna can learn more from her example, about her guts.”

Of course, Tsuna and Haru's situation would be different. Haru could marry a mafiosi but Tsuna would eventually marry someone into her famiglia and retain her position as the matriarch.

Still, she could learn a thing or two from Haru's guts.

Guess he was going to look into inviting Haru to more things so she can rekindle her friendship with Tsuna again.

“Juudaime! What happened? Was it an attack? Who the hell is this? Get your paws off her, woman!”

“HAHI! WHO IS THIS RUDE RUFFIAN!? Tsu-chan do you know him?” Haru hugs her friend close to her and hisses at the new person who ran up to them. “Haru is Tsu-chan’s childhood friend, you ruffian! Bother Tsu-chan and you’ll answer to Haru!” She hisses again.

It seemed that Haru and Gokudera’s tempers weren’t a very good match because they instantly started fighting with each other.

Yamamoto laughs, “Maa maa, let’s calm down. Tsuna is okay, there was a small incident earlier. Despite how he looks, Gokudera is a decent guy, you know? He’s one of Tsuna’s friends.”

Haru makes a face, to suggest she 100% did not believe Yamamoto. “Haru is okay with you being her friend… but that one… Haru isn’t so sure. He looks like a yankee.” In that moment, Haru vowed to visit Tsuna more often to make sure Gokudera wasn’t being a bad influence on her.

The day Tsuna starts smoking, gets tattoos, or anything, she was going to start a fight with this Gokudera punk.

Round two of Gokudera and Haru fighting with each other.

[Ch.16 Just a small lil thing for when they meet Hibari for the first time in reception room. Mostly to highlight a small change in some dynamics- this will be canon to my portrayal of Hibari if we do thread with Tsu-chan and Hibari.]

The trio of friends were eating their lunch atop of the rooftop, discussing how summer vacation seemed to come and go so quickly that it felt sad. Supplementary classes really didn’t help with the matter, of course.

That’s when Reborn comes in and suggests that they make some kind of a hideout for themselves. A secret base of sorts, which both Yamamoto and Gokudera were in favor of. The sun arcobaleno suggests the reception room as prime real estate for their hideout.

The view is excellent, the geographical location was convenient, and there furniture placed inside the reception were good quality.

“Hee—I didn’t know we had such a good room.” Yamamoto is the first to open the door to look in.

What he and the others didn’t know was that Hibari was already in the room, a dangerous viper ready to strike at the first sign of inconvenience or disobedience.

Still in a bad mood from the previous annoyance from before, Hibari’s patience meter was already teetering on the edge of nonexistence.

Just earlier in the day he’d had to bite a few students for thinking they could gang up against him with their numbers—but this was a lesson Hibari doled out dutifully as the disciplinary committee president.

Did they think he was the ruler of the delinquents for no reason?

“Who are you?”

Yamamoto pauses, recognizing him right away. It was understandable for Gokudera to not know of him yet, even daring to step past him. “Who is he?”

The athlete does try to stop him, “Gokudera, wait…”

“Won’t you put out your cigarette in front of the disciplinary committee president?” He was readying himself to act within a seconds. “Well, either way, I won’t let you get away.”

The tumultuous storm always had a volatile temper and he argues back, which was quickly met with Hibari snuffing out the lit cigarette with his tonfa. With his swift movements, he’d managed to cut the cigarette just shy of taking his nose along with it.

“Put it out.” The gall this student had to smoke on school grounds, and the absolute balls of steel to do so in front of him.

Quick to react, possibly due to his history of being on the streets, Gokudera jumped back.

With how swiftly Hibari acted against Gokudera, Yamamoto knew that this upperclassman was in a league entirely of his own. The reputation preceded him, a guy who would beat up anyone with his tonfas regardless of who they were.

“I really hate weak herbivorous animals that form groups. Whenever I see them, I really want to bite them to death.” It was always the weak animals that thought the answer to their problems was to band together and overpower the strong with their numbers.

Troublesome students would band together with their numbers to challenge his decrees as if they had any power over him.

Tsuna, who was behind both boys wanted to walk past them to look at the reception room herself, but both the boys were highly alert to how much of a threat Hibari was. One could simply chalk it up to chivalry or a sense of duty to protect a girl, neither of them allowed her to get past them.

Hibari had already noticed there was yet another herbivore who had yet to announce themselves to him. What coward had hidden themselves away behind the two bigger herbivores? “Which herbivore is hiding behind you?” He asks casually, which quickly ignited the tension in the room.

In particular, Gokudera was the first to react, his dynamites at the ready. No one would harm his boss while he was still standing, and Yamamoto wasn’t one to let his friend go in on his own, preferring to act as supplementary back up.

With swift movements, Hibari made quick work of Gokudera by deftly sidestepping past him and swiping him across the face with his tonfa. “One.”

Seeing his friend injured, Yamamoto is angered, easily getting into the concentration mode to allow him to dodge past some of Hibari’s attacks, that weren’t made in seriousness (not that he’d know).

Hibari made the quick assessment that Yamamoto Takeshi was the more ‘fun’ of the herbivores that dared encroach his territory. He had good speed, good reflexes, but… it was obvious to his eye that he was protecting his right hand.

Right, he was a favored member of the baseball team who had recently caused a stir within the student body with his rooftop stint. “Are you injured? You seem to be protecting your right hand.” He taunts the baseballer.

That moment of hesitation on Yamamoto’s part gave the elder student the opening to kick him into the all across the room. “Two.”

Cold eyes finally flit over to the final student standing in the doorway. A girl. One who was still in shock over how quickly he dispatched her two friends. No, perhaps they were something akin to bodyguards?

“They won’t be waking up any time soon, I made sure of that.” Hibari walks over to grab Gokudera and Yamamoto by the backs of their shirts.

There was no amusement in beating a terrified and unwilling ‘combatant’ if she could even be called such. As she’d yet to step into the reception room, she was granted amnesty in being spared from disciplinary action.

Not to say that he wouldn’t be against fighting and punishing a female if the situation called for it, but he didn’t see the need to punish someone who hadn’t explicitly warranted such an action.

Dragging both unconscious guys behind him, he walks over to the opened window. It was readily evident that he had intentions of throwing the two out the window, much to Tsuna’s aghast surprise.

Then, a baby appears suddenly, shooting the female student, to Hibari’s surprise. How a baby managed to climb to his floor was surprising enough, but to have also evade his detection until now was another thing entirely.

‘Public indecency?’

+1 to the accruing charges of trespassing, crowding, AND now stripping out of her clothing, screaming loudly about something inane. With those charges stacked against her and her rushing at him, Hibari uppercuts her chin to render her immobile in the quickest way possible.

The shock would be enough to take her out of the fight, and he’d made sure to control the output of his strength as to not crush her chin.

It may leave a bruise, however.

Turning to address the fallen boys, Tsuna gets up and smacks him twice with a slipper, taking him by surprise.

“…” Taking a moment to process what had just happened, he concludes that some herbivorous animal had bared her teeth at him and landed two hits with a rudimentary weapon- a slipper. Looks like he’d underestimated her. “Hey… can I kill you?”

“That’s enough. You’re strong after all.” The baby from before interrupts them.

“I don’t know who you are, but I’m very irritated right now. Would you sit there and wait for me?” No, not even babies would be spared from his ‘tyrannical might,’ so Hibari strikes against the arcobaleno, to only be halted.

It was one surprise after another!

A girl who surprisingly had more bite to her, and a baby who had an impressive amount of skill. “Wao. You’re amazing.”

“Let’s break things up.” Reborn reveals a bomb in his hand and it sets off, allowing Tsuna and the rest of get away safely- for now.

[Ch.22 I REFUSE to allow for them to forget about Tsuna’s birthday for the ‘comedic effect’. If Haru is childhood friends, she’s going to remember and change that. HMPH!]

“How exciting! It’s almost Reborn-chan’s birthday? Of course, Haru would love to help with the preparations for it!” Haru is enthusiastic about the invite to join in the celebrations of Reborn’s birthday.

Haru thought it was odd that Tsu-chan wasn’t the one informing her about the surprise, but then she realized that with how close their birthdays were to each other, this had to be a joint birthday celebration?

With how busy Haru was on the daily, her schedule was always very hectic, and the same could be said for Yamamoto as well who was busy with sports. They sometimes crossed paths by mere coincidence when she got out of tutoring and him out of practice.

That was likely the reason why he brought it up to her being the first one to come across her.

Looking from side to side, she ensures that Tsuna isn’t nearby for the rest of this conversation. “Ne, Haru is just asking out of curiosity, but why aren’t you talking about Tsu-chan’s birthday as well? Are you having separate celebrations?”

If so… why wasn’t she invited? RUDE!

The look of confusion on Yamamot’s face made Haru squint her eyes skeptically. Surely even Tsuna’s mother wouldn’t have forgotten her own daughter’s birthday…? Surely she brought it up at least once?

‘Maybe she’s just been so busy with caring for all the kids it slipped her mind?’

Understanding of how busy Nana could be, maybe that was the reasoning behind it… but it still didn’t sit right with her. “Well… Tsu-chan’s birthday is the day after Reborn-chan’s birthday. Planning two consecutive parties is a lot, so it would make sense to celebrate them together, right?”

Haru Miura is not one to forget important dates, and Tsu-chan’s birthday was one she always remembered every single year. If they couldn’t find the time to celebrate together in person, Haru always made sure to send a small package with a gift to the Sawada household, so it wasn’t like she’d suddenly forget for this year.

“Ah, is it?” Yamamoto laughs awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. He had no idea that it was also her birthday so soon. They’d only been planning the party for Reborn, but they could probably make some changes to the plan to account for Tsuna’s birthday celebrations as well.

No one would want to feel left out or forgotten, after all. Without Haru saying something, Tsuna would’ve felt disappointed or hurt by them forgetting about her.

“That’s the great thing about childhood friends, huh? You’ll make sure to have Tsuna’s back. Let’s think of some ideas to propose to the others to incorporate Tsuna as well to the plans.”

“Hahi! Haru would love that! Ah- but is Gokudera-san going to be attending the planning sessions as well…?” Haru asks quietly.

Yamamoto chuckles, noticing how easily Haru showed her emotions on her face. It was clear that she didn’t get along with him and was hoping that the answer to the question would be ‘no’.

Then again, with how often they bicker whenever they’re in the same room, it was understandable that she didn’t like him very much. “Sorry, I can try talking to him to be less of a hissing cat.”

[I decided that this is a pretty good place to stop. For the most part the rest of what goes on in the daily life arc probably stayed the same or didn’t change much for me to want to highlight it. Mostly manga-centric but I may have took some inspiration from the anime in some areas.]

#Signorinavongola #Neo drabble #Lady Boss AU #((Kinda just a lil thing I wrote for fun but to also kinda help me figure out his characterization in this verse better))#((Also is like a spoiler of sorts I suppose for you so you can see what he should be like))#((I think for the most part I've figured out the initial interactions in the daily arc))#((From there I have most of his actions/thoughts figured out I think))#((I think it's obvious to say but only Lexy is allowed to reblog this. No one else))#((Decided i'm too lazy and tired for icons. Ahaha let me rest after writing all of this in a single day))#NeoRequest Muse only

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kaiowut99 · 3 years

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Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX Episodes 75 and 76 Subbed (Finalized)

(Previously: Episodes 73 and 74 Subbed [Finalized])

(Check out my Subbed!GX Stream Masterpost!)

75: A Field Trip Tag Duel!

For their field trip, the students of the Academia head to Domino Town, the holy dueling land known for producing the likes of Yugi Mutou and Seto Kaiba. Judai and his friends visit Yugi’s childhood house, where they meet Mr. Sugoroku. While exploring the town, Sugoroku is kidnapped--and while Shou and Kenzan argue as they look for him, they are challenged to a Tag Duel by an assassin duo from the Society of Light: Ikazuchimaru and Kourimaru. Kenzan’s dinosaur Monsters find themselves powered down by Mobius Castle as he's dealt the first blow...

76: The Ultimate Combo! Rex Union

Shou and Kenzan’s Tag Duel versus Ikazuchimaru and Kourimaru continues. Ikazuchimaru and Kourimaru are powerful despite their being on bad terms with each other, whittling Shou and Kenzan’s LP down to 1000 early on. Kenzan’s dinosaur Monsters don’t match well with Kourimaru’s Ice deck, while Shou’s vehicle Monsters are stalled by Ikazuchimaru’s System Down and Rampage Condenser Magic Cards. But for all of Shou and Kenzan's arguing, they start working together once they realize that their losing would cause trouble for Judai.

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

Episodes 75 and 76 are now finalized!

These two episodes start off our Domino mini-arc, as the Academia goes on a field trip to the land of dueling legend--which picks up on plot elements that were going to be included in the canned Yu-Gi-Oh! VS GX movie Takahashi had pitched at one point but were reworked into GX Season 2′s story. 75 introduces us to Mizuchi right off the bat (credited as “Shrine Maiden” for only this episode’s credits) and, after we take a trip down memory lane with Sugoroku while Ed and Saiou’s friendship starts to show some cracks, it’s revealed to Shou and Kenzan that she’s related to Saiou.

Through both episodes, we also get some closure on the Shou/Kenzan feuding over Big Bro Judai, after Kenzan reveals he would’ve won if he didn’t feel bad for beating Shou while he was down, and after a rocky start to their Tag Duel vs Ikazuchi/Kourimaru, they come back and put their egos aside to keep Judai from having to deal with them. Ultimately, it’s a futile effort thanks to the Mirror of Duality that Kourimaru activates, but a good one nonetheless. Also do like the Marus’ designs, and it was cool at the time back in 2006 to see the original Monarchs make their anime debut. 76 also has some nice art to it, being a Tea Sun In animation-team episode (and Gil-bo No chipping in with some good key animation), so it’s a fun watch.

In terms of animation and other fixes, 75 and 76 both had a handful of card fixes, while 76 had more in the way of animation error fixes and other quality-of-watching things. As I mentioned before, I also translated the guidebooks Sugoroku wrote held by Shou and Kenzan early in ep. 75 for the eight scenes they appear in. Details under the cut, as always, along with a Translation Note for 75 involving one of Mizuchi’s scenes.

Enjoy, folks; for the next release, I want to get 77-79 out together for a triple treat to avoid just releasing 77 for a cliffhanger, lol. That’ll get us through the Iwamaru duel (poor Honoumaru being shafted) and Judai/Ed vs Mizuchi to close out this mini-arc. Stay tuned!

Fixes/Edits! (75)

As I mentioned above and highlighted in this post, I translated the front cover of the town guidebooks held by Shou and Kenzan in the eight scenes it’s visible in. I first blanked it and applied the translations in the second-to-last shot it’s in--the closeup as the two show them to Sugoroku, which I also used for 75′s preview in 74--then isolated it to manipulate into the other scenes, mainly using AfterEffects’s CC Power Pin effect and then masking the right side of the original cover (with the landmark photos, but above the bottom “Legendary Duelists’ Stomping Grounds” text) on top to make it blend in.

After Kenzan tells Kourimaru that his weakened Dark Driceratops can still defeat his Mobius, Kourimaru activates his Mobius Castle, but in the shot that rapidly zooms out from him while it activates, we see him holding the card with its back facing the camera--which is inconsistent with the close-up just before as he held it up with the front facing the camera. Fixed by first grabbing Mobius Castle’s card art from this close-up shot and touching it up in Photoshop to then make a proxy for it, then applied it in AfterEffects with a Power Pin before I then redid the zoom-out in Sony Vegas.

After the Marus’ Reflector Bit combo ends up making Dark Tyranno’s attack hit Shou for damage, and Kenzan notes that it went in circles, Kourimaru notes that their Reflector Bits are, along with Side Attack, also cards used exclusively in Tag Duels--but the Mobius on his Disk in this shot is in Attack Mode when Kenzan’s Earthquake Magic Card just put it in Defense Mode. Fixed by making a Mobius proxy that I then applied in one frame in AfterEffects, after which I redid the panning shot in Sony Vegas for it.

After Kourimaru tells Ikazuchimaru that he should thank him for letting him hit Shou for damage, Ikazuchimaru draws for his turn and prepares to sacrifice his Thunder Knight for Zaborg, but his Disk shows Thunder Knight in Monster Zone #2, which is where Reflector Bit should be; he summoned Thunder Knight to Zone #4 on his first turn, and Reflector Bit was summoned by Bit Shoot to Zone 2 per its placement on his field here. Fixed this by first using the shot of Kourimaru holding up Reflector Bit earlier to nab its card art and touch it up in Photoshop to make a proxy for it, then did the same for Thunder Knight as Ikazuchimaru held it up on his first turn--once that was done, in AfterEffects, I first applied the Reflector Bit proxy to his second Zone in Attack Mode, masking the orb on his Disk over it, then added a Defense-Mode Thunder Knight to his fourth Zone when it swung into view near the end of the shot for a quick two frames.

TRANSLATION NOTES!

As detailed in this post, after Sugoroku goes missing and Judai & co. split to find him, Mizuchi’s "急々如律令、奉導誓願可、不成就也!" line that leads to the Monarchs’ barrier around Domino Town is an apparent diviner/Taoist favorite that, when rephrased, essentially means "大至急、不成就に導くよう願いたてまつる," or something like "In offering my wishes, may we be led to unfulfillment ASAP"--so, Mizuchi’s line here is beckoning for misfortune to befall Judai et al at once. Part of the delay in getting these done, aside from the fixes listed here for both episodes, was the slight rabbit hole I fell into trying to first transcribe Mizuchi’s line by ear (and failing), then finding it transcribed by a Mizuchi-script Twitter bot, then using some search-fu to get the phrase broken down.

Fixes/Edits! (76)

As the Marus fall out and challenge each other to see who beats Shou or Kenzan first, as Kenzan breaks the fourth wall to call out their cockiness and Shou joins him, there’s a quick couple of frames where the right-side border of the split screen appears on Kenzan’s dino earrings. Fixed it by just copying the previous frame to keep the border still, though while I was there, I also closed Kenzan’s mouth as it was oddly left open after his line.

As Kourimaru jokes that Shou and Kenzan make a great duo as he draws for his turn, as he lifts his Disk to place one card face-down, we see the Defense-Mode Mobius on his Disk reversed (should be facing with the name box to our left); fixed it by applying the proxy correctly in AfterEffects for the two frames of his Disk’s movement, then redid the slow zoom-out on each for a few frames in Vegas.

Just after #2, after Kourimaru switches Mobius to Attack Mode, as he’s declaring its attack, a few things happen as he swings his Disk: first, we see Mobius both in Monster Zone #4 (where it should be) and in Zone #2 (where his Reflector Bit should be), and then we see the card in Zone #2 in Defense Mode when Reflector Bit was left in Attack Mode. Fixed by first applying the Reflector Bit proxy in AfterEffects to Zone #2, then by applying it to Zone #2 in Attack Mode in the second frame and masking the main Disk bit over the card.

As highlighted in this post, as Shou worries that the Element Saurus Kenzan summoned won’t be enough, Kenzan turns back to retort, but for the first few frames of his turning, the orb in the middle of his Disk is red (for “on”) but unlit; fixed by just applying a bright red paint layer over the orb which I Gaussian-Blurred a bit and screen-blended so it just lit up the area.

After Shou summons Shuttleroid and Ikazuchimaru’s Rampage Condenser hits him, as he notes the 500 damage he takes, a few things happen. First, as Shou slides in with the LP counter dropping as he’s hit, there’s a quick frame where there’s an outline for his neck but it’s colored like his hair, all before it’s fixed in the very next frame of movement--which I fixed by just recoloring his neck accordingly in Photoshop. Then, after Ikazuchimaru says that Zaborg’s counterattack on Shuttleroid will finish Shou off, Shou starts to raise his head to say he never said anything about having it attack him, but his neck is missing for most of this, as the area is fully colored as part of his hair for these two frames, and then suddenly it’s all neck and no hair--fixed again by recoloring the area to define his neck and hair based on the previous no-issue frames. After that, Ikazuchimaru gasps in surprise, but his hair suddenly invades the top-right of Shou’s split-screen and stays there for the rest of the shot--fixed by just masking in the same part from a previous no-issue frame in Sony Vegas, along with holding the previous correction to Shou’s no-hair neck. Next, Shou lifts his head again to say that he’s attacking Element Saurus, but it’s still all neck and no hair for the two movement frames involved, until he’s done lifting his head, where he’s correctly drawn without any issues, with his well-defined hair and neck--fixed here by again recoloring the neck/hair area for those two movement frames, holding the fix to the top-right corner of Shou’s split. Finally, as the split-screen splits to show Element Saurus, first we see that Shou’s side moves but Ikazuchimaru’s stays still without a change in background behind the split-screen, all while a second split-screen is seemingly moving behind Shou’s up top; then, we see Shou’s side of the split-screen take a few frames longer to leave the shot than Ikazuchimaru’s--fixed all this by redoing the split-screen’s split over an Element Saurus still and having them leave the shot simultaneously while keeping Shou’s side consistent. (You can see all this in these gifs; the original, and my fix [may just need to give them a minute to load])

After Kenzan activates Ultimate Evolution Pill, as he swings his arm around with his Dyna Base card, there’s a quick few frames where only the card outline is visible; they seemingly forgot to add the card itself there. Fixed by making (in Photoshop) and applying (in AfterEffects) a Dyna Base proxy, darkened a bit as it was under Kenzan’s hand.

As Shou swings his arm around to activate Vehicroid Connection Zone, there’s a quick frame where he swings his hand a frame over before the card joins it, resulting in awkward black space (a similar error happened in ep. 65). Fixed it by masking in the correctly placed card from the next frame over the frame in question.

After Shou explains that Super Vehicroid -- Rex Union inherits Super Conductor Tyranno’s effect (which actually doesn’t end up being used) and can attack twice, Kourimaru and Ikazuchimaru come in on a split-screen to react in shock, but Ikazuchimaru’s side actually comes in first for a few frames before Kourimaru’s joins it. Fixed by holding Shou and Kenzan still as I redid the split-screen over them to make sure the two sides came in simultaneously.

As Kourimaru faces down his half of Rex Union’s attack, the light on his Disk’s orb isn’t on; fixed by just applying the red light to it in a frame after it unblurs on him in Photoshop, then redid the Gaussian un-Blurring as the camera focused on him in Vegas.

#GX #yugioh gx #yugioh #ygo #ygo gx #Shou Marufuji #Tyranno Kenzan #Ikazuchimaru #Kourimaru #Mizuchi Saiou #my subs #phew #really do dig this mini-arc tho #the nostalgia was heavy the first time through #always wished we did get that DM-GX crossover movie #also have to revisit my 'finalized' 52 subs bc i was tipped off to a card error i should've picked up on lol #stay tuned for that

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fanfictionaries · 4 years

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Oh So Many Years: Ch. 5 - It Was You

Pairing: Hermione Granger x Fred Weasley

Summary:

Just when Hermione thought nothing worse could plague her than her constant nightmare, she has a very different kind of dream. How is she ever going to look Ronald in the face again? All she wanted was to do well in her classes, get S.P.E.W. off the ground, and finally get a good nights sleep.

Fred continues to find himself more than amazed at the infinite facets of Hermione Granger.

Warnings: Swearing, Death, Smut/18+ NSFW

Author’s Note: A second update this week because I like you guys so much! :)

I will now be updating this story every week before midnight on Sundays (US MST)! Please feel free to like, comment, and reblog! xoxo

Masterlist

<< Chapter 4

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Moments fall like crimson nights Some stick to my skin tonight Take a breath and shake them off Eyes ahead, don't you wait too long

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“If I have to write one more word about the goblin rebellions, I think I might off myself.” Ron threw down his quill, ink splotching across this parchment, and let his head fall into his hands.

“Be careful. If you do, I guarantee Professor Trelawney will say she predicted it all along because Venus was in retrograde and you’re a Pisces,” Harry responded flatly, resulting in a smile from Ron.

Hermione would never admit it, but she secretly agreed with Ron. While not quite as distressed as her ginger friend, she did find the weekly essays assigned by Professor Binns tedious and incredibly lacking in challenge. Perhaps she found the whole thing tiresome because she already knew everything there was to know about the goblin rebellions, but it also didn’t help that the ghostly professor was about as exciting as an old shoe.

“Hermione…” Ron drew out her name like he had just come to an idea. Hermione, very familiar with this tone, knew exactly what his idea was.

“No,” she responded sternly, scribbling away at her own parchment about the various defense tactics utilized by the goblins.

“Pleeeaaase?”

“No.”

“Pleeeeeeaaaaaaase?”

She sighed. “I will edit and revise Ronald Weasley, and nothing more.”

“You’re the best, honestly.” Ron grinned and picked up his quill again, dipping it in his ink and scribbling away with renewed energy. His stupid grin made Hermione smile and roll her eyes before returning to her own essay. While she wished that Ron and Harry could just do their own work themselves, she did realize that not everyone had the discipline that she had. However, that didn’t mean she had to stop trying to get them to work harder. She knew for a fact that their potential far exceeded their marks.

They worked in silence for a while, the scratching of quill on parchment and shuffle of students walking past filling Hermione’s ears as her brain turned over, pulling out fact after fact.

In a blazing sense of pride, she finished her last sentence, tying her conclusion together perfectly, and placed her quill down on the table. At the click, both Ron and Harry looked over to her with wide eyes of disbelief.

“You’re finished already?” gaped Harry.

“I’ve barely gotten three paragraphs written. How can you possibly be finished already?!” exclaimed Ron. Hermione shushed him, glancing over at Madame Pince’s disapproving glare.

“Some of us, Ronald, utilize our time efficiently,” Hermione responded coolly as she placed her things back into her bag. She didn’t bother mentioning that she spent her last three hours in the library as opposed to their meager thirty minutes, or that she took her break after morning Transfiguration to study as well. Her eyes itched from staring at off-white pages and black script and for once she finished all her work and read ahead in all her classes. It probably had something to do with the fact that she was attending five less classes than the previous year.

There was also the small fact that she no longer slept. Nearly a month into school and she still barely slept four hours a night. When panic inducing nightmares weren’t causing her to toss and turn, she was studying. And when she wasn’t studying, she was working on her new endeavor – the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, otherwise known as S.P.E.W. Ever since the Quidditch World Cup and the horrid treatment of Winky, the house elf, she knew she had to do something. This became even more clear when she found out Hogwarts was run almost entirely on house elf labor. In all her years never did she imagine that her beloved school used essentially slavery to cook and clean. It was wrong. It was barbaric. One would assume that in a world filled with magic, where one was only limited to the bounds of one’s imagination, they would be a bit more progressive. Unfortunately, though, it seemed to be the opposite. In fact, Hermione had never met a group of people so routed in their ways as the wizarding world. Of course, it would be foolish to assume that an entire world would be impermeable to prejudices when the muggle world was not.

Therefore, where all of her time was normally spent in the Gryffindor common room with Harry and Ron or watching the Gryffindor quidditch team practice on the pitch, she now spent it nose deep in a book or attempting to recruit new S.P.E.W. members. Her absence had not gone unnoticed – in fact, it became so blatantly clear that Harry confronted her outright between Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures.

“I don’t understand Hermione, is it something I’ve done?” Harry ran a hand through his unruly locks, distress obvious on his face.

“No, it’s nothing you’ve done Harry,” Hermione picked at her nails, feeling uncomfortable.

“Was it, Ron? I’m sure whatever he said, he didn’t mean it.” Hermione ignored the grating irritation at Harry’s blind defense of Ronald.

“No, it’s not Ron.”

“Then what? Come on Hermione, you know you can tell me anything.”

Hermione looked at her best friend and sighed. His kind eyes shone from behind his round spectacles with sincerity and concern.

“I’m not avoiding you or Ron. I’m just stressed about our O.W.L.s next year—" she paused “—You can never be too prepared, and I need to do well on them.”

Harry looked at her with a confused expression, “Hermione, they’re not for another year! Are you seriously stressing over something so far away?”

“Yes? No? I guess…I guess I’m just used to studying all the time. You know, what with the time-turner last year and all. And then of course there’s S.P.E.W. No one seems to care at all that these poor elves are being worked day and night without any pay. I mean, it’s horrendous!” Hermione half-lied, feeling stupid as the words left her mouth. She wanted to be honest with Harry, but she didn’t know how. The real reason felt stupid. What was she to say? Sorry I’ve thrust myself into my work more than ever Harry; I just can’t stop having nightmares about something that happened nearly two months ago and I’m trying to distract myself.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, “I get it.”

“You do?” His remark caught her off guard as she wasn’t even sure if she understood it.

“You’re an absolute swot. Don’t get me wrong, we all love that about you, but you need to learn when to relax and have some fun,” Harry finished with a grin.

“You prat—” Hermione hit his arm with the back of her book “—Don’t call me a swot. But you’re right. I need balance.”

“And I guess as appointed Secretary of S.P.E.W., I could do a bit more for the cause.”

Hermione lit up at the words. “Really? Oh Harry, thank you so much! I’m making more buttons tonight, maybe you could help me? Then tomorrow we can try and canvas some of the other houses for new members!”

“Well, if you’re so efficient, you should be able to help me finish mine!” argued Ron desperately, bringing Hermione back to the present.

“Ronald, I told you before. I’m not doing your assignment for you. You have to learn it on your own,” she whispered.

“When am I ever going to need to know about all the goblin leaders? Besides, you like doing this sort of stuff.”

“Ronald, I said n—”

“Lovers’ quarrel?”

Merlin, Hermione thought at the sound of unified voices. Rolling her eyes, she turned to see Fred and George standing behind her.

“Hey Fred, hey George,” Harry greeted them cheerfully, placing his quill down – happy for an excuse to stop working.

“Hullo Harry,” they responded in unison.

“Any progress on entering our names for the tournament?” Ron asked expectantly. Much to Hermione’s disproval, Fred and George promised him a try at whatever they whipped up as soon as they knew it was successful, and Ron had not stopped talking about it.

“We’re nearly there,” George grinned.

“So, we’ll know in about two days whether it works or not,” said Fred, leaning against a bookshelf casually. Two days? Hermione thought with alarm. Was it really the 29th of October already? That meant the students from Beauxbaton and Durmstrang, the other competing schools, were to arrive tomorrow evening! She needed to go back to her dormitory and rework her schedule. She had no room to pencil in excitement and new student arrival that week. She opened her planner to begin revising.

“How confident are you that it’ll work?” asked Ron, leaning forward in excitement.

“Extremely,” the twins answered.

Hermione let out an indecent snort and rolled her eyes again. Fools.

“Something you’d like to add Granger?” asked George, looking over at her.

“Yes, hullo to you also. So nice of you to acknowledge us in a friendly manner,” accused Fred sarcastically.

“I think some lessons are best learned through experience, rather than lecture,” said Hermione, carefully picking her words before tucking her planner into her bag and slinging it over her shoulder.

“But you love to lecture us, are you sure you aren’t raring to tell us how wrong we are?” asked Fred, fluttering his eyelashes sweetly.

Hermione gave a short laugh, “Please. I know a lost cause when I see one.”

“A lost cause? You hear that Georgie? We’re a lost cause.”

“I don’t know…sounds to me like she’s just afraid of a challenge Freddie.”

“It’s not a challenge if all I’m doing is slowly melting my brain trying to reason with the pair of you,” scoffed Hermione.

“Oh, I can melt your brain just fine, if that’s what you’d like,” stated Fred, stepping forward cockily.

“Is your wit really so primitive that you have to resort to sexual innuendo all the time?” Hermione asked, her heart rate picking up in her chest as their conversation turned more heated.

“Sexual innuendo? I have no idea what you’re referring to Granger. I was merely saying I might be smarter than you think. Are you sure you aren’t projecting a bit there?”

“You’re a child,” Hermione bit back, feathers ruffled that Fred seemed to be over his initial shock response to her comebacks and instead was meeting her beat for beat. His eyes held a shine to them as he smiled down at her in excitement.

“Resorting to name-calling now? I thought higher of you,” sighed Fred, tapping the end of her nose condescendingly. Hermione batted his hand away, feeling her hair begin to crackle. She was getting too upset. She needed to calm down and show him that she was better than him.

Taking a small, calming breath, she straightened her posture before replying, “That doesn’t surprise me Frederick. I’m sure it’s easy to think highly of me when your potential is so low.”

Hermione took that moment to make her exit. Turning on her heel, she walked out of the library, not bothering to say goodbye to anyone. A warm flush covered her face and bled down her neck as she scurried through the halls. Adrenaline pumped through her system. Despite his ample fight, she felt quite confident that she won the battle. His lack of biting response as she left, supported as much. Departing before he could speak might have been a cheap way to go about it, but she reasoned there was no clean way to fight when it came to the Weasley twins. A small giggle bubbled up in her chest as she replayed the conversation in her head. Invigorated by the whole event, she ran the rest of the way to the Gryffindor tower. Rounding corners and sprinting up staircases, exhaustion filled her small frame by the time she came upon the portrait of the Fat Lady. Her lungs ached from the exercise and her shoulder and back ached from the heavy books weighing her bag down. She gasped the password through pants and entered as she tried to catch her breath. Fellow Gryffindors cast odd looks in her direction as she scurried up the stairs to the girls’ dormitories, but she didn’t care. Her room was empty and for that she was grateful. The last thing she wanted was a forced conversation with Lavender or Pavarti. Perhaps the physical exertion would act as a sleeping agent and she would finally fall into a deep and peaceful sleep. Best to ride the wave and go to bed while I’m still tired¸ she thought. Sluggishly, she changed out of her uniform and crawled into bed. Nagging thoughts tugged at the back of her mind, telling her to brush her teeth, but the exhaustion in her body told her to sleep. Ultimately her body won, and sleep took over.

Hermione’s mind swam the next day as she sat in double potions with the Slytherins. It was nearing the end of class and Professor Snape was taking the time to explain to them why their potions had been improperly brewed in one way or another. Hermione’s hadn’t of course, but that didn’t stop him from berating her for being an ‘insufferable little know-it-all’, and then accusing her of helping any student that didn’t manage to burn a hole in their cauldrons. She diligently took notes as Snape droned on and on, but her mind failed to connect to the words she was writing down on the parchment. All thoughts and worries were currently focused on an embarrassing personal crisis. The dream.

While Hermione thought nightmares were the worst thing, she could possibly endure in her sleeping state, she had to admit she had been wrong. No, apparently there was something much, much worse stewing in her brain waiting for vulnerable unconsciousness to leap out and take form.

She had been in the library, wandering through the sections of towering shelves when she appeared in a section, she was unfamiliar with. Turning a corner her eyes grew wide at the sight of two older students locked in an intimate embrace. Her heart started to race, and her breathing began to pick up as she felt a tingling sensation in the pit of her stomach. She tried to leave but found herself unable to move – her feet glued to the floor. That’s when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist and a pair of lips kissing up her neck. Her hands went up, one grabbing at the fingers that dug roughly into her flesh and the other threading itself through long thick hair. She turned her head only to see that the hair between her fingers was a brilliant shade of ginger. The realization was so shocking to her that she awoke from her dream, sitting ramrod straight – heart pounding, sweat-slicked, and breathing heavily.

Her face blushed just thinking about it. Turning her head casually to the right, she spied one of her best friends. Ronald Weasley sat next to Harry, slumped forward in his seat, head resting in his hand. His long hair hung way past his eyes, concealing them completely. Hermione, knowing Ron, would bet on her life that they were closed, and he was verging on sleep. She knew he wasn’t fully asleep though, because if he were there would be loud snores coming from his direction. Him. He was the one her mind decided to fantasize about. Why? She studied him, her eyes tracing the freckles on the bridge of his nose. He wasn’t bad looking; she always quite liked his hair and pale complexion. He had a kind heart and could be quite charming when he wanted to be, the problem was that rarely did he want to be. He could be quite cruel and insensitive without knowing it, and he didn’t care for much other than Quidditch. Is that really what she wanted in a partner? Hermione scoffed at her mental ramblings. Here she was, wondering if Ronald Weasley were her potential first love without considering that he would probably never be interested in her. After all, her hair was a bushy, frizzy mess, her teeth were far too big for her mouth, and her otherwise plain features left much to be desired. Not to mention her overall swotty personality. Still, hadn’t he told her that she was ‘the best’? And he certainly didn’t mind being her friend. What if he did like her?

“Miss Granger, is there something on Mr. Weasley’s face that’s so interesting that you cannot be bothered to pay attention?” The sound of Professor Snape’s voice brought Hermione out of her thoughts, and she looked up to find all eyes on her. The Slytherins snickered around her, and Ron and Harry looked at her in surprise. Hermione felt her face flush with embarrassment.

“No Professor, my apologies,” she mumbled, looking down at her notes.

“Five points from Gryffindor for Miss Granger’s lack of interest. Class dismissed,” snipped Professor Snape as he turned towards his office. Hermione packed her bag and exited the classroom as quickly as possible.

“What was that all about?” Harry asked, him and Ron catching up to her with ease.

“Sorry guys, I got lost in thought and didn’t realize where I was looking. I guess I should have been paying attention,” Hermione stammered, readjusting her bag on her shoulder.

“No problem Hermione. Snape’s a git and no one blames you. I was almost asleep near the end there too,” Ron piped in with a friendly smile. Hermione felt her stomach flip.

“Thanks Ronald.” She smiled back.

“Looks like we’ve got ourselves a couple of love birds, boys,” Draco Malfoy sneered as he came up beside them. “When’s the wedding? I’m sure it’ll be just lovely, or at least as lovely as five knuts’ll get you.”

Hermione scowled at the silver-hair bully, with all his sharp pointed features and disgustingly greasy demeanor, as he laughed along with his goons. She rolled her eyes and grabbed both Harry and Ron by the arm, leading them on towards the front of the castle. Ridiculous. That’s what she was being. It was ridiculous to waste her time worrying about some absurd dream when that’s all it was – a dream. Besides, she didn’t know for certain it was Ron who she dreamed about. There were plenty of red heads in the world.

Outside the main entrance they found Ginny next to Neville in a crowd of students.

“Did we miss anything?” asked Ron, looking excitedly about.

“Nothing yet, you’ve made it just in time I think!” Ginny exclaimed in glee. The castle was in a fit of excitement. Even the Slytherins, who didn’t find much joy in anything school related, seemed to be chomping at the bit for their guests to arrive and the Triwizard Tournament to finally take off. Hermione, too, was excited but more at the thought of getting to meet students from other magical schools. She had taken the liberty of reading as much as she could on the histories of both Durmstrang and Beauxbaton and was informing Ginny on their key similarities and differences when several gasps and shouts erupted around them.

“Look!” Ginny yelled, pointing up at the sky above them. Hermione followed her finger upwards to see a large horse-drawn carriage flying through the clouds, pulled by a dozen flying horses the size of elephants. She watched as they soared through the air, their wings pumping up and down in synchronization. The size of the horses was comparable to what they were pulling, for as it got closer, Hermione estimated the carriage to be at least twice the size of her home back in Hampstead. The carriage floated prettily, a pale cream embellished with pastel blue designs and gold trim. Obviously of French provincial style, she concluded that this was clearly the Beauxbaton students. So enthralled by the ornate and bordering ostentatious carriage and the horses pulling it, Hermione failed to notice heads turning and mouths gaping at the Black Lake. In fact, her gaze only broke away from the magnificent beasts when Ron elbowed her from behind. She turned to scold him, but caught her tongue when she noticed a daunting, black ship floating on the lake. It rocked back and forth, sending large waves crashing away from it on the usually glass-smooth surface. Hermione thought it very much resembled what happened when you dropped a large rock into a pond and wondered how it got there. Someone was sure to tell her later – there were plenty of witnesses.

“Way to make an entrance!” exclaimed Ron, followed by loud whoops and cheers as he clapped.

“A bit flashy, if you ask me,” Pansy Parkinson sniffed from a nearby group of Slytherins.

“She’s one to talk,” Hermione mumbled under her breath.

“Hah!” a boisterous laugh sounded behind her. Hermione swiveled and caught a pair of hazel eyes looking at her.

Fred leaned towards her. “Nice one Granger,” he complimented over the babble of conversation around them. His warm breath fell on her neck, all too reminiscent of her dream. Her body jerked to attention, heat creeping up her face before she smiled politely and turned away from the older boy.

“They’re coming up to the entrance!” Seamus Finnigan announced. Hermione thanked Merlin for the distraction and looked down the path leading to the front of the castle. Sure enough, there was a large group of individuals walking towards them. As they neared, the Hogwarts students cheered and applauded them, trying to welcome the foreign students like Professor Dumbledore advised. Hermione clapped softly as the first students approached. A tall and unsettling man led the group. His dark hair, speckled with bits of silver, sat heavy on his head, slicked back from his angular face. The sharp features and the long, grey goatee gave him an ominous appearance fueled even further by the deep scowl set into his mouth and piercing black eyes. He wore midnight black robes paired with a brilliantly white fur pelt over his shoulders. Igor Karkaroff. Headmaster of Durmstrang. The students behind him wore robes of deep crimson, the color sharing an eerie resemblance to the color of blood. Like their headmaster, they too donned thick furs to fight the crisp cold, only theirs held a rich color of brown. They looked incredibly warm. Subconsciously, Hermione pulled her wool robes closer around her as a strong breeze blew around them.

“Bloody hell! It’s him!” Ron shouted, his voice taking on a hysterical tone.

“Who?” asked Harry.

“Victor Krum! It’s Victor Krum! Right there in the front!” Ron pushed himself forward and past Hermione to get a better look at the famous Quidditch player coming towards them. With Ron’s tall figure in front of her, she failed to confirm whether the Bulgarian seeker truly lead the group of Durmstrang students. Ron’s excitement only increased as the visiting students got closer and then passed them into the castle.

“Ronald! I can’t see!” Hermione pounded lightly on Ron’s back with her fists until he snapped out of his star struck trance. The ginger boy turned around, a sheepish grin across his face.

“Sorry about that Hermione. Here.” Awkwardly, Ron shifted over and led Hermione to the front by her waist. For the second time that afternoon a Weasley boy reminded her of her dream, Ron’s touch all too like the arms that held her sensually the night before. She took a small step forward, putting distance between herself and Ron’s grasp. The students from Beauxbaton were the next to make their way down the path. The crowd gawked at the elegant French students as they walked poised and beautiful down the cobblestone in their blue silk uniforms. Hermione, on the other hand couldn’t help but find them annoying. They shivered and chattered their teeth in such an exaggerated manner and looked up at the castle with such disgust and judgement that she immediately took a disliking to them.

“For Merlin’s sake! It’s not that cold,” Hermione groaned as the boys and girls huddled together for warmth. Hermione thought them incredibly rude and found it idiotic that they did not think to wear warmer robes. However, someone in their party evidently had sense, as their headmistress sauntered up the path in a heavy shawl, completely unbothered by the cold. Although, Hermione wasn’t sure anything could bother the woman as she stood twelve feet tall and sturdy. A neutral expression, bored some might even call it, covered her face and despite her size, she too glided gracefully across the ground. As they walked past, Hermione could hear little bits and pieces of snide remarks from the Beauxbaton students. Apparently, they thought Hogwarts would be much nicer than it was. Hermione couldn’t believe her ears. She assumed that as guests, they would have much better manners.

“Honestly, can you believe that rubbish?” Hermione exclaimed, turning to Ron and Harry behind her. Instead of meeting commiserating sentiments like she expected, the pair continued to stare at the Beauxbaton students until they disappeared completely into the castle. Their mouths hung open widely, making them look quite dumb, and Hermione turned to Ginny with a questioning look. Ginny shrugged, also confused over her brother and Harry’s behavior.

Hermione waved her hand in front of the pairs’ faces.

“Hullo! Are you two listening to me?” she asked, frowning.

“Bloody hell, did you see her?” Ron asked, in more of a trance than when he saw Krum.

“Yeah…” Harry said dreamily.

“See who?” Hermione questioned. What was wrong with them? They hadn’t acted like this since…oh goodness. Not since the Veelas at the Quidditch World Cup.

“Ahhhh it seems our poor baby brother has fallen victim,” George stated woefully, placing a hand on Hermione’s shoulder. She looked up at him and then back down at his hand.

“Why are you fine?” she asked, shrugging off his hand.

“Oh, Alicia and Angelina were sure to snap us out of it,” Fred stated, then placing his hand on her shoulder.

“And how exactly did they do that?” She raised an eyebrow, shrugging off his hand as well.

“Like this!” the twins shouted before reeling back and smacking both Harry and Ron in the back of the head. The two fourth year Gryffindors yelled out in pain, grasping at their heads before spinning around and glaring at Fred and George.

“What the hell was that for?!” Harry barked.

“You were drooling mates,” George smirked.

“And it’s time to go back in,” Fred pointed behind them at the entrance to the castle where most of the students were filing through already.

They followed the crowd back into the castle and through the corridor into the Great Hall. It seemed the Durmstrang students took a special liking to the Slytherins as almost all of them were seated at their table. The Beauxbaton students seated themselves at the Ravenclaw table, much to Ronald’s disdain. And it was Ronald’s unhappiness that also fueled Hermione’s sore mood as well. Silently she ate her dinner and watched as Ron fawned and drooled and ogled the girls from Beauxbaton for the entirety of the night. When a particularly pretty one approached their table asking him for the bouillabaisse, Ron was left speechless.

“Honestly, Ronald. She’s just a girl. You know, like every other girl in this school. Including myself,” Hermione tried to reason with him.

Eyes still trained on the French beauty, Ron responded with incredulity, “That’s ridiculous Hermione. She’s no girl. That right there is a woman. Leagues above any girl here at Hogwarts.”

A woman? What did that even mean? She was only a few years older than Hermione. She didn’t even look that much older. Hermione turned her attention back to the food on her plate and found that she had lost her appetite. So instead, she pulled a book from her bag and buried herself behind it, slowly sinking lower into her seat as the night went on. She missed the moment they revealed the cup that competitors were to put their name in, too engrossed in the words on the page, and when dinner was over, she was the first to leave the Great Hall. Only, she didn’t head straight for the common room like she usually did. Instead, her feet carried her through the castle until she found herself in the library once again. As she seated herself in her favorite corner, she was reminded of something Professor Trelawney had said her third year. ‘Oh you may be young in years, but the heart that beats beneath your bosom is as shriveled as an old maid’s, your soul as dry as the pages of the books to which you so desperately cleave.’

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“Another potion successfully made brother.” Fred grinned, stretching the muscles in his neck and back.

Fred and George Weasley currently sat in an abandoned classroom as they finished the answer to all their problems. Well past curfew, the pair had just filled two vials with the clear aging potion and capped them triumphantly.

“I’d say that one was particularly easy, wouldn’t you?” George replied, standing up.

“As easy as beating Percy in a game of wits.”

“Off to bed then?”

“Actually, I think I may pop down to the kitchen and grab myself a bite to eat. Clean up here?” Fred asked, motioning around the room. The classroom was their own personal haven; tucked away in an old corner of the castle that few ventured it was their go-to space for all their inventing and brewing needs. It was only thanks to their time with the Marauder’s Map that they knew about it.

“Yeah. See you in the morning Freddie.” George waved goodbye as Fred exited the classroom and headed down towards the kitchens. The low light of the hallway candles washed the castle in a soft glow that contrasted with the icy chill of nighttime. The castle was always cold at night. However, the frigid temperature didn’t bother Fred Weasley as much as usual that night. He was far too excited to be bothered by much of anything, really. Tomorrow was the big day. They were going to enter their names into the Goblet of Fire, and it was going to be glorious. Fred had no idea if one of them would even be picked to compete, but just the idea of winning the prize money was enough to keep a spring in his step and a surge of determination coursing through his veins.

He kept quiet as he tip-toed through the halls, just in case Filch was lurking around corners. Turning down the last corridor he was surprised to see, not the scraggly old Mr. Filch, but the familiar figure of a bushy-haired fourth year. Hermione Granger stood in front of a picture on the wall, the torches in front of her illuminating her and making her hair glow like an ethereal halo.

“Hermione?”

She spun around, glancing back and forth, looking like a frightened animal. Fred stepped closer, out of the shadows so she could see him more clearly. He watched her relax, her shoulders dropping from her ears and slumping forward. She laughed lightly.

“Merlin’s beard, Frederick! You scared me!” Hermione exclaimed with an edge of relief in her voice.

“Shhhh!” Fred hushed her, rushing forward, and covering her mouth with his hand. “Do you want to wake the whole castle with your yelling or just Filch in particular?”

Hermione’s eyes widened in alarm. She stiffened beneath him, the two of them silently listening for any signs of Filch or his wretched cat, Mrs. Norris. When Fred failed to hear anything, he let out a breath of relief and looked down at the little witch in his arms. Suddenly he was awash with the memory of the last time the two of them had been that close. The night in the forest when they were hiding for their lives. He removed his hand and stepped back.

“I didn’t realize it was so late. I was coming back from the library and decided to go for a bit of a walk,” whispered Hermione, looking up at him under the glowing light of the torches. “How are we going to get back to the tower without being seen?”

“Simple. I know a shortcut. Come on.” Fred grabbed Hermione’s hand, pulling her along with him down the corridor. Her hand was small and cold but fit surprisingly well in his own. His stomach growled, and mournfully he thought of the late-night snack he originally set out to get. He continued down the halls at a quick pace until they reached the tapestry he had been looking for. Tapping his wand five times at its center, he pulled back the tapestry to reveal a hidden passageway. He let go of Hermione’s hand and the two slipped behind the tapestry, letting it fall back into place behind them.

“Lumos,” Fred spoke softly, lighting the dark space with the tip of his wand.

“Amazing, this must be one of the secret passageways on the Marauders’ Map,” marveled Hermione.

They made their way down the narrow passage, taking up a leisurely pace, not feeling the pressure of getting caught by Filch or his cat. The shuffling of their feet on the cold stone filled the silent space around them as they climbed up stairways and weaved around corners. As they walked, a nagging thought pricked at the back of Fred’s mind until he couldn’t help but voice it.

“So, walks about the castle past curfew. I didn’t take you for the type Granger,” Fred teased. Hermione let out a loud and vulgar scoff. Fred turned, looking down at her incredulously, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

The young witch lifted her chin in indignation, “What sort of type did you take me for?”

Fred shrugged, “You know, the good girl type. Doesn’t get into trouble. Doesn’t break rules. Perfect Prefect material.”

“I’ll have you know I break plenty of rules.”

“Yeah, but only when it’s Harry or Ron’s idea,” pressed Fred, hoping to goad her into revealing something he didn’t already know.

“That’s not true!” She turned her head and glared at him.

“No, don’t believe it.” Fred shook his head.

“Well, believe it because it’s true.”

“Prove it.”

“Prove it?”

“Yeah, tell me one rule that you’ve broken that wasn’t Harry or Ron’s idea.” He glanced at the younger witch out of the corner of his eye. Her brows were scrunched together, her pink lips pouting as she thought. Then her face opened in excitement, eyebrows lifting and mouth opening, revealing her large front teeth below her upper lip.

“In first year, it was my idea for Harry to sneak into the restricted section of the library over Christmas holiday,” she stated proudly.

“That doesn’t count! You only thought of the idea; you made Harry do all the dirty work,” countered Fred.

“Alright, in second year I brewed Polyjuice in the girl’s lavatory and nicked lacewing flies from Professor Snape’s office to do it,” said Hermione triumphantly as they reached the end of the passageway, coming out the other side right next to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Hermione spun around, crossing her arms in front of her as she waited for his response.

“Who’d have thought that the Hermione Granger was such a delinquent,” praised Fred, grinning widely. He was truly impressed. He had no idea that the bright little witch had it in her to steal from a teacher.

Hermione sniffed haughtily. “That’ll teach you to underestimate me, Frederick Weasley,” she stated coolly, but her golden brown eyes shown with flee, like he had just given her the best compliment in the world. He then watched in awe as she turned around, mutter the password, and disappeared through the portrait into Gryffindor tower.

“It sure will Granger, it sure will.”

Chapter 6 >>

Taglist:

@theworldisugly-22

#fremione #fred x hermione #fred weasley #hermione granger #slow burn #fan fic #fan fiction #harry potter

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lightanddarklove · 5 years

Text

Connverse Week Day 2: Singing

Singing while Sloshed

Rated: Teen | Tw: Drinking/ Drunkenness

This is obscenely long for what was supposed to be a drabble so I'm just going to link @susoftjockau, they’re incredibly wholesome and cute.

Edit: I may have gotten a few things wrong because I posted at 3 am, & this is an unbeta’d work. Also, being that I am not affiliated with the SJ AU, I don’t know if Fiona’s personality at all fits within its standard. If there’s another cheerleader character that her actions would make more sense for, I can totally change it. Its Connverse focused after all.

The first song Steven's riffing on is "It's Only Love" (though you may know it as Michelle) by The Beatles. The second song is "Love Like You," Steven Universe's extended credits theme.

I am continuing this for thursday’s prompt, together, as I orginally wanted them to have a conversation in the morning but at 3 am I had to call this done. I wrote over 4k words in one day that I was off from work and I can’t be doing that again, or staying up later, haha.

Lastly, the idea that Steven only likes sweet alcoholic bevs is hardwired into me, as someone who hates beer and wine, I think he wouldn't like them either. I mean he doesn't like energy drinks for stars sake (he makes a face when drinking one in Kevin Party), what about beer would be appealing when he can have wine coolers and ciders?

Anyway, feedback makes me smile, even if you tell me about typos or that I could be doing something better. Please let me know of I neglected any tags I should mention. Thanks for reading!

Edit 2: Tumblr mobile ate this post so when I got back home and tried to fix i the format didn’t have my readmore, so if you reblog it won’t be as much of a wall of text anymore. Sorry!

A night at a party for College-age Steven and Connie results in one too strong drink, a clumsy walk home, and embracing each other through the tears. Hurt-Comfort in the Soft Jock AU. Established relationship, but no significant physical intimacy. Rated T for drinking and one use of mild language. Some depression talk and self esteem issues too. Teen.

Steven had been sitting at a table, enjoying the music and sipping a soda in a red plastic cup until all that was left was ice. He was waiting for Connie to finish her conversation with Natalie across the room. He bobbed his head lightly to the music playing from the speaker by the doorway. He was smiling at Connie until Fiona came to sit down in front of him. He sat up a bit straighter and looked at her.

“Hey Fiona,” he said.

“You sticking around, Universe? Or you itching to get out of here,” asked Fiona.

“I wouldn’t say I’m itching to get out of here,” he replied. “But Connie and I were looking to leave soon.”

“Do you want another drink before you go?”

“Well, I did already have 2 wine coolers earlier, so I think I’m done for the night.”

“Really,” she asked. “I mean, how long ago was that? Like 10?”

“10:30,” he replied. “But I have to get home soon, anyway.”

“That was almost 2 hours ago.” She said. “You can have another drink. I’ll be right back, wait here. You like soda and orange flavor, right?” She began to stand and he tried to wave her back.

“Don’t trouble yourself for me, Fiona.”

“If you like soda and fruit juices, you’ll like it. You can barely taste the alcohol, the way I make it. Don’t go anywhere, I’ll make one for each of us.”

“Well, ok.”

She disappeared into the kitchen, just past the speakers. He tapped his foot and glanced back to Connie, who had leaned into Natalie as their conversation continued. Natalie had on a wry expression as she finished telling Connie something, and Connie threw her head back and laughed. It was nice to see Connie be more comfortable with herself after a few years in college. To see her laughing at a party and not have himself be the cause of it was a good feeling. Steven can’t help but feel his chest swell with pride. He smiled at her but didn’t try to get her attention yet.

With a clink, a glass was set down in front of him, Fiona sliding in from his peripherals. The drink didn’t look bubbly, a brown-orange tone with a few ice cubes and a lemon wedge hung over its rim. The glass looked like a juice glass, not designed to hold over 10 ounces, and it wasn’t full, so he assumed it was about a 6 to 8 oz drink. Fiona had her glass in her hand as she sat next to Steven with smirk.

“Ready to try something new, Steven?” Fiona asked. “Take a sip without the lemon first, then squirt it if you want it more sour.” She raised her glass, waiting to have him give her a cheers with his.

He lifted the drink and clinked hers, quietly saying “Cheers,” before bringing it to his lips. Sweet and sour was the first flavor he noted, and then mostly orange, with some cola blending in and a minor alcoholic tang. He was pretty sure the base of the liquor was tequila, but there were other flavors he couldn’t identify, since he was pretty new to trying drinks. He nodded and smiled after the first sip. “It’s good.”

“You like?” Fiona replied, voice coy.

“Yeah,” he said, and with two gulps his drink was almost gone. She snorted, seeing how quick he had downed the cocktail. He gasped quietly, the burn in his throat stronger than the flavors had made it out to be.

“Careful there, Universe, or you’ll be on the floor,” Fiona remarked. “You aren’t a lightweight, are you?”

“Its fine,” he replied, downing the last sip. His eyes drifted back to Connie who was quickly approaching from across the room, brows knitted in concern, and Natalie behind her. He moved to stand from the stool and stumbled slightly, not expecting to be feeling the alcohol so quickly. Connie moved her arms to steady him.

“You ok?” she asked, eyeing him over. Steven gave a dopey smile and leaned on her slightly.

“Heeeeeyyyy Connieeee,” his voice turning sultry and mellow. His lowered pitch sent a chill up her spine, but she pushed the feeling that thrilled her down and rounded on Fiona, glaring.

“What did you give him?” Connie barked.

“It looked like a Long Island Iced Tea,” Natalie said from behind Connie.

“I call it…” Fiona replied, pausing for effect and waving her half-finished drink in one hand, “a Strong Island Iced Tea. It’s got more tequila and sours than the standard.”

“A Long Island Iced Tea,” Connie half-shouted, exasperated. “Are you kidding me, Fiona? That has 5 kinds of alcohol in it!”

“Whoa,” Steven remarked quietly but with his lowered tone it made Connie feel warm in the pit of her stomach. “I didn’t know that. You’re so smart, Connie.” Her cheeks burned with blush as he said it with such adoration.

“He’s hammered,” Natalie crooned, half-way hiding a chuckle, before straightening up and gesturing her hand out. “Gimmie his keys. He shouldn’t be driving anywhere tonight.”

“I’m not hammered, jus’ a lil’ tipsy.” He slurred. He swayed slightly as Connie fished through his Jacket pocket. “Gimme an hour and I’ll be fiinnneee.”

“Definitely not,” she replied firmly, but not harshly. She handed Natalie Steven’s car keys. “You can stay with me tonight, ok? Sleepover?” He gasped with excitement.

“Sleepover!” he warbled hazily. “With Connie. You’re so sweet.” Her face felt hotter, as she gripped his hand in hers.

“Thanks for this, Fiona,” Connie said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “See you later.” Fiona grinned and waved.

“Don’t dare take advantage of him,” Natalie called, starting to walk back toward the party-goers. “I’ll find out. And make sure he hydrates.” She took out her phone and sent a group text to Steven and Connie, I have your keys, come get them after you’ve slept it off.

“I got this,” Connie replied, exasperation clear in her tone. She looked back in his face at his reddening eyes and put on a plating smile, trying to speak more kindly. “Let’s go get some rest, ok? You look tired.”

“You’re the best, Connie.” He said, glowing with inebriation. She began to lead him out when he started to serenade her, causing her mild blush to spread to her ears, face beet red. The tune was recognizable, a reworked Beatles cover.

“Connie, my sweet

You have made my heart feel joy complete

My Connie.”

“He doesn’t normally do this in front of others,” she called, voice slightly shaken with embarrassment to the partygoers as she led him through the entryway. “Please ignore us and have a good night.” They passed through the main doorway of the off campus housing as he continued his song.

“Connie, my sweet

Sont les mots qui vont tres bien ensemble

Tres bien ensemble”

His French pronunciation was faltering. She knew he was at an intermediate Italian level. But in trying to speak French, it sounded like he had tried Duolingo for an hour and was making a fool of himself pretending he had been doing it his whole life. He pitched forward again and she had to nearly dive to keep him upright. She hoisted as much of his broad shoulders and chest over her smaller frame without attempting to carry him outright as he sang sweetly in her ear, legs stumbling behind her.

“I love you, I love you, I love you

That's all I want to say

Until I find a way

I will say the only words I know that you'll understand”

She lead him on sidewalks, trying to take the most direct route to her dorm and avoiding uneven surfaces as best she could. Her blush had died down, mainly because other people weren’t watching them. The way his warm frame leaned against her dragging the thrilling feeling out of her again, making her heart pound firmly against her ribs. Still, she tried to keep focus and lead them out of the chill night air as quick as she could.

“Sont les mots qui vont tres bien ensemble

Tres bien ensemble

I need to, I need to, I need to

I need to make you see

Oh, what you mean to me

Until I do, I'm hoping you will know what I mean

I love you”

“You’re so sappy,” Connie replied, voice quiet. “I know that you would do his sober, but I just wish this kind of thing was just for the two of us, you know?”

“I want you, I want you, I want you

I think you know by now

I'll get to you somehow

Until I do, I'm telling you so you'll understand”

She leaned against him as she held his hand outside of her dorm, fumbling with her keys as she kept her left hand gripped tight to his right.

“Connie, my sweet

Sont les mots qui vont tres bien ensemble

Tres bien ensemble

And I will say the only words I know that you'll understand

My Connie.”

He faltered a bit as they came through the doorway, smacking his left arm just above his wrist as she lead him upstairs to her room. Connie winced at the sound. She was grateful her roommate Carly was out of town for the evening. She still probably will hear about it, the rumor mill ran strong on this campus, but at least Connie was spared from more embarrassment this evening.

“You done now?” she asked. She sat him down on the bed and dug through her closet for his spare pair of sweatpants she kept there.

“Uh-huh,” Steven replied, voice thick and alluring. “Thanks for takin’ me back, Strawberry, I know you always lookin’ out for me. I’m lucky I have someone like you. Love you.”

She shivered at the praise, avoiding his eyes as she set the pants down on a clean patch of floor.

“You need to drink some water and take some aspirin before bed.” Connie ordered. “Stay put, I’m going to get both of those things.” She pulled her own pajamas from the corner of the bed and closed the bathroom door behind her. She grabbed the aspirin bottle from the cabinet and set it on the counter. Glancing back to ensure that the door was fully closed, she peeled her outfit off quickly and tugged her PJs on. Grabbing her hairbrush and two pills from the bottle of medicine, she backed outside. Steven still sat on the bed, swaying lazily.

“Hiiii Connnniiieeee.” His voice had drawn back up to its usual tenor as he greeted him. She smiled.

“Hi Steven, stay here for a minute, ok?” She replied. “I’m going to the kitchen, and I want you to wait because I don’t want to risk you falling on the stairs.” She placed the brush on the pants she had set out and kept the pills clutched to her palm by her ring and pinky finger.

“Yooooouuuu got it!” He gave a thumbs up.

She darted out of the room after he confirmed he would stay, and hurried down the stairs. She pulled 2 water bottles from the fridge, both eco-friendly bottles that she and Steven had shared before. After grabbing clean reusable straws from the drying rack to put in the bottles, she marched back upstairs. She left her door open and found Steven had taken his shoes and jacket off in the time she was gone. He laid on his stomach, feet crossed and head propped up on his arms across her bed diagonally.

“You’re cute in your PJs, Connie.” He caught her off guard with that compliment. But she crossed the room anyway and sat next to his head. Despite how lucid he sounded, it was best he got some water in him before going to sleep.

“Thanks, but can you sit up for me? I have some medicine I need to give you and then I’ll brush your hair.”

“Yay! Sleepover activities!” He propped himself up onto his elbows and stuck his tongue out, leaning his head back for the aspirins. She was glad he trusted her this much, but it was a bit worrying that he was so lax. She hoped he would always keep himself safe as he dropped the two pills into his open mouth and pressed the straw of the bottle to his tongue. He leaned on one hand as he took the bottle from her in the other, sipping the water through the straw. If he was always this trusting while drunk, someone could take advantage of him, and that thought scared her. She wanted to think about anything else, so she gently took his curls in her hand and gave them a gentle stroke. A chill went along his back and shoulders and he made a little excited noise.

“I want to brush your hair,” she offered. “Can I take your hair tie out?”

“Mmm-hmm,” his response came around the straw. With a gentle tug the hair tie was out and his curls came loose, framing his maturing face. She stood, watching him as she moved toward the brush on the floor. He finished his sip and let out a contented sigh. “I hope I haven’ been too much trouble, Berry.”

“What?” she asked as she got the brush and came back to sit next to him.

“I’m all loopy, an’ you’ve been takin’ care of me.” His response was quiet but mostly coherent.

“I know you would do the same for me, drunk, sick or whatever, Biscuit,” she replied. “I’m not upset that you need help. It’s ok to ask. Now I’m gonna ask that you sit in front of me so I can brush your hair.”

“Kaaay.” He called, setting the water down on her end table. She gasped as he suddenly rolled off the bed and landed on his left forearm and knees, not reacting quite fast enough to catch himself with his hands. It was still impressive he hadn’t fallen onto his face.

“Steven-“Connie scolded.

“Huh?” he sat up and scooted his back up against her knees.

“Don’t be so careless,” she replied. “You scared me. And drink your water, please.”

“I can do that,” he said. He leaned over to grab the bottle and then rested his head touching her knees. She flipped his hair up onto her thighs, accessing the ends and began brushing. He hummed contentedly. “You’re great, Connie. I’m glad that this all didn’ go badly.” Her brows furrowed with concern as she worked through his tangles. “Was scared, ya know? If you weren’ keeping me calm, I might’ve been the angry drunk type, an’ made a mess of things.”

“I-“ Connie felt her hands shake slightly as she tried to muster a response. “That could happen to anybody, you shouldn’t worry too much…”

“Buh my powers, if ‘m not careful, I could hurt somebody, then I’d get expelled, or arrested, fer sure.” She gripped the brush tightly and accidentally pulled back on a knot. He hissed quietly through his teeth and she dropped the brush. His shoulders trembled slightly and she heard a sniff. She dropped down onto her knees, hugging him from behind.

“No Steven,” she replied, her voice thick with emotion. “I know you wouldn’t intentionally hurt anyone.” He sniffed again, putting his water down and scrubbed at his face.

“Turns out… I’m actually a sad drunk,” he joked, and turned to face her. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears and he gasped. “Oh nooooo… now I’ve made you sad. I’m sorry. ‘m so sorry. So so sorry.” He turned around fully, kneeling and held her tight to his chest. Fat tears dripped down his cheeks. She clutched to his shirt, resting her head on his shoulder and let her own tears fall.

“You don’t- you shouldn’t feel like it’s- it isn’t your fault,” she stuttered.

“I made you cr-cry,” He bawled. “I’m always hurting people, even wh-when I don’t meeean to.” She took a steadying breath, trying to defuse his turbulent emotions.

“You’re allowed to forgive yourself, Steven,” she replied, looking up. Her eyes still shone with wetness, staring into his face as he looked away.

“I- I- embar- rrassed you, I made you cryyyy, and- nd I burdened you with my prob-blems,” he hiccupped. “I shouldn’ be here- I need to-“He moved to stand but Connie held tight.

“No.” she ordered. “You should stay. You’re upset and you’re allowed to be. You can talk to me about anything. Please don’t go. I’ll worry if you leave.”

“B-B-but…”

“Please,” she repeated.

That was convincing enough. He wilted into her touch, resting his head on her shoulder. Any sign of resistance melted away into fatigue. A few trace sobs shook his frame before they quieted. She kept one hand on his shoulder and grabbed Steven’s water with the other. She pulled away long enough to press the drink into his hands. He nodded, sitting down fully and drinking quietly. She sat in front of him and ran one hand through his hair, and gave him gentle strokes on his upper arm with her opposite arm.

“You look like you’re stewing.” She remarked gently. “Having a few drinks doesn’t make you a bad person. Asking for help doesn’t either. I’ll gladly have a few embarrassing stories about me if it means you get to go home safe tomorrow. Letting you leave by yourself and get hurt would have been far worse than anything else that could have gone wrong. You deserve to be safe, ok?” He nodded meekly, finishing the drink with a loud slurp. “You aren’t asking too much to be here. You don’t deserve to feel like a burden, and no one I know would ever say that about you.” He quietly leaned forward, dropping the empty bottle to the space between his thighs and went to press his forehead to hers. She obliged him.

“Thank you,” he half-whispered.

“Now, are you steady enough to stand, or will you need help getting changed?” she leaned over to where the sweatpants she had put out for him earlier sat and pulled herself close to him after grabbing them. He opened his palms to her and let her place them in his hands.

“I think I got it.” His face was tinged with blush at the suggestion. He pressed his right palm to the floor, moving to stand. She pulled herself to her feet first and offered him a hand up. He threw his pants over his shoulder and took his hand. She smiled gently at him. He fondly returned the gesture, steadily making his way to the bathroom door.

“Oh wait, I just want to grab something out of there,” she called, hurriedly stepping in front of him. She snatched the aspirin off the counter and put it away, grabbing makeup wipes and a compact mirror from her medicine cabinet. She stepped out, gesturing behind her. “It’s all yours. Please be careful, maybe sit on the toilet to get changed? I don’t want you to fall.”

With a sigh he nodded. He stepped through the doorway and closed it behind him. She leaned against the wall next to the door and took a make-up wipe out, swiping her mascara streaked eyes before opening the compact. As she worked the wipe across her face she herd Steven’s gentle singing come through the door, just over the sounds of him changing.

“If I could begin to be

Half of what you think of me

I could do about anything

I could even learn how to love

When I see the way you act

Wondering when I'm coming back

I could do about anything

I could even learn how to love like you”

She recognized the song as being something he had said the gems had sung for him when he was young. It stung that he might think these kind of thoughts about himself. She swallowed hard.

“Love like you

I always thought I might be bad

Now I'm sure that it's true

'cause I think you're so good

And I'm nothing like you”

“Steven, I promise that isn’t true…” She called through the wall. She heard him stand and move toward the door.

“Look at you go

I just adore you

I wish that I knew

What makes you think I'm so special…”

She stood as the door opened and embraced him. He leaned forward into her and sang quietly into her neck. She held him close and rubbed soothing circles into his shoulders. He swayed gently into her touch as he crooned.

“If I could begin to do

Something that does right by you

I would do about anything

I would even learn how to love

When I see the way you look

Shaken by how long it took

I could do about anything

I could even learn how to love like you

Love like you

Love me like you…”

They stood in silence for a moment and just enjoyed being held by each other. After a bit, she lowered her hand and took him by the wrist, leading him to the bed. After he sat, she took her garbage and placed it near the head of the bead and cleared her night stand.

“You’re going to be on the outside of the bed tonight.” She remarked quietly. “I’m the big spoon this time. Just let me know if you start to feel sick. I don’t care if I’m sleeping, I will hold your hair back.” He nodded. “How do you feel right now?”

“Not great, but, better than before,” he muttered.

“Well, I’m going to try and make it better. Lie down, ok?”

“Mmm-hmm.” He obliged without protest. She grabbed the comforter, tucked him in and crossed the room, shutting the light off. She stepped over him and lied down by his left shoulder. She untucked that side of the bed to get herself firmly snuggled into the weighted blanket, and nimbly re-tucked them both in.

“Night, biscuit.” She murmured. “Love you.”

“Love you too.” He replied. “Night.” He turned to face away, pointing his face toward the trash bin in case his stomach lurched in protest while sleeping. She rubbed few more gentle circles into his back and let herself be comforted with his warmth beside him. He heard her breathing even out before long, hoping that sleep would come easier with her beside him. It wasn’t long before the heaviness in his heart was outweighed by heavy eyelids, and drifted into slumber.

------------

Morning came, as it always did, a bit too soon for Connie’s liking. She gave a quiet sigh through her nose and lifted her head to check on Steven, who she could hear was snoring quietly. He had turned in the night to lie on his back, and his calf draped over her lower legs. His expression looked peaceful, but dark circles still showed on the pale skin beneath his eyes. Craning her neck, she could see the bathroom had looked as she had left it, as did the trash bin. It was unlikely seeing these two things in place that he had gotten sick in the night and not woken her.

She laid back down, pressing her face into the soft skin of his upper arm. He smiled contentedly but stayed asleep. It was a Sunday, so no pressing commitments for either of them. She could let him rest and deadlines for Monday be damned. She draped her arm across his torso, and let herself melt into the bed. She told him he deserved to be safe, and she never felt safer than with her next to him. Hopefully, the reverse was true, and she could help him to feel safe and loved. For now, what he needed was sleep, and she wouldn’t deny him that peace. He gave her joy and that was precious to her. So she would help however she could, and that meant staying in bed. She would take it any day.

#Connverse Week #Fanfiction #JambudWeek #Connverse #Steven Universe: Future #SU Fanfic #Steven Universe #Connie Maheswaran #SU Soft Jock AU #my precious gem child #drunkfic #hurt/comfort #non-betad #my writing

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masterofthez · 5 years

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Ben 10 Alien Headcannons

So I’ve been in a bit of a Ben 10 mood right now, and as such I’ve been going over his aliens again. And as with many of series from our childhoods, most of us eventually ask ourselves the question, “What would I do if I was in charge of this?” While I have a number of ideas, what I’m going to focus on today is simply Ben’s Aliens and their abilities, and how I would alter them to various degrees. I will also only really be looking at the Original continuity aliens, because I haven’t watched any of the new. No offense to Shock Rocks or Slapback, but I just don’t really care about them at the moment. So let’s go over his Aliens.

Heatblast: Heatblast would largely remain the same with the only major thing I’d change about him being flight. Namely, he can’t do that. He rocket himself places, but not flying like the Human torch or the weird ground thing.

Wildmutt: I really like Wildmutt. He’s good.

Diamondhead: I don’t really like his ability to summon crystals from the ground. Maybe if it was made clear that he had to be in the ground to do it I’d be more okay with it, but I’d also be fine with doing away with that.

XLR8: I’m fine with XLR8, but just make sure that it’s clear that he can’t lift much more then like a human adult.

Grey Matter: He can still climb. He’s still smart. He’s still small. He’s just fine

Four Arms: I am fine with Four Arms. Big Muscle Guy. Four Arms will actually be important to this, and Ben’s go to muscle alien, as I will be comparing all his other strength Aliens to him.

Stinkfly: He’s fine the way he is.

RipJaws: He’s fine

Upgrade: He’s fine.

Ghostfreak: I won’t really change what Ghostfreak does. Just how he is used. Ben will never be fully in control of Ghostfreak. I’m fine with Teen Ben being able to fight off Ghostfreak pretty will, but it always has to be a battle to stay in control.

Cannonbolt: He’s fine.

Wildvine: None of the weird plant merging he does in “The Visitor”. No Regeneration. He can stretch his body. He can create thorns. And he has those Seed Bombs. That’s it.

Blitzwolfer: I’d probably have kept his name Benwolf.

Snare-Oh: So Snare-Oh is the first of the aliens that have a power very similar to a previous alien (Wildvine in this case). So in order to differentiate them, Snare-Oh won’t really stretch. His power will be the fact that he is made up of bandages, and while they may naturally rest in the humenoid form, they are not not solid. That can then be used to still do his rapping stuff, but still make him different then Wildvine.

Frankenstrike: He’s overall fine, but his magnetic abilities would only be limited to himself. He’s not going to be static who can move metal with ease. He can stick himself to metal, but that’s it. He still has his lightning powers to the same extent shown in the original series.

Upchuck: None of this shared dimension stuff from Omiverse. His deception in the original was fine.

Ditto: They don’t share pain.

Eye Guy: All he has is eye lazers. No combination eyes. No flames or freeze powers. He can shoot lazers out of his whole body and a big one from his chest, but that’s it.

Way Big: He fine as a giant laser blasting man.

Swampfire: For this look he’s create explosions, not straight up fire. He could light himself on fire and then use his natural gases to create explosions. And with that would come regeneration abilities. No plant controlling powers however. That just seems like an desire to make his plantness more obvious.

Echo Echo: This is going to be a big change so hear me out. First off he won’t have a scream like Benwolf. Instead Echo Echo will be able to create any sound. After hearing something he can match the sound perfectly. He can also just create super loud high pitch screams. No actual force behind it. Just very loud. The other major change is that their are 5 Echo Echos. No more. No less. In this world they will all be considered one creature with them being controlled in a hive mind. So no extra duplication. Echo Echo is also not in a suit. His body is actually an exo-skeleton. Very Natural.

Humungousaur: No Size manipulation. Let’s keep him at 20 ft. He is stronger then Four Arms, but slower. He’s speed would be comparable to a human. To move to the re-boot for the moment, I actually like the idea of his tail being a weapon. Let’s bring that in as well.

Jetray: This is going to sound odd, but Jetray will not be able to fly. He can swim very fast, and he can glide. But for this he will be like the Gargoyles in Gargoyles. His lasers will be paralyzing rays. No real physical damage.

Big Chill: I'm cool with Big Chill flying and turning intangible. My change would be how his cold powers work. He can only freeze things when he passes through objects. And whenever he passes through objects he freezes them no matter what.

Brainstorm: So, we are keeping the super intelligence thing and the whole breathing under water, but let’s re work the combat stuff. I’m thinking literal storms. Like, it produces a storm and the more it thinks the more intense the storm becomes. So no general electric production and no shield things.

Spidermonkey: I’m fine with Spidermonkey with one odd exception. It’s been noted before that Ben seems to be more humorous as Spidermonkey. I would, like Rath, stress the idea that spidermonkey changes his personality. But this in the smaller way of Ben just finding the humor in situations more often.

Goop: I think Goop is fine without the acid. Kind of like what they did with him in Ominverse. Just have is power be his unique body.

Alien X: Like Ghostfreak before, he’s edit should be to how he is used. Ben should never just have full control over it. When Ben turns into Alien X the nature of the battle should shift. The fight is no longer about who is stronger Ben or the Enemy. The fight should now be about Ben’s logic, debating, and diplomatic skills. So Ben must always convince his two others to cooperate, not just to let Ben have full control.

Nanomech: The only power I’d give him would be to make him have a telepathic link with the alien chip swarm. While Nanomech is independent, he was made from an device that communicated as a hive mind. So the hive cannot control Nanomech and he cannot control the hive, but they always know what the other is thinking.

Lodestar: I’m cool with his magnet powers although I’m not the biggest fan of his body being made up of little magnets.

Rath: On the scaling of Fourarms, he is as strong as Fourarms, and faster, and more durable, but he is, of course, dumb as rocks and super aggressive.

Water Hazard: So...I have ideas. So we've seen that he can absorb water from the air, so let's exspand on that. What if he got bigger as he did that and maxed out at like Fourarms size. Like, his plates move and shift to work for the newer body.

Terraspin: Like Spidermonkey, the only change I’d give is to make Terraspin more thoughtful. Not passive or smarter, but to just think and ponder thinks more.

Armodrillo: I’m not the biggest fan of earth control that he seems to have. I’m cool with him being a good digger and for him to vibrate to create earthquakes, but to shot out rocks like he can seems wrong to me.

NRG: Let's give him the ability sense Radiation as well as his normal Radiation blasts, absorbing energy, super heat, and flight. I’m giving him all this ro create a bigger difference from Atomix. Atomix is just the raw radiation power house. NRG is a larger spectrum of stuff he can do with it.

AmpFibian: While it’s not the first Electric alien that can breath underwater, let’s run with that anyway for a second. So similar to an electric eel, what if the electricity it makes is designed to work underwater. Like, Ampfibian can use his powers outside of water, but they are much stronger in water. And I do like the idea that he can sense and detect electrical impulses (that could simply be how he communicates to others of his species under water), but for the whole mind reading thing let’s make that a challenge. Ben can “hear” the electrical impulses of the brain, but he might not know what they mean. He’ll need to practice with Ampfibian more often to fully understand the language of the brain sense they are not technically telepathic. Also cool swimmer and no flight or electric intangibility.

Fasttrack: So, going off his cat idea, let’s make him more like a cheeta. He’s a sprinter who can reach speeds almost as fast as XLR8, and he even does so silently, but he can only do it for so long before he runs out of energy and needs to catch his breath. XLR8 doesn’t need to do that, and is still generally faster. And to make the difference greater, let’s say that Fasttrack’s species are big into hunting like most cats, so he can have very solid eye sight and hearing.

Eatle: This is another one that is getting a bit of a rework due to having such a similar ability to the Upchucks. So let’s keep the eating thing but take it in a new way. You are what you eat. Let’s say his normal shell is highly unstable, but once he eats something with his strong jaw, his exo-skeleton becomes that. He can also shed it at any time.

Clockwork: I’m going to cut down on exactly what Clockwork seems to be able to do. So Let’s say he can slow down time, but all he can do is perceive the world at this slowed pass. He can’t actually have his sudden super speed. I also like his aging abilities. And I actually really like having the ability to show what happened in the past that he does once.

Jury Rigg: fine as is

ChamAlien: I’m actually going to keep him the same.

Shocksquatch: Let’s keep him super strong (but not as strong has Four Arms), and let him be able to produce very high electrical charges, but he can’t use them as a projectile. So he can add a high power shock to his melee combat and have to electricity travel through conductors, but not really air.

Bloxx: For this, I'll be stealing an idea from Inktank and the Web Comic 5 Years Later. In that Bloxx is not so much a lego gorilla as he is a creature that just produces blocks. I personally like this a lot more.

Feedback: So let's make it so that it can't generate its own electricity. Or if it can only a mild charge. So it can still do all the things you remember, massive energy absorption and redirection.

Crashhopper: You're good jump man.

Gravattack: I’m actually pretty fine with Gravattack.

Arctiguana: He’s fine as is.

Ball Weevil: I think the Katamarri idea is a really cool Idea, but let’s edit it a little bit regardless. He can only absorb things smaller then the size of his Plasma Ball, but he can make his plasma balls fairly big, and once it is absorbed it creates a bigger explosion.

Walkatrout: So, Walkatrout my actually be my favorite Alien Design in concept and design in Omiverse. This is because you can see how evolution made him the way he is and not just that he’s a design with a super power. Yes, he was a joke, but he was also a species in the universe that I can believe happened easily. Nothing about him changes. He is slippery. He can walk. And he can breath air. If any change had to be made, I’d say that it’s difficult for him to breath only in air to show that this was a skill designed for avoiding predators.

Pesky Dust: Pesky Dust is cool. No changes to what the power does, but instead to have them function. Yes, they can delve into memories, but that’s it. Not current thoughts.

Mole-Stache: So, I’m going to steal a power from JoJo’s Bazaar Adventure for a second. While Mole-Stache can already make his hair grow and control it from there like Yukako Yamagishi, I sat let him grown out his fiscal hair a little bit more then normal, but then let him cut off his hair. He can then control it remotely. That way he can still be a hair guy, but now he can be not just functionally a stretchy guy.

The Worst: No powers. Come on show. Be bold enough the actually make an alien have no powers. And just have him be The Worst. He’s slow, weak, and as dumb as Rath.

Kickin Hawk: So, Let’s remove the humanoid elements from it. For this we’ll make this species just a large feathered raptors. Basically like a large monstrous emu or ostrich. So let’s keep it beast like, it can’t talk like Wildmutt. It also attacks with it’s feet which are itself powerful enough to crack Diamondhead’s crystal body. It’s long neck is also very weak.

Toepick: So, I like the idea that Toepick's only power is being absolutely grotesque. But the problem is I just have no idea how that would work. How would a physical appearance produce such visceral reactions in everything? With presumably different beauty standards throughout the galaxy, it's just something I have trouble rapping my head around.

Astrodactyl: So what if it couldn't fly in the sky? So hear me out. What if Astrodactyl is designed to travel through empty space, but not air? Like it can still use it's jetpack to propel itself upwards, but actually flight in an atmosphere is impossible for it. Aside from that, let’s keep the electric whips and the energy pulse thing it can produce from the jetpack.

Bullfrag: Just a tall human. Like, I think the idea that Bullfrag's power is just that they're an Incursion. Given the fact that the Incursions should be a constant threat to the universe, having a form that can walk through their ranks unencumbered should be a power in and of itself.

Buzzshock: Do you guys know Red Hot Chilipepper? Like the Jojo stand? Let's go with that. Electric Power. Able to travel through currents. But gets weaker the longer they go without being in a current.

Atomix: As I alluded to this with NRG. Atomix can only really produce Radiation blasts. They are extremely powerful, probably one of the strongest Ben bested only by Way Big or Chromastone/Feedback depending on what they absorbed, but that’s still basically it.

Whampire: Like many others, let’s streamline his powers. Enhanced Strength, Flight, and mind control eyes. Let’s also go hard core. He just eats blood, and can smell the blood of most creatures that have an equivalent he can eat.

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thejamzine-blog · 7 years

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JOYCE MANOR ALBUMS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST

In honor of the 7th anniversary of Joyce Manor’s debut album, here are The Jam’s hot takes on the band’s four full-lengths.

1. Joyce Manor

Though sometimes remembered as little more than the “Constant Headache” album by much of the band’s fanbase, which has grown astronomically since this album’s release, the 18 minutes of blistering, hook-filled basement punk on Joyce Manor’s full-length debut set the stage for hordes of indie-inspired, emo borrowing punk bands to come (whether they were directly pulling from Joyce Manor or not) but has rarely been matched since. In 2011, emo had converted to a mainstream sect with Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, and the like preaching the adapted gospel. Guitar-based indie rock that spawned in the early 2000s had given way to a major label rebranding of ‘indie’ that bared few resemblances. Joyce Manor harkened back to the college rock and DIY punk ethos of late ‘80s and early ‘90s acts that now define ‘classic indie.’

By the time the California quartet recorded this album they’d mastered simplicity, ferocious energy, and sentimentality. The blink-of-an-eye songs meet somewhere between The Ramones and early Violent Femmes, cutting songwriting down to the hooks and nothing but. Melodies are simple and instrumental breaks are really just melodies without words. “Constant Headache” takes the structure to a fully realized pop song, while others avoid explicitly playing melodies but outline it with quick changing power chords, like the pleading “Leather Jacket”—which eventually gives way to a melody-as-solo finale. Front man Barry Johnson’s lyrics read with just the right amounts of gentle emotion and youthful angst to appeal to the punk kids without alienating the melancholic ones.

Joyce Manor is a pop album in disguise. The production is indisputably lo-fi and the influence of punk and hardcore can understandably deceive on first listen but the taste for melodies and fearless editing make it one of the catchiest punk albums of the last decade. Despite the shameless pop aspects, it’s also one of the quirkiest and most idiosyncratic albums to come from the indie-punk-emo boom of that period (rivaling even The Front Bottoms at times). The lyrics are quotable by being effortlessly odd and unusual: “when you make a decent living will you buy me a train set and a hat so that I can sit alone in my room sending people away from the ones they love or crash them into buildings explosions derailments and screaming children oh my god I think I’m in love,” Johnson sings on “Derailed.” The album is a gem, and one that rarely gets the credit it deserves.

2. Never Hungover Again

Never Hungover Again is probably the best starting point for Joyce Manor. In contrast to the self-titled debut, the band’s third album has finely crafted production, less aggressive instrumentals, and a far clearer pop influence. In an early feature on Joyce Manor in the artists to watch section of Alternative Press, the band cited Green Day and Weezer as influences. Though the fast tempos and relentless drums of the first couple albums threw listeners off the trail, Never Hungover Again delivered on the promise of those references with an accessible and refined sound.

Still clocking in under 20 minutes, Never Hungover Again could again be summarized as quick punk takes on squeezed down pop songs, but the emphasizing and diminishing of certain aspects distinguishes the album. The tempos lean a tad slower, or at least the drums clear up space by tending towards steady beats over rapid-fire endurance tests. The added space makes melodies more easily recognizable and Johnson’s songwriting finds new ways to squish pop songs to half the length. “Victoria” overlaps verses and choruses to cut a straightforward pop song, with bridge and all, in less than two minutes. The lyrics, while still charmingly unusual, have largely traded out stream of consciousness run-on sentences for quirky tidbits with (at least vaguely) more relatable subjects. “Like old friends who’d never ask ‘how can you be happy when you wear all black?’ And they care, because they wanna” Johnson quips on “Schley,” a highlight track that boils the chorus down to one line that eventually explodes in a garage rock ending section.

The touching up of Joyce Manor’s sound is almost flawless. The polished recordings make the music joyfully clear and Johnson’s songwriting is aging beautifully. But there are occasional missteps. “Heart Tattoo,” while a fine hit for many of the mainstream-leaning pop-punkers new to the band, sacrifices Joyce Manor’s tact with cheesy, Tumblr post-begging metaphors that pull the refining process into question. Still, elsewhere the band more explicitly states influences only hinted at before, producing some of their most interesting material: the new wavey “Falling In Love Again” and Smith’s-esque “Heated Swimming Pool” as examples.

3. Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired

If Joyce Manor is under credited, Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired is forgotten. Not present on the band’s Bandcamp or Spotify pages, it’s unclear if the band wants their second album to disappear or some sort of contract technicality has led to its obscurity. When I saw the band less than two weeks after the album’s release in April of 2012, they refused to play almost any songs from the album despite audience requests—my memory leads me to believe they played only “If I Needed You There” and “Violent Inside,” but I’m far from certain. They’ve also reworked “See How Tame I Can Be” and “Bride of Usher,” the two most new wave leaning tracks, as more traditional garage-punk Joyce Manor tunes for a split with Toys That Kill (in my opinion, the reworkings only prove how great the songs were to begin with, despite not fitting the band’s usual style).

Whatever the reason for OATIWSGT’s uncertain legacy, it’s a great album worth seeking out (it’s available on UK label Big Scary Monster’s Bandcamp, iTunes, and in physical formats if you look around). It’s possibly the band’s most diverse collection of songs, though that fact is obscured by the lo-fi glossing that covers all the tracks. “See How Tame I Can Be” and “Bride of Usher” borrow melodic and rhythmic tricks from ‘80s new wave and post-punk, the former featuring a drum machine sound and prickly guitar and the later featuring acoustic guitar and tambourine recalling The Smiths. Explicitly stating some influence or at least awareness of the ‘80s culture, Joyce Manor knocks out a speedy punk cover of The Buggles “Video Killed The Radio Star.” And, alluding to the softer tracks on the band’s most recent album, “Drainage” and “I’m Always Tired” give brief—even by Joyce Manor standards—tape hissing acoustic numbers to the already varied album.

Even with more stylistic variety the band’s standard quick paces, short durations, peppy punk drumming, and Johnson’s signature throaty yelp are all there; it’s actually somewhat misleading to describe the tracks as diverse. “Violent Inside” delivers an easy Joyce Manor hit that never was and opening track “These Kinds of Ice Skates” has all the lyrical peculiarity that one might expect pairing lines like “you can’t make a mistake on these kinds of ice skates” with “don’t you be my black plastic case for your glasses.” Though it could be seen as a collection of miscellaneous tracks and experimentations OATIWSGT actually plays as a surprisingly cohesive whole.

4. Cody

Perhaps it’s their most successful album yet, perhaps it’s their most critically acclaimed, though I’d guess Never Hungover Again takes that title, but Cody is their least endearing work. On their fourth album, Joyce Manor falls victim to many of the common failures of an indie or punk act moving to a major label—except, they’re signed to Epitaph and it’s their second album with the generally reliable punk label. More likely, the group saw the success of the more polished and refined Never Hungover Again (that could be success critically, financially, or personally) and attempted to expand upon it.

Cody combines elements of the band’s second and third albums while continuing to move more into mainstream pop-punk territory. It’s even brighter than Never Hungover Again with even more simplified and relatable lines but it follows less genre constraints, as OATIWSGT did. On “Fake I.D.” Johnson offers witty quips about what seems to be a Kanye West debate following a hook-up, before reducing the death of a friend to “I feel sad, I miss him he was rad.” The songwriting simplicity walks a dangerous line between purposeful and poorly thought out often losing balance and allowing cheap rhymes and easy teenage cool kid references (fake I.D.s, smoking weed, etc.) to slip in.

To the band’s credit, their pop-punk often veers away from the tropes of a genre plagued by stereotypes and clichés. While there is a pitch-corrected tone to the vocals and the music has a certain I-could-spend-hours-debating-which-Weezer-album-is-best sense to it, Joyce Manor opts for less nasally singing and chugging chords leaning instead towards power pop chunky riffs and jangling guitars. Tracks like “Last You Heard of Me” and “Stairs” even nod briefly toward the shoegaze revival and “Do You Really Want to Not Get Better” makes a surprisingly sincere attempt at Tumblr-era sentimentality. Though it’s a definite weak spot in Joyce Manor’s discography, Cody opens up the band’s music to a much larger audience without totally betraying older fans expectations. And, to be honest, if you’re just being introduced to the indie and punk genres now, it’s probably an excellent gateway. –CC

Only full-length (if you can call these 20-minute little spurts “full-length”) albums are included in this list. ‘Collection’ isn’t included because it is a compilation of other releases, mainly ‘Constant Headache’ which isn’t included because it’s just an EP and some of the material appears on ‘Joyce Manor.’ They also have some splits, earlier demo-type releases, and do a great cover of The 6ths “Falling Out of Love With You.” You’re all big kids, use the internet and look ‘em up. If you’re not a big kid, my apologies. Send me a message with a parent or guardian’s signature and I will attempt to guide you through the internet. Also, how the heck did you get here if you don’t know how to use the internet?

#Joyce Manor #Self-titled #Never Hungover Again #Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired #OATIWSGT #Cody #Best Albums #Ranking #Indie Rock #punk #emo #music #The Jam #Zine

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memoirsofamelodicmind · 5 years

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I will go and do part 1—>

Earlier this year I was tasked with coming up with a concept for the 2020 Mutual Music Video for the church. The process was a ton of work but was a huge blessing and the work is almost done. Initially I came up with an idea to create 4 doors in four scenes around the world that would show 4 youth doing some sort of service coming to a door contemplating whether or not to go in and then marking the choice to go in and serve etc. I know, very cliche and very typical. But the concept worked...well sort of... worked enough to continue working on the project! The next few months would prove to be both intense and wonderful but overall an amazing experience. The product manager for the project actually had tasked this to the pacific area the year previous and was kinda freaking out cause he had recieved no reply about whether the area was going to fulfill it or not. I hadn’t arrived to NZ yet and I think my boss was crazy busy and didn’t have enough resources or time to take it on, so when I arrived it was my first assignment. At first I wasn’t sure what to do but decided to go ahaead and create previously said concept. Since the product manager hadnt heard from us he hired another director to begin concepting as well: so with the initial collaboration my original idea morphed into something completely different...a beautiful story about a journey...just not anything like the story I was thinking about telling. None the less I thought it would be a cool story to tell. During this initial phase I also called an old buddy of mine Taylor Steele an amazing cinematographer who had taken over my previous position at BYUH to come on as a director/cinematographer. I asked him if he would be willing to shoot and he accepted, I was stoked. Meanwhile the other director and I continued to work on our journey idea, when suddenly said director got sick and the journey concept started to suffer. The logistics started to feel like they were spiraling out of budget range yet we were to present our concept on the next day. That night I said a prayer and decided to rework the original idea with some tweaks, consulting, ideation and encouragement from Tay. I kept hearing something in my mind say keep it simple. so that’s what I did. In the morning after our initial pitch, I could tell the product manager was freaking out a little bit so I told him I had a second idea and asked him if I could pitch it to him as well. He gave me a green light and I was off in explanation. Long story short the idea was accepted, and we were green lit to expand on that concept. For the next three weeks Tay and had many long long working nights, we prayed, edited the concept, talked about it, hashed out our ideas and in the end Taylor created an awesome treatment. The door idea was approved by the quorum of the Twelve and we were off and running. Tay and I worked hard over the next few weeks via web chats and etc and the other director was so gracious and decided to move on to another project. We worked on costs, budget, locations, ideas, storyboards, cast, and more tweaks. I traveled with a conworker to queenstown to meet up with Doc to obtain permits and make sure we could shoot in the locations we wanted to. We created a casting call and after a month of vetting we cast 4 youth to play the main characters and travel with us and be the focal points of the video. Huia Moana Shortland, from Whanagarei, Melissa Rachel Main from Papakura, Theo Magalogo from Hendersen, and Zyon Lavakula from Papatoe. These kids were amazing. We also hired Julia Wihongi to do hair and make up, Thomas did food and locations, Tay hired Josh Christiansen and Jordan Tane Williams. We also hired James Ratana to do behind the scenes, and Japeth Tiakia as a PA. We held a production meeting that was awesome, we met each other, had some Kai, and did some fittings. Then continued the preproduction process for 3more weeks. At this point Fernando Camillo, The product manager, was excited too. He also told us he would be bringing his wife along so we made sure to plan for that.

Production lasted 10 days. In that 10 days we shot in 10 different locations in the North island and the South Island. Let me break it down.

We started in Takapuna where everyone would meet and prepare to leave for our first location. After introducing everyone to families having some pizza and saying a prayer we packed into a van with a furniture trailer from hire pool and a 6 berth Maui camper van and began our caravan off to location 1. Whatipu.

Whatipu was amazing. It was raining when we arrived and it was chilly as well but everyone was in such good spirits that it didn’t take long to get into the swing of things. We rented out the whole lodge so the first night we settled into our rooms, took in the scenery scouted the area and then came back for dinner.

To be continued.......,

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airadam · 6 years

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Episode 118 : Dubbul Or Nothing (ft. Dubbul O)

"Burning it to the ground, from the ashes see what might rise..."

- Dubbul O

It's been a while, but with a reworked studio setup we welcome the second-ever guest to the show - the syllable-spraying Dubbul O! You'll certainly have heard him on here before, whether it's been with The Mouse Outfit, Voodoo Black, Mothership Connection, or one of his other projects. This month, he came through for a chat about his approach to MCing and with a bunch of tracks for us to hear (including an exclusive), which the selection for the episode is centered around. With it being March, we also include some Phife and Biggie in the mix, and it's Brooklyn's Finest who kicks things off...

Check out Dubbul O's Bandcamp, Twitter, and Spotify too! You can also buy his work on iTunes if that's your shop of choice, and find everything from him and the rest of the label at room2records.com.

Twitter : @airadam13

Playlist/Notes

The Notorious B.I.G. : Playa Hater

Funnily enough, I know a lot of people hate this song, but for some reason it just tickles me! Biggie and Puffy give their armed robbery rewrite of an old Delfonics number on this album track from "Life After Death". B.I.G's love of old soul and a dark sense of humour combine for what is definitely a Marmite track from his catalogue!

$lowbeats. : Madness

Out of Guadalajara, Mexico, comes an artist whose name simply describes what s/he does! This booming, ominous beat comes from the "Burn Slow" beat tape, the only release from this producer, and fit in really nicely to allow us to keep a continuous groove going.

dead prez : W-4

Double-time drums but with a counter of acoustic guitar and bass, stic crafts a great track on which dead prez lament the stress of the poor working life. For the non-US listeners, the W-4 form referenced is the form workers submit to their employers detailing their tax situation, which then tells them how much tax to withhold from pay. This track from the "RBG" LP is as relevant now as it ever was - in fact, in an era when mentions of the "working class" often implicitly ignore Black people, maybe more pertinent in the present day.

Voodoo Black : Gettin' Dum

The latest single from this Room 2 crew reps Manchester proudly - this month's guest leads off, then passes the ball to Sparkz, and finally Ellis Meade takes it all the way to the end. This track has the kind of pace and space that enables all the MCs to play around with their patterns; even without actually hearing the words, there's flavour in the flows. DJ Cutterz with the production on this one.

Swell ft. Shiloh Dynasty : I'm Sorry

Swell is an Australian producer who isn't even twenty years old yet but clearly has talent to keep an eye on, and Shiloh Dynasty is such a mysterious vocalist that I don't have the first clue which pronoun to use! At such a slow tempo, I don't know if "head nodder" is the right phrase to use, but I love this beat from the "There's Still Us" EP.

Dubbul O : Smoka-Motive

The title track from Dubbul O's most recent EP, with Mankub bringing some Yard flavour into proceedings, along with eerie strings, guitar, and vocal samples, a real low-tempo soup over which Dubbul O speed-races with his double-time flow.

Jake One : Eli

Heading back to the "#PrayerHandsEmoji" beat tape, which has been a great source of quality low-tempo instrumentals. Production fans should definitely grab this one.

Tobe Nwigwe : HËÂT RŌČK.

I first heard Tobe mentioned by Bomani Jones, and his gushing praise let me know that this was an MC I needed to check out - and I was not disappointed! Coming out of Houston, he's got a unique combination of flow and voice, and packs substance into his bars while being absolutely crystal-clear the whole time. You owe it to yourself to check out the "The Originals" collection, and there are videos for many of the tracks on Youtube!

Voodoo Black : Run Along

Solid single from the start of last year, with the DJ Cutterz-produced beat cockily ambling down the street while the crew dismiss weak challengers with a wave of the hand. This track is just one example of Dubbul O killing the final verse in that Busta/Freddie Foxxx tradition of flawless clean-up men :)

Polyrhythm Addicts : Motion 2000

One of those classic independent records - very well known to those into the scene at the time, but one I have to remind myself isn't universally known even among dedicated heads. Polyrhythm Addicts was something of an underground supergroup, comprising DJ Spinna, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Mr Complex, and Apani B (later replaced by Tiye Phoenix), and their debut "Rhyme Related" featured this Spinna-produced single. That bassline is immediately distinctive, and with just the drums added to it (and a little guitar in the hook), there's plenty of space for all the MCs to get busy.

Bronx Slang : Married To The Game

Jerry Beeks is a friend and big supporter of what I'm doing over here, and the feeling is mutual. It's great to see the release of the new "Bronx Slang" LP, where he and Ollie Miggs show over the twelve tracks that contrary to popular opinion, real Hip-Hop never went anywhere! Beeks kills the mic over this piano-driven beat, and needs no hook to pull you in.

Dubbul O freestyle / [J-Zone] : As It Ever Was (Instrumental)

Dubbul O was up for giving us some lyrics from his rhyme book that haven't been heard before, and so we went through some instrumentals - didn't get far before he picked this one out. This is just raw MC business, straight through with no edits, no punching-in, exactly how it should be done.

The Quarter Inch Kings : I'm No Comeback

Decided to slide another instrumental in here, and went to The Beat Tape Project's "The AZ Beat Tape" for this track from a Toronto-based production unit who bring a soulful vibe. Got to love the humming woman sample that would have fit right in around 1996 - right around the time AZ's debut LP came out!

Dubbul O : Mussbemental

Vintage double-time syllable distribution here from Dubbul O on another Mankub-produced tune from "Smoka-Motive"! Dubbul O has talked about how he tries to become another instrument on the track, and he jumps all over the place like a jazz saxophonist on a solo here.

Natural Elements : For The Culture

Natural Elements are back with another three-song selection in their #DeathComesIn3s series, the "3 Kings" EP, and this was the tune that jumped out for me on the first listen. Great bars as always with this crew, and GxBxT provides the beat.

Pitch 92 ft. The Four Owls and DJ Jazz T : Swoop

I've been following Pitch from his first days and he's one of those people where the talent was immediately evident. His skills were a huge contribution to The Mouse Outfit during his time with them, and now we have his first full producer solo album to hear his latest work. The "3rd Culture" LP is one of those producer-helmed projects with a host of artists coming in to help realise the vision, and there are plenty of heavyweights - on this track, the respected High Focus crew The Four Owls and battle champion DJ Jazz T on the cuts. For the bargain price being charged on Bandcamp, this is a no-brainer purchase!

Phife Dawg ft. Rodney Hampton : Game Day

The "NFL Jams" compilation was, in 90s soundtrack-era weird idea style, a combination of NFL players and established Hip-Hop performers on each track on the album. Results were...mixed. The late great Phife Dawg certainly holds down his end of the deal on this early Jay Dee-produced cut, but Rodney Hampton really just gets credit for trying!

Damu The Fudgemunk : Randi

Just some good drums, bass, and piano, arranged in the MPC2000 of Damu on his "Spare Time" album. I don't have any deep knowledge on this one, but it's one to enjoy for what it is!

Dubbul O : Step Into The Circle

An exclusive to close out the show! Dubbul O brought this track for a first airing, previewing the EP he's got coming later this year with Clay of Room 2 Records. Dubbul O's flow is as laid-back as it goes, matching the vibe of Clay's clean and breezy, crisply-drummed track.

Please remember to support the artists you like! The purpose of putting the podcast out and providing the full tracklist is to try and give some light, so do use the songs on each episode as a starting point to search out more material. If you have Spotify in your country it's a great way to explore, but otherwise there's always Youtube and the like. Seeing your favourite artists live is the best way to put money in their pockets, and buy the vinyl/CDs/downloads of the stuff you like the most!

Check out this episode!

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