#i’ll stick to my current interests I guess

[allalrightagain]

The irony of an “is this accessible?” website being inaccessible (for me) is not lost on me

[boozenboze]

Can you do task force 141 boys with a medic male reader who is like Shinobu from demon slayer

Mr. Butterfly

Tf 141 x Shinobu!Male Reader

Females She/Her and She/They

A butterfly.Thats how you’d describe the h/c haired male.The beautiful design on the males jacket made him stick out.Hues of minty green and pink with a butterfly pattern.To top it off the male was a medic, a great one at that.He created toxins to stun and even kill enemies.Non-lethal and lethal depending on how he was feeling.

These things led the male to where he was now.Being brought to a new base that he was unfamiliar of.The male had a smile on his face as the driver looked at him for a second before blushing.The e/c eyed male chuckled before saying.

“It’s rude to stare you know.”M/n pointed out with his gaze still fixated out the window.The driver chuckled nervously,sweat dripping from hid forehead.He was lucky enough that the male hadn’t made eye contact with him,if he did he would just die right then and there.Now approaching the gates, the sight of a few soilders came into the e/c eyed males view.Now that the car was parked,the male in the haori stepped out of the car and took in his surroundings.There were many people along with buildings surrounding the area.

“Excuse me, Insect was it?”A soilder asked him as the male looked towards where the voice came from.

“Yes that is my name.I suppose your meant to be showing me around yes?”M/n spoke cheerfully as the soilder nodded in response.

“Yes sir um-follow me!”The soilder chirped in attempts of matching the shorter males energy.A few minutes went by and M/n was now inside one of the buildings,being led to the main part where his new team would be.When they got there M/n was greeted with 4 new faces.M/n suspected the man with the beard was the leader, and he was correct.

“I’m guessing your our new member hm?”Price spoke as M/n smiled.

“Guilty as charged sir, M/n L/n, it’s nice to finally meet you.”The h/c haired male said as Price chuckled at the shorter males tone.He seemed cheerful and ready to do things.M/n shook the hand of the brown skinned male who smiled at him,seemingly already fond of the s/c skinned male.

“Gaz, you can call me Kyle though if you’d like.”The male now known as Kyle said.M/n smiled at him as he stood there shifting in place.He seemed a little nervous around the new recruit.

“Weel arent ye braw.”Soap said while eying the male up and down as the tallest of them all spoke.

“English MacTavish, he doesn’t know what your saying.”The mask wearing male spoke up, noticing how the h/c haired male tilted his head slightly at the scots words.The mohawk having male sighed before saying.

“Well aren’t you handsome.~The names Soap!”The male said again in english,to which the shorter male chuckled.

“Well hello Soap and you aren’t to bad yourself.”M/n said with a slight blush on his cheeks.He turned around to look at Ghost who was already staring back at him.

“Are you gonna say anything lieutenant or are you just going to look at me.”M/n asked snarkily as Ghost looked away, blushing under his mask.M/n chuckled

“I’ll be taking my leave now,I have to get my office ready anyway.Bye-Bye!”M/n said as the soilder who had showed him around followed right behind him.He left his new team interested, flustered and excited.

A few weeks had passed and M/n was currently sparring one of the other recruits.Those who were watching were in awe of how fluid the males movements were.Without warning the male jumped unusually high into the air and thats when Price,who was standing near the arena widened his eyes in shock.He and the others watched the male kick the recruit several times in the head before pinning him down.

“I win.”M/n said shortly as the recruit admitted their defeat.M/n stepped out of the arena and was greeted with Soap who was asking him several questions.

“How’d you jump so high?!”

“Strong legs I guess.”

“Can you teach me how to do that?!”Soap asked while jumping slightly.He looked like a child in M/n’s eyes.

“Maybe another time, I’ll see you around!”M/n yelled out,now leaving the room.

“Doesn’t he have a katana or something like that.”Gaz asked as Price looked back at him.

“Yeah he does, have you not seen it?”Price questioned the younger male who shrugged his shoulders.

“I’ve seen him walking around with it I’m just unsure on what it looks like.”Gaz said as Price hummed.

“Go ask him, i’m sure he’d let you see it.”Price concluded before taking a drag of his cigar.(He knows M/n will scold him later so he’s trying to get it in)Gaz nodded in response,now speed walking to the males office.He knocked on the door before hearing an audible “come in.”

Gaz opened the door and walked inside, seeing M/n in a chair with the thing he’s been wanting to see.M/n was using a cloth to wipe his katana which already seemed clean.He then grabbed a small bottle that had a skull labeled on it before pouring it inside the scabbard.

“Did you need something Kyle?”M/n asked as the male sat beside him.

“Your katana, why is it shaped like that and what was that liquid?”Kyle questioned as M/n chuckled at the mans curiosity.

“Well my blade is meant to act as a stinger and the liquid you saw was poision.”M/n explained as Gaz’s eyes widened.He was about to ask another question till M/n cut him off.

“I use it on the enemy, it could cause a slow and painful demise for the victim.”M/n said a bit darkly as he continued. “You see I can’t always use long range weapons like others which is why I mainly stick to this.Other than having a possibly quick death i’d like to see them have their last moments in pain and suffering as my poison is the last thing they feel before dying.”M/n further explained as Gaz shifted nervously.He wasn’t used to this side of the h/c haired male,frankly he didn’t want to see it again.

Now moving along in a few trees M/n shot down the enemies who were currently guarding the building.The male made his way inside without drawing any attention.At least thats what he thought.As he rushed down the hallway he noticed an enemy just standing there, not paying attention.The soilder felt a piercing in his back and his eyes widened as he hit the floor.

“Oh my!~You should be paying attention darling!~”M/n spoke as the man pointed his gun at him.The man suddenly began coughing, and he spat up blood.

“Aw...seems that the poisions already kicking in.Oh well~sweet dreams handsome!~”M/n said while walking past the now dying man,snatching his rifle in the process.

“Insect this is Ghost how copy?”

“Im fine lieutenant,over”M/n said in response as shooting came from Ghosts end.M/n didn’t think much of it until a groan came from Ghosts end.

“Ghost you alright.”M/n asked as the man didn’t respond making him worry.He knew the male wasn’t far away since they’d been paired together on the same floor.

Ghost was laying flat on the ground,blood gushing out of his side as he struggled to stay awake.He had heaed M/n calleing for him but was to busy trying to stop the bleeding.He blinked for a moment before seeing something flying towards him.A butterfly a pretty one at that.A few moments passed and he ended up blacking out.

“Hey..........Hey!Are you okay?”A familiar voice said to him and slowly his vision cleared as well.He felt his head being elevated and placed down on something soft.He saw a pair of e/c eyes staring down at him and he noticed that his tacticle gear was off.He wasn’t bleeding anymore either.

“I gave you stitches and dressed your wounds as well.I gave you some medicine so that you can fight off infection as well.”M/n spoke softly as he reached his hand out to place it above the bigger mans gloved one.

“The others should be on their way to get us so we have to wait.”The shorter male continued as Ghost grunted.He turned his head to the side and it just occurred to him that his head was in M/n’s lap.He blushed beneath his mask and shifted in position so that all his weight wasn’t on M/n.

“Ahh...well aren’t you sweet.”M/n said as Ghost huffed.

“Shut yer mouth.”

“Hmm...this is why no one likes you.”

[piccolos-bigtoe]

Playing around,,, dunno if they’ll actually be a character I develop so this is just for funsies in my little imagination,, but if I were to like develop them, they’re a from Greece or something and have a tragic past, and are pretending to be from Long Island. They do anything they can to snub the mercs (epitome of “blocking is not enough I need them DEAD!!!”) because those guys somehow comedically mess up their shit all the time, they’re not even the main target of anything ever they’re just collateral damage from weird antics... they are also just as stupid as the mercs because they’ve driven the poor bastarf to near insanity </3 Top left is a book cover I am working on for my graphics class, Becoz I have to make book covers and I can’t physically work anymore unless I’m drawing at least one thing TF2-aligned and I don’t want to present to the class a like, book with Snipers face on it because no one IRL can EVER know my true interests and feelings…. Never ever, or else I’ll DIE.

And here’s my I guess original art not affiliated w/anything, besides like basically being a sort of pulp-y book. Yah I know the other one kind of pales in comparison to this one LOL but I’m still working on it, only spent like an hour on my little cute little tf2 one,, don’t look at the little flower on the back cover I accidentally did it a tiny bit different than the others and it sticks out like a sore thumb shhhh…

Currently in between classes,, I have about an hour until my next one so I am eating lunch, reheated boxed craft Mac and cheese,,, like a boss…. Have to conceptualize my next screen print…. Less so boss like….

[razorblade180]

Catching a Vibe

At the home of The People of the Springs, Aether finds himself calmly on a surfboard. Dawn has barely broken and the waves are calmer than his thoughts; although that wasn’t exactly a hard task. His mind flowed like the currents underneath him and his eyes stared off into the horizon so much he didn’t notice the tribe’s most famous guide paddle up to him.

Mualani:Ah, so you’re the brooding type. You and Kinich are going to hit it off.

Aether:Huh?! Oh, h-hey. What brings you out here.

Mualani:Shouldn’t that be my line. This entire place is practically my backyard. Where’s Paimon?

Aether:Asleep. I wanted to practice my surfing. She’s not exactly a swimmer and gets anxious when we’re separated.

Mualani:Ah, how kind of you. No worries can happen when her head is full of dreams. Also to answer your question, I’m out here because someone was wading in the water at the crack of dawn all alone.

Aether:That’s not normal here?

She gestured to the entire area. Aside from a few fishing boats in the distance, there was a definite lack of people in the water.

Aether:Hehe, I guess not.

Mualani:It’s one thing if you were in a hot spring, but open water is another thing entirely. Not that I’m particularly worried for ya. I imagine Fontaine has made you quite the strong swimmer.

Aether:*shudders* Honestly I think it’s the only reason I find it normal to be out here right now. Anyways, I’m fine. I’ll head back in a little while so if you have anything you need to do…

Mualani:I got nothing that can’t wait for actual sunlight. Staying out here isn’t a problem. Also…*leans closer* between you and me, a certain floating companion asked me to keep an eye on you a couple days ago.

Aether:…Haha, man, I guess I can’t get past her.

Mualani:I won’t disclose details but I will say I pretty confused at first. From what I could tell you seemed to be managing. But…after everything we’ve been through recently I think I understand a bit better. Things sure got complicated fast.

The surfer let out a chuckle and a wary sigh before shaking off the feeling.

Aether:Things really got crazy for you. Need to vent?

Mualani:Nah I’m good. At first it was… a lot. Still is, but I’ve processed the situation more or less. No need to sweat it. I’m actually grateful. From the moment we met your vibe felt a little out of wack in a way I couldn’t explain. Now I’m sure it’s because you’ve been dealing with crisis like this often, right?

Aether:Did you just call my vibes horrendous?

Mualani:You get what I mean! Paimon sure would.

Aether:I…can’t argue that.

Mualani:Don’t worry. You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to and I won’t pry.

Aether:So what exactly are you hoping to accomplish.

Mualani:Hmmmm…

She takes her pointer fingers and places them on the corners of Aether’s mouth, raising them up to make a smile to…well…smile at. She removes her fingers to pleasantly see her work stay as Aether looked at her with mild confusion.

Mualani:Uh huh. Just as I suspected. Your smile used to be way bigger I bet. That’s probably what Paimon is worried about. It’s gone into hiding, hasn’t it?

Aether:I-I wouldn’t know. I’m pretty sure my smile has been the same so… sighs

Mualani:See? Can’t even convince yourself. Never a good sign. I don’t know when you lost it; only you can really answer that. Your friend misses it, and I honestly would love to see it. Not to say your smiles so far haven’t been wonderful, but now I’m invested. Kind people always have the best smiles. They really light up a room!

Aether:Haha, you’re right about that. Kachina really knows how to make a person want to do their best.

Mualani:I know right! She’s so adorable. That smile means so much to me. I can also tell yours brought her a lot of comfort. Seriously, thanks for sticking your neck out for her. It means a lot. Kinich typically reins me in whatever someone is bothering her. It was quite the interesting change to have someone also want throw down against those jerks slandering her.

Aether:I don’t know if we should call that solitary or enabling.

Mualani:Hahaha! Either way, I’d say we’re thick as thieves now. More importantly, war buddies. I couldn’t ask for anything better.

Aether:Heh, funnily enough, I seem to make war buddies left and right. Never thought it would be as common as it is. Although…this time is a little different. You’re different.

Mualani:Oh?

Aether:Natlan is pretty amazing, and the way of your people, the way you act is refreshing. I know I said something about solidarity earlier, but honestly it’s more like I’m catching your vibe. Instead of worrying about my journey and the things ahead I’m just…taking things as they come. No use worrying about it all, right? Thanks Mualani. *smiles* You’re pretty cool.

Mualani:*smiles* Oh hehe, thank you. *holds fist out* “No one fights alone.” From here on out, we have each other’s back. How about tomorrow I can teach you some really epic surfing tricks. If you can keep up that is.

Aether:You’re on.

He bumps fists her proudly as the horizon makes the water shimme. For the first time in what felt like awhile, the Sun emerged in full force.

[skyloftian-nutcase]

I have two things to share today!

First, I got a new book!

I am loving all the concept art. Also found out there's a manga in the back I've heard about, but had never actually read before.

Second, something Skyward Sword related I've been thinking about today that just so happend to tie into that.

(Yes, I'm still working my way through the game but I've seen pieces of the ending)

In a lot of LU stuff with Sky and Demise's curse, I see it interpreted that Demise was the one to cause the cycle of reincarnation for the three bearers of the triforce. I have a different interpretation on that though.

See, Demise only specifies his own reincarnation. "An incarnation of my hatred shall ever follow your kind. (Blood of the Goddess, Spirit of the Hero)" That suggests that Link and Zelda were already bound to reincarnation, and Demise simply added himself into that cycle.

Then I found the manga in Hyrule Historia, and that pretty much confirmed what I had been thinking. Demise's curse didn't cause the reincarnation cycle, it simply added himself into it.

Would love to hear your thoughts on that, if you have any!

Oooo Hyrule Historia, that’s fun! :D I’m glad you’re enjoying it :)

That’s an interesting take on it! Haha Demise just shoved himself into the cycle too, like “I WANNA PLAY TOO >:( ” 😂 I can see that honestly

I mean, if you really do wanna hear my thoughts, I guess I’ll share 😅 I don’t think my take on it is a very popular one though. 😅

First of all, I disregard all mangas as they’re not canon. Like I can enjoy aspects of them and whatnot, but I’ve never read one and don’t intend to.

Secondly, the entire idea of First’s existence bothers me lol, sorry. Skyward Sword heavily implies that Hylia fought her own war against Demise and didn’t need some man to help her, and I liked that. Like LET HER FIGHT HER OWN DANG BATTLES BLAST IT. STOP WITH THE CONSTANTLY NEEDING A HERO TO SAVE HER AND FALLING IN LOVE AND—anyway that’s just a pet peeve of mine. Also, his existence would imply that Sky’s just another hero in the cycle rather than the start of it, and I liked the idea that Skyward Sword was the start of the legend, not just another chapter - and the game even heavily implies that it’s the start. It has fun callbacks, like Zelda giving Link a sailcloth based on the tradition that Hylia gave her chosen hero that—and wouldn’t you look at that, she’s Hylia and Link travels into the past to fight Demise and is called Hylia’s chosen hero - he made his own legend!! I adore that!! First’s existence and story completely derails all that, so I’ll just stick to canon. ☺️ Many people like him and they’re more than welcome to enjoy him, I just disregard him haha

As for the reincarnation, I guess it varies based on what people think reincarnation is. The way I’ve always viewed it is that if someone reincarnated their soul hops from life to life. So it’s the same person living different lives. But LoZ contradicts this when Hero’s Shade appears in Twilight Princess - that’s two separate souls, but they’re both the Hero. So it isn’t exactly reincarnation, then. And Zelda only reincarnated once - when Hylia became Skyward Sword Zelda. The rest of them, at least according to Demise’s curse, are her descendants. So neither Link nor Zelda are the same person traveling across time and destiny - instead, Zelda is bound to her bloodline, while Link is chosen by the goddesses when a hero is needed because he has the courage to do it. The Spirit of the Hero, as I interpret it, is Skyward Sword Link, who is bound by the curse, who acts as a spiritual companion and aide to the current Hero, though neither of them is really able to communicate, who imparts connections to his destiny (why Link gravitates to Zelda, why he might feel strange connections to items or places, though the games never really show that’s the case), who protects them when they cannot protect themselves (why Twilight turns to a wolf instead of being lost in the twilight realm, why the Triforce randomly splits in Hyrule Warriors and protects Wars from dying against Volga when it’s never shown to be a weapon or shield before).

But that’s just my take on it, Nintendo leaves it very vague so we can all play with our own ideas! :)

[fandoms-in-law]

Muddy Letters - The Conclusion

Authors Note: I have 2 possible summaries for this fic and neither really work for posting it all in one story. Instead both the summary I want to use and the story is in 3 parts: The Re-Beginning, The Beginnging, The Conclusion (you are here)

Contrary to normal expectations, I suggest reading the Re-beginning first.

Summary: It started with a car theft and an apology note. It ended with a fathers anger and discovery. It began again with Dustin helping Steve pack up his room.

Now it ends with an interesting way to prevent Dustin snooping anymore.

/\/\

Dustin was not expecting, nor was he happy to find out, that helping Steve move into his new home was, for him at least, less moving and unpacking boxes and more being given a shovel, taking to the garden and told to dig.

“How is this helping anything? What am I digging anyway? Flowerbeds?” He demanded, trying to give the shovel back and head toward the house.

“It’s helping me fill a decades old promise and helping you avoid snooping and invading my privacy again.” Steve replied, a bitchy smirk on on his face. “Besides, you should be thrilled. You get to dig the start of the Hobbit Hole. You love those books, right?”

He threw the shovel down, “What promise? How do you know about Smiles? You refuse to read them! It can’t be a hobbit hole. There’s no hill to dig into.”

“Make good progress and I might answer some of those questions. If he other shitheads snoop they’ll help you out here, okay?” Steve called, heading back to his new house, but a sharp glance over his shoulder confirmed Dusting wouldn’t be allowed back in unless the weather drastically changed.

~

“Here’s the kids,” Nancy called, “I’m staying too to ensure some unpacking actually gets done.”

Steve hurried out of the house, grinning at the group that had arrived, “We need Eddie and Robin to get the van here to start on that. Come in so I can show you around.”

“Dustin is excited to help you. Where is he?” El asked, looking around, trying to spot him.

“Oh he’s already helping. Insisted I pick him up absurdly early to help, so I gave him a project to work on.” He explained. “After the tour, I’ll show you his project and all you brats can decide how you want to help.”

Mike predictably glared, “We aren’t brats.”

“Says the brattiest of the group.” Steve bitched back, “Come on.”

~

“This doesn’t look like digging, Henderson,” Steve called, leading the group over to him. “Are you planning how to snoop again?”

“Tunnels need supports and structure, Steve.” Dustin countered, tone implying insults he didn’t say. “If you want a hobbit hole it needs planning, not just ‘Start digging and figure it out as you go’.”

Steve laughed, shaking his head. “As if you’ll get far enough to need that today. And it has been planned, a long time ago so I’ve been told. The area marked off needs digging down into first.”

“By who? And why is he digging?” Mike demanded, coming to stand beside Steve.

“A friend and partly because he tried looking at private things when helping me pack, partly because he insisted on helping before any of my stuff is here to be unpacked.” Steve easily explained. “And if you keep that attitude, you can grab a shovel and help him too.”

Lucas looked over the area for a moment before asking, “Can we see the plans or are they private too?”

Steve shrugged, “They aren’t here and I’m not having you brats trying to be project managers. Now,” He clapped, “Who’s helping Dustin and who’s in the house?”

~

Eddie and Robin were clearly unloading boxes for a while before knocking on the door. There were boxes stacked into a wall in front of it with only space for an arm to stick through as it currently was doing.

“Thank you, Thing.” Steve laughed when it waved. “Guessing you got here while I had everyone in the garden.” He leant closer as the arm withdrew, to peer through at Eddie’s equally amused face.

“About ten minutes ago, I’d say. You tell me how the timings match up. Are you dismantling my wall now?” Eddie crooned, smiling when the boxes were soon taken from the top and Steve’s spot peering through was taken by Mike glaring suspiciously.

“Do you know how Steve knows about hobbits?” He asked, as if Steve merely knowing of them was wrong.

He laughed, “Easy, I told him about them. We decided you kids are dwarves and he’s Bilbo.”

“Hey!”

“There are too many of you to be hobbits but only one Steve.”

~

Everything had been given a place and Steve was hopeful they’d have a quiet evening from how worn out they all were, between moving, unpacking and digging a decent trench in his garden. He could feel those hopes flounder when Dustin came through, now in clean clothes and with a determined gleam in his eyes.

“You’ve only known Eddie since Spring Break. How could building a hobbit hole be a decades old promise when he claims to be the one to tell you about hobbits?” He rattled off, trying to figure out his mystery as he spoke.

“We were penpals once. Lost touch and didn’t immediately know each other in the reunion.” Eddie said, swatting the questions from the air.

Dustin’s glare turned on him, “That makes no sense! The only penpal schemes are to other countries or states. And why would Steve promise a hobbit hole to a penpal he couldn’t meet?”

“We met too. Eddie didn’t say it was just letters.” Steve rolled his eyes, crossing his arms to show how done with the conversation he felt. “Can we watch the film now?”

“I want answers to all these secrets.” Dustin insisted, a whine in his voice as he sat deliberately in front of the TV to block everyone’s views of it.

Eddie and Steve exchanged a look and sighs before Eddie jumped up, “Fine. I’ll tell you the tale of how I became the man I am today and how Uncle Wayne is ever a vital clue to know if I was in your past.”

“And how he forgets where places are in a month of not visiting them.” Steve added, smirking.

“Hush!” The rebuttal was easily given, “Now I was just a young thing-”

Steve listened to Eddie’s recounting of their childhood friendship with a smile: They could keep some promises to each other now.

[artiststarme]

Oblivious Eddie

This is kind of the opposite of @ladykailitha's current story. It turned out a lot longer than I anticipated lol. Featuring the screaming match that you guys voted on! I hope you guys like it and please share your thoughts in the comments!

~*~*~*~

Steve was at his wit’s end. Things were now back to normal in the summer after the supernatural happenings of the Upside Down in the spring. The older teens had graduated from high school (Eddie included), the younger kids were off at camp or work or rehab respectively, and Steve was working his usual shift at Family Video. 

He was alone today since Keith was out of town on vacation and Robin was touring the campus at Indiana State. He was bored out of his mind. The entire day, he’d had a mere four customers with plenty of time to rewind the returned tapes, organize the shelves in a way Robin would hate, and take a variety of magazine quizzes. He now knew that his spirit animal was a golden retriever, Tom Cruise would date him for his personality, and that his zodiac sign would find fortune in the next month. 

However, if something interesting didn’t happen in the next ten minutes, he was going to do something drastic like pull his hair out or something. As the minutes ticked on, he started getting worried. Steve prided himself on being a man of his word and he made a decision which meant he had to stick to it. But did it count if it was a thought to himself? Would he have to pull his hair out by the clump to prove a point to his own brain? Maybe he-

His spiral was cut off by the jingle of the door’s bell. Steve let out a sigh of relief, “Welcome to Family Video, is there anythi- Eddie! Hey man, what’s up?”

Eddie had gotten a part-time job at Thatcher Tire and was trying to bring in some money from work of the legal variety. He said it was time to make money like an honest man and develop the good habits of the working class. Steve thinks that Hopper threatened him about the drug dealing and Eddie had no choice but to abide by his rules because he was the one who cleared his name in the media and with the cops. Either way, Eddie should be at work but instead he was walking straight towards Steve with a swish to his hips. 

“Heya Big Boy, guess what.”

“What?” Steve asked in curiosity. He didn’t know what would make Eddie so happy but his face was nearly splitting with the force of his beaming grin. 

“I got a call from a concert venue in Indy and they want Corroded Coffin to perform! They said that my notoriety from Spring Break could work as publicity and bring in more people. They want us to play this weekend!” Eddie was practically jumping up and down in excitement. 

Steve hopped the counter in order to envelop Eddie in a hug, “congratulations man! What did the kids say? Are they excited for you too?”

Eddie pulled back slightly, just enough to place his hand on Steve’s shoulder and look him in the eye whilst pulling a strand of hair from its position stuck in his mouth. “The kids? I don’t know, I came directly here to tell you.”

The comment in Eddie’s earnest tone caused butterflies to flutter in Steve’s stomach. He wanted to tell him first? That’s so sweet. Then he shook his head, it wasn’t sweet. It was just a dude telling his bro some exciting news. That’s all. 

“They’re going to be thrilled, Eds! You’re going to do great, I wish I could see it.” 

“That’s kinda why I’m here. Would you, Steve Harrington, do me the honor of watching me perform the most metal concert ever in a dingy venue in Indy this weekend? I’ll be honest with you, I’m a little nervous and having you there would make me really happy.” Eddie looked at him with the biggest puppy dog eyes he could muster, trying to persuade Steve to go. And honestly, he didn’t even have to. As soon as he had told Steve about the gig, his mind started thinking over blackmail he could use to get Keith to cover his shift. 

But, as he looked into Eddie’s pleading eyes and pouty lips, all he could think about was how much he wanted to kiss him. Which… what the fuck?! Steve wasn’t gay, he liked boobies! He still liked boobies! But now he thinks he liked the picture of Tom Cruise in the magazine from earlier and maybe Matthew Broderick on the movie poster over there and definitely Eddie, fuck. Steve needed to have a mental breakdown, STAT. 

“Fine, yes, I would be honored to go with you. Now, get out of here and tell the kids. They’re going to be thrilled,” Steve said as quickly and nonchalantly as he could muster in the face of his fast-approaching sexuality crisis. 

“Yay! Thanks Stevie, I swear you’re going to love it. I’ll see you tomorrow for movies and beer at mine, right?” Eddie asked over his shoulder while walking to the door. 

Steve felt like he was being strangled as he watched Eddie’s ass walking away, “yep, I’ll be there. See you later, Alligator!”

The second Eddie’s van drove out of the lot, Steve was rushing to lock the door and turn the closed sign. He needed to have a breakdown in peace. He slid down the wall of the disgusting Family Video bathroom and let the pent up sobs explode out of him. He knew he was freaking out over nothing but he couldn’t help it. It felt like in the few minutes it took for Steve to realize he liked guys, his entire world had changed. He was an outsider now, a queer, a freak. Deep down, he knew there was nothing wrong with being gay. Love is love. But why him?

Honestly, this wasn’t the worst thing he’d gone through. Yeah, he couldn’t be open with his love for another dude without being targeted which sucked. But he fought literal monsters with a bat and came out of it relatively unscathed. So this obviously wasn’t the end of the world. 

Steve tried to think of what Robin would say in this moment but couldn’t come up with anything. He felt a rush of irrational anger at her because of it. Why did she choose to tour a college campus now? She was already planning on leaving him behind and now she missed his crisis when she was supposed to be there with him? Ridiculous, some platonic soulmate she was. 

After another several minutes of freaking out, he started to calm down. This wasn’t an awful thing despite his initial thoughts. He knew Eddie was gay after one two many beers and a miniature freak out on Eddie’s part. And he knew his friends should be okay with it. And Eddie was amazing, they went through the same things, and they’ve bonded over their matching bat scars. Looking back, maybe that’s why Steve hasn’t been able to get a girlfriend in months… because he like-likes Eddie!

A plan started to form in Steve’s mind. He was going to woo Eddie and show him what it would be like to have the full ‘Steve Harrington Dating Experience’. He’d flirt, take him on dates, the whole shebang. And when Eddie inevitably fell for him, they could be boyfriends. With the plan in mind and the crisis averted, Steve left the bathroom, opened the door to the shop, and continued plotting for the rest of his shift. 

This would be a piece of cake. 

~*~*~*~

This was much harder than Steve had originally anticipated. He did not consider how utterly unobservant Eddie was or how oblivious Eddie would be to his affections. Steve had been flirting with this fucking guy for a month now and he was no closer to making him his boyfriend. 

He’d started smooth the night after his breakdown when he and Eddie watched movies and smoked weed in his trailer. Steve had given Eddie a compliment on his outfit, brought beers, and rested his arm on his shoulder during one of the scarier movies. What did Eddie do? Nothing! Steve thought he might’ve seen the barest hint of a blush when he wrapped his arm around him but it was gone before he could check to make sure. So he vowed to spend more quality time with him to be more obvious. 

The next time was at Eddie’s concert. Steve drove Eddie’s van with Eddie and the rest of the van the entire way to Indy. During the drive. They kept up conversation about metal music, summer plans, and the kids. At one point of the drive, Steve straight up grabbed Eddie’s hand and intertwined their fingers. Eddie didn’t even break his train of thought and continued speaking, rubbing his thumb along Steve’s knuckles. Steve couldn’t even focus on listening as if Eddie’s thumb rubbing circles didn’t make Steve want to stick his fingers in his mouth. Physical touch was also not affecting his guy. 

He tried words of affirmation next and those didn’t work either. His flirts initially started small. He would compliment Eddie’s clothes, his hair, or the things he liked. Then they escalated to comment on his character, his personality, and ‘how adorable he was’. Yesterday, Steve literally told him that his ass looked great in his black jeans but would look better out of them. That statement made Eddie’s jaw drop and he let out a loud guffaw before continuing his conversation like Steve hadn’t just implied that he wanted to see his bare ass. Son of a bitch. 

He was trying out acts of service when Eddie called him out. Steve had been doing the dishes at the Munson trailer while he waited for Eddie’s shift to end when he came in. And he came in hot. He slammed the door behind him and waved his hands around in flailing outrage. 

“Harrington, what the actual fuck! What are you even doing? You’re so fucking confusing!” He screamed as he saw Steve scrubbing at a stain on a white cutting board. 

Steve whipped around to look at him and narrowed his eyes. He was the confusing one? He’d been flirting with this dumbass nearly every day for a month and getting nowhere. “I’m confusing? That’s rich coming from you.”

Eddie blinked in shock before his lips pulled back in a snarl. “First of all, nothing about me is rich. Second of all, yes it’s you that’s confusing! You’ve been fucking flirting with me for weeks and no you’re doing my uncle’s dishes! That’s confusing.”

“Why is it confusing? I’m doing the dishes because you weren’t home yet and I needed something to do. I’m flirting with you because I like you. What’s confusing?” Steve was legitimately confused at this line of questioning and he really didn’t understand why Eddie was yelling. 

“You like me? Newsflash- you’re straight. You’re the straightest person that I have ever met. I don’t know why you keep flirting with me or what angle you’re trying to play here but I’m not interested in being your experiment, Harrington.” Eddie yelled at him, his finger pointing at Steve accusingly before moving to hug himself in self-comfort.   

Steve saw his discomfort but elected to act defensively and yell back at him. “I’m not straight, I never said I was and you never asked! I like both and it’s really shitty of you to try and tell me who I like when you have no idea what’s going on!”

Eddie opened his mouth to talk but Steve plowed on, “your whole schtick is nonconformity and sticking it to the fucking man but you draw the line at me liking guys and girls? Maybe I don’t like you as much as I thought I did. You’re obviously just as rude and judgmental as everyone else. And you’re welcome for the dishes, fucker.”

Eddie grabbed his arms as he went to move past. “Harrington, Steve, Stevie. I’m sorry, please just listen to me. Steve!”

Steve jerked his head to the side to glare at him. “What?”

“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you or not be appreciative of you washing our fucking dishes. I just, I didn’t know you liked both and I was losing my mind the past few weeks because I couldn’t figure out if you were flirting with me or if it was just you being a good friend or if you were playing a prank or something. I’m sorry and I do appreciate you,” Eddie was biting his lips nervously and his hand was still wrapped around Steve’s upper arm. He looked earnest and like he genuinely regretted his actions. 

Steve sighed, “I’m sorry too, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable-”

“I’m not uncomfortable! I was just really confused and I didn’t know what was happening. But uh, I like you too.”

Steve’s eyes met Eddie’s. “You do?”

“Hell yeah, man. You were my gay awakening in middle school. That’s why I’ve been so frustrated this past month. I didn’t know if I was imagining it or if I actually had a shot,” Eddie chuckled. 

Steve stepped closer to him and put his hand on the back of Eddie’s neck. “You definitely have a shot.”

And then, Steve pulled Eddie’s face closer to his own and their lips smashed in a kiss. Eddie groaned as their teeth gnashed in the bruising kiss. When they finally pulled apart, they pressed their foreheads together and breathed in the same air. Steve whispered, “you were my gay awakening too.”

Eddie’s answering cackles were so loud, Max came over to tell them to shut the hell up. She got a free front-row seat to their liplock and let out a scream so high-pitched that the window glass quivered before running back to her trailer. On the bright side, they wouldn’t have to come out to the kids.

@doubleb11 @nburkhardt @zerokrox-blog @newtstabber @i-less-than-three-you @carlyv @straight4joekeery @trippypancakes @pyrohonk

[perfectlyvalid49]

Hello! Thank you so much for your patience in talking to and teaching people out here on this wild west internet. ❤️ As a poorly-informed goy, I've learned things! And I was hoping you could elaborate on one of those things, so I don't accidentally Do a Bad.

So, context: one of the things I love learning about the most is mythology, mysticism, esoterica, and religion, especially the history thereof. This generally isn't for the purpose of practicing anything in particular - magical or religious - but just because I love these topics. Lately I've been diving into the history of Christianity and Judaism, and I've noticed that one of the youtube channels I've been enjoying the most (Esoterica, which is run by a Jewish man) has videos on Kabbalah.

And therein lies the question - until I encountered your blog, I didn't even know that Kabbalah was an extant practice and had restrictions inside of Judaism itself, though I did know that Judaism is a closed religion. (Oops! I haven't gotten to the Middle Ages or Renaissance in my current studies yet.) So I guess what I want to ask is, is it only the practice of Kabbalah by unqualified people that is taboo, or is the knowledge of the practice also forbidden? Because while I would love to learn about it (it would be fascinating to see how it influenced Renaissance Alchemy!), it isn't something truly necessary to me in any way, and I don't want to be accessing knowledge that I oughtn't. Do you know the answer?

Thank you so much, and sorry for the long, weird question! I hope you're having a good day!

Hi! I’m glad you find what I have to say informative; it’s always nice when someone appreciates your work.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a good answer for your question. I don’t study kabbalah (I’m neither male nor over 40, nor would I consider myself a scholar in Torah and Talmud (nor do I actually have the time to devote to it)), and I’m unfamiliar with the youtube channel you mentioned. I’ll tell you what I do think in case that helps, and I’ll tag jumblr so that if someone who knows more than me feels like helping you out, they can see this ask too.

The first thing I want to be clear on is that whatever answer I give you, there will be Jews out there that disagree with it. That is true in part because Jews are not a monolith, but also because Judaism very much believes in healthy debate, so the phrase “two Jews, three answers” applies to pretty much ANY question.

Without knowing the youtube channel, I find it somewhat concerning that the guy running it doesn’t make it clear that Kabbalah is highly restricted as part of teaching about it. Maybe he assumes you have that knowledge already, or maybe it’s in a video you missed, but it seems like the sort of thing you would want to make clear in teaching about it. So if he didn’t do that, then I wonder about what else he might be leaving out.

My personal opinion is that it’s complicated. I do think that if your interest is academic (I want to learn about the thing for historical/cultural context) and not spiritual (I want to use this as a method of understanding/growing closer to G-d) then I don’t think that your desire is offensive. But that’s my opinion and others may disagree.

A lot of the problem comes down to the fact that part of practicing kabbalah is studying kabbalah. So, as an example, to learn about kabbalah, you may want to learn about the Zohar. But reading the Zohar (a great way to learn about it) is practicing kabbalah – a thing you should not do. It can be hard to know where the line is between learning *about* kabbalah and just learning kabbalah, and that makes this tricky.

I guess I would say that if you stick to studying things that are one step removed, you’re probably OK? So like if Rabbi X was a famous kabbalah scholar, you could learn about Rabbi X or read any published writings of his that aren’t considered part of kabbalah, that’s probably ok, but studying actual kabbalah itself would not be.

I will say that many Jews are prickly on this subject because many goyim like to take things that are Jewish and closed and insist that we share them anyway, with no respect toward our peoplehood or culture. That doesn’t seem to be what you’re doing though, and I appreciate that.

Anyway, I hope that this was helpful, or that someone else responds to this with something that is.

[angelfrogs]

My feelings on Yoshida are...mixed. On the one hand I understand that he is young and in a very toxic environment that encourages pretty amoral behavior, but on the other hand he is a pretty smart guy and should know when his orders are cruel and he should defy them. What he does next will really shape my opinion on him: will he stick by Public Safety or will he aid Denji?

That’s completely understandable. Personally my favorable opinion of him really because of his amoral and atypical behaviors. I think he’s one of the most fascinating characters in part two. There’s so much we don’t know about him, like why/how he joined public safety in the first place (originally in part one he’s introduced as a private hunter temporarily hired by public safety to protect Denji, which leads us to even more questions about his past like how long has he been devil hunting but I digress) I think because of this he’s a very strong parallel to Denji (to me he and sugo are the main non asa parallels) he’s clearly to some extent been raised in life threatening situations/raised killing devils and he also seems to have one devil connection that he relies on and even occasionally acts familiar with. I think the difference is Denji was always treated as expendable and Yoshida has been treated as talented. It’s technically speculative but I think that really ends up explaining a lot about their behaviors. Yoshida is very smart, and he is young and vulnerable, I think him following through with public safety’s cruelty is in fact because of all of those things. I think that where Denji is controlled by ignorance Yoshida may be controlled by information. It’s not hard to convince a kid that the reason he lives while others don’t is because he’s smart enough to make the cruel decisions. But given how upset and frustrated he seemed each time he failed to put Denji on the path with the least public safety intervention, amongst other things, I think it’s safe to say he doesn’t want to be cruel. But it remains unclear if the want to stop being cruel outweighs the “smart” safe decision of staying where he is. Especially now that he’s already lost once to Asa/Yoru. Especially because it’s extremely possible he knows the fate that he could receive if he’s caught disobeying/defecting. No matter what he does I think I’ll always like him as a character, though I really do want him to defect, but honestly what I’m most interested in is answers about his past and current situation. If I had to give guesses on what his fate will be I think he will either die defecting or apologizing for not defecting but that’s just my two cents lol! This manga is always keeping me guessing!

[pomefioredove]

Heyyyy if you are still open to some more matchups can I request a romantic one? You can pick anyone Students, Staff, or RSA/Noble Bell college people, i don't care either way. I really just want to know who you think fits me personality-wise best lol. 

Ok, so I guess I’ll tell you my appearance first, I’m 169cm so like 5’6, I’ve got very very curly reddish brown hair, and blue eyes that look purple to gray depending on the light. I have a lot of tattoos. Started with a stick and poke piece when I was 13 and have kept getting them even years later. I joke that instead of a sleeve I have a pair of pants, both my legs are covered in tattoos, one side black and the other color. People always tell me I'm incredibly easy to spot in a crowd. Pronouns are She/Her and my voice is kind of low and monotone maybe a bit husky.

As for hobbies... I love Boxing and MMA, I’ve been doing it competitively for a few years so I can comfortably say I can kick most people's ass. food is a bit of a love language for me so I cook pretty often and try a lot of different cuisines (current fav is Georgian, you have to try Khachapuri it's soooo good). I used to sing and play the drums though it's been a while so I'm probably not too great anymore. You know how some people listen to music for the lyrics while other people listen for the beat? I definitely listen more for the sound, I don't care what the song is about just how the sounds flow together... which is why I mostly listen to music in foreign languages, don't need to understand to lyrics to enjoy the beat.

My interests are mostly low key I like to study languages but I don't really try to become fluent just conversational i guess. I'm more inclined to learn about the aspects of a language than the grammar and stuff. Reading horror and what I like to call weird fiction. I love finding books that are a little odd the best example of this that I can think of is "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewsk. I really like weird things, normal things that have been a little twisted and made up in new ways if you get what I mean.

As for my personality... ugh I think I'm probably an acquired taste... it sounds bad but like I'm a really difficult person to get close to. I just don't trust easily and I'm not someone who entertains too much small talk without reason. An example is the fact I've known people for five+ years and still don't really consider them friends. Sure we hang out but like they don't know me and I don't know them. I'm just kind of prickly, with a major resting bitch face too. Though to make up for this I'm incredibly loyal. Once we've actually become friends there's nothing I wouldn't do for them. If they need help hiding a body I'm not gonna ask questions just gonna bring a shovel, take out for two, and tickets out of the country.

Oh and a current project of mine is to reverse-engineer a printer so that i can stick it to shitty corporations who think its reasonable to make you pay a subscription to use a printer that I ALREADY PAID FOR!! That last bit was mostly because i need to print out an essay of mine and I had to dust of the printer i haven't used in forever only to be met with a error message saying i had to pay my subscription to use the thing ugghh. So now i need to actually learn how to a soldering gun.

Sorry if my ramblings don't make much sense, I really don't think about myself too much so trying to describe myself was like insanely hard. Thank you!!!!!!!!! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

I match you with 𝐑𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐡𝐢

The First Impression:

Okay. His honest, true, first thought? You smell good. You smell like spices and warmth, so much so that he forgets what he's doing to turn in your direction.

Why He Fell:

"Prickly" and "hard to get close to" aren't terms in Ruggie's dictionary. He would crawl into a sewer if he thought he'd get something worthwhile out of it, and, hey- to him, you're pretty worthwhile!

He may or may not trail behind you like a lost puppy for a little while, at least until you take pity on him and give the poor thing a good meal. But, like with most stray animals, feeding him only brings him back.

Over time (and a few meals), Ruggie starts to bond with you on a more personal level. He'll ask about each of your tattoos, let you ramble to him about whatever it is you're working on, and take little notes on how sharp and crafty you are in the meantime.

The Relationship:

Ruggie has absolutely no shame. Will gladly eat every single thing you make him without even asking what it is, all while dousing you with compliments about it. If making people food is your love language, then eating food is his.

You're just really nice to have around, right? And hey, your beat-em-up skills definitely don't hurt! He's a scrawny guy, he can appreciate standing behind some muscle. He also finds the way you understand sound, in both music and language, to be fascinating, especially considering how sensitive most beastmen's ears are. He can relate to how you describe it.

He's never one to judge, either, so take your time getting comfortable around him! He'd never admit it, but he's pretty much the same way- it takes a lot to actually get his walls down. You can do it together, huh?

[mllemaenad]

The Magnus Protocol: Putting Down Roots

Well, Colin is the most interesting character. It might just be because I've done IT. Never mind the supernatural. That error does not mean anything. You're seeing that error because it's the last thing that failed, but it only failed because nine other things failed before it. The first thing that failed is the actual problem, but you don't know what that is because you currently can't get to the top of the log file because of all the other things that crashed. So what the hell is wrong with you, you stupid machine?

It's all very relatable.

That said, a ".jmj error" does seem likely to be the text-to-speech programs crashing, so it probably is a supernatural error and it probably does mean something.

For the moment, it still seems most reasonable to speak as though "Norris" is Martin. It may not be, of course. It could be a disembodied voice with no personality attached to it at all – but what do you do with that, until the narrative makes something of it? It could be somebody else entirely, but in that case I know nothing about them or their motives so there's nothing useful to say until they reveal themselves.

So for now: Occam's razor. It sounds like Martin and it came into being after the conclusion of The Magnus Archives, so the simplest guess is that it is Martin. If and when useful evidence to the contrary surfaces, I will change my mind.

Also: Norris told a story about a man who killed his love and then lost himself so badly that he turned into a tree like bloody Harold from the Fallout series. It also dealt very much with feelings of being forgotten and unnoticed:

Norris/Samuel Webber I can’t go home. Not for a few days at least. And I’ll have to avoid the usual haunts until they forget about me again. That won’t be difficult. What’s one more stressed doctor. Just a grey man in the crowd, unnoticed until I’m useful. The Magnus Protocol: Putting Down Roots

That's a problem from Martin's past, but also a problem he might reasonably said to be having now, if he's explaining the horrors of the world to people and nobody (with the possible exception of Sam) is listening.

If that isn't Martin, it is something doing an uncannily good job of explaining why Martin might not be having a great year.

And, while this is evidence of nothing, for the moment I am much amused by the idea that a ".jmj" error is the cast of The Magnus Archives continuing their longstanding tradition of complaining about statements. One of those creepy messages comes in and Martin just wails "Again? Seriously?" and the whole system blue-screen-of-deaths. It may not be true, but it's funny in my head.

I do note that the new format gives a much greater capacity for bad or ambiguous endings to the tales. There's a thing John says in season four that sticks with me:

Archivist One thing that always strikes me when I read statements like this is… the bias of survivorship. With one or two notable exceptions, the only statements the Institute receives are those where the witness has successfully escaped whatever terrible place or being has marked them for a victim. I wonder how many don’t make it out. How many of those shapes in the water were once just like Mr. Shakya. – The Magnus Archives: Submerged

And he's right: there are a few instances of letters-to-be-read-in-the-event-of-my-death, and a few cases where a person who is clearly still being pursued by something stops in to tell their story before being run down, but most of the stories end in an escape. They aren't exactly happy, but they do tend toward the hopeful: by luck, tenacity or skill you may survive. Even the cavalcade of horrors in season five has finally has something you could call a happy ending: you can assume most of those people lived, and even went home.

If you compare the first four stories of The Magnus Archives with the first four stories of The Magnus Protocol, you get a very different pattern.

The Magnus Archives:

Nathan Watts of Anglerfish outwitted the titular monster – he spotted that the voice did not come from the figure's mouth, and got away.

Joshua Gillespie of Do Not Open outlasted the coffin, using music ice, and apparently an iron will to resist its siren song.

Across the Street is the odd one out: while Amy Patel seems to have survived the experience unscathed, the story is clearly about Graham Folger, and the monster very definitely got him.

Dominic Swain of Page Turner was rescued by Gerard Keay.

But in The Magnus Protocol, because the stories are harvested, they can just end – and so far, they do:

Harriet Winstead's fate in First Shift is unclear: did she escape, or was she killed or taken? She is last seen in fear for her life and seeking shelter.

Likewise, in the episode's second story, RedCanary's fate is somewhat unclear, although only in the sense that there isn't a definitive ending: there's a clear implication that their explorations had permanent consequences. More than that, while it is uncertain if Harriet got help, it is certain that RedCanary did not. Due to the anonymous nature of the forum, they were warned and banned when their behaviour began to reflect the peculiar things that were happening to them. Nobody went to help.

Daria of Tweaking lived (at least so far), but is afflicted and changed by whatever the tattoo artist did to her, and the most distressing thing is that she seemed largely unaware of that fact. She knew that the tattooing itself was weird and invasive, but did not seem to find her persistent self-mutilation odd, and is merely awaiting further "inspiration" to continue the process.

Samuel Webber of Putting Down Roots turned into a tree, and while it is not completely clear if that means he died, he's definitely gone – his belongings simply found among the roots.

There has not, so far, been a story that matches the general pattern of The Magnus Archives, in which a person who is at least broadly fine describes the weirdest thing that ever happened to them. People here ... they disappear.

Everything feels much worse in this universe.

In terms of the overarching plot, Alice's plot against Colin seems unnecessarily petty, and also weird. I've turned her logic over in my head a few times, and I do not believe it. There might indeed be occasions where a bigger IT department would be better at troubleshooting problems than the one local guy, but those occasions probably do not include a scenario where you're running 30-year-old proprietary German software that is mysteriously haunted by text-to-speech programs that should not be there. Colin freely admits he does not understand the system – but it is highly doubtful that anyone else does either.

She also says this:

Alice All I’m saying is that Colin tinkers with this system all the time and I don’t see any oversight. If you queried upstairs asking about it, all bambi-eyed and innocent, some alarms might go off. They might even come down and do a refresh or reboot or whatever. – The Magnus Protocol: Putting Down Roots

This contradicts a lot of what was said in First Shift, in which Colin was indicated to be essential personnel who might not be allowed to quit, and that he was being leaned on by a minister to accomplish ... something. Now, granted, Alice may simply mean that a senior IT person isn't monitoring him – but it does seem that the people "upstairs" are aware of Colin's activities, and seem to be in contact with him about them. And her insistence on a "refresh or a reboot", aka "turning it off and back on again" is interesting in light of the earlier conversation:

Colin Do you have any idea what will happen if this thing finally managed to extinct itself? Alice We’d go home early? – The Magnus Protocol: Putting Down Roots

Calling in IT only makes sense in the context of killing the system: shutting down whatever they are using and migrating to something consistent with what everyone else is using. Then they could be supported the same way everyone else is, and have their software updates managed at an enterprise level. And what would that do? Stop the voices? Unleash indescribable horrors on the world? Couldn't say.

But the core of the episode is a small-scale power struggle over the stark difference between Colin and Alice's attitudes to their work.

Colin seems overworked, highly stressed and oddly dedicated: he learned German to help his crappy IT job, for a start. He is suspicious of the system and what it is recording, and disinclined to be "friends" with it, but also seems to regard its failure as potentially catastrophic. He is under some kind of pressure from above that indicates that someone regards his work as critical, but does not seem to have clearly stated what that means to anybody – or if he has, they weren't listening.

Alice is committed to the idea that their work is meaningless, and engages with it as little as possible – she sticks around while Colin is fixing her workstation, but exits to make coffee the moment Norris starts talking again. She's stated previously that she believes they only exist as a forgotten department and is unmoved by the thought of their programs finally biting the dust.

Sam, as the new guy, is caught between them: he's naturally more engaged with the stories than Alice is, and has clearly been looking into the history of The Magnus Institute, but he's also closer with Alice than with Colin and being mentored by her.

The plot goes nowhere, because Sam declines to participate. It's impossible to say who is right and who is wrong, or if both characters are just screwing around because their jobs are awful – but it is interesting that this ideological difference escalated so early.

Something strange is happening. Do we care, or do we not?

Of course, it's also fair to note that the characters themselves may be unreliable. John continued to pretend to disbelieve the statements in The Magnus Archives long after he'd worked out the correlation between the ones that required the tapes and the ones that were true – because he believed that was the prudent thing to do. It may be that Alice is deeply invested in everything that is happening here and simply refusing to say. But you can't know these things until the characters crack so, for now: Alice is committed to not caring, and Colin is committed to finding things out, and this is becoming a problem.

The story ends with a minor spat between Gwen and Alice, which is interesting because it sheds a bit of light on Gwen's past. Her surname is Bouchard, which makes it easy to make assumptions – but it's hard to tell what is still true in an alternate universe. Apparently The Shining and A Nightmare on Elm Street still got made, but The Magnus Institute is in Manchester so all bets are off.

In this instance, however, there seems to be a pattern: Gwen, like Elias, seems to have come from money.

Alice Let me guess, fancy gowns, champagne, bathing in the blood of the poor – that sort of thing? Gwen You know we make the same, Alice. An old friend just made partner at her law firm. She wants to celebrate. Alice You sound thrilled. Gwen Oh I can’t wait to catch up and tell them I’m still working in the same cesspit I was last time they asked. – The Magnus Protocol: Putting Down Roots

Elias, however, was something of a feckless stoner whose most notable trait was an utter lack of a defence mechanism for dealing with the supernatural. I would not describe Gwen as feckless at all, and while Elias was picked as a means for an immortal to hold on to life and power, and thus ostensibly rose quickly to the top of The Magnus Institute, Lena seems to be actively stymieing Gwen's career.

But it creates an interesting pattern. The OIAR is implied to be a place with a high turnover rate and little security – and it's a bastard of a job that no one enjoys and seems to be accomplishing little. It's easy to wave your hand at Sam: he's here because of whatever weirdness has led him to research The Magnus Institute.

But. It's him, but not just him. Sam is overqualified for the job. Gwen has connections, which usually lead to better prospects. No idea what Alice has been doing with her life, but ...

Alice Fine. Yes, I’m working that night. I’m working every night. I was born down here and I’ll die down here. Happy? – The Magnus Protocol: Putting Down Roots

So why are these people still here?

[theradicalscrivener]

The Life and Tinies of Trevor: OnlyGlans

I started this fic aaaagggesss ago. Like, you can carbon date the first draft by the fact that it references the Jack-O challenge. I'd been wanting to revisit Trevor and friends for ages, and I was in a hardcore micro mood this past month, so I dusted this off and finished it.

(P.S. Ya boi's got Linktree and Bluesky now)

[First Chapter] || [Next Chapter]

                Simon glanced up from his homework and over at the far side of the desk where Trevor was positioned in front of Simon’s cell phone – which at Trevor’s two-inch height was far larger than Trevor himself. The cell phone was mounted on a stand which kept it more or less upright so that Trevor could watch it like a movie screen, but Trevor seemed more interested in participating in what was going on on the screen as opposed to just watching.

                “… what in the wide, wide world of sports are you doing?” Simon asked.

               Trevor hopped up from his position and shouted up towards his colossal boyfriend so that Simon could hear, “It’s the hottest new meme,” he explained. “People all over are mimicking this fighting game pose.” He then leaned back down so his booty was in the air and his chest was down on the ground.

               “Looks uncomfortable. If I was gonna mimic a pose, I’d probably stick to something like The Garfield Power Coma pose or something,” Simon commented.

               Trevor once again hopped up and faced his giant boyfriend. “How boring! You won’t get any likes like that!”

               “Oh? That’s your game? Gonna be internet famous? Might need to put some pants on before you go posting to TikTok, though.” Simon teased and gave Trevor’s exposed midriff a playful poke with the eraser end of his pencil.

               It was supposed to be a soft jab, but with their current size disparity, it was enough to send Trevor tumbling onto his ass. After all, the pencil was bigger around than Trevor’s whole head! Getting poked with one of those was like getting bodied with a pugil stick.

               However, the sudden tumble barely slowed Trevor down. He quickly hopped back up on his feet. “I… uh… guess I got a little too used to not wearing anything around the house. I didn’t even consider the clothes thing…” Trevor said with a bashful chuckle.

               “Well, I for one am not complaining,” Simon said with a sly wink.

               “Yeah. You would enjoy it,” Trevor replied back and returned the wink.

               “TikTok might not allow you to leave the goods out, but I’m sure some other sites would be more than happy to show all of you.”

               “Ha! Yeah. I can get me an OnlyFans and become the world’s tiniest porn star!” Trevor laughed.

               “Then you can finally start paying rent,” Simon teased.

               “Sure! I’ll only pay for the portion of the apartment that I actually use though,” Trevor replied. He then paused for a beat and asked, “Do you think you can break a penny?”

               “A whole penny? You must really be expecting to rake in the big bucks,” Simon teased playfully.

“What? You don’t think I know how to work it? Get that camera rolling, and I’ll show you what I can do!”

               Simon smirked and cocked an eyebrow skeptically. After a moment he shrugged and then tapped the screen of his cell phone a few times and adjusted the angle so now the screen showcased the tiny Trevor standing atop Simon’s desk.

               “Well? Go on. Don’t keep your fans waiting,” Simon said.

                 “The site is called Only Fans for a reason! I’m nothing without my audience! So, you tell me what you want to see!” Trevor called up to his towering boyfriend.

               “Well, I already see a lot that I like. Why not show that to the audience?” Simon replied with a smirk.

               Trevor glanced up towards his boyfriend’s huge smirk which loomed far above him. His gaze stayed a moment at his boyfriend’s cute face and then slowly worked a path down the seeming miles of Simon’s shirt.

               “You know… if I’m going to make a name for myself as the world’s tiniest porn star, I should have a partner for comparison!” Trevor said.

               “Oh? Did you have someone in mind?” Simon replied playfully. He played dumb, but even without being asked, he began to undo the buttons on his shirt letting his toned chest and abs come into view.

“Take! It! Off! Take! It! Off!” Trevor cheered as Simon continued his striptease. Once his shirt was fully unbuttoned, he then shimmied his tight jeans down along his slender thighs before stepping out of those. Soon he was clad in nothing but his full open-fronted flannel shirt and a pair of bulging boxer briefs.

Simon started to reach down and slip his fingers into the waistband of his boxers, but Trevor quickly shouted for him to stop.

               “Wait! Wait! I have an idea!” Trevor shouted.

Simon cocked an eyebrow questioningly but waited as Trevor scampered across the desk towards the large keyboard that Simon usually worked from. Trevor crawled up onto the wrist rest before leaping across the gap to the keyboard proper. Once there, Trevor knelt down and slammed his palms down on the track pad as if he was putting his prints on the Hollywood walk of fame.

               Simon admired the view as Trevor took up a pose very similar to the meme pose he was trying earlier. Trevor had his legs spread wide so that he had a foot planted on one of the two mouse keys. Trevor had his two hands placed together almost as if he was trying to guide a Ouija puck. Trevor had to lean all the way forward so that he had most of his body weight balanced on his two hands in order for the track pad to even register his weight enough for him to move the cursor. The pose put all of his goods on display. His ass was raised high and held in such a way as to give Simon a clear view of Trevor’s tight, tiny hole, and his balls and dick swung beneath. Simon couldn’t help but ogle Trevor’s fit, firm backside as the tiny guy worked away at the computer. Each time Trevor needed to shift the cursor, he had to put his full body weight behind the push which caused his tiny cock and balls to swing heavily between his miniature quads.

               Simon was quickly getting beyond chubbed up as he watched his tiny boyfriend flex and wobble with each shove of the trackpad. Simon wished it was physically possible for him to plow that firm ass, but even before Trevor had been reduced in height to the size of a Lego figure, Simon’s impressive rod had been too much for his boyfriend to take. That wasn’t to say that Simon was dealing with blue balls, however. Despite his tiny size, Trevor had a seemingly boundless wellspring of energy and an even bigger imagination. In fact, the only reason the two of them weren’t going at it like rabbits every day was because Simon often needed to rest between rounds, and there were also those pesky classes and homework and a job that kept Simon otherwise occupied.

               Simon was so fixated on his fit, tiny boyfriend that he wasn’t even watching what was going on on the monitor. Trevor had already logged into the app that controlled the webcam and was adjusting the angle of the video.

               Calling it a webcam was probably a bit of a misnomer. It was a higher quality camera than one usually used for face timing, and it was able to be remote controlled. This camera and the touch pad mouse were two of the items that Simon had installed to give Trevor a way to keep in touch with him if he was out of the apartment for any reason. The camera was able to zoom in on the less than two-inch tall dude so that Simon could clearly see his pint-sized paramour at any time of day. Today, however, the camera was fixated on Simon’s package.

               “Chin up! Trousers down!” Trevor said into the microphone that was attached to his little control center.

               Simon blushed beet red. He had been mostly joking about having Trevor film the two of them together. Trevor was the outgoing one. Simon was often just along for the ride. However, he couldn’t deny that he was excited by the prospects. Simon wasn’t naïve. He knew his cock was huge, and his dick was just going to look even more massive when placed alongside a dude who was crotch high to a G.I. Joe!

               Simon once more slipped his fingers into the waistband of his tight boxer briefs and shoved the soft garment down along his hips until his huge, fat cock spilled out onto the desk before him. His impressive meat landed on the cool, wooden surface with an audible whump. The tremor from the impact was such that even Trevor, who was a good foot away from the point of impact, had to struggle to maintain his precarious pose.

               Simon watched in awe as the camera zoomed in to focus on just the head of his huge cock. The soft, supple flesh of his spongy cockhead filled up almost every inch of his extra wide monitor. His pre-dribbling slit made it look like his desktop background had been swapped out with an off-brand rendition of the eye of Sauron.

               It was strange staring at an image of his own cock like this. The glans appeared larger than his whole head! The slit appeared bigger than his own mouth! Was this what it looked like to Trevor? On some level, Simon started to feel a little jealous that this is what Trevor got to experience on a daily basis! But even as these thoughts flooded his mind, he knew that he was lowballing just how huge his dick looked to his tiny boyfriend.

               Once satisfied with the camera position, Trevor stood back up and stretched the kinks out of his back and shoulder before hopping off of the mouse pad and scurrying across the desk over to where Simon’s massive meat awaited him. Trevor was already rock hard before he even left his workstation which gave Simon an amusing and erotic view of Trevor’s tiny rod swinging and dripping from side to side as the little guy jogged across the desktop.

               Soon, Trevor was staring down the beast. Trevor was so small and Simon was so hung that the massive, spongy head of his semi-boned cock completely dwarfed Trevor’s body. Just the glans of Simon’s fantastic cock was the size of an igloo! As Trevor stood there staring down Simon’s massive, fleshy, one-eyed monster. Trevor felt like Chrono standing face to face with the planet-devouring parasite. However, unlike Chrono, Trevor was more than happy to let this beast erupt all over him.

               Trevor leaned up against the tip of his boyfriend’s colossal cock. No matter how many times he did this, the sheer size of it always took his breath away, and the surreal sensation of the massive, soft, spongy tissue against his tiny hands made it feel like he was petting some kind of massive beast. Trevor had never pet an elephant before, but he imagined it would probably be a very similar experience… at least if he was doing it at his old size, anyway.

               Trevor glanced over his shoulder and marveled at the image on the screen behind him. It was strange seeing himself as a giant! Everywhere he went, he was surrounded by people that completely dwarfed his tiny form. Some part of Trevor’s mind pondered for a split second what it would be like to be the big guy in a relationship, but he’d never want to trade places with Simon. Trevor loved having a skyscraper-sized boyfriend, and he knew that Simon absolutely adored having a pocket-sized lover as well.

               Internal thoughts aside, Trevor was pleased at what he saw on the screen. He and his boyfriend’s cock were framed perfectly in the shot. Trevor flashed a sly wink to the giant figure of himself on the screen (and by extension to the fans watching at home) and turned to face the beast. Now that he was in position, he wasted no time. He pressed his body against the tip of Simon’s fully-engorged cock head. By this point, Simon was rock-hard. His dick-tip was as puffed up as it could get. Pre flowed freely from the huge slit.

               Trevor began to rub his whole body against his boyfriend’s massive cockhead. He rolled his entire body like a Gogo boy doing body rolls in a cage above a dance floor. With each thrust of his hips, his own cock rubbed against the drooling lips of Simon’s massive slit.

               Simon shuddered and moaned. He struggled against himself to keep himself from cumming so quickly. Sure, he had been busy with class lately, but he hadn’t thought he was so backed up! He was ready to cream, and they had barely even started! He could feel Trevor’s tiny dick rubbing against his oversensitive slit! He could feel Trevor’s tiny hips rubbing against his over-engorged cockhead! Simon was so close to cumming just from the sensations on his cockhead, and it didn’t help that he could see the entire spectacle of his tiny boyfriend grinding against and licking and suckling his own cockhead in HD on his large computer screen. 

               Simon’s cock head gave a flare. His dick lurched violently. The motion nearly sent Trevor toppling flat onto his ass, but Trevor was not about to be shoved aside even if Simon’s meat was so massive that even the head of the fat cock could easily eclipse Trevor’s entire body. He was determined to stand his ground. He didn’t want to let go of his boyfriend’s cock for even a moment, and he definitely didn’t want to disappoint the fans at home. Not to mention, that being able to make the titan which loomed over him tremble with just the movement of his hips, drove Trevor wild!

               Trevor glanced back over his shoulder to make sure that his audience still had a clear shot of what was going on. He flashed another playful wink, and then returned his attention to his titanic boyfriend’s shuddering cockhead. Trevor got down on his knees so he was now staring down the dribbling slit. The scent of cock sweat and pre filled his nostrils. The sheer heat emanating from his boyfriend’s meat was astounding. It was like just the head of his lover’s cock was overwhelming all of his senses! But Trevor was not so easily cowed. He leaned in and rubbed his face against the pre-drooling gash of Simon’s monolithic cock. Simon’s slit was so huge that Trevor could get his entire face into it as if it was one of those face pillows on a massage bench, but the sides of this pillow were far warmer, softer, and wetter than any spa pillow he could have used.

               Simon slammed his hands down on the desk to stabilize himself. He was now shaking like a leaf. His breath was coming in ragged gasps. Simon’s cock was so sensitive that he could feel Trevor’s tongue against the inside of his dick tip. He could feel Trevor’s nose brushing against the walls of his dick. Trevor really knew how to get to him. Trevor was far smaller than even just Simon’s cock, and yet Trevor could easily make the titan collapse with bliss, and the sensations were only amplified by the video displayed on Simon’s monitor.

               Simon could see Trevor kneeling down before the camera. The video gave a clear glimpse of Trevor’s tight, tiny hole. Simon was leaking so much that his pre was completely coating Trevor’s tiny body. Trevor’s body glistened in the light of the desk lamp. Simon watched as Trevor moved a hand away from Simon’s sensitive cockhead and reached back towards Trevor’s own firm butt. Simon was so horny that his throat felt so tight that he could barely swallow. All he could do was struggle to remain upright while he felt his tiny boyfriend grinding against his cock and watched the incredibly sexy show on his screen. He was struggling to keep his cool and his load, but he nearly lost both when he saw Trevor reach back and slip two pre-soaked fingers into his own tight hole.

               Trevor was using Simon’s own pre to finger fuck himself! Trevor was so tiny that Simon had long since given up getting any part of himself in that dude’s cute hole! Trevor was so small that Simon couldn’t even slip his pinky inside! Yet watching Trevor finger himself with Simon’s juices sent Simon spiraling into a new stratosphere of hot and bothered.

               Simon’s cock trembled and lurched so hard that the force of it sent Trevor tumbling backwards. ! In actuality, Trevor had only slid a few centimeters, but at Trevor’s small size it was as if he had slid a few feet! The pre-soaked shrunken stud slid across the desktop as if he was in an ice rink.

Trevor knew it was time for his hard work to pay off. The sound of the giant’s moans was like music to his ears. Each labored breath that escaped the titan’s lips made Trevor hornier and hornier. Trevor was ready to cum right then and there, but he was determined to hold off until Simon had found release.

               Simon was so horny that he didn’t even have time to wrap his hands around his fat cock before he started spewing. The first rope of jizz arced into the air, completely missing his tiny lover.

               Simon struggled against his own arousal and orgasmic bliss and forced enough of his body to listen to him. Simon was so addled from his own climax that he wasn’t entirely sure why he was struggling so hard. Did he want to put on a good show for the camera? Did he just want to completely coat Trevor in his cum?  Whatever the case, on some level, he knew that he needed to get his dick back in the shot.

               Simon reached both hands around his fat cock and angled the cum-spewing tip down towards the desktop. Simon was so hot and bothered that he could barely keep his eyes open let alone focus them, but between gasps and spurts, he watched in awe as the image of his own cock was magnified several times on his computer screen. Jizz erupted from the slit like a geyser. The burst of cum crashed into the tiny figure that stood unsteadily before it. The torrent of jizz was so powerful that it sent Trevor flying backwards as it collided directly with his chest.

               Trevor had been blasted clean out of the view of the camera. Now the computer screen only showed Simon’s spewing cock head. That image was incredibly hot even by itself, but even as his senses were overwhelmed by his own climax, Simon refused to take center stage on what was supposed to be Trevor’s special production. Fortunately, a blinking red light caught his attention.

               Simon had never stopped recording on his cell phone! The device was positioned camera-side down, so all it had picked up so far was noise, but it was still running!

               Simon quickly reached over. He scooped up his phone in one hand and his pint-sized lover in the other. He held Trevor up to the tip of his massive cock and held the phone unsteadily above and recorded the last few spurts of cum. He watched in hormone addled awe as the screen of his cell phone lit up with the image of Trevor’s shrunken form getting buffeted by shot after massive, messy shot of hot spunk! Simon’s load had been one for the record books even by his standards! His load completely flooded his entire palm! The thick spurts had left Trevor so soaked in spunk that he looked like a victim of the Staypuft marshmallow man!

               “y-you ok…?” Simon gasped breathlessly into the phone as he zoomed in closer and closer on the shrunken figure which now lay buried in spunk in the palm of his hand. His question was answered by a pair of two emphatic thumbs up emerging from beneath the muck.

[First Chapter] || [Next Chapter]

[chibivesicle]

Trigun Stampede - Episode 6 - Wolfwood’s tragic backstory, now? Eeeehh?

Episode 6 dropped yesterday and I had only enough time to watch but not anything else.  After watching it, I just felt meh wringing my hands about how when I first heard about the reboot at Anime Expo last summer I was so stoked for a more through Trigun anime.  And we get this version from Studio Orange which I really wanted to be an enjoyable watch - buuuuuut - meh.  You’re killing me Studio Orange.

Since I didn’t have time to get to it yesterday, I pestered my good meta friend Merdopseudo to see what she thought as well, so I’ll be highlighting some of her points here as well since she’s great at catching things I miss or summarizing well.  As indicated by my summary title, I’m quite confused why they decided to lead with Wolfwood’s even more tragic backstory in this version of Trigun than in the manga.

We start off the episode with a fleeing masked member of the Eye of Michael (though they haven’t been named yet) who tries to kill Wolfwood and fails as he destroys the man.

We get even red eyes as he lines up his aim before the man dies.  And he’s wearing his sunglasses even at night!  Wow, maximum badass.  Why? Wolfwood needs to be a maximum badass, that’s why. Furthermore, so many scenes in this anime seem to feature full moons all the time.  Just an observation.

After the opening we return to the quartet in the November News Bureau SUV.  In the backseat, Vash and Wolfwood are pouting over something and Meryl jokingly asks if they are having a spat over candy.

This line feels like it was delivered in poor taste.  I get she’s trying to defuse the situation but are we to think this is due to Wolfwood shooting Rollo - last night?  Or a few days prior?  What is our pacing? What day of the week is it?  How much time has passed?  Any clue would help us out here Studio Orange.  I’m going to take the easiest option and say that they are pouting about the fact that Wolfwood killed Rollo - last night.

Roberto then suggested that they need to finish their job.  This would mean abandoning the SUV and taking the Sandsteamer to July and I guess check in with a Bureau office there?

He’s clear that he wants Meryl to take the steamer but it was vague if he was going to go with her or if he wanted her to take it for safety. Uncle info dump isn’t info dumping this episode much.

They end up separating from Vash and Wolfwood who both board the Sandsteamer.   Wolfwood gives Vash shit for seeming to have no emotional connection to Meryl and Roberto - which really it a valid reply.  It hasn’t been that many days that Vash has known them.

It has been even less time for Wolfwood to know Vash and he’s sticking to him like crazy glue, again being an ass.  Honestly, there is NO chemistry between Vash and Wolfwood in this version, Vash runs and tries to not kill people and Wolfwood gives him shit and kills people.

Meanwhile, Meryl is working hard to convince Roberto that they need to continue to track the Humanoid Typhoon.  Interestingly, that she doesn’t call him Vash, but by his destructive nickname here.  She pulls out the photo with young Rollo asking Roberto if he’s scared.

We don’t get a clear answer from Roberto if he’s actually afraid - I felt he isn’t afraid of Vash per se, but instead realizes that his youthful appearance is some sort of indication that dangerous stuff surrounds him.  More that he wants to avoid Vash out of a sense of - I dunno - not dying.  This episode will frequently use the word monster to describe Wolfwood a lot and Vash as well.  This is the writers trying to get us to connect the two of them and make us feel that they should be friends and a dynamic duo - which they aren’t currently.

We see people at the Ferry Terminal waving to those on the steamer which in this version is called the Humpback.  Interesting shift, as in the original the Sandsteamer was known as the Flourish and was a Humpback class.

In other versions, children were excited when it came, being Sandsteamer nerds.  I’ve been following too many historical sewing/clothing youtubers for the past few years and I keep getting vibes that the clothing for normal people in this sci fi series is more 1910s-1920s and not late 19th century western dress.  The boater hats, suspenders, knickers, newsboy caps, lack of women with bustle action etc.  I know it is a future sci fi series, but it does seem that they tried to modernize the clothing to at least be early 20th century to fit the sci fi vibe more.

On the steamer there is a route map telling use they are leaving the Terminal - which literally is just a single terminal in the desert?  What?  Ports develop around such locations but this is just a terminal. 

It is also hilarious that the Terminal starts somewhere in ‘Central America’ crosses part of the Great Sand Ocean, there is the Hopeland Orphanage in ‘Africa’ stops West of ‘India’ and then loops around ‘Australia’ only to reach July in ‘Southern China’.  Really guys, you just took a world map and smooshed and distorted the proportions.  We also get to see a tall man with the modified Zia-Cross symbol of the Eye of Michael in Stampede. 

Back when I first saw the early previews, I caught a glimpse of what was his back in an action shot and my first thought was - what? Are they using a Zia in the anime when it has some important symbolic meanings?

Stampede has been clear it has shifted very far away from the Christian aspects of the original work.  Since this is based on a Western style anime/manga we get this mixed vague symbol which I’m certain is a visual hybrid with the Zia.  If one were to travel through the Southwest as a tourist, you would inevitably see a Zia in some form with the most obvious being that of the New Mexico state flag.  The flag is yellow with the red Zia in the center representing the Zia sun symbol.  This symbol originated from the Zia Pueblo but has come to include more Pueblo groups, Hispanic native New Mexicans to just New Mexicans.  You live in New Mexico?  Lots of government documents, logos and all sorts of stuff will have a Zia symbol.

A simple way to summarize it is that it captures New Mexico culture - for example a cycling racing team is known as Zia Velo and they represent southern New Mexico.  However, if the Zia is applied out of a New Mexico/Pueblo context things get stickier.  I also think with a Japanese audience, a symbol which is built on groups of four wouldn’t work for the viewers so they took elements of the Zia from a Southwest inspired image board and called it good.  Four is the number of death for East Asians versus for the Zia, four is a scared number that captures key elements of life.

Anyhoo, I got distracted by the interesting looking symbol for the religious group on our desert planet.

Vash finally gets around to directly asking Wolfwood what his job is and he replies that he’s babysitting him. From Wolfwood we can understand that it is his ‘job’ to make sure Vash gets somewhere.  Or at least those are the orders that Wolfwood has.

Their conversation doesn’t get very far since Livio appears on the scene almost immediately and shoots at both of them.  We have a much more clean cut and slick looking Livio with a slim build and his two smaller guns along with a modification on his face and a mechanical sounding eye.

Vash fights back and it able to get close enough to fire at point blank range, but of course doesn’t.    We know he doesn’t want to pull that trigger, but it seems none of his modified opponents could care if they are in a tight spot.

It takes a little bit of time for Wolfwood to recognize who this man is and it ends with him asking if he is Livio before the title screen flashes. 

The anime then takes a shift to a 2D style of animation with silent film style titles showing how Livio came to the orphanage and Wolfwood was the longer taking care of the ostriches.

As Livio settles in, Wolfwood becomes his friend trying to get the crybaby to stop feeling sad at missing his parents.  He gets him to help out in the bird pen, and there is a cute sequence of them becoming childhood friends.

Older Wolfwood, tries smoking like an adult all cool and shares it with Livio who coughs.  We get a close up of Wolfwood running off with Livio hand in hand where in this flashback Wolfwood has a much darker skin tone in contrast to Livio being exceptionally pale.

We get it, there was a time when Wolfwood was cute and he was friends with Livio.   The flashback goes back to the present and Meryl and Roberto chasing after the sandsteamer when the Bad Lads gang shows up on sand sail boats.

They are taking this idea of the Great Sand Ocean quite literally and I don’t know how I feel about this.  I’m still wondering why it even exists but this is a sci fi desert series paying homage to lots of other sci fi desert tropes.

Interestingly, we have no idea if the Bad Lads Gang have taken Meryl and Roberto hostage, just that they’ve been surrounded.  I also guess there will be no scene with Kaite, the son of the chief engineer of the original Flourish.

Wolfwood’s flashback continues that he’s been selected as a ‘Child of Blessing’ just like Rollo by mysterious church.

There is a weird psychedelic flashback were Wolfwood is a test subject and shows S+ levels of possibilities.  This is clearly a term added for the Japanese audience as the States does not have this type of ranking which is a trope specific to Japanese media.

The original Trigun did not make references to S+ and I honestly don’t remember the term coming up in Trimax either.  We get that Wolfwood is subjected to all sorts of crazy stuff and due to his response to the treatments he’s a good candidate for furthering efforts.  Just like the breakneck pace of the anime, his own physical development is rapidly accelerated - much more so than with the manga.

We still don’t have a clear timeline, but if he’s ten or eleven at the start, but he’s I dunno twelve now?  As the original anime put it, he was taken in as a child and trained by Chapel the Evergreen for ten years before striking out on his own for an unclear amount of time making his age over twenty.  The manga has the unclear timeline where you’d think he was around twenty at the end, but maybe seventeen.   Either way, manga and ‘98 anime Wolfwoods were more emotionally mature and had seen things.   This version of Wolfwood might be a super-powered twelve year old for all we know. Which I am not a huge fan of this angle.

For fun he’s stuck on an inverted cross examine room table and called a monster for emphasis. Yeah, let’s slap some basic Christian imagery down but it has no meaning since that’s been cut out in this version.

Of course, being likely only twelve, he tries to escape his now adult form declaring he’s returning to the orphanage before getting caught.

As I stated previously, I wasn’t a huge fan of younger Wolfwood in the manga since it has a character disconnect where he had this world weariness that did not match his age nor life experience.  But I could forgive that a little since we saw him as an older teen training under Chapel.  Now, he’s a man with a child’s mind.  Yeah.

With his attempted escape, he is only stopped by Legato.  This is another huge deviation from the anime and manga since Legato doesn’t even know what ‘Chapel’ looks like in the manga.

Their first encounter was at the Church at Jeneora Rock and the assembly of most of the Gung-ho Guns.  In contrast, he’s immediately on guard since Vash told him about the strange and dangerous man he’d encountered on the bus to May city/Augusta.

For the sake of oversimplifying the plot, something that Merdopseudo and I had been predicting, Legato is the one who reveals that all things lead to Knives.  The Eye of Michael is not an independent organization!  It is all a part of Knives noble plan for the the future.  This is lazy writing.  The whole regenerative capsules and religious assassin organization were independent of Knives and only worked with him due to a shared goal of sorts.  Legato tells Wolfwood he’s been signed up for the Eye of Michael.

And apparently, since Wolfwood still has willpower to fight Legato, it makes him unique and declares that he doesn’t believe in any god.

Wolfwood has gone from being a flawed, trapped principled man with some sort of religious core to an atheist.  Okaaaaaaay Studio Orange - not sure where you are going with this at all. 

Legato brings in Livio who wanted to join Wolfwood and it is clear at the moment that Livio’s backstory has been completely retconned and he’s the younger brother character for Wolfwood to worry about.

Legato comes off as bizarrely cold and unemotional in this version.  In the anime he was a man clearly bent on a dark and destructive agenda, but I would not call him unemotional.  If anything Legato had a huge amount of pretentious pride in his nihilism.  It was a defining feature of his character and in the manga his intense emotions and nihilistic tendencies were even more over the top. 

This Legato - just a cold blooded robot.  Conrad shows up with his own Project Seeds jacket in white, symbolic of his role as a staff scientist.  It also has me wondering how old he is in this version.  Our Doctor has to stop Legato from killing the promising young Nicholas for the greater goals.

The flashback ends and Vash and Wolfwood are arguing again as Vash is interfering wanting to help.

Vash managed to pin down Livio in a rather smooth action sequence with lots of empty shells bouncing around as he tries to figure out what is up when he calls out Wolfwood’s name.

This catches Livio’s attention who says that he needs to catch up [to Wolfwood] and easily launches Vash off into the air while Wolfwood randomly declares that he can’t let the two of them kill each other.

So, when did you become friends with Vash, Wolfwood?  You only showed up in episode four and here in six you are his friend?  You’ve had no bonding!  There was no foray into the desert to rescue a child or bus ride.  No tournament or situation with a runaway kid where your philosophies aligned and clashed.  You haven’t gotten drunk together.

But hey, we now have Wolfwood’s flashback and we know he cares about Livio his adoptive younger brother who can’t kill his other friend Vash. This. Does. Not. Work.  I see two random men in sunglasses who just argue with each other.

Zazie the Beast and Livio approach the Sandsteamer as Legato reads the ‘bible’ of the local religion and the two characters mock Wolfwood and his pinch.  Legato has decided emotions are for losers and Wolfwood has those pesky emotions!

We get it, Wolfwood is different and you are having fun watching him suffer.

They drive close enough to the Sandsteamer that Legato is able to stop an internal mechanism inside the the locomotive that causes it to veer off course.  It seems that Legato has leveled up in his own abilities instead of manipulating people to do things against their will.

I guess Legato is officially an ESPer instead to make him easier to understand.  I will miss that manga scene with the transport truck and the Calvary and the blood dripping onto the sand below. 

By diverting the steamer, it now is on a collision course with the Orphanage - which is apparently the entire town?  This is as confusing as the Terminal being a Terminal alone.

At the same time the Bad Lads Gang have appeared.  And with our simplified plot we know - they were brought here by Knives.

Why do Legato and Zazie the Beast care what Wolfwood does next?  If they see themselves above human emotions why do they care at all?

And with that the episode ends on a cliffhanger. 

We will learn in episode seven what happened to Meryl and Roberto and perhaps the man himself will appear.  B.D.N. that is!

My immediate reaction to this episode -

Wolfwood’s backstory was way too soooooon!  Far too soon!  Was this even earned Studio Orange?

For a few points, I’m going to tap some of my conversation from my good meta friend Merdopseudo.

1.) A good stand alone episode.  Technically, and by itself this was a good episode.  Merdo points out it is fine as an episode but its structure is also its weakness, indicative of the issues that have plagued the series.  Where does this fit in the overall structure of the story?  What purpose does it serve in advancing the plot?  The episode is fine.  You can watch it and be entertained.

2.) Wolfwood’s backstory is unearned.  We get Wolfwood’s tragic backstory far to early into the plot.  He appeared two episodes ago, seems to be a dude who is rude and will kill if necessary.  We don’t know what it at stake for him.  What does he do normally?  Where is his moral compass?  What is he doing in this whole mess.  Why do we even care?  Right now, Wolfwood is a kid with a big fucking gun and apparently had a friend named Livio.  The found brothers trope also falls flat despite the technically excellent 2D silent film flashback.  The backstory in this episode is just ‘put there’ in an attempt to humanize this version of Wolfwood.

3.) Vash and Wolfwood are not friends. Yep, I will continue to say this.  They are not friends.  Wolfwood is an annoying guy following Vash around because those are his orders.  They have not bonded in their adventures, nor have they argued about how to act.  They both jumped into save a girl, rode the bus to May city/Augusta.  They in the anime had more bonding at the competition and fought over the rights of the individual versus the rights of the collective.  In the manga the bonding is a bit later but still happens over several volumes and Wolfwood gets tied into Vash’s heroic antics from time to time.

4.) The pacing is paradoxical.  This is Merdopseudo’s best point.  With the predicted 12-13 episodes, this story needed tight-super tight plot beats.  Instead, individual episodes are slow while the combined episodes are rapid leading to this disconnect.  This is the best highlight of the writing problems that have plagued this series from the start.

This ties into what I have also been most critical of - the pacing.  There is no room to breathe between episodes yet, certain episodes linger and waste time on things which are unnecessary.  This is a lot of the CGI scenes of how E.G. drove his wheel or how Rollo was watching Vash dodge and stuff like that.  Or the man with the lights guiding the Sandsteamer out of port.  Just lots of strange shots that visually look cool but don’t help the story.

Which gets back to Merdo’s theory that this is all just a demo for Studio Orange for future projects and investors.

And as this continues, I become more pessimistic that this indeed is the purpose of Trigun Stampede.  Studio Orange took on Stampede because it was a low risk project.  They updated the look for a more modern audience and don’t have to worry about upsetting the original fans of the anime or manga since it was domestically a flop and obscure.  Clean it up with characters that are for the domestic audience, simplify the plot beyond recognition and make it dazzling to the eyes.  It is only 12-13 episodes, it will pull in better projects in the future.

Studio Orange isn’t going to care about the non-Japanese, specifically very likely vocal American fanbase.  We aren’t there buying the new merch at Animate. Hell, it is currently and annoyingly out of print with Darkhorse here in North America.  Why keep all the elements that made it a smash hit elsewhere?  It doesn’t help their bottom line.

Thus, Trigun Stampede is a product that does not take the elements of the original anime from Studio Madhouse and the lore of Trigun Maximum to deliver a cohesive product that gives us the magic sauce that made the original so good.  It was never their intention to present us with faithful adaptions of the original series and characters.  They clearly don’t care for the original themes, character morals, questions, struggles, successes, failures and sacrifices that made the original such an emotional high hitter.

Quick character notes:

1.) Our dud duo - Meryl and Roberto.  For once, Meryl sticks to her guns and is able to guilt Roberto into continuing.  Good for her, but doesn’t amount to much in terms of plot.  She stood up for herself and made a valid argument and her senior colleague agreed.  Wow.

2.) Vash.  Is more assertive with Meryl and Roberto away from him, and finally asks Wolfwood what his deal is.  He has some decent fight scenes with Livio but honestly, doesn’t do much else in the episode due to the Wolfwood heavy plot.

3.) Wolfwood’s premature backstory.  Fails his character greatly.  Wolfwood is a character of great nuance, moral struggles and lots of questioning in a good way.  We see none of that and get his backstory upfront almost as quickly as Vash’s.  This attempt to humanize him without knowing him does not serve his character.  This also doesn’t work with his previous religious associations which are why he was a more powerful character in the original versions.  We know he believes in God, though he’s not naive enough to believe that faith in God will solve his problems.  If anything he sees that humanity’s flaws and dark sides force humans to become devils at times (a line both used in the anime and manga).  The anime leans in much harder with the priest aspect of his character with his first and last confession in the church before he dies.  The manga instead has him die at peace sharing a drink with Vash as he’s ‘thanked’ by the younger children of the orphanage.  Either way, both of these endings for him show that he’s a man who has a moral code derived from a very Catholic theology and he struggles with balancing that with his own actions trapped between powers greater than him.  He has a clear line between acts of divine beings such as God and Angels and how it is impossible for a single individual to meet those and instead must learn to live with their actions and how painful it is to directly contradict your own moral code.

4.) Legato Bluesummers is a ‘robot’ with a bad haircut.  This version of Legato is not the nihilistic, self-destructive one of the anime and manga.  He mocks others and sees himself as superior to orphans like Wolfwood. He wants to watch a moral quandary but does Wolfwood really have a moral dilemma? Is he religious or is he reading a religious text to mock it due its emphasis of faith and emotions?  Like Wolfwood, his power is also much greater, if this were the original he would have made that random train engineer dude destroy the moving part while dying in the process.  Now, he just goes ‘whoosh’ and it breaks.  Boo - I miss his sadistic tendencies. 5.) Livio is another ‘robot’.  But with a hangup to be like Nicholas!  I bet.  Unless, he also gets a long flashback, his character has been likely completely retconned to the extreme.  Lazy writing would indicate that Razlo the Tri-punisher was a result of his mind splitting due to the experiments.  That’s my prediction if we do get his backstory.  Not due to other things . . .

6.) Zazie the Beast.  Is weird.  Look, I’m playing cat’s cradle and I made a spider web.  Humans are so dumb, mwahahahahahaha!  I’m also filling in for Leonof the Puppermaster with my insect spycams/drones.

My snark is coming out in my character responses here, but really are these characters with depth or characters checking boxes like a game of Bingo.  I’m curious to see how many of my predictions pan out in future episodes of if they will leave us in the dark. 

As far as themes, this episode doesn’t really have one that stands out. Other than adults treat children very poorly in this place and even if you are a masked religious woman, you have to have big tits.

[a-web-of-worlds]

Isabelle Radshaw, at your service!!!! Marked by the Eye, avatar of the Desolation, because fuck yeah I am, so don’t mess with me. Work the bar at this vastard’s club some nights, STARLESS SKY COME VISIT WE GOT SINGERS AND LIGHTS BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY BOOZE, there Jack I did marketing for you. Just turned 225, not sure why that pink-haired weirdo wanted me here. Pronouns she/it. If you heard about a cult burning a century or two back, no you didn't.

Hello. My name’s Laer Robertson. I’m a human, my pronouns are they/it/he/she, and I’m seventeen years old. I’m not quite sure why I’m here. Emery isn’t, are they? Then I don’t think there’s much point. I’ll be here, but don’t expect me to be active much. Marc would yell at me if I didn’t add not to be weird. So don’t. Bye bye.

Hiiiii, I’m…Rowan. A stranger walked up to me and asked me to put myself in here. Were they one of my whispering friends…? I don’t think so… I’m not sure. I think I’m called an avatar of the…Spiral? That’s what she called it, yes. Didn’t know it had a name... Pronouns are it/its, I think.

Great. This one’s roping me in again. Ignore Macbeth, he seems dead set on being annoying and implicating me. I’m just Lae. Currently touring another universe before I go back to being trapped in that damn cabin forever. Dad, El, if you see this…Never mind. She/her. And if we all gotta say, then I’m a Stranger, I guess. Whatever.

Ah, I’d be Ezra Barnabus. Pleasure to meet you. Some slaughterer approached me, and apparently, I’m meant to be on this website now. Wouldn’t call myself a pushover, this place just seemed interesting. Avatar of the Vast. He/him, though anything is nice. Oh, and could someone make sure that person who dragged me here gets therapy? Something tells me being chaotic online won’t cut it.

Hi!!!! The others say not to talk to strangers, but they also said to bother strangers, and also that I shouldn’t listen to what people tell me to do, and El is a Stranger, so…I dunno. This person told me to make this! I don’t have a name, but people call me Show Pony, or Freak, or Fortune Teller. I’m a puppet of the Web! I just like hanging out with my friends. It/she/he, though if you don’t listen, I guess I get it.

Yes, yes, I know my name’s El1as, and I know you can read it. I’m not fucking dumb, just an android. Unfortunately. Apparently some freak wants me to make one of these accounts. I think it would piss Ilania off. So I’m doing it. He/him. Call me an it and you will regret it.

We’re Laertes and Jack. Well- the account’s just for me. Laertes. Which is…weird. I’m not sure I like it. Macbeth said it had to be just me for…‘lore reasons’? Pronouns are zey/she/they/he. I’m an embodiment of the Corruption, my brother’s my hive. We try to stick together. There used to be others. They’re gone now. We don’t like talking about it.

Aaaand the asshole behind all of this. People call me Macbeth. Yes, I made these folks make accounts, no, I don’t particularly care about the ethics of that. I think you’ll find ethics aren’t something I put much thought into. Other people will make appearances on here, expect lots of iterations of me and the other pink freaks, but we’ll be the constants. Go bananas. Right. He/she/they, Slaughter and Stranger.

You’ll find our ‘canon’ selves here. @laertesthelocalstranger @nobodys-soldier Just don’t let the fourth wall thing get out. Not all of them have as firm a grip on reality as me.

[apex-academy]

Chapter 6: The Decay of Our Lives (#18)

Lunch is my first remotely decent excuse to leave Mahavir’s side. As much as I’d like to support my friend, watching him stew in his guilt sure isn’t helping me. Which means I’m not helping him much, either.

I confirm he’s staying in the Nurse’s Office, then trek back to the cafeteria. No Tsunyasha, at least.

“Oh, GREAT! JUST when I thought I might get some PEACE AND QUIET!”

“Right, I’m the threat to that here.”

I flee to the kitchen before he can manage a coherent response. No idea what I want to eat, though, and Mahavir certainly didn’t have suggestions. Time to stand blankly in front of an open refrigerator and hope it hikes up the young master’s electric bills.

Unfortunately, it’s also cold, so I grab some cheese and deli meat and shut the door before too long. After a few moments’ contemplation, I decide I’m not in the mood for any more meal-making decisions, so I’ll just make rollups of these. Bread’s overrated, anyway.

“...And so are condiments, I guess.”

Whatever. I’m sticking with it.

...And standing in the kitchen to eat so I don’t have to hear whatever Ichiriki’s raving about now. Is he just bored? Does he need some new colors of chalk for a little enrichment?

Well. I make fun of him, but I sure wouldn’t mind access to the art room again. No chance of that unless someone else uses it for a murder, though.

“...”

I finish my food and make Mahavir a plate. Can’t imagine him having any remnant of an appetite right now, but might as well try.

Unfortunately, the cafeteria’s still the only exit from here. 

Maybe I should run.

Or actually check on Ichiriki, I guess. Gotta admit, “Is Ichiriki doing okay” is not a thought that’s crossed my mind much. He’s just... He just is. I don’t know. He’s free to leave with the rest of us if he is one of us, but until then... Not my problem. Got enough of those already.

So, a fine brisk pace it is.

But when I step out, Ichiriki is no longer alone.

“...sure you wouldn’t be interested?”

“Of COURSE NOT! The FIRST one was bad ENOUGH!”

“But you’re curious, aren’t you?”

“No!”

“Just a little bit?”

“MAYBE!”

“........”

Think I’m good to just. Slink on out of here unnoticed.

“Ah, Miss Kogamino!”

Assuming Aidan wouldn’t notice something was a bad call on my part. “Do I want to know what I’m missing over here?”

“You ABSOLUTELY don’t!”

Not sure why I asked. Really striking out on logical behavior today.

“Not another weird dream, I hope?”

“No...”

“...Or at least not one of my own! There’s no telling where the writers got their inspiration, of course.”

Ichiriki mentioned “the first one”...

“Ah. The movie sequel.”

“.............”

More words are said, but I’m so distracted I can’t even tell who spoke. With current company, that’s really saying something.

Another dream... What was it that I...

“Hang on.”

I turn around to retrieve my little “young master deductions”—like you could really call them that—notebook and flip to the last filled pages, the letters askew and distorted from drowsiness and poor lighting.

Flashback dreams... Yeah, I sure do have those sometimes.

But not just me.

I wheel on Aidan and slap my hands on the table to catch myself, interrupting whatever I end up interrupting.

“Aidan! Your dream!”

The boys break off their conversation with widely varying levels of offended sputtering. Aidan adjusts his glasses.

“Er. The ‘professional air traffic controller’ one, or something else?”

“The one you told me about the other day.” Yesterday? I don’t even know anymore. 

“You woke up in a mirror of Lab Room A, right?”

“Within the dream? Yes, that sounds accurate.”

The table’s edge digs into my palms.

“What if that was real?”

He hums.

“I suppose it’s entirely possible. There must be a Lab Room B, after all, even if we’ve yet to be allowed inside.” 

“And I’m sure I would have been kept somewhere on-campus to minimize risk of discovery by unrelated parties.”

“Which is probably why we haven’t been let inside, right? If the young master’s cutting-edge revival technology, or whatever, was in there...”

I lean in further, much to Ichiriki’s offense. Don’t care.

“Were any of the other students there in the dream? Can you remember?”

“I hate to report that dreams are partially immune from my perfect memory skills here, but... Let’s see.”

Ichiriki grumbles to himself, but at least he’s not yelling over us. Probably doesn’t know what to say. I’ll take it.

“I can’t guarantee that the other fallen students were present.” 

“But I am certain that the life support systems and such did not take up the entirety of the room. There was space for other beds, or whatever you'd call the thing I was lying on.”

“So, if all of you were hooked up before that motive vote, and only before it, and if you’re the only one who was—then—!”

I think he responds, but I’m busy swinging my head around to check every corner of the room. Not here. Wasn’t in the kitchen. But if I’m right...

Dizzy, I try to remember to breathe as I charge into the hallway.

“MONOCHAP! I need to talk to you, now!”

[BACK] [NEXT]

[gunilslaugh]

Hi💗 Can i ask for a Jiseok fic where the reader is the manager’s daughter? thank u, i really appreciate ur work!!

Here you go! I hope that you like it!

Kwak Jiseok

Summary: You’re the daughter of one of Xdinary Heroes' managers and Jiseok has taken an interest in you.

WC:2.3k

Warning:grammar

photo not mine credits to owner.

Having your mom be a manager for a kpop group honestly sounds more fun than it really is. For starters it meant that your mom was busy preparing schedules and attending those same schedules. She spends more time with those idols than with you, her own daughter. Secondly, whenever people find out about your mom’s working position they instantly try to pry about inside information. Which either a, you don’t know about or b, it’s not your business to share. 

Third, you miss your mom. Even though you still get to see her everyday and she does her best to separate work life from her home life. All it takes is one phone call for her work life to take back over. 

It’s not all bad though you’ve gotten free concert tickets out of it and even had some chances to meet some idols face to face. 

Your mom was currently the manager of the JYP boy band Xdinary Heroes. She became their manager pre-debut and has been with them on their entire journey so far. You’ve never met them in person, only heard about them or seen them in videos. You don’t feel the need to meet them though, you simply viewed them as your mom’s work.

The ringing of your alarm woke you up. You groggily reached for your phone to turn off the alarm and sat up in your bed. Finding the willpower you climbed out of bed and began to do your morning routine. Once you made your way into the kitchen for breakfast you found a note from your mom. It reads, Good morning :) I had an early meeting today. Your mom being absent in the morning was nothing new. Working hours were working hours, but it was still cute that she took the time to write you notes before leaving. You yourself had work to get to, so you hurried up and had a quick breakfast before putting on your shoes and heading to work. 

Everything about your work day was going normally until your phone went off, signaling that you got a text. You checked your phone to see that it was a text from your mom. “Your lunch break starts soon right? I left a flash drive on my desk. Could you run home and bring it to me please?” It’s a good thing that you didn’t live too far from work. “Yes, I’ll go get it” you sent back. “Thank you <3” your phone pinged again only seconds later. At soon as it was your lunch break you quickly headed home. After arriving you headed into your mom’s room and found the flash drive sitting on her desk. You grabbed it, sticking it in your purse and hurried back out. You texted your mom you were on your way and she responded back by telling you what room she was in.

“Hi I’m y/n my mom, m/n, asked me to bring her this flash drive she said she’s in room 1206,” you told the receptionist. 

“Oh yes she told me about that. 1206 is on the second floor then down the hallway to the left,” the receptionist directed you.

“Thank you,” you stated before making your way to the elevator. Once inside the elevator you hit the button for the second floor and waited the short ride until the doors dinged open. You turned to the left and walked until you came across the room with the numbers 1206 outside of it. You knocked on the door and waited. After a few moments your mom opened the door.

“Here’s your flash drive,” you said, handing out the flash drive to her.

“Thank you so much, you're a lifesaver. Why don’t you come in and say hi?” She tells you.

“Oh I don’t thin-” too late before you can finish talking your mom is already pulling you inside of the room.

“Boys this is my daughter y/n,” she introduces you. 

“Hi,” you awkwardly greeted them. I guess today was the day you met Xdinary Heroes. They went around one by one introducing themselves. 

“She’s prettier than the photo on your lockscreen,” Jiseok states. You wish you could say you were unaffected by his words, but you were deeply trying to conceal the heat rising towards your cheeks. 

“Well it was nice to meet you guys, but I am on my lunch break, so I should be heading back now,” you spoke up.

“Right, yes, you should go back now. Thank you for bringing me the flash drive. I'll see you at home,” your mom says.

“Bye,” you first said, facing the boys. “Bye mom,” you turned to your mother, giving her a quick hug.

“Bye dear,” she squeezes you back. Letting go of your mom, you headed for the door. 

Letting out a sigh as you finally made it back to work. You had about five minutes left on your lunch break and used it to eat an apple. 

“She’s prettier than on your lockscreen,” Jiseok’s words ran through your head. It made you wonder how much the Xdinary Heroes members knew about you. Did they just know that the girl on her lockscreen was her daughter? Did your mom talk about you to them? If she did, what did she say? What did they think of you? You know at least Jiseok thinks that you’re pretty. Wait, why do you care? You snapped out of your thoughts and got back to work. 

Arriving back home after work you notice that the house is empty, meaning your mom is yet to return from work. You decided to text your mom. “Do you know when you’re gonna be back? I was thinking about dinner,” you sent. You locked your phone and went to change into more comfier clothes. After changing you checked your phone, but there was still no response. You killed some time scrolling on your phone while you waited for your mom to reply. Finally you received a text notification from your mom. “Gonna have dinner at the company, don't wait up!” You sighed typing out the letters “ok” before hitting send. You made your way to the kitchen opting to just make some instant noodles. At first you didn’t mind having meals alone while your mom was away at work, but lately you feel more lonely whenever it happens.

“Oh Ms. m/n you’re still here?” Jiseok asked as he entered the meeting room to pick up his forgotten hoodie.

“Yes, I’m finishing up finalizing some schedules,” your mom answered him.

“Head home soon. Y/n is probably waiting for you,” Jiseok states walking back towards the door. Your mom smiles at Jiseoks words. She can tell  that Jiseok has an interest in you. It’s evident in the way he pays one hundred percent attention whenever she brings up your name. The way he’d ask how you’re doing from time to time or the way he stares a little too long at her lockscreen. How he couldn’t take his eyes off of you when you dropped by earlier. She also may have heard Jooyeon teasing him for crushing on a girl that he’s never even properly met before, only heard about through her mother.

“I will,” she smiles warmly.

Your mom arrived home, you are currently sitting on the couch watching a show. 

“You’re back,” you voiced, turning your head towards the front door after hearing it open.

“Yes, I’m finally home,” she comes over sitting next to you on the couch. “So what did think about Xdinary Heroes?” She asks you.

“I was in the same room as them for maybe five minutes, but they seemed nice,” you responded. 

“They’re having a concert next month. Why don’t you come?” She suggested.

“I don’t know mom, I've only listened to a few of their songs. I don’t really know much about them,” you answered apprehensively. 

“You should come,” she insisted. “If not for them, we could at least spend some mother daughter time together,” she persuaded. You really did miss spending some quality time with your mom, so that was enough.

“Ok I’ll go,” you conceded.

“Great!” Your mother clapped her hands excitedly, maybe a little too excitedly. Before going to bed for the night you decided to listen to Xdinary Heroes discography. You were going to go to their concert, so you might as well be familiar with their songs. You pleasantly found out that you enjoyed their songs. Wondered why you never checked them out sooner. 

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

Their concert rolled around faster than you thought it would. You were currently checking your outfit before you and your mom had to leave. Proceeding changing your necklace for the third time you finally deemed your outfit ok. You left your room and met your mom in the living room.

“You look nice,” she states kindly

“Thanks, I didn’t really know what to wear,” you chuckled. 

“You ready then?” Your mom checks with you.

“Yeah I’m ready,” you told her. The both of you made your way out of the house and got into the car. 

“We’re meeting them at the venue,” your mom informed you.

“Cool,” you answered nonchalantly, but in reality your heart pounded with nerves. You’re not even sure why you were nervous about meeting them again. Maybe because you might actually have to talk to them this time.

“Aye it’s y/n!,” Gunil said happily when you and your mom arrived. You were currently backstage in a waiting room.

“Nice to see you guys again,” you said politely.

“Y/n, I have to double check that everything is how it should be, so how about you guys keep each other company,” your mom says before exiting the room. Great, now you’re on your own.

“We weren’t sure that you’d actually come,” Seungmin pipes up from where he sat in a chair.

“Why wouldn’t I?” You asked as you sat down on the couch.

“You just didn’t seem that interested in us the first time we met,” Jungsu claims. Because I wasn’t you thought, but that’d be a bit too blunt to say out loud.

“I just didn’t expect to meet you guys then. My mom asked me to bring her a flash drive, not meet Xdinary Heroes,” you laughed at the end. 

“Well we’re glad you’re here,” Jooyeon states.

“Really?” You questioned intrigued.

“Yeah your mom talks about you a lot, so it’s nice to actually see you in person,” Jiseok answered. You continued talking with them a little longer until it was time for them to start getting ready.

“Good luck,” you wished them before leaving them. However, Jiseok followed you out of the room. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready?” You asked Jiseok, confused as to why he followed you. 

“I will in a sec I just wanted to talk to you first,” he tells you.

“About what?” You pondered, growing more confused.

“Your mom is really proud of you y’know,” he starts off. You only look at him silently asking him to continue. “She always talks about how she’s lucky to have a daughter like you. She feels bad that she spends so much time with work and isn’t always that present all the time. She feels blessed to have a daughter that doesn’t complain about work keeping her away, even though it must be annoying at times. She brags about how you cook dinner for her and always makes sure that she’s resting well. She knows that even when she tells you to not wait up for her that you do. That you wait to go to bed until she comes home. She really loves you,” he finishes. 

“Are you trying to make me cry?” You laughed to hold your tears. Suddenly feeling very emotional.

"No, no I actually wanted to apologize for keeping your mom away from you so much,” he revealed. 

“Don’t say that it’s gonna make me feel bad,” you say.

“Feel bad for what?” Jiseok questions you.

“I really wasn’t interested in you guys when we first met. I always viewed you as my mom’s work. I dislike my mom’s work more than I like it. She spends way more time with you guys than she does with me. Sometimes she even refers to you guys as her boys and it makes me feel I don’t know exactly. I just feel like you guys are more her sons than I am her daughter. I’m jealous of how much time my mom spends with you all, but it’s literally her job so….I just miss her despite the fact that I see her every day,” you admitted.

“Have you told her that?” He asked. His eyes were filled with empathy and glassed over with tears of his own.

“No,” you scoffed. “What am I supposed to say? ‘Hey I know it’s your job to be a manager and to be with your idols basically all day, but I wish you spent more time being my mom?’” you spoke rhetorically.  

“Yes, just tell her that you want to spend more time with her,” he tells you. He puts a reassuring hand on your shoulder.

“Why do you care?” You asked out of genuine curiosity. Jiseok takes a breath, thinking over his words.

“Because I like you. I know that probably sounds really weird since we don’t really know each other personally, but the way your mom always talked about you made me really want to get to know you. I would like to get to know you better,” he confessed 

“I’d like to get to know you better too.” you responded.

“Seriously?” His eyes lit up.

“Yeah, how about we grab something to eat after the concert?” You suggest.

“It’s a date,” he nods his head.

“Great, now you should really go get ready,” you told him.

“Right, I’ll see you after,” he says before turning around to see. You nodded your head in agreement.

“It’s a date,” his words rang through your head as you watched the concert, standing beside your mom.