#love drawing south park characters as little demons

[battyskorpyionn]

lowkey need to draw more south park,. especially demon kenny csuse i liked to draw that

[jelloswagginz]

HELLO THERE!!!

i'm jordyn! i go by jelloswagginz, reptiswag, and theriousath on various platforms :) welcome to my silly little tumblr page!

on here i just post a bunch of random art, shitposts, character/ship analysis, screenshots & clips from media or interests of mine, and reblog a bunch!!! i also am a cosplayer... so i might throw some of that on here every once in a while! (I also might throw random NSP/starbomb lyrics on here bc ugh i love their music so much!!!)

and because you're TOTALLY wondering... "oh jordyn, what super awesome sexy stuff do you like that we'll see on here!?"

WELL I'M GLAD YOU ASKED!!!

posts on here are likely going to majorly be Ninja Sex Party, Starbomb, and GameGrumps/The Grumps related. i love them dearly and they are my favs ever

HOWEVER i will also likely post & reblog about:

Cookie Run: Kingdom, Dandy's World, Spooky Month, Danganronpa, Megamind, Creepypasta, Marble Hornets, Demon Slayer, Ramshackle, Eddsworld, South Park, Helluva + Hazbin, Don't Starve, Minecraft, Don't Hug Me I'm Scared, Ruby Gloom, Regular Show, Adventure Time, The Amazing World of Gumball, Undertale, Total Drama Island... the list goes on!

every once in a while i might post drawings i've done for my lovely boyfriend @lawrencegordonsleftfoot of his interests if i have them (Rick and Morty, Gravity Falls, OSC, Saw... i mean duh look at his username... etc etc.) (please go check him out he is SO awesome i heart him and his art!!!) or if i have any drawings i've done for my other friends, sister, etc :)

i'm honestly just having a blast on here and hoping this will also help drag me out of my art block, so HOORAY!!! hope you guys enjoy my stupid content i put on here!

"If you had a lisp, you'd know it's kickin therious ath!" -Danny Sexbang, Rhinoceratops vs. Superpuma

(WOAH GUYS THATS WHERE MY ONE USERNAME CAME FROM ISNT THAT CRAZY!?!?)

[aang3ll]

Finally, an intro post

(Please ignore my horrendous handwriting)

You can call me Rain or Angel :))

I use any and all pronouns, as seen above! Things I'll do on this blog

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

-Shitpost

-Write requests/Commissions

-Terrorize lees

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My hobbies

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

-Writing/Drawing

-Writing lil songs

-Watching COD

-Bullying @xoleevia and @tikalee <3

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Requests

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

REQUEST RULES (Requests open)

_________________________________ 1. ABSOLUTELY NO NSFW 2. Sometimes, there may be certain characters that I don't want to write for due to personal reasons, so please be respectful of that 3. You are allowed to request for fandoms that aren't on my fandom list 4. If, for some reason, your request is not fulfilled, please do not deal with this situation by getting angry and spamming my inbox or smth. Instead, simply shoot me a DM, and I will either get onto your request, and/or explain to you why your request wasn't or will not be fulfilled (depends on the request) 5. And lastly, please do not hate on certain requests just because you do not like a character or fandom Also, please note that fics and stuff probably won't be very long, because I have low writing stamina __________________________________________________________

Fandoms ___________ (Noted that I CAN and WILL binge through an entire series or smth just so I can accurately fulfill a request)

-Creepypasta

-Marble Hornets

-Murder Drones

-FNAF

-Call of Duty (Modern Warfare)

-TADC

-Undertale (And most AUs)

-Villaino(u)s

-IT (1900's 1 and 2, as well as 2000's 1 and 2)

-TOH

-South Park (Kids AND Adults)

-BNHA/MHA

-HTF

-DSMP/MCYT

-Gravity Falls

-Superjail

-Death Note

-Beaststars

-Haikyuu!

-Deltarune

-Heathers

-Mean girls

-Beetlejuice

-Little shop of horrors

-Maze runner

-MLP

-Hunger games

-Stranger Things

-Girl, interrupted

-The Black Phone

-TMNT

-Wednesday

-Demon Slayer

-Amanda the Adventurer

-Rainbow Friends

-G.O.B.B (Garten of BanBan)

-Helluva Boss

-Hazbin Hotel

-Nightmare Before Christmas

-Coraline

-Wendall and Wild

-Arcane

-Steven Universe

-BATIM

-Spooky Month

-Sanders Sides

-Handplates (An Undertale AU that was made into a comic, you can watch it on youtube!)

-Countryhumans

-Doors

-Elemental

-Fantastic Mr. Fox

-And if you really want to, you can even request fics about yourself! :) (If you would like the fic to be with another person you know online or IRL, that is also allowed, just please provide proof that you have their permission, please! This can be done through asks or DMs, or even by asking them to post that you have perms!!) _____________________________________ Characters I will absolutely NOT write for _____________________________________ -CC!Dream (I may consider writing C!Dream, but only under VERY specific circumstances.) -Alex (Marble Hornets (We're a system with a Brian alter, who gets triggered by Alex)) -Belos (TOH(Do I even need to explain?)) -Mineta (MHA(^)) -Eric. Fucking. Cartman. -Any lusttale characters -Graves (COD) -Offenderman (Creepypasta) -Henry Bowers + other IT bullies (We also have Richie-) -If you request for QSMP, I will ABSOLUTELY NOT write for Forever. -Bill Cipher (Gravity Falls(Sorry y'all, I love Bill, but he's hard asf to write for with fluffy tickles-)) -FUCKING PENNYWISE THE GODDAMN DANCING CLOWN -CC!Wilbur. However, I will still write for the bursonas. (Ghostbur, Revivedbur, ETC.) ______________________________________________________________ Boundaries ------------- -Fic requests? / Duhh -Art requests? /Most likely not, I can't draw very well -Teases? / Have at it, my friend -NSFW asks/DMs? / No. -DMs from 18+? / No thanks, it's nothing against you guys, I just don't really like talking to adults without other people knowing what's going on, if that makes any sense -Nok-Tkl asks / Ofc! -General DMs / I don't mind, as long as you're under 18 :) -Minor interaction? / Yep! -Over 18 interaction? / Sure, as long as you don't DM! -K1nk/NSFW/Fetish interaction? / No ty ______________________________________________________________ DNI -----

1. Proshippers

2. K!nk + N$FW accounts

3. Zoos + Maps + Nomaps

4. Homophobic + Transphobic + Racist folks

5. LGB without the T. Trans people liTERALLY HELPED FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS IN SUCH BIG WAYS!!!

6. Pseudogenic + Tulpa + Endogenic systems. Need I say more?

7. 1NC3ST SHIPPERS. NEED. I. SAY. MORE?

8. Colleen supporters

9. Anyone who isn't against $@ + @buse

10. "Super Straight" folks. Just say you're transphobic lol 11. CC!Wilbur supporters.

----------------------------------------------------------------- All organized tags so far! ----------------------------------------------------------------- #aangel - All of my posts are tagged with this! #nontickles - Anything that isn't t-word related! #aangel writes - All of my fanfictions are tagged with this! #aangell draws - All of my art is tagged with this! #aangell mha - All of my MHA related posts! #aangell creepypasta - All of my creepypasta related posts! #Tika's tag - Anything having to do with @tikalee! #Olivia's tag - Anything to do with @xoleevia! ----------------------------------------------------------------- And, that's it, folks! Have a wonderful day/night!

[bens-zleepzipzorp]

intro!!

so, i never did an intro here.. But, here we go!!

basic infos!

•What to call me?

-Ell and/or Benson! But, feel free to call me by the names of the characters I kin!

•What pronouns do I use?

-any! Feel free to reffer me as any!

•What gender do I identify as?

-I don't care about my personal gender labels!

•what is my sexuality?

-I identify as a lesbian but I might be an abrosexual person, I'm not sure. I'm trying to find out who am I, so, let's just label me as a nmlnm!

•What languages do I speak?

-English + Turkish!

•How old am I?

-I don't feel comfortable sharing it but I'm a minor!

•What is my MTBI?

-INFP!

•What is my blog mostly based off of?

-Benson, Regular Show and Mordeson!

•Do I have mental/medical issues?

-None diagnosed because I'm too paranoid about telling my parents and asking them to get me diagnosed. But there's a high chance of me being autistic, having anxiety, anger issues, ADHD, Personality disorders, breathing issues, ptsd and stuff. None of it is confirmed, I'm just trying to take what I have a possibility of having to the account!

•What are my boundaries?

-My boundary is my personal life, don't ask me about it if you're not my friend! /nm

•Anything to know about me?

-I have a partner! I like to explain things a lot when I'm in a good mood and i might talk like a teacher. I might be annoying at times. I might get too excited or very less excited, depends. I never have a stable mood. I'm very expressive! I don't have a specific style but I like stuff like decore and cutecore because I can express myself! I like true crime podcasts. I really, really like music! I'm interested in space, partially ocean and I LOVE cats, even though i relate more to rabbits. I'm a lightshipper(I ship complicated but non-illegal or non-problematic ships) also, I'm the #1 Pam hater but i don't mind anyone talking about her! I'm trying to get better, so, please don't judge me meanly about my actions, but you can tell me if it's wrong and I think I was right (basically, educating me for my sake)

Now, my interests!

•What fandoms am I in?

-Regular show, Ddlc, Dandy's World, Regretevator, I love Amy, Adventure Time, Craig of the Creek, South Park, Mouthwashing, Little Witch Acadamia, Bistro Huddy, Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss, We Bare Bears, Fnaf, The Owl House, Gacha life/club,(...)

•Which artist do I listen to?(listening to doesn't mean I'm a fan of them!)

-Alec Benjamin, Marina, Mitski, Alex G, Girl in Red, Penelope Scott, Olivia Rodrigo, Bo Burnham, Will Wood, ICP, MSI(I don't support their actions.), Cavetown, Sodikken, Sushi Soucy, Amélie Farren, The Living Tombstone, Mother Mother, McCafferty(I don't support his actions), Jack Stauber, Weezer, Lemon Demon, (...)

•Which of the above I'm a fan of?

-Alec Benjamin, Marina, Mitski, Penelope Scott, Bo Burnham, Cavetown, Will Wood, Amélie Farren!

•Which characters do I kin?

-Benson(Rs); Sayori(Ddlc); Shelly, Gigi, Astro, Glisten, Dandy, Tisha, Shrimpo, Goob(Dandy's World); Infected, Split, Melanie(Regretevator); Bibi, Amy, Camilla(I love Amy); Princess Bubblegum(Adventure Time); Kelsey, JP, Jason(Craig of the Creek); Kyle, Butters, Bebe(South Park); Anya(Mouthwashing); Diana(Lwa); Terry, Ruby, Bridgette, Aaron(Bistro Huddy), Charlie, Husk, Emily(HB); Blitzo, Millie(HH); Panda, Charlie, Ice Bear(We Bare Bears); Amity, Luz, Eda, Willow(TOH); Gangle, Ragatha(TADC)-(...)

•What are my main ships?

-Mordeson, Rigleen, CJ x Margaret, Thomas x Cody[one episode character(BTW I'm literally the ship creator, I'm their CEO)](RS); Moniyori, Natyuri(DDLC); Shellvision, Ghostcapsule, Angryhugs, Moonflower, Jewelrybox(DW); Infected x Lampert, Spive, Melanie x Folly(regretevator); Bibi x Amy(ILA); PB x Marceline(AT); Style, Bunny, Bendy(SP); Diana x Akko(LWA); Clerry, Rubycole(BH); Panda x Charlie (WBB); Lumity(TOH); Gangle x Zooble, Ragatha x Pomni(TADC)-(...)

•What activities do I like?

-Drawing, rollerskating, swimming, listening to music, watching cartoons and comedy shows(just one specific one in Turkish), listening to true crime cases, SLEEPING.

Now, my DNI's and stuff!

•DNI!!

-Proshippers, p3d0s, darkshippers and people like that.

•DO INTERACT!!:333

-REGULAR SHOW ARTISTS(ESPECIALLY BENSON AND MORDESON ARTISTS), People who share interests with me, people who need to vent!(ask first plz!) And people

•What to not talk about if you're out of my dni list?

-extremely nsfw or nsfw at all if I don't personally know you; please don't try to tell me that my ships are problematic if your intention isn't genuinely trying to educate; do NOT talk about SA before asking me if I'm in a minset to get triggered easily. Do not try to get me to like Pam if you're not correcting a mistake/telling me something I accidentally overlooked; any explicit questions about my relationship, reminder, I'm a minor, so is my partner. Please don't try to push your ships and headcanons into me.; Feel free to talk about it but don't try to get me to think the same thing.

•What questions I would LOVE to answer/things I would LOVE to hear?

-Questions about my Regular Show(especially Benson and Mordeson) headcanons/AU's and my opinions about your headcanons/AU's!; cute questions about me and my parter and gift ideas for them!!; funfacts about space and sea!; your hyperfixations!; Questions about why I ship what I ship!; QUESTIONS ABOUT MY OCS, YES! :3 (And stuff like that!)

So, erm.. Feel free to interact after reading this and knowing my boundaries!!🙏

[beeblelady]

Who is Beeble Lady?

Hello as you can see my name is Beeble Lady, if anyone is wondering why I have this name because of my love for the Beatles and I would call the Beatles in a fun way so Beeble that is. So I'm turning 20 this year, my hobbies are drawing and writing, I am currently writing an AU for BASEketball on AO3 that is in progress. My Favorite artists are The Beatles (Obviously), Atarashii Gakko!, Beastie Boys, Glee Cast and many. I am a female 💖

My Favorite shows are Glee 🎵, Fresh Off The Boat, Spy x Family, Gilmore Girls ☕, South Park, My Little Pony and Demon Slayer.

I never show my face but I would personify myself as my Favorite characters like rn you could see the character Velvet (The Villain from Trolls: Band Together)

How Long I have been here?

Probably nine years but most of my posts were different from the things I post as of now, I used to be an Awkward Screenshots blog and became a random multifandom blog and now I have been attracted to the Sakuverse right now.

What to expect on this page?

I have this ongoing 30 day challenge with my listener and the ZSakuVA character Andrew (The Strict Professor), I could publish some of my old fanarts here, also I am posting a fun silly AU if Andrew and my listener (Mary) have their own Instagram accounts and how their lives would have been after the S2 Finale.

I also have fav characters aside from Andrew (such as Isaac, Kayson and Elias)

Any Questions?

Feel free to ask me and I could answer them ASAP

[kitts-mechanix]

@jetravenex I hope you don't mind sharing this here, I just didn't want to leave a looooooooooooooong reply on an already long post so I'm going to put my thoughts here:

You are right, everything does have a message/something to be drawn, but it's not necessarily activism. I've noticed a lot of people tend to use those words interchangeably (and looking at my tags again I realise I didn't specify that, my bad. I had a long work day and am tired, so sorry!)

To rephrase, my issue isn't people drawing messages, it's when they INSIST every form is media is some kind of activism. And sure, there's definitely such media out there, but unless the creators come forward and confirm it, I don't like it when people insist something is "political" or "activism". Where is the line of "this is up to interpretation" and "this is straight up propaganda"?

The relatable thing, though, is where I get a bit iffy, because my issue with a lot of modern writing is they try to make the characters too relatable, i.e. one-dimensional and pushed around by the plot. Now I'm not saying they are ALL like this, because I think good character should be one YOU can relate to without the character being 100% exactly LIKE YOU, if that makes any sense (I relate to Cruz from Cars 3 despite not being Hispanic or a car). I mean, I was almost a little scared by how much I related to G1 Starscream in OG Transformers, and even asked myself "why do you like him so much, he's clearly a narcissistic character and you've dealt with narcissistic abuse". Then I realised it was because Starscream went through abuse similar to what I experienced, just more physical. That was how I could relate and sympathise with him--despite him being a fictional cartoon robot who turns into a jet.

I feel some writers make relatable characters as flat as possible so it's easier for people to see themselves in a character by not giving the them a strong base. A good character is someone the audience can relate to without being exactly like them. Hence how I related to both D16 and Orion Pax in Transformers One.

That being said, I don't think all characters need to be relatable, sympathetic or even likeable. What I care about personally is if the character is interesting or engaging. I don't have to relate to a character to enjoy the movie. I mean, I don't relate to Finn McMissile from Cars 2 or KITT from Knight Rider, but I still love them immensely.

(I realise I probably just over-analysed that and I'm terribly sorry).

But as I said before, I think one of the reasons I was so drawn towards Transformers when I finally got into it, was because the common theme across all the generations was a criticism of a corrupt system, war themes, internal battles, etc. and it was crazy how much that spoke to me, as someone living in a place with lots of political unrest and someone who deals with inner demons. (I could go into a whole essay about this).

There are many cases where people will use a medium to get their opinions through, and it's obvious they're trying to push a certain agenda (those adult cartoons like South Park come to mind) and there may be subtle themes/biases in other media, but I guess what I'm trying to say is don't make a mountain out of a molehill. Like when people jump to the assumption that Cars 2 was anti-alternative fuel/EVs, or Transformers One was some giant US election warning. I often wonder if Glen A Larson, who created Knight Rider, was very pro-AI vehicles/a major critic of the police force and government. And I have no doubt all three of those I mentioned have subtle biases from their human creators: but they are not political allegories/propaganda. Sure, there's a message to be drawn from each one, but sometimes I feel people cling too hard to that message (or what they drew from it personally) and try to blow it out of proportion.

JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis were both devout Christians, and they definitely translated their beliefs into their works (Lewis more so, because The Chronicles of Narnia is essentially an allegory to the Bible, however it wasn't in a preaching way: it was a story Christians and non-Christians could enjoy, appreciate and draw something from. He didn't write it convert people; it was meant to be a story to draw people in, something they could draw a meaning from, religious or not). But their works were not religious propaganda. Both stories have meanings that anyone can draw from.

I know I always say people need to stop reading into things so deeply, but the truth is, I do that too. Like when I kept pulling all these deep messages out of G1 Transformers episodes even when I kept telling myself "lady, it's an 80s cartoon, you're projecting way too much" yet I was drawing SO MANY conclusions and life lessons out of it.

It's kind of like what you said about how sometimes those meanings aren't necessarily intentional, but it's what people draw. And that's the beauty of storytelling and art; seeing what other people draw from that.

Same goes with character interpretation. There's something so beautiful and personal in that. Filling in the spaces with how you see them, often drawn from our own experiences.

Now as for what the OOP said (and I thank you for getting me the full text because I might have been looking at it out of context):

It is true that fandoms have always been a place where people can make hot/controversial takes with little to no policing. Slash shipping, for example, is something that's been around pretty much since I first started reading and writing fanfics. Go back to the first Cars stories published on FFN in 2006, it's 50% slash. Now for stuff like Star Trek, I can understand where people might draw political/activist themes from it since it did push boundaries for its time. I'm personally not sure why people draw so many slash ships from media like Cars, Transformers or Hetalia (excluding the fact the majority of their characters are male), but I can respect the fact that maybe there was something there that spoke to them, and just not to me.

But at the end of the day, I realise that you have to curate your own experiences in fandom. It would be wrong for me to police others work telling them what they can and cannot draw from or make for media. I'm a library technician (certified) and I cannot stress the importance of "No Censorship" (unless it's protecting minors from accessing age-inappropriate content)

The last part about banned books was beautifully said, and it actually brings me back to something I see everywhere: the "Fiction Affects Reality/Fiction Does Not Affect Reality" debate.

No, fiction does not directly affect reality. Writing about a dragon won't make a dragon appear in real life. But fiction can be influential, perhaps even change one's mind on something. Make people think. Dare to hold a different belief.

And that's what scares the people who want to ban books and other media.

[serenity-songbird]

RULES:

(Requests are now Closed...)

So within my first two days I have gotten so many requests and I realized how much I love answering them. So, I have decided to spread my horizon. I will do requests fooor:

Acception (Webtoon)

Avengers

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Be More Chill

Brass and Sass (Webtoon)

Danny Phantom

Demon Slayer

Down To Earth (Webtoon)

Ducktales

Game of Thrones

Garten of Ban Ban

Hetalia

Hogwarts Legacy

Homestuck

Is It Wrong To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon?

Jujutsu Kaisen

Kingdom Hearts

Komi Can't Communicate

Legend of Korra

Let's Play (Webtoon)

Lore Olympus (Webtoon)

Mage and Demon Queen (Webtoon)

Miraculous Ladybug

My Hero Acadamia

My Little Pony

Muted (Webtoon)

Mystic Messenger

Naruto

New Girl

Peaky Blinders

Poppy Playtime

Rising Of The Shield Hero

Seven Deadly Sins

Soul Eater

South Park

Spy X Family

Steven Universe

Stranger Things

Teen Titans

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.

Undertale

Voltron: Legendary Defender

Welcome Home: The Puppet Show

The Witch and the Bull (Webtoon)

Young Justice

-I will do headcanons, one shots, and scenarios.

-I will no longer do NSFW. The previous works will still be available, but any new requests will be deleted.

-I honestly do not do Yandere. (I personally dealt with one in a previous relationship and it will trigger bad memories). I'm sorry I wont do it.

-No more than 4 characters at a time.

-I am very open-minded and I believe in Love is Love. Any character you can come up with I will do.

-I'm also open to draw, buuut I'm not exactly a great drawer so it will take some time and may or may not look exactly like you wanted. (Don't say I didn't warn you).

Those are my rules. Thank you for reading and requesting. Have a wonderful day!!! 😊😊😊

~Master List Link~

NOTE: I will do characters not the list as well. I just inputted the names at the top of my head.

[lovely-necromancy]

A Cure for Insomnia CH.4

WARNING OF DEPICTION OF A PANIC ATTACK and mentions of drugging. 

////////

The rest of the day went by pretty uneventfully. That is after Nate lectured you about stranger danger and how you couldn't just walk forty miles in two hours. You really have no clue how you messed up the math that bad or how calling Nate for a ride never crossed your mind. Nate made you promise not to get into another stranger's car, especially without knowing their fucking names.

“I mean seriously YN, you just hopped in their car because they had a dog?! That's literally the first thing they tell you not to do when you learn about stranger danger!” he said munching on a boston cream donut. It was a good thing you'd brought donuts because you caused this man to stress eat...or was that a bad thing?

After you agreed to having better stranger danger instincts, Nate told you things would be run a little differently around the shop. Apparently the camera out back had died on Sunday, which although weird could be explained away as a camera that hasn't been updated or switched out since the shop was opened, maybe even before then too. So unfortunately Big Jo and Nate still didn't know who broke into your car or if they had been looking for anything. But Big Jo still wants to take precautions like the two of you leaving together and in the morning one of you waiting in their car with the doors locked for the other to come and then entering the building together.

Nate also mentioned a few other things, shipping and inventory related, that wouldn't really pertain to you or change any of your current tasks. It's really just to limit the amount of people coming through the back room. The back room was the emptiest you've ever seen when you went to check on your deer skull. You wonder if you hadn't been hired who would've gotten this position and how long they'd be able to keep their mouth shut about the obviously illegal activity going on. But you remember the person who had this position before you had been Bambi, a sweet if not oblivious girl. So, had you not come along the Cowells would have probably found someone else who didn't have an ounce of perception for their surroundings.

The week goes by slowly and with no further incidents. The deer skull has been completed and you plan on taking it to Maddie's Workshop next week to get a mount for it. In the time that you were bleaching and polishing the bones Nate took it upon himself to clean around the shop. Even though he's made it clear you just have to do your task list here, which takes about an hour maybe two depending on the tasks, he's always working on something.

Nate's the type of guy who's never content to just chill he needs to keep moving always chasing that high you get from accomplishing a goal, whatever he's made his that day. He's probably just substituting whatever he did daily with these new deep cleans of his.

Even with the lack of incidents following your car's break in the two of you have kept to the new precautions. Nate even going so far as to remind you tonight that on Monday if you arrive before him you'll need to stay in the car. At this point you think it's less about safety and more about the security of the store's extra curricular activities. Either way you don't really mind.

Things seemed to return to normal, you were back to driving yesterday and after you rearranged furniture in your house you felt a little less on edge. And every night this week you'd been able to get a good night's sleep, which although not too strange did stand out to you. Maybe another thing that had kept you on edge this week, because it meant when you saw a shadow pass by you during the day you couldn't write it off as quickly as you normally would.

But tonight it seemed your luck had run out. You sat on your bed with your sketch book in hand just doodling strange squiggles till your eyes were so tired they couldn't focus. Putting the book down to rest your eyes and crack your wrist, you sigh not feeling tired at all. The thought of a hike isn't really appealing right now, plus if you made a run into the mini mart you'd probably see either Ronnie or even Tim working behind the counter, that thought set your ears a flame. While the night life in Kepler was decent especially for a Friday night in summer, you just felt the need to be alone.

A drive was the best answer you had. You'd just choose a random lane on the interstate and take a random exit till you found a diner or something, order a tea and a slice of pie. Like you were a background character in someone else's story longingly staring out the window as your dreams slowly slipped through your fingers in this cold cruel world. Ok, you'd been joking about that because you saw a TikTok saying that, but your melodramatic ass actually thinks that sounds fun.

Throwing on some jeans and a flannel over you muscle tee, you were out the door. When you were checking the lock you'd heard rustling coming from around the house where your bins were. Worse case it's a stalker, best case just some raccoons. Either way you decided to calmly but briskly walk to your car, locking the doors immediately. Once in you drove around the side of your house, luckily, you assume, you spot the chonkiest raccoon you've ever seen digging through the bins. His tiny little person hands drawing an awww from you even though his demonic gleaming eyes should send a chill down your spine.

Hissing at the car Chonk returns to dig through your garbage. Weird how he only comes on your pizza weeks. Probably has a thing for Leo's homemade pizzas. You sure as hell do, as much as you love it you do save a slice for this little guy. You haven't put it out yet though, eh you'll do it tomorrow.

Having solved that mystery you sit in your car and link up your phone so you can have your driving playlist. It's mainly Folk Punk and Sea Shanties and while most might say it's a weird combination you say it's the same genre just different fonts. You could drive hundreds of miles into the middle of no where listening to this playlist and you'd be just fine...maybe have an emotional break down or two but expressing your emotions is suppose to be good for you. Mouthing along to Jim Bogart as it comes through the stereo you set off on your little excursion.

Just like when you have the urge to hike at night the urge to drive is nearly one in the same. Momentum taking you forward and not looking back as you do, needing to just go forward with no real destination in mind. Tonight however would be a little different you'd stop at the first diner you see that's out of Kepler bounds. Or turn right back around at one in case you hadn't found anything. There've been times that you kept driving straight through morning and didn't know where the hell you ended up. Not to mention you rarely remember the ways to get back after going for so long, and gps can only get you so far in some of the towns that also border the Monongahela Forest. You'd just have to rely on dumb luck tonight.

Unlike hiking, which gives you a burst of adrenaline as you push your body to its limits to move as far as you can and as much as you can. Driving gives a much more relaxed feeling, it's a feeling a weightlessness that gets lighter and lighter the further you get from home. Some may describe that feeling as a wanderlust or nomadic calling, but you've never cared for either of those things. You've only ever wanted to stay in one place for as long as you could remember. Moving around so much in your youth really messed you up, and you promised yourself this would be the last time you uprooted your life. And you've really come to love Kepler in these past few months. You can't imagine how you'll feel next year after getting to know the community more, but so far it's been really compassionate and understanding, a few rocky spots here and there but nothing like your hometown.

Without realizing it you've picked up your speed, you're doing 75 in a 55 zone. Even with no other vehicles around you slow down to just above the speed limit. While there might not be any cops around looking for easy tickets you don't want to risk dissociating at 75MPH or more. That could only end horribly. Though dissociating behind the wheel at all would be horrible. In the middle of shaking yourself from these thoughts you catch sight of an exit sign, which holds the logo for Denny's on it, and the exit is coming up in five miles. Switching lanes you cross over and get ready to hop off on the next exit.

You're pretty sure the only pie Denny's has is the dry apple with a scoop of ice cream. That isn't very appetizing to you, but then again you aren't really a fan of pie, a fact you seemed to gloss over when you made the decision to drive out here this late at night. Not too bothered by the fact, you remember Denny's has a salted caramel and banana pancake which should work in place of pie.

Pulling into the parking lot there are only three other cars, peering into the diner you don't really see anyone so the cars must belong to the skeleton night crew. Entering the Denny's you see there actually is one other patron, you only see the back of his head as he makes no move to look at the new arrival.

“Hun, seat yourself, I'll be out in a bit.” is the motherly voice that rings out from the kitchen, truly something you've only experienced in the south. Walking into a diner in the dead of night and  being treated like a daytime regular.

Seating yourself near the TV mounted to the wall you let the sounds of the soap opera playing drown out any buzzing you feel in your head. The waitress is out within minutes and though she startles at your masked face she regains her composure very quickly.

“I'd like the salted caramel pancakes if it's alright.” you say declining the offered menu.

“Just the pancakes?”

“Ah, yes please. And water's fine too.” it really pays to know the menu prior to coming in. Gives you ample time to run scripts over in your head.

Viv, the name on her name tag, nods and gives you a smile as she spins right round to the kitchen. Probably happy she won't have to run out so many times for just one order or maybe to spend time with the cooks in the back. You remember working food service sucked but the line cooks made it so much better at the end of the day. Even if they said you were too quiet and called you 'mouse'.

It might not have been exactly what you set out to do but this little midnight self date was really nice, you should do this more often.

Pancakes finished and mask back on you waited for Viv to bring out your check,  then you notice the other patron also making his moves to leave. You're sat facing the door so when he turns and comes closer dread fills your veins like burning cold dry ice. It's David, a local from Kepler you briefly met when you first moved. He gave you really bad vibes and over all was just a very skeevy dude.

What made you feel worse about him was when he left town to “help his sister” right after Bambi disappeared. Those in your circle told you she always talked about leaving Kepler one day but you trusted your gut in saying she didn't leave by her own choice. It got made for her, and David leaving just furthered your theory. You look away hoping he hadn't noticed you but unfortunately you could hear his footsteps falter and then pick back up by passing the door completely.

“Hey...YN, right?” fuck he remembers you, alarm bells are ringing at this fact. Why would he remember someone he briefly met months ago?

“It really is you, still as quiet as I remember.” what did he mean the two of you only met a handful of times and that had been because of your mutual friendship with Bambi.

Where is Viv with the check? You'd really like if she saved you from this painful situation right now. But you aren't sure what's worse having to sit here and listen to David tell you everything he's been up to these past few months, like you even care. Or the thought of leaving with David having him follow you and maybe doing whatever he did to Bambi to you.

“Yea so my sister's better now, I should be seeing you around soon. We should catch up maybe do Saturday Night Dead. Does the Crypt still do that?” great a fucking rhetorical question, he knows the Cryptonomica still does it's weekly movie nights, it's only been two months he's been gone. Not to mention it's a big hit and a huge source of revenue for the shop.

You haven't said anything this whole time, fuck being polite to a potential killer, and fuck being polite to this creep. He's just been talking nearly nonstop for the last few minutes. He must really love the sound of his own voice or thinks he's the most charming person to ever grace the Earth with his presence. Since he's not really caring that you aren't proving to be a stimulating partner in this conversation. He really does love hearing himself talk. By the time he's said his own goodbyes Viv finally makes it out from the back.

She apologizes for the wait, had to go on her break sometime you supposed. You take your time finding your wallet, it's in your back pocket but you wanted to stall for time since you could still see David's car out there, you were also keeping an eye on your own car. Only relaxing when you saw him pull off from the corner of your eye. Oh look you've “found” your wallet,  handing Viv your credit card you just want to get out of here quickly now.

You pay and leave a nice tip for Viv, while she didn't save you from that creep it's not like she could've known. You sit in your car for a moment or two just breathing in and out in the glow of the diner lights. Almost meditating before you begin your long drive back to Kepler with all these thoughts of David, Bambi's disappearance, and how it can't be coincidence that David is coming back at the same time that you have a break in. Could you be his next target? Were you just over thinking things? Just blaming this poor guy because you didn't like him? But you've always been intuitive and bad vibes aren't something to ignore. David appearing now meant something.

Just that thought alone put you on edge as your skin begins to crawl. With a few calming breaths you go to start the car and sync your radio when you notice the glow of the lights changed from the slight yellow to a sterile blueish white. Looking up where the diner should be you see the mini mart back at Kepler...how on earth did you get here? You didn't drive! You couldn't have dissociated while driving, you never even turned the car on and you can barely take a hike dissociating let alone do something as complex as drive a car.

It happens before you can register it, on shaky legs that move on their own you are passing the threshold of the convenience store and catching the tail end of a conversation.

“ppened to not feeding into delus...” the voice cuts off as the door shuts behind you. You know that voice why is it so hard to focus?

Something warm brushes your hand and you see someone in front of you. Who is that? You can't see their face, they've got a mask covering their face. Like you but that person is not you. You might know them...Tobais?

“Yea? You good there?” confusion, you blink hard and see you are standing in the mini mart now, Connor standing under your hand, Toby hovering close by and both Brian and Tim watch with unease over by the register.

“...I don't know how I...how I got here.” you register movement in the background but not consciously.

It's the shifting of Brian's head as he looks out the front windows and spots your Kia.

“You drove.” shaking your head, “Maybe...I don't...I dissociated?” in your confusion you can register Toby stiffen in front of you.

Fear, fear, uneasy, breath....are you breathing? Your head's so jumbled right now.

You scan the shop trying to look for answers that may help you but you find none. The more confused you get the more worked up you get, chest rising and falling rapidly. You take a step back or try to and end up falling on your butt. It's starting to get hard to breathe with your throat constricting, you bring a hand up to your larynx.

“..re.....have..attack......”

        “could be o...me..”

“.....pressure...”

Is all you can make out with your fuzzy consciousness before a heavy pressure is piling on your chest and knocking you fully on your back. The pressure is actually pretty lifting as contradictory as it may seem. Instead of restricting your breathing more it seems to be kick starting your lungs to exhale and inhale. With oxygen coming back into your body you can feel your toes and the tingle behind them. You can feel your fingers and the fur under them. Fur?

Taking in a big breath you move your head and come face to muzzle with Connor.  You give a nod of recognition to the dog before lying flat again and staring up at the ceiling. After about ten minutes you're thinking more clearly than before, which isn't saying much.

“Thanks.” you aren't sure who it's directed at but you still mean it.

It's silent until Toby breaks it, “I'm taking you home.”

“Car.” it's all you can manage to say but the message though distorted got through.

“I'll drive it, Brian follow behind.” there is no room for arguing, driving under any influence must be a touchy subject for Toby. Or maybe you're really fucked up right now and just can't comprehend how bad.

You use Connor to get up, he seems ready and no one else makes a move to you. Toby pushes past and holds the door open as Connor guides you, still holding onto his vest with one hand, and Brian murmurs something to Tim before following you three.

Outside Toby already has your keys in his hand, when did he get those? Did you give them to him? Your hand is risen, you must of...how on earth did you even drive like this. Had you really driven? There's a lump in your throat again and you're breathing's gone shaky, god you hope you didn't hurt anyone. You must have been zoning out for too long, not only is Connor pushing your legs but Toby has a grasp on your forearm coaxing you forward.

His grip isn't suffocating, honestly even seeing it there you still don't feel it. Maybe it's because you're so numb, or maybe it's because he's genuinely helping you but you can't feel the pain that  usually comes with being touched. The sharp jab that feels like you've been struck with a fire poker where ever someone laid their hands on you. After he's pushed you into the backseat, more like nudged you, even making sure you didn't bump your head, he buckles you in then snaps and Connor jumps into the car and lays across your lap.

You're shaking, actually trembling as you look at Toby. What's going on? Why can't you figure out what's happening? The brunette doesn't say a thing as he gets into the driver's seat and buckles in to drive you home. That's strange you think, how does he know where to go? You told him right, just follow the road...or maybe he guessed from the other day. What happened to you? Why the mini mart? You were at Denny's.

“This town doesn't have a Denny's.” did you say that out loud?

“I...I went for a drive, a town over...up...no.. north I think...” you start blinking barely able to keep your eyes open before your eyes lock shut. It's sending you over the edge even more in your confusion.

“Hey, hey just focus on the Denny's. What'd you do once you got there?” is he trying to distract you? Calm you down? Or is he trying to piece together what happened like you are? You can remember Denny's just fine, the dull yellow glow of the inside the skeleton crew murmuring in the back, the pancakes you had, and the “conversation” with David. Did David do this, had he put something in your water glass? Did you even touch your water glass after he left? Breathe. You need to breathe. Toby's waiting.

“Pancakes...I had pancakes. Then that creep came over...and he started talking. Didn't like. We aren't friends, I don't know him. I don't understand why he'd talk to me. Didn't like. Didn't like.” finger back to pressing down on your larynx and the weight of Connor preventing your legs from striking out at the seat in front of you.

“Wait, were you drugged?” Eyes flash to the rear view to lock with your own teary stare.

“No, maybe...I don't think so.” you barely feel the pain in your throat right now, this is all so overwhelming. “He left, I...I watched him drive off before getting in my car... I had an episode while the car was off then..” then you were at the mini mart. You never touched the ignition.

“I didn't drive, I never started the car. Didn't, didn't, didn't” Your attack is probably stressing even Connor out now, but this is all so confusing.

You're so focused on the fuzzy events you don't notice Toby bristle. Or how he grips the steering wheel tighter until his knuckles grow white despite his already translucent skin. He might not be able to feel or see it in the mirror through his mask but he's probably gnawing off more of his face. He'd deal with it after he dealt with you.

You've made it to your house and he's waiting for the headlights from Brian. When he sees them in the rear view he gets out but not before telling you, or maybe Connor, to stay put.

It's a few long moments before he comes back. But in the silence and darkness of your car, growing colder by the moment, you start to ground yourself. You aren't calm by any means and you're still very unfocused. But you aren't crying as the numbness overtakes you, you don't even jump when the door beside you opens. With a snap Connor is out of the car and soon you're being pulled from the car, that same weightless touch gripping your forearm. Toby guides you into your own home, and walks towards the hallway looking into the bathroom, the only other door, before finding your room.

Seemingly understanding your catatonic state he sits you on the bed and gives some order to Connor before he leaves the room. And you just sit on the bed staring into dead air as a silent guard sits in wait. You aren't sure what he's waiting for or why he's still there but the numbness has taken over too much and you can't find it in you to give a single fuck.

[theunlimitedskye]

This is your reminder and a nice lesson on how to be a decent fucking human being in fandoms.

Hi.

Guess what?

Just because you don't like or don't agree with something doesn't mean you have to be a dick about it.

Just because you're indifferent or uninterested in something doesn't mean that you aren't allowed to see the good things about those subjects or like certain aspects without actually knowing about the subject.

You're allowed to like things. You're allowed to dislike things. It's when you get aggressive and nasty about is when people begin to have negative opinions on you, and by association, the thing you are offending or defending.

I've had so many people who tell me I'm not allowed to like something without knowing it. I've had so many people come to me and tell me that I'm wrong for liking the things that I do. Does liking South Park make me a racist homophobe? Does drawing PewDiePie make me anti-Semitic? Does mentioning a vague interest in Hazbin Hotel without even being in the fandom automatically make me have an interest in pedophilia? According to some of the anons I've had in the past, it does.

But, hey, newsflash guys, I'M ALLOWED TO LIKE THINGS and SO ARE YOU.

I have plenty of shit that I don't like, but do you see me shitting on everyone? Fuck no. That'd make me a dick, and while I am a dick, I certainly don't want to be one when it comes to other people and what they like. Who the FUCK gave you any right to tell me that I can't like something? Who the FUCK gave you any right to tell ANYONE they can't like something?

If you like something, then you fucking like it! You don't deserve to be judged unless the thing you like is morally or legally wrong. If you like a ship or a fandom or a character then that's fucking fine!! Nobody is allowed to tell you what you can and can't like in these instances. If it makes you happy then it makes you happy! You only deserve to be judged, again, if what you enjoy is wrong by society's standards. Not by the standards of some random chucklefuck on Tumblr.

Another thing. If you're uninterested in or indifferent towards something then that doesn't mean you get to shit on the people who DO like those things. In bird culture, that is considered a dick move. People are allowed to like or dislike things, and if you disagree with their opinions then that's just too fucking bad. You don't get to tell people what they're allowed or not allowed to like, or what they should and shouldn't like. I can give SO many examples of this from my own personal experiences and the fandoms that I'm in, and fandoms that I'm NOT in as well.

Take, for example, the lack of fandoms I've been in. Never have I ever been interested in things like FNAF, BATIM, Undertale or Homestuck. I've never been interested, I've never cared to be interested, and I don't think I ever will be interested. Do I dislike these franchises and fandoms? Do I have some personal vendetta against them or their communities as a whole? No. I'm just uninterested. I'm indifferent. Nothing more.

Now, does being uninterested and uninvolved mean that I can't see the good in these fandoms and projects? Hell no!! They all have immensely unique plotlines from what I've seen, and are each special in their own way. The gaming mechanics that came with FNAF and Undertale are distinguishable and wonderful and should really be considered their own genres, a clear and very large amount of effort went into Homestuck and it definitely shows, and I don't know much about BATIM but I'm sure it's great too.

And hey, guess what? I hardly know ANYTHING about ANY of these franchises. Does that mean I'm not allowed to praise them for what I think are good points and aspects? Does that mean that I'm not allowed to appreciate the time, effort and dedication that went into creating these games, and the sheer love and appreciation that the fandoms give them? Some would say yes. Some would say that if I don't know anything about these things then I should just shut my petty little mouth. But you know what? Fuck you. Just because I never had any participation in these fandoms does NOT mean I can't praise and appreciate them.

And on top of it all, the music for FNAF, BATIM, Undertale and Homestuck fucking SLAP. The canon music and ESPECIALLY, E S P E C I A L L Y the fanmade music. I wouldn't even know about OR3O if it wasn't for All Eyes on Me! The people in these fandoms who dispense such wonderful content and such amazing music deserve to be praised for what they are. They fucking deserve it just as much as the creators of the actual fandoms do.

A few more examples come from the fandoms that I'm actually in, mainly South Park, and mainly regarding a topic that usually can hold a lot of discourse in any fandom: ships.

Now, I don't ship bash. I don't hate people for what they like. I can dislike or hate a ship without hating on the people who ship it. That's called having opinions and being NORMAL about them. I try my best to be open-minded on things like ships and characters. There's quite a bit that I don't ship simply because I'm not interested, and yeah, I'll admit it, there's ships I fucking HATE in this fandom. Rebstella, Jyle, Stangory and Creek are all on my list. I despise these ships for multiple reasons, mainly due to other people cramming them down my throat and not taking it well when I say that I don't really care for the ships.

When it came to things like Rebstella and Stangory, I never used to give a damn. But certain events took place that made me hate these ships with a burning passion. The same with Jyle and the same with Creek. They're the holy rectangle of "get these ships the fuck away from me".

Hate is a strong word, but let me tell you, I mean it with every fibre of my being.

Do I hate these ships? Yes. Do I hate the people who ship them? No. Not in the slightest. I know plenty of people who ship Rebstella and I don't shit on them for it. I just ignore the discussion whenever it's brought up because that's what NORMAL people do.

I know how this world works. I know how this platform works. My opinions are "controversial" and I fucking know I'm going to get people in my inbox screaming at me for what I'm saying regarding these SP ships alone. But you know what? I don't give a fuck.

I don't like Creek. I don't like Rebstella. I don't like Stangory.

Come scream at me and tell me what a horrible cunt I am. See if I give a shit. I'm allowed to have my fucking opinions. That's the entire moral of this goddamn post. I, and other people, can like or dislike things without deserving to be screamed at to conform to the every desire and whim of a souring fandom just because we dare to have different opinions from the rest of the community.

Being uninterested doesn't mean you have to be a prick. I don't ship Pockestella but I have friends who do ship it, and I let them ramble at me about the ship whenever they want to because even if I don't care for the ship, I care for my friend. I don't ship what they ship, but they get happy talking about their ships, so I let them, because I want them to be happy. I don't HAVE to ship what they ship to have a conversation about it.

(Oh, and while we're on the topic of Pockestella, they're not fucking cousins. They're cousins in the book. In the show, they're only stated as playmates. Fuck off.)

The same goes for other ships. Just recently I was scouring the Gregory tags for some nice art to add to my folders, and I found an absolutely spectacular Gregstella piece. A ship that I also don't care for. But the art was superb. It was utterly fantastic and I ADORED the way it was drawn. So you know what I did? I liked the post and saved it to my folder because I liked the art, and I'll probably head back to search the tags for it again so I can reblog it because it was just that good.

I don't ship Kyman, but I love the FUCK out of the Helluva Park AU. Nor do I ship Tyde, but guess who loves the Fleur Bleue AU? This bitch right fucking here. I can appreciate the way things I don't care for are portrayed if they're portrayed nicely or professionally. Does liking an AU where Kyle is a demon make me anti-Semitic? Does liking an AU as fucked up as Fleur Bleue make me some kind of smutty rape fetishizer? Some would say yes. And those people are fucking idiots. Liking something doesn't mean that you support what's portrayed. I've been told I was racist because I liked canon South Park as a whole. If liking South Park makes a person racist then I guess everyone in the fandom is a filthy racist, huh?

Basically, the moral of the post is don't be a prick. You can like things without hating on people or being hated on. You're allowed to have your opinions and other people are allowed to have theirs. If they don't shit on you for what you like, don't shit on them for what they like. We're all allowed to have our likes, dislikes, opinions, stances, ships and preferences. If everyone was forced to like the same exact things in a fandom, it would get very boring, wouldn't it? Fandoms need variety.

Don't be afraid to state your opinions because you're afraid someone will dislike what you're saying. Don't hold back on showing love to the things you love because you don't want hate in your inbox. Show love to what you love anyway and disable questions and submissions. It's that easy to ignore the toxicity. Block and delete buttons exist for just these reasons.

You have to be brave and show love for the things you appreciate in fandoms. If someone hates you for what you're saying, so what? If it's an anon or someone you don't know then why the fuck should you care? You don't know them. Let them hate you. If it's someone you consider a friend getting pissy, well, they're not a real friend, are they? If I had a friend getting up in my case over the things I like or support, or the things I don't like and support, I'd drop them faster than the beat drops in a Skrillex song.

Do you like ships that aren't popular? That's fine! Ship them! You don't have to like what everyone else likes if shipping rarepairs makes you happy!

Are you playing a new game without playing the previous games? That's fine! Play the games you like! (I'm looking at you, Animal Crossing fandom. Fuck off the cases of people who are enjoying New Horizons without having played the other games. I just got New Leaf, are you gonna shit on me because I never played Wild World?)

Do you dislike things that everyone else seems to like? That's fine! You can have opinions! You're allowed to dislike things, especially if they're things that the fandom shoves down everyone's throats! Every fandom has things like that. You're allowed to dislike them!

I'll say it real loud for the people in the back.

PEOPLE CAN LIKE OR DISLIKE THINGS.

PEOPLE ARE ALLOWED TO HAVE OPINIONS THAT DIFFER FROM YOURS.

NOT EVERYONE HAS TO LIKE THE EXACT SAME THINGS YOU DO.

PEOPLE ARE ALLOWED TO LIKE AND APPRECIATE THINGS WITHOUT KNOWING EVERY SINGLE LITTLE DETAIL ABOUT THEM.

I NEVER PLAYED FNAF BUT I LOVE THE MUSIC AND I FUCKING HATE CREEK. Are you gonna come yell at me for being brave and telling people my opinions? Are you gonna try and suppress me? Are you gonna try and silence me? To get me to conform to what you like? To tell me that I'm wrong? To manipulate me, gaslight me, threaten me until I step down and admit defeat? If that's your endgame, then find another target, because I don't fucking care. I'm not afraid, and neither should anyone else.

Individuality is key.

This has been your daily reminder on How To Bs a Decent Fucking Human Being in Fandoms.

Love, Skye.

[aion-rsa]

DC Introduces New Hero in Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration, is a timely new anthology showcasing DC’s Asian superheroes. Arriving in May for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, it presents many of the top Asian storytellers of comics. Included in the 100 page commemorative anthology is an original 12-page story by Gene Luen Yang and Bernard Chang. “The Monkey Prince Hates Superheroes” introduces a new DC superhero who teams up with Shazam to battle Doctor Sivana and a Chinese deer demon. 

Monkey Prince references the 16th century Chinese classic, Journey to the West by Wu Cheng’en. It is the story of the Monkey King, Sun Wukong, and his epic journey to bring the Buddhist sutras to China from India. In China, it has been the subject of plays, operas, movies and TV shows. What’s more, it inspired Dragon Ball, Into the Badlands, and Yang’s own award-winning graphic novel, American Born Chinese. “We’re treating Journey to the West as canon, like DC canon. It actually happened within the DC Universe,” says Yang. 

Den of Geek had a video chat with the two creators, Gene Luen Yang and Bernard Chang about the significance of the newest Asian hero coming to the DC Universe.

Den of Geek: What was your first memory of Monkey King? 

Bernard Chang: Well, when my family immigrated to the States in 1978, we lived in Indiana. I was reading comics when I was in Taiwan, but when we came to the States I was reading like Batman, Spider-Man, Superman, any comics I could get at the newsstands. At some point my father saw that I was taking a liking to superhero stuff and he was like, “I wanted to introduce you to this Chinese superhero.”

Every night he would read me bedtime stories from Sun Wukong from Monkey King. He wouldn’t read the whole chapter, but he’d read a little bit for a few minutes and then I’d go to sleep dreaming and imagining these characters, these places, these adventures. It was from a book. It wasn’t from an actual comic book. None of it was translated. It was all in Chinese. 

I think [those stories] really helped to cultivate this curiosity and imagination and creativity. This is a world that I’m completely unfamiliar with in a sense, or half familiar with, but half not. The sad part to this story is that my parents got divorced when I was around 10, and so my father never got to finish the Monkey King Journey to the West story.I had the book, but it was in Chinese so I couldn’t read it and I couldn’t figure out the ending. Anytime this lore comes up, it always brings back fond memories. 

Gene Luen Yang: I think I have a very similar story to Bernard. I heard the Monkey King stories first from my mom at bedtime and she wasn’t reading out of a book. She was just telling them off of the top of her head. I also remember visiting Taiwan when I was a kid. I was born in the United States, but when I was four, my mom took me back to Taiwan to hang out with her parents and her relatives. I remember there was a cartoon on TV at the time, that was Monkey King.

I was a little bit different from Bernard. I actually fell in love with the Monkey King first and then came into American superheroes when I was much older. When I was like in fifth grade, I started getting really into superheroes, but it’s the same thing. I think it’s the same kind of love.

The love I have for Monkey King is very similar to the love I have for superheroes. Both of them are these heroic stories that are all about color and brightness and hope and magic. I think this particular project, especially, it allows Bernard and I, the chance to explore those in-between spaces between these two very different storytelling traditions.

What was it like to finally work together? 

Bernard: We’ve had peripheral friends, acquaintances, but this is like a culmination of that in life. In Chinese, they call it “yuanfen.”

As in ‘fate’?

Bernard: It’s like fate, destiny, but it’s like a circular, like there’s a path that you take, whether in relationships or work or whatever it is. The people that you meet, the people that you come across, are there for a particular reason. Right now, this moment in my life, in our lives, I’m presented kind of another childhood opportunity to finally almost tie up loose ends, but also pave new paths. For me, out of any other comic book project, there’s a very personal thread. I hope that that comes out in our work. 

It’s not just about me satisfying myself, but also passing along that wonderment, that joy, that excitement of a little kid about to go to sleep, about to dream of this wondrous world and these adventures that these crazy characters go on. We hope to pass that on to a next generation, or at least our version of that, because we’re not retelling that story. We’re telling our own story based off certain things, inspirations from it. 

Given what’s happening with #StopAsianHate and all the Asian crimes, how important is it to you personally to be doing this special issue?

Gene: I think behind all of these crimes I think it’s an impulse to dehumanize Asian-Americans. One of the big stereotypes that we deal with here in America is that all Asians look alike, right? Behind that idea is that we’re all just this one big mass, no individuals. When you think of a population like that, it becomes much easier to commit violence against them. 

Bernard: We’re doing this, it’s not because of the movement that this project is born out of, but when you read characters, when you read any kind of comic books, when I was reading comic books growing up, it was about the characters in the story. It’s about these characters learning from their faults and trying to do the right thing and overcoming obstacles. Monkey King also being very mischievous and having his own personality, but those are all human traits. 

Over the last few years, pre-pandemic, before that, when I was traveling quite a lot around the world to many different comic book conventions and meeting different fans in Europe and Asia, in South Africa, in India, you notice everyone, they look different, but they’re all attracted to the same values. We’re all very similar at the core. I think our story, however it plays out in terms of what’s happening in the world today, will still remain true to its basic principles.

Gene: This project got started before the Atlanta shooting, which although the Asian hate stuff had been going on for a while, the Atlanta shooting to me was a turning point. At least I saw that in the circles that I’m a part of. Even [for] Asian-Americans who wanted to deny it, I think that became the point at which it was no longer deniable. It’s a little bit of that fate that Bernard was talking about as well, that this project is coming out shortly after that. We weren’t really planning it, but it feels like it was meant to be. 

In terms of the relationship, the Monkey King is supposedly the father of the Monkey Prince. We’re going to get into the details of what that might look like. It’s a slightly more complex relationship than that. 

How much did earlier versions of Journey to the West artwork inform what you were drawing, Bernard?

Bernard: Well, there’s obviously a massive amount of stuff that’s already been done about Monkey King. Part of it is trying to find what I remembered as a kid and then modernizing it because the story does take place in the DC Universe here in the United States. 

It was a very true collaborative stage, because Gene would send over drawings that he’s already done. Gene’s also an artist, so it’s great to help use that as a visual bouncing board, a platform to jump off and go back and forth. Then just Jessica [Chen], our editor, has really provided a lot of great visual references. But really there’s been no kind of a leash on anything. It’s just go as wild and as crazy as you can and then let’s just make this thing jam. 

There’s a lot other designs we haven’t shown yet. Hopefully, as the story progresses, we’ll be able to see some of that come up.

If someone asked “Who is the Monkey King?” what might you recommend?

Gene: The first translation that I read when I was in my 20s was the Arthur Waley translation, which has been the standard for a very long time for the English-speaking world. Just recently, Julia Lovell did a translation that I thought was great. It came out just a couple of months ago.

In terms of pop culture, there’s an anime series called Monkey Magic that I really liked. Looking back now, it was a mix of traditional and 3D animation and some of the 3D animation looks really dated. In terms of the energy and in terms of his personality, it really captured something about him.

Monkey Magic was distributed through the UK, and so many leading martial artists from the UK like Ray Park reference Monkey Magic as a major influence.

Gene: Yeah. Just recently there’s a movie called Immortal Demon Slayer that I thought was really good too. That’s a Monkey King movie.

Bernard: I mean, there’s a lot. A Taiwanese artist did an adaptation. His name is Tsai Chih Chung. He did it as like a weekly strip. It was like an American-style strip where every three panels was a joke. I thought that was really well done.

Maybe I’m a little stubborn, but everything that I’ve seen since has never really measured up to what was in my head as a kid. 

Do either of you have favorite chapters for Monkey King? 

Gene: For the 12-pager we did, we did draw on one specific story. If you read the original, the Monkey Prince does something very similar to something that the Monkey King did in the original. 

I’ve always been partial to the Gold Horned King and the Silver Horned King. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them portrayed well in media, like in a cartoon or a movie, but I think that they could be. There’s something very, very powerful and sinister about the way they’ve described them in the book that I think could translate really well into visual media.

Bernard: I’ve always been attracted to just the Monkey King himself, living in the mountain, being mischievous, going up to heaven, causing havoc, coming back down, celebrating with his friends and family. 

Are we going to see Monkey Prince and Batman? I can totally see Pigsy and Wonder Woman. 

Gene: Yeah. I think Wonder Woman is a very natural fit, right? Shazam too, which is why we chose to use them because both of them are tied deeply into Western mythologies. It seems like within the DC Universe that the different deities from the different mythologies all kind of know each other, at least they’re all related in some way. So having the Monkey Prince interact with them would be super easy, super logical.

The Monkey King is so iconic. That must have been challenging to capture his spirit for Monkey Prince.

Gene: Oh, dude. Yeah. Bernard did enough art to fill up an entire wall. It was amazing. The different iterations that he did. Just working with Bernard, I could tell that this was a passion project because he was just putting out version after another, after another. I think all of us wanted to get it right, but because Bernard’s the artist, he just put in hours and hours and hours into this thing. It’s been really impressive to see.

Bernard: It’s inspired by the Monkey King but it is my own character and reflective of our times.

Gene: Yeah. There’re so many iterations of the Monkey King out there, right? This version has to feel distinctively DC like it belongs in the DC Universe. That was a driving factor in everything we did.

What do you mean by distinctively DC?

Gene: DC duperheroes have these symbols that look like letters, but aren’t necessarily letters. Like Superman’s, it looks like an S, but in stories, it’s a Kryptonian symbol for hope. Aquaman’s looks like an A, but in story, it’s like this ancient Atlantean glyph. For Monkey King, we wanted him to have a symbol that looked like an M for monkey, but really it’s actually a representation of Flower Fruit Mountain, which is where the Monkey King was born, right? The origin of his story, or the origin of his power. I mean, that’s something else too, right?

In DC comics, Flash wears a lightning bolt on his chest because that’s the origin of how he got his powers. Shazam also wears a lightning bolt because that’s how he got his powers. He was struck by lightning.

Bernard: Well, the chest insignia, I mean, not to sound corny, but I went to sleep after working on some stuff. Then woke up the next day with a dream about this design. 

Sun Wukong came to you in a dream. That’s awesome!

Bernard: Well, sometimes when I sleep, I’m dreaming that I’m working and then I wake up and I’m like, “Oh, I’m a little behind on my deadline.” I’ve also fallen asleep drawing. That’s not very good too, but a lot of good stuff happens to sleep.

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DC Festival of Heroes: An Asian Superhero Celebration goes on sale May 11th, 2021.

The post DC Introduces New Hero in Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[mysterionzine]

Fallen From the Stars has thirty talented artists behind it who have spent months preparing their awesome creations for this exciting debut... today, let’s learn a little more about Pedestrianwolf!

What do you like about South Park? How did you first start watching it? 

I've been watching South Park since I was around the same age as the characters, honestly. I remember the night it premiered in 1997; I'd seen comedy central advertise it while watching TV with my dad, and I was (and still am) pretty obsessed with anything stop motion or paper cutout animated. So when the time came I faked going to bed, stuffed a blanket under the gap in the door so that my parents wouldn't realize I was up past when I should have been asleep and watched the very first episode on my tiny bedroom TV with the volume all the way down. My parents and I still laugh about this 20 years later. I just always loved how it could be so silly and not take itself too seriously while simultaneously making valid points and that there seems to be a relevant episode for pretty much everything. A few years ago I went through some major shit and honestly SP was one of the first things that made me finally laugh again. I'll always have a huge soft spot for it.

What's your favourite episode and why?

I have so many favorites, but honestly probably the Pandemic episodes because I have guinea pigs (that have stupid costumes!) and love dumb monster movies and Craig is my favorite character. I remember seeing that one in college and absolutely losing it when I realized they'd greenscreen'd in ACTUAL guinea pigs.

Are you in any other fandoms?

I really dig just about anything to do with Gravity Falls. Also Mad Max, Silent Hill, and Pokémon stuff. How long have you been drawing for? (For cosplayers: How long have you been cosplaying?) What made you start? Oh god. Forever? For as long as I could consciously realize what I was doing? I don't really know if there has ever been a point that I WASN'T drawing. I've got a BFA in animation and I freelance professionally as well as draw and sculpt and fabricate for personal projects.

Do you have any advice for new artists? 

Draw every day. Even if you hate what you made, even if you're not feeling it. Just draw as much as you can. And never be afraid to use references. References are GREAT.

Do you have any original projects out there?

Two current personal projects. One animated horror short about the time my best friend's boyfriend claims he saw a monster on the highway. The other is a collection of shorts and comics about a demon shapeshifter who has to con people out of their souls to pay off her debt to the devil.

Where can we see more from you?

@pedestrianwolf - Tumblr (art tag is at the top of the page if you're not there for the reblogged content) keristone.carbonmade.com - Portfolio pedestrianwolf @ twitter pedestrianwolf @ instagram

Remember, you can preorder Fallen From The Stars: A Mysterion Fanzine for a limited time only on Kickstarter until March 29th!

[coffeefueledauthor]

Fanfiction Ideas: Which do You Like?

Here is a list of all of my current story ideas that I plan on writing. As you know, my plot lines are generally kind of crazy. >w< But I will be sure to include more grounded, normal stories as well. 

PLEASE BE SURE TO LET ME KNOW WHICH IDEAS ARE INTERESTING TO YOU.

I will be writing the first chapter of all those that people show interest in. And if you REALLY like what you read and want to be REALLY awesome, please be sure to donate to my patreon. Because I will only be able to write all these tales if I can gather enough patrons to make this my full time job. Patrons will recieve plenty of exclusive bonuses and early access.

Title: Out of Place Fandom: Inside Out Style: Full novel Description: A young girl feels like her mind has been numbed, and she begins to blame it on the mysterious figures appearing around the house. Join Riley as she attempts to help these tiny creatures, who claim to be her own emotions, back home. But with cats, exterminators, and her own nosy cousin, the task may be harder than she thinks. Notes: This story is already posted up to chapter 44. Find it on fanfiction.net

Title: Always By My Side Fandom: Inside Out Style: Full novel Description: Delve into the mind of Riley's mother during her pregnancy. For while she is carrying the developing infant in her womb, her emotions are busy raising the childs five infant emotions. They have only 9 months to prepare the youngsters for life inside their new host with the pressure of their inevitable separation weighing heavily on their thoughts. Notes: This story has been plotted out for over a year. A sneak peek is available on Fanfiction.net

Title: Infected Fandom: Super Mario Style: Full Novel Description: Luigi could tell something was wrong. Mario never acted this way before. But he never could have predicted just how destructive this mysterious affliction would become. Luigi desperately attempts to find answers before his brothers entire mind is consumed by this horrible infection. Notes: Lots of crazy stuff happenning. This story already has 10 chapters. They will be posted to Fanfiction.net in the coming days.

Title: Wrong Place, Worse Time Fandom: MST3K Style: full novel Description: After a string of freak accidents, the Satellite of Love is forced to crash land on a far off alien planet. The bots attempt to relocate one another so they can repair thier ship and blast off again. But they happened to arrive during an all out alien war, and the invaders have taken Joel prisoner. To save their creator, they'll have to work alongside the planet's natives and win a war that they had nothing to do with. Notes: Originally The MST3K Manga, now rewritten as a novel. A mix of comedy and adventure as the bots bumble their way through a planet at war.

Title: Death Can Change in a Single Night Fandom: Grim Fandango Style: Oneshot Description: It had been a long day for both of them. They had only met earlier that day, and both had lost their jobs and found themselves setting off on some grand adventure. Glottis finds himself lost in his thoughts during their first night away from the department of death; deep in the Petrified Forest. As Manny rests, the demon wonders what might lie on that long road ahead. Notes: Just a wordless little story of Manny and Glottis after they find each other in the petrified forest and decide to travel together.

Title: Demons Don't Have Queens Fandom: Grim Fandango Style: full novel Description: A huge, unique, and powerful demon appears in the Land of the Dead claiming to be the Ancient Demon Queen. She rallies all the demons of the world, leading them in a violent uprising against their human soul 'oppressors'. Manny remains unconvinced, and Glottis loyally stays by his side. But when the demons assume control, it's up to Manny and Glottis to find a way to dethrone this ancient queen. But as they dig deeper into this demons backstory, things only get more complicated. Especially when they discover that, unlike bee's, Demons don't have Queens. Notes: A really wild adventure full of Manny's dry wit and tons of crazy plot elements. Takes place after the game, but I guess before Manny leaves.

Title: The Lost Testimony Fandom: Phoenix Wright Style: Full Novel Description: Shortly before he is to testify in a mysterious murder case, renowned Forensic Medical Examiner Dr. M. Balmer goes missing. Phoenix, the defense attorney for the case, takes it upon himself to locate the missing witness. But during his search, Phoenix is attacked and falls victim to the same fate as the disappearing doctor. Now a prisoner in what feels like the other end of the world, Phoenix must unravel the mystery behind this black market trade he's become involved in if he ever hopes to return to his normal life. Notes: Part of my suuuuuper old For the Birds AU. All characters are different species of bird, with Phoenix as (obviously) a phoenix. Weird AU, but interesting story with a crazy mystery and bittersweet ending.

Title: Not Our First Abduction Fandom: South Park Style: Full Novel Description: Alien activity isn't exactly unheard of in the lonely mountain town. In fact, Stan barely bats an eye when he and nearly a dozen other children find themselves forced aboard a rouge spaceship and taken to a far off planet. But things turn drastic when, in their grand escape attempt, one child fails to break free of the alien clutches. Finding help on the home planet of their captors seems impossible, but they'll have to try. With assistance, they'll be able to bust out their buddy and fly their stolen spaceship back home. Otherwise, they'll be forced to attempt to fly the alien ship themselves, leaving an imprisoned Kyle stranded on the floating rock forever. Notes: Though dotted with darker notes, a lot of effort is used to keep an element of humor to the story. Lots of craziness, but none beyond what we get from the actual show itself.

Title: END TRANSMISSION Fandom: Pikmin Style: Oneshot Description: While out on a mission to catalog the native plants of the nearby worlds, Hocotation Botanist Gotto ends up stranded with no fuel and only 30 days of life support. But by day 15, its clear that fuel is nowhere to be found. Accepting his fate, Gotto spends his last days doing what he loves; cataloging the beautiful foliage of the world that will be his grave. As his thirtieth day draws to a close, Gotto logs one last transmission to his 'blackbox', explaining his fate to anyone who stumbles upon the crash site and offering a final farewell to those he had loved. Notes: One of a slim few stories I have involving an OC. But I wasn't about to kill off Olimar, heh. Definitely one of my sadder stories.

Title: It's Only a Game Fandom: Psychonauts Style: Short story Description: A mans slow decent into madness as his repeated failure to win a simple board game breaks his fragile psyche and takes him from an insane asylum orderly to an inmate. Notes: I bet someone has already written this, but I wanted to take a crack at it, since he was always my favorite.

Title: Digimon: Of Chaos and Time Fandom: Digimon Style: Full novel Description: Just as before, eight humans are transported to the Digital World and paired with unique Digimon Partners. They are instructed by the sage Salvusmon to locate the digital Time God to save the Digital World from being consumed by the rapidly growing Chaos World. Though they start in high spirits on their journey, things begin to look bleak when they realize they arent the first Digidestineds to attempt this same feat. Notes: Much like its own season, this follows unique humans and Digimon of my own design. This is a story I have been working on since I was 10. A lot may have changed, but the heart of the tale never did.

Title: Asterisk Fandom: Oddworld Style: Short story/full novel Description: Abe never really saw himself as a hero. But now the role of 'savior' has been thrust upon him. Wandering through the Scrabania and Paramonia wilderness to recieve his Shrykull scars, he muses to himself about the way history will remember him after his no doubt unavoidable failure. The word Savior, he figures, will be marked with an asterisk. And the beings following him in silence are forced to agree. Notes: Depending on how crazy I'm willing to make it, this could either be much longer or much shorter. I haven't decided yet.

Title: Escape from Dimension Q! Fandom: Iz and Auggie: Escape from Dimension Q! Style: Video Game Novelization Description: Teenager Iz and robot Auggie are bandmates that find themselves with one shot at recieving a record contract from the biggest name in the business. But for reasons neither of them can explain, their instruments had refused to play their song, and they failed their audition miserably. They have little time to grieve, however. When two agents in black send them on a mission into an alternate dimension, Iz and Auggie realize that losing the contract was the least of their concerns. Notes: A direct novelization of a computer game by Headbone Interactive. Two chapters are already finished, and will be posted in the coming days.

Thats all the ideas I can remember right now. But I have way more to come! Let me know which ones sound interesting! Or let me know which fandoms I should think of more ideas for!

[kyutoryu]

Swan Song’s Heist [zolu week]

Fandom: One PIece

Pairing: Zoro/Luffy

Rating: T

Summary:  The masquerade is the site of both robbery and a murder mystery, but Zoro finds the real crime is Nami meddling in his love life.

extra: ME AND @asexualzoro wrote this for free space day for zolu week! we tried to fit like. every prompt in this so YEAH

[FF.NET LINK] [AO3 LINK]

or just click that read more

"Listen up, everyone. I want to go over the plan one more time. Everyone at this party is rich, so there's a lot to gain. I don't want to mess this up," Nami says. She looks in the rear view mirror at her friends in the back of the car to make sure they're paying attention. A sharp glare towards Usopp and Luffy, who are busy shoving at each other's faces, makes them both freeze up and direct their gazes toward her. Satisfied, she looks back at the road in front, "I'll be doing all the robbing. I've been posing as a maid here over the past week, so no one will suspect me moving around. Even so, these are nobles, they’ve always been paranoid, so all of you need to be my distraction so no one notices what I'm doing. I want this to work, okay?" Nami glances in the rear view mirror again, then taps the fox-themed mask on her face, "Remember not to remove your masks once we enter. This is a masquerade, and the police have been plastering our faces on every news channel for weeks. Stick to your characters, too, and try not to call each other by name. You all remember your characters?"

"Nami, I wanna wear the hero mask," Luffy complains loudly, ignoring her, "why does Usopp get it? Let me!"

"Your mask is fine, Luffy. I picked it out, special." Nami says, "Usopp's mask has a big hole in it for his nose, anyway. You don't want it."

"And a dragon is cool!" Usopp grabs Luffy's draconic mask by the corners, then snaps it against his face. The little red scales decorating the mask shine in the light of streetlamps that pass by their cars as he does, the design of it poking into his cheeks a bit. Its angular shape to match the shape of a dragon’s face doesn’t necessarily feel nice against his skin, especially not when snapped back on. Luffy shoves at Usopp’s hands, ready to start something in defiance.

"Okay, roles," Nami repeats loudly, stopping that before it started. Snapping her fingers, She continues, "This is a huge job for us! I don't want to fuck it up and I've already got Vivi covering for us back at home. So, I'm a maid, and Robin is..."

"A detective," Robin finishes smoothly, sitting in the back of the large van. It's the only thing that can somewhat fit their group, "A private one; to be specific. That's just if anyone asks."

"I'm a construction worker," Franky says, though it's unlikely anyone will ask him, as he won't be in the ballroom. In the seat next to him, Chopper speaks up.

"I'm a doctor! Or at least, learning to be one," Chopper says, “Which...isn’t that far off from the truth.”

"I'm a... what am I again?" Usopp blinks, confused, "besides a totally badass hero?"

"I'm a cook," Sanji interjects, "But that's not any different. Tonight I shall woo all the ladies of the party as a distraction for my lovely Nami!"

He grins, squished in the seat with Usopp and Luffy. Zoro in the front passenger seat spares Nami a glance, to which she just shrugs.

"Brook's working as a musician, so he's already at the party," Nami explains. The mansion, large and impressive even in the dark, comes into view. Nami pulls up a long driveway, and after she parks she turns to face Zoro and Luffy, "Luffy and Zoro, you two need to be ready to cover our retreat in case things go south so we can get out alright. Don't break character."

"What's our character again?" Luffy says, messing with his mask. He and Nami are the only ones already wearing theirs, as most everyone else had left theirs off in their laps for the ride over.

"Newlyweds," Zoro answers, staring at the fake ring on his finger, "Me and you are newlyweds, Luffy."

"Oh, right," Luffy says, looking at his own ring. The diamonds are plastic, Nami didn't want to spend much on their disguises. Hopefully no one will look to hard at them.

"Zoro, Luffy, don't leave each other's sides. You need to stick together in case something happens," Nami says, "Zoro, you also need to make sure Luffy doesn't cause any trouble that would jeopardize the plan. And be convincing! You're supposed to be soulmates, act like you love each other!"

Zoro frowns. Goddamn Nami, setting them to this role as to 'push things along.' How could this push anything along? Sure, he's got something bad for Luffy, but he doesn't need help and he doesn't need it like this!

"I'm gonna stick to the food bar," Luffy grins, unaware of Zoro's thoughts, "That'll be easy, right?"

"We're just there to mill around while Nami steals shit," Zoro shrugs, twisting the ring absently. How the hell is he supposed to make this convincing?

"Yeah, so don't mess it up. If Luffy sticks to the food bar, you'd better stick to him. Just enjoy the party, you two," Nami says, "The rest of you know the distraction plan already, so if there aren't any more questions, we can head inside. If this works out, we're going to be rich!"

They pile out of the car, filtering inside. Zoro puts on his mask, waiting for Luffy to come to him. Since he has to be married to Luffy for the night, he may as well walk in with Luffy.

Everyone at the party is dressed to the nines, and the crew is no exception. The party is a fantasy-themed masquerade, hosted by and for elites. The wealthy and the noble fill the ballroom, as do their security guards. This makes it an operation of high risk and, if successful, high reward.

"So me and Zoro are married," Luffy says as they approach the front door, "That's kinda weird!"

"I don't know where she comes up with this stuff," Zoro says as he holds out his arm for Luffy to take, "If we're going to be married, you should hold onto me. Couples hold hands and shit, right?"

"Sure!" Luffy grabs onto Zoro's arm, "I dunno, I've never been in a relationship!"

"Of course you have, we're married. You must've dated me at some point," Zoro says, grinning. He leads Luffy into the mansion by the arm.

The ballroom is lit up brightly, decorated heavily. People in fantastical masks mill around, barely paying any attention to those entering. Luffy smiles at the party aspect of it all, but the whole... stuck-up rich person, not-really-a-banquet vibe doesn't really get with him.

Zoro watches Luffy, letting his smiling faux-husband lead him to the food table. Luffy immediately releases Zoro's arm, instead grabbing a plate to start piling it high with food. Zoro continues to watch Luffy as he grabs food upon food to eat. Zoro turns away briefly, awkward. Is this where they starts acting like they're married?

"Slow down, uh... honey. Don't want to grab more than you can eat," Zoro says.

"...Honey?" Luffy snickers, barely holding back full blown laughter.

"We're in love. I'm acting like it," Zoro mutters, grabbing his own plate, "You know, pet names."

"Okay Zoro, Whatever you say," Luffy continues to huff a bit of laughter under his breath as he grabs more food.

"If you dislike the pet names, I'll drop them," Zoro says.

"Hmm..." Luffy hums, shoving an appetizer into his mouth, "Nah, we're married. So it's ok," He grins.

"Alright, but if you're going to laugh every time, I’m stopping," Zoro says. It isn't much of a threat, though, as Luffy seems indifferent to them and they just embarrass Zoro.

"I won't!" Luffy takes his plate and stands against the wall, Zoro following, "How long is Nami gonna take?"

"I don't know. Probably a while," Zoro says, "We'll probably be here a few hours, so just relax."

"Boring," Luffy pokes at his food, looking at Zoro now. "Zoro's got a cool mask, but I'm cooler. I'm a dragon."

"What, demons aren't cool?" Zoro asks, "Demons are way cooler. If a demon and a dragon fought, I bet the demon would win."

"Nah, dragons are cooler and much stronger, so there’s no way they’d lose," Luffy taps on his mask, feeling the fake scales, "I'm a dragon."

"You sure are," Zoro says, reaching up a bit to rest an arm on top of Luffy’s head, "Smallest dragon I've ever seen. Aren’t they supposed to tower over their enemies?”

"Dragons bite," Luffy warns, "Zoro's demon mask is pretty nice, though. He's got horns."

Zoro grins, turning his head to show off. The horns are long and black, and though they're heavy, they're impressive enough that it's worth it.

"Pretty damn cool, right?" Zoro asks. Luffy reaches up, tugging on the horn.

"Nami said I couldn't have anything like these, I'd break 'em," Luffy says.

"You do break a lot of stuff," Zoro says.

"It's fine." Luffy dumps the food into his mouth, going back for more. Zoro watches Luffy go from the wall, awaiting his return. He’s not sure if Luffy feels this, but conversation with him feels so much more awkward now that they’re pretending to be a couple. Conversations used to move so smoothly with Luffy, but now everything he’s saying feels… forced. Zoro picks at his suit jacket, wondering if pretending to date will hurt their relationship more than it helps.

The lapse of silence that follows as Luffy eats and Zoro struggles to find a topic to talk about is interrupted by a very triumphant tone cutting into all other conversations, stopping nobles dancing and people mingling alike.

"I'm a world-renowned sharpshooter! So famous, they call me the King of Snipers!" Usopp says to the pink-haired man listening to him, loud enough to draw the attention of a few other attendants than just the one he's speaking to, "I could shoot a mouse's eye a hundred yards away! I could do it with my eyes closed, even! You'll never meet a sniper half as skilled as me!"

Usopp makes grand gestures as he speaks, keeping the attention of the small crowd he'd gathered with his words, spinning fantastical stories to impress his listeners. Whether or not they believe him, though, is a different matter entirely.

"Really?! A mouse's eye?!" Chopper exclaims, easily amused and happy to listen to Usopp's tales.

"Of course!" Usopp slams a fist on his chest with confidence, "Hell, I could kill it with a knife, fired straight from my slingshot!"

"That's amazing!" Chopper cries, believing every word. Usopp seems to soak up the attention he gets for his story, though it's hard to tell given that his mask covers his whole face. He continues entertaining those who are close enough to hear in stories of his past feats, all heavily exaggerated.

Luffy stands next to Zoro, eating absently as they watch the crowds mingle and move. His attention is drawn back to the present as Zoro notices a girl eying him from across the room. She wears a heavily decorated mask and a very large blue dress which shimmers in the light. Soon she’s striding forth, coming across the way to talk.

"Hello," She curtsies upon walking up to him, smiling. "Are you enjoying the party?"

It's clear she's only talking to Zoro.

"I'm having fun," Zoro says, nodding. She's probably around his age, and by her jewelry, definitely rich. With her obvious money and elaborate dress, she may as well be royalty. Zoro stares at her a moment, recognizing her to be Shalulia. She's the daughter of Roswald, an incredibly rich nobleman and the host of the party.

"It's quite the night, isn't it?” Shalulia says, looking around, "Your mask is very... intricate."

Luffy pauses from his motions of shoving food into his face next to Zoro, staring at Shalulia.

"One hell of a mask for one hell of a party," Zoro says, "But yours is just as intricate as mine."

"Mine, too," Luffy butts in, getting closer to Zoro. He gets a bad feeling from this girl. Shalulia barely regards Luffy, a passing glance before focusing on Zoro again.

"Can you guess what I am?" She asks, spinning around, "I had this custom made, you see. The mask, too!"

"You're a princess, right?" Zoro asks. He's pretty sure she's flirting with him, and he's not all that interested. He looks to Luffy, quickly taking Luffy's hand as he looks at Luffy's face, "What do you think, love?"

The pet names still feel alien in Zoro's mouth, but he wants to get his point across.

"I think she looks dumb," Luffy mutters, stepping closer to Zoro.

"I... sorry, what?" She looks at their linked hands. "Love?"

"Love," Zoro says. He brings their linked hands up, "This is my... husband."

"I'm the husband," Luffy says quickly, staring at her.

"Oh... you're..." Shalulia seems to flounder, pulling at her dress a bit, "You're married?"

"Yes, happily married," Zoro says, still watching Luffy. He lets go of Luffy's hand and hesitantly pulls Luffy close to himself, "Very happy, very married. Right, dear?"

The stiffness and awkwardness that Zoro had felt before is back again, but this time amplified everytime he drops a pet name.

"M...married. Yeah," Luffy nods, lips pursing in that way they do when he's lying.

"Oh." Shalulia looks disappointed, "That's, uh... how long?"

"Not long. We're on our honeymoon. Right, honey?" Zoro says.

"Yeah," Luffy responds, squeezing Zoro's hand. Zoro looks a bit surprised, looking at their hands.

"Uh... you’re sure?" Shalulia asks, a little suspicious, catching onto the way Zoro’s looked at their hands then to his ‘husband’s’ face, as if he wasn’t expecting that.

"We're... still getting used to it. The wedding was so... amazing, it's hard to believe it was real," Zoro explains, poorly. Stirring up this story was harder than once thought...

"Was really big," Luffy says quickly, "Uh, we...had...a lot of food there! And--and...a big party!"

She doesn't seem convinced.

"May I see your ring?" She asks, looking at Zoro.

"Sure," Zoro nods, holding his hand out. Zoro has a wedding band, while Luffy got the engagement ring and wedding band combo.

"This seems fake," she says, "Is it... plastic?"

"Uh, well... we kinda had to go cheap," Zoro says, "blew a shit ton on setup."

"Right..." Shalulia says, "How long have you two been together?"

"Two years," Zoro says. It's how long he's known Luffy for. He looks down at his pretend partner and tells Shalulia the first true thing he's said all night, "I've loved him since the day we met."

"Two years?" She questions, "And you just got married? Pretty fast, if you ask me."

"Neither of us asked you." Luffy turns his head toward her, the blank stare he gives her almost threatening. She falters, moving back a bit out of instinct.

"I didn't-- I've just never heard of anyone marrying after only two years," she says.

"I love him a lot, so we got married," Luffy says.

"I..." Shalulia plays with her hair more, floundering, "You're very lucky, then."

Luffy looks up at Zoro.

"With him by my side, I'm the luckiest on earth," Luffy says. Zoro's surprised by the sincerity. When did Luffy learn to lie? He sounds like he means it, and Zoro would like to think he does... Zoro gets the gut wrenching urge to push the mask up off Luffy's face and kiss him, just to see how he'd react. His hair pushed back from the mask being moved, his lips slightly open from surprise... Zoro cuts off the thoughts. As if he'd be able to do that. He focuses back on the matter, Luffy can lie and get away with it.

"I'm the luckiest," Zoro says quietly, "...Anyway, yeah. This is my husband."

"Right. Your husband," Shalulia says. She looks Luffy up and down, then looks back to Zoro, "Guess you would say no if I asked you to dance?"

"I'd say no," Zoro agrees, "A honeymoon is celebrated with the one you married, after all."

"Right. Of course," She says, "Well, this was... fun, but I think we're done here."

Shalulia walks off, deciding to find someone else to talk to.

Sanji peruses the party calmly, searching the ground. He's got a huge grin on his face, waiting to see a beautiful lady to talk to. He sees a girl walking away from Zoro and Luffy, in a huff.

"Mademoiselle!" Sanji calls, practically twirling toward her, "I was frozen by your beauty, o beautiful princess. May we dance?"

"Dance?" Shalulia asks. She looks Sanji over. He's not the same kind of handsome as that last man, but he hasn't got a ring and his princely mask is certainly more appealing... She offers her hand, "Lead the way."

"Wonderful!" Sanji cries, whisking her off to the dance floor, "a beautiful lady such as yourself shouldn't be alone on a night like this. You may call me... Prince."

He would say his real name, but that's the thing with being a wanted criminal, you really shouldn't give that out.

"Prince? Then you may call me Princess," she says. They dance for a little before she speaks again, "You can dance well. Is there any other skills you might want to show me?"

"Ah, I would love to, but I can't here," Sanji smiles, twirling her, "I'm a skilled chef, you see. One of the best, if I may."

"You are? What kind of dish are you best with, then?" she asks. She has to speak up a little, for as they dance they get closer to the band. Brook sits up at front, though he doesn't seem to notice Sanji dancing just in front of him.

"I'm best with seafoods, you see," Sanji explains, "My father trained me when I was young on the best ways to cook. How to cut things, where to do it... it's important to me that my hands are always ready to cook."

"That's very impressive," She says, "If only you could cook for me, I would love to watch those hands at work."

"I-I would love to cook for you!" Sanji looks shocked and excited, the fact that a woman actually is interested in his advances is new and exciting, "I shall impress you with my knife skills and fine cuisine!"

"I look forward to it," She says, grinning.

Zoro watches Shalulia dancing with Sanji a moment, then looks down to Luffy again. Zoro would like to dance with Luffy, and if they're married, they probably should, right? Just imagining holding Luffy close to dance... If Zoro's ever going to dance with Luffy, it'll have to be now.

"Speaking of dancing..." Zoro starts, "We've been standing by this wall for a while. Do you want to dance with me?"

"I can dance!" Luffy says, and it’s in such a burst it’s almost as if he was waiting impatiently the whole entire time for Zoro to ask, pulling Zoro to the floor without any hesitation, "Don't step on my feet, though."

"I'm not going to step on your feet," Zoro says, letting Luffy lead their dancing.

The song is fairly fast, but before Zoro can be thankful they don't have to slow dance, the song fades out. As if Zoro's thoughts summoned it, a far more romantic song begins to play. Zoro looks to the musicians nearby, where he sees Brook grinning at him from under his skeletal mask. Is everyone determined to try to help him and Luffy along?

"I'm going to kill you for this..." Zoro mutters, gaining a look from a few nearby dancers, Luffy included.

"Why's Zoro gonna kill him?" Luffy asks, "We're just dancing."

Luffy doesn't really hide the fact he wants to keep dancing.

"...Right," Zoro says. He continues letting Luffy lead him in silence for a few moments, but the close contact and romantic music have his mind wandering. Luffy was incredibly convincing before with Shalulia, and Zoro wants to know where the ability to do so came from. Zoro soon speaks up, "Hey, Luffy, when did you learn to lie? You even had me fooled for a moment back there with some of the stuff you said, like being the luckiest to have me..."

"I am the luckiest, so it wasn't a lie," Luffy says, squeezing Zoro's hand. "I'm really bad at lying, so I decide to be truthful."

"Oh," Zoro says. His voice is quiet, as the music is soft. Zoro can barely hear the song anymore, though, his focus is on Luffy only, "You know, I wasn't lying about everything, either. I was telling the truth when I said I was the luckiest, too, and... some other stuff."

"I can't tell when Zoro lies," Luffy replies quietly, stopping their swaying for a moment, "What else did Zoro say that was truthful?"

"What else?" Zoro asks. He said he's loved Luffy since they met and he meant it, but should he tell Luffy that?

"Zoro forgot?" Luffy takes his response as confusion, "Then... maybe I can try and show Zoro what I felt when we were talking. Maybe he’ll remember.”

Zoro doesn't know what Luffy means by that, but he nods.

"Show me what you felt," Zoro says.

In the dark of the mansion's basement, Franky opens the door to the fuse box. He uses a light attached to his robotic mask to see, something those upstairs in the ballroom are soon sure to wish they had. The power only needs to be off for a few moments, and hopefully Nami will be able to steal without interference.

Luffy tightens his hold on Zoro, then moves his hands up to Zoro’s cheeks, thumbs under the mask. He slowly pushes it back, onto Zoro’s head, and presses up against Zoro, his hands moving to Zoro’s shoulders. He glances at Zoro’s lips, leaning in, hoping Zoro will get the memo.

Zoro takes a second to realize what's happening, then leans down to reciprocate. Before he can get close enough, the lights suddenly cut. There's a few shouts of shock as those in attendance try to figure out what's happening, and Zoro pulls away from the near-kiss. Suddenly there's a scream, and the music sours with the sudden loss of a violin. It clatters loudly to the ground and Zoro grabs Luffy's waist, pulling him closer, Luffy tightens his hold on Zoro’s shoulder out of shock, twisting the fabric of his suit in his hands. The darkness stretches a moment longer, and when the lights flicker back on, Brook is on the floor. A woman screams, someone in the crowd faints, and the host, Roswald, looks horrified.

“Is he dead!?” He says, “The party is ruined! Get to the bottom of this, someone, right now!”

"Brook!" Luffy yells, shocked, wrenching away from Zoro.

There's blood on his chest, a stab wound in his heart. He was old, sure, so maybe this was bound to happen soon, but nobody wanted it like that!

"S-Stay back!" A pink haired man yells as Luffy rushes toward the body, "Don't touch the body!"

Luffy tries to rush forward anyway but is stopped by Zoro, who grabs him. The pink haired man--the same who Usopp had been talking to earlier--approaches Brook. He's cut off by Chopper, who runs forward.

"I'm a doctor!" Chopper says, "Let me try and help him!"

Chopper kneels down next to the body, checking him over. If it weren't for how serious the situation was, it would almost be laughable to see someone in a reindeer mask kneeling over a bloody body. However, no one finds any comedy in it as he sits up, solemn-faced.

"He's... he's dead." Chopper says, "His pulse is already gone, the wound hit his heart..."

"Let me go!" Luffy is practically wrestling Zoro, "What's wrong with you, Zoro?! Let me go! Who the hell did this?!"

"What're you going to do? You can't help him," Zoro says. He can't let Luffy near Brook and he knows it.

"Who would have done something like this?" Chopper asks.

"Yes, who?" Robin seems to emerge from shadows, smiling, "Clearly this wasn't done alone. The lights went off, and a body appears. Who among us?" She clasps her hands behind her back, and Luffy stares at her, shocked. She looks to the pink haired man, "Well, Mr. Policeman?"

"It's Coby," The pink haired man says, introducing himself, "The weapon was a knife... who could use one? It would have to be someone close..."

"Or someone able to throw one," Chopper offers.

"Let's look at the people nearby, then." Robin says, "Would anyone here have been able to do it?"

"There's the other musicians," Coby says, "They're all close to him."

"Their hands are all full with instruments," Robin says, "They'd have to make an extra hand appear out of thin air to kill him, which isn't something anyone can do."

"Then those on the dance floor," Coby says. "They're close enough to run forward and stab him."

"So up front, our suspects are a hero, a prince, and a princess," Robin says. She doesn't want to accuse Luffy or Zoro, since Zoro is supposed to keep Luffy from getting upset. Luffy could ruin everything, after all, "Would any of them--"

"Wait, there's that demon and dragon couple, too," Coby says, cutting Robin off, "They're just as close as the other three. We can't overlook them."

"Of course, my mistake," Robin says. Fine, then she needs to clear their names before Luffy gets worked up, "As I was saying, would any of them have been able to kill him?"

"The hero could have. He told me earlier, he could throw a knife in the dark accurately. He has the skill to be able to do it," Coby says.

"I didn't mean like this!" Usopp says.

"Could the prince or princess have done it?" Robin asks.

"The prince could have!" Shalulia says, "He broke away from me when it got dark, and he said he was good with a knife!"

"In the kitchen, my dear, not in a murder!" Sanji says, but Shalulia steps further away from him. Luffy finally breaks away from Zoro to run forward, trying to get to Brook again, but is caught around the waist by Robin.

"Let me go!" Luffy scratches at her arm as she pushes him back to Zoro.

"What about the couple?" Coby asks, "Charging at the body is suspicious, are you trying to hide evidence?"

"No! He was my friend!" Luffy says, upset he's even being accused.

"It isn't him. He's not good with knives, anyway," Robin says, "Or with lying."

"But it could be his partner," Shalulia says, "I overheard him when we passed! He threatened the musician when the song changed!"

"And he's good with a sword!" Chopper says, caught up in the excitement of the investigation. Luffy looks back at Zoro, shocked.

"I didn't do it! I was dancing with him the whole time!" Zoro said, pointing to Luffy. "He was holding me. I couldn't have killed anyone without him knowing."

"Zoro didn't." Luffy says slowly, irritated that nobody would let him go back to Brook. "But you two?!" He whirls on Usopp and Sanji, both looking surprised, "What the hell is this?! Who did it?!"

"Come on, Luffy. Let the detectives figure it out." Zoro says, pulling him back a few steps.

Unnoticed by those arguing, a maid in a fox mask makes her way through the crowd, a sheet draped over one arm. She bumps into a few people as she goes, making her way to the front of the ballroom to pass the sheet off to Chopper. He tosses the sheet over Brook, and the maid leaves. With their focuses on the murder, no one in the crowd notices if their pockets are suddenly lighter as she goes by.

"What the hell is your problem?" Luffy whispers harshly, "Brook is dead! Someone killed him--one of our friends! Let me go!"

"Trouble in paradise?" Shalulia sneers, "I still think he killed him!"

"I didn't. You know that," Zoro says, looking at Luffy, "Luffy, do you trust me?"

"Should I?" Luffy seems unsure, holding away from Zoro.

"Please," Zoro says, "Luffy, if you trust me, just sit this one out. Things will be alright, I swear."

"How can I sit this out?!" Luffy demands, shaking his head.

"Luffy, there's nothing you can do. Let those two handle this," Zoro says. He stops holding Luffy so tight and instead cups Luffy's face in his hands. He's become used to casual affection over the course of the night, so it's far more natural. He meets Luffy's eyes, "I'm asking you to trust me. Calm down and wait, things will work out."

Luffy visibly relaxes a fraction of an inch, looking at Brook. Luffy sucks in a breath and tightens his hold on Zoro's shirt, clearly upset. "I'm gonna kill whoever did it."

"I know," Zoro says, nodding. He wraps his arms around Luffy, hoping to ease Luffy's pain. Luffy seems to take comfort in it, turning his face away and into Zoro's chest.

"So the couple didn't do it," Robin says, watching them, "What about you, hero?"

"No, of course not!" Usopp says, "He was my friend! He was both of our friend! Why would we?"

"He's right," Sanji says, "We all know that musician. None of us would kill him!"

"But one of you did." Coby worries at the edge of his jacket, "I'm sorry, but it's true, and this shouldn't just be solved by us."

"What do you mean?" Robin asks, "Who else is supposed to help?"

"The police!" Coby cries, "We shouldn't just be standing here! We should call them right away!"

"That's not necessary," Robin says, "I'm a detective and you're a police officer, we should be able to solve this without help."

"You're not a detective I've ever seen before," Coby says, though her witchy mask does cover most of her face.

"I'm quite private," She explains, "That's why. Come now, let's just solve this." Robin tucks some hair behind her ear, "The couple has an alibi, correct?"

"Like I said," Zoro is keeping Luffy close, "we were holding onto each other the whole time. And with how upset he is? Why the hell would I do it? He was my friend too."

"He was friends with all of you, and still he's dead," Coby says, "That excuse doesn't mean anything, unfortunately."

"He was still holding me," Luffy turns his head, "So it wasn't me or Zoro."

"Zoro? That name's familiar..." Coby says.

"Probably that movie about the swordsman," Zoro says. He really doesn't need to be arrested because Luffy forgot not to say his name in front of a cop, "You have bigger mysteries to solve than where you've heard my name before."

"Right," Coby says slowly, turning to look at the body, "If I can't find something soon, I'm taking you all in for questions. I'm sorry."

Coby starts walking towards Brook, but Robin grabs his arm.

"Aren't we supposed to question them? You don't need to look at the body," She says.

"I need to see if anything on his body will hint at who did it!" Coby insists, "You're the detective!"

"It's faster with a partner," Robin lies easily.

"Inspecting the body will only take a moment and it will make questioning easier," Coby says. Robin lets him go, not wanting to raise suspicion. She watches him lean over Brook, stepping back. Nami better be done, or this was about to be busted if Brook couldn't keep acting dead.

Coby's thankful he wore gloves with his suit, it'll allow him to inspect the murder weapon without leaving finger prints. He pulls back the sheet, then reaches down to pull the knife from the musician's chest when a hand stops him. It's the musician. Coby doesn't have time to scream before the back-from-the-dead man starts laughing at him.

"Brook..." Sanji sighs, frowning. There goes the plan.

"I'm sorry!" Brook laughs, clutching his stomach, "it--it was just so WORTH it!"

"What's going on!?" Coby cries, wrenching his hand away from Brook. He steps back as Brook sits up. Off to the side, Luffy beams. Brook's alright, but why was he playing dead?

"Shit," Zoro groans, leaning his forehead on Luffy's head as he processed the pure stupidity of his crew, "Brook, you idiot! You better hope Nami is done!"

Brook stands, dusting himself off.

"No one answered me, what just happened!?" Coby says.

"I think we're done here," Robin says, ignoring Coby entirely.

"Brook's alive!" Luffy says, trying to look up at Zoro, which is hard considering Zoro still has his head on top of Luffy's.

"He's ruined the plan, that's what he did," Sanji sighs, pushing the mask up his face.

"The 'plan'? You planned this? Was everyone in on this?" Coby says.

"Unfortunately," Sanji says, and Usopp tosses his mask off, "We all are. It's the distraction."

"Wait a minute..." Coby looks to Zoro, "Z-Zoro? Roronoa Zoro?"

"Yes, Roronoa Zoro," Zoro says, "Hope Franky's ready, because we have to go."

"It's that group of thieves!" Roswald yells, pointing, "Somebody get them! Don't let them escape this party!”

"Hey!" Nami yells from an upper balcony in the ballroom, waving her hands, "We're outside! Get going!"

"That's our cue," Zoro says, and without further prompting, the group makes a break for the door. Most of the guests, the nobles and the rich, are too busy checking to see if they still have their valuables in the presence of thieves to stop their escape. The mass of wealthy people in the room stops security from being able to reach the group, and no one wants to be plowed over by Luffy or his friends.

Franky has the car open, valuables piled in the various spaces on the floor. Luffy dives in first with Zoro after him, pulling him in close for protecting. Luffy thinks it's for protection, anyway.

The rest of the group squeezes in as well, though it's more cramped with the ninth member. Nami sits in the driver seat and Robin takes the passenger seat to avoid being squished.

Zoro sits in a seat and holds Luffy in his lap. He tells himself he's making room for Brook, and in the scramble no one seems to notice. Luffy wraps his arms around Zoro, pulling his knees in to accommodate for Brook's longer limbs.

"Brook, why'd you die?" Luffy asks as he snags Zoro's forgotten mask and starts messing with it.

"They were making a scene so I could rob the place without interruption," Nami says as she starts driving.

"I didn't actually die," Brook says, "I faked it."

"Clearly," Zoro says, "or else we'd be talking to a... I don't know, a fucking skeleton."

Brook laughs.

"Wouldn't that be frightening?" He says. Luffy shakes his head.

"I think it'd be cool!" Luffy says, "I want to be friends with a skeleton!"

"And we didn't tell you this plan because you'd be awful at keeping to it." Usopp says, patting Luffy's head.

"I'll tell you what was frightening, Luffy ready to kill one of us when Brook collapsed." Sanji scoffs.

"I thought it was flattering," Brook says.

"I wasn't scared! I'm sure I could take him if we fought!" Usopp says, "But I wouldn't want to."

"Hurting each other isn't what friends do," Luffy says, "I don't want you guys to die or anything."

"You don't have to worry. None of us are dying anytime soon," Sanji says.

"Brook IS pretty old, though..." Zoro comments.

"I still have plenty of life left in me," Brook says, "It'll take a lot to kill this old man."

"Nami, did we get lots of money?" Luffy asks, putting on Zoro's demon mask.

"Yeah, lots of wallets and jewelry. I'm not sure how much it's all worth, but it's easily thousands," Nami says.

"That's good." Luffy leans back. He didn't really care too much about money, but it was nice to have. He absently pats at Zoro’s wrist, bored.

The car ride passes with idle talk, since they were out fast enough that they weren't chased. They reach their hideout in a few more minutes, an abandoned boat tied to an used dock which they'd taken over. Everyone disperses when they arrive, heading off to get changed out of their fancy getups. It's late, so most of them head to bed shortly after. Despite the calm and quiet in the bedroom neither Luffy nor Zoro can sleep, too much on both their minds. Zoro gets Luffy's attention by waving his hand.

"You wanna go to the front?" Zoro whispers to Luffy, referring to the tip of the boat, where Luffy likes to sit. Luffy nods. He heads up to the front of the ship, letting Zoro follow. When he gets there he stops, waiting for Zoro rather than sitting in his spot on the mast.

In the ballroom, during the dance, Luffy almost kissed Zoro. He'd been so caught up in the moment, he hadn't even got a chance to ask if Zoro was alright with that before everything happened. Zoro stops in front of Luffy, lapsing into an awkward silence. They both search for something to say, but Zoro finds something first.

"You... haven't taken the ring off."

"No, I guess I forgot," Luffy says. He looks down at his hand. In the dark, the ring almost looks real, "I like it."

"You never struck me as a jewelry type," Zoro says, stepping a bit closer so he could grab Luffy's hand.

"This is different," Luffy says. He keeps his eyes on his hand in Zoro's.

"The ring, or...?" Zoro looks at Luffy instead of his hand, "or what I'm doing?"

"The ring, but what Zoro is doing is different, too," Luffy says, "I had fun tonight, pretending to be Zoro's husband."

"Did you?" Zoro grins a bit, "you know, you were trying to show me something, but we got interrupted."

"I was going for a kiss," Luffy admits.

"So, you still want to?" Zoro asks, "Kiss, I mean. We don't have to."

"I want to," Luffy says. He reaches up to hold Zoro's face in his hands, "I really, really want to."

"Then we can." Zoro says quietly, putting a hand on Luffy's lower back and splaying it. He leans down and kisses the corner of Luffy's mouth. Zoro pulls back after, but Luffy hugs his neck to stop him from going far.

"Back when that lady was talking to us, Zoro said something that sounded really sincere. He said he'd loved me since the day we met," Luffy says, "Did he mean that?"

"...I meant it," Zoro says, "I have. Ever since I saw you."

"I feel the same. I've always felt the same," Luffy says, "Maybe we really are soulmates."

"Maybe." Zoro says, lifting Luffy up. "Maybe we are."

Luffy grins, wrapping his legs around Zoro's waist to hold himself up.

"I would like that," Luffy says. He holds out his hand, looking at his ring over Zoro's shoulder, "I think I'm going to keep wearing this."

"What, a fake plastic ring?" Zoro snorts, "you just kind of jumped right into marriage again."

"I'm not thinking of it like marriage! It's like a souvenir," Luffy says, "Instead of marriage, it's from the night Zoro first said he loved me."

"An anniversary ring," Zoro says, comfortable holding Luffy, "Maybe I'll keep mine, too."

Luffy leans his head on Zoro's shoulder.

"We'd be matching," Luffy says.

"Do you want to match?" Zoro asks, turning his head and kissing Luffy's nose. Luffy laughs.

"I wouldn't mind matching," Luffy says.

"Then I'll keep it," Zoro says, "I need to thank Nami."

“What for?” Luffy asks.

"She told me she made us the couple so this shit could happen," Zoro sighs.

"Guess I should thank her, too," Luffy says.

"Why didn't we act on this sooner?" Zoro asks, humming.

"Well, I know Zoro's pretty dumb," Luffy says.

"I know you're dumber," Zoro says

"Rude," Luffy says, "Zoro's rude and dumb and I'm in love with him."

"Luffy's rude and dumb and I'm in love with him more," Zoro responds, grinning. Luffy pulls his head off Zoro's shoulder so he can look at Zoro's face.

"If Zoro loves me so much, then why not he kiss me again?" Luffy asks. Zoro leans in and kisses Luffy again, repeating his actions over and over to get the point across. Luffy eventually breaks away, and he leans back in Zoro's arms to look up at the sky. The air's clear, and he can see thousands of stars.

"They're bright," Luffy says. He looks down at Zoro, then grins. To Zoro, that's brighter than anything in the sky, day or night. There's no need for sunshine, not with Luffy so close. Zoro has the sea below him, the stars around him, and Luffy in his arms. He doesn't ever need anything else.

[weare1520]

1520 BLOG: 1520'S TOP 10 GAMES OF 2016

Hey everybody,

2016 has been a weird year video games. It brought us several nice surprises, plenty of critically acclaimed and daring AAA games, a continuous stream of indie gems, and of course the record breaking, history making Pokemon Go. It however was also the year in which the AAA games market started to really deteriorate. In an industry as unpredictable as the video games industry, who knows if that trend will continue, but we personally expect some big changes in the next few years. What those will be is anyones guess. When it comes to 2017, we look forward to the Nintendo Switch, to finding out if consumer VR will make it after all and if incremental consoles will actually become a real thing, and of course to playing some great new games. For now though, let's take a minute to look at back at our favorite games of 2016.

1. Mafia 3 (Xbox One)

Mafia 3 is a special game. It was rightfully applauded and criticized for how it tackled racial and broader political tensions in the American South of 60s. It was also applauded and criticized for its mission design and gameplay. Some people said it was repetitive and lazy, while some  (most notably Far Cray 2 fans) enjoyed its potential for randomness and chaos. I, for what it's worth, loved it. It reminded me a lot of Assassin's Creed Syndicate's open world and mission design, which is great. It had great writing, great characters, some beautifull vistas and amazing gunplay (which, even 10 years after Gears of War, is apparently not a given). It might not have been a critical darling (shoutout to Waypoint's Austin Walker and Danielle Riendeau for riding hard for Mafia 3), but it is our favorite game of the year 2016.

2. Tokyo Mirage Sessions (WiiU)

Tokyo Mirage Sessions is a Persona-like JRPG made by Atlus, set in the Japanese idol scene, only that scene is being invaded by demons that feed on artistry and talent and you have to fight them by summoning characters from Nintendo's Fire Emblem series - unless you'd rather walk around in a colorful version of Tokyo and eat bagels of course, because you can do that too. If that isn't enough for you to understand why it is easily one of the best games of 2016, I don't know how to help you. Just look at this video of an actual attack move in the game, I guess.

3. Fire Emblem Fates (3DS)

I have to be honest, even after playing countless of hours of both Birthright and Revelations (two of the three different games released under the name Fire Emblem Fates), I'm not sure I actually know how to play Fire Emblem. I guess I'm just bad at strategy games. That doesn't change the fact that the gameplay is strangely addicting, the writing is great and the cutscenes are beautiful. Thank God for Phoenix Mode. 

4. Pokemon Sun/Moon (3DS)

Some people, both critics and random people, will tell you that this is the game that significantly changed the Pokemon formula. Those people, most of which appear to be people brought back to the series by Pokemon Go, are wrong. Yes, they made some changes (in my humble opinion, mostly bad ones - where the fuck is Super Training?!?), but it's still very much a fairly traditional Pokemon game. That just means that it is another entry in what might just secretly be the best and most consistent video game franchise of all time though, so we'll take it. 

5. Gears Of War 4 (Xbox One)

Gear of War 4 is a return to form for the series after the disappointment that was Judgement (although even that entry still had better shooting mechanics than most other games - get it together, developers). It's really what you'd expect from a Gears Of War game, only this time with millennials in it (do they have millennials in the Gears universe?!). It's still the mechanically best third person shooter series on the market, it still has great split screen co-op, and the competitive multiplayer is still comically brutal and hard as hell. 

6. Battlefield 1 (Xbox One)

Unlike many AAA games this year (including this year's Call Of Duty), Battlefield 1 outperformed publisher expectations. I give it a lot of credit to DICE and EA for realizing that the future warfare trend is a sinking ship. The fact that Battlefield 1 is set in World War 1, with its rudimentary machinery and basic guns, makes it feel weirdly fresh compared to the fast paced shooters that have dominated the last few years. It also has the best Battlefield multiplayer since Bad Company 2, meaning it's absolutely amazing. 

7. Steep (Xbox One)

If the idea of a somewhat realistic feeling snowboarding/skiing (the rest is fun but whatever) game with a beautiful open world appeals to you, Steep is the game for you. If not, I imagine it is boring as hell. The beautiful open world, based on the alps, is largely about discovering drop points (which let you fast travel) and being able to just ride for a long time. Just driving down the mountain with no particular goal in mind delivered some of my favorite gaming moments of 2016. The missions are more of a menu-based thing, although you can start one just by driving through a circle if it happens to be on your path. It's all very seamless. Once you started a mission and fuck up you can press Y and instantly respawn, old school Tony Hawk style.  Steep is a criminally overlooked gem and we're still amazed and thankfull that Ubisoft released a AAA winter sports game in 2016. We'd love to see more games like it.

8. Firewatch (Xbox One)

Firewatch is what some would call a "walking simulator", but if you ask me, it's a narrative driven adventure game. The game and its mysterious story are set in a beautifully rendered national park, which is really the main draw of Firewatch. It allows you to get lost in the moment, even if you don't follow the story. The fact that it was made by some of our favorite people in the video game industry makes it even better.

9. Dishonored 2 (Xbox One)

Dishonored 2, a steampunk first person stealth game, is a lot like Dishonored 1. In some ways that is too bad, because we would have liked to seen more from a next gent Dishonored, but Dishonored 1 was was also a really, really good game, and this one might be even better. What really stands out about this series is how it allows you to solve problem in a multitude of ways. The amount of stuff you can do in this game is sometimes overwhelming, but always worth exploring. Also, the world building is some of the best in the industry. Don't sleep on Dishonored 2.

10. Dragon Quest 7 (3DS)

Dragon Quest 7 for the Nintendo 3DS is a remake of the original Dragon Quest 7 for the PS1, one of the more unpopular entries in the series. The 3DS version still does not magically turn it into one of the best Dragon Quest games, but it heavily improved the game regardless. It's fun, it's charming, it's deep, it's occasionally annoyingly tough and grindy, and it is long as shit. What I'm trying to say is that it is a Dragon Quest game and I'll always want another Dragon Quest game. 

Honorable Mentions

Stardew Valley, which I've only started playing last week, is pretty damn good, but I still think it's a little too blatant in its copying of Harvest Moon. Rune Factory 4, a game made by the actual minds behind the Harvest Moon (now Story Of Seasons) series, came out several years ago, but I played and enjoyed it a lot in 2016. I also played a lot of Tony Hawk's Underground for the GameCube, a game from 2003, and it's still better than pretty much every game on our list.

That's it for 2016. Thanks for riding with us.

One Love,

M | 1520

[kyukurator-blog]

CANNIBAL COMEDY

The very thought of real cannibalism makes us sick – which is probably why we find it morbidly delightful in comedies.

To whet your appetite here is a link to a 1970 Monty Python cannibal skit:

We’re inspired this week by the release of the absurdist cannibal French film Slack Bay which premiered at Cannes 2016.

 SLACK BAY (2016) 

Director Bruno Dumont cites Peter Sellers, Monty Python, and Laurel and Hardy as cinematic influences for his delightful foray into his absurdist farce. 

His cast is a mashup of pros and amateurs. The elder Van Peteghems are played by the cream of French cinema, Juliette Binoche and Fabrice Luchini, while the Bruforts are played by local nonactors whose authentic gruffness undercuts the stars’ antic flamboyance beat for beat. Dumont raises conflicts of class, character, and gender into an off-kilter legend.

He is equally brazen with his bold mashup of genres — cops-and-cannibals, high-society-drawing-room, and rustic-outdoors comedy, set in a French seaside resort village in 1910. The bourgeois Van Peteghem clan vacation in their villa overlooking the bay; the Brufort family of mussel-gatherers and ferrymen live on a ramshackle farm in the lowlands. Several tourists have disappeared, and two loopy police inspectors investigate in vain—what they don’t know is that the Bruforts have been eating them.

As the grisly mysteries mount and love blossoms between the family’s transgender teen and the son of a local fisherman, Binoche and company ratchet the slapstick up to eleven.

THE COOK, THE THIEF, THE WIFE THE LOVER (1989) 

Peter Greenaway’s sumptuous genre-bender stars Helen Mirren as the wife to an English gangster named Albert Spica who finds herself trapped, offended, and disgusted by her husband’s thuggish ways, as night after night he takes over the dining hall of the restaurant he owns.

She spots a quiet bookish type who dines alone and becomes entangled in a secret affair with him—that is until her crook husband finds out. Spica kills the guy, but Mirren’s Georgina gets the last laugh—when she brings the body back to the restaurant’s chef, makes him cook her deceased lover, and forces her husband to eat the body.

     EATING RAOUL (1982)

Director/co-writer Paul Bartel stars as Paul Bland, who with his wife Mary (Mary Woronov) play a prudish married couple living in Hollywood who take to murdering swingers in their apartment building for a little extra cash.

Robert Beltran plays Raoul, a small time criminal who witnesses the Blands’ dirty business and strikes a bargain for his silence, sharing the profits from the murder victims (Raoul also strikes up a sexual relationship with Mary).

Eating Raoul successfully walks the tightrope between delight and disgust — its absurdist sense of humor makes it an enjoyable romp even when its subject matter becomes rather bleak.

Bartel, a graduate of the “Roger Corman School,” keeps things lively, and often times the movie plays like a sitcom gone pitch black. The characters were meant to return for a sequel entitled Bland Ambition, which Bartel wrote with original screenwriter Richard Blackburn, but it failed to materialize.

DELICATESSEN (1991) 

Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet became instant cult darlings with Delicatessen, their darkly delicious debut. Set in a steampunky, post-apocalyptic Paris, the movie concerns an apartment building and the building’s bizarre inhabitants.

Caro and Jeunet toy with the interrelationships among the tenants — in the film’s trailer, the squeaky springs of a couple making love echo, in one form or another, throughout the building.

The man making love in the trailer is the butcher (Jean-Claude Dreyfus), who serves as the de facto landlord of the building and offers up cannibalistic delicacies. Caro and Jeunet are working in full-on comic book mode here, and even the cannibalism is delivered on screen with a dash of madcap surrealism.

The movie’s combination of gruesomeness and absurdity has aged well, as have its playful touch with such a dark subject.

         SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (2007)

Tim Burton’s adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s beloved 1979 musical, is based on the exploits of the so-called barber (Johnny Depp) who gives his customers too close a shave. This is old school horror movie stuff, with a touch of dark humor.

The cannibal part comes in when the grisly and greedy Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), becomes Todd’s partner in crime, disposing of the bodies by dicing them up into meat pies and serving them to the patrons of the pub she owns. Burton adds touches of his signature dark whimsy — such as a musical number composed of shots of people getting their throats slit.

There’s a love story here too, and a tale of revenge, plus Todd trying to reconnect with his long lost daughter. But on purely cinematic terms, it’s really all about the murders and the meat.

       CANNIBAL! THE MUSICAL (1993)

Before South Park, before Book of Mormon, Cannibal! was Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s low-budget first feature, based on Parker’s obsession with one of the grisliest episodes from the Old West – a guide eating his companions after running into trouble in the Rocky Mountains. Perfect material for a feel-good musical.

It references the ‘Donner Party’, the other infamous case of cannibalism from the era. Set in 1873, this musical focuses on Alfred Packer who is accused of cannibalizing members of his West-traveling party.

Given Matt & Trey’s sensibilities, it’s no surprise that the film is an absurdist farce—Japanese are cast as Indians, a cyclops’s eye spurts pus, and Alfred has a kung-fu fight with a fur trapper named Frenchy.

Cannibal! is surprisingly light on gore for a Troma Team release concentrating instead on sight gags, sex jokes, and absurd songs like “Shpadoinkle” and “Hang the Bastard.”

CANNIBAL COMEDY was originally published on FollowTheThread