#old interests coming back from the dead 2024

[strangeducks]

Uwhhhh bwuhhhh edd world

[absurdthirst]

Kinktober 2024: October 11th

Day 11: Gags // Shaving // Knife Play

Joel Miller x F!Reader

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 1.1k

Warnings: Shaving, vaginal sex, unprotected sex, intimacy, teasing

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Click Keep Reading only if you have read the Rating and Warnings and understand the warnings may not be complete to avoid listing spoilers. As AO3 says 'creator chooses not to use warnings'. You also agree that you're the right age to be consuming anything here.

Hair slicked back, wet and shiny from the shower, he looks so fucking good. Perched over the sink and looking up in the mirror. It’s cracked in one spot and the silver backing is peeling away from the glass. Making him look worn out and feel old. Hell, he is old. There’s more gray in his hair that he remembers and patches of it in the hair that lines his jaw. 

Reaching up, he swipes his hand across that jaw and sighs. He has a chance to shave, but he doesn’t know if he should. 

“Pick up the razor, Miller.” You have been watching him from the doorway, your own shower long done and you’ve felt like a brand new woman. A turned on one since you’ve been watching Joel examine himself in this mirror shirtless. 

He’s fucking handsome, even if he would roll his eyes if you told him that. Raw, experienced. Rugged in a way that is vastly appealing and pulls at your core. 

Turning, he cuts his eyes at you and watches you for a moment. “You pick it up.” His voice is raspy, challenging you before he gestures towards the razor. 

Brow shooting up, you push off the wall and step towards the sink and him. “And do what?” You smirk, hearing him huff as he straights up and shifts back a step so you can fit between him and the sink. 

This thing between you and Joel is simple, and complicated all at the same time. It’s sex. The physical release, the connection with another for just a few moments before you both retreat behind the walls that you've erected. 

“What do you think, smartass?” Joel snorts, stepping closer and crowding you when you are between him and the sink. Pushing you back until you are lifting your ass onto the edge of the porcelain. 

“I think we are alone.” You bite your lip and pick up the razor from the edge of the sink and hold it up. “And we could shave your face, or you could fuck me.” 

The kid has already passed out. Showered and her stomach full of the twenty year old minestrone soup you had managed to find a few days ago. Snoring away from the bedroom she had chosen for herself. This little house has been a godsend, the hydro powered generator still running even though the homeowners were long dead. 

Joel grunts and he reaches for your underwear. “We could do both.” He has a half cocky grin on his face, a rarity to see and fucking devestating for the things it does to your pussy. Joel Miller before the outbreak would have been a sight to see. 

“Shave you while fucking?” You laugh, but he doesn’t, piquing your interest even more. “Seriously?” 

Joel strips off your panties and pushes your thighs apart. “I trust you.” He slides his hands up your legs and over your stomach to cup your tit. “And I always liked that kind of scene in the movies.” He admits, huffing that confession out with a slightly larger smirk. 

“Oh really?” You lean in and turn on the water behind you. “Bathroom filled with steam, a little bit of shaving soap on the jaw, the woman comes in and takes over.” You hum as you swipe the blades under the hot water to wet them. “The intimacy of the moment screaming through the screen and it’s just a matter of when, not if, they are going to devour each other?” 

He swallows harshly, clearing his throat and his eyes slide down to your lips. “Something like that.” Somehow, his voice has dipped lower, gotten a little more gravelly. You haven’t missed the way that his own body is reacting to your closeness. 

Bringing up the razor, you keep your eyes on his when he looks back up at you. Putting it to his face right below his ear to start slowly scraping away the hair from his face. 

Both of you were right. It’s intimate. Close. Intoxicating. The subtle rasp of the blades cutting through the hair and leaving the skin smooth. 

You are lost in it until he touches you. Making you jolt slightly as he presses against your entrance. Looking down to see his cock, thick and hard and ready to push inside you. “Don’t cut me.” He murmurs, gripping your hips to shift you down and he slides inside you. 

Making you groan, you barely can keep your hand steady as you let him stretch you out. “Joeeeeeel.” You bite your lip, aware that while the kid might be asleep, you can’t be too loud so you don’t wake her. 

“Fuck, say it like that again.” He groans, rocking forward until his hips are pressed against the sink and he’s fully sunk inside you. “But keep shaving me.” 

You want to roll your eyes, but you don’t, blindly washing off the blades again behind you and taking another pass at his cheek. 

It’s sloppy and unhurried. You don’t want to knick his throat, even if the guarded safety blades aren’t rusted and had been peeled out of the brittle plastic package right before now. Still, every pass of the razor is paired with a thrust of his cock. Both of you groaning in the still steamy bathroom, the heat from the water running behind you adding to the moment. 

Halfway through, Joel leans in and presses his lips to yours. It’s not as rough as you might have expected, but it is passionate. His tongue sliding inside your mouth and his groans breathed into you as he pulls you even closer. Interrupting your hard work, but he doesn’t seem to be too bothered about the hair still left on his face. Too busy panting into your mouth and rocking you back into the sink until your ass hits the water and you clench down around him with a hiss. 

He huffs a laugh, his teeth digging into your bottom lip, pulling you back and resetting his hips and yours. The razor clattering into the sink behind you and your arms wrapping around his shoulders. Moaning softly as the shaving is forgotten in the attempt to just feel good. 

“Got distracted?” Joel teases, rolling his hips a little faster to keep pushing deep. He loves the feel of you, the warmth and wetness. The way you take everything he gives you. 

“God.” You can’t even be upset at him, not when he’s completely right. You did get distracted. The best kind of way to be distracted. “Shut up and fuck me, Miller.” You will finish shaving him eventually, probably leading up to round two if he’s up for it. 

[notthatmultifandomwhore]

Finding Leopold *request from @boomveronika

Warnings: stranger in apartment (do NOT let strangers into your apartment), fluff

It was a peaceful, dark night. Well, so peaceful as it can be in the middle of New York City. I was walking in the middle of Central Park, my usual routine on week nights. The lights of surrounding building lit up the park, and the crowd of angry New Yorkers pasting by added a flavor to my day that was unique to New York. 

I usually head home around this time, but something was telling me to keep walking. So I did. I kept walking around until I sensed something strange. Usually I don't pay much attention to the people around me unless I'm in danger, but I noticed a tall man who was wearing an outfit of royalty, which was obviously very out of place in New York, which was rare to see since, well, it's New York. I tried to not pay him any mind, but he looked as confused as a paperclip in a produce aisle. I headed to head in his direction, and noticed he kept asking people something, but everyone ignored him. As I walked past him, he put his hand on my shoulder, trying to grab someone's attention, and that's when I made eye contact with him. And as I did, it seemed like the world stopped.

Even though this man was giving off a strange vibe, his eyes seemed so soft. He had a beautiful pair of hazel eyes that I have only seen in a dream. They were breath taking. A second later, the world kept spinning.

"I beg your pardon, madame. May I ask what year it is?" He asked frantically.

"It's 2024." I replied, still in awe. He grew pale as if he had seen a ghost, but I also got a sense that he felt the same spark as I did. But he still seemed confused.

"No no no, this can't be." He walked away in the opposite direction as I was going, but something told me to follow him. So I did. 

His legs were much longer as mine, but I tried my best to keep up. A few minutes later, I found him stopped him at a cross walked. He continued to cross as a car almost hit him, but the driver slammed on his brakes.

"I beg your pardon." The man says to the driver. He then came back to the end of the crosswalk where I stood. He saw me again and came up to me and grabbed my arms in his big, warm hands. 

"Madame, I must request assistance. I have no idea where I am." He says. Once again, I'm in awe. I never feel the need to listen to a complete stranger, let alone someone who may be drunk, high, crazy, or all of the above, yet something about this man was different. 

"What is your name?" I asked the man.

"Leopold Alexis Elijah Walker Thomas Gareth Mountbatten." He responded. Even though the answer didn't really convince me that he wasnt crazy, the fact that he didn't slur or burp while saying his name was impressive to me. 

"Leopold. That's a very interesting name." I said.

"Yes, I was named after my father. But as I previously stated, I am in need of assistance! I must find a telegraph."

"I have a old phone at my apartment. I would let you use my cell phone, but it's dead." As I said it, his face grew with more confusion. 

"What is a cell phone?" In my mind, I thought that this man may actually be crazy if he didn't know what a cell phone is. But once again, something told me to help him, so I did.

"We'll get you help sir. Come on, Ill let you use my phone." I took his hand so I can guide him through the crazy streets of New York to my crappy apartment. His hand was so warm and tender. I grew nervous this very attractive, crazy man. Thank God I cleaned up early today, so else I'd be horrified.

We went up the stairs of my apartment building cause the elevator was broken. Once we got there, the man seemed less nervous, but he still seemed very confused. As we entered my apartment, he checked out everything. I know I shouldn't have strangers in my apartment, but he seemed...safe.

"I must say, I am beholden by your act of kindness." He says as he looks through your apartment.

"It's no problem. You seem very confused. Where are you from?"

"England, I am the 3rd Duke of Albany." I looked at him with shared confusion. 

"Right. Well, the phone is over there." I pointed to the wall. He walked up in it, and picked up the receiver. It looked he didn't know how to use it.

"Marvelous. Is this Bell's talking telegram? I have seen a prototype at last year's fair." He said.

"Wow. Well, feel free to use it and I will be making something to eat in the kitchen." I walked away even more confused. Why am I helping this man? And why am I so attracted to him?! 

I went into the kitchen to heat up a frozen meal, when I noticed him following me. 

"May I ask why you are alone in this mansion?" He asked. I giggled.

"I wish this was a mansion. This is just an apartment. A bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom."

"Well, no matter what this is considered, I still wonder why a lady like yourself is alone in this... apartment."

"Well, I don't what a boyfriend and I don't expect to have one anytime soon."

"I see. I am truly sorry if I have offended you in anyway." He came closer to me as he apologized. 

"It's alright. Well, I think it would be good for you to find your way home."

"Well, that's the thing, madame, I simply can't. My home is in a different year."

"I see. And what year would that be, Leopold?" I asked, playing along.

"1876." He stated. All of a sudden, I got goosebumps. As crazy as it sounds, I kind of believed him. I have seen countless movies like Back To The Future where people time travel, I just thought it was a myth. I stood there in awe as I absorbed my thoughts. And all of a sudden, I asked.

"Do you need a place to sleep tonight? I only have a bed that we'd share, but I don't think it's safe for you to wonder around tonight."

"I'd be honored." 

"Ok, stay here. Don't move!" I ran to my bedroom to make sure it looked okay and to move anything embarrassing into my closet. Then, I went into the kitchen to see him fiddling with my air fryer. 

"I have never seen anything like this before." He shared. I giggled at his cluelessness.

"Come on, you should get some rest and I'll tell you about everything tomorrow." I once again grabbed his hand and led him to my room. At this point, I am using any excuse to hold his hand. I opened the bedroom door, and led him inside.

"Sorry it's a little messy"

"Quite the contrary." I blushed a little and I'm not sure why. 

"Um, I don't know if you have other clothes, but I have some old men's clothes from a old friend of mine that you can wear. They should fit." I went to my closet to grab a T-shirt and sweatpants for him. I came back to him admiring my art on the wall.

"This is astonishing." He said. He looked in my eyes and I felt a feeling I have never felt. Like I wanted to kiss him and be in his arms. But I tried to keep my composure. 

"Oh thanks. Um, here's your clothes. The bathrooms that way."

"Thank you." He walked out to the bathroom. I ran quickly to my vanity to make sure I didn't look wild. I fixed my hair and made sure there was nothing in my face. A few minutes later, he came back in the clothes with his clothes folded ever so neated in his arms. He set them down on a chair in my room, and stood as if he didn't know what to do.

"Well, I would like to retire on the floor to prioritize your comfort." He said.

"Oh no, it's fine. There's plenty of room in my bed. Plus, it's super comfortable." I say as I lay down in the bed, shaking in my boots by the fact that an attractive man is in my room.

"Very well." He then goes on the other side of my bed and unfolded the comforter and laid in the bed and placed the comforter on him neatly. He laid on his back and closed his eyes. "Goodnight"

"Goodnight" I say back as I climb under the comforter and lay on my side. I'm so nervous as I feel the heat of his body behind me. It makes me feel things I've never felt before. Girls in my high school would always talk about crushs, but this feels like more than a crush. I then feel him move to his side behind me. It feels as if I turn around, we'd be face to face. I wait a few minutes, and pretend as if I'm asleep, and turn around to see if I'm right. Sure enough, we were face to face, and his eyes were open, looking straight into mine. I freeze.

"I must say, I must give you something in return for your kind gesture." I feel a moment of boldness.

"How about a kiss?" I say, half joking.

"Very well." He then slowly places his hand on the side of my face, brushing of strands of hair that were covering part of my face, and slowly leaned forward. I stayed frozen, still in shock that a man is in my bed, let alone about to kiss me. Suddenly, our lips connect. And it wasn't just a peck or anything too ranchy. It was perfect. His lips slowly moved with mine and sent tiny shocks within me, as if our souls were connecting. It felt magical. The kiss lasted a few minutes, then he pulled away. He then looked into my eyes. 

"I must say, I thought from the very second I saw you that we were soulmates. And I think this kiss has just proved my theory." He then kissed my forehead ever so softly. "Goodnight." 

I stayed frozen, wondering what the hell just happened. "Goodnight."

I turned on my side again, and he wrapped his arms around me from behind. I know I should've have let him into my apartment, but maybe he's right. Maybe we are meant to be.

[dailydemonspotlight]

Dead Lobster - Day 135

Race: Wilder Alignment: Dark-Neutral October 25th, 2024

HAVE A GOOD LOOK AT THE RADDEST DEMON IN THE SERIES!!!!

Ahem. Jokes aside, mythology takes many different forms. While we traditionally associate mythology with ancient cultures and the stories consisting of their religious beliefs, such as Greek or Egyptian mythology, the term 'mythology' as a whole is incredibly broad and can be applied to many different things: Urban legends, cults of personality, and basically any form of story and/or a widely spread idea throughout society. However, given the fact that a myth's many definitions can even just include a generally accepted belief around something, mythology can encompass even something as specific as a popular misconception. Case in point, today's Demon of the Day, one based off of one such misconception: the Dead Lobster, a myth grown around, of all things, the culinary arts.

According to popular legend when it comes to cooking seafood, Lobsters need to be cooked alive or else they'll end up poisoning the rest of the pot with them. This belief actually does come with quite a bit of truth to it, though it's not nearly as absurd as the legends will claim- the popular misconception states that, even in seconds, a dead lobster will end up poisoning not only itself but also everything around it, but this is only the case if stored in high temperatures. A dead lobster, if prepared properly in a short timeframe, is still safe to eat. However, the prizing of freshness in general has led this belief to being somewhat radicalized into every single dead lobster being a potential danger if consumed.

The reason for this lies in the decomposition process of a lobster. While, for the most part, a lobster is incredibly hardy and is incapable of dying traditionally of old age (though they still can, it's a very long story,) when one dies it experiences a total shell death brought on by the releasing of several different enzymes that literally go into it and shut down its internal organs. The enzymes that keep a lobster alive and prevent it from experiencing cell death are released upon the death of the lobster as well, polluting it and making it essentially become poisonous. However, while a lobster will become septic upon death, one can keep this process from occurring even after the lobster's death by keeping it cold and properly cooking it after the fact, as it'll slow the speed of decomposition.

Still, this eventually led to the idea that any dead lobster is a bad lobster, and soon the misconception spread throughout culinary circles, essentially making it a form of myth... in the world of cooking. To an extent, I'm not even surprised that the culinary world has its own mythology. Chefs can be weird. Naturally, as the idea grew, so did the severity of it, and it went from food poisoning from eating a dead lobster to actually dying upon eating a dead lobster. This leads us back to SMT, finally, where we see what the hell a dead lobster is doing among the ranks of biblical demons and gods from many different mythologies.

The design of the Dead Lobster in SMT, which is a demon unfortunately only exclusive to Megami Tensei 2, is an incredibly interesting one for a variety of reasons, but I take particular interest in the bug-like wings. The insectoid pair of wings seem to be based off of many types of insects, primarily seeming to be those of a fly, but what's more important is the association of insects. Many types of insects are poisonous themselves, after all, and the idea of wings on a dead being also vaguely allude, hilariously enough, to stereotypical depictions of cherubs. It's almost like the Dead Lobster in the series is the spirit of a lobster ascending to heaven... ah, how tragic. Also, I don't know where else to put this, but Dead Lobster sounds a lot like Red Lobster, the fucking food chain. I don't know what they were cooking, (but maybe it was lobster?)

lober

[bladekindeyewear]

HS^2 bloggin’ mainline 2024-08-01 continued #2

(Previous post - current page 433)

==>

Time to see what these Satyrs are about--

We're drawing it out for appropriate drama here, I see.

(Whoa, Terezi's saliva is TEAL?!? Interesting. That's a fact that I will absolutely file away in my mind to remember forever for definitely no specific reason whatsoever.)

==>

T4ST3S L1K3 HORS3SH1T.

Oh nooooo!! Don't tell me they're disappointing! (Or perhaps even a red herring, and not even successfully the race that ends up playing the game as they'd planned??) ...Let's hope it's just Pyrope's opinion...

(I highly doubt it, but imagine if Rose successfully created a race of motherfucking Squiddles to throw against Dirk in the contest.)

==>

OH DAMMIT THEY'RE HOLDING OUT ON US!!! Dastards!

TT: I heard that. GC: OH MY GOD 1 DON'T C4R3 TT: I can smell what you smell. Taste what you taste. Nothing you do is unknown to me, really.

Ewww, dammit. Stop trying to outdo Doc Scratch in creepiness, Ultimate Dork.

TT: Speaking of, if you think I'm not wise to your subtle little scheme, think again. GC: WOW K1NG, YOU 4R3 SO POW3RFUL, HOW D1D H3 T4ST3? TT: Pretty bland. GC: OH? TH3N HOW 4BOUT-

WHOA WAIT, what the heck are they talking about?!? Terezi has a scheme, and it's a "him"?? Or Dirk THINKS it's a "him"?

Hmmm... I originally thought this was a scheme about reawakening Rose to awareness or temporarily freeing him from Dirk's control to see what he'd done to her, just because that's the obvious Seer of Mind subterfuge that would have been going on here, but... Terezi's scheme possibly involves CREATING someone?

"HOW D1D H3 T4ST3"? Who?! Was "H3" being hidden in the now-empty "Terezi's weird horse shaped bug snacks" jar?

Did Dirk really bring John's cryo'd dead body here (I thought she'd brought it in the wallet, I forget, he was clearly hiding something he tried to keep Terezi from remembering when she smelled it), Terezi discovered it again, and then Terezi might be possibly using the life-creation machine or assembling robotics to make a new body for the Meat timeline's JOHN to come back??? Was the comeback to "HOW D1D H3 T4ST3" about to be "OH? TH3N HOW 4BOUT H3R" because she'd be brought back as June???? ...No, that feels too early, not something they'd be talking about so casually... is it?

It's more likely that Terezi is responsible for trying to create the Carapacian race to throw into the mix if we're going for the session that seeded all other sessions, right, something she'd have made to throw in to Rose and Dirk's 'duel' to screw with the session or give it a scale's balance? Carapacians would be extremely "bland" to Dirk, right? They're practically designed to be!

For some reason, though, Dirk potentially calling the concept of a returned John "bland" feels really on-point though... John was always a character who could be mistaken for a generic reader-projection protagonist but whose personality and talents really shined through his effects in conversation with others which made conversations where John was involved some of the most entertaining in all of Homestuck. Dirk would ALWAYS underestimate that sort of protagonist, an Heir always following the whims and Directions given to him by others, who sparks subtle change and inspiration in others not purely for his own sake but by hardly even trying and just kidding around with them or believing in them.

Let me stop with the wild baseless speculation and get to the rest of this conversation to see if it's clarified in only a couple of lines.

TT: You're wearing the more sensible outfit I alchemized for you. TT: That tastes like victory. GC: NOT B3C4US3 YOU M4D3 1T FOR M3 GC: 1 L1K3D MY OLD OUTF1T F1N3, 1 L1K3D TH3 COLORS GC: HON3STLY, 1 THOUGHT TH1S W4S 4 JOK3 GC: 3V3NTU4LLY TH3 OUTF1T P1L3 JUST K33PS G3TT1NG SM4LL3R, UNT1L F1N4LLY... GC: JOK3S OV3R

Dammit, he's put her in Lil Cal suspenders!!! Asshole.

I do notice, yet again, the red heels still much like the ones she borrowed from the Witch of Space Jade though-- which when she wore them back in original Homestuck after Game Over, signified a Witch of Heart balance that she used to force John's character back on the right track and perform her final acts of that timeline to arrange a course correction to reverse Vriska's death and save causality. Or at least, that's what I interpreted at the time-- hints at her inverse role and how she both employed it a bit to shout John back into control of his true self and to represent a final balance to achieve the heights of her Seer of Mind role with her whole-timeline-spanning retcon assistance. To ascend, one must first descend, and all that Jungian such.

TT: You looked like shit. GC: 4 TRULY BOLD ST4T3M3NT FOR SOM3ON3 CURR3NTLY DR3SS3D L1K3 4 L1TTL3 L4D W1TH 4N 4N1M3 C4P3 TT: I'm not dressed like a little lad. GC: YOU 4R3 DR3SS3D L1K3 4 L1TTL3 L4D WHO LOV3S B3RR13S 4ND CR34M BUT ST1LL F1NDS T1M3 1N H1S P4CK3D SCH3DUL3 TO SHOP 4T TH3 M4LL GC: "OHOHOHO~ HOW 1 DO LOV3 MY B3RR13S 4ND CR34M D3SU N3" GC: TH4T'S YOU, TH4T'S WH4T YOU SOUND L1K3 R1GHT NOW 1 B3T TT: How would you know what I'm wearing right now? TT: Maybe I'm posted up in a tank top and jeans. TT: That'd be pretty classic. GC: YOU W34R YOUR PR3C1OUS L1TTL3 M4ROON K4R4T3 LORDL1NG OUTF1T B4S1C4LLY 3V3RY D4Y, 1 KNOW TH1S TO B3 TRU3, 1T'S TH3 ONLY FUN TH1NG 4BOUT YOU 4NYMOR3

Terezi really tearing him down modern-weeb-mockery style for his candy-ass outfit, damn.

TT: I don't have the time to tell you how wrong you are about this, but I will. GC: 1 GU3SS T1M3 1S MOR3 YOUR BROTH3R'S TH1NG, 1SN'T 1T? GC: >:? GC: 1 WOND3R WH4T H3'S DO1NG R1GHT NOW

Does Terezi know that bringing up Dave perhaps really bothers him? Dirk definitely doesn't NOT care about Dave. He wants to get his way at almost all costs, but I don't think he wants Strider's life to be one of those costs, even though Dave is on his way here to oppose him.

==>

Heheheh, the way that all filled in and she sniped right back against his narrative powers was really fun. I love how she can at least MOSTLY resist his narrative powers-- possibly even more than he thinks she can, the way he believes (and we believed) he successfully directed her away from that mystery hidden on their ship way earlier. That reminds me, Terezi kept talking about this earlier as an INVESTIGATION. Is she trying to figure out what Dirk is up to? Are her creations or whatever he deemed "bland" part of her "subtle little scheme" to figure things out somehow, not just interfere with what she already knows to be true?

Also, the way Dirk uses the word "unascended" here implies the key difference is "not God-Tier", that a God-Tier Seer of Mind might have had the ability to possibly not just see further but RESIST Dirk's control even more, which would make plenty of sense. If there exists any sort of Mind aspect Quest Crypt in the new session Dirk and Rose are trying to create, perhaps ascension is a tactic she can actually take? In fact--

KARKAT is coming along too, and we still don't know if his blood caste has a lifespan issue that would cut his relationship with Dave Strider a lot shorter than they want. Could a BLOOD Quest Crypt for Karkat's use end up in this new session too? A Space crypt is obligatory as well, just about ANY session would have a Space player and Kanaya could hijack that crypt to ascend... Could the new session be an opportunity for the remaining trolls to go God-Tier, allowing the readers to finally see some magic Blood powers in action once and for all instead of the normal Knight of Blood talents latent in his personality (which have still had a major impact on the plot, to be sure)?

In Kanaya's case... that also makes it seem likely that as a seamstress and a god-tier Sylph of Space, she could MEND THE HOLE IN EXISTENCE that the Black Hole's creation punched through, cycling an emptied-out Paradox Space right back to its very creation and sealing the escapees of the Black Hole outside of Paradox Space, free from Lord English forever:

UU: it is the day whereafter the legendary octet of mUtUal progenitoriety will come together and heal a great breach in paradox space.

But enough about that for now. It looks like Terezi is leveraging the PERSONALITY part of her Seer of Mind powers potentially successfully on Dirk: Taunting and provoking and annoying him into doing what he wants her to do, and potentially switching the narrative over to show us more Dave.

T3LL M3.

Dirk Strider you ass!!!!!

Also yeah we're STILL not gonna see what his Satyrs look like after all, not for a little while. Or if they'll end up being a red herring and not being the main participants of the session at all.

OH AND ALSO I FORGOT TO BRING UP SOMETHING IMPORTANT-- one of the creations these folks might be responsible for if this is the sort of Omega Session that creates the framework of Sburb and all other sessions might be the Denizens, too. I should keep an eye out for that potentiality.

==>

TEREZI: H3H3H3 TEREZI: D1D YOU S33 TH4T? TEREZI: NOBODY WR1T3S MY STORY BUT M3

Oh my god NOOOO I'D FORGOTTEN CAUSE IT'D BEEN SO LONG, TEREZI'S BEEN HAVING THESE CONVERSATIONS WITH THE DEAD JOHN CORPSE STORED IN THE WALLET AAAAAAH THAT'S SO SAD D': D': D':

...and since the corpse is still in her hands, REALLY raises the chance that she's trying to revive him, that the John in her wallet is the "subtle little scheme" that Dirk is alluding to, and why she immediately responded with "how did he taste" and he responded bland. That's suddenly the most plausible explanation for all of this.

Could she be... planning on ectobiologizing... a kid with him...? No, no fucking way, she's not THAT crazy about him is she?

Also that's a banger fucking declaration of a line at the end there from Terezi against all of Dirk's narrative horseshit, I love that for her.

==>

TEREZI: 4ND TH1S T1M3 1'LL G3T 1T R1GHT

John's corpse is just IN there still, isn't it? No cryo or preservation or anything, right? That's unsettling. It's been or going to have been a full year of travel and arrival here or more, right, before she can do something with it? I forget the exact timeline. Pretty in-character for the morbid Terezi to be this audibly familiar with and carry around a corpse, though.

...do God-Tier corpses not decay at all? I remember a joke about that being in ONE recent bonus HS^2 joke panel I got notified in my Patreon about and glanced at without thinking about it, showing [SPOILER]young alt!Callie-possessed Jade's corpse[/SPOILER] as if her spirit suddenly left it temporarily, though I'm trying my best not to think about what it means.

I have to go to bed early for something in the morning, we didn't get as far as I wanted but I'll take a break for now and will probably continue sometime in the next two days. Next time we'll hit the next link for Meanwhile...

[garfunclegaming]

So Reddit is the last bastion of diehard Bethesda Fanboyism. To the point that tools from the main r/Fallout are going to the Fallout: London Reddit to mass downvote anything that honestly compares the effort and passion put into the mod in comparison to Bethesda slop. In the year of our Lord 2024 people think 4 and 76 are good.

As if anything that happens in the story of 4 is interesting besides the performances of the VAs for the followers. As if the game does not destroy all its pacing and progression to shove you into Power Armor, a minigun, a settlement, etc for the sake of getting demo hype at the cost of all meaningful player progression.

That's just the tip of the fatburg when it comes to 4 alone. 76 and Starfield are dumber, shallower, and even more desperate for that predatory MTX cash. Like imagine defending a game company that introduced paid mods, paid quests, and other junk in their singleplayer games. So greedy and perverse to retroactively fuck up games that old as balls now in order to peddle their MTX tripe. Breaking mods and fixes and massive community projects. Like they did with London months back!

Speaking of London, it is not without faults but what is has in spades is Passion and Effort. Something Bethesda clearly, painfully, is lacking. I don't detect the shriveled dead hand of Todd Howard, looking for sweet MTX bucks. Or Emil's burning contempt for his alleged craft or medium of choice.

I mean its a simple fucking binary. Corporate Bethesda gruel, or janky but passionate effort from modders making a whole ass Fallout game for free.

And while I'm not done yet, London is more of a Fallout game than anything Bethesda has made or will make. Because the people who made it give a shit about Fallout.

[the-conversation-pod]

Dispatch! (The Ossan's Love Episode)

And we're back!

NiNi and Ben bring our friend @twig-tea to the show to talk about the entire Ossan's Love series. We'll talk about the way this franchise evolves over time, the difficulties of comedy, what it means to love older queer men, and how this show tackles the complexities of family and masculinity.

Timestamps

The timestamps will now correspond with chapters on Spotify for easier navigation.

00:00:00 - Welcome 00:01:15 - Introduction and Some Context 00:06:25 - Ossan’s Love History and Summary 00:13:42 - The Characters 00:28:23 - Love or Dead and In The Sky 00:39:00 - Ossan’s Love Returns 00:45:33 - Final Thoughts and Ratings

The Conversation Transcripts!

Thanks to the continued efforts of @ginnymoonbeam as transcriber, and @lurkingshan as an editor and proofreader, we are able to bring you transcripts of the episodes.

We will endeavor to make the transcripts available when the episodes launch, and it is our goal to make them available for past episodes (Coming soon thanks to @wen-kexing-apologist). When transcripts are available, we will attach them to the episode post (like this one) and put the transcript behind a Read More cut to cut down on scrolling.

Please send our volunteers your thanks!

00:00:00 - Welcome

NiNi

Welcome to The Conversation About BL, aka The Brown Liquor Podcast.

Ben

And there it is. I’m Ben.

NiNi

I’m NiNi.

Ben

And we’re you’re drunk Caribbean uncle and auntie here sitting on the porch in the rocking chairs.

NiNi

Four times a year we pop in to talk about what’s going on in the BL world.

Ben

We shoot the shit about stories and all the drama going into them. I review from a queer media lens.

NiNi

And I review from a romance and drama lens.

Ben

So if you like cracked-out takes and really intense emotional analysis…

NiNi

If you like talking about artistry, industry, and the discourse…

Ben

And if you generally just love simping…

NiNi

There is a lot of simping on this podcast…

Ben

We are the show for you!

00:01:15 - Introduction and Some Context

Ben

And we're back! 

This week, we are covering all of Ossan's Love, from 2016 through 2024. We have brought on a special guest for this special episode as we're going to talk about the longest-running BL project. We have brought on our friend @twig-tea.

Twig

Hello.

NiNi

Hi, Twig. Welcome to the show.

Twig

Thank you so much for having me.

NiNi

New friend of the pod. Super excited to have you here. Twig is what we delightfully referred to as a ‘fandom old.’ I'm very excited to be having this conversation with two fandom olds in here, Twig and Ben, because, dear listeners, I have not had the time to watch Ossan's Love, so this is gonna be interesting. Ben and Twig are gonna school me.

Twig

We'll do our best.

Ben

This is going to be an interesting episode because we're going to be talking about a project that was somewhat overlooked by fandom, myself included, until the last couple of months. And I'm a little bit salty about it, and so I wanted to bring on somebody who has watched all of this in real time, and I thought that their perspective would be helpful. 

Twig, you are new to our listeners. Why don't you tell them a little bit about yourself in fandom and your history with queer cinema and BL?

Twig

I actually started on the GL side, which is a little bit different than I think a lot of folks in the BL fandom. I started with getting into Sailor Moon and got involved with a group of women who started Yuricon. The first Yuricon was held in Newark, NJ, in 2003 and I was the secretary. 

From there, there just wasn't enough GL content, and so I got into BL, too. I was really into Japanese manga, was part of a few scanlation groups, got oversaturated, stepped away, came back in 2016 to be shocked at the fact that a whole lot of the stuff that I used to watch was now made into live action. 

The YouTube algorithm in late 2016—early 2017—fed me Lovesick and I sort of went, “Hello. What's this?” Then watched Make it Right and was hooked on Thai BL. Tried to backfill as much as I could, so I watched Gray Rainbow, and Diary of Tootsies, and all this stuff that nobody talks about, really, anymore. 

One of the things about fandom at that time was that the way you found stuff was digging and a prayer, and random people making random lists, and it was very hard to tell how good those lists were. And so I managed that by watching everything and making my own opinions. And that is why I watched Ossan’s Love when it aired, or as soon as I could get my hands on it.

NiNi

So we're talking like real, real old school. We're talking about “Oh God, maybe some fansubber might help us out here.”

Twig

Fuckin’, like, Internet relay chat.

NiNi

IRC was my job back in the day.

Twig

Yes!

NiNi

I was talking about other things—not BL, but I was there.

Ben

Twig has sketchy as shit DVDs that were handed to her by a fan that have not great rip but really solid subs.

Twig

Bought in a mall parking lot with Mandarin subtitles that we used to watch with my friends who spoke Mandarin so they could translate for us in real time. It was hard. We used to walk uphill both ways back in the day.

Ben

A lot of folks who have been in this for a long time—we joked that we watched everything because we had to. You have done a better job of keeping track of what you've watched.

Twig

I wish I'd done better. I only really started tracking things in 2020. I did try to backfill the years before that, but I only really captured all of the major series. There was so many shorts, and things like that, I just couldn't do. But my spreadsheet has about 600 things on it, 606 as of today.

Ben

Incredible.

NiNi

I have been watching media overall—like seriously watching media—for…30 years…and I have not watched 606 of anything.

Ben

Nah, I believe her. It adds up. I engage with close to 100 BLs every year for the last 2-3 years.

NiNi

Clearly I'm not in these streets with y'all.

[Twig laughs]

Ben

I'm so glad Twig has showed up because it has given me permission to not watch so much.

NiNi

I bow down to you guys, because there was a point in time where, trying to keep up with week-to-week, I was watching something like eight shows at a time and I literally felt like my head was on fire. So, I don't know how you guys do it.

Ben

Practice. [laughs]

NiNi

We talked about this on the show, how last year I watched 50 things, maybe, for the whole year, and I felt like I was losing my mind. I usually watch like 15.

Ben

50 is good. Like, that's a really healthy number.

Twig

That is. That's pretty solid.

NiNi

As in five-zero? 

Ben

Yeah, no, that's great!

NiNi

A year?! 

Ben

Yeah! And we made a whole fucking show out of it! It’s good!

NiNi

Deep breaths. Okay, let's continue. Let's go on. [laughs]

00:06:25 - Ossan’s Love History and Summary

NiNi

Let's get into Ossan's Love. Ben, do the honors, tell us what is Ossan's Love about?

Ben

Actually, I want to do this one a little bit differently. 

NiNi, you have not engaged with Ossan's Love. The most you have is the fandom vibe on it from the periphery. What is your impression of Ossan's Love prior to all of us posting a lot about the new show?

NiNi

When you say periphery, I think you're being incredibly generous. There was one where they’re flight attendants maybe, or something to do with an airline. I am aware of that. And then there was something with a boss. There was a thing about a shower. There's some dirty jokes that go over my head because they're referential to this show. But in terms of my awareness of Ossan’s Love, it's honestly not much. 

Did I get any of those things correct by the way?

Twig

You totally did.

Ben

You did. I almost shouted “Dispatch” when you mentioned the airport. [Twig and Ben laugh] 

All right. So, I will give what I knew of Ossan's Love prior to earnestly engaging with it: Ossan's Love is a workplace-set drama in which a guy who works in an office is being pursued by a colleague of the same age as him and his boss—who is like 20-plus-odd years older than him. At the time when I didn't watch it, the fandom vibe on it was that it was fairly offensive, particularly around the old guy character. And, when it was hard to find this show, I was like, “Whatever, I'm not going to work that hard for a show that people seem really put off by.” I have had to make sure that I check if I am riding an old fandom opinion from prior to 2019 when it comes to older work, because those opinions are usually not informed by the lens that I use. And so I decided to engage with Ossan's Love properly. 

Before we start describing what the show is specifically, Twig, what do you remember about your experience watching the show in real time and the popular opinions about it?

Twig

So, the first thing is real time had really different meanings back then because we didn't have international distribution. It was sort of when things were fan subbed and when you could find them and knew they existed. So, I actually didn't get to watch the short until years after the original. So my first outing with Ossan’s Love was season one. 

At the time, it felt like if you liked it, you should be quiet about it, because the opinion was so negative that you would be shouted down if you said anything positive about it. So I just sort of stayed in my corner of enjoyment and tried not to think too hard about it.

Ben

That is unfortunately how I remember it being. It was not popular to say positive things about Ossan’s Love at the time. Even the fans of Ossan's Love seemed super ambivalent about the second season, which was an alternative universe.

Twig

Yeah. When Season 2 aired it was an even wider swing. The people who really loved Season 1 seemed to hate Season 2. I actually like Season 2 better than Season 1, so I was even more like, [laughs] “Okay, I guess I don't know what I'm talking about, guys, so I'm just gonna stay over here and let you all have your opinions over there.”

Ben

So our quick timeline: we have Ossan’s Love the TV special in 2016. We have Ossan’s Love the TV show airing during spring of 2018. They released the movie Ossan’s Love: Love or Dead —that went into theaters on August 23rd of 2019—and then a few months later, in November, they released Ossan’s Love: In The Sky. It's my understanding that Ossan’s Love Returns was originally supposed to air in, like, 2020-2021. They've returned to that project this year in 2024.

NiNi

I know they're going to be doing a Thai version of this coming up and they also have the Hong Kong version?

Twig

That's right. Yep. There was a Hong Kong version in I think 2021 or 2022.

NiNi

I love when they take a property and they remake it across cultures over and over again. I'm always intrigued to see how they turn out.

Ben

Have you watched the Hong Kong version, Twig?

Twig

I peeked at it. It's really true to season one in a lot of ways. I haven't actually watched it all the way through because I was like, “If I want to rewatch season one, I'll just rewatch season one.”

Ben

I feel like I have to watch it at some point. 

All right, so let's get into Ossan’s Love properly now: Ossan’s Love is about a 33 year old man named Haruta who is a slob. He is a hot mess of a man. He cannot take care of himself. He lives with his mom, and she does all the housework. She decides to bail on him and go run off with the hot new man she's with. And so he asks his colleague, whose name is Maki, to move in with him to help him out because Maki is very good at house chores. 

He learns accidentally that his boss, whose name is Kurasawa Musashi, has had a crush on him for a long time and also simultaneously learns that Maki has been crushing on him for a long time. Hijinks ensue as the two of them begin aggressively pursuing him, and he is not prepared for this sudden surge in gay activities.

Twig

One thing I add to your description, Ben, is it's a comedy.

Ben

So this is where things get a little bit complicated. Comedy is hard to do correctly, because a big part of comedy is playing with people's preconceptions of how an interaction should go. A lot of folks struggle with Japanese comedy because they're just not aware of the expectations for how an interaction should go, and so the humor is not landing on them, and this can happen even in your own culture. Like, if you showed a teenager today Airplane, many of the jokes in that movie would make no sense to them because they're missing some of the cultural context. Some of that exists with peoples engagement with Ossan's Love, I think.

Twig

I think that's right.

00:13:42 - The Characters 

Ben

The big part about Ossan's Love that impresses me is how the show gets better each time they come back. There are things that are kind of yikes in the short that are tweaked out in the first show. There are things that they retooled Haruta and Kurosawa over in the airport season. And then, in the most recent season, Ossan's Love Returns, they've shifted where the focus of their storytelling is after everything that's going on. So we are seeing the same characters, but they're dealing with much different dynamics. 

So, Ossan's Love Returns was a completely acceptable point for a lot of people to jump on, and I almost just jumped on. But, I like to know how we got here. So I was like, “I must watch all of this first!” [laughs]

NiNi

I was about to say on what point were you ever gonna just jump on without going back into the before times? You, sir, are a historian and a completionist.

Ben

Of course. And so I went back and watched. 

Twig, since you didn't have a lot of people to talk about Ossan's Love with at the time, how about you talk about your impressions of Haruta, Maki, and Kurosawa when you first engaged with it?

Twig

The thing that stuck with me is that, even in 2018, it felt a little more queer than a lot of the other stuff I was watching alongside it at the time. Haruta and Maki, and all of the characters, play into that in different ways. Haruta is an extremely frustrating character. I just wanted to reach through the screen and strangle him through most of season one, and I think that's partially intentional. 

Haruta is set up as the literal straight man. He's there to be what your average straight guy reaction might be when confronted with gayness, and everyone around him literally slaps him and tells him he's being an idiot. Delightful, but it doesn't make the character himself very likable at first. The fact that he grows on you anyway, even while he's being so frustrating, speaks to the other strengths in his character: his kindness, and the way he values his coworkers. And I think the later seasons did a really good job of picking up the things that made Haruta such a great character, and enforcing that in the character writing itself to make him more likable overall. 

I loved Kurosawa from jump. I think he's [laughs] incredible. He lives life on 11, and I think watching an older man step through some of the more standard romance tropes very clumsily but earnestly is incredibly charming. 

Maki is the competent character. He's also a self-actualized gay man. He at no point questions his sexuality at all, has no crisis about it. He knows who he is and what he's attracted to. And that was also really refreshing for BL at the time.

NiNi

Describing the kind of character that Kurosawa is made me think of Ben describing characters like Shin from Minato's Laundromat. When you tend to see these younger characters who are full on gung-ho chasing after the ones that they like, people like that. But they don't like the boss because they don't think their character should be doing that.

Twig

When I was first telling Ben about my opinions about the show, I said one of the things I struggle with is whether Kurosawa is telling the joke or is the joke. I think the more I have watched and rewatched, especially in later seasons, they do a really good job of him being a funny character and we're not laughing at him. He's not the butt of the joke, he's just funny. The people who would be turned off by an old guy hitting on a younger guy no matter what were turned off by that character and the ones who were sympathetic to older men also having romance in their lives were turned off by the idea that it was a comedy.

Ben

The comedy in the way Kurosawa pursues Haruta is about the age gap, not the fact that he's an old man. It's that he's at a different stage of his life. He's not fumbling to figure out stuff, he knows what he wants and his time is limited, so he's pursuing it determinately and also because he's older, he's behaving in line with his generation.

Like, if you don't have friends who are more than 10 years older than you, sometimes you're going to get weirded out by their cultural stuff. Like right now, I'm reaching the age gap with some of the kids I tutor, and I had to deal with all the various iterations on rizz and I don’t like it. 

[Twig and NiNi laugh]

I had an 8 year old call himself The Rizzler the other day and I almost pushed him down.

Twig 

Oh no.

NiNi

Oh my God.

Ben

I understand the concern around Kurosawa. But that is not what I think the show is doing, and even if it accidentally does it, that is not the show’s intent. Haruta is dealing with the sudden shift in his relationships with men who are important to him. Maki was just like his friend and colleague, who he was low-key mooching off of to do housework for him, and he has to deal with the fact that the only reason Maki is willing to put up with him is because Maki likes him. With Kurosawa, a big part of their relationship is the fact that he respects and admires him so much. The relationship between them is very paternal in a lot of ways?

Twig

A mentorship.

Ben

Yeah, he sees Kurosawa as a respected mentor and Kurosawa respects Haruta as well as a valued member of his team. A big part of the show is them sorting out the way that affection complicates some of these relationships, and we as the audience have to struggle with why these men like this man. Haruta is fucking useless in the household. He may be good at his job, but he is horrible at house related stuff. And so the question is why would anyone want him? 

And this is not rhetorical for the show. They really want you to grapple with this. The fact that Haruta is kind of repulsive as a romantic interest is something the show wants you to think about. You have to work to understand why so many people are into Haruta, and I think this gets better overtime.

Twig

They do a really good job with all of the women characters in this show, which was super rare for the time and still worth saying. His best friend Chizu also is terrible at housework, but she's a woman, and so she's struggling with the expectation that she get married and she keeps talking about how she needs to find somebody who does for her what Haruta’s men are willing to do for him. I just love putting those two characters side by side. And the silent question that's asked of the audience. That's like, why is this okay for Haruta, but not for Chizu.

Ben

It's not really subtle. As the show goes on, Maki won't really commit to Haruta because Haruta is ostensibly straight. Maki is hesitant about full committing because it's hard to be gay, like you got a lot to face as a gay person and he doesn't know that Haruta is going to stand up to all that. He's kind of a waffly type of dude. He's kind of a people pleaser who won't really stand up to anyone. This is kind of good for him as a salesperson. It's obvious why all their clients like Haruta. But it makes him kind of unreliable as a partner because you're not certain he's going to hold ground with you when the world is telling you that you shouldn't be together. 

The first season ends on a really cool note, ‘cause Maki and Haruta break up and Haruta just falls apart. And Kurosawa moves in with him for a while to help take care of him. For Kurosawa, it's a romantic thing, but it very much feels like someone’s parent going to take care of their kid. Haruta recognized where he failed with Maki, and he starts trying to help out with house stuff a little bit. But it's not like he suddenly becomes like a great housekeeper. I really liked that choice, that he starts putting in an effort but he's still horrible at it. 

Kurosawa ends up proposing to Haruta. Haruta has a hard time saying no to people, so he accepts. Also, he used a flash mob. It's hard to say no when someone flash mobs you.

NiNi

Pause. Pause for cause.

Twig

Michael Jackson-themed flash mob.

NiNi

Okay, not pausing. Unpausing. Go ahead.

Ben

Kurosawa is always at 11. He is an incredible character and like he and Haruta are going to get married and at the altar, Kurosawa is like. You need to go to him. You don't actually want to be here. And so Haruta runs to Maki and proposes to him at the end of the first season. 

And then there's just an incredible supporting cast in the show. I don't think we have time to talk about all of them properly, but. Haruta’s friend Chizu’s older brother Teppei runs a little bar diner that they often hang out at. He's so funny, always giving them weird gross food combinations to try out. They’re’s Maro, who's a member of their team who did not know Haruta’s given name for the years they worked together, there's Maika, who's kind of a nosy busybody at their work. She's a great source of comedy, ends up with Teppei. There's Takegawa, who's the second at their office in the first season, who is revealed to be Maki’s ex later. And he is intense as hell and becomes a complicating factor in the budding relationship between Haruta and Maki because he challenges Haruta. He's like, why is he putting this much effort into you? You suck! I really love the Takegawa character because he is a hot mess.

Twig

He just is so pained at Maki falling for a straight man. Something that is deeply relatable for anybody in queer spaces. [NiNi laughs] Like we have all been that person. Like, what are you doing to yourself?

Ben

I want to nod to Choko real quick. In the first season, Kurosawa has a wife of 30 years. Her name is Choko. Once his feelings for Haruta become known to Haruta, he decides he's going to pursue them and he tells this to his wife and they get divorced. She is understandably upset about this whole situation. But what's so great about it is, the show allows her to have a journey of figuring out what her life is going to be now that this information is out there. Like, she was hurt and upset at first, but then decides to support Kurosawa because this is her partner of 30 years and she understands him, so she ends up eventually supporting what he's trying to do with Haruta. And she ends up developing her own relationship with Maro. 

It's really cool in this show where there's this whole complicated thing about whether or not these three gay men are going to sort themselves out into various relationship configurations, they're also doing a pretty steep successful age gap romance between like a 30-something year old man and a woman approaching 60.

Twig

I love Choko's arc so much. It's the one thing that stayed with me the most. She is also allowed to be funny. She's silly and immature in the same ways that the male characters are. She's not perfect either. And I think that is super important that she's a complicated character. 

I think it's really important that this show talks about the ways in which homophobia and being in the closet hurts everyone, not just gay people. I think this show does a good job of at least alluding to the fact that the hurt that's caused by people having to live lies makes waves in communities.

NiNi

I like when they put that on older characters, as well. There's so much to unpack when you're talking about a life lived in the closet, emerging from a life lived in the closet later on in life. What you're gonna do with that life and how you're gonna treat it. From what you guys are saying about Kurosawa, it’s like he just decided to take life by the balls once he came out of the closet, and that's always something that I enjoy seeing.

Ben 

I guess, well, on some of the negatives. The humor is choppy in the first season. You do have to recalibrate as you're watching. It is very funny, but in ways that are unexpected. You will end up feeling a sense of revulsion in the show, particularly to season one Haruta. When I started going back to it, I had a difficult time with the first episode because I'm asking myself why would anyone want to fuck this man? [NiNi and Twig laugh] That is a real and valid reaction that you have to work with as you're watching the show. And so parts of it are a little bit difficult to watch in that regard. 

And Kurosawa is a huge character. You have to take time to get to know him and understand him and understand where his behaviors are coming from. And if you're not willing to do that work, the show is super off putting. 

Twig 

It is loud. You do have to allow your comedy ear to calibrate to its shouting. 

Ben 

However, I will say that if you want to see romance in BL about older characters, Ossan’s Love is right there. The entire drama is about 30-somethings and much older dealing with life and love. There is no wistful stuff about “things were easier when we were kids” in this show at all. It is very much grounded in the perspective and dramas that people in their 30s and 40s and 50s are dealing with in life and romance. 

Twig 

I feel like the one other thing that I always feel the need to call out about the first season is Haruta, because of what his character is struggling with, is physically uncomfortable with displays of affection, and particularly with kissing, in the first season. And that can be off putting too, but he makes it clear verbally that he's not actually against physical affection, he's just familiar with it? It is one of the things that the show does better later on.

00:28:23 - Love or Dead and In The Sky

Ben 

Let's talk about the movie! Ossan’s Love: Love or Dead. 

Twig 

[laughs] Every time I think about that title, it makes me laugh, ‘cause it's just so extra. 

NiNi 

I'm sorry, Love or Dead? 

Ben

Mhmm.

Twig 

Oh yeah. 

Ben 

The premise of this movie is at the end of season one, Haruta got an opportunity to go work in Shanghai for about six months, and the guys are going to be facing a separation for a bit. There's drama when Maki goes to pick up Haruta ‘cause he's found in a compromising position, and a big part of this is Maki still dealing with his anxiety around whether or not Haruta can be a partner to him. Maki gets selected to be part of this high-powered real estate team, and there's a bunch of drama that unfolds involving a partnership with a drug peddling organization and then we end on like an action note where they have to rescue Haruta from a burning building. 

Twig 

There are explosions. 

Ben 

Lots of explosions. 

NiNi 

This sounds… delightful. This sounds like exactly my kind of crack. 

Ben 

You should watch it sincerely. 

Twig 

It is delightful. 

Ben 

If you're not certain about Ossan’s Love, legit, watching Ossan’s Love: Love or Dead is not a terrible place to start. It's a two-hour outing that covers the basic ground of the franchise, has some really strong moments, and is super cracked out. 

What's so fun in it is, we talk about the retooling of the characters. In season one, Maki and Kurosawa beef a lot over Haruta and legit get into physical brawls over it. This is a feature of the entire franchise. These men scrap on the regular. There's this great moment when they're trying to rescue Haruta from this building where Kurosawa's role as their mentor comes through and he reads Maki about how he's always holding back in the relationship. That's what I think works for me the most in this franchise, the collective love that everyone has for each other. It's true that Kurosawa is not going to succeed as a romantic rival to Maki in this story, but that doesn't mean that he's not important to everyone and everything going on. And I really, truly love that. 

Twig 

His mentorship relationship with Maki really starts to flourish in the movie, the moment where Maki’s hanging off of a ledge and Kurosawa is helping him physically back onto the ledge so he doesn’t fall into the flames, but also verbally telling him what he needs to do to save his relationship. This movie is not subtle with its metaphors. But it's such a good moment where we realize that Kurosawa plays that role for Maki, too, of a mentor, and that he's willing to do it for the relationship, even at the same time as being a love rival. And it sets up the new season really well. 

Ben 

The movie matters to the timeline of the series. The movie is not just some sort of one off moment that occurs. The events of the movie are built into the characters, and it was the beginning of them retooling how these characters function. 

NiNi 

This sounds like a very experimental type of series, just the way that they do different things each time. While they are refining their central characters and the central storylines, they're also experimenting with style and tone, and a number of other things it feels like? 

Twig 

I think that's really true. One of the things about the movie that's really fun is it's the first instance of sports in the series. We get Justice playing basketball with Haruta and working his feelings out through basketball. 

Ben 

JUSTICE!!! [Twig and Ben laugh]

Twig 

Love and peace! And that becomes a huge part of the AU and also part of Ossan’s Love Returns that I think really adds to the experience. They try things out and then if it works, they pick it up and add and yes, and it, and then they pull out the things that didn't really work. I find that really interesting to watch happen. 

NiNi 

The concept of something being iterative like that in real time, it's not for everybody. 

Ben 

This series went on to do something super experimental where a couple of months after they released a continuation movie promising that these characters would get back together, they released an alternative universe season where only Haruta and Kurosawa were present from the original cast, and now we're at an airport dealing with a completely different set of characters and a slightly different dynamic. 

It also gave Twig and I our favorite bit. 

Twig

[laughs] Dispatch! 👍

Ben

Dispatch! 👍 Oh my God. It is so funny, every single time. 

NiNi 

Every time. 

Ben 

Every episode has at least two dispatch moments. [Twig laughs] It's so fucking funny. 

Twig 

Sometimes it's to end a conversation. Sometimes it's to greet somebody, sometimes it's to shut down a conversation, distract from someone saying something you don’t want them to say. 

Ben 

So in this particular season, Kurosawa is still a leader. He is the captain of a flight crew. Haruta is a new flight attendant who is joining this team. In this case, Kurosawa is not Haruta’s long-term mentor who has been harboring a crush on him. He develops his crush in real time. Haruta moves into company housing and there's a slightly older guy there who's got a crush on Haruta, but he won't say anything about it. And then there's the meanest twink who's ever existed in BL. 

NiNi 

I mean y'all just seem to be giving me multiple reasons to watch this show at this point, so. 

Ben 

So in the second season, there's far more complicated people in the Haruta stuff. There's Kaname who is the older mechanic who lives in the dorms, and he's got this huge crush on Haruta, but he'll never say anything about it. Naruse is causing fucking problems all the time, because every time he has relationship drama and people show up at their airport to fuck with him about it, he just starts kissing Haruta to make people go away. And then people throw drinks in Haruta’s face over it. Because Tanaka Kei is a master of physical comedy. 

Twig 

One of the staples of the series is what I call the Haruta reaction supercut, where they just have multiple cuts of Haruta’s face as it morphs into more and more absurd huh, no, whaaa faces. He does bend his body in ways that's like a cartoon falling over, it's pretty incredible. 

NiNi 

Ben knows that I love physical comedy. 

Twig 

Yoshida Kotaro has incredible physical comedy, too. 

Ben 

Like if you ever want to see an old man try and kill an aging twink [Twig laughs], this is the show for you. 

I get why people who liked the first show bounced off of this, because the rest of the cast is gone. The supporting cast is a really strong part of the Ossan’s Love experience, but I really like the AU season because I think it allowed them to retool Haruta and Kurosawa. And retool the relationship between them to make it more about their mentorship. They're building that relationship in the AU season ‘cause they don't know each other. 

Twig 

The thing that I really like about the AU setup is because Haruta is coming into a new environment, we get to see him build his network of people around him over the course of the season. Showing us what's likable about Haruta because he has to charm all these people around him in order to get friends and build a community, is a really important piece of the puzzle that allowed me to get to like that character a lot more, because he was charming me at the same time. 

Ben 

We get a lot of great moments in the season. Kurosawa has been a pilot for 30 years and he decides to retire and everyone is sad about it. I'm sad about it, Twig is crying about it. 

Twig 

Mmhm. 

Ben 

He ends up inviting the three guys who we've mentioned out to hang out in the park with him. He has this sumo tournament with them where he's basically giving them the last bit of advice he's going to give them and it is, one of the most intensely emotional man moments I have had in this genre. I was losing it and I was crying. I was hollering and screaming, messaging Twig like, “Wake up, I need to talk about this right now, I don't care what you're doing. Get up.” 

Truly, it is one of the best moments in TV about the relationships between men that I have ever experienced, and it is this hyper ridiculous sumo wrestling moment in a gay romance drama in the AU season that is technically not canon, and it was the moment from the series that lingers with me the most. 

Twig 

Even in the moment they're looking at each other like, is this happening? How is this happening? This isn't real. Nobody does this. Nobody calls each other to the side of the river with a note [laughs] to hold a wrestling competition in which we talk about our feelings. 

Ben 

But it works really well. I ended up really loving the way it allowed us to think about these two men and the relationship between them. We get to appreciate how important Kurosawa is to Haruta. 

Twig 

That sumo wrestling moment allows us to see Kurosawa's relationships with all of his subordinates. The way he's so firm and so gentle with Naruse, with like “soft landing,” meanwhile, throws Haruta out of the ring. 

Ben 

The way he talks to all of these men as specific to them, like his role as leader is strongest in the AU season. My primary concern for the Thai adaptation is who is playing Kurosawa, because this character is as important as the romantic leads. 

Twig 

I think it's more important. 

Ben 

I am with Twig. Who is going to match Yoshida Kotaro in Thailand? I need to know. 

Twig 

I'm eagerly awaiting that announcement. 

NiNi 

The answer is going to be Nu Surasak or Kob Songsit.

Ben 

I really hope it's good. 

00:39:00 - Ossan’s Love Returns

Ben

Ossan's Love Returns reunites the original cast after five years. Maki is returning from an extended stint in Singapore, and now he and Haruta are gonna start their cohabitating married life together. Maki is now part of the super team at headquarters, following up on the movie. Haruta is still on the streets with regular folk, ‘cause that's where he wants to be. Kurosawa has retired, I liked that follow up from the AU season. And now he's working as a housekeeper. Maki is working too much and Haruta is still bad at house, and so they hire a housekeeper, who ends up being Kurosawa [Twig laughs] who cannot hold back his feelings for Haruta and it becomes one of the ongoing dramas of the season. 

One of the things I enjoyed in this season is… they explore how to integrate Kurosawa into their lives long term. Haruta is serious about Maki and committed to their romance. Kurosawa is also extremely important to him and he treats him like a father figure. They explicitly have Choko talk to Kurosawa about how a lot of the ways he feels [laugh] about Maki are a lot of the ways a mother-in-law might feel about their daughter-in-law with the way they beef with each other. And when we say they beef with each other, I mean, these two men are legit fighting in their kitchen, like Kurosawa hits Maki in the head repeatedly with a frying pan. Maki legit throws Kurosawa through a door at one point and knocks it off the hinges. These two men, when they scrap with each other, are fighting for real and I love it every time.

NiNi

It's just like you all conspired to come into this recording booth today and just be like, okay, so you say this and I'll say that and between us we're gonna get her to watch this, because she likes this kind of stuff.

Ben

I didn't really have to work that hard. We're just legit talking about what the show was doing. We get a really great season of Maki and Haruta settling into what their life is going to look like. There's some introduced new characters in the season that we all had very complicated feelings about who I think end up fitting fine by the end. Most of the original cast comes back and there's like a really great bit of exploring what all these characters settling into their relationships that they got into in the first season in this one. 

So Haruta and Maki are now living together and figuring out what that is going to look like, who are they gonna be as a couple now that they're not doing long distance ‘cause they've basically been long distance between every outing. Which I think was a clever choice because it means that the characters’ relationship dynamic doesn't really move that much between outings. 

Choko is now living with Maro and Maro’s mom, and Choko is struggling because she's older than Maro's mom. She can't just treat this woman like her mother-in-law. And Maro doesn't know how to help because he's caught between his wife, who's way older than him, and his mom, who's confused and a little bit uncertain about this whole dynamic.

Twig

I also love that that's not the only thing we see Choko having worked through in the time we've been apart from her. She opened an archery range after her divorce, and sort of reinvented herself with this new life that she's actually thriving in.

Ben

They get new neighbors who are a bunch of weirdos.

Twig

[laughs] They're so weird. They're so weird.

Ben

These two are revealed to be members of, like, a public security division that maybe doesn't actually exist. Izumi ends up becoming obsessed with Haruta because he's a doppelganger for his dead lover who was killed in the line of duty, who is very, very different from Haruta. It was fun to see Tanaka Kei play a very different type of character in those flashbacks. I don't know that it entirely landed for me over the course of the season, but by the finale, which was fantastic, I was okay with them.

Twig

A large part of the way they were written is that they were a mystery for a large part of it, too. It's hard to bond with a character that you know nothing about and is intentionally opaque.

Ben

Chizu is trying to make it as a single mom and this reinforces one of the big themes of the season, that family is all the people who are going to show up for you all the time. She relies on Teppei and Maika to help, and she feels guilty about this and they tell her straight up, like, don't feel guilty. We are a family. You should rely on us. 

She had already made Haruta and Maki designated adults who can pick up her kid from the daycare. An important gay right of passage is your friend calling you and telling you I need you to go pick up my kid, and then you show up at said kindergarten to pick up a kid and they look at your ID and they go “oh you're allowed” and the kid runs to you and everybody goes, well, that makes sense. An important gay moment that everyone must experience.

Twig

One of the things that I love about this so much is that it picks up from a throw away line that Chizu says in the movie. She sort of brags that she's going to balance having a kid and her career. One of the things about the series is that it really feels like the people who are writing it love the whole series and are constantly thinking about how to call back in loving ways and how to pick up threads in loving ways. Something that she just sort of confidently stated she was going to do no problem in the movie becomes a whole plot in the following season.

Ben

There's a final arc in the season where Kurosawa has a health scare where we think he's going to die.

Twig

When we were talking about it, Ben, you said that it was an important moment for Maki and Haruta to confront the idea that Kurosawa won't always be around. And I was like, oh, that's why I don't like this part because I don't want to ever think about that. [Twig and Ben laugh]

Ben

The entire finale is this really great examination about the way this whole group of people are a family to each other.

Twig

It's not even just that it's happening, but they're explicit about it. They're having conversations about what is family? What are we to each other? How do we define our relationship? Where do those lines get drawn? And the answer is just sort of, yes.

Ben

There's an explicit line, like, what is Kurosawa to them? And then Maika comes over and hammers it home for the audience and is like, “There's no need to describe it. What matters is you all are going to be part of each other's lives forever.”

00:45:33 - Final Thoughts and Ratings

Ben

I don't think we talked about it as much. So, the first season is pretty light on kissing and intimacy between the male characters. Ossan's Love Returns is not! There's so much married intimacy between Haruta and Maki.

Twig

The casual intimacy in Ossan's Love Returns is constant, and it just feels very lived in? They're just constantly touching each other and having small kisses and teasing each other.

Ben

We got more of that today in the unexpected special spin-offs we're getting. I was like “ohh, I thought we were done. Oh, it's another cute little 20-minute office episode ending on the two of them making out next to the copier.” Love it.

NiNi

This is called Forbidden Gout Temps Nouveau. 

Twig

Mhmm.

NiNi

I have so many questions, but I feel like I should not ask those questions right now.

Ben

My general attitude is you don't need to watch all of Ossan's Love to enjoy parts of Ossan's Love. I think if you are interested in gay domesticity and complex family units, you can just watch Ossan's Love Returns right away.

NiNi

I'm watching it all. Eventually. I don't know when. There's a lot going on in the IRL space right now, but I'm gonna be watching the whole thing.

Twig

I feel like I should say something about the original short. It has a lot of the things that people found the hardest to swallow about season one. A lot of the stuff that they did originally they fixed or did better as they moved through. I would say the short is the thing to skip, of all of it, unless you're really curious about the journey of this franchise.

NiNi

I'm really fascinated by the idea of this as a reserve process of working through and refining the show in kind of a real time. I would like to see the whole thing just for that purpose. I'm a writer, so the way that this feels like multiple drafts, and you getting to actually see the multiple drafts to see why they might have decided to make a particular change in the next draft, or why they would have gone for an overhaul, or what would they have tweaked around the edges. I like the idea of looking at that.

Twig

It is not just the writing that they iterate. We haven't talked a lot about the visual effects that this show uses, but it has its own style. One of my favorites: it uses the bokeh effect, where the lighting in the background is blurred and sometimes takes shapes. It starts from the very beginning. You'll see the lights behind Kurosawa make little hearts while he's confessing to Haruta and Haruta’s has little like stop signs. [Ben laughs] And then they get bigger and bigger with that where Kurosawa’s hearts have little like heartbreak. They have– there’s little, like, zigzags in the hearts behind him when he gets rejected. Sometimes he'll be crying tear lights. That’s just one of the things that they play with in the different versions.

Ben

Naruse having that whole tantrum trying to get someone's attention for help? Then having that super cut of them screaming and then smash cutting to them just sitting at the table. There's like the courtroom audio stinger that dominates the first season that I fucking love [mimics the sound] thing that happens over the course of the whole season. It's so, so dramatic, and I'm like, “Is Judge Mathis gonna walk out? What is happening?”

Twig

Oh, and they do this thing where they hard cut to a visual metaphor like water leaking out of a water bottle or a pot boiling to represent the character’s emotions. There's so many visual moments. It's not just written well and acted well. It's also represented visually really well, and seeing how they experiment with that and how that changes. Like, the weird bobble heads we got in the AU season. I'm still not over those. I'm glad those didn't return.

Ben

It is not a perfect show. This is not a “Everybody was wrong. They should have watched all of this. Grab your pitchfork!” situation. This is not an easy show to love. If you can find your way to loving the show, I think it has been one of the most rewarding watches I've had in the genre since What Did You Eat Yesterday? 

Japanese BL is different from Thai BL. More experimental and weirder things are gonna happen over time if the series has a lot of leg in it, and Ossan's Love is one of those that has so much leg in it. Like the second season just ended, and I'd be okay if we don't see them again, but, I really hope we do.

Twig

Me too.

NiNi

All right, so let's get into ratings. I mean, is this the kind of thing that you rate? Instead of rating, let's rank. If you had to rank the different parts of the Ossan's Love franchise, how would you rank them? In terms of, for you, most enjoyable to probably the least enjoyable?

Ben

Well, the least enjoyable is the original special. It's the most rough and the hardest to swallow. I think the best season is the current one?

Twig

Yeah. I mean, for me, it's basically chronological order, I think. I struggle between the film and the AU ‘cause I like them for different reasons, and I struggled with them for different reasons. But I think Naruse tips it over there so that it stays ahead.

Ben

[Ben and Twig laugh] I love that mean twink!

Twig

He's just so great.

Ben

I don't know that I'd want to…rank them that way. I think each outing adds something to it. It's really a question of, do you like seeing people try to get together for the first time, or do you really like seeing people be together? For me, I'm very partial to Ossan's Love Returns because it's about gay life drama, which is what I’ve wanted for a while. And so I'm really fucking enjoying that.

Twig

Yeah, I love it when people have to figure out, “Now that we're in this relationship, how do we make this work?”

Ben

But I also love the AU season. I think the retooling of Haruta and Kurosawa is actually really helpful. I think taking a break from Maki is actually helpful for appreciating Haruta when you come back to them. I think you end up liking Haruta more by the time you get to Ossan's Love Returns and seeing the potential in him. The love people are trying to pour on to him in the current season is more accessible to me as a viewer because I got to spend time with Haruta growing to love him in the AU season.

Twig

I also just have affection for an entire season that seems to have basically been built off of like a throwaway reference to episode one, when Haruta says he's most attracted to stewardesses. And then, and also, like, maybe a pun because Kurosawa’s character is called bucho which means, like, manager essentially through all of the regular Ossan's Love stories. But in the AU he's kucho because he's a captain. And I think that's very funny.

Ben

In terms of my ratings, I'm looking at on MDL, I gave Ossan's Love and Ossan's Love Returns a 9. But I gave the AU season a 9.5. [Ben and Twig laugh] So, there's your answer.

Twig

There you go.

Ben

Twig, what did you rate the second season? I know ratings aren't always your thing, but did you give the second season a rating?

Twig

I didn't. If I was going to give it a rating. Ossan's Love Returns? Yeah, I’d give it a 9.

Ben

It's a 9 for me in that I think if you're into BL, you should watch the show, but I don't know that it is the most accessible show, so I don't want to give it a 10.

Twig

I think the thing about this show, too, is it's about multiple relationships. It's not just about Maki and Haruta, and I wouldn't even say their relationship dominates the story. So, to rank it against other BL as a romance narrative is quite difficult. It's about family and what that means in a queer context. Part of that is romance, but it's not even the biggest part? The family feels is what gets me about this series.

Ben

That's going to do it for Ossan's Love. We have succeeded at our mission. NiNi has agreed to watch the show. Twig and I got to unpack the entirety of this whole franchise. We have the benefit of knowing it gets better over time now, and so I don't begrudge people bouncing when they did in 2018. I think that in 2024, it is beneficial for people who care about the history of the genre to go back and properly engage with Ossan's Love. I genuinely think it is worth reconsidering your initial opinion. They… grow. Their characters are not static. What has occurred is taken seriously and what worked and didn't work is considered as they move forward.

NiNi

That is going to wrap us up on the Ossan's Love episode. Twig, it was so great having you on, and I hope you come back.

Twig

Thank you so much for having me. It was really fun.

NiNi

With that, we out. Say bye to the people, Twig.

Twig

Dispatch!👍

Ben

Dispatch! 👍

NiNi

At some point I'm going to find out what that means, and then I will be unstoppable. Say bye to the people, Ben.

Ben

Peace.

[eris-snow]

𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐓𝐨 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥

Tags: Revelation (Deku's birthday series 2024), izuku x fem!reader, angst, Starlight, Starlight standing up for herself, tags what

Masterlist

8th July. Sun, Stars and Light.

---

“Are you joking? I thought you’d be dead by now. Or given up.” Isamu Suzuki complains you step into the blinding white room.

Another year, another visit.

“Well boohoo,” you murmur, rolling your eyes as you sit down on the armchair opposite him. “Thought you would have died by now, old man. How’s prison life treating you? From the looks of it, not great. Hey, wanna bet to see who dies first? Winner gets bragging points and a one-way trip to hell. You look like the kind of guy who’d die the next day, honestly. You should consider pulling the plug, if you know what I mean. Hold your breath and count to a thousand. End your misery, you know?”

The haggard man blinks at you.

Running a hand through your hair, you slump down on the chair.

“I need…I need sleep.”

A nasty smirk curls onto Isamu’s lips. “Finally getting worn down, hm? And from the looks of it, little blondie cracklefire has left your side too.”

“He’s gonna get Zuku killed.” You muse. “I wanna stop it, but at the same time, I don’t really. Once Izuku sets his mind on something—“

“He never wavers,” The villain finishes impatiently. “Yeah, yeah, you’ve used me as your therapist way too many times. Don’t you have one back at your prestigious school? Just because I’m tied down here, doesn’t mean I want to listen to your hormonal problems. You fuck up my life 7 years ago. I ain’t giving you shit.”

“Well, you threw mine into the 4th dimension.” You grumble. “You reap what you sow, and then some.”

“I still have my brother fighting for his life out there,” Isamu says, and at that moment, even strapped down and crusty in a white suit he doesn’t own, he looks a little more…human. “Yeah, that’s right. Your glitter sparkles hero society have holes in big blabber mouth security guards.” The villain hums. “You’ve had trouble tracking him down, right?”

In the truth of the matter, you didn’t know much. After apprehending Isamu’s brother from the attack last year, you’d handed him off to the police for questioning. With school and internships, you’d barely paid attention to it when he went missing again. Apparently, Chisuke Suzuki snuck out using his Quirk, and by the time backup had arrived, there was simply a blood bath and three stacks of officers.

When they woke up, all officers were chronically depressed.

Chisuke’s Quirk was the erasure of one emotion from a victim. Or at least, that’s what it was last year. You should probably check the files more.

“My brother’s Quirk is more powerful than mine, and he knows how to get by,” Isamu says proudly. “At least if I hold on, I know he’ll be out there, waiting for me.”

His words slip a small pin to your heart, specifically and thoughtfully chosen. It hurt more than you thought, but you couldn’t let him drag you down now.

“What, no snarky feedback?” His eyes are blue, cold, hard and searching. “Never thought there’d come the day.”

A twig breaks. A tree falls. The camel’s back snaps in two.

“Is that what you want?” You explode, slamming a hand on the glass. Everything is hot, from your fingertips to your toes. “Me to give you a speech about how even though I royally fucked up, Izuku will find a way to regain his memories through the skin of his teeth because he’s Deku? Heroes give up too, god dammit! And maybe I deserve it, alright? What? What do you want to hear, asshole?”

You back down to the safety of your chair and heave a breath. “I need…” You whisper, shaking your head, “to give up properly.”

Isamu barks out a laugh. “7 years and finally, something interesting. Nah, keep going. I’ve waited too long for this.”

Watch me break.

Watch me crumble.

“Hey,” Isamu says cheerfully. “If you do want to be put out of your misery, let’s make a deal. You get me in touch with my brother, and I can get him to use his Quirk on you.”

Now, it was your turn to laugh. Maybe this guy has gone off the deep end. “Why would I do that?” you scoff.

“Because,” Isamu smirks. It’s an ugly smirk, with his yellowed, misaligned teeth.

“He can erase your love for that brat, you rascal.”

—

After school that day, Izuku takes the liberty of racing back to his room to dump out the Post-It notes on the floor of his dorm.

It was mind-boggling, and an out-of-body experience.

Scratchy scrawls line every note, his handwriting and his words all spilling out like it was a ritual he’d take part in come fire or hail.

I’m scared to die.

I don’t want to fight Shigaraki. I want to forgive him.

I’m scared I get left behind.

Personal feelings Izuku had never penned down were inked on yellow stickies, little nooks of his own insecurities all laid bare.

It’s difficult for me to admit these things.

Ochaco and I aren't a thing anymore, we fell out of love.

Slowly, Izuku pieces together who you once were to him.

Someone trustworthy, someone kind.

But not all were appropriate triggers, and those that were are diamonds in a mineshaft. Most things were trivial, and the few that caused bone-shattering agony to his mind never tripped anything right.

Gasping, he tugs his necktie off and closes his eyes in frustration. Sweat stains his wooden floor a darker brown, and his hope starts to fade. The last trigger has him seeing stars as he gently eases himself back down from insanity.

“Give them back…!” He whispers, scarred hands squeezing his head as he glares at himself in his standing wall mirror. “Give my memories back!”

In a fit of rage, he swings the tin box holding the systematically stacked notes against his bed.

A flurry of Post-it notes flutters around him as the box slams loudly against his bed frame. A false bottom pops out, and so does a new section of Post-its.

15 of them, and they’re dated from July 1st to 15.

—

“Erase my love for Izuku?” You had to give it to Isamu, his hunches were always spot on.

“You’re always so adamant about keeping your memories. Heck, I think if I find a way to use my Quirk on you, you’d find a way to resist its effect as you heroes do best. But emotions…” Isamu laughs. It’s not a nice laugh. “You can pay the price of millions of memories with just one emotion. It’d end your suffering.”

You falter, and he sees it like it’s white on black. “You won’t forget him, but you won’t know pain, either. It’d go poof,” Isamu says, eyes electrifying as he dishes out the offer with the finesse of a conman.

It’s tempting, of course it is. This whole time, Izuku had always stood by your side not knowing who you really were. You couldn’t bring yourself to love him properly, just as he deserved. He deserved someone there, someone who could enrapture him like the Aurora borealis instead of someone as plentiful as the stars in the night sky. Someone who could share memories with him for a long long time.

That someone wasn’t you.

Accepting this deal meant moving on. It meant leaving your feelings in your glade and finally…

be free.

Not free from the memories, but…in a different way.

But then, your resolve hardens like steel. “You have some nerve trying to bribe me over with that.”

You stand up, anger cooled to an eerily calm. The world is silent, it’s the ocean's depth at the seabed. “Every inch of me, I cherish it. The good, the bad, the terrible. To rip a feeling out of me? Using heartbreak as manipulation? That’s low even for you.” You scoff, fingers sliding over the glass. “If I move on from Izuku, that’s by me, and me alone. I will never accept your side payback that’s dressed up as charity, because I will never let Izuku go through the pain I did.”

Fire burns, a torch of eternal flame; your love for Izuku, cast out because even though it’s pretty, even though it hurts, no one will ever admire its beauty.

“Izuku’s strong, and so am I.” You whisper, eyes locking with his. “I do not need you.”

—

The note that triggers it is not the one he imagined.

I don’t like Kacchan calling you Shortie. Kacchan’s amazing and all, but he shouldn’t make fun of your height. P.s. I like the nickname Zuku, too! You don’t have to tell me why you started calling me that, I’m just glad you do. I can’t imagine you calling me anything else.

Even so, he thinks through it. Zuku? No one has ever called him that before. Kacchan calls you Shortie, he knows that. But why does he say he can’t imagine you calling him anything else?

“Nicknames from first year?” He whispers under his breath. “Maybe I lost my memories last year? My birthday, obviously…”

Where does this point to?

Why the Post-it notes?

What did he call you?

His brain explodes as he writhes in agony again. Blinding hot pain, wax melting his skull—

Starlight, His mind lapses.

There’s another image this time, one of a willow tree in the same field. The branches of it sway hypnotisingly slow, and he can feel the breeze even though he’s not present there.

In a sandbox, building sandcastles under the night sky. Your name is Starlight.

“Your name is Starlight.” He whispers, his mouth echoing the word as easy as he were to say Kacchan.

The fluorescent lights sizzle, and something breaks.

The next thing he knows, everything is black.

[watchinghallmark]

Summer Nights 2024 Lineup

The movies seem... interesting.

JUNEBUG

Saturday, August 3 (8 p.m. ET/PT) 

Starring: Autumn Reeser (The Wedding Veil), Aaron O’Connell (The Haves and the Have Nots)

When an eight-year-old version of herself starts appearing to her, Juniper (Reeser) begins to realize that her life is not what she had hoped it would be as a child. Young Junebug pushes Juniper to achieve her dreams, to start writing again, and to collaborate with the cute artist Alex (O’Connell) that she recently met to get her life back on track. 

🐞 I feel like this could be really cute. Autumn seems very excited about the project so hopefully that's a good sign.

MY DREAMS OF YOU

Saturday, August 10 (8 p.m. ET/PT) 

Starring: Skyler Samuels (Aurora Teagarden Mysteries), Kapil Talwalkar (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist)

Grace (Samuels) has recurring dreams about a handsome stranger named Michael (Talwalkar) due to a mix-up in Dream Central.  When they finally meet in person, Grace is shocked to learn he has no idea who she is.

😴 I'm really excited about this casting! Kapil was great in ZEP and it's great to finally see some diversity (Hallmark you're sucking so bad lately with that).It sounds like it could be fun and also a little nutty which I like.

A COSTA RICAN WEDDING

Saturday, August 17 (8 p.m. ET/PT) 

Starring: Rhiannon Fish (My Norwegian Holiday), Christopher Russell (Operation Nutcracker)

A clumsy maid of honor (Fish) gets help from her handsome nemesis (Russell) when things go awry at her best friend’s Costa Rican wedding.

🤵👰 The fact that they even describe her as clumsy... oof. Rhiannon can be hit or miss, especially when they have her play an idiot so often. Her paired with Chris is certainly not helping matters either.

THE MAGIC OF LEMON DROPS

Saturday, August 24 (8 p.m. ET/PT) 

Starring: Lyndsy Fonseca (Nikita), Ian Harding (Pretty Little Liars)

When Lolly’s (Fonseca) Aunt gives her three magical lemon drops, she gets to experience what her life would have been like if she had made different choices and lived those unfulfilled dreams.

🍋... what? I feel like this is code for some hallucinogenic drugs but ok. Love both actors though so I'm interested.

HEAD OVER HEELS

Saturday, August 31 (8 p.m. ET/PT) 

Starring: Rebecca Dalton (Good Witch), Olivier Renaud (Romance with a Twist)

A suburban girl at heart, Addison (Dalton), is off to prove herself in the world of high-end fashion footwear when she lands a life-changing internship at an Upper East Side studio leading up to the star-studded New York Fashion Week.  Addison is determined to hold onto her integrity and her family values while struggling to balance it all and forge a path to success and romance, although she may fall head over heels while trying to make her dreams come true.

👠Yawn.

JAZZ RAMSEY: A K-9 MYSTERY

Friday, August 2 (9 p.m. ET/PT) 

Starring: Rachel Skarsten (The Royal Nanny), Corey Sevier (Take Me Back for Christmas)

When Jazz Ramsey (Skarsten) and her crime detection dog Zeus stumble upon an old crime scene, the K-9 trainer, her star pup, and ex-boyfriend and lead detective Nick (Sevier) are thrown into the investigation.

🐶 Excited about this!

NELLY KNOWS MYSTERIES (wt)

Friday, August 23 (9 p.m. ET/PT) 

Starring: Pascale Hutton (When Calls the Heart), Kavan Smith (When Calls the Heart)

When an unusual handwritten letter arrives at Nelly’s (Hutton) office, she identifies the handwriting as belonging to her childhood friend Dahlia (Sarah Grey, The Secret Lives of College Freshman), claiming her boyfriend Blake (Julian Haig, Dial S for Santa) is being unfaithful.  Determined to help, Nelly wants some answers and rushes to Blake’s home only to find his dead body.  When Dahlia becomes the prime suspect, the new, handsome Detective in town, Michael Hogan (Smith) must work with Nelly to prove that her childhood friend is not the killer everyone believes her to be.

📫A Pascale and Kavan mystery??? It's all I've ever wanted!

What do you think about these movies? What are you most excited for?

[oinkinpigprince]

Is it bad if I request multiple times? I'm sorry!

But I was thinking about a Charlie dompler x reader were the reader is secretly like super violent when something really agrovates them. They are a slasher, like ghost face or something. And they had just found out about Charlie’s nose, and decides to visit James and repay the favour.

They were like really quiet and keeping inside how sad they were and Charlie noticed and when they where leaving he asked where they were going and they lie and say the store, so when they come back they brings his fav snacks

Lol next day Charlie sees James dead in the news paper, shhhhhhh he doesn’t know it was y/n

Pls and thank you

I might actually try this later, I have already drawn it

You’re fine, silly!! I’ve just been getting a crazy amount of requests so it takes me a while to get through them, I love it though, seeing each new request!! I’m always happy to see repeat costumers!!

Charlie x slasher reader

Tw: acts of violence and blood

Slashers had always been your favorite thing to watch. Charlie found it a bit funny how you gawked at the gory films telling you “if you wanna see real horror dude, you should go on liveleak” you just giggle

There was something always so alluring about the theatrics of it all. The style and humor in it that always entranced you, charlie never understood it but he wasn’t gonna yuck your yum

You were at home cleaning up the kitchen when you got a call from Charlie’s work saying he was in the hospital due to a work place accident. Without thought you rushed to the hospital to see him as quick as possible

When you finally got there, you were quite horrified to see a huge chunk of your boyfriend’s face completely ripped off. You quickly asked him what the fuck happened and he just said “there was a uh, interesting client today. Don’t-Don’t worry about it.”

You stayed the night with him but you couldn’t sleep, your thoughts brewed and steamed. You slept for a little bit but woke up, next to Charlie. He got released the next day and you took him home.

He could tell something was bugging you but you just told him you were fine as you got up to leave and he asked where you were going

Smiling you told him that you had some stuff to do but were going to get him some snacks and a drink. You were outraged though and quickly left for the smiling face head quarters, ready to figure out what happened

You did some snooping and possibly, probably, definitely illegal stuff but you got what you needed! You figured out who was responsible and was able to make a plan.

Once you got to James’ house it was night time, you had a knife and a Halloween mask. You felt giddy and infuriated as you broke into the house. Sneaking through you crept down the hall to a living room where James was throwing knifes at the wall haphazardly

You were a little intimidated by how big the guy was, but you craved revenge and blood. Knowing you had to quickly get the job done you attack fast. But he saw you too early and got the jump on you

It was a struggle, he punched wildly and you had to try and maneuver around him. You were too quick and you finally got him, laughing in his face as you snuffed him out

Getting out as fast as you could you left and went to a nearby gas station to pick up a few things for Charlie. Getting home you and Charlie snacked on some chips and candy while watching The Black Christmas

It wasn’t til a week later you and Charlie were getting ready for work and watching the news. When you heard a headline that made your skin crawl with satisfaction

“34 yr old James lastname was found dead in his house on may 18 2024.” The report had no witnesses, no evidence, and too many leads. You could see Charlie’s eyes widen but you had to feign ignorance

“That, that was the guy who fucking ripped off my nose. Holy shit he’s dead?” He panicked, more shocked than anything.

You acted shocked and appalled. “Jesus, I guess you weren’t the only person he’s hurt.” You gasped, putting a hand on your heart “well, good riddance I’d say. That man was a fucking psycho.” You continued, choking down laughter

Charlie shrugged and you two finished getting ready. Satisfied and peaceful.

[radioactivedragonbones]

Back In The Ol' Days [2014] we had the punk/nerd AU... but I have my gripes with the PNAU; it feels outdated to me. In 2014 I ate that shit up, but it's 2024 and the rampant micro-trends have me re-thinkin modern Hijack portrayals...

So here I am to propose a new PNAU: Grunge X Emo.

Hiccup as a cozy grunge kind of guy- basically just classic comfy casual clothes but with earthy tones, ripped up jeans covered in motor oil stains, and loose flannel shirts over worn-out tees.

Jack as a casual emo kind of guy- Skinny jeans with rips (often on the end of the legs cause they annoy them when they're too long), tight band tees, and his classic hoodie he can disappear into the shadowy hood of to sulk.

Elaboration ⬇️

I think it could be fun to explore the way Hiccup has a ton of hand-me-downs and spends a lot of time patching up old clothes, or adding custom painted patches to his bags. Maybe he knows how to sew just from patching/mending. I like that in the movies we see him doing bith heavy work in the forge, and having gentle hands as an artist. I think he'd be good at a ton of different diy skills and put them to practical use with his wardrobe.

In canon, Hiccup does have a lot of leftist and punk ideology; The Edge is literally equal-ownership equal-imput everyone else just decides he runs the show. And he literally changes the dominant mindset of the society he lives in to better the life of both his people and the ones they've been at war with for decades. Hes pretty punk... but I don't see him going so far aesthetically as to be a full Spiky Punk TM. He's always on the move, working on something, or chilling outside with Toothless, so I think a more casual comfortable style suits him. Though I do think he would like jackets with extra straps and buckles on the pockets and stuff, and maybe a good belt bag + leatherman combo. Totally the type to always have a pocket knife. He'd paint himself patches and slap a few of em on his bags, coats, maybe over that burn hole in his jeans that's been annoying him. He'd favor practicality over aesthetic, but he still has a sense of style. As he gets older he probably leans into the edgier style, wearing more black and red combos, more strappy belts/coats/bags, and even gets a few tattoos. But I do see him as a grungey earthy engineering guy with comfy, often oversized silhouettes.

Jack I could see being super impulsive and latching onto pop culture; something emos were notorious for. I, personally, was clamoring for a branded tee shirt the moment I deemed a band good enough to youtube->mp3 to my ipod. I could see Jack doing that kind of thing, and latching onto this misunderstood invisible-yet-visibly-different identity. He probably favors dark blue, brown, and black. Deffinitely the type to get on the colored jeans trend when it hit. Maybe he even doodles little swirling patterns on his clothes when he's bored- an adhd habit I know all too well.

Without being, yanno, dead, Jack's Different Look would probably come just from him wanting to express himself. He feels isolated and finds it hard to make lasting friends because when people *do* notice him, they tend to see him more as a silly little jester than a person worth getting to know. He copes with humor and trying to get attention every now and again but ends up with a closer knit group of oddballs. He's good with kids, of course, and tends to take on a cool-big-brother to anyone in need of one. All of this playing into this casual and easy-going but edgy, kinda emo look. He probably listens to sad emo music while sitting on a roof, staring at the moon, contemplating his purpose in life. He pretty much does that in his movie so it isn't much of a stretch lol.

Anyways, feel free ro give your 2 cents and build onto or off of this as you please, I'm just brainstorming I guess. Thinkin aloud... visually. I tend to like psychoanalyzing characters and it's interesting to me to think of Hic & Jack's canon portrayals and what they would mean in a modern-human AU.

[burningfudge]

Buckynat in the Ultimate Universe

The new Ultimate universe has been fantastic, and I'm thoroughly enjoying every single Ultimate comic right now, especially Ultimates and Ultimate Spider-Man, which are easily the best Marvel comics at the moment, in my opinion. But I was also thinking about how Bucky & Natasha could be introduced in this new universe.

So, for those who haven't read the original Ultimate comics, Bucky and Natasha have quite a...colorful background, especially Natasha. Bucky is an old ass man who is married to Gail Richards, Steve's former fiancée from the 40s, and had a huge family with her. Steve and Bucky were childhood friends as compared to Bucky being Steve's kid sidekick in 616. This is also where the MCU took inspiration from. Bucky was never the Winter Soldier because Ultimates released in 2002, three years before Bucky was reintroduced as the Winter Soldier in 616.

Natasha, on the other hand...god, where to begin. Much like her 616 counterpart, she was a part of the KGB and then eventually "defected" to SHIELD. However, she eventually turned out to be a traitor, helping invade America because she wanted to take down the country that "crippled and turned Mother Russia into a bankrupt nation of hookers and gangsters." Plus, she was engaged to Tony Stark, playing him the entire time. Additionally, she was also involved in murdering Hawkeye's family, causing Clint to eventually kill her in revenge for murdering his family. So...not great.

So where are Bucky and Natasha in the new Ultimate universe?

Not present.

It was revealed that Bucky is dead in Ultimate Invasion (2023), but I don't think that's true. Or maybe I'm just being delusional. But Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch, was also labeled as deceased but Steve brought him back to life. I know that's easier since Jim's an android, but still! And as shown in Ultimates #4, the rest of the FF are brutally dead, but I think Reed will bring them back, so why can't Bucky come back? And even if he does come back, I think he'll be the Winter Soldier like 616 and not a regular old man like 1610. Steve, unfortunately, has not mentioned him yet.

I believe Natasha's future will be far more optimistic, however. She was a large part of the original Ultimates team, which the MCU took inspiration from for the first Avengers movie. The OG Ultimates were Steve, Tony, Thor, Clint, Natasha, Bruce, Hank, and Janet. As of Ultimates (2024) #4, the new Ultimates team is Steve, Tony, Thor, Sif, Reed, Hank, Janet, America Chavez, and Lejori Joena Zakaria (She-Hulk), so that's pretty similar! Hawkeye will show up in the next issue, so it's only time until Black Widow shows up too.

But thematically, it's only natural for Natasha to arrive soon since much of Earth 6160 revolves around fascism, geopolitics, and the idea of reclaiming your future, which I think Natasha is perfect for because so much of her future was taken from her as a child. Plus, the Eurasian Republic (where Russia is located) is being ruled by the Rasputin siblings as part of the Maker's Council, so the irony of a Rasputin vs a Romanoff is just too funny for me to ignore, and Hickman and Camp will be aware of it as well. And since Natasha was still loyal to Russia in the OG Ultimate universe, I think it only makes sense if she wasn't in the new Ultimate universe. It's a nice contrast to Steve as well because he's Captain America, but America doesn't exist anymore. What does a soldier with no country fight for? Similarly, Russia doesn't exist either. They're both from countries that don't exist thanks to the Maker.

So much of Natasha's history has been tied to Russia and America, but now neither one of them is relevant, so where does she go from here? I'm assuming she'll still have her regular backstory with the Red Room/KGB and then defect, but I think it would be really interesting if she defects from the Eurasian Republic in this universe and eventually helps the Ultimates. The Ultimates are in sore need of a spy/agent, and Natasha's the best one.

Basically, I don't think Buckynat will be a thing in the new Ultimate universe :(

[may-bonne]

fast & furious ships on ao3 - statistical dump

i have no idea if anyone else finds this interesting, but i have graphs!

big brian/dom resurgence in 2023, which i'm guessing comes more from the old films coming to international netflix than from the fast x release (since you can see that f9 barely slowed the drop in 2021). in general, there was an explosion of fic in 2023, and i think that'll continue into 2024.

the hobbs/shaw juggernaut is pretty firmly on the decline after outpacing brian/dom for four years straight, but maybe a sequel will turn that around.

the dom/letty and mia/brian trends follow each other pretty closely, which i think is unsurprising. there's a mia/brian bump in 2011 from fast five, but dom/letty's been the dominant het ship since 2016. i'm expecting a big dom/letty surge in 2024.

letty/mia's been on the rise in the last two years, but 83% of that fic is by me. tragically, i don't think it'll stay the second-most-popular ship in 2024 unless someone else starts writing it, since realistically, i can only put out about 40 letty/mia fics per year.

mia/vince had an absolute banner year in 2023, which is kind of funny to me.

hobbs/shaw never made that much of a dent, basically; brian/dom is really (unsurprisingly) the dominant ship.

letty/mia doesn't show up as a secondary ship to dom/brian very often, even though you would think that would make sense. a lot of the time, letty's dead or mia's back in LA, which might explain it.

for whatever reason (one prolific author, maybe?), brian/vince fic without brian/dom peaked in 2017.

the het ships (excepting han/gisele) are almost always secondary - although there are about a hundred fics tagged with both mia/brian and dom/letty but not dom/brian that aren't shown here. mia/vince doesn't have a single otp:true fic on ao3. dom/letty and mia/brian peaked pretty much when you'd expect: 2009 and 2011, with the fourth and fifth movies.

letty/mia's been the second-most-popular otp:true ship for the last two years, but unfortunately, 98% of that fic is by me.

i do track the poly ships too, but they're so inconsistently tagged that it's pretty hard to visualize any trends.

anyway, invest in brian/dom and dom/letty, hold your letty/mia and mia/brian, and dump your hobbs/shaw if you haven't already! i thought aimes/reyes might become a hobbs/shaw-style secondary juggernaut, but it really hasn't taken off the way i was expecting.

[anarchyrpbook]

FALLOUT (TV SERIES, 2024): Episode Five Feel free to edit the sentences, places, pronouns, etc, as you need. NSFW TW: Mentions of violence, drugs, cannibalism

“I thought I was dead meat.”

“Wait, you should brand me.”

“Don’t leave me in here!”

“I kill you! I swear I’ll kill you.”

“That was you, right? Back in [location]?”

“Please, can you please let me out.”

“Believe me, I really want to trust you, but I’ve had a rough week.”

“Hey, you’ve got radiation sickness.”

“You can have it if you let me out.”

“I really want to believe you but practically every person I’ve met out here has tried to kill me, so.”

“Listen, hey, if you don’t get this medicine, you’re gonna pass out, okay? And if you lose consciousness, we’re both gonna die.”

“Trust me, please. Please.”

“I’ve seen these in old engineering manuals, but never in real life.”

“Look, you could have been lying about the medicine, and you weren’t. And you could have killed me when I collapsed back there, and… You didn’t.”

“I get that trust doesn’t come easy here, but you can trust me.”

“I’m from a place where the worst someone can do to you is forget to say thank you.”

“Sounds like a nice way to live.”

“I just feel that in times of crisis, you need someone with experience.”

“Hey, its your vote, no hard feelings.”

“Oh, who am I kidding.”

“Hey, can I ask you for a favor?”

“Also, you thought you would just show up to a warlord with no armor, and no help, and just expect them to hand over a hostage to you?”

“Okay, uh, I think we’re all feeling some tension. Yeah? A little stress? Uh, so why don’t we all take a deep breath?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“We already said we don’t have any weapons.”

“You’ve been shot.”

“It’s just a scratch, happens all the time.”

“What’s a Fiend?”

“It’s people who eat people.”

“I hate it here.”

“I don’t know why, they just do.”

“If it’s not at all worrisome, then why are we whispering?”

“Gee, I don’t know.”

“Maybe the mashed potatoes were a little better.”

“Must be true then.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, it didn’t work out.”

“It’s the same thing that always happens. Everyone wants to save the world, they just disagree on how.” 

“I wonder if anyone survived.”

“This is more than just a graze.”

“We are the lucky ones, we are the light burning in the darkness.”

“Find anything interesting?

“It’s okay, we’ll be alright.”

“What is this place?”

“We’re in the best place in the world, we’re in a vault.”

[dailydemonspotlight]

Datsue-Ba - Day 134

Race: Femme Alignment: Neutral-Chaos October 23rd, 2024

In several underworlds in many mythologies throughout the world, there are more figures than just the god of the dead, his companions, and the souls of the damned. Of course, demons come to mind to many, and they are the namesake of basically every monster in the SMT series, but even outside of the circles of Abrahamic belief there lie many creatures that haunt the hallowed halls of the dead. Today, we're turning back immediately to Yomi, however, as another figure that lies in the Buddhist underworld is today's Demon of the Day- Datsue-Ba, literally meaning "Old woman who strips clothes." Yep, it's gonna be a weird one, so sit tight.

Datsue-Ba are well established in Buddhist literature, appearing first all the way back during 11th century Japan, with our first concrete source being in the traditional Buddhist text the Hokke Genki, a story dating back all the way to the 1040's! Among the many tales consisting of the collection, Datsue-Ba appears in the story 'Renshū Hōshi,' wherein the titular monk Renshu ends up dying of an illness and meets a Datsue-Ba at the banks of the river to cross into the realm of the dead. She speaks to him, saying,

“Know this! This [place] is the Sanzu River 三途河 (Three Ford River) and I am an old lady of the Sanzu River. Take off your clothes, and I will let you cross.”

However, upon realizing that the monk had a devote connection to the Lotus Sutra, also known as the most foundational text to Buddhist belief overall, she bows in respect to the man and he returns to life. However, this is far from her only appearance, as the Datsue-Ba appears reoccurringly throughout several other pieces of Buddhist literature. She also appears in the text 'Jizō Jūō Kyō', though I admittedly can't find much about this text itself. In the text, Datsue-Ba is mentioned yet again, however, in much the same role as mentioned in the Hokke Genki, being a hag who sits by the waterside in the underworld and who steals something from someone as they pass by. The text also, interestingly, puts her under the reign of the Ten Kings... who I'll probably have to talk about someday, huh.

Curiously, now in her more important role, she steals things from the dead specifically in relation to how much they stole in their life. To quote the text's translation,

"Under the tree, two demons live. One of them is Datsueba, the other Keneō 懸衣翁. The hag demon breaks the fingers of both hands [of the dead] in reproof of the theft that [he or she] committed [when alive]. [...] All the dead are gathered under the tree. The hag demon strips away their clothes, and the male demon hangs the clothes on the tree branches. [By doing so, both demons] expose the gravity of [the sinners’] crimes and transfer them to the court of the next king."

This specific role of judging sinners is carried over to many future interpretations of the character, wherein she serves as a sort of moral judge to those who have passed, specifically in the way that she steals their clothes. Her generally agreed upon appearance is also somewhat similar to her design in SMT, though it differs in a few key aspects; agreed upon designs paint her as a withered old hag with exposed ribs, likely pulling from her more traditionally monstrous design in some traditional Buddhist texts, such as the Shiwang Jing scripture which depicts her as an ogre alongside the male demon she works with. Later depictions, influenced by the Jizō Jūō Kyō, paint her as a decrepit demon with sagging breasts.

This clearly influenced the SMT design for the demon, as Datsue-Ba in the series is a withered old woman surrounded by white, long hair. Her blindfold may be a connection to the idea of justice being blind, as the Datsue-Ba does enforce justice, in a way. I'm not sure what the giant paddle on her head says or represents, though, so if anyone can translate it, I'd be so glad. Still, the Datsue-Ba is an incredibly interesting demon and one that I wish we saw more in the series, as she only appears in Nocturne to my knowledge.

[dangraccoon]

Still Remember

Day 8 ~ forgotten ~ (Alt. Prompt)

Crosshair

Word Count: 590 Content: torture, electric shock, injury, CX-Tech

Crosshair could feel that his eye was bruised and swollen as he groggily opened them. 

“You are awake,” the gruff voice of the clone assassin noted. “Perhaps you are more willing to answer my questions now, CT-9904.”

Crosshair glared at the CX-2. He spat at his feet. 

“How disappointing.”

Crosshair’s ribs pinched, his breathing heavy and ragged. He knew he was going to die here, but he would do so willingly if it meant Omega would be safe.

“It is quite interesting,” CX-2 said, igniting a shock stick. “You have formed such a strong attachment to a being for whom you could not care less only a year prior.”

The assassin turned sharply on his heel, the shock stick mere inches away from Crosshair’s chest. He didn’t flinch or struggle, choosing to stare into his enemy’s dark visor. 

The stick was pressed to his stomach, yet he didn’t scream as the waves of electricity rolled through him. His body shook and strained against the restraints.

“Though what I find more interesting is the loyalty you show to your old squad,” CX-2 continued after he removed the shock stick.

Crosshair fought to catch his breath as the restraints were all that held him upright. His waning weight pulled down against his wrists, lifted and restricted on either side of his head. Between the fatigue and his broken ankle, his legs were doing practically nothing to support him. 

“Even after they knew of the inhibitor chips’ ability to alter a clone’s mind, they still abandoned you on Kamino. CT-9994, you must be aware that during Omega’s time on Tantiss, she was never harmed. It is well known that she came to visit you quite often. You could easily tell me her location as revenge on your former sergeant.”

Crosshair glared, straining against the binders. 

“No one fought for you,” the assassin continued. “Except for… one.”

Crosshair failed at hiding his confusion. 

“One of them fought with the others to bring you back, to force you back onto the ship. The one person who had always been by your side, Crosshair.”

Crosshair’s eyes widened. Not once in the… three? Maybe four days he’d been imprisoned had the other man called him by anything but his number. CX-2 was setting the shock stick down, and had begun to remove his helmet. 

“Your twin,” he muttered. “The one brother who was always in your corner. The one who would give his own life for the chance of finding you. You have forgotten him, but I will ensure you remember.”

The helmet was set on the table and Crosshair realized he was face to face with a twisted reflection. 

The clone before him stood at his height. His face and build were so similar. His light hair had been buzzed down to the skin like Crosshair’s own had when he was with the Empire. Instead of seeing his own reticle tattoo, gnarly circles of scars ringed his eyes where his goggles should have been. 

“Tech?” was the first thing out of Crosshair’s mouth in the last few days, his voice hoarse and coming as barely a whisper. 

“No, I am CX-2,” he answered. His voice was almost the same as Crosshair remembered, but it was missing its melodic quality. “‘Tech’ died on Eriadu.”

“Y-you’re—”

“‘Tech’ died looking for you.”

“You’re still my brother,” Crosshair rasped, pleading with his twin. “I won’t leave you behind. Tech, I still remember you.”

“‘Tech’ is dead,” CX-2 asserted. “You will soon join him.”

The shock stick thrust into his chest.

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Thanks for reading! - River

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