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wichols · 5 years ago

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Ah! Just saw you’re about to close bingo prompts so lemme see if I could squeeze one in ^~^ Something I’d love to see is the whole “fire exposes our priorities” thing — like maybe one of the themed days in the host club goes wrong and suddenly there’s a fire?? What are each of the members’ first reactions? Love your writing!!

Anon, this prompt. This one got me. I spent many days just sitting and staring at a blank document contemplating my life choices. I seriously almost made this into a Headcanon instead of a one-shot. Like had inspiration not struck with a decent plot it was gonna be headcanon time. But fortunately enough it struck and now you have this monster of a one-shot. I hope you don’t mind that I took them outside of the club room but I just couldn’t get myself to write this as a club room activity. It still has their reactions and I hope you enjoy the fun banter I included in the beginning. I think it is the most fun I have had writing interactions between the hosts. Enjoy!

Burning Intentions (All Host Members)

The last rays of light dipped behind the pine trees plunging the Morinozuka mountain vacation home into darkness. Heavy snowflakes danced between branches and settled silently onto the peaked clusters forming around the surrounding landscape.

“Wow, Takashi, the snow looks so pretty!” Honey beamed with excitement. “I thought Kyo-chan said it was only supposed to snow a little and that looks like more snow than even he predicted. Takashi! What happens if it snows so much that we get stuck here!?!” Honey chirped happily while watching the snow falling outside.

“Mitsukuni.” His eyes shifted from the unfolding scene outside to his cousin.

“I know Takashi! I know. We get more slumber party time!”

Before he could interject the blond-haired boy bounded down the hallway disappearing into his designated room. Voices could be heard floating into the hallway as Mori made his rounds checking in on the other hosts. He had to laugh at the types of conversations he was overhearing. His attention was directed first to the current third-year club members.

“No way in hell.” Haruhi chided the twins.

“We know the way to hell and you are more than welcome to join us on the journey.” They snickered back at her.

“Pass, I will be double checking my door to make sure it is locked tonight. There will be no trio cuddle party. And the last time you pulled that stunt I got no sleep while you bastards slept like the dead.” She scolded.

“Please, we promise to be good this time?” They whine through pouted lips.

“You guys would classify yourselves as good? Need I also remind you of the last time you forced your way into my bed that you suffered from a little ‘morning issue’.” Forming air quotes with her hands.

“I wouldn’t consider our morning issues ‘little’ if that’s what you’re insinuating.” Hikaru air quoted mocking her back. “Who’s to say that some part of you actually enjoyed our morning surprise? What girl wouldn’t want two sinfully looking men curled up in her bed happy to see her in the morning?”

“A girl with more than two brain cells. Now get out and let me finish unpacking, if I let you stay you will know where I put everything and hide it so I have to wear what you two brought for me.” Pushing them away from the doorframe she slammed and locked the door securing herself inside the room without wandering eyes.

“Hey, Mori-senpai thanks for letting us stay at your cabin! This will be another fun weekend!” Kaoru waved as he watched Mori continue his inspection of the sleeping arrangements.

Mori’s attention was then directed to Kyoya’s foot tapped in an irritating cadence while Tamaki lamented about the twins trying to sleep with Haruhi in her bed.

“Tamaki, so help me, if you do not give me some space this weekend to breathe air I will suffocate you with my laptop charger before we leave. Not only that but I will drop your body off a sheer cliff, never to be found again. Do I make myself clear?” His fingers continued to push keys down in rapid succession while his eyes watched Tamaki step outside his room.

“Crystal.” Tamaki squeaked while tiptoeing out of the room.

Just as Mori was about to turn and head towards the kitchen Honey swung open his door, revealing his pink bunny onesie, declaring, “ jammies and coco time in the solarium!” The short host giggled as he rushed past the others, with Usa-chan in tow, heading towards the east wing of the cabin.

“You heard Honey-senpai! Jammies and coco are waiting!” Tamaki began to fling an assortment of clothes from several drawers looking for a suitable pair of pajamas before rushing into and out of the bathroom following close behind Honey.

“Hika, if we are quick we can make Haruhi wear the special set we brought her!” Sharing equally devious looks the twins went rushing towards their room only to be thwarted by Haruhi emerging from her room in a pair of bland colored sweat pants and an oversized hoodie.

“Too late.” She smiled victoriously at her comfortable state of dress.

“Oh god it’s worse than we thought!” Each twin gripping the other in support of their disgust.

“Better get dressed sooner rather than later or else Honey-senpai will finish off the coco before you even get to the solarium.”

“He wouldn’t.” Pausing to wonder further. “Would he?” Karou questioned.

Arching a brow, she flashed them an evil grin. “I wouldn’t put it past him.”

“HURRY Hika! We have to get there before he drinks all the coco!” A slam of the door and clamoring bodies could be heard shuffling around in search of pajamas.

“Mori-senpai, I hate to bother but could you show me the way to the solarium? I have a feeling it will take the twins longer than expected to get ready.”

“Sure, follow me.” Walking in tandem they quietly made their way through the main living area and down another hallway.

“Mori-senpai?”

“Hn?”

“Why do you have a glass solarium attached to the cabin?”

Lifting a brow, he glanced down at the female host. Finding no ulterior motives written on her face he began, “vacation for the Morinozuka’s means spending a substantial amount of time reflecting and meditating. By building the solarium we are not limiting ourselves by the weather but retain the ability to connect with nature through all types of seasons. In this case, Mitsukuni suggested using the sunken seating and fire pit to watch the snow falling.”

“Cool idea in theory but isn’t it dangerous to have a fire going inside an enclosed space?”

Ruffling the top of her head he gestured towards Honey and Tamaki already wrapped up in blankets, snuggled deep into the cozy couches surrounding the small fire pit built in the center of the room.

“Woah.” Her eyes sparkled as she soaked in the unique view of the room. Walking wordlessly to the edge of the room she tentatively placed her palms against the cooled glass. “It’s like I am outside without being outside. Like I am still a part of nature.” Had it not been snowing there would have been no way she couldn’t distinguish where the glass ended. “I would love to be in this room when it’s bright and sunny!” Face beaming with delight at the house’s owner.

Leaving the three hosts to enjoy their time together, he made his way back to the west wing to change into his own pajamas but not before he was passed by a pair of squabbling brothers in matching sleepwear following an unusually empty-handed Kyoya. Making quick work he changed and joined back up with the other hosts huddled around the fire pit. Mug in hand he took the open seat between Mitsukuni and Kyoya.

“Takashi, this was such a good idea! The coco is so yummy!! Even yummier when sipped in front of the fire!” Honey cheered.

The other hosts nodded and hummed in agreement, mesmerized by juxtaposition of the snowstorm raging on the other side of the glass and the light whipping of flames of the fire, comfortable silence fell between them as they listened to the crack and pop of the burning wood.

“I have an idea.” The feminine voice broke through the silence. “Mori-senpai said that his family built this to use for meditation. Why don’t we all start our weekend off right by allowing for some quiet reflection?” Posing the request to the rest of the group.

“Boring!” The twins chimed as they nuzzled into either side of Haruhi’s neck. “How about we pre-game for tonight’s cuddle party and start it now?”

“No thanks. The only cuddling that is happening this weekend is right now and it’s between myself and Usa-chan that was offered to me.”

“Splendid idea Haruhi. Though instead of getting in the usual meditative position how about we give ourselves some space on the couches and focus on the sky above us? It’s not every day that we have the opportunity to watch the snow fall in such a whimsical manner.” Kyoya in pleasant agreement, for he himself was in desperate need of some quiet time after Tamaki’s outbursts from earlier.

Pushing the two bodies closest to her away, each member settled back into their comfortable quiet while craning their necks to stare into the flurry of the darkened sky. All that filled the room was the ambient noise of the crackling fire, the host’s steadied breathing, and the low howl of the wind outside. The serene atmosphere soothed the aching souls that sought the refuge of the remote cabin away from the bustling demands of the outside world. Minutes passed as a singular loud pop of the fire caused their bodies to flinch and settle back into a quiet calm.

Eyes still swept up in the dancing snow, Hikaru’s voice broke the silence. “What smells like burning?"

“Shh.” Haruhi shushed.

“But really something smells like it is burning.”

"Well, we are sitting by a fire..." Kyoya said in his usual sarcastic tone.

"No this smells different less like burning wood and more like, more like, burning fabric..." Hikaru audibly making sniffing sounds.

Everyone’s heads snapped to the source of the unpleasant smell. A look of horror flashed across their faces to the growing flame of Haruhi’s blanket. Momentarily stunned at the realization of their on fire maiden the friends quickly jumped into action.

“HARUHI YOU’RE ON FIRE!” Hikaru screamed while grabbing one of her arms trying to drag her body out from under the blanket.

“Here let me help! Let me help!” Joining in on his brother’s efforts, Kaoru pushed the remaining part of the blanket off her torso and let it pool in a heap of flaming fabric next to the fire pit.

Struggling against the ‘helping hands’ Haruhi flailed her legs desperately trying to regain her sense of direction. “Knock it off guys! You’re pulling too hard!”

“No! Usa-chan! Someone save Usa-chan!” Honey pleaded.

Hearing his cousin’s desperate plea Mori jumped across the open fire pit and snatched up the falling pink bunny before it tumbled onto the pile of growing flames.

“DON’T WORRY HARUHI DADDY WILL SAVE YOU!!” Springing into action Tamaki grabbed the offending blanket and sprinted through the solarium towards the front door.

“TAMA-CHAN! TAMA-CHAN! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?? YOU’RE GONNA CATCH TAKASHI’S WHOLE HOUSE ON FIRE!” Honey yelled as he followed closely behind the frantic host king. While Mori trailed behind clutching Usa-chan, stomping out a small trail of flames.

“Well this night just got more idiotic than I ever anticipated.” Kyoya grumbled. “Haruhi are you hurt in any way?” He asked looking at the shaken woman caught between the tangled arms of the twins.

“Seriously guys let me go. No, Hikaru, for the last time, my legs did not burn off. Kaoru, do something, besides velcroing yourself around my waist.” She droned. “I’m fine Kyoya-senpai, really. I didn’t even realize it was my blanket that caught fire until Hikaru screamed it into my face.”

“Sorry about that. It was the first thing that popped into my head. But really you should be falling into my arms because I was the one that actually saved you.”

“Don’t forget that I helped too!” Kaoru squeezing even tighter around Haruhi’s waist.

Before she could respond, a proud Tamaki walked gallantly back into the solarium declaring, how he ‘vanquished the beast that tried to harm his Haruhi.’

“What exactly did you do with it?” She asked.

“I figured that since it was snowing outside and snow is frozen water, and really fire belongs outside. So, I tossed the on fire blanket out into the snow.” Puffing his chest proudly at his logical explanation.

Honey stormed past Tamaki, flopping himself back on the couch. “Yeah, but not before Takashi had to stomp out all the little spots of burning blanket that you left behind in your wake of heroism. Had he not been following you, Tama-chan, you would have caught something else on fire.” He rebuked. Glancing around his eyes went wide. “Usa-chan? Did someone save Usa-chan??”

“Mitsukuni.” Mori approached him with Usa-chan hanging limply in his outstretched hand.

“Thanks, Takashi!” Beaming brightly at Usa-chan’s savior.

Finally peeling herself out of the twins hold, Haruhi huffed. “Too much excitement for one night, I’m going to bed.”

“We’ll come with you to make sure you make it back to your room ok.” The twins offered.

“Kyoya-senpai.” She glared over her shoulder.

“Hikaru. Kaoru. I believe it is in your best interest to let Haruhi go back to her room, alone.” Giving his darkest Shadow King look as they sat back down onto the couch.

An audible gulp could be heard by all as Haruhi left the room.

Letting his look soften, Kyoya noted the various expressions on the other’s faces making a mental note to himself. Some people in this room just revealed a lot more about themselves than they possibly ever intended. But two things I know for sure now is that one, Tamaki is still an overreacting idiot and two, there are those still sitting around the fire that are still madly in love with Haruhi.

#OHSHC #ohshc fanfiction #haruhi fujioka #Kyoya Ootori #mitskuni haninozuka #takashi morinozuka #tamaki suoh #hikaru hitachiin #kaoru hitachiin #100 hits bingo

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venus-says · 5 years ago

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Kamen Rider OOO Episodes 33-48 + Movie

And the Journey goes on.

Yes, I'm late. Things happened in the weekend that kinda slowed me down, I also still don't know how to properly write about endings so please bear with me. XD Since I'm posting this a little later I decided to include the movie already so it kinda makes up for the late upload.

This final point of OOO can basically be divided into two parts, the set-up for the end and the ending per se. So since there's this division I'll be dividing this review into parts as well, tackling first the movie, then the first "half", and the finale for last.

Starting with the movie, I think it was decent, it had nothing that made me overly excited about but it was quite entertaining. I don't have many reference points for Kamen Rider movies, but I think I liked OOO's movie more than I liked W's because it felt like something isolated but at the same time it felt part of the story, you know? Like, if this was split in a two-parter special and aired anywhere in between episodes 36 and 38 it would feel like part of the original progression of the story and not like an event that was completely isolated from the show. I don't know if I'm making myself understandable or not, but it was neat at least for me.

I don't think this movie had a message that it was trying to pass if they had I sure didn't pick up, but everything was so cool in it that I think it's more than okay. I liked the alchemist on her human form, her minions were quite fun, I also love the way she used her powers to gather cell medals, she was a good one-off villain. The movie-only power-up was decent, I like the design, I love that is very orange, and I like theme of the animals (I would love to see what GREED would come out of this medals), I think the Cobra powers were a little cringe and I still don't buy the backstory of this medals, but as a one-off power-up, it works.

For the things I don't like about this movie, I would say it's basically the action? I think it was very lackluster and a bit confusing at times. I really don't like the final fight, I think the alchemist worked better as a humanoid rather than a giant CG monster and I can't remember much of what happened there, I also think the whole thing of the GREED appearing to offer help is not very realistic to their characters, but it gives for a very awesome scene with all forms of OOO fighting together, I still don't think is something that would happen like that but it was cool as heck I can't deny it. The last point I don't like is Fourze, but I'll keep my points for the first Fourze review.

With the movie out of the way let's talk about the first portion of these episodes covering episodes 33 to 42. I think these are very interesting episodes, I have a few minor issues but overall is a good sequence of episodes and they give a proper build-up for the finale. What is more interesting to me is how the lore of the GREED was expanded on and how dark and sad GREED's lives are and how horrifying the process of becoming a GREED is. What hits me the most about the GREED transformation process is that this is happening to a character I like so much and seeing Eiji going through all of that really hurts because he's a precious boy and it hurts me to see him suffer. I also like having this new info because it gives us some explanation for why Ankh is such a jerk and why he clings to Shingo's body so much making him more sympathetic which they really needed to be able to pull off the ending in such a solid way as they did.

There are only two major things I don't like about these specific episodes. The first one is the GREED revive/reunion, when I first saw that Uva was trying to revive Mezool and Gamel I was very excited to see all GREED together again, but then they're revived and they do nothing relevant after it until their utter defeat. Their betrayal to Uva after their revival brought a very interesting point later on, but other than that the other Ankh and Dr. Maki were the only ones to do something relevant so it gave me that constant feeling of "why?" in the back of my head when thinking of them.

My other problem with it is Gotou becoming Birth. Gotou's arc has been all over the place and a huge roller-coaster with good and bad moments, but when it came the time for him to achieve his climax it was... lackluster. And I say that because they had a very strong build-up for it but they ended going by the easy route and it just felt weak in the end. I know I said I didn't want to see Akira go, but they had such a strong build-up for it, the bullet on his head starting to render him down and connecting that to his goal, he betraying the boys in order to get his money, and then he brings up that he wants the money not to be an altruist good guy but because he wants to do an illegal surgery to save his life???? C'mon this SO STRONG, SO POWERFUL, it could've been amazing if he had gone like that. But no, Akira is good, he really wanted the money to make that medical school, he didn't even die and made Gotou go through a horrible experience like a jerk. I can't stress enough how disappointed I was by that, yeah it was cool seeing Double Births later on but I was disappointed. At least Erika was more present in this part since now she works with Gotou and she was as amazing as ever so this plot wasn't as bad because of her.

The final stretch was both odd and very strong at the same time. I say it was odd because of the way GREED were getting "killed" one after the other especially after them not doing much since their revival. I really liked seeing Kazari being the first one to be defeated, and Mezool in her full power was very cool and strong. But it was kind of a let down for the most part. But even with that I enjoyed this final part concerning the GREED, seeing Ankh's betrayal was amazing, Uva becoming the "final boss" when he was the first villain we met was also very symbolic and it came to happen on a very good way, and while Maki's GREED form didn't last long it was still very cool.

My favorite thing about this ending was Eiji succumbing to his desire for power, which one wasn't something I didn't expect, and two was very well played out. When that Yummy with dream controlling powers attacked Eiji and what came out of it was Earth I though what Eiji's desire would be was something related to saving people, but I never expected it would go down to power, which is a very dangerous desire to have when you have purple evil coins inside you trying to turn you into a monster. I really like that fight between Eiji and Ankh in that beach where they were discussing a few of these points, it was so emotional and strong to me it was definitely the higher point of this finale.

The final two episodes are weird, both in the TV version and in the director's cut. There are things that are missing in the TV version that the director's cut fix, but there are still things in both versions that are "missing" to me. In the things the DC fix we have how more smooth the ending feels with added scenes that connect the events better, the DC also gives Gotou a better and more conclusive ending, Ankh has a better closure and they kinda make the fact than Ankh is just an arm have a deeper meaning that is missing from the tv version, so I'd say the director's cut is the definitive version of the ending.

However, as cool as seeing Maki getting thorn apart and being turned and consumed by a black hole was, there are things in this finale that it still lacks. I could come here and spent ages talking about how it was a Kougami Ex-Machina how those original medals came to be a part of the story, but that's not important my major problem comes from another aspect. My biggest problem with this ending is that it actually lacks an ending. I don't know, maybe it worked for other people, but to me, it felt like it was missing a more concrete conclusion. Like, I don't think it needed another scene to be added, but I think we needed at least a monologue from Eiji to settle things down for him, yeah we see that he finally overcome his trauma and is traveling again and that he's looking for Ankh, but we don't get to see the full scope of what that final fight caused him and I think it was an element that would help to make this ending feel more rounded.

Regardless of my complaints, this was a very good ending for a very good series. My first impression of OOO wasn't the best, but the show won me slowly with each episode making me like it more and more each time even though the problems I had at certain points, and now I really hold this series close to my heart... I dare to say I like it more than I liked W (Don't let Shotaro see this please XD).

And this was the end of OOO, how do you feel about this season? Have you watched recently? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Since I'm behind schedule for this, today we'll have a double feature and later at night we'll have a second post going up for this week's episode of Zero-One so I'll (hopefully) see you all there. Bye, people. o/

#Kamen Rider OOO #kamen rider

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truthisgoldenau · 5 years ago

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Character Bio: Pierce Graves

Born: January 1st, 1963

Race: Caucasian

Sexual Orientation: Pansexual

Tattoos: Full sleeve on his right arm, a mix of circuitry and gears and machine pieces. Matching set on his left leg.

Height: 6'0"

Personality: Can play at being nice when he wants, or if he genuinely is okay with the person he's talking to. Mostly an asshole, doesn't really give a shit about people.

The Graves lineage has been in Spring Valley for only a few generations, known as the family with icy eyes and chilled personalities. Henry Graves managed to escape that, gaining the ice blue eyes but not the abrasive personality his father was known for.

Pierce wasn't so lucky.

Born the very first day of 1963 to Henry and Jamie Graves, Pierce was quiet from the beginning. Jamie constantly worried something was wrong with him- grandfather Mortimer always assured her in his blunt way "He's fine it's a family thing".

He was also curious at a young age, constantly wandering off once he was old enough to walk and causing both his parents endless amounts of worry. He'd sit still when watching his grandfather fix things without an issue, and that gave Henry an idea.

When Pierce was about 4, Henry brought home a toy robot for him. Jamie was worried that the toy was beyond his age range and that he'd get hurt, but Henry assured her he'd be fine. It'd give him something to do that would maybe keep him occupied.

And it did- after awhile they had to keep putting the tools in the home out of reach so that Pierce wouldn't try to take the damn thing apart. He'd always stubbornly tell them he just wanted to know how it worked, and they'd respond "When you're a little older". That only held out for a year until even Mortimer told them to let the "damn kid" have the tools, "he's driving me nuts by asking me when he's over here".

By the time Pierce started kindergarten, he already knew how to read and write and take apart not only the toy robot but the small radio he had in his room. Kindergarten bored him; he wanted to be at home figuring out how things worked. He never really made friends, but he was fine without them.

At age 6 he discovered he had an unusual ability while fixing his toy robot, one that startled him but meant for a moment he seemed connected to the machine. He didn't know how to explain it and when his mom came running to the sound of him yelling in pain, he didn't tell her that anything had happened.

At age 9 he almost caused the same connection between his mom and a stove when he was startled while trying to steal cookies. Though he'd been practicing the ability, he hadn't known until then that he could use it on other people.

A better person would have not only kept it to themselves, but would have never used the power on anyone maliciously. A better person would have decided it was better to learn how not to use it as a reflex in bad situations.

Pierce Graves was not the better person.

He was a trouble maker, learning how to fight at a young age when the older kids in the neighborhood used to call him slow because he'd just quietly observe things. He got beat up a few times, to the point Jamie and Henry started to really worry for him. But he learned from these fights and one day after Pierce came home with a smug grin and only a few scratches, the parents of the boys showed up to complain about how badly their kids had been hurt. Pierce shrugged it off to say they deserved it.

The knowledge that he could connect other people to machines if he focused hard enough? It became his new secret weapon.

He could usually get away with using that power on someone for a few seconds to gain the upper hand- the connection wasn't without pain and it caused a distraction that could give him an opening. The other kids at school started whispering that he was some kind of evil creature. Pierce didn't care.

When Pierce was 11, his grandfather died of a sudden heart attack. It was the first time Pierce lost anyone, since the Graves family and Jamie's family weren't very large families to begin with and Jamie's parents were already gone to begin with. It was a bit of an emotional blow to Pierce- he'd expected his grandfather to always be around.

Pierce got into more fights in middle school, this time purposely trying to get bigger, tougher kids to throw hands with him. He got his ass kicked a lot, but eventually got exactly what he wanted. A test run to see how many individuals he could use his power on at once. It was 3 at first. Later he'd get more. But it was a good start.

By high school he was known for being incredibly smart, good with machines, and being a huge ass to everyone. He somehow beat up the leader of the school's "biker gang" which was really just a bunch of seniors with hand me down motorcycles who thought they were cool. This earned him a few friends, particularly when he figured out how to do some quick fixes for their bikes (which they usually paid him for).

He also got money for fixing things around the neighborhood he lived in. Word was if a machine was broken, Pierce could either fix it, stare at it long enough to figure out what was wrong with it and then fix it, or at least rig it in a way that it could then be taken to someone who actually could fix it.

At the age of 16 with all the money he'd saved, he decided he wanted tattoos. His "biker" buddies had graduated but he still wanted to look tough, and why not, it was his money, he could do what he wanted with it. His dad had told him he'd pay the other half of a used car if Pierce found one he wanted but Pierce didn't care if he had to ride the bus till he either graduated or dropped out. So he designed his own tattoo made of circuits and gears and other miscellaneous machine pieces, went to a somewhat seedy tattoo place in the main area of Spring Valley, lied about his age, and got a good portion of his design tattooed. The bus system to get back home to Summerton meant a long round about way where usually the trip would take an hour, and Pierce ended up misjudging exactly when he'd get home.

He got home late, to parents who had no idea he hadn't been at school, and who immediately realized their son had not only skipped school, but had gone into the city to get tattoos they didn't approve of. It nearly broke the family- Jamie was devastated at first, Henry was pissed, and Pierce kept defending it as his right to do what he wanted with his money. At a certain point he just decided he was done and left.

For 3 days.

It nearly drove his parents mad to not know where their son was, but it was a decision by both of them not to send anyone after him. Give him some space. They overreacted and it caused him to overreact.

So when Pierce showed back up they ended up having a civil conversation about it. It wasn't the complete fix that any of them really wanted but it was a temporary truce of sorts.

At least for awhile. Not too long after Pierce turned 17, Henry got a call at the dealership he worked at from jail. From a very sheepish sounding Pierce who had gotten arrested for stealing when he was supposed to be in school.

So Henry had to go bail him out because the last thing either of the two of them wanted was for Jamie to find out.

While Jamie never did find out about the whole thing (the shop owner ended up not pressing charges since everything was accounted for after the arrest), Henry had a talk with Pierce along the lines of "I know you're better than this. Can you please fucking try harder to be better than this. You're driving us crazy. If you can make it to your graduation next year without anymore bullshit, I'll buy you a motorcycle. Is that what you want? A bribe? Does that get through to you?"

Unsurprisingly it did. Pierce spent the next year and his half trying his damnedest to stay out of trouble. And trying to earn money through fixing things again. It was a bit of a welcome relief to his parents, and if Jamie seemed concerned about her son's change in attitude, she didn't voice it.

Pierce barely managed to graduate on time and true to his word Henry gifted him with 1981 Honda CB900F motorcycle in purple.

Pierce gifted them by moving out.

"I found an apartment out closer to town. And a job at that gimmicky mouse place with the robots. They might, MIGHT let me fix them. You guys deserve a break from me."

While neither of his parents wanted to say it to their son's face, it was a bit of a relief although a little bittersweet that so soon they'd be saying goodbye.

They helped him move into his new apartment, and Pierce started working as a dishwasher - at the newly opened Chuck E. Cheese.

(Pierce applied to two places with robots in the Spring Valley area when looking for work. One was Chuck E. Cheese, which had opened a year before. The other was a place called Fredbear's Diner, and he didn't even get an interview for that job.)

For 3 years he worked at Chuck E. Cheese. He only ever got to fix their animatronics once- corporate had their own technicians they sent out to maintain the mechanics, and didn't trust some kid who said he had tech experience. But their technician didn't show up one day and they desperately needed a fix, so the manager remembered that Pierce had mentioned mechanical experience on his resume and asked him to come up with something.

When the corporate technician was able to stop by to fully fix the animatronic, he said the temporary solution was enough to actually hold it over without a problem until it needed more extensive repairs.

In 1984, Pierce's only friend at the Chuck E. Cheese, his manager Janet shoved a newspaper ad in his face.

"That Fredbear's guy is hiring a mechanic. If you don't apply I'm firing your ass so that you have no choice but to apply."

It wouldn't even have taken the threat to make him do it. Though it wasn't talked about much at work because Fredbear's had been a rival business, it was well known in Spring Valley for being a friendly place to visit and work. The owner was apparently some rich guy, and if the rumors were true, he'd only closed Fredbear's when his parents died because they left him a ridiculous amount of money and he was planning to open an even bigger restaurant.

Pierce immediately applied for the job and desperately hoped he would get it this time. Or at least an interview. He didn't even mention to his parents that he was trying to get a job at a place where he could maybe work with animatronics on a regular basis out of fear of jinxing the whole damn thing.

So he nearly died when he actually got a call from Frederick Fazbear offering him an interview.

"Yeah I can make it that day, where at?"

"The new building, it's mostly done and all the animatronics are here so I'd like to show them off."

Of course that would be the day that Pierce barely made it out of work on time, didn't have time to change, and showed up to an interview for Freddy Fazbear's Pizza in a Chuck E. Cheese work uniform.

Frederick Fazbear was a man of good humor though, and seemed unconcerned about the uniform, the tattoos ("are you kidding, why the hell would I judge tattoos, my wife keeps having to talk me out of getting more!") Or even the fact that he couldn't even say he'd ever worked on machines like this before. In fact, he was so laid back that Pierce was concerned that this man had successfully run a business, but he sure as hell seemed exactly like the 'rich guy who just wants to have fun with his money' person that everyone talked about.

Fred showed him the animatronics and told him "there's a few quick fixes some of these need at the moment, they might be new but some have loose joints and such that I'd have to fix anyways so see what you can do, I accidentally schedules another interview overlapping with yours so I'll be back when I'm done with that yeah?" And left him to it.

It wasn't even that difficult to fix everything that needed to be fixed, and he even found a few things he didn't expect Fred had even noticed. By the time Fred came back, Pierce had gotten as much as he could in working order. Fred seemed genuinely surprised, and said he'd call later in the week about the job.

A week never went by so slowly but just when Pierce was beginning to suspect Fred might have found someone who wasn't a 21 year old with no real experience fixing animatronics, he got the call saying he was hired as the mechanic for Freddy's.

In the remainder of 1984, Pierce ended up getting the go ahead to come up with a gimmick for the extra animatronic Fred had accidentally gotten, and the pieces for Foxy the Pirate fell into place, although the suit pieces would have to be commissioned and the programming set up. Not that Pierce didn't figure out how to program the things- he'd taken to reading everything about computer programming he could get his hands on in the last few years and knew enough to work from there.

There was one animatronic that Fred told him would not be in the line up by the time they opened. Spring Bonnie, one of his two originals from the diner, had been damaged heavily during the move because the moving company forgot to tie him down and the springlocks had malfunctioned and destroyed both the suit and the endoskeleton.

"Those springlocks were always finicky and we stopped wearing them as suits because they were too dangerous, I shoulda just had Henry take them out. The plan is to one day get this in working order again, but no rush."

(Henry Emily was the mechanic at Fredbear's, but turned down returning as mechanic for more animatronics to move back to Hurricane, Utah with his wife and kids.)

Freddy Fazbear's Pizza opened in December of 1984 with a huge crowd on opening day.

Foxy was introduced in the middle of 1985.

Pierce was the only mechanic for all the animatronics, keeping up with every problem both mechanical and computer wise, as well as fixing any of the arcade machines in the building when they were on the fritz. It wasn't for lack of trying that he remained the only mechanic either; there was nobody else that Fred checked out that he felt he could take a chance on.

Pierce thoroughly enjoyed what he was doing though even if the extra time he spent on Spring Bonnie meant he often lost track of time and worked till the very late hours of night on it. After an incident where someone tried to break into the place at night only for Pierce to scare the shit out of them, Fred hired a night guard to watch the place. It sure as shit didn't stop Pierce from working late and sleeping in the booths, but word got out that between the night guard, the "spooky" free roaming animatronics, and the mechanic who would definitely fight you, it wasn't worth it to break in.

It was by accident that Fred discovered Pierce had the powers he had. Mainly because Pierce found it easier to find and fix problems if he connected himself to the damn machine in the first place, and that didn't come without certain trade offs. Although the animatronics were certainly the most stable connections he'd found. Fred surprised him one by night by coming back to stay, learned about the power, and ... Shared that he also had the same abilities that he'd never learned how to use. Pierce promised to teach him how to use it because dear God, that was dangerous to not know how to use that power.

Despite the fact that Pierce was friendly with Fred, he never really got on those terms with anyone else. After all, he'd bullied the day guard Jeremy in high school (why pay for comics when you can steal them from the local adopted ginger kid, right?), one of their servers was a sweet little Christian woman who was so concerned about Pierce's salvation that he just straight up tried to ignore her, and the prize counter kid thought he was super punk but Pierce could see through the act. Not to mention they ended up getting in a fight at a poker game between employees and Pierce broke the kid's arm. Somehow nothing ever came of that except everyone just avoided him more.

In August 1987, 3 things happened.

Fred Fazbear and his wife became parents to their twin boys on the 8th.

Pierce came down with the flu between the 7th and the 14th.

And a different health and safety inspector came by than their usual cheerful fellow.

This inspector deemed Foxy the Pirate as a dangerous animatronic, stating that parent complaints called out the seemingly overly sharp teeth and hook as being a risk to children, since the animatronics were free to move among the crowds. Jeremy, in charge of taking her around for the day since both Fred and Pierce were gone and they had no official co-owner, tried to argue that the animatronics had never hurt any kids, that their mechanic had even rigged special motion sensors I them to make sure of this, and that no one had ever called Foxy too dangerous before, but this inspector wasn't having it.

She gave him a document stating that Foxy had to be off the floor by January 1st, 1988 at which time any modifications would have to be filed and inspected before the animatronic could return. She told him to relay the message to Fred that it was because of their safety record they were even being allowed to have the animatronic finish out the year.

Fred stopped by a few days later with his wife and boys in two to show them off, and Jeremy relayed the news then. Pierce still hadn't returned.

Fred told Jeremy he'd relay the news to Pierce; Pierce would only listen to him about this most likely.

As expected, the news didn't go over well. Pierce considered Foxy to be his- Fred always agreed to that. The fact that the Mangle wasn't too dangerous added to the bad mood the news put Pierce in, and Fred didn't want to argue with the man about it. He was tired from his newborn sons and had only come into the building to talk to Pierce.

"I can throw some modifications on him now, then when they come back in January we can skip all the bullshit and get him back out before he even has to stop being around!"

"Pierce, they have to do this a certain way-"

"Fuck that!"

"Goddammit Pierce, for five seconds just shut up! You're not to do anything regarding Foxy besides minor repairs until after the new year, do you understand?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I'm done arguing about this. If they say Foxy is a danger, it's a danger. I understand your point that we could get it out of the way, but the last thing I want to worry about it trying to get Foxy fixed. I already pay you too much overtime as it is to fix Spring Bonnie, the last thing I need is you fucking adding to the ungodly amount I pay you by coming up with fixes for Foxy."

"Oh, so first you thank me for pouring every ounce of spare time I can into your goddamn pet project but the moment mine needs to be fixed, suddenly I'm overpaid? Is that it?"

"I didn't mean it like that-"

"Sure you didn't. I've been working my ass off trying to get that fucker back up and running to the point that I never want to see that goddamn thing again but I still spend hours of my life trying to get it in working condition while fixing all your other goddamn animatronics, begging you for some goddamn help and the only guy you get is some spooky motherfucker who we had to fire within a week. And now you decide that I'm paid too much? Now you decide that me throwing in the extra effort isn't worth it? Would it be better if she'd found Freddy dangerous? Or Chica? Maybe we should go throw some springlocks on her, maybe then she'll shut down the whole damn place, AND I CAN FINALLY STOP COSTING YOU MONEY!"

"I've been trying to find help. No one has any experience. You don't realize how hard-"

"I didn't have any experience either, and yet you trusted me. At least, I thought you did. Apparently I was wrong."

And after that, the friendship between Fred and Pierce completely dissolved. Not that Pierce stopped doing his job, but every now and then, animatronics would seem just a little bit off. Or their joints would be a little bit loose. He still worked late but not that late and Sam the night guard told Fred that it no longer seemed like Pierce wanted to be there.

Between juggling his kids and his job, Fred kept figuring it would blow over.

Fred had to interact with him to tell him that Katherine O'Malley, one of their most well known regulars, had asked for the Foxy birthday show for her son Finn. It would be the last birthday show Foxy did, and seeing as it was for a regular, Fred wanted it to be special.

Pierce agreed to set up something special.

The real plan was to just... Mess with Fred a bit. Freak him out. Maybe scare him. Pierce had these interesting abilities to connect people to machines, and well, the animatronics were good anchors. You attach a person to an animatronic, the animatronic will act more human.

It wasn't like it was hard to slowly turn the AI levels down on the Toy animatronics, since they'd also be on stage that day. It wasn't like it was hard to have the Puppet set up more like an animatronic and less like just a jack in the box. It wasn't even hard to set up cues in the birthday show for these other entities to be nearby; it wouldn't even be unusual if he played his cards right.

Sure, Fred kept asking him about why the Toy animatronics seemed like they were less enthusiastic and slower to react. Sure, Damian the prize counter kid kept giving him odd looks when he went over to check his adjustments to the Puppet. Sure this whole idea was petty and might get him fired, but he kind of didn't care.

On November 13th, 1987 the entire plan was in motion. The show started without a hitch, as Pierce expected. And he was all set to finish off the set off when Foxy went through his preprogrammed routine to move closer to Finn.

Except that instead a smooth fluid step forward and kneeling down, the animatronic seemed to catch on something and fall.

In the split second pause before the screaming began, Pierce lost focus enough from the unplanned accident to go ahead with the rest of his plan, and not long after Finn started screaming on stage, it was echoed by more pained screams from the rest of the building, and the Toy animatronics appearing to freak out.

He meant to drop the connections. Foxy had just grievously harmed a child, something he hadn't expected, and his reaction was out of pure shock. He meant to drop the whole petty revenge scheme.

Until he the pain hit him and he realized his arm was very suddenly and surprisingly encased in gold. His leg the same, both leaking red from the gaps where the springlocks tightly locked into his limbs.

He somehow retreated into Parts and Services, trying to figure out what was happening, trying to reason this as not being real, when an equally gold hand came into his field of view.

"Need a hand?"

Spring Bonnie was awake. Spring Bonnie was alive. Spring Bonnie was offering to help him up.

This was real. Fred had retaliated. And he

Had no options.

He took the hand offered and disappeared. ("C'mon Springtrap, we have to leave." "My name is Spring Bonnie!". "You're a springlock death trap, so I'm calling you Springtrap.")

To everyone else, it appeared as if the loose board on stage at the Freddy's was intentionally set up by the mechanic to get back at his animatronic being deemed dangerous. He was the only suspect in their case, although no one was so sure what had been done to the kids beyond Finn. No one understood why an unfunctioning animatronic also disappeared.

And Fred never told a soul that he knew exactly what had happened.

And for the next 18 years, Pierce Graves was considered a missing person by society.

#this one got really long i'm so sorry #the lore #fnaf au

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kingdomofkitten · 5 years ago

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Rant on Disney’s New Star Wars Blu-Rays

So, this is a touch out of the blue, I suppose. But I found enough time to sit down and write about this, so I figured I might as well get to it.

I also know the combination of Disney and Star Wars tends to cause some....friction, amongst people. Please, let’s not turn this into a brawl of Star Wars fans. This isn’t about how George Lucas felt betrayed, or Rian Johnson killing the series, or that anyone who hates the Sequel trilogy is a Trump supporter, or whatever the hell. Please don’t do that. In fact, let us join in unison. Why? Because no matter if you’re for or against Disney’s Star Wars films, if you happen to support this, there’s a decent chance you’re getting royally fucked over.

I was over at my local Target, just killing time (I had sent my dog to get cleaned up, and would need to pick her up in a few hours), and went over to the movie section. Not really looking for anything in particular, just up for browsing. And then I spotted this.

That looked a bit interesting, so I opted to look a little closely. Turns out, it seems Disney themselves (under Lucasfilm) decided to re-release all the Star Wars films they own on Blu-Ray. Presumably to hype up The Rise of Skywalker, which will be coming out in about 2 months from now. At first, I thought that sounded cool! Now all three trilogies can live under one roof! Plus, the cover design for all the films (including Rogue One and Solo, as you can see) are nice and consistent overall.

Then I decided to look at the back of one of them. Ya know, just to see what kinda cool new extras they would include.

I-wait...wait, is...is there no extras? Wha, that can’t be right, what does that sa-

.....deadass?

So, yeah. No bonus features on the Blu-Ray disc. Just on the digital copy....so, if you don’t download that copy in time, tough shit, you just get the movie.

Now, I’m sure some of you are thinking, “well, that’s probably for the Original and Prequel trilogies. They probably just couldn’t get extras ready in time.” Except I double checked.

Please pardon the crumpled up paper quality, apparently no hi-res scans of the backs are available as of now. But yeah, if you look closely, this The Last Jedi Blu-Ray has the exact same thing. No extras on the disc itself, just on the digital copy. Now, here’s the thing. I own the movie on Blu-Ray already. I know, some of you are weeping for me, I never claimed to be a role model. But let’s take a look at that back cover, shall we?

Hold on, there are extras here! A documentary, deleted scenes, commentary, even an Andy Serkis thing! And yet....none of that is in this new re-release? I’m sorry? And you can’t make the argument that Disney couldn’t have gotten the extras ready in time, they released this film already! They couldn’t have just taken the existing Blu-Ray disc, slap a new label on it, and call it a day? They could’ve done that with all four of the Disney Star Wars films so far, and yet they decided to leave them baren.

But okay, I hear some of you going, “well, that’s The Last Jedi, how about some REAL Star Wars films, like Revenge of the Sith? Surely these are all one needs, then.” Well, let’s go back to that first pic, shall we?

Firstly....not sure if you noticed, but Revenge of the Sith and The Last Jedi kinda look very similar here, so you might make a mistake there, and buy TLJ instead. Wocka wocka. :3

But secondly, notice something in the corner? Right next to The Force Awakens? Lemme zoom in for ya.

That is the Star Wars Complete Saga Blu-Ray set 20th Century Fox put out a couple of years ago. There have been a few re-releases of it over the years, sometimes with more stuff, sometimes with less, but as far as I know, it’s still in print. This contains the films from The Phantom Menace, up to Return of the Jedi. Not sure if you can read the sticker, but it has “over 40 hours of extras”. Speaking as someone who has that set, I cannot confirm it, as I haven’t dived into all of the extras, but I would not be surprised. While the movie discs themselves are relatively sparse on extras, they still HAVE some, mainly commentaries by the cast and crew. But if that’s not enough, alongside the six movies, there are THREE discs dedicated to just bonus features. One with behind the scenes material for the original trilogy, one with behind the scenes material for the prequel trilogy, and one full of documentaries and spoofs of Star Wars. Yeah, they went as far as to include PARODIES of the franchise in their big box set. The set was made to where you can dive into the saga, and also get a bunch of added goodies for the hell of it. All for a hundred bucks.

Now, I’m sure some will argue, “well, that’s a premium set kind of thing! This is more budget releases, meant for those who can’t afford that kinda set.” Well, let’s put that to the test. How much are each movie going fo-

JEEZUS

The fuck kinda budget release is that?! For just a movie, I’d expect...I dunno, $5? But okay, fine. That’s the price they want to go with, that’s okay. Now, like I said, that big box set, with the original 6 films is about $100, not including tax. So, let’s just put the prices for those six in. We’ll just round the price to $23, to be fair.

So, the price of those six barebones movies in total, not including tax?

$138.

Again, not including tax. You are quite literally paying more for less here!

My advice, if you want the whole series, get the Complete Saga set, and see if you can find the regular releases of the Disney films. As far as I know, all of those are still in print, and if you know where to look, you can get great deals on them. The big kicker about that? The Complete Saga set was made by 20th Century Fox...who, if you remember, Disney owns now. So if you buy that set, you’re giving them money, AND getting bang for your buck! It’s a win-win scenario, and I don’t understand why Disney didn’t get that!

I don’t speak as a major Star Wars fan. I mostly acquired the movies from my family. But I speak as an average consumer. Disney, I don’t give a shit what you’re doing to that world in a galaxy far, far away. But when you start bordering on scamming people, THAT is where I draw the line. People, no matter where you stand on these films, if you decide to buy one of these things...you’re probably being ripped off. Even for a company as stereotypically evil like the Magic Kingdom itself, this is just fucking gross.

P.S. I am aware there is a possibility that the original trilogy ones may have the original Theatrical versions, as opposed to the Special Edition versions with Greedo shooting first, and all that CGI, that’s on the Complete Saga set. If that’s the case, then to die-hards, MAYBE I can see a reason to buy these, but....again, to an average consumer, does that really add much? I don’t really think so.

#disney #star wars #blu ray #rant

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tumblunni · 5 years ago

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Why is gyan amakano so cute. It should be illegal. I hate how he has such a huggable design and then his character is totally wasted on being half super evil jerkman half Every Fat Stereotype Simultaneously. Like seriously how did this even HAPPEN

Artist: ok so ive drawn this round softman in a cute lil fancy tuxedo who always carries lollipops in his back pocket

Writers: ah yes, the perfect Irredeemable Murder Cannibal Man

Or like..

Writers: we need an Irredeemable Murder Cannibal Man

Artist: dont worry bro i got ya *draws a big circle with a happy face*

Or of course theres the alternative universe where nobody involved in this project ever noticed that this character design looks fuckin precious, but i dont want to live in that world

And then he's only in!! Two episodes!! And theyre so weird and not great!! Its like they kept changing their mind whether he was meant to be funny or scary. Goes from "ha ha a fat man enjoys cookies" to "he literally wants to make cannibal cookies out of humans" to "but ha ha look he's cosplaying as the genie from aladdin, lets go back to laughs now".

And also they made him be a huge jerk to Are Bacchino and that pisses me off!! Its already a bit shitty that they made a character whose entire "joke" is that he has ocd/germaphobia and its meant to be funny? Somehow? That he has this mental illness? And is frequently exposed to stuff that terrifies him?? Funny how???? But then theres a really rather disturbing montage of Gyan punishing his sidekick by straight up triggering his phobia and YIKES MAN sorry thats even more evil than the cannibalism! Also why was it drawn all overly detailed and Saw-esque?? Why did we need so much art effort put into showing dirty feet and a guy being forced to stick his hand in a shit filled toilet. Was this someone's goddamn fetish or something???

So yeah. Upset.

U P S E T T I. R E G R E T T I.

I'm so mad they wasted a cool character deisgn and cool concept on such a shitty execution. Like even the plot could have been cool? They could have got a lot more episodes out of the idea of these two runnibg thru fairytale books and cosplaying as different classic villains. And if theyd just made a damn decision and gone with either funny cute or scary bad then it could have worked! Personally i am voting for funnycute obv course. But also thatd work best with this plot, it would have been better if it was just a low stakes goofy adventure with something like "oh this dude wants to find the legendary magic wish thingie to wish for a lifetime supply of chocolate and our heroes wanna wish for something actually important so thats why they fight". Could have even added some drama cos like he doesnt know the thing is actually dangerous and then what if he ends up possessed by it and you still get a fight with him thats pretty high stakes without having this weird inconsistant personality thing. Could be quite a dramatic twist to suddenly have comedy villain man as a genuine threat! Ans could be a way to resolve it all with friendship cos you could have Are Bacchino teaming up with the heroes to save his boss and then Gyan is like "whoa i guess you guys were 100% right all along" when he gets saved from his own bigass mistake and all. And then THE GAMES COULD ACTUALLY MAKE HIM PLAYABLE PERHAPS, JUST SAYIN

Also PLEASE rewrite like every single thing about the relationship between the two of them. Please take whoever said "yeah gyan should outright torture his one and only friend with a messed up Saw movie ocd-triggering machine" and throw them out the window. Consider this: what if..they were actually...friend. Like i feel they'd have enough comedy potential already just from being a "rival mafia" thats literally two people who are ludocrously incompetant at everything they do and only ever succeed at (literally) stealing candy from babies. Play up that side of things more! No need to throw random super evil shit at the funnymen to make them seem more intimidating, theyre at their best when theyre not intimidating at all. And you could still have the same gag of the fairytale world forms always being Gyan as some sort of classic villain and Are as a talking carpet or whatever, like just say thats how the magic works instead of Gyan doing it on purpose to be a jerk. And you could even still have Are being the funny underdog just from sheer bad luck instead of being purpisely mistreated by every single character in the entire cast. Or have it that Gyan is just a bit of a bumbling idiot boss who doesnt notice his mistakes and Are is like the hypercompetant sidekick who always ends up taking the consequences of those mistakes because he's like an overportective bodyguard. Which could also be a way to establish some cute friendship moments! Like i dunno someone's about to throw a pie at Gyan and Are does an overdramatic diving save and a whole fake death scene from the sheer horror of getting banana cream frosting on his suit. "Boss...go on without me..." *cough choke* And Gyan is like *equally overdramatic tears* "He made the ultimate sacrifice! I will avenge him!!" *charges forward to fight the heroes and just gets easily beat up like usual* And then its like *even more continually dramatic narration* "and the boss was beaten and bruised, but he carried me for miles through wind and storm" *over footage of like ridiculously impossible heroic adventures thay clearly didnt happen* And then it just cuts to the two of them sitting at like...ye olde fantasy laundromat. Are sobbing like "oh boss i'll never forget this" and Gyan is just like *thought bubble* "i wish i got to eat that pie tho"

I dunno maybe im naive but i just think shows are generally more fun when characters actually like each other and have motivations beyond self interest. Obvipusly not EVERY character has to be like that, but nobody is ever kind at all in the damn anime whether theyre villain or hero. And also specifically these sorts of minor role villains can benefit a lot from being fleshed out this way to become way more memorable! Like gin and kin became way better in Psychic Specters when they got the added trait of loving and cherishing their little brother. (To the point of it being a literal battle power that made their horribly hard boss fight even worse, lol!)

Also just...plz dont make a man so cute if hes meant to be big badness. Like seriously Are looks scarier than him and Are is like the least scary man to ever have those scary ass eyes! Smol depressed man with ocd and tol round lollipops friendo. I WANT TO LOVE THEM

Im gonna just cross my arms and sit here stubbornly hoping for The Anime/Game Effect to kick in. Like 99% of all characters in the anime are jerks and even when anime originals end up cameoing in the games they tend to become generally nicer and more well developed as people. So fingers crossed for a yw4 appearance thats full cute and 0% cannibalism!!!

Seriously fuckin.. CANNIBALISM

Why does the anime do that so much as a "funny" "joke"? The episode where Jerry murders a sentient dessert yokai in graphic gory detail still haunts me. "Ha ha its funny because technically theres no blood so we can show her gasping for breath with a hole in her lungs as a man eats her corpse" Did they put the entire budget into that one death animation??? Oh no cos they saved at least a little of it for the Herbiboy Gets Murdered By A Lawnmower episode T_T

Anime why u be this way.

#gyan amakano #i wonder what dub name theyd give these guys if they made it into yw4 tho?#apparantly are bacchino is a pun on al pacchino + germaphobia #but i dont know if theres any pun behind gyan's name #i can only speculate that it might have been based on the real name gianno

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johnny-boy-17 · 6 years ago

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STAR VS THE FORCES OF EVIL or The Art Student’s Awakening (A Review)

Oh hey, it’s another review by me that nobody asked for! Ok, this one is actually gonna mean a lot to me since this show is pretty much the reason I even started posting things on this site to begin with (thank you and curse you Tumblr), so I need to get it all off my chest.

Short version: It’s really fuckin’ good, and y’all should check it out. The ending could have used a little more finesse, but it’s still pretty damn good.

Long version: *gasps for air*

Ok let’s start with the story. Yeah, it’s certainly a rollar-coaster. What starts out as a fun little-romp-of-the-week type of story...

...becomes this tale of power corruption, racism battle, and a tale of trust in one another and unity among the people.

Whether or not it handles that well seems to be half and half. On one hand, grace under fire this show is not. It does seem a little rushed in the last season, and you can really tell it wanted to be a bit longer, flesh out ideas, but didn’t have time for it (I blame the Mouse on that).

I mean I dunno about you, but a show that introduces time travel right the fuck out of nowhere in a medium never seems to end well, this show is no exception.

That and they reeeeeaaaaaally try to knock you unconscious using a hammer with all the prejudice allegories.

On the other hand, good characters can make a shit story seem like high-class art. And good characters this show has in spades (no eclipsa-related pun intended).

Firstly, Star Butterfly herself. It seems stupid not to start with her. And... yeah she’s a really fun protagonist. Not only is she basically Sailor Moon hyped up on too much nose candy, but she has an incredible story of growth to go with. She starts as a fun-loving monster battler that’s too eager to run away from her problems to this teenager facing the looming shadow of adulthood head on and ready to ditch her past of monster-ism(?) for good, never to let such discrimination see the light of day again. Not to mention Eden Sher just absolutely brings this character to life, even if it’s just little things she says like “yeah totally totally totally” or “we got burger juice on the wall rug.” Something in her performance just absolutely friggin’ works wonders. I’d say she’s probably one of my favorite protagonists out there that “the big D” has come up with, but my favorte character they’ve created in a looooong time? That award...

... goes to mother-fuckin’ Marco Ubaldo Diaz. I cannot BELIEVE how much they won me over with this guy. I think it’s because I saw so much of myself in this guy to the point where I am convinced he’s my long-lost brother. This B0I starts out as this paranoid play-it-safe ‘nother brick in the wall type who just wants to get through his teenage life without any kind of trouble, and by the end is a guy who’s ready to shrug off getting impaled by an evil unicorn being ridden by a corrupted version of Star’s half-demon ex just to get him to snap out of it (it just now dawns on me how fuckin’ batshit this show is). I just love how as he’s easing up on his paranoia, he learns to stop taking himself so seriously and let loose every now and then. Adam McAruther deserves praise for playing this guy, and I don’t know who could ever play this guy like he did. If no other takeaways for this show were to be, it’d be that Marco is in a lineup of my favorite fictional characters of all time.

Now I sense some ears (ok fine all ears) are waiting for me to talk about the two together, so I’ll touch on it once, and make an entire post on it later: It’s great. It’s pleasing to the eye, it’s wholesome for the soul, it makes them both into better beings, the opposite attracts thing is done beautifully, the chemistry could make Bill Nye proud, and I think their ending was as good as it could be for them... though I do hate how long it took to get there.

OK LIGHTNING ROUND GO (can’t get ‘em al, so sorry):

-Tom: I like the guy, definitely a more relatable and visible character arc and his design is neat.

-Jackie: I wish my lesbian venice beach girl got more appreciation, but I luv her none the less.

-Janna: I luv my strange bisexual filipino witch-wannabee (you know what I said is true don’t deny it)

-Moon: Never really gave her full trust, but was not disappointed by her in any way, despite various actions in the end.

-River: I liked him in the beginning season, sorta trailed off by the end.

-Kelly: Not sure why she was there, but she was cool.

-Eclipsa: We stan that queen! Loved the fact that her motives were so grey, and you every could tell if she was going to turn out to be truly bad or not.

-Globgor: We stan that king! I adored how he actually was a threat back in his day, but now regrets everything he ever did then (plus him size shifting in fights is creative as hell), wish we could have had more of him, but it’s cool that we got any at all really.

-Glossaryck: I loved him, true chaotic neutral god. He was such a troll, and he has my respect (and to think all he wanted to do was die).

-Ponyhead: I hope that sack of shit gets donated to a glue factory.

But what is a good story without good villains? Well, this show wants to have a ton of good ones, but nothing really sticks to the wall too well, though they do leave an impact.

LUDO: This is how to do a comedic villain right. You have fun with him in the beginning, and then you make him into a legit threat the next, and by the end give him a redemption arc so as to let him go back on his old ways without soiling his actual good moments as an antagonist. He was the one who surprised me the most.

TOFFEE: Ooooohhhhhhhhh everybody loves this lawyer-lizard B0I and so do I. This guy’s plan was 1: not evil at all, 2: his methods were borderline black and grey, and 3: it was still going on in the background of the story of the entire show since his arival. His personality was cool, suave, persuasive, manipulative, downright terrifying sometimes, and he was just so good at it. While everyone certainly wishes we had more of him, what we got and how long le lasted just cements him as probably one of my all-time favorite villains ever really.

Ms. HEINOUS/METEORA: Oh shakespeare where art thou? Such a wondrous work this tragedey is. Heinous just starts out as a villain who pushes the patriarchy so you can say “fuck that shit,” tries to steal youth for herself, wants to kill Marco for ruining her perfection, y’know yahoo. But the moment you realize her name is Meteora, and what her past has been like... yeah, this is a fuckin’ shakespearian villain for certain. It gets to a point where you begin to agree with what she’s doing, and you’re glad thing turn out all right for her in the end, but god-damn she was such a captivating force to go up against. Scar can suck one compared to this.

MINA LOVEBERRY: I wanna say this was a good attempt at an Aku-type villain (humor and terror in perfect balance), but yeah she could have been handled better. For what we did get with her though, I’m content with it. It’s just funny to see hobo-usagi here just hulk out and talk with a southern accent about what is essentially senile racism n’ shit. There are hints to a tragic past that led to this, and that was nice, but overall not exactly a swan song.

In fact, that’s kinda how the whole ending was wasn’t it? It was serviceable, but nothing big to write home about. I could have definitely used a little more polish to flesh out some things, but we got left with enough to tide over I suppose, though I so wanna see more.

I mean, look at this new world we were left with! Could you imagine a new season just exploring that? It sounds like so much fun! However, the crew have this “leave them wanting more mentality (ha! hope you were paying attention to that foreshadowing!),” not to mention I have seen the creator Madame Daron Nefcy encourage all the creative fans this show has to do all sorts of stuff (of which we seemed to have wasted no time and not even waited for the show to end to start doing *glares at the fan-made-starco kids everywhere*).

Really, at the end of it all, I’d compare this entire series to a friend doing a cannonball from a high-dive. First, you’re amazed that they decided to climb the ladder. Second, you’re in awe of the guts their showing to prepare for the jump. Third, you gawk as they actually did jump off into the water from the height. But fourth, you see them underwater and watch them un form the ball and into a weird janky zero-gravity water thing swimming up for air, not to mention you remembered they didn’t swan dive. But that doesnt mean the plunge was all that bad, you enjoyed watching all the steps to it, didn’t you?

Overall, the score I shall leave it at would be... 7.5/10, and an easy thumbs up approval. It’s ending and other aspects have a lot to be desired, but the story and characters are too good to ignore.

Check it out if you haven’t already (probably binge it), and to Madame Nefcy (if by some stroke of a miracle you see this) thank you so much for creating this show. I am so glad I saw it despite my gripes, and I’d gladly see it again.

#star vs the forces of evil #svtfoe #My Shit Reviews

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jinterlude · 6 years ago

Text

Two Faced (Ch.9)

↳ gif header is made by © @softjeon. Please don’t try and steal it and make it your own.

➵ Pairing(s): Gang!Jungkook x Female!OC & Gang!Mark Lee x Female!OC x Gang!Seokjin

➵ Genre(s): College!AU, Mafia/Gang!AU, Angst, Romance, Friendship, Humor, Love Triangle & Slight-Fluff

➵ Warning(s): violence // mentions of blood // swearing

➵ Words: 8.2K

➵ Co-writer: @softjeon

➵ Summary: Two girls. Two gangs. One craved absolute control over the city of Seoul. While, the other simply craved sleep and good grades. Now, what do these two ladies have in common? Simple. They have nothing in common—or so they think. Everyone knows the saying, “never judge a book by its cover”, so maybe there is something more to these two than meets the eye…especially when one of them is suddenly thrown into the underground life. Loyalties will be tested. Romance will blossom. Yup. Sounds like an average college day…

« Previously | Next Time »

Chapter 9 - The Plan

“Now, you wouldn’t want to see your dearest friend dead on the ground, right?”

“...no…”

“Good...now you and Sowon are going to come with us, and we’re going to go on a fun little adventure back to my place…”

Sowon hissed one last ‘Fuck you’ into Mark’s direction, before both girls were restrained with zip ties and thrown a hood over their heads, blocking their sense of sight. Sowon couldn’t help but be afraid. She worried about Sumin. She could hear her muffled whines, her name coming from her in a scared tone. So many worrisome things flooded her mind. Sowon got roughly pushed into the van ‒ or whatever it was ‒ while the leader could hear Mark say a quiet, “Be careful, little angel, duck your head!”

She huffed in annoyance but at least they weren’t handling Sumin cruelly yet...

The ride was quiet, dark but she could feel every bump the vehicle hit. Her heart pounded so fast. How far where they taking them? Where were they being taken? When Sowon tried to sit up a hand pushed her down roughly again and kicked out to whomever dared to touch her. With a tight grip, the gang leader was pushed onto the floor. She couldn’t see. She couldn’t move. She was fucking clueless...powerless...and that was something she wished to never experience again...

After what seemed like ages, the vehicle finally came to a stop, and Sowon felt herself forcefully being removed. Sumin on the other hand squealed, when she felt some arms lifting her up and carrying her, before they let her onto her feet. The members of NCT pushed them forward, escorting them to some unknown location and Sowon tried to listen to her surroundings, trying to figure out where they were. Strong hands held tightly around her arms. They went right and she went right. She could feel their breaths against her skin.

“Bring her down,” Mark ordered, holding onto Sumin tight as he finally took the hood off her. “Welcome to my home, baby girl,” He said, tightening his grip on her arm.

Sowon realized too late that Mark was separating them, and she instantly began to fight the grips, screaming profanities at him even though she had no idea where he was. But they were stronger and easily grabbed her. She could hear doors opening and then she felt the cold chill of a room. Wherever she was, she knew it wasn’t going to be a nice, luxury stay. They removed the hood and pushed Sowon into the room hard. She landed on her side and felt the wind knocked out of her. The men laughed. The door closed.

“Fuck,” Sowon sat up immediately. The ground was hard, dirty and cold. Her gaze wandered around and over a small bed, no windows, nothing.

While, with Sumin, her prison was anything but. Unbeknownst to her, Mark had prepared nothing but the best for his little angel, even though Sumin prepared for the worst. She mentally readied her mind to be kept behind an overly secured room; one would have to cut out Mark’s eye in order to pass the retina scan. That’s how bad her prison would be and yet...here she stood in the most beautiful room her eyes ever laid upon.

The room had this rose gold theme to it, and everything and anything that was confined within its four walls was luxurious. The windows were covered with this sheer ivory material with rose designs decorating all over it. Against one of the walls was a bed fit for a royal; that too had a rose gold theme to it.

“Okay...what is his obsession with rose gold?” Sumin thought as she fiddled with the necklace that Mark had “graciously” bestowed onto her. The more she messed with it, the more the realization hit her that even the necklace was essentially made out of rose gold. The chain...the stones...everything.

Instantly, she removed her clammy fingers from the piece of jewelry and rushed over to the door. She wrapped her hand around the cold door handle and just as she pulled it towards her, the door opened, revealing the one person she absolutely did not want to see—Mark fucking Lee.

“It hasn’t even been ten minutes and you’re already trying to escape...I’m disappointed, little one,” He paused, clicking his tongue and tilting his head just a bit, “I thought you would’ve appreciated both the thought and effort I put into preparing your bedroom during your stay,” He walked inside the room, causing Sumin to step back, “Well, at least until you’re ready to move in with me.” He stated, corning the poor girl against the foot of the bed. One gentle push and he’d be hovering her delicate body. No. He needed to control himself. He wanted their first time together to be memorable and seeing how he just kidnapped her and shoved her best friend in the basement, sex would be the last thing on her mind.

Nope. He would need to bide his time and sweep his precious angel of her feet. He would convince her that Bangtan were the evil ones, and that he and NCT would protect her—always.

Sumin, on the other hand, did not share his vision. She wanted nothing more but to get out of this predicament with little to no use from her gun, unfortunately, she would have to fire all her rounds if she wanted to make it out alive with Sowon by her side. Question was...where was her dearest friend.

If her idea was going to work, she would need to charm Mark enough to convince him to allow her to see Sowon. That would be the first step.

“Well, I’ll be upfront right now. I would never be ready to do anything with you until you show me Sowon. I want to know if she’s safe and not on the brink of death.” Sumin proclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest, as she narrowed her eyes on the enemy gang leader.

Mark lowered his head with a smirk painted on his face.

“Will that please you, my sweet little angel?” He asked, lifting his head and establishing eye contact. God, he would never tire of staring into her doe-like eyes, feeling this sense of purity radiate from them. Though...something in the back of his mind told him that she was no longer innocent, and that pathetic member of Bangtan dared to touch what was his.

Sumin remained still. Her breath hitched just a little.

“Remember, you’re doing this for Sowon and the rest of Bangtan.” She chanted before mustering the sweetest smile, “Yes. That would make me happy if I can see my friend again.” She said softly.

Mark returned the smile, “Well, if it would make you happy, then I would take you to her.” He said in a sincere tone of voice.

“Thank you…”

Slap.

Sowon couldn’t feel the burning pain in her jaw anymore, but definitely felt the way her skin cut open as she fell onto the hard concrete, as she stumbled from the impact. She could taste the metal on her tongue, but still ‒ she didn’t say a word ‒ not once answering any of their question with useful information but instead with sarcastic comments. It didn’t take long for them to get fed up with her and with one hit to her head, the darkness swallowed her up whole, leaving her faint in one of the members arms who took her back into her room. Completely emotionless, he heaved her onto the bed and shrugged his shoulders.

“She doesn’t say a word. Only calls us ‘pretty boys’ and ‘fuckheads’,” He said and bowed when Mark came down the stairs with Sumin in tow. Jeno is eyed her warily, but faked a smile at her. If his boss was happy, then he was, too.

“I don’t think she will tell us anything,” He sighed deeply.

A smirk plastered itself on Mark’s lips as he pulled Sumin in a little more by her handcuffs, “I think she will...she only needs a little persuading, isn’t that right, baby girl?”

Sumin choked back the tears that threatened to form. To say that she was heartbroken would be an understatement. She utterly destroyed after witnessing Sowon look beaten to the brink of death.

Without thinking, she took a step forward but was soon pulled back by Mark.

“Doesn’t it hurt to see your closest friend like this?” He then turned towards Jeno and Jaemin, “I know I would be personally destroyed if I ever saw you guys in such a depressed state.” He proclaimed, clutching his heart for dramatic effect.

Sumin grimaced, shutting her eyes, “Please. Let me talk to her. I’ll convince her to tell you anything that you want.” She reopened her eyes, meeting Mark’s gaze,” Just please...do not hurt her anymore…” She softly begged, cupping his cheek.

Mark leaned into her warm touch, loving the softness of her skin. Just one slight turn and he’d be able to kiss the palm of her hand. However, he had to resist. Otherwise, he’d be doing something that he promised himself that he’d wait until Sumin reciprocated his love.

“Okay. Go talk to your friend. The boys and I will be waiting outside,” He dug his hands inside his jacket pocket until he felt something cool. He then retrieved it and undid Sumin’s handcuffs, “Oh. Don’t bother escaping, little one.” He warned in the sweetest tone of voice. “You and Sowon will not make it out of here alive, and I honestly don’t want to see your precious body stained with blood.” He added, smiling.

Sumin remained silent and simply nodded in response. Mark uttered a quick, “good”, before gesturing Jeno and Jaemin to follow him. Sumin waited for a few moments until the sound of the door shutting invaded her eyes. Then, she rushed over to Sowon, kneeling by her side, as she examined the gang leader’s injuries. A frown slowly appeared on her face while this heavy pain tightened around her chest as she noted the amount of cuts and bruises that decorated her roommate’s body.

“Oh...Sowon…” whispered Sumin as tears trickled down her cheeks. “I am so sorry…”

At the sound of her voice, Sowon blinked her eyes open carefully reaching out for Sumin. “Don’t tell me…,” Her voice sounded croaky, a bit too breathy as she tried to breathe through the pain as she turned a little to look at her friend. “That I look hideous now,”

A smile played on her lips and Sumin couldn’t help but tear up further. With one quick movement, Sumin hugged Sowon tight, burying her face in the other woman’s neck for comfort, quite little sobs shaking her body. The battered woman held her tight, her hand caressing through her hair as she soothed the younger one.

“It’ll be alright, sunshine. I’ve been through worse,” She murmured waiting for Sumin to pull off from her.

Hissing in pain, Sumin helped Sowon to sit up on her bed, holding onto her hand tight.

“Sumin, my sunshine, please, listen to me,” Sowon said, her eyes flickering around the room nervously as she wiped away some blood off her lips, “Don’t you even dare to try and take Mark down. Stay on his side, make him believe that you will give in to him. Make it believable enough that he lets you walk around without handcuffs.” Pulling Sumin closer, Sowon’s voice ebbed down to a whisper, “I will get us out of here. I promise. Be patient.”

Sumin sighed, secretly disliking how Sowon knew what she’d planned to do. Though, it made sense since after all she’s extremely intelligent. She’s just lazy.

“Fine...but how do I make him believe that I have fallen in love with him? Every time he looks at me and calls me his, “little angel”, I want to take the nearest sharp object and stab him in the throat.” She asked, revealing her innermost thoughts about NCT’s leader.

Sowon chuckled slightly. She would’ve laughed a little bit more, but those assholes kicked her ribs the most, so it hurt to laugh.

“Well...take it from the master actress, pretend that he’s Seokjin.” She suggested as she playfully winked at Sumin, causing the poor girl to blush profusely.

“W-what? I don’t love Seokjin.” Sumin declared firmly; her voice even cracked just a bit.

Sowon shot her knowing look as a grin slowly appeared on her face.

“Are you sure?” She asked, teasing her cute little sunshine.

“Yes! I am sure that I don’t love Seokjin!” Sumin answered, rejecting the idea of being in love with the handsome member of Bangtan with every fiber of her being. Then, she thought about it. Every single thought and feeling she had about him started to make her body feel—odd. Her heart began to race. Butterflies appeared out of nowhere in the pit of her stomach. She even felt her face become hot. What was happening to her?

“Again, are you sure? Your overall body language says otherwise, Sumin.” she heard Sowon ask, sensing the playfulness in her voice.

A few whines escaped her lips as she practically bounced in place. This feeling of anxiousness was something she did not want whatsoever.

“Yes, I’m sure!” She shouted but looked unsure, “Just for clarification...how did you know that you were in love with Jungkook?” She asked, shyly looking away.

The leader looked at her friend with a smile, caressing over her hair as she let out a deep sigh.

“Honestly...as you may or may not know I am not quite good with human interactions and showing affection,” Sowon laughed, her eyes wandering around the room as she was thinking back to her first encounter with Jungkook, their first kiss, their first mission. “It hurts not to be by his side,” She spoke up, her eyes focusing somewhere else as she kept on talking, deep in her thoughts, “It feels like a part of me wasn’t with me each time he was gone. And if he was there, it felt like it was burning, jumping right out of my chest whenever he smiled at me. Gosh, his stupid, idiotic, beautiful nose scrunches.” Taking a pause, Sowon shook her head, “I hate men. Oh, how much I do...but him. And the other boys ‒ maybe ‒ just don’t tell them or it will get over their heads. Anyways, Jungkook, you know this saying of having butterflies in your stomach?” The leader turned to Sumin with a smile, “It sounds stupid, but it feels exactly like that. Maybe a little like you want to throw up as well, but we want to keep it classy right?” She chuckled as she reached out for Sumin’s hand, “It still needed to be struck by a bullet to realize that I’d die for this man.” Pointing with one finger at her friend, she raised her eyebrows at her, “And you know I don’t say that lightly.” Leaning back against the cold, concrete wall, the gang leader pulled her knees in. “Someone aimed at him. I couldn’t let that happen. So, I pushed him away and the bullet hit me right in my shoulder, but instead of running away...I kissed him.” Sowon bit her lips, tears were burning behind her eyes and Sowon cleared her throat, “Maybe it’s in the kiss. You should try that...heard Jin is a great kisser.”

Sumin pursed her lips, fighting to control the blush from becoming any redder, as she thought about what Sowon had said. Was she in love with Seokjin? That was the million dollar question of the hour, and the more she thought about it, the more this feeling of realization crashed into her body—especially once her mind recalled every moment that she experienced those “butterflies” with Seokjin by her side…

“You do know that you don’t have to sit so close to me in order to keep an eye on me, right?” Sumin pointed out, bothered by the fact that he prevented her from getting any school work done. He just had to sit incredibly close to her.

Seokjin smiled, “Oh, but I have to, princess. Someone could easily grab you from behind and what kind of man would I be if I allowed my woman to be taken away from me.” He argued, wrapping a protective arm around her shoulder and pulling her close.

Sumin groaned before lightly elbowing him in the rib to get him to release her.

“First of all, I am not your woman. Second of all, I can protect myself thank you very much.” She retorted, flashing him a knowing look.

“Oh really? So, how do you explain being almost kidnapped by some hired thugs last week, then?”

“T-That was...that was…!”

“Yes…? I’m waiting, princess.”

“Oh, shut up and let me study!”

Seokjin laughed, finding Sumin extremely adorable, especially when she mumbled some profanities and death threats. How did he get so lucky to be blessed with such a woman? While, yes, they were not exclusive to one another, there were moments he felt like they were. It was quite entertaining to see her become this green-eyed monster whenever he flirted with other women to obtain some information on NCT. It was also humorous to watch her deny such accusations and tell him that he could “fuck” those girls, and she wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.

Oh...but she did…

There was one night where Sowon had ordered him to talk to the female workers, at NCT’s club, but Sumin didn’t know that. So, when he peeked inside Sumin’s room, he had to quickly stifle his laughter after witnessing her rant to Sowon about how he could get a STD from those girls.

“And most importantly, what if they take advantage of him?! Like, what if they find out about his sweet spot and use it to their advantage?!” Seokjin heard Sumin angrily ask Sowon.

Then, he heard his leader’s laugh before responding,

“And, how would you know about his sweet spot? Huh, little sunshine?”

Sumin practically squeaked, “Uh...he told me!”

“Oh my goodness, you being in love with my recon man, is fucking hilarious.”

Seokjin’s eyes widened as his heart began to pound against his chest.

“Oh...please don’t be a cruel joke, Sowon…” He thought as he eagerly waited for Sumin’s response.

“I’m not in love with that handsome, annoying fool…” mumbled Sumin, glancing away.

Well, that was fast. Seokjin went from being over the moon to crushed in less than ten seconds.

Maybe Jungkook was right to call him a lovesick fool. He was foolish to think that someone so pure would want to be with someone like him. He had killed for Bangtan and never once felt any remorse afterwards. He was heartless...or...he thought himself to be.

Someone like Sumin would never fall in love with him, and he should finally accept that.

With a heavy heart, he stepped away from Sumin’s door but just as he turned away to leave, he heard Sumin say,

“Though...it does feel odd to not have him by my side…”

Just hearing that sentence ignited a flame within him. If she started to experience that, then maybe ‒ just maybe ‒ it could develop into love. Yeah...it would develop into love. He just had to continue to show her the love that he had for her.

And, so he did…

“Have you ever been kiss, princess?” He suddenly asked, glancing down at the girl, who had her eyes glued to a chemistry equation she had been trying to solve for almost an hour.

“No, why?” questioned Sumin, raising her brow, as she looked away from her notebook.

Then, a smirk graced his handsome face, creating even more confusion within her.

Suddenly, instead of answering, he cupped both her cheeks and leaned forward. Sumin’s eyes widened while this pinkish hue appeared on her cheeks.

“Oh...my...God…” She thought as he inched closer and closer. Their lips barely touched each other. Just one slight push, and they’d be kissing. Part of her wanted to close the gap herself while the side wanted to push him away and slap him upside the head.

How dare he try and steal her first kiss? And yet...why would she gladly let him…?

This strange sensation within her tummy caused it to do flips. It made her fingers tremble in anticipation. Her eyes flickered to his lips, noting how plump they were, and wondered how it would feel against her own.

Without a second thought, she did it. She wove her fingers in his hair and pulled him closer, capturing his lips and unleashing a tiny bit of sexual tension that they had built up for months.

Seokjin’s eyes grew as he was completely taken back by Sumin’s sudden action. Though, he did not mind it one bit. He just hoped that she didn’t feel his heart beating against his chest. That’s how close their chests were as they continued to kiss, putting all their emotions into it.

Minutes later, Sumin finally pulled away. Then, a look of realization washed over her face as she quickly gathered her school material.

“I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” She said, shoving her textbook and notebook inside her bag. She was about to put her writing utensils away when Seokjin’s hand clamped over hers .

“Why? Do you regret it? Were you just playing with my emotions because Sowon said that you needed to practice your act of deceivement?” Seokjin fired question after question, failing to mask the hurt in his voice.

Sumin gawked, “What? No, of course I don’t regret it. I just think that it was inappropriate for me to have done that when I don’t even know what exactly are your feelings towards me and—” Before she could continue her rant, Seokjin silenced her with another sweet kiss.

“How about now? Do you know what my feelings are now?” He asked as he pulled away, leaving Sumin breathless.

“I think I do…”

“I think I’m in love with Seokjin….Oh my God...I’m in love with Seokjin…”

A hand on her mouth shut her up pretty effectively as soon as the realization hit her.

“Yeah, smarty-pants you are and fucking be quiet about it or…,” Sowon’s eyes narrowed as she stopped. Her heart was hammering hard against her chest, like drums at a rock concert. Only louder. She could hear footsteps coming closer. “Just fucking do as I say, okay? Be a good girl and make him think you love him. I’ll get us out of here...somehow,” Her eyes flickered around the windowless room.

She was pretty much hopeless, but she wouldn’t be Sowon if she hadn’t an idea already sparked in her mind. Sowon leaned in to kiss Sumin’s hair quickly, whispering to her a few encouraging words.

“Oh and...if you got his trust...please get me some pain killers, or at least ask him if you can get me some water. I need to get rid of this blood,” Sowon said with a smile as the door opened.

Two of Mark’s men ushered in fast, while the leader leaned against the door frame with a smirk. The men quickly handcuffed Sumin again, taking her on both sides of her arms roughly to shove her back towards the door.

“C’mon my beautiful girl,” Mark reached for Sumin’s hand, “There is a movie coming on tonight that I’d really like to watch with you. What do you think, huh? Movie night sounds wonderful, right?”

“Make him think you love him…” Sowon’s words rang within Sumin’s ears. She then took a deep breath and slowly released as the sweetest smile appeared on her face.

“Of course, Mark. I just hope it isn’t a scary movie because I get frightened easily.” She confessed with a meek expression.

Then, Mark protectively wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.

“Don’t worry, little angel, I’ll protect you…always...”

And he just did that. No matter what she did, he was there to prevent from any harm coming her way. When his men knew of her weaponry skills and wanted to see them first hand, Mark immediately nipped that in the bud, stating that he would put a bullet in between their eyes if they ever requested something so idiotically from her again. In his mind, his precious angel needed him to protect her. She had no knowledge of guns or any other weapon. She never stained her heart by killing someone. Nah. He’d be the one to continuously corrupt his heart instead.

She needed to stay pure...untainted…

Currently in the training room, Mark fired round after round, releasing his pent up rage. Shot after shot, the bullets landed on a vital spot of a person. An evil smirk slowly appeared as he looked over his handy work, imagining each target dummy as a member of Bangtan. God, he couldn’t wait to kill each and every one of them. Unfortunately, that stupid bitch, he had locked inside his basement, refused to cooperate. Even on the brink of death, she remained stubborn. Honestly, he would’ve killed her on the tenth day of her captivity, but his precious angel managed to convince him…

“Please...let me try again. I will definitely convince her this time.” begged Sumin with a cute pout, wrapping her arms around his shoulders from behind.

Mark looked away from the vanilla-colored file, that contained important intel, and asked why she was so hung up on trying to convince her friend.

“Because, I know you, and I can tell that you are seconds away from ordering her execution,” She then released him and walked in front of him before positioning himself on his lap, “Do you love me, Mark?” She questioned with a serious expression.

Mark looked taken back, “You know I do, angel. I would do anything for you, you know that.”

“Then, let me work my magic. You already trust me enough to not handcuff me anymore,” She then leaned closer; her lips hovered above his ear, “Now, trust me when I say that I will get you that information you desire so much.” She whispered alluringly, playfully nibbling at his earlobe before pulling away.

Mark sighed heavily, controlling his hormones, “Okay. Fine. Convince your friend once more, but if she doesn’t open her mouth, then she’s dead. Got it?”

“Loud and clear.”

Whatever Sumin said to Sowon worked. An hour after Sumin visited her, Mark obtained important information about how to take down Bangtan. He was certainly wrong to doubt her.

“I wonder what she’s doing…” He wondered quietly to himself, smiling, as he stared out the window, leaning in his office chair.

Standing in front of the basement door, Sumin clutched the pain medicine and bottle of water for her dear friend behind her back. She blankly met both Doyoung and Johnny’s gaze and pretty much demanded that they move or else. Without a second thought, the two men moved out of her way and allowed her inside the basement. Before entering, Sumin threatened that if they interrupt her, she’d personally use them as target practice for her knife throwing. For added measure, she told them that she knows where all vital organs are located at, and she never misses.

The two boys nodded, trying to mask the fear in their eyes.

With a warm smile, she bid them a fond farewell before venturing inside the basement. She heard the door close shut, and the security system activating again.

She rolled her eyes, finding it a tad dramatic, before walking further inside. Though, she wished she hadn’t. It had been three days since her last visit, and she knew that Sowon had started to go a little stir crazy. She just hoped that her fearless friend didn’t snap.

“Sowon…” She called out softly, staring at her backside. “I brought you a bottle of pain medicine and water…”

The gang leader leaned against the wall, breathing heavily as her knuckles turned white from how hard she tightened them. She couldn’t believe this. She was still here. No sign of her gang or Jungkook, battered and on her way to fucking lose her mind. Nonetheless she put a smile on her face, when Sumin entered. The other girl looked like a wild contrast to her. Her hair brushed, clothes clean and with a smile, while Sowon sported some ripped shirt and cuts and bruises in all kinds of different shading on her body. With a heavy sigh, she fell back onto the bed. She didn’t want to talk, so she just took the pills from Sumin with a apologetic smile and gulped the bottle of water hastily. Rubbing her wrists, she hissed feeling the burn from where they had bond her to the chair again. Deep red marks. She hated them. At least Sumin was doing okay. Her eyes wandered over her friend’s body, looking for any sign that she wasn’t when it fell onto her hands. Wait. What? She hadn’t noticed it before, too deeply immersed in her thoughts.

“When did he let you off the handcuffs?” Sowon whispered, watching as Sumin dropped onto her knees in front of her, getting out a first-aid kit.

The gang leader eyed it warily, but didn’t bother to interrupt Sumin. She needed to know when, how and what. She needed information. Finally. There was a glimpse of hope.

Sumin hummed in response as she poured a tiny bit of rubbing alcohol on a cotton puff. She then peered down, looking at her free hands.

“Oh, the lack of handcuffs?” Sowon nodded, wanting to know more, “I think it was day five when he happily bestowed the privilege of me no longer needing restraints as he had grown to trust me.” She replied, keeping her voice at a semi-whisper, as she recalled the day that she had earned Mark’s trust.

Gazing out of the window, Sumin drank in the tranquil atmosphere that the Autumn day had to offer. She especially enjoyed how the soft breeze gently fanned her face. She inhaled slowly, breathing in the familiar scents she had longed for. The trees. The grass. Anything that nature had offered. She even eyed the birds with envy as they were free, and she was not.

She felt like a damsel in distress, locked away in a tower, as she patiently waited for her suitor to come and rescue her. She honestly had lost track of how long she and Sowon had been there. Speaking of which...how was Sumin? She hasn’t seen her since their first night. God...she missed her…

Not wanting to cry again, she removed herself from the open window and looked around her room. There was so much she could do to preoccupy her mind and yet she had nothing.

As she let out a long sigh, she heard the door knock before seeing Mark peek his head inside. Once again, he looked a little too eager to win over her affections. Day one, he had asked Taeyong to cook breakfast for her. Naturally, she threw it out the window, stating that he was trying to poison her yet again. Day two, he had planned one of her ideal dates, which consisted a walk along the sandy beach and enjoying each other’s company; however, it was hard with his men acting as secret service agents and—she was fucking handcuffed. Day three, she woke up to a beautiful bouquet of roses, various in color. She couldn’t help but smile at the gesture, but Seokjin already beat him in that romantic act, so it lacked a little luster. Day four, after forcibly joining Mark in his meetings, Sumin returned to her room and almost cried tears of joy as she saw a stack of books that were not only her favorite pieces of literature but also rare.

Now, she wondered how he was going to top that. At the same time, why was he being overly sweet on her? If anything, she should be locked away with Sumin after the shit she had pulled.

“May I help you?” asked Sumin as Mark strode right in, heading towards her.

“I need a little advice on something.” He stated, taking a seat on the edge of her bed and patting the spot next to him.

Unbothered to fight him, she sat right next to him and asked what he needed help with.

“Well, I’m having a little of a dilemma deciding on what to do about a rising gang.” He began, turning towards Sumin, “I mean, I can do the obvious thing and terminate them before they grow too powerful. However, NCT needs allies believe it or not, and we can’t rely on EXO and SHINee forever, so what do you think?” He finished.

Sumin pursed her lips; a bit taken back at his predicament. Should she help him? After all, Sowon did tell her to gain his trust. That way she could roam free and help Sowon in any means possible.

“Like you said, you need allies. You can’t always rely on the OG gangs here in Seoul, so I would position your young members, you call them “Dreamies”, right?” Mark nodded, “Okay. Yeah. Um. I would position the Dreamies in a way that they could start planting seeds of influence. I mean, they have these trustworthy and lovable faces, so it would work. Then, once they persuade the leader enough, that’s when you make your move.” Sumin relayed her idea. Her brilliant mind was considered to be a powerful tool in Bangtan—as Mark happily learned.

He slowly nodded, pursing his lips and clasping his fingers, as he thought about her plan. Yes. That could work.

Without saying anything, he stood up. He then glanced over his shoulder, flashing his precious angel a sweet smile.

“Thanks, my little angel.” He said, fishing something out of his pocket.

Sumin eyed him questioningly, secretly scared that she’d be shot dead.

“Ah...here it is…!” She heard Mark happily mumble. She then saw him turn around and kneel in front of her. Just as she asked him what he was doing, she felt the cool metal loosen around her wrists.

“You’re free, little one.” He announced, looking at her with utter sincerity.

Sumin tilted her head slightly, “I-I’m free?”

“Well, not free to leave but free enough to roam around my place without my boys following your every move.” He stood up, taking the handcuffs with him, “I’m sorry that I had to keep you under lock and key, I was just afraid that you would seriously harm yourself, and I can’t bear the thought of losing you. However, I believe that I can trust you enough to know that you wouldn’t do anything horrific like that.” He explained, smiling sadly.

“Oh...thanks…” She muttered.

Mark nodded and just as he turned to leave, he felt something wrap around his torso. His eyes trailed down and saw a pair of arms. He then peeked over his shoulder and saw Sumin holding him.

“Thank you so much, Mark…you have no idea how much this means to me. ”

“I told you… I would do anything for you…”

Sowon let out a long whistle, impressed that her cute little roomie did the impossible. Sumin managed to make Mark believe that she was in love with him.

“Nicely done...Nicely done…” Sowon complimented before releasing a slight wince as the cotton ball infused with rubbing alcohol made contact.

“Hold still, you big baby…”

“Well, how about I cut your cheek and then place that cotton ball on you, then let’s see if you would hold still or not.”

“Of course, I’d hold still. You’re treating my wounds. I don’t want to get an infection…”

“...I can see why Seokjin loves you…”

Sumin laughed at Sowon’s remark, shaking her head as she continued to tend to Sowon’s wounds. Once her injuries were clean and showed no signs of infection, Sumin closed the first-aid kit and positioned herself against the bed, leaning her head back just a bit.

“So, did you figure out a way for us to get out of this shit hole?” she asked, directing her attention towards Sowon.

Closing her eyes for a moment, the leader nodded.

“I did,” She whispered as her eyes snapped open again. “From what you told me, I know the plans of this fucking building by heart now. All I need is a weapon.” She lowered her voice a little more, raking her hands through her hair in a desperate manner. “You need to smuggle something in for me. Something small, but sharp. I’ll take them down easily and then I’ll make my way up. They aren’t guarding me that much as they want to.” Sumin leaned towards her, listening carefully to everything Sowon said, while she was making mental notes. “When they bring me food, I will take Johnny down. It’s always just one and I need you to walk by the door upstairs to leave it a bit ajar, just so no one notices but I can slip through. But don’t wait for me, you hear me?” Sowon eyed the girl with a stern gaze, “You will go, make sure Mark is occupied with something and then we meet up…”

“The west wing,” Sumin breathed out with wide eyes, when the plan sunk in. It could work. This was the only part of the building that wasn’t done constructing, yet. They had a good chance of escaping there—but also to be seen.

“When?”

“Tomorrow,” Sowon announced with a determined nod, “Oh and make sure they let lose a little. Make them drinks or something for lunch. I heard those pretty boys love to party.” A devilish smirk appeared on the woman’s face and Sumin shivered. She hasn’t seen that glint in Sowon’s eyes in a while. It spoke of wild rage.

But just like everything else in Sumin’s life... it didn’t went they way she had planned it...

Back with the fellas of Bangtan, tensions were at an all time high. Anger surged throughout their body as they silently berated themselves for failing both Sowon and Sumin. How on earth did they fail to see that this was just one giant bait? And to make matters worse...they were stupid enough to take it…

“I will fucking murder him!” Seokjin spat with rage; his breath grew sporadic while his heart pounded against his chest. This uncontrollable hatred surge throughout his body, amping his need ‒ no desire ‒ to punch something or someone. He needed to get his hands on Mark, and he would kill anyone that dared to stop him.

Jungkook pushed him back by his chest, ordering the other to be quiet.

“And you will, but you need to stay cool. We can’t just barge in. Mark wants us to,” Jungkook looked around, his chest rising with every breath he took. Sowon had been gone for too long. He wasn’t sure how long one could last torture and he didn’t want to find out. “Do you have a fucking plan?” Seokjin hissed, his knuckles turning white with how hard he gripped the armrest of the chair. Jungkook’s eyes met one of his members. Everyone was focused, determined and raging with a burning fire that could only be sated with blood.

“Tomorrow…”

The next day, Sumin woke up feeling happy. Today was the day that she and Sowon would finally escape this Hell hole. Though, in the back of her mind, something didn’t feel right, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what could it possibly be. All she knew, that her gut told her, was that something would happen that could leave someone severely injured. She just prayed that it would be someone from NCT. To be specific, she hoped that it would Mark. She had enough of his unwanted advances. It made her sick to her stomach to have him kiss her in places that were meant for Seokjin. To have him whisper nothing but sweet words. She hated it all, and she was thankful that her disgust never showed. Maybe she should take up acting…

Currently in the kitchen, she was busy cooking up a lunch for Sowon. Remembering that her dear friend needed some kind of weapon, she decided to create a meal that would require the usage of a knife and fork; though, it made her wonder how Sowon would kill someone with both utensils. Then, she shuddered at the fact that Sowon could easily kill someone with a fucking spoon, so a fork and steak knife would be no problem for her.

Sumin quickly chopped a few carrots and onions before throwing them into the saute pan. Just as she turned around, she heard Mark shout,

“There you are, my precious angel!”

She quickly mustered a sweet smile and greeted him back with the same amount of enthusiasm.

“Whatcha cooking?” He asked, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“I’m making a meal for Sowon. She looked malnourished, and it didn’t sit well with me knowing that I’m eating delicious meals prepared by Taeyong while she’s starving to death.” She explained, smiling sadly. She knew Mark would do anything to keep her happy, so she had to sell that she was “heartbroken” and “upset” over her friend.

Mark hummed in response, resting his chin on her shoulder.

“But, what if I want to eat it? I always wanted to try your cooking,” He paused, inhaling the savory aroma,” How about this, I eat that, and I’ll get Taeyong to cook her something delicious?” He suggested, smiling brightly, with this hopeful gleam in his eyes. “I also want to eat lunch with you since it’s been a few days since we last shared a meal together.” He added, slightly guilt-tripping the poor girl.

Sumin maintained her smile, though, on the inside, she wanted to take that steak knife and stab him in the neck. Well...there goes Plan A…

“Okay fine...I guess I miss your company too…”

“I knew you love me, little one.”

“And I regret that…”

Mark chuckled at her comment before kissing Sumin on the cheek. He then released his hold on her and straightened his jacket out.

“Oh, do you have plans for tonight?” He suddenly asked, throwing Sumin off guard.

She hummed, thinking of a believable lie for him. The last thing she wanted was to go on another date with him which usually ended him with trying to have sex with her.

“Uh...well, I was hoping to get some studying done, tonight. Why?”

“I want to take my precious angel out on a date.”

“Oh? Another one? But we went out last night.”

“Well, this is important because I want to ask you something.”

Sumin’s lips thinned as this look of complete and utter dread slowly washed over. Fortunately, Mark mistook it as nerves and quickly calmed them.

“Don’t worry, baby girl, I’m not proposing to you.” He chuckled, “But it is an important question so dress beautifully for me.” He winked at her, causing the girl to become red.

He resumed walking out of the kitchen, where the moment his foot stepped out of the area, his sweet smile dropped. It was soon replaced with this evil and pleased smirk as mind became filled with the idea of Sumin officially joining NCT. He had found his queen, so why not give her full reign over his members as well?

“I hope she says yes…”

Soon, a blanket of darkness covered the once bright sky. Tiny dots, that twinkled brightly, decorated the night sky with the full moon as the main event. A soft breeze brushed past the ivory lace curtains as small amounts of steam left underneath the bathroom door.

Currently, blow drying her hair, Sumin couldn’t help but be a bit irritated that Mark forced her to take another shower. Apparently, she “smelled”, and he missed the scent of sweet flowers that came from her shower gel.

“Why are boys obsessed with sweet scents?” She uttered as she finally reached the last section of her that needed drying. She quickly dried that part and then brushed her hair, straightening it. She quickly debated if she wanted to curl her hair or just leave it straight. Should she go the extra mile or give in to her laziness? After debating, she chose the latter. Mark already seen her with wavy and curly hair, so it wouldn’t be anything special if she were to create loves waves.

She gave herself a quick glance over before leaving the steamy and humid bathroom. The cool air fanned her body, creating tiny goosebumps to appear all over her arms and legs. But she gladly welcomed it. She loved the chill air. She then walked over to her closet, flipping through the luxurious brand dresses. What kind of color theme should she go for? That was the big question.

She flipped through dress after dress until she saw this black and blue dress. She took that dress to get a better look. She pursed her lips, silently impressed that Mark’s men had tastes. The dress looked like something that came out of the Victorian era yet had this modern aesthetic to it. The sleeves were black lace and long. The top part of it was also black lace, but the bottom was this royal blue color that reminded her of sapphires.

With a faint smile, she dropped her towel and quickly put on this wine colored matching lingerie set. She then unzipped the dress and stepped right into it. She zipped it back up and smoothed out the fabric.

“Knowing Mark, there are matching shoes to go with it.” She humorously thought as she searched for them. Though, it didn’t take too long.

She raised a brow, noticing how the shoes reminded her of ballet slippers. The heels were a matching blue with black satin ribbons. They were beautiful.

After what seemed like forever, Sumin finally finished getting ready. It took her a few attempts to get the shoes to look right. She swiftly put on diamond earrings as she walked over to her purse, which sat on top of her wooden drawer, and grabbed it.

“Okay, Sowon needs a weapon…” She mumbled to herself as she grabbed a nail file from her vanity table.

She took one final breath, slowly exhaling it. She emptied her thoughts and prepared herself to execute Sowon’s plan.

“Let’s get out of here.” She thought as she walked over to the door. Just as she reached for the door handle, it opened suddenly.

Sumin took a step back and looked confused as she saw Mark wearing something that did not seem suitable for a date. He normally dressed up but here he stood wearing a black leather jacket, a black plain t-shirt, and jeans.

“Where are you going?” asked Mark, secretly devouring Sumin with his eyes. His eyes especially lingered around her sinful legs.

Sumin shifted a little, slightly uncomfortable with Mark’s lustful gaze.

“I was going to ask Sowon for her opinion on my outfit. You know...for our date tonight.” She answered, reminding him of the date he suggested.

Mark pursed his lips, nodding slowly, as he placed a warm hand on Sumin’s shoulder.

“Yeah...change in plans...you’re staying here tonight.” He announced quickly as he rushed out of the room and closed the door.

Sumin gawked and just as she headed for the door, she heard it lock followed by the security system activating. She angrily banged on the door, demanding Mark to tell her what’s going on.

“I’m just keeping you safe little one! Now, be a good girl and wait for me!” He shouted before turning away. He then silently ordered one of his men to keep a watchful eye on her as she had the tendency of escaping.

Boy...he was smart to have a guard stationed by her room.

Sumin was heading planning her escape. She tossed her purse on the bed as she quickly walked over to the window, that Mark stupidly forgot to close whenever he had her under lock down. She would’ve ran, but she was still in heels.

She swiftly tied her hair up in a ponytail before hooking one leg out of the window. She reached for the top ledge of the roof, slowly hoisting herself up. She mustered all of her strength to pull herself up into a standing position, careful to secure her feet as heels tend to be slippery.

Just as she managed to stand, something latched onto her feet. She tightened her grip on the ledge of the rooftop as she struggled against the unknown person’s grasp. She started to feel her body be pulled down. Fear instilled in her eyes as she was afraid that she would plummet to her death.

Not wanting to die, she channeled that fear and turned it into adrenaline. She kicked her feet, hoping to land a few hits on the assailant’s face.

“Let go off me!”

“Wait, it’s me!”

A/N: Okay...I take back what I said in my latest chapter of Our Second Chance... this is my longest update that I have written to date. Honestly, I do not know how people can write 10K+ chapters, but I applaud them lol

Anyway, what do you guys think of this update? Believe it or not, we are nearing the end of this story! How do you guys think this is all going to play out? I honestly want to know! :)

Don’t forget to leave a comment/like/reblog/and an ask in mine or Jey’s inbox! We love hearing your thoughts!

- Kim

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neverwatchedonepiece · 6 years ago

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536-537: "The Battle in the Ryugu Palace! Zoro vs Hordy!" and "Keep Shirahoshi Safe! Decken Close Behind!"

GLORIOUS JUSTICE. THANK YOU, ODA!

I swear when this happened, a ray of light shone down upon my laptop and a celestial chorus sang.

Of course, Decken is not down and out yet.

This might sound strange, but I’m oddly glad. For all the crap he’s put Shirahoshi through for ten years - ten years! - he needs to suffer a bit more. A decade’s worth of suffering in one go should do the trick.

Also, poor little Megalo is having a rough time right now. Give the shark a break, Luffy. He’s doing his best.

(Oh, and thanks to the person who gave me my first ever Ko-fi donation. Set one up on advice of a NWOP reader. Donations are absolutely **not essential**. I am doing this because I like One Piece and want to see this through, so entries will keep coming no matter what, but I did appreciate it. Thanks! ^_^)

No Such Thing As Bad Publicity?

And it was all going so well!

Luffy’s plan was ticking along smoothly. He was drifting along with Megalo and Shirahoshi. Some clouds passed. In their shapes, Luffy saw various meats. Shirahoshi saw fish-based lifeforms. Megalo was frantically suppressing his gag-reflex. Life was good.

Unbeknownst to Luffy, just below him, Sanji and Chopper had found Hachi washed up on shore, horribly injured. Local Fishmen and Merfolk crowded round them and it seems news spreads fast on Fishman Island because the locals were not pleased to see them. They were armed and they had not come to have a quiet chat.

They accused Sanji and Chopper of kidnapping three young mermaids while the rest of the crew had taken over Ryugu Palace. Sanji, who had been bed-bound the entire time, had no idea what was going on. “It’s true that I love mermaids so much that I wanna take them away but we did not kidnap them.” Chopper, the oblivious, dedicated doctor, asked for quiet so he could concentrate, even when it was clear the crowd was hostile. (I bet he was confident enough in Sanji’s crowd control skills to let him work on Hachi.)

Just at the point when the locals started pelting objects at Sanji and Chopper (which could have degenerated into a rolling cartoon ball of limbs), Luffy passed overhead, noticed them and jumped down. He was horrified when he saw the state Hachi was in.

“How did this happen? Who did this to you?” I swear, post Sabaody, Luffy is now almost as protective of Hachi as he is of his crew. No one will able to ever touch Hachi again for fear of Luffy’s wrath. Just goes to show you how loyal Luffy is to his friends.

The locals who had gathered round were also gathering their courage and their outrage. They muttered to each other. The Strawhats had been kidnapping mermaids. They were holding Ryugu Palace. Why? Were they after the princess too? No. Surely not! She had been in hiding for ten years. Impossible! She was guarded day and night by Neptune’s army. The princess, at least, would be safe, right?

With perfect comic timing, Megalo crashed to the ground and his gag reflex finally kicked in.

Everyone just stared in shock at the princess. Even Luffy realised things were not quite going to plan, which was one of the things I liked about this scene, to be honest.

When the local Fishfolk were ready to lay down their lives defending Shirahoshi from the Evil Pirate Who Made Her Cry, Luffy did not lift a hand to them. Maybe he realised they were innocent people who’d just got the wrong end of the stick. He did not fight back or hurt a single one of them. Sanji and Chopper must have known that too because they also let themselves be captured. (I swear those Fishfolk will be telling that story for years to come: about how they captured Strawhat Luffy, Black Leg Sanji and Dr Chopper of the Strawhats.)

Well, Sanji didn’t do much because he had an out-of-body experience when he turned round and saw Shirahoshi. xD

While the locals crowed over their victory, Luffy said, “Um.... there’s something flying towards us.”

Just Casually Using This Again Because I Like Seeing It

Of course, it was Captain Sex-Pest. Armed with an axe, he shrieked his hundred-millionth proposal to Shirahoshi and demanded an immediate answer. “Death or marriage! Will you marry me? WHAT IS YOUR ANSWER?”

Her answer?

“Y---- YOU’RE NOT MY TYPE!”

Yes. Stick it to him, Shirahoshi.

I wish I could say he left her alone after that, but Decken is a total incel. “You trampled on my feelings of ten years! If you don’t love me, your very existence irritates me!”

Hence the reason Luffy gave Decken an ass-whooping.

“ARE YOU THE ONE WHO HAS BEEN THROWING THINGS AT COWARD?”

You do not throw things at Coward. Not on Luffy’s watch.

That beautiful Gear 2nd smackdown with his hands and legs tied was poetry in motion. (Also like that he can use Haki for protecting innocent people: knocking them out for a while until he gets the job done. Useful for civilian crowd control.)

I loved it when Decken tried to call his Sea Bonze flunky only to see Luffy knock his front tooth out in one punch.

Ha ha, Decken. Must be hard realising your crew are fodder level.

Just as well you have Hordy Jones to back you up, otherwise you’d be up shit creek.

Meanwhile, At The Palace...

When I saw the way the Fishmen reacted towards Luffy, Sanji and Chopper, I thought right away about Hordy Jones and Arlong and their ideology. Then I heard how Hachi described him: “strong” with “dangerous thoughts” and I’m thinking maybe one of the most dangerous things - maybe the most dangerous thing - about Hordy Jones is his ideas.

I can already see the local Fishmen latching on to his hatred for humans. Now the Strawhats have accidentally given the Fishmen a focus for their hatred, maybe they’ll start to think, “Hordy Jones and Arlong were right all along. These humans come here, they kidnap Merfolk and sell them as slaves, we are oppressed by humans... why should we tolerate this?”

What was it that that American Civil Rights activist said? Something like, “You can kill a man, but you can’t kill an idea.”

Ideas are difficult things. Maybe once the idea is out there, when Fishmen see what Hordy Jones describes actually happening before their eyes, that idea grows arms and legs and all a sudden everyone thinks, “This guy is right. Humans are scum.”

It happens all the time in real life.

I might be wrong but maybe Hordy Jones might be one of those villains where he latches onto that sentiment and uses it to push his ideology. And it’s one he truly believes in because he saw one of his friends almost kidnapped by a pirate. Arlong saved him. But others weren’t so lucky.

At least now some of the stuff I picked up on from the last episodes has been explained. Hordy only entered the Royal Army to learn combat. He had designs on becoming Arlong’s right-hand man all along. (Does that explain the tattoo Nami spotted? Or is a tribute?) He has always hated the ruling class of Fishman Island. He accused Neptune of failing to notice what had been going on for years, the mistreatment of Fishmen and Merfolk on their own territory by humans.

Now, Hordy Jones wants to restore Arlong’s dream.

Now, Nami is clever and I wonder if she understands the Fishman mindset more than most humans, as she had been with the Arlong Pirates for so long? She knows something is up, anyway. That maybe there is something more to this than just a tribute act. While Hordy was powering up, crushing a hole in the palace wall to deliberately flood the room, Nami asked Camie to take her to the Sea Forest to meet Jimbei. She is wondering why Jimbei told Luffy not to fight Hordy.

To be honest, so am I. What is your game, Jimbei? Are you trying to protect Hordy Jones? Because Luffy sure as hell doesn’t need protected.

Fishman Shield No-Jutsu

Hordy’s fight with Zoro was pretty cool. He was strong enough to crush the wall without Fish Roids, and was smart enough to flood the room and give himself the advantage. After all, this was the crew who ruined Arlong’s grand vision. He is also as ruthless as Arlong, breaking out the water arrows pretty quickly.

Zoro, who had seen them before, deflected them (and Neptune became a shield for his men, how nice is that? I’ve decided. He is a good guy, really.) Hordy was impressed Zoro had lived to see them twice. Usopp recognised that Hordy was stronger than Arlong, but Zoro is on another level now. Wasting no time, Zoro pulled out a Bird Slash Dance and went in for the kill.

Buuuuuuuuuut, Hordy is more ruthless. He grabbed one of his goons and turned said goon into a meat shield. Would Arlong have done that to his crew? I doubt it. Arlong even respected Nami, a human member of his crew, though he treated her terribly. Hordy treats everyone like crap.

The Meat Shield moment was a nice visual callback to the Arlong and Bellemere scene (though not as powerful as the emotional connection wasn’t there).

I was more impressed by Zoro, who was able to fight a Fishman under water.

Maybe not a good idea to rush head on at a Master Swordsman trained by Dracule Mihawk, Hordy. Just a thought.

You know, I feel a bit sorry for Brook, who joined the crew late and has absolutely no clue what the hell is going on. He has no idea who Arlong is and why everyone is so angry, just that he’s neck deep in water and is slowly losing the will to live. xD

Oh, and Robin has wandered off into the Sea Forest. She’s not strictly allowed to go in, but when has that ever stopped her?

Your feedback is important to us. Please hold.

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placingglaciers · 6 years ago

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A Price to Pay

Title: A Price to Pay

Genre: AU, Fluff, Getting Together

Word Count: 8, 278

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol intoxication

Description: In which Phil has a massive cliché crush on his writing tutor, the most popular guy at college, and gets invited to one of his legendary parties. One requirement though: Phil needs a plus one.

Author’s Note: This has been pushed off for a while! (Please remember that this is fiction.)

“You still need to come up with some transitional expressions to help make your paragraph smoother,” his writing tutor remarked, his red pen in his hand, of which he had no restraint on using with Philip’s essay papers. “We’ve been over this.”

If it wasn’t obvious before, then let it be known now that Philip was far more interested in the smoothness of his tutor’s lips rather than the smoothness of his stupid paragraph. His Wednesday afternoon tutoring session only had fifteen minutes remaining. The mere progress they made was on the first page, the following four would have to be reviewed in a later session, of which Philip wasn’t too sad about, of course. Having the most gorgeous boy in school be your unnecessary writing tutor was rather distracting—unnecessary because Philip was an English student, he could write transitional expressions in his sleep if he really wanted to. He admits that having a crush on this boy and tracking him down to this extent was a bit juvenile, but his college days were being numbered and being single during all of them was not ideal. So if playing dumb for a little while would help him get closer to the guy, then so be it.

Philip’s eyes glanced down at the red scribbles that practically vandalized his precious essay and back up into those stunning blue eyes. “Um, right, what’s a transitional expression again?”

You could tell he was being very patient with him as he bit the inside of his cheek and began drumming his pen on the wooden dining hall table. “It’s a sentence variety strategy,” he slowly explained. “You want your writing to sound more creative and poetic, don’t you? It keeps it from sounding monotonous.”

Philip nodded his head in false understanding. “Oh, right, I think my professor gave us a handout on it during class today…” He continued to shuffle through his quite organized creative non-fiction writing binder. He knew exactly where the paper was, but he was hoping that by stalling, his tutor would lose patience and give him all the answers. Philip knew all the right buttons to push to get his way. This was rather fun, actually.

“Well, we could start with this sentence here,” his tutor pointed to one of the sentences. “Instead of saying: ‘I must say that people who don’t like wearing pajamas are wrong,” you could say: ‘However, although some people don’t prefer wearing pajamas, they’re ignoring the facts of the multiple benefits of them.’”

Philip tried his hardest not to cringe in front of him. Two transitional expressions in one sentence? And ending with a prepositional phrase? Never mind the fact that he still kept the contractions in his so-called “revision.” Thank God Philip wasn’t there for actual help. He pretended to think about that awful “sentence” for a few more seconds before coming up with a stupid question. “Yeah, but doesn’t that make the sentence longer?”

“Yes, but that’s what you need.” He annoyingly pointed out to the paragraph with his pen again. “You have way too many short sentences here. This is why I said you need sentence variety.”

For some reason, Philip was feeling highly annoyed. He already finished his final draft yesterday. This was just a way for them to keep occupied. But he really hated being told what to do by a Journalism student, who was completely different from an English student in his opinion. All his tutor wanted to do was report on football games. How difficult could that be? Philip had to actually work hard to gain an audience that wouldn’t be simply handed to him. But then again, he knew not one rule about football, so perhaps he should stay in his own lane. He checked the time on his watch. He was right. Unfortunately, he could only tolerate his tutor for an hour or two at a time and it was getting towards the end of the session. It was almost five o’clock; he was going to be late.

“I think we’re at a stopping point,” his tutor mentioned once he saw Philip check his watch. He began packing his evil red pen and took a drink from his strawberry flavored water. He then said hello to a few passing people.

Philip began packing his writing binder and essay papers slowly in case they wanted to exchange any heartfelt farewells to each other.

“Say, Phil?” his tutor suddenly asked him.

Philip looked up from his book bag and into those dazzling blue eyes again. “Yeah?”

“I know I’ve only known you for half the semester, but letting a stranger review your personal writing takes a lot go guts,” he began.

Philip wasn’t sure where this was going. He admits he poured a lot of personal stories into his essays that were difficult to expose to the public, but that only allowed him to get closer to him. And that was the very point to all of this.

“I mean, writing a whole essay glorifying pajamas?” he continued. “That’s pretty cool.” He put his hand on his toned chest, “I personally sleep naked, but I tried to relate.”

Philip desperately tried to get that image out of his mind. Naked? He hadn’t tried that before, but he’s willing to take up the challenge, especially with him.

“You’re a good writer, Phil,” he said earnestly, leaning in on the table.

Philip allowed himself to blush. “All thanks to you, of course.”

He smiled at him. “Hey, you know I have that party coming up on Friday, right?”

Although Philip should be happy he mentioned it, he couldn’t help but feel dread. He hated parties. The loud music, the annoying people, the alcohol, the drama…he hated it all. After being passed out drunk, waking up on a moist trampoline with half his clothes on at one of his old classmate’s houses a couple years ago, he promised himself he would avoid parties at all costs. But what should he do now? Turn down this exclusive invitation to one of the most legendary parties of the year by the host himself?

“Uh, yeah, of course,” Philip failed to sound enthusiastic.

“You’re always welcome,” his tutor said, getting up from his chair. “But of course, you need a plus one.”

“P-plus one?” Philip asked without thinking.

“Yeah, the goal is to get as many people there as possible,” he explained, casually putting one of his backpack straps over his large shoulder. “If no one brings a plus one, the party would be pretty lame.”

Philip let out a fake chuckle. “Right, I’ll just go with you then.”

“What, no! I’m the host, remember?”

Philip blushed as embarrassment rushed through his lanky body. What was he going to do now? He couldn’t simply ask all his friends; he barely had any to begin with. And sending a campus-wide email would basically guarantee failure (and hatred). This would have to be solved a lot faster than what he was capable of doing.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” his tutor asked right as he turned to leave.

Philip nodded his head slightly and smiled. He wasn’t expecting his tutor to give him this type of work. However, he had no other option but to figure it out at a later time. He was going to be late, after all.

If there was one thing Philip was allowed to be proud of, it would be his unofficial board game club. The designated location was in the basement of the library, a bit symbolic as the club was metaphorically underground as well. Philip was denied by the student activities office three years ago for his club proposition, as apparently it didn’t “reflect” on student values. So rather than giving up, he went on with it anyway despite no financial support, campus support, or, really, student body support. Board games were one of his passions; all he wanted to do was create a space for other fellow “gamers” to share their passions together. The club had only less than ten people in it, which was their limit. Any more, and they’ll risk initiating a dirty rat, and the last thing they wanted to do was justify a lame board game club to the Dean.

Philip entered the library’s small basement lounge breathlessly after he rushed his way across campus. Everyone was there, all five of them (excluding himself). He was bad at names, so he only knew a few of them personally. They were at the small snack table, digging in to some chips and candy, otherwise known as fuel for a long night of board games. This week, they were playing Yahtzee, a game Philip didn’t particularly care for, but it won out of majority vote. He dumped his heavy book bag on the floor with the others and joined everyone at the snack table.

“Phil! You look spent!” the vice president exclaimed. “Tutoring session went well, I suppose?”

“It’s not what it looks like,” Philip reassured him, reaching for a handful of bright orange nacho cheese flavored Doritos. “I rushed over so I wouldn’t be late.”

“Well you already failed at that,” one of the members made sure to tell him as she filled her Styrofoam cup with cheap fruit punch.

“Wonder what else you’ll fail at tonight,” another member added, sitting at the wooden round table that was in the middle of the dimly lit room.

Philip rolled his eyes, already enjoying the competitive atmosphere in the room. “You guys know I’m bad at dice games!”

As everyone took their seats in their own unique chairs (campus furniture barely comes in complete sets), Philip filled his snack plate with more Doritos and quickly joined the others. He was left with the orange leather chair, of which he was certain it hadn’t been cleaned since the seventies. He sat in between the vice president and a brown-haired boy of which he forgot the name of as he was the newest member.

“Alright, the meeting has commenced!” the president announced excitedly. “Looks like everyone is here, so that is great. Thanks to those of you who donated tonight’s snacks. Though you may not be reimbursed with money, I hope tonight’s fun will be a sufficient payback.”

Everyone around the table rolled their eyes, but laughed anyways.

“For tonight’s agenda, we will cover our plans for the next meeting and get started with the game!” the president continued enthusiastically. “I say we’d be done at around nine? Ten?”

Up to five hours of constant dice rattling? Philip was sure he’ll end the night with an intense migraine.

“According to the club’s survey,” the vice president chimed in, holding a small piece of paper in his hands, “there is yet another tie between Scrabble and Clue. Therefore, according to the unofficial rules, there must be a coin toss. Would anyone like to volunteer?” He looked around the room eagerly.

No one made the effort to retrieve any coin, because perhaps there wasn’t one there to begin with.

“Alright, fine,” the vice president sighed and shoved his hand in his back pocket. “I know college kids are poor, but come on.” He placed the coin in his hands. “Heads for Scrabble, tails for Clue. Now, we all know I don’t know how to do this correctly, so I’ll just throw it against the wall.”

The coin flew through the air and clinked against the wall and then on the vinyl tiled floor. The brown haired boy that sat next to Philip looked behind and announced, “Tails!”

Philip crossed his arms and pouted. He liked Clue, but he was much better at Scrabble. Much to his dismay, most of the table cheered. The only way for him to feel better about this was if he was guaranteed to be Professor Plum, but the chances of that were slim.

“Its sick how most of you guys choose murder over a word game,” Philip bitterly pointed out.

“Words will always exist, but dead bodies will not,” the president wisely replied.

One of the members grabbed the Yahtzee box and opened it before everyone.

“Rules are simple: I’m sure you all know how it works, just roll the dice and use your basic math skills,” the president briefly explained as he tore off three score sheets. “There will be three teams to make it more fun,” he then pointed to different groups. “We’ll have the Girl Team, the President Team, and the, uh, Dan and Phil Team.”

“Uh, excuse me?” One of the girls retorted. “Why must our team be defined as our gender?”

The president rubbed his face tiredly, “Oh my God,” he muttered quietly. “Okay, just be whatever team you want to be.”

“Alright, then, we’ll be the Queen Team,” the other girl confidently decided.

Philip wasn’t sure if that was any better than the first, but he rather not interfere. He had more problems to deal with. Not only did he just learn his neighbor’s name for the first time, but he also had to be paired with him. From what he could recall, all Daniel was good at was Outburst, which was admirable, but not very helpful in this situation.

“So, are you good at rolling or at math?” Daniel whispered in his ear.

“Neither,” Philip replied quietly, writing both of their names on the score sheet. “I’ll just be here for moral support.”

“Moral support?” Daniel whisper-shouted back. “You can’t expect me to be an expert at the both of them!”

“Wait, you actually expect us to win?” Philip asked while the “Queen Team” rolled. “The girls cheat and the other two never let anything go. It’s exhausting.” He watched as the girls scored a full house. He then whispered in Daniel’s ear, “I think we should just float for a while before we make any waves.”

“Well too bad, you’re rolling with the tide,” Daniel handed him the dice-filled blue cup that probably had been touched by way too many people by this point.

Philip’s stomach tightened as he loudly shook the dice in the cup. He then threw them out on the table, each of them landing their own way. There were a lot of different black dots looking back at him, and he wasn’t sure what to do about that. He looked up at the rest of the table and they looked at him with a glimmer of disbelief in their eyes. He, too, knew what this meant. It just felt too unreal to accept it yet.

“Phil!” Daniel exclaimed and shook his shoulders excitedly.

A smile creeped across Philip’s face, but he kept silent.

“Man! And it’s the first one of the night!” the vice president commented, with a tad bit of jealousy.

Philip turned his chin up proudly as he handed the dice to the President Team. “Yeah? What are you gonna do about that?”

The president snatched the cup from his hands and offered him a nasty look. “Shove all five of these dice up your behind until you’re constipated for a week!”

“I’d like to see you try!” Philip yelled back, almost rising from his seat from rage.

The game did end up continuing until ten, but Philip didn’t care. Daniel and he were rightfully in second place, with the so-called “Queens” winning. There was a long argument afterwards on the speculation of cheating, but was interrupted by one of the late-working librarians. Once they all left, the fall night air caused Philip to shiver a little as he didn’t bring his jacket. The moon was high in the sky and the campus was still and quiet, a big difference from all the escalation from tonight’s meeting.

“Great game,” Daniel said behind him as they walked toward the dorms.

Philip felt embarrassed to admit that he hadn’t done much talking to Daniel. In fact, he didn’t even know he lived in the dorms until now. But it wasn’t like talking to him was the worst thing in the world. It was actually quite nice. He felt more like himself and he was willing to challenge himself more with his friends than with his writing tutor. He felt free and he had fun, which was what he needed after knowing what he had to do between right now and Friday night.

“Oh, um, thanks,” Philip replied, adjusting his glasses. He waited a few seconds for Daniel to catch up with him on the sidewalk. “Sorry we didn’t win.”

Daniel shrugged, “At least it wasn’t a massive insult to our intelligence. It’s a game of chance, you can’t control it.”

Philip kept his mind on more important matters than the dull conversation. He was trying to see how inviting one of the board game club members would work out. They were the only people he talked to, after all. First, he’d have to convince them that his writing tutor had more than two brain cells to rub together, which would be a miracle in itself. Then, he’d have to force them into a loud, obnoxious party full of drunk, pretentious, senseless people. And asking a bunch of lame introverts to do anything is exhausting in the first place. Perhaps he could show up without a plus one? It’s not like there’ll actually be a doorman checking every single person, right? It’s a college party, since when were there rules anyway?

“Are you okay?” he heard Daniel ask him with concern.

Philip’s worrisome thoughts drifted away and he looked at him in confusion. “Yeah?”

“I was just wondering because your teeth were making weird noises. I couldn’t tell if you were grinding them or chattering.”

He brought his arms closer to his body, “the latter.”

Daniel began unzipping his jacket, “here, you can—”

The beep of the resident hall door unlocking due to Philip swiping his I.D. interrupted him. Philip opened the door. “I…don’t think that’ll be necessary.”

Daniel offered a disappointed smile and entered the building. “Um, well, goodnight I guess.”

He doubted his polite positivity, but he could take all the luck he could get.

***

As Philip yawned loudly in his warm bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he never recalled a more vivid dream than the one he had last night. He felt like he barely had any sleep, and the dream didn’t make it any easier. He put his glasses on and instinctively reached for his phone from his desk to check if he had any overnight notifications. He had a mysterious email from someone at his school named Daniel Howell in response to his online advertisement. At first, he couldn’t believe it. He read the email over and over again, but it still came to the same conclusion: this Daniel guy wanted to be his date for Friday night. He scratched his head; he could’ve sworn his dream was exactly like this, posting an online ad on some job website as a joke to get a desperate date on Friday night. With this sudden realization, and panic, he checked and understood that sleep deprivation could make a person do a lot of questionable things. He quickly deleted the advertisement as soon as he had the opportunity, cringing at the very fact that he ever did such a thing. But now what was he going to do with this Daniel guy? He could’ve sworn he met someone last night by the same first name, unless that was a dream as well. But no way would that Daniel be interested in some stupid party anyway. But besides that, Philip somehow finally had a plus one! Being that he was going to be late for his morning class if he spent any more time in bed, he decided to respond later to the email and get moving.

Throughout the day, Philip was too preoccupied with doing homework, thinking about last night’s meeting, and reading his new book to even spend one minute thinking about the party. He even almost promised himself to attend the free movie showing on Friday if he hadn’t checked his calendar first. He was subsequently hit with dread for the remainder of the day. Then it somehow got worse when he had to be faced with the most gorgeous face he’d ever seen for an hour.

“There you go again, using your passive voice rather than active,” his tutor told him, making a red mess out of his paper. “Pajamas are not worn by people, people wear pajamas! Always put the subject first to keep your audience reading. It gives it a little more life, you know?”

Philip was a little more annoyed today than usual. He was growing impatient, too. The semester was halfway over and all he knew about this boy was that he played basketball, lived off campus, knew literally everybody, wanted to be a sports journalist, and hated having too much ice in his beverages. This was only the tip of the iceberg, Philip was certain of it. There had to be something more interesting to him than those few things. What was his favorite color? What board game does he like to play with his family? What movies does he cry to? It’s becoming exhausting to keep going like this. Philip had poured his heart to him through his writing, bought him multiple coffees, dedicated most of his afternoons, and even waited on him when he was an hour late repeatedly. Something had to be done about this. Philip bit his lip as he looked at him across the table, too concentrated on the flow of his red pen to notice. Friday was going to be it. The most popular guy in school was going to fall in love with him on that night. It only seemed fair. Now all Philip had to do was come up with an infallible plan.

“Sorry, old habit…” Philip had to respond. “Did you check my revisions?”

“Uh, yeah, they were pretty good,” he replied, barely paying attention to him. “When did you say this was due again?”

“Next Wednesday,” Philip answered, checking his calendar, although it didn’t matter.

“Right, perhaps we can meet again on Monday? You know this weekend is a bit busy for me.” He set down his pen and half smiled at him. “Which, now that I mentioned it, who are you planning on bringing?”

Philip’s insides seemed to tighten all together at the same time, keeping him frozen in place. “I, uh, well…” he cleared his throat as he struggled to come up with a believable lie. “Someone I met…l-last week.” He honestly forgot all about the email from this morning.

His tutor flashed him an impressed smile. “Phil! Wow! I can’t wait to meet them! Honestly, ugh, I’m so excited for Friday! I have a legit deejay coming, I’m getting a bubble pit installed, all the beer you can drink, and a bonfire. It’s gonna be sick! Legendary even!”

Philip didn’t say anything as he wasn’t sure if any of those activities sounded good together. It sounded all too loud, boring, and unnecessary. At least nothing would distract him from his plan. He just hoped he would be able to execute it.

***

As the party began at nine, Philip contacted Daniel Howell to meet in his dorm room at eight. Either way, Philip thought nine was a bit late to start a party, but he didn’t make the rules. He probably wasn’t going to stay there all night anyway; he didn’t need to. He believed an hour should be sufficient to kiss a few times and get on with it. Currently, he was lying on his bed, staring up at his ugly water stained dropped ceiling, wishing Daniel Howell was there for some reason. He really needed someone to talk to. His chest was tight and his mind was racing, the way it usually did when he was hit with a wave of anxiety. He was finally beginning to have second-thoughts about all of this. Sure, he was a smart guy, but could he really pull something like this off? And what should he wear or say or do with his hands? He hadn’t kissed anybody in well over five months, and that was just for the pizza guy who he couldn’t afford a proper tip for (that was a bit of a disaster). Of course, the obvious answer would be to just be himself, but that’s a bit difficult as he was everything but that around his tutor.

A sharp knock came from the door, which forced Philip out of his mind a little. He climbed out of his bed and went to open it.

“Hi.” It was Daniel, but not the Daniel he was expecting.

His eyebrows scrunched a little in confusion. “Daniel, right?”

He was so cute. He was wearing probably one of the nicest white button down shirts he could find in his closet and his black jeans didn’t even have one speck of lint on them. He wore a dark gray bomber jacket over his shirt with a deck of vintage Bicycle cards and a single red rose in his hands. It was as if he was going on a special date. Philip felt bad. And stupid. Of course this was the Daniel all along. Nobody else would be pathetic enough to respond to such a silly online advertisement. Philip had to set things straight fast.

“Well I sure hope so!” Daniel exclaimed. “Or else I’m gonna be late for a date with the most incredible guy I know!”

He bit his lip and allowed Daniel to come further into his room. He closed the door behind him. “Dan, I have to tell you something…” he looked at Daniel sincerely, who was sitting patiently on his neatly made bed. He leaned on his dresser that was across the room. “This is not what you think this is. You’re…not exactly going to be my date for tonight.”

Daniel’s face sunk and his eyes were filled with disappointment. “What do you need me to do then?”

Philip felt bad for making him feel this way, but he had to tell him the truth somehow sometime. “I just need you to be my plus one when we enter the party, and then we can go our separate ways. So if you were worried if you were gonna have to be stuck with me all night, then I’m sure you feel a little relieved now.”

Daniel bit his lip and set the deck of cards and the rose gently on the blue bedspread. “Why are you even going to this dumb party anyway? This isn’t like you.”

Oh, what did Daniel know about him anyways! They practically just met earlier this week. He didn’t need to say that. Philip sighed, “Look, this will only be for an hour—tops. I just really need to do this one thing.”

“Yeah?” Daniel folded his arms. “And what is that?”

Now that he was going to say it out loud, the whole plan sounded stupid. Convince a practical stranger to kiss him? Could he be any more of a creep? “Well, um, it’s kinda silly, but it’ll help me in the long run, I’m sure.” He finally went to sit by Daniel on the bed. He rubbed his arm nervously, “I have a bit of a crush on my writing tutor.”

Daniel nodded; “Yeah?” He paused for a moment and then said, “Phil, we all knew that. I mean, it’s obvious you don’t need a writing tutor. And, honestly, who doesn’t have a crush on that guy? He’s gorgeous.”

Philip’s face lit up and he smiled widely, “Exactly! And perhaps by him inviting me tonight might say something, a small something, but still something.” He looked at him sincerely, “Dan, I really need to do this. It’s been killing me ever since the semester started. I just need your help just for one night.”

It took a while, but Daniel finally nodded and agreed to his plan.

“Alright, first, you look terrible,” Philip commented on Daniel’s outfit. He got up and rummaged through his dresser drawers and pulled out one of his blue college t-shirts. He threw it in Daniel’s direction. “Wear that. We’re going to a party, not to dinner.”

Daniel shrugged off his jacket and began unbuttoning his shirt. “Great, just my favorite color.”

Philip turned his head, slightly excited to know this special fact about him. “Really?”

Daniel giggled, “No, it’s black, but you were close.” He shoved his head through the t-shirt, “And what were you planning to wear?”

“This!” Philip pointed to his gray sweatpants and tight yellow t-shirt he got for free from volunteering. “What’s wrong with this?”

Daniel pushed his arms through the sleeves and pulled the rest of the shirt down over his torso. “It looks like you’re trying too hard at not trying too hard.”

Blood rushed to Philip’s cheeks and he glanced at himself in the mirror. He looked like he was going to the party in his pajamas. And although that was what his essay was about, he rather not be a living example of it in front of his crush. “What should I do then?”

Daniel walked toward the mirror to fix his wavy brown hair. He shrugged, “Just slip on some jeans and a nice sweater. You’ll be fine.”

“A sweater?” Philip retorted, heading toward his closet.

“It shows off your softer side,” Daniel replied and then looked at him sincerely. “Guys like that.”

***

“Do you think its lame?” Philip asked Daniel with his head in his hands. “Arriving on time at a party?” They were a block away from the supposedly “abandoned” house where the party was located. They chose to sit on a low stone wall someone had in their front yard. The street was barely lit and quiet as most of the houses in the neighborhood were abandoned also. Philip heard it had something to do with the economy, but he didn’t care enough to pay attention. He crushed a few dry leaves with his sneaker and shivered as an autumn breeze passed by. He’s glad he’s wearing this sweater because it was another cold night. Daniel zipped his jacket and shoved his hands in its pockets.

“This is my first party, so I’m not quite sure,” Daniel responded, watching a few cars pass by.

“We should’ve stopped by Starbucks or something.” Philip’s mind was racing with thoughts of his own inadequacy and regrets.

Daniel laughed out loud, which put Philip at ease. “Starbucks? Before a party?” he shook his head. “Starbucks is only for when you’re running late for a meeting.” He was quiet for a few moments and then looked at him sincerely. “I mean, we can bail if you want to. Coffee sounds really nice.”

Philip shook his head, “it’s not like it’s every day you get invited to huge parties like this one.”

“You’re right, maybe he’ll take offence to you not coming to his social status event that’s full of other fake people in need to maintain their social status.” Daniel rolled his eyes.

Philip narrowed his eyes at him. “I bet you’re one of those people who announce a ‘social media detox’ and still sticks around just to see if anyone cares. Spoiler alert: no one does.”

Daniel gave him a nasty look. “You’re mean when you’re stressed, you know that?”

Philip sighed and stood up. “Shut up and let’s go.”

Daniel sighed and followed him down the cracked sidewalk. They could hear the loud music pulsing from the party already. Philip could feel it in his chest (or was that his own heartbeat?). More cars raced down the street, with their music blasting as well. The closer they got to the house, they saw all the flashing lights and faint smoke from the bonfire. Philip’s stomach became tenser and his palms began to sweat once he realized this was actually happening. As they approached the house, they came across a long line of people that were already halfway drunk, waiting to enter the house.

“You don’t suppose he actually made a guest list, do you?” Daniel asked Philip in his ear.

Philip was too anxious to answer. There were at least a hundred people in the line. Some people were already being rejected and thrown out, which caused a loud commotion. After twenty or so minutes, they were finally at the front of the line. The whole ordeal felt like it was straight from a movie scene, with the huge intimidating bodyguard (he was actually one of the basketball players) asking for his name and checking the very sophisticated guest list. After they were approved, Philip felt a little better, but not entirely. The inside of the house smelled like mold and cat urine. There were old takeout food wrappers, bottles, cigarette butts, and broken pieces of rotted furniture everywhere. Candles and camping lanterns served as the only few light sources. All the windows were either broken or cracked and bugs were not a rare sight. However, perhaps the music and the people distracted Philip from how bad it really was.

“Alright, in order to do this the most efficient way possible, I think it would be best if we split up,” Philip told Daniel loudly as they stood in the middle of a supposed living room. The chandelier above them was full of cobwebs and it was slightly swaying. “If you find him, you come get me.”

“But how will I know where you are?” Daniel asked him. “By then I would lose him.”

Philip had to admit he hadn’t thought that far into it. “I don’t know…this place can’t possibly be that big…”

“Just…” Daniel reached for his back pocket and took out his phone. “Give me your number.”

With much reluctance, Philip offered his phone number and turned toward the back door to go outside. He was hit with such an abundance of stimulation that he wanted to immediately run and hide from everything. The deejay booth was at the back of the huge backyard with inappropriately large speakers blaring out music that was rather distasteful according to Philip. Next to the deejay booth was the massive bubble pit that surprisingly had a lot of people participating in. As most of the people were nearly naked, Philip didn’t add that to his list of things to do. The bonfire was in the center, with the flames reaching at least six feet in the air. People from upstairs were throwing random furniture to the grass below to feed the fire; there was already a wooden chair, a broken desk, and a mattress. There were at least five kegs of beer sitting around, but no food. That was probably what made Philip the most uncomfortable.

Philip made his way to one of the kegs and poured himself a half cup of beer and sat on the grass near the bonfire by himself, really wishing he had a s��more right about now. He took a drink, hoping it’ll help him find his confidence.

“Well, he’s nowhere in the house, that’s for sure,” Daniel told him breathlessly. He sat down beside him and peered inside of Philip’s empty cup.

“They have no food here,” Philip commented disappointedly, keeping his eyes on the fire.

Daniel shrugged, “They’re narcissists; do you really think they’ll take the precious time to think about food instead of themselves?” He smirked, “besides, all they need to survive is fake internet points.”

“Turn it down a notch, Mr. Edge Lord,” Philip rolled his eyes. “Can’t you just enjoy yourself without pushing your ‘alternative’ agenda on me?”

Daniel smiled at him and he looked around. “They don’t have any games either.”

Philip giggled, “Can you imagine if someone whipped out Monopoly?”

He laughed, “Either you pay the full fine of Boardwalk with a hotel or you get banished to…the bubble pit.”

Philip smiled widely and glanced over at the bubble pit. “What are the chances of him being in there?”

“I think seventy-five percent,” he answered rather confidently. “But first you have to strip.”

“That’ll really get his attention,” Philip laughed, crushing his cup and throwing it into the fire.

At that moment, someone screamed loudly into the deejay’s microphone, requesting a trap remix of “All Star.” Philip was seriously questioning if he suddenly got pushed into an alternate universe where anything was absurdly possible within the heavily skewed timeline. Everyone began dancing recklessly and someone finally threw the smelly old mattress into the fire.

“Well, at least we know what type of music the love of your life enjoys,” Daniel commented rather sarcastically.

“You mean…?” Philip was in disbelief. His eyes scanned the dense crowd and he saw him. He could see that mop of blond hair anywhere. His stomach tensed and he rolled up his sleeves to help cool himself down.

Daniel nudged his shoulder, “Now is your chance!”

Philip sighed and rose to his feet, “Alright, but this requires another drink. Or two.”

After gulping down another cup of beer, Philip fixed his hair, straightened his glasses, and pushed his sleeves up a bit more. He slowly made his way to the crowd. He pushed and shoved between the moist and drunk bodies to get to the life of the party. Finally, after a few suffocating minutes, he bumped into his tutor. Heat rushed over his body as he was shirtless and looked rather good that way.

“H-hi,” Philip began nervously. Backing out now would not only be stupid, but also a complete waste of his time and effort. He accepted the fact that he was stuck here.

“Oh, Phil!” He put a muscular arm around his bony shoulder. “It’s good to see you! I was hoping you would come.”

“Nice party,” Philip complimented while he felt him dance all too closely to his body.

“Aw, this is nothing!” He replied and wrapped a hand around Philip’s waist and shouted in his ear, “Wait until later! I got a firework crew coming!��

All Philip could think about was that firm hand on his waist. Soon he was speaking without thinking. “Do—do you want to get out of here?”

His tutor paused a few seconds, his blue eyes locking with his. Suddenly his large damp hand caressed Philip’s jaw and he glanced at his lips and back up to his eyes. He didn’t hesitate to kiss him hard on the lips, giving no time for Philip to adjust to the warm sensation. “You’re cute,” he simply said in one of his charming smiles.

Philip’s insides were both frozen and moving all over the place at the same time. He felt weak in the knees. That kiss certainly didn’t go as planned, but it still felt exciting to him. None of his thoughts made logical sense anymore. Something in his brain switched and suddenly he felt the need for something more. “I’m serious; do you want to get away?” he had to shout in his ear.

“Oh, I see,” he wiggled his perfect eyebrows at him and took his hand. As he had more authority, the crowd practically parted for them. Philip could breathe better now that there were less people.

“Phil!” Daniel shouted as they passed by him.

All Philip could do was shrug his shoulders as he was being dragged away too fast.

The trip through the house was all but a blur to Philip as there were barely any lights and they were rushing through too quickly. His tutor was opening random doors until he finally discovered a dark room upstairs with still the mattress left. After he slammed the door shut behind them, he pinned Philip against the wall harshly and started kissing his neck.

“Ah!” Philip gasped and tried to figure out where to put his hands. He finally settled to put them on his tutor’s waist. When he finally regained (most) of his senses, he confessed, “I guess you could tell then?”

He felt him smile against his skin. “Phil, though you may be an English genius, you aren’t very good at hiding the obvious.” His lips trailed up to his jaw and he kissed him hard again.

Philip gasped happily again and he pulled him closer. He was pretty sure he just saw literal fireworks outside the window. He heard the bangs and everything. “I suppose you like me too, then?”

“Sure, you could put it that way,” he told him and gave his butt an unexpected squeeze. “Get on the mattress.”

Philip was beginning to feel like this was going way too fast for him. Surely they’re not ready for this already? “Um, is it…is it sanitized?” Philip gently lowered himself on the dirty carpet and rested his knee on the mattress.

“Yeah,” his tutor answered as he plopped himself down on the mattress. A small cloud of dust floated up. “Well, I think so.”

Philip cringed and he tried to sit lightly on the bed. However, the boy climbed over him and kissed him hard enough to push him all the way into the dirty mattress. More explosions could be heard and sparks could be seen outside the bare cracked window. He glanced down at the boy who was now kissing his neck again and felt relieved, accomplished, and lucky at the same time. He took the liberty to run his fingers through his soft blond hair—something he had far too often dreamed about.

His tutor sat up on his knees. “Phil, you still have your clothes on,” he told him as he began to unzip his own jeans.

What? Philip was beginning to feel like something was wrong here. Why was he supposed to be the one to take off his own clothes? That wasn’t how this worked. However, given that he didn’t want to cause any trouble, he reluctantly pulled off his sweater, feeling incredibly self-conscious about his soft torso being too close to the boy’s toned one. Kisses were being trailed all over Philip’s chest now and he was beginning to feel good again. He let out a quiet moan as his heart was racing. Though, at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel dirty. Sure, for obvious reasons since he was on the most disgraceful mattress he’s ever encountered, but also because he felt so disconnected from it. They weren’t laughing or making any jokes—not even talking at all. It was only physical. Like he was being used. Perhaps he could change that.

“So, um, what are your plans for fall break?” Philip asked him awkwardly as he struggled to adjust his body from being crushed to death by the muscular one on top of him.

“I don’t ‘do’ talking,” he said firmly as he was kissing down Philip’s stomach. He then sighed in frustration. “Phil, your jeans are still on.”

Yeah, and what are you gonna do about it; Philip wanted to say to him, but went along with it anyway. As his hands inched down to his zipper, he remembered something. “Do you have a condom? I wasn’t really expecting this and I’m not really that experienced, sorry.”

“Uh, no?” he sat back on his heels. “But we’ll be fine, right? It’s just one time.”

Despite having the most beautiful body on display before him like that, Philip suddenly didn’t want this anymore. He wanted to find Daniel, leave, and take a long shower. And then perhaps eat some pizza. But not this. Anything but this. Almost without notice, he felt like he couldn’t breathe anymore and coughed a little. He sat up and tried to retrieve his sweater from the darkness. “I have to go,” he said breathlessly.

His tutor quickly reached out for him and pleaded, “No, stay! Isn’t this what you wanted? What we wanted?”

Philip wrestled out of his grip and coughed again. “You’re drunk,” he slipped his sweater on, but the room was too hot for him to find any comfort in it. “Do you…do you feel that?” he stretched out his collar, trying to let more air into his lungs.

“What do you mean?” he asked, but their attention was immediately diverted to the window. Hot orange flames could be seen, creeping down around the window. “The fireworks!”

Philip didn’t even wait for him. He bolted out the door and ran down the stairs. There was only one thing on his mind. He needed to know where Daniel was. He needed to make sure that he was okay. He oddly didn’t care about himself, or his stupid tutor, or anybody else. It was only Daniel.

Philip desperately rushed outside with a cloud of smoke and his half-naked tutor behind him. They both doubled over and coughed loudly and deeply. Philip saw flashing lights all around him in colors of red, blue, orange, and white. Firefighters in uniform rushed into the abandoned house. Everyone from the party was standing around in the street staring at the blaze. Some were seriously freaking out while others were making jokes and filming it on their phones.

Philip rushed out on to the crowded street in a panic. Where did he last see Daniel? Through everything that has happened within the past thirty or so minutes, he wasn’t sure of a lot of things anymore. He ran his fingers through his incredibly dirty hair and tried to think hard. He really wished he didn’t drink that last cup of beer. He passed by an ambulance that already had somebody on a stretcher. That didn’t relieve his thoughts all that much. Tears were stinging his eyes as his questions still remained unanswered.

“Daniel!” Philip shouted out as he passed through the crowd. “Has anybody seen Dan? Daniel!”

He stopped in his tracks as his back pocket vibrated. He quickly took out his phone and felt relief surge through his body.

“Hey, where are you at?” Daniel asked him on the phone almost too casually. “The freaking house caught on fire! You should’ve seen how it started, it was so ridiculous,” he laughed. “I swear, this idiotic party was set up by a bunch of—”

“Are you okay?” Philip got straight to the point. “Where are you?”

“I, um, I’m…I think I see you,” Daniel replied. “You look terrible.”

Philip turned in circles until he saw a blue dot in the distance. Actually, it was pretty easy to see him as everyone was mostly shirtless to begin with. Philip rushed forward quickly, pushing people to get through, until he met with Daniel. He threw his arms around him tightly, making sure to not let go. He squeezed his eyes shut and by surprise, hot tears streamed down his cheeks.

“Boy, you must’ve really missed me,” Daniel joked, wrapping his arms around Philip’s waist.

Philip let go so he could take Daniel’s face into his hands. “No, you idiot! I was worried about you!”

Something in Daniel’s mind suddenly clicked as he glanced at the burning house and back at Philip. “Don’t tell me…you weren’t…you weren’t in that house were you?”

Philip sniffled, “Doesn’t matter. Are you okay?”

“Pshhh, yeah, I’m fine,” he brushed off. “How did,” he smiled, “how did your ‘talk’ go?”

Philip stepped back a little and he rolled his eyes. “That guy’s a loser. He made us lay on a filthy dirty mattress and he didn’t even bring a condom!”

“You guys had sex?!” Daniel asked a little too loudly.

Philip giggled and he shook his head. He looked at Daniel for a few seconds and he felt safe. He was glad they were both okay, but more importantly that Daniel actually cared about him. Perhaps it was the alcohol or the fact that Daniel looked good in his own t-shirt, but he felt something he hadn’t felt before. He wasn’t sure where that came from, so he looked at the fireball that was the house to distract him. “No doubt he’ll be going to jail for this,” he looked over at Daniel once more, then back at the flames, and he bit his lip.

Daniel smirked, “Can’t believe you almost were the one that would have to bail him out.” He sighed with relief, “but I guess the only good thing that came out of this is was that you’re still alive.” He smiled at him.

Philip felt something stronger then than when his tutor smiled at him. Oh no. This was certainly not supposed to happen. But perhaps, there were some things he couldn’t control. Very carefully, he took the chance and gently brushed Daniel’s face with his fingertips. He leaned in slowly and he kissed him. It wasn’t hard or desperate like the other kisses he received earlier this night; instead it was more sincere and slow. Daniel kissed him back eagerly, and it was clear that he didn’t do it to express good manners. Philip was sure he never felt anything more right this entire night.

“Was this part of the agreement?” Daniel whispered after kissing him, their foreheads barely touching.

Philip tilted his head in confusion, “what do you mean?”

“You hired me, remember? The ad? The whole plan you had for tonight?” Daniel asked him. “I don’t mean to be that kind of person, but I’m still on the clock. And I don’t really care about the money, so don’t…”

Philip shook his head apologetically, “I’m sorry, Dan. I honestly forgot.” He bit his lip, “I’m a bit broke at the moment.”

Daniel smiled at him and he brought Philip’s hand up to his lips and he softly kissed it and rested it on his cheek. “That’s okay; I can accept weekly payments.”

#phan #phanfiction #phan fluff #phan au #getting together #tw

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groundramon · 7 years ago

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Homph I finished tri and I wrote down my thoughts as I was watching because I had too many funny shitposts and nobody to share them with bc charlie hasn’t watched tri yet

PS i wont be reblogging tri spoilers (besides MINOR stuff like, digivolutions of already confirmed digivolution lines or non-spoilery shitposts, but I’ll try to tag shitposts as #tri spoilers anyways [digivolutions specific to tri ill tag as well but not ones that were already basically confirmed]) for a while so ur safe here! I’m just gonna like everything/most things because then I can rb em to hisyaryumon lmao (also u should check out hisyaryumon....its me n charlie’s digimon blog)

EP 1:

- ok. alright. ok. good. they’re dealing with kari’s emotions now instead of just. nothing. ok. alright. cool. Still dont like how obscure/”artsy” they’re being with it, this is digimon not kagerou project, but ok.

- Also. I stand by tk and kari being one of the few good straight ships in digimon. just saying.

- kari: this is my fault... me: god damn it shut up you little brat also me: god relatable ALSO me: ill take whatever display of emotions i can get

- I love how nobody believes tai is dead like. They’re upset and worried but they’re also like “nah. he cant be. that fucking asshole just left us in our time of need” (actually only matt is the last one)

- Gabumon i would die for you also im crying and I think that’s the first time tri managed to make me fucking CRY

EP 2:

- I had thoughts but then the 02 kids happened and I entered another plane of reality. I don’t feel real right now

- the only one I can remember is evil!gennai being a dumbass and being like “SUFFER AND SQUIRM YOU PATHETIC HUMANS AS YOU FIGHT OVER THE LAST SEAT” 1. humans are KNOWN for their ability to care for others you dumb obvious fuck and 2. is. is the entire tube going? because that tube can fit too people if they squish. This isn’t a joke I’m serious it can.

- oh yeah also when i saw whomstever the fuck his name is (adult guy who i love but fuck names) and he was all bloodied i was like “its a cold day in hell when i see blood in digimon” (I think there was blood in an earlier ep but shh idc)

EP 3:

- didn’t nishijima start off as a fucking life coach to these kids. What the fuck he was supposed to help them find a career not emotionally scar them by bloodily dying in front of one of them

- im realizing that the reason hackmon was always in his cloak, in the shadows, standing still is that they cannot animate him in any normal position for the life of him. I drew him with better anatomy when i was 14 and didn’t have a tablet. No seriously, look:

I didn’t say it wasn’t bad, you guys are just underestimating how bad the anatomy on this poor creature is. Why cant ppl draw dracomon or hackmon correctly imma cry

- ordinemon has the best reaction faces

the best part about these two screenshots is that they literally cut one to the other, first the first one to the second one and then it cuts back to the first one. They were really proud of these stupid ass expressions.

- I started overcoming my dissociation shock from the second episode and my hypercritical mind was analyzing the shit out of everything that happened (it is Not happy) but then evil!gennai called kari and evil goddess and idk if he’s exaggerating to make her feel bad or if she’s literally a fucking god of chaos and destruction and either way im like

she did kinda like. Watch wizardmon die, watch tai die, watch gatomon get absorbed. The dark ocean is just a metaphor for depression and honestly if 02 wasn’t all over the fucking place I think Kari would’ve had some pretty decent development in it. Actually you know what, I’m using that as an angle to approach Tri at now, wish me luck bc i might actually give it more leeway now

EP 4:

- I’m not dissociating but I forgot to say anything again and I already forgot what happened

- Cant believe mei is fucking dead

EP 5:

- I like to imagine that Tai got there like a few minutes ago, but he was like “well damn guess yall figured it out without me. alright ill just. see if I need to do anything” and then meicoomon was Still Bad so he waited for when she struck just to make the most badass entrance possible. Fucking extra ass bitch

- I forgot to write anything again but uhhh I wasn’t satisfied so anyways lets just get into the Juicy Details

Originally I was actually planning to be kinder to Tri than I expected. Was very invested during it. ‘Round the end of the last ep I realized hmmm no this isn’t working out. Where are the 02 kids. You should’ve brought them in to save the day. That would’ve been SO cool and SO fun. Fucking cowards.

god I’m kinda tired so I’m going to address a couple things I still had problems with, note that this isn’t everything it’s just everything I felt comfortable yelling about without rewatching past eps. Like I forgot nishijima was all bloodied and presumably died in the last part until they brought it up and I was like “????” ALSO DID THE LADY WHO WAS HIS PARTNER OR W/E KILL HERSELF WITH THE GUN SHE FOUND, I JUST REALIZED LITERALLY AS I WAS TYPING THIS THAT SHE FOUND A GUN AND THEN I THINK IT CUT TO BLACK AND I’M

DID SHE FUCKING KILL HERSELF WHAT THE FUCK

anyways my problems:

1. They did joe. really dirty. I’ll write a more proper rant on this sometime later (mostly bc charlie is MUCH better at talking about joe than I am) but basically I can tell you that his character development in the movies squandered his OG character development. He’s basically an entirely different person. Like Tri joe isn’t bad, besides being largely neglected (yes he has a whole half a movie to himself, no that doesn’t make up for it all), its just...not OG joe. He’s a fine character just not the same character, and its NOT fine when you put the two together.

2. THEY DID THE 02 KIDS EVEN DIRTIER IM SO BITTER sorry you nostalgia-blind, money-hungry fucks at bandai, but the 02 cast is PART OF THE ADVENTURES UNIVERSE. The only people who hate 02 are ones who like the characters but hate the mess of the storyline at the end, or are completely irrational and elitist about their love of the digimon series and would greatly re-evaluate their opinions if they watched the original series and 02 back to back. They couldn’t even show them in some kind of group montage at the end??? Standing in the background when they call Mei??? Why couldn’t they call mei from a home phone also, but that’s a less important problem idc that much. It was a cute scene besides the lack of 02 characters. Whatever. AND THE PROBLEM IS LIKE kari and tk? This entire time??? Were like “oh they disappeared. oops” instead of being frantically searching for their lost friends??? Like i get tk and kari probably have fucking ptsd and can’t express any emotions because they watched important people die in front of their eyes at an incredibly young age but also 1. they didn’t address the ramifications of ptsd, so fuck that theory/excuse and 2. THAT??? WOULD ONLY MAKE THEM LOOK HARDER??? and put on a brave face as they look, but inside they’re so scared and so worried. Not just “oh sweet, they were found/saved, theyre in the hospital but that’s fine” like WHAT theyre fucking assholes if that’s what they’d canonically do lmao. God I am SO bitter over the ENTIRE thing with the 02 kids, it would’ve been BETTER if they were deleted from the fucking canon entirely. Would I have still been bitter? Yes. But at least I wouldn’t be madder at TK and Kari too.

3. I stand 100% by the notion that Digimon is not and will never be cut out to be an adults’ franchise. It wasn’t designed for adults, and it can’t be skewered towards adults. These particular characters were designed for kids to relate to and find entertaining. They do not work when placed into an adult setting. Like, can you imagine a character like Ed from FMA going to the Digimon world? I guess in a way that’s just Marcus but like. Just imagine the FMA cast in Digimon Adventure. It doesn’t work. Digimon Tri is basically that except real. Also Data Squad was darker than Adventure so my joke doesn’t even work.

I guess my primary point is that Tri isn’t mature enough of a setup for an adult audience. It puts a focus on being “complex” and “philosophical” instead of working within Digimon’s constraints and making something good and adult out of that. Like! Digimon is a fucking TOY COMMERCIAL. Don’t give me messages about the futility of human life. I want bad puns and emotional characters. That’s what Digimon has ALWAYS been, and ideally always will be. Tri could’ve made itself more mature by dealing with the ramifications of the Digital World’s events, how it affected the kids psychologically and dealing with healing old scars. It would’ve been a more mature take on a story we loved and would use things we loved about the story already - the fact that it took so much time exploring characters’ emotions and was surprisingly mature for the time - to make itself better. You need to take the aspects that drew adults to the show and amplify them, not just slap on a complex story and unfunny dialogue and be like “oh this is fine, right?”

It’s not that Digimon can’t exist as an adult property, its just that if it repeats what Tri did, it’s got no merit and in my eyes the franchise is dead. If it survives I guess I’ll be happy that people can still enjoy it but I find it unsustainable and unsatisfying to fans of the older series. Tri is just a fuckfest of highly specific nostalgia that tries too hard to appeal to old fans without capturing what made the original series so magical, and in part thats because the original series WASN’T FOR ADULTS. I don’t know about the Digimon Story games, bc they’re T-rated so perhaps they’re a better take on an adult Digimon story than Tri? But you either need to make your own characters and lore specifically for an adult-oriented Digimon season, or perish. Also, please make it a series and not a group of movies. Getting four eps every 6-9 months was hell.

I stand by saying Appmon is a more faithful Digimon season than Tri to Digimon’s original spirit. I believe it holds more potential for success than Tri and better embodies the spirit of the older Digimon seasons. It’s dumb, its corny, it has horrible puns, but I LOVE it because it also has a deep dark story and emotional moments. If you dislike Tri and you agree with things I said that make it unlikeable, I highly recommend giving Appmon a chance - if you watch a few episodes and think “oh yeah, I guess this is decent” you’re going to like it. It’s everything Digimon has always been and hopefully always will be, just with a different concept. And hopefully the end of the series doesn’t leave a sour taste in my mouth and I have to redact this statement haha since I’m not done with it yet, but I’ve heard good things about it so I’m hoping not so.

Overall, if you watch Tri, don’t get your hopes up. It resolves everything okay-ish but it’s a pretty forgettable anime on its own and simply doesn’t work as part of the Digimon franchise.

I am, however, pretty interested in what evil!gennai said at the end about Diaboromon and Daemon. It raises interesting questions about the timeline too. We know Daemon is in the dark ocean, so perhaps that’s a hint at a future project? (They did confirm a future project btw, in conjunction with tri being over) But what about Diaboromon? I dont believe that Our War Game (I think thats what its called?) took place after Tri, based on the outfits and ages and stuff, but I also don’t remember the movies that well. Could Diaboromon still be out there too? It’s interesting.

However, because of the lackluster performance of Tri, I don’t have my hopes up and I really hope that this “next project” goes in a different direction. Although I guess if they include the 02 kids, I’ll be somewhat less salty...

Side note, did they ever explain why the gennais went evil? Like ? That’s a pretty important thing. The gennais helped SAVE the human world in 02. And I get that apparently Tri is ignoring 02′s ending but still. It’s shitty, because Gennai was still a good guy in the original too (and also they cant just keep is younger look and act like 02 never happened) MAYBE its something I missed but I dont think so. God there’s just. So much wrong with Tri. I’m very displeased and very bitter and I wanna get back to Appmon asap.

It’s got good moments, its got bad moments, I dont know, I don’t care. There’s nothing wrong with you if you like it, there’s nothing wrong with you if you don’t, and there’s nothing wrong with you if you flip flop and are split like me. I just wish Tri fulfilled its potential instead of becoming a boring mess.

#stormy speaks #digimon

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italicwatches · 7 years ago

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GAMERS! Episode 01

Nobody participated in the game! Jerks.

I kid, I kid. I love you all.

So now that we’ve hit some of the big shows I’ve wanted to do for a while, it’s time to get at some of the lighter things! And mostly, I mean lighter workload. One-cour specials that I can burn through in a fortnight. Is that how you spell the actual word? The game has been so massively omnipresent over everything I look at that I can’t tell anymore.

…Anyways it’s GAMERS!, episode 01! Here we GO!

-We begin, with a blue sky, a flying plane, and a title pop! Then we scroll down from a school roof, down into a classroom. Everyone’s staring. It’s nearly 4 PM. Two figures stand against each other. Some folks have some pretty amazing faces on. Time is still. Like, full-on ZA WARUDO level time is still.

-And then…The clock finally clicks over. The cicadas start to buzz…And then die. Alas, poor cicada.

-SPRING!

-Hard cut to a game store advertising some naughty materials, as a narrator explains how some people are ‘above the clouds’. All the hottest titles for the PZ4 are out in force, and I’m pretty sure I recognize at least one cover. A young man gathers up some older, cheaper games on sale, as the narrator explains how these people might be an idol, a world-stage athlete, someone you truly adore…And for some, it might be a 2D character. As he picks up the game Golden Memories and I swear to god that girl in the center of the cover looks like she was in New Game. Is this from the same studio?

-Most can only watch these figures from afar, a source of distant admiration…So, when the cutest girl in school walked into the game store at the same time as this young man narrating, and suddenly spoke to him, one Amano Keita lost all capacity to get his body and brain to communicate. The entire stack of games (including titles like LEGION OF THE FANTASY, BASE COMBAT, and a baseball game I can’t read but I know I’ve seen that art style in a Japanese baseball game before) falls from his hands, and his eyes turn cartoony as his thought process just breaks.

-And Tendou Karen introduces herself properly…As Keita’s brain hooks together what he knows of her. The rich, call, curvy, flawless young lady of the school, the sort that draws admiration from her fellow girls and adoration from the boys. She’s smart, she’s beautiful, and she’s got amazing athletic results too. She seems almost too perfect to be real.

-The visuals make it clear that all this is going to fall apart. And our sloppy goofy hero is the reason why.

-She’s not famous, but she IS the kind of girl who has to hold a bag under her locker because of how many love notes are gonna fall out when she opens it every day. The idol of the school. Meanwhile, Keita’s a goofy loner dork who’d rather play vidjagames and is firmly in the middle of every metric the school tests him on. Average height, B- grades, damn near perfectly in the middle of all his athletic tests. Like, it’s almost impressive how nondescript he is by the on-paper metrics.

-And his brain is snapping and oh god he’s freaking out HE’S FREAKING OUT OKAY DEEP BREATH CALM DOWN CALM DOWN. She ends up helping him pick up the games, as he begins to wonder if this is going to lead to extortion or something. (The X makes it sound cool) Because he just cannot ponder why Tendou Karen of all girls would be talking to him, in a game store, and not the kind of family-friendly super mainstream one that only sells E rated games your little brother’s heard of, either. There’s an eroge poster right outside.

-As they pick up such games as STOIC BATTLE 2, and Evil ElEmEnt. But then she asks him if he likes these games, and he freaks out so bad he drops them, and now she’s gotta pick them back up because his hands don’t work. And OKAY DEEP BREATH CALM DOWN SHE’S JUST A NORMAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT LIKE YOU NO NEED TO FREAK O—

-She picked up Golden Memories.

-…OookAY IT IS TIME TO FREAK THE FUCK OUT MAXIMUM PANIC ENGAGED

-Oh god it’s even worse.

-The game advertises itself as specifically selling blonde-girl fantasies, and includes wardrobe malfunctions.

-You get three guesses as to what color hair Karen has and the first three don’t count.

-And thus now SHE’S having a bit of a freakout and both try to play it off and woooooo boy this somehow managed to get even more awkward. Could a spout of flame please consume him now to end this torment thank you Satan. He has to try and play off why he had a blonde-gals dating sim in his hands and he insists he just was reading it to see what it was about and of couuuurse, she totally understands, yes let us both just lean on this easy explanation that lets everyone walk away…

-But of course Keita is actually kind of a total dork for the design process of them and how tightly they managed to sell a game which is when he realizes he miiiight have oversold it OH GOD TOO FAR PULL OUT PULL OUT

-Yep she’s staring.

-PANIC.

-But she breaks out into the giggles, because she’s amazed with his passion about it…And she’s…She’s like him to…To join her…

-In the game club!

-The what now?

-Hard cut to an arcade, with a small group of folks from the same school playing a flashy mahjong arcade game, when a pink-haired young lady needs the help of one guy, Tasuku! There’s an amazing(ridiculous) looking stuffed cat in the claw machine, and he’s got the magic touch…And of course, having a desperate young lady needing his help would turn the eyes of any straight young man.

-But you’re paying for the play. You’re not cutting into his game budget with this thing.

-EVEN BIGGER EYES. Why you little…

-But, okay. Deep breath. In goes 100 yen, and okay, focus, watch the toy…And Tasuku pulls the magic trick, hooking the stuffed cat’s tag with the claw! One play, and it’s in this young lady’s hands! He tries to play it cool, but inside he feels like a total badass having pulled this off for his cute, if slightly ditzy, girlfriend. The visual cue would like to let you know that his pride will soon fall.

-That night, the whole gang finally leaves the arcade…When Tasuku spots Keita over by a bench, just kinda staring down onto the bench? What’s going on with him? …Well, it doesn’t matter. He’s just some dork without a hot girlfriend.

-The visual cues want to let you know that soon this dork and Task’s hot girlfriend will be meeting in secret and Tasuku will fail.

-So Keita is staring, because Karen is explaining. She just started the gaming club, since, well, there isn’t one. It doesn’t even entirely exist yet since she hasn’t done the initial round of recruitment to get the school to accept their existence, and youuuu are her first recruit! And wow, you’re polite. …Chill, Keita. Even her classmates are all super polite. Her teacher is polite to her! Hell, when she plays Mario, Bowser himself is polite! Okay that one has to be bullshit. Maybe it was a bug?

-It did happen after three straight days of trying to beat the speed running world record for the game… You were unconscious and dreaming! Your body collapsed from lack of capacity! The only bug is the one in your damn head that led to you thinking that was a smart thing to do!

-And Karen breaks out into the giggles, having finally gotten through Keita’s shell…As she admits that the gaming thing is a bit of a secret. Her friends don’t really know about it…She even picked this school because it once had a famous gaming club. But…It collapsed, in the time between her testing in and her first day at the school…She spent her whole first year politicking behind the scenes to get the school to let her revive it, and now she’s ready to make it stronger than it ever was! That’s actually impressive.

-But what will it be, exactly…? Well, playing games, of course. But not just that. They’ll be playing them seriously. Competitively. This isn’t just about the love of games. This is about games as self betterment. And for that, she needs the kind of souls who can slam themselves against the wall again and again until they finally, finally break through. And she found one, in you! The wind picks up, the springtime cherry blossoms swirl around them, and Keita is in awe, as he finds himself…

-Finds himself…Unsure what to say…When her mother texts her! She has to get going she’s already breaking curfew wait for her after school tomorrow BYE! Ohgodrunrunrunrunmom’sgonnabesomad

-That night in his tiny little apartment, Keita slacks upon his bed, playing his totally-not-a-PS-Vita. I think I will call it a PZ Vivio, because stupid references are the best references. So anyways he’s playing it, and he can’t help but feel like this game club thing…This could be huge! The event in his youth that he’s been waiting for! Is this a dream? A magical wonderful dream—He just got a text.

-Okay. Deep breath. Pick up the phone. See what it says.

-Oh, it’s just an alert. A game friend, Mono-san, is requesting help in a mobile MMO type deal. Sure. Sure thing. PZ Vivio go down, phone goes up…

-And then we fade over to the cutesy, curly-haired girl who is Mono-san…Just to make it clear what we’re dealing with here.

-Cut to the next day! Class just wrapped, and Keita takes a deep breath, as he has to decide what to do…And Mono-san needs help again? Well, he can take a couple minutes to dive into a boss battle, besides Karen was probably just fucking with hi—

-HEY KEITA

-Yipe!

-Yep she went and found him because waiting for him to find her sounded boring. And dang, you play mobile games too, huh? And everyone’s starting to stare. Okay. Okay deep breath they should go to the club room right now! He races out after Karen, having just declined the help request and please forgive him Mono-san…As Tasuku and his group watch this hapless dork walk off with the hottest girl in school.

-To the stairwell! Where we meet Misumi Eiichi! Keith is confused. He’s her other first recruit! She found him at the arcade playing vintage puzzlers! And he’s all kind of embarrassed, as Keita quietly realizes how much of a fucking idiot he was thinking he had a chance at this…

-But then Eiichi extends a hand, and admits he’s not a super sociable guy. But he’d love to be friends with Keita. And…You know what? There’s not a damn thing wrong with ‘just’ making some good friends who he shares a passion with. Keita shakes that hand with both of his own, and it might not be the dating sim fantasy he had in his head, but this still could work out just fine…

-As all three head for the clubroom, where Karen admits she had to do some very cunning work to get them to approve the club…But they get there, and she flips the door sign to reveal it is now OPEN! She even did a custom club sign with cute pixel art on it!

-The place is already kitted out with tons of games and setups, fight sticks and spare pads…And the other recruits. Kase Gakuto, who Karen has to introduce because he’s busy playing. Then, over there playing Guilty Gear is Oohiso Niina. Both of these two are the senpais of the group, and Niina is not listening because all that matters is the Guilty Gear.

-And Gakuto here is one of the top FPS players in the world, as he wrecks face at CSGo. Or as Keita calls it, COS. And Eiichi admits that he really only knows vintage puzzlers. Well they’ll have to teach you!

-And the best part? Everything here was bought over the last year by entering in local tournaments! The school may not be super into games, but they damn well like having trophies to display and students bringing in their own club funds! But what good is a game club if there’s no game playing? Come on, guys, pick something and play~!

-And Gakuto wants to see what these guys can do…

-Straight up first round, team deathmatches in Battlefield. Gakuto wrecks face, with Karen close behind, and the rookie guys do…Poorly. Next round! By the fifth match, Keita is better than two of the bots on his and Gakuto’s team, while Eiichi is slowly but surely improving a little. MORE ROUNDS. 30 rounds in, Keita is actually slipping from sheer exhaustion and Eiichi is getting intense too…

-A full two hours later, and Keita collapses. Karen even has to ask Gakuto to go a little easier on the new recruits, but no. He’s not running a damn training school. You learn or you fall behind. Do you want to be stuck here all on your own again, jerk?

-Also as an aside, they have a legit straight-up Guilty Gear XRD Rev2 poster up on the wall. No BASE COMBAT for that franchise.

-Also Gakuto strongly questions whether Eiichi has really never played one of these before. You got the hang of twin-sticking it really quickly for someone new…And you got three kills on him. Eiichi insists he just got lucky, but at this point I’m pretty fuckin’ sure he’s lying. But whether he’s secretly got practice or just is a fast learner…

-But as for Keita, why the hell did you just stand in that corner jumping up and down on that car in the last round?! He, he wanted to see the scenery past the wall…Well you’re making everyone else on your team’s life harder, you jackass!

-And soon Karen has to calm everyone down and call for a break, as she and Eiichi step out onto the balcony…And Keita just stares, as Gakuto goes right back to CSGO on the PC and I’m not entirely sure Niina even realizes the two newcomers are here. Karen ends up asking what got the two into games…And Keita realizes he doesn’t, really, have one…

-Contrast, say, Gakuto, whose father is in a PMC and so he came into the FPS genre with tons of core practices already in his head that got translated into game mechanics. Or Niina who is trying to pull her best friend back from the dark side. (Your friend turned out to be a Gator, huh? I’ve been there, lass. May your trials serve to bring them back to sanity.)

-And Keita suddenly feels very, very awkward…At least Eiiichi doesn’t have any good reason either, so Keita can just relax, and take a deep thorough drink from his coke can…

-He just lost his memoirs and when he came to, the only thing he was good at was vintage puzzlers.

-SPITTAKE

-Keita suddenly feels like the only sane man in a world gone mad. And Karen tries to lighten the mood and encourage them to stick around. This isn’t about being some world-class gamer. It’s just about the core idea of self-betterment through games, and anyone can do that, no matter where they’re starting off! Eiichi is sold. Give him the form, he’ll be joining!

-And Keita? Well…Keita…

-As he steps out of the room, Gakuto promises to teach him proper team play, and Niina silently shoves an old fight stick into his hands. They might be weird, they might be a bit intimidating, but there’s a kind and genuine heart in their core. This might just work. He can make this work! So he can most definitely say that he’ll—

-Pass! You guys are all super competitive and he’s into single player stuff and RPGs.

-Pardon?

-New day! Class! Keita has realized by now how much of a FUCKING IDIOT he was, when his phone buzzes! Mono-san needs his help…Sure, sure thing, that’ll clear his mi—

-Karen appears! And she’s not giving up. Join. Her. Club. She’s interested in you! And that gets everyone to go silent, as she holds out her hand…And the timer on Mono-san’s request ticks down, lower, lower…Keita reaches out, and…Taps it at the last second! What were you saying, Karen?

-…He…Look. He can’t join the game club.

-Why? Is it because you don’t think you’re good enough? They’ll take care of you, rookie or otherwise!

-…No. He’s…He’s not into competition. He likes the love of games. He’s not a competitive guy at all. Your focus is fantastic, but it’s just not for him, so…

-So Karen suddenly feels like she just got dumped. And everyone’s staring. She goes tsuntsun to try and save face but god dammit quit trying to be nice to her! She walks out in tears…Only to slip on a banana peel and faceplate so hard that she’s got to flee at top speed in a panicked sob…

-As Mono-san sends Keita a thank-you note for the save.

-Episode 01: Amano Keita and Chapters of the Chosen

-TO BE CONTINUED…

…You fucking stupid idiot.

#where I watch #recap #anime #gamers!

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tilltheendwilliwrite · 7 years ago

Text

Balance on the Head of a Pin

Chapter Seven

Previous Chapter

Pairing: Loki Laufeyson x OFC | Word Count: 4493 Warnings: not quite smut but a little smexy, Loki being Loki

“Was that, perhaps, excessive?” he asked, glancing down at Lauren.

She gave a soft sigh. “Maybe, but… would I be a horrible person if I said I rather enjoyed it?”

He chuckled softly, drawing her in by the waist. “We shall simply be horrible together, for I, too, rather enjoyed myself. Both the breaking and the repair.”

Lauren shook her head, smirking a little for she could see the merriment twinkling in his eyes. “I can tell.” Taking him by the hand, she glanced around to orient herself. “Huh, well that was convenient.” He’d landed them not far from Main Street. “You’re portals, are they like Dr. Strange’s?” she asked, leading him toward the town square.

Loki scoffed and shook his head. “All that circling.” He waved his hand absently. “What you Midgardians are tapping into is only a fraction of what is available. Perhaps in a millennium or two, you will catch up. For now, I leave you to your Mystic Arts and sling rings.”

She let it go, not wanting to debate something with him she knew little about. Dr. Strange had randomly appeared in Tony’s office on a few occasions, but usually, he used the door.

Instead, she tugged Loki toward the square where the red, white, and blue banners were being strung. “Oh, it’s gonna be so pretty when they’re done!” she smiled.

“It reminds me of feast days in Asgard.”

Lauren looked up to find him smiling a little grin. “Do you miss it?”

“Asgard? Yes, sometimes, but I am… content here.” His grin turned a tad wicked. “It is so easy to make mischief on your world. So many things to cause to go wrong.”

She shook her head. “I thought you were reformed?”

“From doing evil, but mischief is fun… for the one making it.”

“So bad,” she snickered.

“I believe you like me that way, darling,” he laughed.

She tugged on his hand and headed down the street. People had a tendency to stare, but she didn’t really think it was her they were looking at.

Loki drew eyes everywhere he went. His handsome face and stature, the presence he exuded as he walked, it had people instantly paying attention. But his eyes never strayed far from her, something Lauren was finding both thrilling and endearing. He may sweep his gaze out and around, assess those who approached them or who stood across the street, but they always returned to her.

Here, she finally saw what she’d only read about in reports. They’d talked about the War God Loki, but she’d only ever seen the man he was in private. In public, though he looked no different than any other man on the street - perhaps he was better dressed than most - one could see the innate core of strength, of danger, which resided within his powerful frame.

Everyone who could, possibly, pose a threat was assessed, weighed, measured, and dismissed. Loki moved with a confidence that bespoke his place in the world. People may not know who he was, but they certainly knew he wasn't someone to mess with.

Walking with him, Lauren felt far more important than ever before. She was someone at his side, someone special enough that this clearly powerful male was dancing attendance on her. Then, the faces turned to shock when they recognized her.

Lauren bit her lip to keep from laughing as she pulled open the door to a shop and walked inside. A colourful array of high-end women’s clothing spread out before her. Pants and dresses, suits, hats and accessories filled the space and lined the walls.

From the back of the shop, a voice called out, “Y’all have a gander! I’ll be right out.”

Smirking up at the confused look on Loki’s face, Lauren led him deeper into the store.

When the woman who’d spoken appeared from the back room Lauren called out, “I came in looking for somethin’ classy, didn’t realize they were lettin’ trashy run the joint.”

Slamming her hands to her hips, the brunette with the wild mane of curls and flashing hazel eyes sneered, “It takes trashy to know trashy, Lauren Annandale!”

Loki stiffened immediately. Lauren only laughed. Squealing excitedly, she dashed forward to throw her arms around Sadie. “Lordy, girl! I’ve missed you so!”

“Right back at you, Lulu!” Sadie squeezed just as tight. “Let me look at you!”

Lauren stepped back and blushed when Sadie’s face showed her appreciation.

“Lord have mercy, just look at you. I bet your sisters just dun gone and had themselves a conniption when they saw you. Cissy would be green with envy and Marabeth would be fit to be tied. She’s gettin’ to be as bad a Samuel with the penny-pinchin'.”

“Oh, do go on, Sadie!” Lauren scolded, flustered by the praise.

“You’ve just got to tell me what store in New York City you found this ensemble in.”

She shook her head with a wry smile. “I’m afraid it’s an original creation.”

“Really?” Sadie gasped. “By what designer, hun? It’s marvellous.”

Lauren freed her hand and turned, holding it out for Loki. “By him. Sadie Brockett, meet Loki Laufeyson. Sadie is my very best friend, practically since we were knee-high to a grasshopper.”

Sadie’s eyes grew round as she held out her hand. “Well shut my mouth. Lauren! He’s the God of Mischief!”

Loki chuckled and lifted her hand, holding it between his eyes sparkling with amusement. “I am indeed. It is a pleasure to meet someone my darling Lauren calls a friend.”

“I take it you’ve already met Lulu’s family?”

“Yes,” he nearly growled.

“Loki,” Lauren sighed when he released Sadie’s hand to place his arm around her waist.

“I love you, darling, but your family is horrid,” he stated without a hint of remorse.

Sadie’s eyes again grew large. “Lauren Guillemin! Have you been keepin’ secrets from your best friend?”

Lauren bit her lip. “Well…” she blushed, glancing at Loki.

“Damn it, girl! How could you?” Sadie slammed her hands back on her hips.

“Lauren was simply acquiescing to my wishes,” Loki soothed. “For her safety, it was best not known she was my Ástvinur until steps were taken.” Picking up her left hand, Loki brought it to his mouth where he ran his lips along her knuckles, making sure the stone in her ring glinted. The wicked, dancing light in his eyes showed he knew exactly what he was doing.

A high pitched squeal spilled from Sadie’s lips as she yanked Lauren’s hand away from Loki. “You’re marrin’ the god of Mischief? Oh, hun! I’m so happy for you!” She dragged Lauren back for another hug. “After all the natterin’ your mama and sisters have been doin’ about Montgomery, I wasn’t sure you’d even be comin’ home for the Fourth, but I’m so, so happy you did!”

“I take it mama’s been in here talkin’?” Lauren sighed, leaning on her friend.

Sadie snorted. “Every damn day.”

“And you couldn’t talk her outta buying that hideous pink dress?”

“You know how she is when she gets a bee in her bonnet about somethin’. There was just no changin’ that woman’s mind.”

“I take it you dislike Montgomery, Miss Brockett?” Loki interjected.

“That man is about as useful as tits on a boar,” she scoffed, “and if you’re marryin’ Lulu, getting her away from George, you’re more than welcome to call me Sadie.”

“I would very much like to know where the name Lulu comes from,” Loki asked with a wicked grin.

“Gran,” the girls said together.

“Ah, the illustrious Gran I keep hearing about. I look forward to meeting her.”

“She’ll be pleased as punch to meet you, what with the way Lauren goes on in her letters,” Sadie smirked at Lauren.

“Oh for… ugh!” Lauren slapped a hand to her face. “Y’all are just not gonna let that go!”

Talking her hand, Loki drew her back to his chest, his fingers ghosting over the heat which bloomed to life in her cheeks. “I find it endearing, darling. Your adoration is charming.”

“And a lovely stroke to your ego, I have no doubt,” she sighed, leaning into his hand.

A second sappy sigh erupted, this one from Sadie who looked on with a goofy grin. “Y’all are just too freakin’ cute!”

Loki’s lips pressed to her hair as Lauren blushed even brighter.

“You’re comin’ to the party, right?” Lauren asked, trying desperately to cool the heat in her face.

“Wouldn’t miss it now I know you’re home, Lulu.”

When the door opened at her back, she felt Loki stiffen, his entire demeanour changing to one of high alert before relaxing again. Turning to look, she smiled a little tightly to find Mary Ann Dalton and her daughter Georgia coming through the door.

“Oh man,” Sadie muttered before plastering on a fake smile. “Afternoon, ladies! Y’all need help with anythin’ today?”

“Why, Lauren Annandale that is you! I hardly recognized you with all that city finery,” Mary Ann said, striding quickly through the shop, completely ignoring Sadie.

“Miss Mary Ann, Georgia. A pleasure to see you again,” she said. Her discomfort must have been clear to him because Loki immediately tightened the hold he had on her waist.

“And who is this young man?” Mary Ann asked, her smile sharp and eyes assessing.

“Loki would be Lauren’s fiancé,” Sadie replied before Lauren could, her best friend’s face nearly gleeful.

Oh crap… There were no bigger gossips than the Dalton mother and daughter. By the end of the day, everyone in town would know Lauren had come home with a new man. “Ha, yes. Loki Laufeyson, my fiancé.”

“Well shut my mouth!” Georgia gasped, “He’s an Avenger, mama!”

“Indeed I am, ladies,” he said, his smile tight. “Will you excuse me, darling? I should really check in with the Tower.” He bussed her a kiss to the cheek before walking toward the front of the store.

Georgia had her by the wrist before he’d made the door. “Lauren Guillemin! You know the Avengers?”

“Georgia you need to get your ears checked. I’ve been sayin’ for years Lauren works with Tony Stark.” Sadie rolled her eyes at Georgia’s apparent lack of understanding.

“Sadie Brockett, you mind your manners,” Mary Ann huffed.

“Well, it’s the truth, Miss Mary Ann. Lauren’s worked for Stark for four years! You’d think that would settle in for people at some point in all this time.”

Sadie and the Dalton’s had never gotten on well. Her friend and Georgia had gone a round over Sadie’s boyfriend back in high school when Georgia decided Marcus was a better fit for her than for Sadie. Marcus had been flattered, but he’d stayed true to Sadie rejecting Georgia, who proceeded to start a nasty rumour about the two of them hooking up just to get back at Marcus and Sadie.

Sadie hadn’t believed it for a second, but had still ended up in a screaming match with Georgia, one which had ended when Marcus had intervened, calling Georgia a liar straight to her face and in front of a good majority of the student body.

If Sadie didn’t own the finest clothing store in town, Lauren doubted the Dalton’s would even grace the shop with their presence, but no one knew clothes like Sadie. As she was now married to Marcus, it didn’t matter a whit what Georgia had said.

Lauren detached herself from Georgia only to have her arm captured and linked through the pale brunette’s.

“You simply must come to tea with us,” Georgia demanded. “I’m dying to hear all about New York!”

“I’m afraid we already have plans, but thank you for the offer, Georgia.” Lauren extracted herself again.

“Oh dear, well that is too bad,” Mary Ann simpered. “I was so hopin’ we could catch up. I’m just shocked you’ve come home with a beau, what with the way your mama’s been goin’ on about George Montgomery and all.”

She felt the rush of cold air and glanced up to see Loki walking toward them. “Loki, hun? Everythin' alright?” There shouldn’t have been cold air coming from the doorway, so she knew it had to be coming off her Frost Giant.

He didn’t have the strut Bucky did, not that murder strut which made one think he was coming to kill them. No, Loki glided like a panther on the prowl. His shoulders were relaxed, his stride long but leisurely, eating up the ground. Eyes of blue were intense and focused, locked on his target who just so happened to be her. When he reached her, his hand immediately sought her waist, drawing her into him in a clear act of possession.

“Sergeant Barnes would like to speak with you, my sweet.” His eyes were hard and a little worried as he held out his phone.

“Alright,” she murmured taking it. “Sadie? You mind if I?” Lauren motioned to the back room.

“Go on, girl. You know your way around.” Sadie shooed her off.

Lauren glanced at Loki to make sure he would be fine. He tilted his head and proceeded to turn on the charm. Rolling her eyes, Lauren made her way around the counter, keeping the snickers soft as he waxed poetic about her delightful town and how the Dalton’s must be so pleased to live in such a quaint community.

When she made it to the back room, Lauren gently closed the door and lifted the phone to her ear. “I haven’t even been gone a full day. You miss me already?”

“Dollface…” Bucky took a breath during which she could hear the grind of teeth as he tried to control whatever outburst was coming next. “What… the fuck is going on down there?!” he bellowed loud enough to have her pulling the phone from her ear.

“Damn it, Bucky. Stop yellin’!”

“No, I will not stop yelling! What the hell, Gilli! You went down with a pretend boyfriend you’re now marrying? What the fuck!”

She could picture the way he would be aggravatingly thrusting his hand through his hair. “Bucky…” she sighed, plunking herself down on Sadie’s wobbly stool. “Everythin’… everythin’ changed.” The softness of her tone must have given him pause for silence settled over the line for a few seconds before he sighed.

“He told you?”

“James Barnes, you knew, and you didn’t tell me!”

“Damn it, woman! Now, who’s yelling? And I only found out yesterday. But that doesn’t mean you should be running off and getting fucking engaged! What the hell, Gilli!” Something crunched in the background followed swiftly by muttered cussing.

“What you break?”

“Nothing,” he grumbled, which clearly meant something. “Answer the damn question, doll.”

“Buck…” she sighed, rubbing at her forehead and temples. “My mother invited George. He was waitin’ for me when I got here. Things… escalated quickly.” Quietly she explained everything which had happened with her family and George, leaving out the private bits between herself and Loki as she didn’t think that was something Bucky needed to know. “He did fix George’s arm when I asked him to.”

More silence hung on the line until a muffled snort preceded a rough bark of laughter. “And you thought I was gonna give your mama a heart attack!”

“Goodbye, James,” she huffed, hanging up on his loud guffawing. She sighed and shot a glare at the corner of Sadie’s stock room. “I know you’re there, peaches.”

He stepped from the shadows like a wraith. “So, I am not about to be drawn and quartered by the former Winter Soldier?”

Smirking a little, Lauren shook her head. “He seemed downright amused by the whole thing.” Holding out her hand, she let him tug her to her feet where she ended up back in his arms. “Back to eavesdroppin’?”

He only shrugged, unrepentant, and put his phone back in his pocket. “I noticed you left out all the fun bits in your recitation, darling. Have I not been making them memorable enough?” His wicked grin spread across his lips as he drew his fingers down her thigh, bunching the hem of her dress up to skim her flesh.

“You’re plenty memorable, elskan mín, but would you speak of our private business with Thor?” she asked, brow arched.

“I see you’re point, love.” Humming softly, he tucked his nose against her throat while his large hand skimmed up the back of her thigh. “Does that door happen to lock, my sweet?”

“It never used to,” she sighed, stretching her neck.

“Pity.” His teeth closed over her pulse.

Lauren whimpered softly. “How are you managin’ to split your focus like this?” Wasn’t he running an avatar in the other room, carrying on an entire conversation?

“Practice and discipline,” he sighed, stroking his hand down her thigh to catch her knee. He drew it up around his waist and pressed her back onto the table Sadie used for unpacking boxes.

“Loki, hun, this table’s not all that strong,” she groaned when he settled between her thighs.

He jerked her other leg up as her bottom connected with the table top. “I can fix that.” His mouth closed over hers.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she no longer cared about tables or Daltons or even Sadie for that matter. All she knew was the sensual heat of his stroking hands, sliding their way up her bare thighs, dragging her dress higher while he kissed her breathless.

Right up until the door swung open.

“Lauren, Loki seems to have disappeared… never mind,” Sadie snickered, hand going to her mouth. There was a gleeful light dancing in her eyes. “Y’all should know that table’s not that solid.”

“Hm. It would seem I lost my focus,” Loki said, sliding his hands down with a regret-filled sigh, bringing the hem of her dress with him. “So I was informed. It should stand up to much more vigorous activities now.”

Blushing at his wicked grin, Lauren smacked him gently on the chest. “Scoundrel, constantly gettin’ me in trouble.”

He pulled her from the table with a swift jerk, whispering in her ear, “You enjoyed it, my Valkyrie, don’t deny it.”

Flushing a brighter shade of pink, Lauren bit her lip. Her fingers wrapped the side of his neck as she whispered back, “Valhalla was callin' my name, my Loki.” When she drew back, she smiled even as she blushed harder for his eyes had lit with an inner fire she was beginning to know very well.

“Do not tempt me, dear one.” His hand drifted down her back to lazily cup her ass.

“Loki!” she squealed. “Behave, sir.”

“Or don’t. I’m fine either way,” Sadie snickered, leaning in the doorway. “The Dalton’s left, so I’m good to simply stand here and watch.”

“Don’t you go encouragin’ him! He’s known as the God of Mischief for a reason. He doesn’t need no help in that department.” Lauren waved Sadie out of the way with a huff.

Giggling like mad, Sadie followed, her smile spreading. “You want to try on your dress?”

Lauren glanced at the two of them over her shoulder. They bore nearly identical grins. It was highly disconcerting. “If you’ve got the time.”

Sadie waved a hand in dismissal and headed back the way they’d come.

“Dress?” Loki asked, his face showing interest.

“For the party. Mama’s parties are always formal. Super fancy. Sadie’s mama, back when she ran this place, used to special order the finery for us. Now, Sadie does. A couple of times I’ve gotten her help with Tony’s parties when I just hadn’t a clue what to wear.”

“She’s great with regular fashion and can run that man’s life like a drill sergeant, but when it comes to high fashion she’s a hopeless mess,” Sadie said, smiling to offset the criticism when she returned with the garment bag. “In you go, Lulu.” She motioned to the curtained dressing room.

Turning a sharp eye on Loki, Lauren said firmly, “Stay.”

“Of course, darling,” he grinned.

“All of it off, Lu,” Sadie called as Lauren closed the curtain.

“Excuse me?” Lauren squeaked.

“She makes that sound quite often,” Loki commented, causing Sadie to laugh.

“Yes, she does! Right down to the knickers, hun,” Sadie called.

“What the hell are you puttin’ me in?” Lauren muttered, more to herself than Sadie, and unzipped the garment bag.

All she could see was what looked like miles of white. Unclipping her golden belt, Lauren placed its heavy weight on a small shelf. Drawing her current dress off her shoulders, she let it fall, only just realizing the bra she’d been wearing earlier in the day had also been changed into a strapless one when Loki had changed her clothing. Shaking her head at his attention to detail, she undid it, allowing it to join her dress, before stepping out of everything and gathering her discarded clothing to the side. The dress was much too lovely to leave lying on the floor. Pushing the garment bag the rest of the way off the hanger, Lauren gasped quietly at the softness of the fabric. It felt like cashmere but was much thinner.

She found the zipper in the side and pulled it down, took the dress from the hanger and stepped in, drawing it carefully up her body until she could slip her arm through the holes. “Oh… Sadie!” Lauren gasped, turning to the full-length mirror as she tugged up the zipper.

Sadie’s curly head poked through the curtain, ran an assessing eye over her, and frowned. “No, take the skivvies off as well.”

“What?” she hissed, glaring at her friend.

“What?” Sadie asked. “What’s the big deal? It ain’t like he’s never seen you without before. Lordy, girl. With the way y'all were carryin’ on in my stockroom, you could’a burned the place down! Woo! I’ve half a mind to call my husband for my own midday rendezvous.”

“Sadie!” Lauren gasped.

“Just do it, Lu!” she barked, jerking the curtain back in place.

“I hate you!”

“You love me!”

“No, I don’t,” Lauren pouted, turning to see her backside in the mirror.

“Lauren Guillemin! If you don’t drop them drawers, I will send your beau in to take them off for you!”

“I’m more than willing to assist, darling,” Loki crooned.

“Stay!” she barked, glaring at the curtain.

“But I do so love to be of assistance.”

Lauren rolled her eyes and ignored him as she drew up the long skirt of the dress and shucked her underwear. The fabric had been thin enough to show the outline of lace where it clung to her behind so she could understand Sadie’s insistence, but did she have to do so in front of Loki?

Sighing softly, she turned back to the mirror, gave herself another hard look, and smiled. “Alright, I still love you,” she called out to Sadie, pulling back the curtain.

***

The banter between Lauren and Sadie had been most amusing and highly entertaining, something Loki was happy to witness. Here, finally, was someone who cared for his precious one deeply, nearly as much as he did himself.

Small of stature, but tottering on incredibly tall heels, he was forced to wonder if this, too, was a normal thing for women of the south, though Sadie did not seem overly inclined to run places on hers. Her riot of curls appeared to be untameable, but she didn’t look to mind. Another fit female, she had ample hips on a curvy frame, and moved with a similar grace to Lauren, making him wonder if she, too, did the yoga.

Turning his attention back to the curtain, Loki felt his jaw unhinge when Lauren stepped beyond it in a body-hugging white sheath of a dress. Arms bare, the neckline followed the curve of her breasts, dipping just slightly, skimming down her sleek frame in a most pleasing fashion.

“Let’s see the back,” Sadie demanded.

Her cheeks were pink as Lauren turned, showing him how the wide straps fell down into a deep, low cut back, which draped slightly just above the curve of her backside. With how the fabric hugged every curve, he could see why Sadie had demanded the removal of her undergarments.

“Loki?”

He snapped out of the fantasy he was having about drawing the silky fabric up her thighs to discover her bare beneath only to find her chewing her lip with concern in her eyes. “Elskan mín,” he breathed reverence into his voice. “Stunning,” he purred, moving closer to take her in. “You shall outshine the moon in this.” Drawing his fingertips over her shoulder, he stopped where he could see the open back. “There is only one thing missing.”

“What?” she asked, her voice breathy and cheeks rosy.

“This.” Placing a fingertip on either shoulder, he drew his hands together until they touched, then slowly traced them down her spine. When he was finished, a small gold chain linked the shoulders of the gown together, while the tails fell down in glittering tendrils to tickle her spine. “There, it’s perfect, as are you, my Lauren.”

“Oh, wow…” Sadie whimpered, fanning her face. “If I weren’t married, I’d so fight you for him.”

He shook his head, smiled at Lauren, and cupped her cheek. “There is only one Ástvinur, and she is mine.” He bent and kissed her glossy lips.

Sadie sighed softly, her tone one of awe.

Loki ever so discretely ran his palm over Lauren’s backside. The fabric was quite thin and already warm from her skin. “You are beautiful, darling. I cannot wait to dance with you in this exquisite dress.” Turning her, so she was pressed against his chest, he swayed gently back and forth with her. Against her ear, he couldn’t help but whisper, “I cannot wait to peel you out of it.”

Lauren quivered all over, her heart pounding against his. “Loki,” she moaned quietly, melting against him.

“When is this party again?”

“Two days.”

“Excellent.” That gave him just enough time to complete his promise to her.

A blush burned high in Sadie’s cheeks, as the woman cleared her throat and fanned her face. “Yes, the Annandale’s throw their party the evenin’ of the third as the town does the dance and celebration, fireworks and things the fourth. It’s become a tradition.”

“It’s stuffy and borin’, but I’m sure you’ll keep me entertained, peaches,” Lauren smiled as she drew back.

“We’ll see, darling. Perhaps a little mischief will be in the offing?”

She snickered, pressed up on her toes, and kissed him firmly on the mouth. “I’m sure we’ll find somethin’ for you to have fun with.”

If not, he knew there would be someone to have fun with when the party ended. “I look forward to it, my sweet. Yes, very much so.”

Next Chapter

#balance #loki #loki laufeyson #loki fanfiction #avengers #avengers au #avengers fanfiction #fanfiction #southern belle

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shsl-shipper-gamer-fangirl · 7 years ago

Text

More dangan thieves

“Toot! Toot! This is a HOLD UP!”

“Or maybe doot doot? Ibuki can’t choose which gun to use! Tu turuu~”

“Cease your movement, unruly shadows! Do not make me repeat myself.“

“Are you sure that’s aaaaall the money you have? Let’s open you up and check just to be sure!“

Ibuki Mioda Codename: Noise or Encore Arcana: Sun

Mask: Metal face mask from Mad Max except it extends up to her two oni horns hair [NOTE: unlike all the other masks, only Ibuki's doesn't cover her eyes but beware, her true power lies in her voice]

Ourfit: Looks like something picked out from Kingdom Hearts with all the unnecessary belts and zippers, honestly what style is she even going for? The color scheme is still the same except instead of the school uniform, she wears a lot of leather like a post-apocalyptic musician. Her gloves are mismatched: her right is pink and ends at her wrist while her left is striped pink and ends at her elbow.

Persona: Mousai [yes, she gets all 9 muses in 1 summon, she calls them her band]

*NOTE: Ibuki is that one character who actually tried to apply to become a Dangan Thief. In a convenient turn of events, she managed to eavesdrop on one of their meetings (who knew that doing dubious vocal training at suspicious corners would pay off!) and she was excited as hell! She thought they were cool and wanted to try it out. Through sheer confidence (much to the annoyance of the party), she was able to convince them to let her join (mostly to watch) on one of their field days. Things escalated but thankfully she awakened her persona in the moment of crisis.

Skillset: Strong nuclear skills, weak to psychokinesis; high critical rates but also low resistance to status ailments

Weapons: Guitar axe, sword flute, hammer drum, tuning dagger, trombone shotgun, trumpet pistol, harp crossbow, violin bow, french horn grenade launcher (where does Ibuki get all these weapons?!)

All-Out Attack Card: "Face the music" blasting from speakers (think Coma Doof of Mad Max Fury Road) with her weapon on fire she shouts, "This girl is on fiyaaaaaah!"

Awakening Scene: Mousai: All this shouting reminds us of a song, does it not? A pitiful song. Look at them, walking all over you, drumming to a rhythm that silences yours. Are you just going to let this miserable song go on? Where is your voice? Why aren't you singing louder than these fools who think they can!

Ibuki: This is the part where Ibuki proves you wrong mysterious voice inside Ibuki's head! Clearly you're new to my concert 'cause you would know that I was just warming up! Ibuki didn't become a rockstar by being quiet, Ibuki ROARED! I'll show you just how loud I can be at FULL VOLUME!

Mousai: And here we thought you couldn't get any louder. Your song has finally reached us. As you already know, all great musicians had to sign a contract. I art thou... thou art I...

Ibuki: ROCK AND ROCK AND ROCK AND ROCK AND ROCKROCKROCKROCKROCK AND ROLL, MOUSAI!

Quotes: "Onwards to the next concert, Ace Detective!" "Too fast! I didn't even get to do a solo!" "I leveled up! And I have song to celebrate with!" “Oooooh! A new skill! I can totally rock this!” "That sparkle! That shine! That shining shimmering splendid! It's a treasure chest! Let's go for it!" "A safe room you say? Let's take five and rehearse." “Nothing exciting like wandering in someone's world inside their head.” "Hehehe... I'm just warming up. Bring on the show!" “Can I get an encore? Do you want more?” "Wheeeeeew, boy am I pooped! Let's stop the tour here please." "Look, a shadow! We should go say hi!" “A rabbid fan saw us! Run run run RUN!” "It's like an amateur facing off with a pro... boring and unfair." “Mmmmmhhhhh, I feel like that one would explode with just one note.” "Huh?! You want to fight that? Okay but this is a death flag just saying." “Watch out! This feels like one of those important showdowns! Gotta get your cool lines ready beforehand.” “All my friends, we're glorious! Tonight we are victorious!”

*BATON PASS!* "LET'S MAKE SOME NOISE!" *PROTECT* "Move, bitch! Get out the way!" *ENDURE* "Ugh... My last one standing game is strong!" *PERSONA!* "Burn the stage down, Mousai!" *Follow Up* "Need a second voice for that solo?" *Cover Fire* "Please oh please let me do the chorus." *Harisen Recovery* "Wake up, get up, GET OUT THERE!" *low on health* "I can see it... my ending! AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" *healing someone* "Don't die on me for plot device!" *getting healed* "Aaaaaaah! Feeling alive is so much better than feeling dead." *giving buffs* "Power ups for more power!" *physical attacks* "How do you like the sound of that?" *attacking* "GET REKT!" *attack misses* “Oh no! My hidden ditzy character is showing!" *couldn't finish off enemy* "Can't believe it didn't die, so rude!" *fainting* "It's weird... I can't seem to hear anything... so sad." *getting resurrected* “An encore? Well don't mind if I do!"

[lmao these are all song lyrics] *status ailment* "I, I shake it off! I shake it off!" Burn: "It's fire burning! Fire burning on the dance floor!" Freeze: “Yo, VIP, Let's kick it!!!! Ice! Ice! Baby!” Shock: "Girl, I'm all charged up! Cutie! Electro-cutie!" Forget: "See you driving 'round town with the girl I love and I'm like. Forget you! Ooh, ooh, ooh~" Charm: "We found love in a hopeless place~" Rage: "Let the bodies hit the floor! Let the bodies hit the floor! Let the bodies hit the... FLOOOOOOOOOR!" or “ORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!” Despair: "Please don't take... my sunshine away..." Hunger: "Ah ya ya ya ya I! Keep on hoping we'll eat cake by the ocean!" Dizzy: "You spin my head right round, right round. When you go down, when you go down down." Sleep: “In the jungle... the mighty jungle... the lion sleeps tonight... A weema-weh, wimoweh, wimba way, awimbawe..." Silence: *#@$%&?! or (somebody stole my car radio and now I just sit in silence) Mouse: *to the tune of hickory dickory dock* "Squeaksqueaksqueak squeaksqueaksqueak squeak~"

Mementos Chats: "The acoustics here are amazing! I bet I can yell and it would ECHOOOOOOOO!" "Uuuuuuuggggggghhhhh. Why does Silence even exist? It just makes me want to be LOUDER!" "I tried singing to them shadows, like legit singin not attacking-singing. And they just exploded? Rude!" "Shadows haven't developed the advanced hearing we people persons have. Otherwise they would have been enjoying my concerts." "Hey, maybe I should write my next song about Dangan Thieves. 'You stole my heart so I'm stealing your distorted desires'"

Ibuki: Maybe I should try bringing more instruments next time. I want to try pulling off a concert with my new band! Hajime: For the last time, your persona is not a band. Please only limit summoning them for thieving purposes.

Hajime: I knew you always had a dangerous taste in music but this is just taking it to the next level. Ibuki: What are you talking about, SpaceAce? This is just my usual.

Chiaki: This is so exciting, I think. I've always liked those characters who literally use music to attack. Ibuki: Awwww, that's so sweet of you, Bonbon. I'm gonna dedicate my next song to you!

Nagito: You are lively as always, ahahaha. Nothing can keep your hope quiet, how wonderful! Ibuki: Damn right! Noise is here to turn up the volume!

Fuyuhiko: Where the fuck do you get all these crazy shit weapons? Ibuki: They're Noise Originals obviously! Made them myself to use during concerts but my bandmates never let me.

Peko: The way you wield your instruments... it is quite intriguing. It looks reckless but under trained eyes, it actually holds perfect form. You make it look so easy. Ibuki: Hrrrrr, I don't really get what you say. I just play like how I would, ya know?

Mahiru: Please tell me you don't actually use your weapons in real life. Ibuki: Definitely nadah! Noise is against fighting. Oh, but I do use them to play some sweet notes sometimes.

Ibuki: If I can summon nine people, that's eight more than normal! Oh, no! Does that mean Noise has multiple personalities! Impostor: No, that's not it. I can assure you that's not your case and there's no need for you to worry.

Impostor: Ibuki:

Tsumiki: U-Um, please not so loud when near other people. Hiiii! I'm so s-sorry! It's just, um... it could cause hearing problems so... sorry! Ibuki: It's cool, dokidoki! I just gotta be loud far far away, got it.

Sonia: You have quite the unique persona. To think that your other self looks like a group of nine persons, how interesting! Ibuki: I knooooow! It's like my fantasy band! Me, myself, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and Loud I.

------

Gundam Tanaka Codename: (Evil Overlord) Lich Arcana: Strength

Mask: Aku Shogun of Sorrow Mask by EpicLeather

Ourfit: Typical evil overlord getup (think castlevania dracula). Old fashion, dark and edgy, with a cape (black on the outside, violet on the inside), and his purple long scarf still wrapped around his neck. His left sleeve is rolled up until his elbow but instead of bandages, there's a gauntlent made of bones. His gloves have a skeletal design.

*IMPORTANT NOTE: Even though none of his hamsters have awakened, Gundam still insists on bringing the Four Dark Devas of Destruction with him, even going so far as making them all tiny individual masks, and redubbing them as the Four Dangan Devas of Thieving. Their codenames are as follows:

"Supernova Silver Fox" San-D: Inari "Mirage Golden Hawk" Jum-P: Horus "Crimson Steel Elephant": Ganesha "Invading Black Dragon" Cham-P: Ao Shun

Persona: Kaminari-sama, god of lightning, thunder, storms Note: unlike popular depictions, Gundam's persona looks more adorable than threatening, it's cute AF, takes a form similar to the momonga, japanese dwarf flying squirrel, but with sparks

Skillset: Strong zio skills but weak to garu Weapons: Pair of sai and revolver or flintlock

All-Out Attack Card: “INFINITY UNLIMITED FLAME” written in a summon circle with dark flames scorching in the background and he says, "Ha! You weak creatures make me laugh!"

Awakening Scene: Kaminari-sama: How many times more will you let people make a mockery of your power? You are a Lord of Darkness, are you not? And yet rather than respect, they throw ridicule and insults at you, call you a false god. A powerless god. I ask you this, are you truly that powerless?

Gundam: For a demon born from the abyss of my heart, you should already know the answer. I've been ridiculed enough by others so do not dare join their mockery! A powerless god you say, ha! They spout insults AND lies! My power is no joke. And they would regret every word they said that assumed otherwise!

Kaminari-sama: Spoken like a true Dark Lord. As long as you understand your rights then let us proceed with the contract. I art thou... thou art I... The power you've longed for is already within your grasp. You are no benevolent god. You are an Evil Overlord who destroys all obstacles and punishes all those who oppose you!

Gundam: That's right! Bwahaha! At last! The seal on my dark powers has finally been broken! From this day forth, I have been born anew, only to lay waste to those before me! Strike them down, Kaminari-sama!

Codename: Gundam: Hahaha! At last! The time to unleash my wrath upon the world has come! Tremble before the destructive force before you!

Chiaki: Congratulations on unlocking your persona, Gundam. New party member acquired!

Nagito: It was quite the sight to behold, your awakening, truly I am lucky to witness such hope. Ah, and now you've decided to join us as well. Hmmm, I suppose it's time to address the next issue. So what should his codename be?

Gundam: Ha! I've been waiting for this moment! From here on out you shall address me by my true name! For I am Evil Overlo—

Mahiru: Overruled.

Gundam: W-What's this blasphemy? I haven't even finished yet!

Fuyuhiko: Yeah, you don't need to finish that for us to know it was going to be a long ass name. Newsflash edgelord, we're only shooting for two syllables at most.

Gundam: How preposterous! That is simply not enough to seal my abyssmal power in words. Do you not understand the consequences should my strength remain unrestrained? This pathetic world shall be torn asunder!

Peko: Perhaps we should hear him out first. There must be at least something short for a codename in what he was proposing. Let's try to focus on the main component of his name and then debate on the honorifics later. Is that acceptable enough?

Gundam: Hmph, as long as you do not forget then I shall agree to those terms for now.

Tsumiki: Then um... What would you l-like your codename to be?

Gundam: Evil Overlord of the Underworld

Mahiru: Too long! And I still can't pick any of those for a codename! Take this seriously, will you?

Gundam: You dare question my name? It would seem mortals still lack the skill to comprehend true power before their eyes.

Impostor: It's actually more of a technicality. We can't call you Overlord or Lord because it'll simply get confused with mine, King. Evil and Underworld are out of the question. Is there no other name you wish to go by?

Gundam: Ah... I see. Someone else has claimed a similar name. Even a dark lord such as myself knows to honor rights. I did not foresee such an event.

Chiaki: In other words, you didn't have any backup aliases... I think.

Sonia: Hold your head high, my dark overlord! For I shall crown you with a name worthy of your esteem!

Gundam: What? What is this name that you speak of, Dark Queen?

Sonia: *whispers to herself* Actually, I go by Enchantress here but I don't mind being called your Dark Queen... *clears throat* There is a name spoken with fear in my country. I believe only you can hold it with the same tenacity. Lich, a being of the dark arts. It suits you, does it not, Evil Overlord Lich?

Gundam: Evil Overlord Lich... Fuhuhu... Yes! I can feel the dark arts resonating with it! COWER BEFORE THE MIGHT OF EVIL OVERLORD LICH! Bwahahaha!

Chiaki: Good for you, Evil Overlord Lich.

Hajime: No. No way. We are NOT going to call him that all the time.

Gundam: Traitor! You had promised me freedom in choosing my name! Are you saying that you had no honor to uphold those words from the very beginning!

Nagito: Oh, my. It seems you've upset him. It would be a lengthy discussion if we decide to change his codename at this point. How about we settle for a compromise instead?

Hajime: Fine. We'll call you Evil Overlord Lich whenever but in battles we are redacting that to Lich. Is that compromise enough?

Gundam: I suppose those are agreeable terms. The contract is sealed. You now have my blood in your hands, do your best to not fall prey to its insanity.

Hajime: Yeah, sure whatever. Good to know that you're finally happy. Now let's go.

Gundam: Do not dare to leave just yet. There is another important matter that needs your immediate attention. Be grateful that I had warned you or else you would have suffered a horrible death.

Fuyuhiko: Oh, c'mon! We've already spent like ten minutes here. What else do you want to talk about? Your fucking madeup backstory?

Gundam: You should tread carefully with your words, mere mortal. But no, this urgent business does not address me. It is a decision regarding beings higher than myself.

Mahiru: We get it. Higher powers. Fancy words. Just get to the point and let's be done with this.

Gundam: Now that my power has been sealed by name, I request your assistance in performing more seals... specifically four.

Quotes: "I have spells that last longer than that fight. Let us set off!" "Muwahahaha... I can feel it! Power surges through my veins!" “My repertoir increases yet again!” "A treasure chest? What dangers does this one hold within?" "We've arrived at a safe room. Do not waste this moment's reprieve." “This journey pales in comparison to the trek I did to reach the Underworld where my brethren live.” "An Evil Overlord is a being void of humanity. Worry not for I need no rest." “My mortal vessel is proving to be cumbersome. Even so, I will not let it hold me back.” "Do not mistake this exhaustion for weakness. Contain such great power puts a toll on any mortal body and my vessel has reached its limits." "Fiends run amok. Shall we cleanse the area?" “Ack! We've been sighted? They must have felt the disturbance in the air." “I take pity on these unworthy opponents.” "They are no threat to us. Quickly decide on their fates." "Tread carefully! Even from this distance, I can sense the oppressiveness of their powers." “We must prepare ourselves for this one or our lives shall be forfeit.” “Another victory to add to my inordinate saga!”

*BATON PASS!* "Face the wrath of The Evil Overlord Lich!" *PROTECT* "Fool! Defend yourself!" *ENDURE* "You fiend... Did you think that was enough to best me?" *PERSONA!* "Rise forth, Kaminari-sama!" or "Strike them down, Kaminari-sama!" *Follow Up* "Call upon my wrath!" *Cover Fire* "Let my thunderstorm rain upon them!" *Harisen Recovery* "Do not disappoint me!" *low on health* "Hmph... Did you truly think that dying would strike fear into my heart?" *healing someone* "It's far too early for you to join me in the Underworld." *getting healed* "I shall remember your generosity." *giving buffs* "By the dark arts, I imbue you with strength!" *physical attacks* "Lightning strikes! Twice!" *attacking* "Your end is nigh!" *attack misses* “Preposterous! You avoided your fate?" *couldn't finish off enemy* "Delaying the inevitable will only bring you greater suffering." *fainting* "Fallen I have... but my life was one lived to the fullest." *getting resurrected* “A second chance? If you truly miss me then I will gladly return at your call.”

*status ailment* "Curse this mortal body!" Burn: "This fire holds no flame against my Infinity Unlimited Flame!" Freeze: “This frostbite is all bark and no bite!” Shock: "Betrayed...? By my own element?" Forget: "My name... has been sealed again?" Charm: “The call of darkness beckons me!” Rage: “Face the wrath of my fury!” Despair: "All these struggles... are they even worth it?" Hunger: "The beast within howls! I recquire sustenance immediately!" Dizzy: "What's this? I can't sense their aura as sharply!" Sleep: “Snore... Tremblewithfear... Zzz...” Silence: !!! Mouse: "SQUEAK!"

Mementos Chats: "Be grateful, foolish mortals, for I am a generous Dark Lord who spares his time for your thievery." "Some of the shadows look more animalistic than fiendish... what is this inner turmoil?" "The storm surges on outside in the real world. Now is the time to strike terror into the shadows!" "I can feel it... My Evil Eye tells me that there is great malice within the walls of Mementos." "I shall conquer the real world and the cognitive world as well!" "An Evil Overlord serving as a Dangan Thief... Of course, evil is known to wear many masks."

Chiaki: Our personas should reflect our own psyches, right? Hajime: I guess. I mean they aren't called our "other selves" for no reason. Chiaki: Hmmm, I see. I wonder what that says about Lich. Nagito: Ah, I now understand why you brought this up. He does posess an... interesting persona. Fuyuhiko: Just call it as it is. It's fucking adorable that's what. Mahiru: For a guy who's edgier than a knife, he's actually a huge softie on the inside. Ibuki: Oyaoya? Could this be what they call "gap moe"? Tsumiki: B-But it's still dangerous! It h-hurt a lot when he got brainwashed and used it on me, hiiii! Impostor: True, we must not underestimate it for its appearance. His persona is terrifying... no matter how cute it seems. Peko: That may be so... I wonder if it's fur is as soft as it looks... Maybe since it's a persona, I can actually get to pet it. Sonia: It would seem that everyone has taken a liking to your persona, oh Dark One. It's very cute indeed. Gundam: Cute is not befitting for a god! It's merely a disguise for you to let your guard down- cease your shallow appraisal on its appearance!

Gundam: I thought we agreed that you would address me by my full title outside of battles. Hajime: Lich can you not.

Hajime: I can't believe you really did bring your hamsters with you... Wait, are those masks? You even made them their own masks? By hand? Gundam: How else do you suppose would they acquire garments fitting of gods?

Chiaki: Whenever Lich talks, it's like I'm playing an old fantasy RPG. Recruiting an Evil Overlord as a party member is amazing, I think. Gundam: Even for someone as aloof as yourself, you say the wisest things. No need to thank my generosity, you're welcome.

Nagito: It's actually quite thoughtful of you to make masks for your hamsters. These are very well made even. As expected of someone filled with so much hope! Gundam: Fufufu... Your praise will not earn you any favors but it is acceptable enough.

Fuyuhiko: You could tone it down with your fancy shit. Seriously just yell zio like any person with common sense would, no need for a five minute incantation full of crap. Gundam: You lack the power to understand the full potential of my spells. My incantations fuel the strength of my skills so do not underestimate their value.

Peko: Even in the Metaverse, the animal-based shadows fear me... Gundam: Do not despair over such a loss. Come now, let my Four Dangan Devas of Thieving comfort you.

Mahiru: Your outfit is impractical as always. Isn't that cape too long? You're going to step on it one day. Gundam: A small price to pay for the physical manifestation of my power. There is nothing to fear for I, Evil Overlord Lich, shall die by

Tsumiki: Um... Is it really alright for those four to join us? These battles can get life-threatening... Gundam: Fret not, nurse of the heart. These four devas are more trained than I. Should the need arise, they are capable of defending themselves.

Impostor: So we have a King and an Overlord, and yet our leader is called Ace. Gundam: The Chosen One must humble themselves to serve a position of such high authority. Although this does bring attention to an issue. Perhaps we should discuss with him a change of title.

Ibuki: Yahooo! Now that Lychee has real powers, does that make him OOC when he talks about his fake real powers? Noise is confused. Gundam: It's Lich, Noisy One. And I don't need to understand your outdated language to know that you've thrown ridicule at me. I've always had this power. It's just that only now with the seal is broken can you bear witness to its wrath.

Sonia: Oh, how lovely! You brought the four devas with you today as well. May I? Gundam: ...They would not be so opposed.

Sonia: As expected of you! Your outfit is as handsome as your usual! Gundam: *hides under scarf* I... could say the same to you. Yours suit you quite well.

Gundam: It is... new to me to have a creature bound to me and yet have no obligation to care for it regularly. Sonia: Oh, you're talking about your persona, aren't you? I see, I didn't think it would bother you this much. That just shows how much dedicated you are, it's quite admirable.

Gundam: That was a formidable move you used back there. Your fire for chaos burns ever so fervently. Sonia: Thank you, that's one of my favorite fires actually.

-----

Hiyoko Saionji Codename: Ibis Arcana: Tower

Mask: Red bird shaped mask with a long black beak

Ourfit: Traditional shrine maiden attire (red hakama or pleated skirt tied with a bow, white haori, some ribbons) The sleeves look like feathers to further resemble the Japanese crested ibis.

Persona: Karura, divine creature with human torso and birdlike head

*NOTE: Hiyoko is recruited after getting Mahiru, she is introduced during one of Mahiru's confidant events. If you use Mahiru enough times in the active party then this will trigger an extra quest wherein Hiyoko eventually joins the team. She only joins because of Mahiru obviously.

Skillset: Strong garu skills and weak to zio. Good at inflicting status ailments and debuffs, and nullifying party debuffs. Weapons: Tessen (japanese war fan) and fukiya (japanese blow gun)

All-Out Attack Card: "Dance on someone's grave" painted on the backdrop of a traditional stage and she says, "Squish! Squish! Ahahaha! You're all WEAK!"

Awakening Scene: Karura: What is your next step? Will you just cry over it like some child? Have you not grown up at all? For all the elegance and maturity that your dance brings, your steps falter outside that of a stage. How pitiful. Perhaps crying suits you more than dancing given how spoiled you've become.

Hiyoko: How dare you! I'm not a kid! I haven't been a kid ever since I wore my first kimono! Why are you so mean to me? Aren't you supposed on my side? Everyone keeps ganging up on me. I hate you all! Cry? Don't make me laugh. The only ones who'll be crying are my enemies as I crush them under my heels!

Karura: Yes, that is the attitude most befitting on you. The dance is always most exciting at its climax. I art thou... thou art I... Abandon your childlike innocence, you have no need for that where we are heading. The merciless spirit of a warrior suits you more, as it should. Do not shed tears but rather strive for your enemy's bloodshed.

Hiyoko: Hmph! You don't need to tell me twice. I'm gonna have soooo much fun playing with them! And CRUSHING them to pieces. Once I enter the stage, only I leave in one piece. Dance, Karura!

Quotes: "Too easy. Hey, what are you standing there for? Let's go, bowtie." "Yaaaay! I leveled up!" “New skill! Yay! I wonder how painful this one would be!” "Look! A treasure chest! It's all sparkly and shouting to be opened!" "Finally, a safe room! My feet huuuuuurt!" “Why isn't there just a shortcut to the treasure?” "I got a good sleep which means I can play more today!" “As long as I get to kill some shadows then I guess I can go along just a bit more.” "Ehhh? We're still going? I don't wannaaaaaaa." "Look, a bug! Let's crush it." "We were spotted? This is all your fault!" “They're so weak that at least insects leave a mark after.” "Huh? Are you sure? They look pretty scary to me." “They're obviously big bad meanies. Don't get us killed over your stupidity.” “Victory! Yay! Who knew killing shadows could be so fun!”

*BATON PASS!* "Ibis elegantly flying in!" *PROTECT* "Hey, pushover!" *ENDURE* "*sniffles* I don't want to die!" *PERSONA!* "Slaughter them, Karura!" or "Soar, Karura!" *Follow Up* "Let's kill them while we're at it." *Cover Fire* "I'll help if you ask niiiiicely." *Harisen Recovery* "Don't be such a baby!" *low on health* "A little help here?!" *healing someone* "You owe me for this." *getting healed* "*mumbles* Thanks..." *giving buffs* "Now you don't have any excuse." *physical attacks* "Oh this? Don't mind the sharp edges." *attacking* "Ahahaha! You're going to get sliced like fish!" *attack misses* "Huuuh? You have a lot of nerve to dodge that!" *couldn't finish off enemy* "Seriously? Just die already!" *fainting* "*crying* Why... Why are you all so mean?" *getting resurrected* "*sniffles* Thanks. Now I can finally get my revenge."

*status ailment* "I don't feel so good... *sniffle*" Burn: "Too hot! I want some ice cream!" Freeze: “Are you trying to freeze me to death? Get me a kotatsu!” Shock: "Tch! I'm going to kill you twice for this!" Forget: "Huh? What was the next step again?" Charm: “Well who could blame me? If I'm fighting then I'm fighting with the winning team.” Rage: “I'll break you... piece by broken piece!” Despair: "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Why is this so hard!" Hunger: "Sweets! Hand me gummies right now! No yellow!" Dizzy: "Euugh... I think I'm going to be sick..." Sleep: “Zzz… CRUSH” Silence: ...! Mouse: "Squeak!"

Mementos Chats: "Killing shadows is sooooo much fun! Yay!" "You know what else is fun? Having the shadows beg for mercy as we extort more money from them. "I was raised in a traditional household and traditionally, we always get what we want." "All this fighting makes me crave for some sweets." "If I knew how much fun it is to kill shadows without consequence then I would have signed up for Dangan Thieves sooner!"

Hiyoko: Ehh? You're the leader? Well aren't you just disappointing. Hajime: I'm really starting to think we shouldn't accept everyone who joins.

Hajime: Why am I actually not surprised at how sadistically good you are at this? Hiyoko: Ew! I'm not interested so don't bother complimenting me.

Chiaki: Amazing! I've only seen it in videogames but you can actually fight using fans! Hiyoko: I can do so much more than just fight. There's slice and kill too.

Nagito: I was wondering how you would adapt here but clearly I've underestimated your hope. You're more than capable in battle, I'm pleasantly surprised by this development. Hiyoko: Why is this creep here? Are you going to kick him out or do I have to?

Fuyuhiko: Don't get all cocky just because you've got a few tricks up your sleeve. Hiyoko: Oh look, the Baby Gangster knows how to talk.

Peko: So that makes two of us with bird motifs... Hiyoko: It's frustrating that I wasn't the first one but I guess we have no choice but to share.

Tsumiki: I-I'm so happy that you're with us too! Hiyoko: Shut it! No one asked for your opinion, pig barf! But for the record, someone has to look after you so you don't screw up like you always do.

Ibuki: Ibissy~ Look at you! Killing shadows! Stealing treasures! Wow, you sure grow up fast! Hiyoko: It literally only took me one minute to get a persona and "grow up".

Impostor: Is something the matter? You've been staring. Hiyoko: Wow, I knew pork feet was rich but I didn't think you'd have the balls to wear rich.

Sonia: It's amazing watching you do battle. Your dances are just as captivating as they are deadly! Hiyoko: Not all of us can be this good so I step it up.

Gundam: Since you are new at this, I am generous enough to guide you. Should you have any questions, know that I know more than you. Hiyoko: You guys really don't discriminate when recruiting, huh.

Hiyoko: Waaaaaaaaah! I'm so happy I get to be with you more, Big Sis! Mahiru: Now, now. No need to cry. I'm happy too.

Mahiru: It's a good thing that you joined us. Your skills are unique and valuable. Debuffs can really take a toll. Hiyoko: Not as useful as yours, Big Sis! I'm so happy that there's at least one reliable person here!

Mahiru: I'm kind of jealous that everyone has such elaborate personas and mine is just... this. Hiyoko: Why are you getting sad over that? Yours is waaaay better than what the rest of these losers have.

Hiyoko: Yay! Killing shadows is way more fun than squishing bugs! Mahiru: Hearing you say that with such a carefree face makes me worry a bit... Just don't get too carried away.

#dangan thieves AU #ibuki mioda #gundam tanaka #hiyoko saionji #dangan ronpa #danganronpa #sdr2 #gundham tanaka #especially proud of gundam #he has codenames for the hamsters #and that's it for profiles from me #not gonna write for the remaining cast #because i'll be busy #i might put some placeholder codenames but that's it #i crammed these three in a week so cut me some slack

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post-itpenny · 7 years ago

Text

Maggie

At long last it is finished!

Gold...

She woke up to the cool feeling of the evening breeze on her skin. It was going to rain soon.

Marguerite jumped up and took off down the hill towards home. The bright green grass tickling her ankles and bare feet. She stumbled to a stop at the field gate, taking a moment to catch her breath and put her thoughts in order. She had been dreaming about what it must be like to fly, with the wind ripping through her hair and the ground far, far, below. But then the dream shifted to darkness and a bright golden light off in the distance. Her grandmother would have loved to hear all about it but she had died last spring; Marguerite cried for two days after she was buried. They put her grandmother at the bottom of the churchyard like some forgotten thing. The rest of the family acted as if it was no big deal, like they wanted for her to die and be forgotten, like they didn’t care. Marguerite stopped her train of thought and shook her head, as if to physically rid herself of the dark thoughts. Her mother always warned her to avoid such things as they were the works of evil.

By the time Marguerite made it home a soft drizzle had begun. The heavy grey of the clouds above smearing into the air with their dampness. Inside she could hear the old creaking of floorboards as her father paced the kitchen while her mother was preparing their dinner.

“Father?”

The old man paused. His face lined from work and as of late, worry. Marguerite looked up at him, one had gripping her skirts. “What's wrong? Where are the boys?”

Her father gave a sigh, “Maggie love, help your mother with dinner. The boys will be home soon and we’ll talk.”

“Yes but-”

“Maggie come help chop up these carrots for the stew.” Her mother interrupted.

Marguerite rushed over to the waiting vegetables and set to work. It was only as she and her mother were setting the table that her three brothers came home, shivering and muddy from the rain. Their mother shooed off to go clean up and Marguerite quickly finished setting out the bowls and took her place at the table. Her eldest brother Sean sat down first, flopping into his seat with such force the floor shook.

“What happened?”

Sean rubbed a hand over his face in frustration before giving a sigh to answer her question. “ Do you remember those Holsteins father bought last year? One of them has gone missing, we think she was stolen.”

“Don’t think! We know” Conner announced as he sat down, their brother Daniel right behind him.

“Know?”

“Yes, all the blood we found on the East side of the pasture. Poor thing must have been butchered up on the spot!”

“Conner! Don’t say such things around your sister.” Their father scolded, entering into the room with heavy steps as if to stomp out his anger.

Marguerite began to protest but a look from Sean silenced that. She knew better than to argue.

The meal was quiet, her father and brothers eating quickly so they could go back out and continue the search. Marguerite scrunched up her nose in frustration, she wanted to help but it was dark out and the act of looking for a thief was not a job to trust her with. But still…

Their family ran a small dairy farm, nestled outside a village that seemed to sit in nowhere as the nearest town was miles away. Even though she was limited in the ways she was allowed to help Marguerite still knew everything there was to know about the business. The missing cow in question was only a year old and quite healthy. Her worth would have been in the milk she would have given in the years to come not in the meat she could give in that one single moment. It was a waste.

That night Marguerite dreamed of when she and her brothers were small. The boys were playing war, smacking each other with sticks in the name of some unnamed kings. She had tried to join in as well, banishing her own stick in a tiny hand.

“Sure you can play Marguerite,” her brother Connor answered. “You can be the princess we must rescue.”

“No I am the Phantom Queen!” She shouted, raising her pretend sword to the sky. I am Macha Mong Ruad here to fight in the name of my people!”

“No this is our game and if we say you’re princess then you’re a princes or you can’t play at all!” Sean shouted, yanking the stick from her hands.

Marguerite awoke unable to remember if she had decided to play as a princess or not. From outside her window she could hear shouting.

They had found the poor cow, what was left of it at least.

As it was. This was only the latest in a string of incidences. A month prior something had been attacking chickens in the village, a vegetable cart had caught fire for no reason, good friends were now refusing to speak to each other. But the cow it seemed was now the final straw. It had not been stolen, it had been mutilated.

“The devil is amongst us father,” Marguerite could hear her brother Daniel saying, “what are we to do?”

There was a pause before she could hear her father’s answer, no doubt he was thinking very carefully of an answer. “Go down to the village and fetch the priest boy, Conner run down to the Wlash’s farm and tell them to get over here fast. Sean, you and I will round up the hands. Lets see what we can find.”

It was only after they all parted that Marguerite snuck out of the house. It was still quite early and there were chores to be done but she wanted to see.

Its ribs were sticking out of the ground in odd designs while its skin and meat one gory mass in the middle. Marguerite felt the remains of last nights stew coming back up as she turned away in both nausea and horror.

And yet she was oddly fascinated.

The was a cawing sound above her and she looked up to see a flash of black. It was a raven, one with an odd notch in its wing, her raven.

She had rescued it when it was just a small puff of grey, the poor thing having fallen from a nest she could not find. Her parents forbid her care of the creature but the thought of letting it die was too much. So she stashed it away in the loft of their cowshed, feeding it bits of dried meat and the worms from her mother’s back garden. She never named it, too afraid that it would die under her clumsy attempts of care, but it did live and even when it had the strength to fly it always stayed close. Visiting often and even allowing her to gently kiss its beak. Currently, the bird was perched on on of the ribs staring at her patiently as if waiting for permission.

“Well... The devil wouldn’t be after a bird so I don’t see why not.”

With this the bird hopped down and began pecking at its breakfast and Marguerite went about her chores.

Throughout the day more and more people came by. Some to help search for signs of the supposed witch and some to look and gossip. By the late afternoon the priest had arrived to bless their home and explained to their father he had only come when hearing the news in passing.

Daniel never made it to the village.

A panic started up then. Marguerite running out to their father in fear of the news about Daniel.He wrapped his arms around her tight, as if in fear something would take his youngest child next. Around them the crowed grew more agitated, shouting and demanding an answer.

“Marguerite... What were you doing by the cow corps this morning?”

She turned. Sean stood before her, eyes filled with anger.

“What? I… Nothing I had just wanted to see.”

“But I saw you there. Feeding a black bird meat.”

“I didn’t touch it!”

“But you talked to that thing.”

“Yes... but its just a bird!”

“Is that your familiar child!”

A rough pair of hands grabbed her shoulders and spun her around, an old man she had seen many times before in the village but never talked to.

“No! I-”

“The devil claimed her then!” A woman shouted. “How could this happen to such an innocent thing!”

“The family is cursed then!”

Everything else was a blur. People screaming at her, the voices of her parents trying to stay above the racket, the priest attempting to restore order. She was being pushed and pulled by different hands, trying to answer questions but no one really listening to her, before Marguerite found herself being shoved into the cow shed. The doors slamming shut.

She cried then, rocking herself to combat the fear. The shed was so quiet compared to the noise outside, the cows already out to pasture leave Marguerite very much alone.

The hours dragged on before the shouting outside died down and the light had begun to fade. She stood up and stretched, racking her brain for a solution with none to be found. She paced the shed before finding something in the back corner. A dead bird, a raven with a notch in its wing.

Marguerite screamed.

“Please stop that.”

A cold chill ran down her spine, the voice came out of the air light and quiet. Not seeming to assume any gender. She spun around and found two shining black dots looking at her from across the room.

Eyes.

“Your brother killed it by the way. The silly thing was too caught up in its feast this morning to see the danger.”

“Demon” Marguerite whispered, her legs giving out as she collapsed to the floor in fear.

“No I am not.”

“Spirit then?”

“I suppose that's close enough. What is your name child?”

“I… I shouldn’t be speaking to you.”

“Are you this concerned with your people’s moral values even now?”

“I’m concerned for my soul.”

“Ah… yes I see. Understandable but I have not come to hurt you. Not… now.”

“Now? So all of this… the past month, my brother, it's all your fault! So you are a demon?”

“No I’m hungry, and I did not touch your brother.”

“Then where is Daniel!”

“... I don’t know. I will confess to everything else. I was starving and yes I did intend for unfortunate scapegoat of these stupid people as my meal. All else before this has been mere bites and snacks. But you don’t work. You carry no malice in your heart towards your people. I did try but you do not so easily fall under my careful charm, even when you’re asleep! In short you’re too nice. You would taste terrible.”

“Oh… Are… Are you the Nemain then?

“A Morrigan? And the raven woman at that!” The thing gave a low chuckle, like an old woman amused with her grandchild’s antics. “You flatter me but no, yet close...” The thing purred. It’s shadowy body stretching out towards Marguerite.

“But I do walk among man unseen feasting on the chaos I create. And just the same as the old crone Badb I can foresee your future. They will put you on trial tomorrow child.” It said, reaching out to cup her chin with unseen fingertips. “Things are not going to end well for either of us. I am weak as it is from denial of a meal that has taken me weeks to prepare. I will starve and tomorrow you will die.”

Marguerite began to cry again, sobbing as the thing stroked her cheeks, smearing her tears. It tiled its head in curiosity as she pulled away from the thing and picked up her dear bird with the greatest of care.

“Here,” she said holding out the small thing, “you eat meat yes? Eat this and be full, and remember me. Because I don’t think anyone else will want to after this.”

The thing stared at her for several long moments before taking the bird. Marguerite turned around to block the scene but could still hear the small snaps of bones.

When the sounds stopped she turned around and giggled at the sight of feathers beginning to sprout from the thing’s head.

The creature gave a low hum at the sound of her laughter, placing its hands on the sides of her head and stroking back her red hair as if to give comfort.

“Why do you say no one would want to remember you?”

Marguerite felt tears at the back of her eyes again, her body shook with a sob. “They don’t talk about people they don’t like. They don’t want to remember grandmother because she told the old stories and believed them. She was strange and now they don’t like to remember her. They’ll never remember me!”

The thing hummed softly again, waiting patiently for Marguerite to calm down. Its eyes scanning the human before it. A wonderful and terrible idea forming in the back of its brain.

“Chaos shouldn’t always be so violent, this is something I could stand to learn I will admit. But it is necessary in balancing out this world... I did nothing but poke and prod and most certainly did not influence the actions of the mob outside... You will not be forgotten my little poppy flower. Your mother will mourn you for years and your father will not speak to your brother again after this... I have taken in your little friend, I now wear his feathers and now I will remember you always. But… you don’t have to die tomorrow…”

“I… don’t?”

“No! A body would allow me to live off a more human diet. Using the fruits of discord for my- our longevity. And power.”

“Our?...”

The thing hummed again, wrapping itself around her.

“What is your name child?”

“Marguerite... But my family sometimes calls me Maggie.”

“Maggie? I like that name very much. Yes I think I would like to keep it... So do we have an agreement then?”

It seemed strange, but she did not blame this thing for her now coming execution. She felt that she should be, that she should be angry at Sean for what he had done, but maybe when you’re this far at the bottom of everything none of that matters anymore. Tired and out of options the girl found herself nodding her head. The creature pulling her into its embrace.

“Wonderful! Now hold still because this is going to hurt.”

It opened up its jaws wide and Maggie saw, there in the back of the thing’s throat.

Gold.

Thank you everyone who has given me encouragement in Maggie’s development and please let me know what you think! I was very inspired by @cleverlittlegrin and their backstory for Solune (who is absolutely wonderful and so are you!)

Anyways at first there is the odd case of Maggie and her new deadlight buddy awkwardly sharing a body but over time the two have merged more and more together so now they are the same being. They have come to balance each other out quite well. Even with the bird mannerisms thrown into the mix :)

#clownsona #Maggie the clown #it fandom #my fic

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