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thelediz · 8 months ago

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Sonic Underground episode 17: Sonic Tonic

I’m watching Sonic Underground in search of inspiration to finish a fic I’ve been writing forever. It’s a sad state of affairs. See the recap of the first three episodes here, if you're interested!

The plot (for want of a better word): There’s an incredible serum that gives people the ability to move at speeds even faster than Sonic! Sick of Sonic’s ego, Sonia and Manic take the serum to show their brother he’s nothing special. But the side effects are quick to take hold! Can Sonic rescue his siblings and prove his ego is no match for his heart?

Okay. Okay, right off, I have to point out two things: One, again, it feels like the writers were given a brief and then split in two for this and the last episode. Magic serum, sibling rivalry, go. Two, this is the perfect example of the uneven power dynamics of the triplets on a meta-level. When Sonia or Manic screw up, they get in trouble and need rescuing. When Sonic screws up, Sonia and Manic get in trouble and need rescuing. It MUST have been some kind of Sega mandate, but WOW is so weird in context.

Anyway. It’s a wet drizzly day, I feel less than healthy, I don’t have to work, let’s queue up some episode notes. Let’s go.

Aleena opens talking about the Hanging Gardens of Mobius, and you know how I feel about them… she has not learned anything.

The fabled Velocitree. I admire the pun if nothing else.

Wait… does this mean the show is implying Sonic’s speed comes from some connection to trees? No. No, LeDiz, you’re already a problem, stop… Sonic’s relationship to Gaia and the fact I headcanon Mobius to be full of Anarchy Beryl which warps Chaos energy and my god, woman, just STOP!

So the joke here is that it’s easy to run fast but hard to stop running. Which is not quite the problem with momentum, but I can get it, and I will be VERY generous and say this was seeded in the second episode when Sonic’s training was about stopping.

Meanwhile, the Sonic Underground are actually prepping for a concert, once again reminding us that the whole band thing is something they’re actively doing off-screen. But mostly the scene is to draw attention to the fact that Sonic and his speed are annoying his siblings. Which, don’t get me wrong, his attitude is annoying. The hyperactivity is on a high today, folks, but he does actually help while being obnoxious. But then leaves before they can finish any jobs. So… swings and roundabouts. Better than most obnoxious whiners, you’ve got to give him that.

And another orange device (with eyes!) that is Certainly Not Dingo. But GASP. Dingo is fast enough to keep up with Sonic! Whatever Shall We Do?

They actually do catch Sonic this time, which is pretty impressive. And Robotnik does not screw around – he’s immediately got Sonic in the robotocisor and ready to go.

BUT Sleet finally remembers he’s a bounty hunter (which, given everything he’s seen and done with other people that are mercenary with Robotnik, is actually quite foolish of him) and starts demanding money. This lasts long enough for the Tonic to wear off, which For Reasons causes Dingo’s feet to swell up to cartoonish proportions.

Which, I mean, I can kind of see the medical theory there, with inflammation or whatever, so sure, we’ll roll with it.

But first, the siblings have come to rescue Sonic, which… does nothing, actually. Because Sonic is already getting himself out by manipulating Dingo. Because this was a trait Sonic used to have – he was kind of a smooth talker, but only in situations like this. This (thankfully) got twisted through his Japanese characterisation into more of an ability to know how to say the right thing when it really matters. But it’s still amusing to see what it used to be.

Anyway, the point is, Dingo’s feet grow, Sonic figures everything out, and gets away.

Sonia and Manic see Dingo suffering the side effects, and yet will STILL use the Tonic themselves. Sonia argues that the side effect will only affect Dingo because of his morphing, but it’s still… a dumb call.

I mean… I know they’re annoyed, and Sonic’s being a bit of a jerk this episode with the comments about how slow everyone is, but Sonia complains that he’s acting like he’s the leader which… he actually isn’t being any more of a leader than he normally is, and he’s not saying anything unreasonable. He’s actually coming across more anxious than anything – like he was in the Moby Deep episode. So while this should, in theory, be one of those episodes where Sonic has the jerk-ball, I have to say it’s coming across more like Sonia has picked up the idiot-ball instead.

Manic is just being easily swayed by his sister, which is not that unusual, so I roll with that more easily.

The Song: Fastest Thing Alive, which is Sonia and Manic singing about how they wish they were as fast as Sonic, because that would make them impressive. Which. Okay. Okay, so. I must rant about why I have always loved Sonic for a second here. It is not his speed. What I love, and have always loved about Sonic, is that he is cool. Not in the radical skater attitude, whatever, I mean classically cool. He doesn’t give a damn about what anyone thinks about him, he is going to be who he wants to be, he is going to do what’s right, he’s going to say what he thinks, he is going to help the people he thinks deserve it, he is going to be a good person by his own standards. Even back in the 90s, when he was grumpy and rough around the edges, that was the core of his character: that he was always true to himself, no matter what anyone thinks of him, and still a hero at the same time. The fact those two things could co-exist, and he could still love his friends and the whole world with all his heart? That is why I have always loved Sonic the Hedgehog.

(One day I will espouse on the wonders of Sonic and the Black Knight)

(I will hold off why I love the whole franchise for another day)

Sonic Underground does get this about Sonic’s character. He is all of those things. But the show never really explores it. They think he’s cool and a hero and all these things because he’s fast. And it’s just… it’s not. It really isn’t. Hence why I don’t really care that Tails and Knuckles and basically every character is somewhat fast in the games. I kind of wish that this episode was drawing more attention to that, instead of just kind of… fumbling with Sonic’s arrogance and his siblings’ insecurities.

Anyway. Back to the plot.

While Sonic’s been scouting, Sonia and Manic have not changed the tire, just to prove a point. And Sonic does change it in like a second, but that’s… I mean, there’s a DC parody comic that did the rounds a little while ago about how the Justice League makes Flash do the dishes every time because he’s the fastest. Same deal here, guys.

Also, by this argument, let’s forget the sibling thing and just let Sonic save Mobius on his own. Wait, no, then we wouldn't have a show. Forget that.

Ooh, I’d forgotten that Robotnik had completely destroyed the Hanging Gardens. Which I shouldn’t have, because the fact the Sonic Underground can make it grow back is a minor plot point in my headcanons. But yeah… it’s actually the tonic that makes everything grow again. Kind of maybe combined with the Undergound’s magic. Hm. Eh, the Lost Prince is still fine.

And so we end with Sonia and Sonic apologising to each other, with Sonic immediately complaining about speed for the final joke. It’s so funny.

But yeah. -General handwave-

Come back tomorrow if you're interested!

#sonic underground #lediz fics #manic hedgehog #sonia hedgehog #sonic the hedgehog #sonic is cool because he's true to himself #not because he's fast #but I suppose the speed is easier #but seriously #Sonic and the Black Knight is THE BEST characterisation #I've never finished it because of the controls #but I LOVE IT and you should too #not sure what that has to do with this episode #but i digress

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sophiapathic · 4 years ago

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Sk8: The Infinity - A Take on Love

Because my six unfinished assignments can wait until I throw this into the void, scream for five hours and after my voice gets hoarse, I resort to watching the beach episode on loop until next Saturday.

This was entirely sparked by the recap episode, which really pressed the reak havoc and theorize button in my brain. I am truly losing my grip on reality. Help. I apologize in advance, creatures of Tumblr.

Me right now:

Anyways...

I saw people mention here and there screaming that “we need canon relationships and they will get trust issues if a romance isn’t confirmed by the end of the series”. I think that mindset is harmful to have in this case. You can’t really avoid being disappointed if you get into the series expecting it to deliver on your wishes of gay romances. So, this might be controversial, but stay with me please. The anime and manga are both confirmed to be based primarily about the characters themselves and of course the sport -skating. I was hoping to take a closer look at what the series intends to do with certain dynamics and relationships according to yours truly. I also want explain my reasoning behind it not being queerbaiting, though it being inherently queer-coded, through the current lense of the canon.

Sk8: The Infinity is unquestionably a love story.

We need to state the genres this series is in, because some of us tend to forget. It is in fact not a shounen-ai, not a yaoi, not a romance, not even a josei. Say it with me it is a series in: COMEDY and SPORTS.

(Source is the official US Sk8 website.) The spotlight is udoubtedly on skating and what it means. Another important highlight of the show is how the definition of the sport relates to the characters, and how vastly different they are from what we expect. For example, when we see Shadow first, we pigeonhole him into this vulgar indecent rock and roll persona, only to find out later that he is actually a stweetheart at a flower shop. Joe is another very good case study. When we first see him we think of him as a womanizer muscle-head, later we find out he has a heart of gold and is very emotionally intelligent. We’re also quick to judge Miya as the cold, unfeeling prodigy then we discover how lonely and normal he is on the inside. And so on and so on.

The show continues to defy our expectations of what each character should be like. In a way it is about breaking the conventional stereotypical roles we subconsciously assign to certain looks. We see that even in anime, multifaceted characters can exist without distrupting or damaging the delicate dynamics of a traditional sports anime. We successfully established the second focal point of the series as disproving stereotypes and presenting strong, diverse and unexpected personalities.

How about the defition of skating? What does it mean in the context of Sk8: The Infinity then? Where does a love story come into the picture? Skating is repeatedly described as a ritual of love within the anime, an idea that our villian, Ad*m, is obessed with. In a sense skating is a language of love canonically.

Then skating itself is love. Throughout the series we see varied styles of skating therefore different ways of expressing love, affection. We get to experience several metaphorical ways of “being in love” through characters skating with each other. Each dynamic shows us a type of love. Healthy, disfunctional, outright abusive.

The way Reiki teaches Langa to skate can be interpreted as a direct metaphor for someone learning to love again after losing a person close to them. Langa’s father has died and Reiki literally brings him out of his shell again. It can also be interpreted as a queer kid’s experience of a world of romance that feels similar to his previous one, that being snowboarding, yet it still being new and different. Skateboarding. When due to Reiki Langa’s potential is discovered and his hunger for more and more develops, especially next to Ad*m, Reiki’s main frustration stems from them not being well-matched or on equal footing anymore. He feels like he cannot give Langa what he needs anymore. Which would obviously go againts the literal description of a healthy romance. Two people with mutual respect who both bring equal assets to the table. He feels like he needs to catch-up to be with Langa again. The only thing he doesn’t consider is Langa’s deep appreciation of him and the fact that literally he was the one who helped Langa experince the feeling of love again.

Kojiro and Kaoru’s relationships, to me, is very much representative of two people wanting to be in each other’s presence, but due to their different language of love, miscommunicating horribly. Them bantering and insulting each other is the only way they know what to do with the other. The only way they can ensure the other’s attention and eyes are on them. This has worked so far. They are literal opposites, but both have a very clear definition of their form of love. To Joe skating, or love itself, is about the feeling and going with the flow. Being spontaneous. Whereas for Cherry, every move needs to be calculated and executed perfectly in order to be “efficient”. Their frustration comes from both wanting different things from the other, but not communicating their need properly. Despite this, they stick together due to a magnetic pull they obviously feel towards the other. The attraction is there, the trust is there, they are even well-matched in skill as we see them neck-to-neck constantly. They could give each other what the other wants. Only if they could express themselves well... This is why Joe pushes Reiki towards reconciling with Langa. he wants them to not fall into the same trap of not stating their needs and thoughts properly.

Now Ad*m and Langa are obviously problematic and I don’t really want to have to explain, honestly guys. I really don’t (since I have trauma regarding this subject), but I need to go into this a little bit. This is a textbook toxic predatory relationship. Where the older, twisted, damaged person, has an obsession with a young, outstading child. He wants to lead him into “Paradise” and show his “Eve” what love is really about. (Ain’t that disgusting you guys...) His form of love is inflicting pain, so I really can’t imagine a scenario where he and his “Eve” live happily ever after and everything is fine and dandy. He needs someone who he can torture. He literally is looking for someone who can handle his way of expressing affection, his “love hug”, who has the same type of crazy eyes for adrenaline and danger. His Eve. In his distorted mind, this all makes sense and Langa is that someone he was looking for thoughout the years. The problem is, he disregards Langa’s side where the relationship becomes problematic.

Cherry and Ad*m during their younger years seems to be a very innocent infatuation on Kaoru’s end. It is a one-sided relationship where someone is in love with the idea of a person long gone. They were discovering the world of skating, or the world of love together with Ad*m taking the lead. Cherry immediately became infatuated with him, wanted to learn his love language, wanted to be at the same level he was. It probably started very innocent. At first, Ad*m being gentle, because that’s how Tadashi was with him too, then after whatever happened between those two, Ad*m, disappointed in the way of love, or skating, Tadashi showed him, returned to what his aunts taught him. Maybe after injuring Kaoru with the “love hug”, therefore eliminating him from being his potential partner, started looking for his “Eve”, gradually became more agressive in love as in skating. Kaoru was distraught and wanted the Ad*m he originally learned love from back. Holding out some hope even years after. Trained to get used to his “love hug”, to literally condition himself to be able to get close to him. Ad*m, however showed Cherry brutally that he truly cannot handle his way of love.

Ad*m and Tadashi. *sighs* As of this post, I don’t really have enough information to give you a good overview of what I see this relationship representing. As far as I can tell Ad*m was abused horribly and to ease the pain and make him forget, Tadashi showed his another way of expressing affection. Skating or love. Basically a first love gone horrible bad, scarring an already abused child and turning them into a monster. Tadashi himself reinstates this during one of the episodes. It was his fault that Ad*m turned out the way he did. Their love slowly became strongly abusive throughout the years. Tadashi is stuck in it because he feels like he deserves it. This is a metaphor for dangers of an emotionally and physically abusive relationship, where one person feels responsible and the other is using power. Tadashi’s guilt keeps him next to his master and he even endures abuse, now he is trying to break out and show Ad*m he messed up and I think this could potentially be a good representation of how difficult that process truly is.

As far as Reiki’s, Miya’s, Shadow’s skating goes. Their main arc relating to love is first and foremost learning to accept themselves and aprecciating their uniqe way and style of skating. Only after can they become people who can truly be accomplished in love/skating (in Miya’s case I’m obviously talking about platonic feelings). Each of them had a preconception of their persona in love/skating, which gets questioned heavily throughout the series. Miya gets defeated, Shadow’s soft side gets discovered, Reiki... well. I get sad. :c Even though he taught someone to love again, to appreciate life again, he ended up discovering how dissatisfied he truly is with himself... These three all need to learn to love every aspect of themselves to reach fulfillment and to really experience healthy human relationships.

Sk8: The Infinity is unquestionably a love story, without explicitly being a romance, meaning that it is a tale about love, both romantic, platonic and everything inbetween through a queer-coded lens, showing both dysfunctional, abusive and healthy relationships, ways to express emotions and even delves into self-love and the idea of nature versus nurture in the villian’s case.

That is why I, personally don’t scream for a canon couple. To me, the show gets its main point about affection and love across, without making any of these relationships explicitly stated. Not to mention that it does justice to both of its assigned genres. Comedy and Sports as well. Yeah sure, I wouldn’t complain, but I think these dynamics are more than satisfying to watch, and much deeper than bishounens wanting to bang each other, which is, in my opinion, inherently sexualized. If they want, yeah they can confirm, make it canon without forcing it to be a center storyline. Hell, I would even be happy about it. I would clap with all of us. BUT, as the series currently is, I really see it taking the other route because of the above. This way audiences who want a yaoi or ikemen going at it, won’t be disappointed with the series when they find doesn’t revolve around that, straight viewers will just find it flamboyant, and people who look for subtext and want to read between the lines will certainly do that with the amount of crumbs and hints the writers gave us.

We don’t need outright, written in black and white gay representation in Sk8 to experience very real types of love. The queer theme is secondary to me, just like queerness is, in most people’s lives. Yeah sure, it is a big thing, but not the only attribute a person has. My life doesn’t revolve around my queerness. I rarely talk about it. If I was a main character this would be a side-arc. Just like Sk8 doesn’t revolve around the characters coming out. It’s just them living their lives and possibly being queer while doing so. If you look at it this way, it is almost normalizing attraction between same-sex people by just showing it as regular love. If you can, why not interpret it this way, so it can be a liberating experience instead of a disappointing one.

Please don’t attack me! I am fragile and this is only my opinion. c: *crawls back into her hole*

#sk8 cherry blossom #sk8 joe #sk8 the infinity #sk8 theory #sk8 langa #reiki kyan #langa hasegawa #kaoru sakurayashiki #kojiro nanjo #ad*m #tadashi #matcha blossom #renga #ranga #langa x reki #cherry blossom x joe #essay

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punz4lyfe · 2 years ago

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Pokemon Journeys Episode 135 Review

Pokemon Journeys Episode 135. Let’s review:

Here we are, second-to-last episode of Pokemon Journeys. How did things go?

Ehhh...

Let’s break down this episode from order of events.

First off, I’m not gonna beat around the bush here, but Ash’s reunion back at Pallet Town sucked. From reused animation from Episode 114 for Ash’s Pokemon to the general lack on fanfare, Ash really should’ve been giving much more respect upon arriving back home. Remember when the entire town gave Ash a whole party after winning Top 16 in the Kanto League? Not even Oak or Delia really give that much for Ash. Oak gives a rather basic poem and Delia, a lunch. And geez, guess Ash and Tracey really do secretly hate each other if Tracey’s gonna bounce right before Ash returns and Ash doesn’t even ask for him. And really, you’re not gonna have Ash’s Journeys team meet up with Ash’s old mons? Way to show respect to the guys who helped you train to actually be tough enough to stand against the Master 8 opponents, you pricks. Ash is a prick, too. Just gonna give a quick “hi” and “bye” to his old mons. So well fellow anipoke fans, give Ash’s old mons a good long look because we’re probably not gonna see them again for the next decade or two.

And now for Goh’s reunion with his mons at the Cerise Lab also sucked. One, apparently Goh brought Scizor, Flygon, and Golurk with him to his final trial? Could’ve been super helpful if you actually used them, my dude. Just saying. Two, yeah, this whole moment just feels too flat. Regardless of what I said with Ash’s Pokemon reunion, at least there’s some weight to it because these are mons we’ve seen Ash used and bond with over the years. Here, we BARELY know Goh’s Pokemon, many of which are just complete blank slates, so this whole moment just feels too hollow to actually care for. And thirdly, don’t think I missed Mimey’s miscolored face in the scene prior to this one. How do you fuck something like that so badly? It looks like he got a really bad tan!

While it’s nice to see Ash, Goh, and Chloe have a few moments together for the second-to-last episode, many of its parts either feel overly dragged out, completely pointless, or both. Like we get this long flashback sequence of Goh playing with this random wild Abra and learning about it as they spend more time together, but what’s the point? Many said it’s to show Goh’s lonely childhood or his talent of understanding dex-levels knowledge of Pokemon, things we’ve already known of Goh since the very beginning. The Spearow chase was a nice callback to Anipoke’s first ever episode, but then there was this Poliwag which could’ve been a REALLY good callback usage for Ash’s own time in Pokemon School when he met Serena, but no, can’t expect something like that as well.

Chloe’s parts also felt like a waste. She only barely recaps her own experience with Eevee... and doesn’t even acknowledge Yamper at all.

And then Goh throws a fit because he made a choice to go on a journey without Goh’s consent. This was supposed to be played for like a big, dramatic moment, but then the two just pass things off real easily next time they see each other through another “haha funny argument”. And of course, gotta end the episode with Ash and Goh and just that. Yeah, fuck Chloe, just Ash and Goh the whole way through because lol. SO looking forward to the two FINALLY splitting apart next episode...

Look, having Lugia come back is a nice callback to Journeys’ second episode, but you can never even come close to convince Goh, and let alone Cinderace and Inteleon, should be seen fighting in a similar level of skill to Ash after he had just defeated THREE FUCKING CHAMPIONS consecutively. And why was Goh flabbergasted at the thought of battling Lugia? He’s battled like 5 Legendaries as of now.

Anyways, gonna give this episode a 2/10. For Journeys’ second-to-last episode, what a boring drag.

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makeste · 4 years ago

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BnHA Chapter 309: Gotta Go My Own Way

Previously on BnHA: Muscular was all “well if it isn’t the protagonist on his solo journey of self-discovery, for some reason I’m unironically glad I get to fight you!” Deku was all “hey Muscular before I finish kicking your ass would you please take a moment to answer these two survey questions? Question one, do you regret being a total piece of shit? And question two, if you could do anything at all in the world other than being a total piece of shit, would you?” Muscular was all, “pfft, no and no.” Deku was all, “thanks buddy, your feedback helps make me a better hero, here’s a coupon for fifteen percent off your next ass-whooping.” Then he whooped his ass.

Today on BnHA: Deku is all “what up All Might can you believe you’ve been here this entire time?” All Might is all “I sure can since that’s literally my catch phrase, anyway how are your magic movie 1 gauntlets holding up?” Deku is all “they’re holding up fine, how are Hawks, Endeavor, and Best Jeanist doing?” Hawks, Endeavor, and Best Jeanist are all “we, your fellow co-conspirators, are also doing fine, thanks for asking!” Flashback!Deku is all “anyway so I secretly have All Might’s quirk and the most dangerous people in the world are after me, so sorry mom but that’s why I’m dropping out of school.” Inko is all “I CAN’T ACCEPT THAT” while totally accepting it. All Might is all “I GUESS WE’LL JUST HAVE TO GO ALONG WITH IT SINCE I DON’T FEEL LIKE TRYING TO STOP HIM.” Hawks, Jeanist, and Endeavor, as previously mentioned, are all “yeah that sounds like a good plan”, and Gran is all “see ya kid, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” So basically everyone in the entire world has suddenly teamed up with Deku to defeat AFO, except for the one person whose entire foreshadowed endgame is “teaming up with Deku to defeat AFO.” O Kacchan where art thou.

dear tumblr image limit: okay look. you don’t like me, and I don’t like you. but just as an experiment, I’m gonna try writing this recap with as few images as possible and we’ll see how it goes

(ETA: spoilers for how it went: it didn’t, lol.)

oh my god WHY ARE WE OPENING WITH MORE KETSUBUTSU ACADEMY KIDS.ffs we’d better at least finally get some Ms. Joke content out of this

(ETA: seriously who do I have to bribe.)

so these two KB kids who no one cares about are watching Deku leap away from the scene after dispatching Muscular. but more importantly wtf is this chapter title omg. “I can’t stay being a child” so that’s how it is huh. we’re gonna have feels and we’re going to like them. well then

oh my god he’s hauling Muscular away dhfksklfkh okay this is gonna have to be our first image because I can’t fucking help myself. look at this

just. Deku is so tiny and he’s carting away this massive unconscious lump of a man like it’s nothing why is this so funny to me. it’s like when people buy furniture, and they don’t want to pay extra for delivery and so they’re like, “I can definitely fit this king-sized mattress in the back of my compact sedan if I fold the fucking seat down, idk.” and they refuse to be talked out of it, and the next thing you know you’re watching them drive home with their open trunk door haphazardly tied down with bungee cords, and somehow it fucking works. because it turns out the compact sedan has super strength

anyway for SOME REASON now Horikoshi is all “have fun with that Deku, meanwhile we now return you to your regularly scheduled SHINDOU CONTENT” whyyyyyy

look at this. we’re really using up a whole fucking entire page on everyone arguing over who gets the honor of carrying Shindou

love how the civilians are all, “shit lol is this actually our fault?? quick, how do we play this off all casual like we were the reasonable parties here all along”

turns out all it took to finally get them to listen was making them watch while a kid got his insides ground into a pulp because of their stupidity!! what a heartwarming conclusion to this little standoff

anyways THANK GOD we’re cutting back to Deku now!! well actually we’re cutting back to Muscular who is being dropped off at the police precinct, good bye and good riddance lol

so Deku’s leaving him there and bounding away and okjdlSKFJLKJDSL OH MY GOD

no fucking way. no fucking way this little jaunt is All Might-sanctioned and approved. are you serious?? then who else is in on this?? what the hell is going on

so All Might is just WAITING FOR HIM IN AN ALLEY FFF WHO ARE YOU, JIM GORDON. or would Alfred be a better analogy here?? but like, Alfred if he ditched the suit for a moto jacket and shades

this new ensemble of All Might’s may or may not severely impact my ability to take this forthcoming conversation seriously; please stand by

also, quite the spectacular landing there, Deku. seriously lol what was that

“HOW ARE YOUR LIMBS” “THANKS TO YOU THEY’RE COMPLETELY FINE” I’M SORRY WHAT

LOL WHAT. “THANKS TO THE POWER OF THESE MAGIC GLOVES” OH I SEE THAT EXPLAINS IT

are these the same gauntlets from the first movie, then? well that’s all well and good, except that now there’s going to be more Deku Discourse than fucking ever lol. so if it’s all the same to you guys, I’m gonna once again go ahead and declare this week’s post a discourse-free zone, at least when it comes to the specific discourse of Deku’s merits as a MC, and the impact that him kicking ass and having working arms has on said merits. this has been something of a low mental energy week for me, so I’d rather reserve the energy I do have for more fun topics, such as All Might’s bitchin’ leather jacket

anyway so All Might’s saying that the gauntlets will help reinforce Deku’s arms, but they can’t withstand OFA at 100%. so basically it’s a support item designed to maintain the status quo lol. we’re basically in the same situation we were before, arm-capability-wise

homg All Might’s getting a call. time to see who else is in on Operation: Deku Alone?? or not so alone for that matter

omg

HI HAWKS, WHERE ARE YOUR WINGS

(ETA: seriously are they really gone for good?? why would he even be back on active duty then?? does he have his own American ex-boyfriend who can hook him up with exclusive support items?? dammit Horikoshi we want answers.)

looks like Jeanist and Endeavor are teaming up as well, just like they said they would. I would gladly follow this trio around all day long tbh

is this the same giant villain from the very first chapter??

looks like it to me, and it would tie in with that callback from the end of chapter 306. we all thought that was Muscular, but maybe it was this guy, and Deku left these three to deal with him while he ran off to take Muscular down

oh my god now Deku is running off again just like that

kids these days

ffffff I have not had nearly enough sleep to follow along with whatever tf Hawks is talking about here sob

like, is he trying to say that All Might is keeping Deku’s whereabouts unknown to anyone except for him?? in order to keep him safe?? but Hawks is pointing out that that’s a bad strategy and probably won’t do shit against AFO and it’s better if he lets Deku work with the rest of them?

(ETA: so @hanashimas’ translation makes a lot more sense -- it’s not All Might who’s being overprotective, but Deku. in other words he’s trying not to drag All Might into his battles. and in addition Hawks is saying that their strategy is to take the offensive and go after AFO themselves rather than wait for him to come to them. which I’m not too sure about myself, but that’s another topic for another day.)

btw I can’t help thinking how much better this entire conversation would be if All Might was still wearing his sunglasses. put them back on my dude. it’s not too late. embrace your inner badass

DKLJSLDKFJL FLASHBACK ALERT, FUCKING FINALLY

“turns out, we were just trying to scare you straight. fuck lot of good that did though lol”

also what is this. one true love: the hospital bed. is that a scanlator joke or is Horikoshi actually that funny omg

SKLJDFLJLK

ITSA ME!! omg I love this hospital so much. though it’s sure not helping me in my quest to try and keep this post below ten images. I’m already up to eleven haha r.i.p. to me if tumblr doesn’t get its shit together

whaaaaaat, so he’s saying that Deku’s injuries were external (i.e. Tomura beating the shit out of him) rather than internal this time?? whaaaaat. excuse me but that’s some bullshit lmao. believe me, I was there

okay now he’s going on to explain that Deku’s “internal structure” seems to have been protected from the inside and out, and the corresponding panel seems to be implying that using Blackwhip as a brace paid off. huh

and also that his body is just stronger now?? so I guess he’s better able to withstand the quirk after an additional year of training?? I’M NOT SURE IF I BUY ANY OF THIS LOL but I’m willing to suspend my disbelief

OH MY GOD RED ALERT, INKO IS ASKING ALL MIGHT TO EXPLAIN WTAF DEKU’S QUIRK IS, IS IT FINALLY THAT TIME OMGGGG

SO HE’S EXPLAINING IT TO HER OFF-SCREEN, AND INKO IS JUST LIKE

I GUESS THAT’S FAIR LOL. IT’S TRUE INKO I’M SO SORRY, YOUR SON IS A PROGATONIST R.I.P.

AHHKKJH DEKU ANGST IS IT FINALLY THAT TIME OMGGGGGG

what is this soft pop beat that’s suddenly being pumped in over the speakers. I’VE GOT TO MOVE ON~ AND BE WHO~ I~ AM~~~, I JUST DON’T BELONG HERE, I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAAAAAAAND. also, follow-up question, when is Kacchan finally going to come back so he can jump in with the “WHAT ABOUT US~~~” bridge, huh. come the fuck on, Horikoshi

lmao All Might jesus christ

but given that it’s a stupid-ass decision...

anyway, yes!! finally that sweet, sweet “I don’t want to put anyone else in danger” angst!!

mmm that’s good angst Brent. Kacchan with center panel honors as usual, you love to see it. anyways though who do I have to yell at to get Deku a goddamn HUG around here seriously

so Inko is of course reacting with panic, and sensibly saying that she doesn’t approve of Deku’s “RUN AWAY AND FIGHT THE BAD GUYS ALL ON MY OWN, DON’T WORRY MOM I’LL JUST GET STRONGER, EASY AS PIE, IT’S A FOOLPROOF STRATEGY” plan

son of a bitch this manipulative green asshole is really gonna sit here and smile fondly at his mom and try to convince her that he’s Not A Little Kid Anymore. the hell you’re not mister

y'all are really just gonna sit there and let him talk you into this?? surely it can’t be that easy??

OH MY GOD

THE FEELS oh my god oh my god. BUT ALSO YOU’RE SERIOUSLY JUST GOING TO COLLAPSE INTO HIS ARMS SOBBING AND LET HIM DO WHATEVER THE FUCK HE WANTS LKJLJLFK. WHERE ARE ALL THE STRICT PARENTS AT?? AIZAWA, GANG ORCA, MITSUKI, SOMEONE PLEASE COME AND TELL DEKU TO SIT HIS ASS THE FUCK DOWN. NOW LISTEN HERE YOUNG MAN!!

“EVEN IF I TRY TO STOP YOU YOU’LL STILL LEAVE” WELL SURE, IF BY “TRY TO STOP HIM” YOU MEAN POLITELY TRY TO TALK HIM OUT OF IT FOR THREE SECONDS. HE’S SIXTEEN WTF WHEN DID HE BECOME THE BOSS OF YOU ALL. SOMEONE NEEDS TO COME AND TELL HIM HE’S GROUNDED

anyway sob so that’s the story of how Deku talked his parents into letting him drop out of school, and even convinced All Might to be his own personal Guy In The Chair. holy shit. this kid really went and rolled a nat 20 and the rest of them had no choice but to fold without argument

meanwhile here’s a panel of Best Jeanist trying to braid his phone into his hair just cuz

I’m dying to know which part of his language he considers to be crude here. you literally didn’t even use a contraction my guy

so now flashback!Deku is talking to Gran in the dark, and Gran is all “can you believe I’m not fucking dead yet lol that’s too funny. anyway, you sure I can’t interest you in killing Tomura after all?? no?? okay then here’s my cape.” truly a heartwarming scene

I’m kind of torn here tbh. on the one hand, my adhd ass wasn’t all that interested in sitting down and having an extended scene between these two when there’s so much else that I want to get to. but on the other hand, even I can admit that cramming this entire reunion into a single page seems just a BIT rushed. idk. like maybe someone can let Horikoshi know it’s a marathon and not a race. Deku didn’t even get any dialogue here, some of us want to know his thoughts!! but anyway

AND JUST LIKE THAT?!

how did all four of them let him con them into this. I literally just watched it happen and I still can’t figure out how. “I GUESS THIS SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT IS OUR LEADER NOW” ffflfjf. when Aizawa finds out he’s gonna go apeshit. AND DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON BAKUGOU KATSUKI, WHO I HAVE BEEN ASSURED DOES IN FACT STILL EXIST. WHAT ABOUT USSSSS, WHAT ABOUT EVERYTHING WE’VE BEEN THROUGH. WHAT ABOUT TRUST???! YOU KNOW I NEVER WANTED TO HURT YOUUUUU

btw lol don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying this, and I’m honestly glad Deku’s not alone because that would suck for him! but that said, Hawks and Jeanist have lost any credibility they might have once had as far as being The Responsible Ones, and as for All Might and Endeavor, fucking hell lol. everyone just deposited all of their fucks in a bank somewhere for safekeeping and decided to never look back. godspeed you mad lads

#bnha 309 #midoriya izuku #all might #midoriya inko #gran torino #hawks #best jeanist #endeavor #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #petition for kacchan to form his own dynamic battle squad whose sole purpose is hunting down deku and talking some sense into him #if deku gets to drop out of school and make his own rules than so do we #what do you say icyhot are you in #actually can you just text your dad and ask him where deku is #maybe save us all some trouble

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theloneliestshipper · 3 years ago

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Book of Boba, Episode 2 Review

Below is my review of The Book of Boba Fett, Episode 2: The Tribes of Tatooine. IT CONTAINS SPOILERS.

When I watched The Mandalorian I often felt like I was watching a short Star Wars film. Every episode had a mini-story of it’s own, with characters and arcs that had a clear beginning, middle and end. Some episodes I liked better than others, but it was shot like an anthology of short films, not a TV show.

By contrast, BoBF is clearly a TV show. There’s a lot of scenes that are Point A to Point B, like the scene with the receptionist at the Mayor’s office. There’s a lot of recapping dialogue about Jabba’s throne. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but this episode made the contrast pretty stark.

Last episode we saw Boba and Master Assassin Fennec Shand take a prisoner. Thanks to Boba’s declaration that he doesn’t torture, the interrogation scene seemed pretty toothless until they dropped their prisoner in the rancor’s pit.

After a pretty funny fake-out the assassin says he was hired by the mayor and off they go to see the mayor. Turns out the mayor may have been a red herring, and the Bigger Bad is actually Jabba’s relatives coming for their inheritance. Boba stands his ground on the principle of finders-keepers-losers-weepers, only, you know, with murder.

Meanwhile in the flashback timeline we see Boba training to fight with Tusken weapons. When a spice supply caravan threatens the tribe, Boba decides to help out his former captors by stealing some speeders from a biker gang menacing Tosche Station and then teaching the Tuskens to use them.

They crash the train and then Boba tells the spice runners that they’ll have to pay the Tuskens for safe passage from now on. With his crimelord training wheels firmly in place, Boba celebrates with the Tuskens and they give him a lizard that slithers up his nose and makes him trip balls in the desert. We see another Kamino flashback as Boba watches Jango fly off in Slave I, juxtiposing his sense of childhood abandonment with being left for dead in the sarlacc and I’m sorry guys…quick cry break. BRB.

ANYWAY, dream/drug trip imagery also in juxtaposition: Tatooine was once covered by water, like Kamino. The tree obviously has significance to the Tuskens but the large tree beside the small tree might also be Jango and Boba. Boba gets tangled up the branches the way he was ensnared by the sarlacc, which could be about moving away from the path Jango set for him.

It’s definitely the kind of character moment this series needs and ends with Boba donning the black robes we see him wear in The Mandalorian. I’m a little sad to see the end of the ragged flight suit, but frankly. It’s time.

Temuera Morrison has spoken in interviews about how he brings his Māori heritage and cultural fighting style into the way he wields the Tusken weapons, so incorporating that into Tusken culture is pretty neat.

Boba seems to be in pretty great shape with the Tuskens, better than he is five years later which makes me wonder if sarlacc acid is degenerative and the logical end of the series is–. Oh no. Mm-mn. Nope. Don’t like that thought. Don’t like that at all.

Things I Loved:

Temuera Morrison’s job in this series is to 1)stare at some huge CGI thing, 2)make unnecessary statements, 3)take a drink, 4)fight everyone. All of which he does like a BOSS.

Master Assassin Fennec Shand’s cutting assessment of the Night Wind assassins. Please give her more to do.

More Tusken content! It was great to see the return of Tusken sign language and to delve deeper into their culture.

Fixer and Camie at Tosche Station! That’s a deep OT cut with characters that were cut from ANH. Love to see it. You think Luke ever shows up for a high school reunion?

Who had a lizard-induced drug trip on their BoBF bingo card? Anyone? Anyone?

Things I Didn’t Love:

Here’s my other side of the Tusken coin: the Tuskens have been on Tatooine literally since it was covered with water and they haven’t figured out that they can just take the machinery of the offworlders until Boba Fett tells them they can?

Boba has apparently decided to stick around with his former captors. I don’t have a problem with that, but I wish we had seen more of that decision. Last week he was pretty set on getting to Anchorhead, presumably to retrieve his ship.

Maybe this is my own fault for spending the majority of the pandemic obsessed with Temuera Morrison’s filmography, but watching this I feel like I’m watching him do Hamlet, and I’m loving the performance but at the same time I’m never not aware that I’m watching Temuera Morrison do Hamlet. Even when he’s fully suited up in armor I’m still unable to lose the actor in the role.

Monster of the Week: The Twins. Jabba has a variety of family members throughout various canon iterations. Like the one with dreads. And the one with abs. And the purple one. These two are new and it makes absolute sense for them to lay claim to Jabba’s territory even if they certainly took their sweet time doing it. Maybe Bib was working for them? I’m very curious to see what role they’ll play in the series and when we’ll get a proper showdown between Boba and the wookiee gladiator.

Final Thoughts:

Between the desert nomads and the dream sequences and trying to rule based solely on conquest Boba is basically Daenerys Targaryen. Let’s hope it ends better for him than it did for her.

#tbobf spoilers #book of boba fett spoilers #episode review #boba fett #rip ragged jumpsuit

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magireco · 4 years ago

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Would love to hear more thoughts on how these girls have understandable teenage motivations (A+ tag analysis by the way)

1. Thank you!!!!!!

2. ALRIGHT IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS (shuffles my papers). i’ve gone off about homura’s motivations in depth before but i think it was only in dms/groupchats? anyways i’ll go in order with All the girls bc i think about this all the time as a teenager who grew up mentally ill and had their perceptions skewed because of it, and also i don’t think it’s talked about nearly enough for the others, at least on my blog... so, buckle up!!! this is REALLY LONG!!!!

3. i tried writing like, an individual thing for every member of the quintet all together in this one ask, but i ended up talking a little too much about homura and now i’m going to split up all the different analysis stuff for each character into the reblogs and work on it every so often! you’re free to kinda skim of course because i really did write a whole novel but here we go!! read under the cut. :3 this is literally essay length btw. i did NOT expect it to get this long but if you want to read it all i’d recommend it but i don’t expect most people to

First: Homura Akemi

okay so i’m going to kind of summarize everything but from the perspective of empathizing with her so if you don’t want to reread a whole recap you can skip to the ending few paragraphs

Summary

first of all, in episode 10, homura’s past is explained for the viewer. she was a shy, unsure girl who had been bedridden for a long time. she was clearly unsocialized, not to mention she went to a catholic school and those can be brutal, esp in japan... that’s all we know about her in that episode, but it’s revealed in one of the drama cds that she was bullied as a child(& further at mitakihara middle), her parents never were mentioned ever (i assume them to either be dead or neglectful, considering she lives alone and unchecked), and in magia record, homura says to natsuki that she’s never had friends before, she hasn’t been on vacation before until the beachside bonds event, hasn’t ever celebrated valentine’s day, has never celebrated new years, etc...

clearly, she’s missed out on a lot not only because of her sickness and hospitalization, but because of her isolation as a child at school. judging by her demeanor and the way she reacts when madoka comes up to her without being asked to, something like that had never happened to her before. it’s clear to me that madoka was many of homura’s “first’s”, her first friend, the first person who reached out to her, the first person to compliment her name honestly(validating her, disproving her dislike of her name), the first person to regard her so kindly rather than judging her based off of her appearance and demeanor (like other students had apparently done, this is also shown when the other students at mitakihara middle make fun of her for being tired after only being able to run one lap). AND, madoka (and mami, but homura knew madoka better at that time) saved her life, even though homura was so willing to die, just in that moment... i’d assume it made homura feel like someone believed in her even when she was at her worst. it’s really clear by the glimmer in her eyes that these are nice people that made her feel happy and welcome... and then walpurgisnacht came. she didn’t know much about magical girls and just believed in madoka and mami to be able to defeat the witch because she saw them as strong and saw the witch as defeatable, despite its size. and then mami died, right in front of her and madoka...

this kinda seems headcanon-y when i phrase it this way but it’s practically proven in her actions but i really think homura is scared to be abandoned, especially by someone who was as overtly kind and nonjudgemental to her as madoka... it’s in the way she cries her name and says “don’t go” before madoka runs away to fight walpurgisnacht. OH ALSO, i need to address this one thing really quick because people like to assume that homura didn’t care about mami from the beginning and only liked madoka. it’s not that she wasn’t sad when mami died, she was clearly terrified and didn’t want the same to happen to madoka, also mami LITERALLY WASN’T IN HER CLASS OR HER GRADE so i assume she spent most of her time with madoka considering they were in the same grade and class and probably shared most of their periods with each other... but also, once again, mami is older than both of them and homura probably saw her as more of a mentor/teacher that she needed to impress rather than madoka who was more on her level, i guess?

anyways, moving on... homura had to see madoka die (& experience the crushing guilt she felt for “letting madoka go” even though there was nothing she could’ve done) and literally says “i’d rather you had lived than saved someone like me” ... her self worth is below zero. she makes her wish to be strong enough to protect madoka(because she sees madoka, her first friend, who saved her life which she felt had no worth, as so strong and noble) which causes her to go back in time, etc. etc., you know the deal. okay before i move on to talk a little more abt the timelines and the personality change i’m going to address why it’s reasonable that she’d be attached to madoka.

i mentioned before that homura said herself that she had never had a friend before. just like, put yourself into her shoes for a second. this girl has no idea how to make friends; it was never taught to her. it’s literally rational that she’d get attached to her first ever friendship. it’s not “normal” the way she views madoka, but how could it be? this is her first time having a friend, she’s afraid of being abandoned by her, but she’s had to see her die over and over again anyway. she doesn’t want to lose madoka. even if she doesn’t go about it in the right way, there’s no way she would’ve actually known how to Do relationships. no one taught her. i think that needs to be empathized with more...

i kinda feel like i need to summarize all this just bc if i word it right it kinda reminds you & puts into perspective just how terrible and scary all of this was.

anyway Again, i would skip straight to the end of timeline 3 (where a New Flavor of trauma is given to homura) but i need to first address timeline 2 for a second. it was homura’s first time repeating the timeline, she trained with madoka and mami again, she was still hopeful despite what happened, etc. kinda just bonding further with madoka Again... and then it’s at the end of this timeline that she watches madoka turn into a witch, just in front of her very eyes... and realizes the true fate of magical girls. when she resets the timeline again, it’s up to her to start anew and break the truth to the group when she sees them again. when she tries telling the truth, sayaka immediately shoves this aside, claiming homura was just trying to split everyone up. it’s clear that that hurts homura. (also the little shinies in her eyes were wavering which is anime-code for sad) her feelings were immediately disregarded by sayaka and she couldn’t defend herself, but madoka did for her, and mami tried to diffuse the situation.

after they all find out homura was right when sayaka turns into a witch, mami kills kyoko and ties up homura in her ribbons and aims a gun at her, and this, rightfully, ignited a fear within homura... madoka is forced to kill mami in order to save homura, leaving only the two of them to fight together. then, when walpurgisnacht comes that time, The Promise is made... madoka tells homura to go back in time and save her from becoming a witch (because she doesn’t want to curse the world that way, she still sees beauty in it) and homura agrees, saying she’ll never stop until she saves madoka, and then... homura has to mercy kill madoka before she becomes a witch. she cries loudly and shoots madoka’s soul gem... it’s literally so heartwrenching and (usually) brings the viewer to tears, or puts something into perspective for them...

then we assume the personality change happens in the timeline right after. this personality change causes a lot of discourse because sometimes it’s seen as kind of irrational, but personally, i think even moemura had at least SOME resent for the world around her considering what she’d been through. it’s madoka’s repeated deaths that finally push her over that edge. i could get further into the coolmura arc but that’d take a WHILE, so i’ll just kind of explain something briefly though -- why homura ended up becoming even MORE focused on madoka. and i’m also going to debunk the claim that homura doesn’t care about her other friends as fast as i can before moving on.

also, ONE LAST side tangent, for those that think homura really did do a 360 degree personality turn are wrong. it’s shown explicitly in homulilly’s labyrinth that there’s this... “core” homura, a shadowy purple silhouette with braids. every time the series depicts homura’s internal self, it’s always glasses+braids, symbolizing her “child” self, who she truly is. she never stopped being that person. she doesn’t want to kill. ...but i can get into that in a rebellion analysis later! this is also shown in wraith arc bc the person inside her soul gem has glasses+braids. anyway let’s get to the next part i’m going to rant about

Homura’s Love for Madoka, but Otherwise Apathy

homura has seen many different, yet all similar, versions of her friends. the first claim i’m going to talk about which i saw brought up quite a few times before is in regards to homura and mami. first of all, homura absolutely still cares for mami, and not just in the “i only care about your life if it affects madoka’s” way. one part that always gets me is when mami ties her up in the series timeline after homura frantically warns her that this witch isn’t normal, to which mami IMMEDIATELY brushes this off, without even giving homura a chance. then, when mami’s ribbons fade away, homura looks horrified and just goes “oh no...” and it’s kind of obvious to me that it was in response to mami’s death rather than madoka’s reaction. this is arguably up for debate i guess because i’ve seen different takes on that reaction and it’s ambiguous, i guess? but i’m about to get into something extremely similar and that’s the sayaka situation, where madoka throws sayaka’s soul gem onto a moving car. homura gasps and immediately pauses time and disappears, running in literal open traffic and climbing on top of a moving car to retrieve sayaka’s soul gem. one could argue that this is ALSO only just because homura wants to save madoka (and kyoko) the fear, but don’t you think her expression would be different? if homura truly didn’t care for sayaka’s wellbeing, wouldn’t she be making an expression more similar to like, “oh, this shit again...” instead of the frantic one she was making in the scene? this kind of thing Also happens when kyoko asks homura to leave while kyoko’s about to sacrifice herself in oktavia’s labyrinth, and homura looks up sadly at kyoko and then back down at madoka, and once she knew kyoko was dead, she just quietly said “kyoko...” to herself. she usually refers to them as [last name, first name], but she dropped that during that moment... it otherwise sounds like a bare minimum thing to do, but keep in mind the timeline we’re shown in the series is implied to be like, the 110th timeline, i think? like, this is the last timeline, she’s worn down, but she still does have empathy -- or at least sympathy -- for the others. she still loves them.

homura promised to be madoka’s protector, she dedicated her life to her, and also she doesn’t have a choice not to dedicate her life to her anymore, even though that’s not fair to her... homura is in a really hopeless situation and madoka is her hope, and madoka is the one that judges her the least out of the quintet (like saying “i’m sure homura is good” to herself) upon first impression. also okay i mentioned this already in my last post (which you saw) but i’m going to bring it up one more time, homura is not mentally 26!!!!!! she is still 14 mentally!! in order to be 26, you have to have experienced 26 years of new life experience. maybe you acquire that through school, maybe you aquire that through friends, whatever it takes. but homura just repeated the same month over and over, and it’s not like her body (canonically) ages ever. she just kind of gets transported back into her body in the hospital again considering she’s back wearing her braids and pajamas... so, yeah. no mental development there. i also mentioned this here but i’m gonna say it again, that just makes it even harder for her to actually age correctly... it stunts her to 14. imagine being 14 for 10-11 years...

In Defense Of My Own Claims

btw before you think i’m just going full-on radical homura apologist, i’m not explaining all of this to be like “homura made ALL THE RIGHT DECISIONS because her trauma gave her an excuse!!” because like, Obviously, she did a lot of bad things, she killed people, did a lot of callous things, a lot of thoughtless things, a lot of things that make her seem emotionless, etc. but i just have trouble blaming her considering how things ended up, and it’s not like she enjoys killing people. she’s not sadistic... she ends up becoming short with all the others not only because of her (extremely) weakened trust in them, but also because the amount of times she repeated the timeline. i’d imagine it makes her feel like the others can’t truly die because she can just go back and see them again. (this is also why wraith arc/post-tv series must’ve been hard for her because she can no longer turn back time, things are permanent now, deaths are forever) she’s become so worn down that she’ll do anything to escape the loops... also considering she has no choice but to continue? although it shouldn’t be, it’s technically her job as a magical girl to defeat all witches and walpurgisnacht counts. it kills magical girls and tears up the whole city and she’s usually the only magical girl left... her choices, when defeated, are either to give up and die or to go back and try again, and she made a promise to her first ever friend to do just the latter... i just don’t understand how this isn’t easier for people to comprehend, that all of this trauma and stress and responsibility on top of an already traumatized 14 year old does not mix well. ever. she had to figure out all of this by herself.

TL;DR:

homura was a previously traumatized, unsocialized 14 year old with (very)low self esteem & self worth whose first friend (and first love, really, let’s be honest) died in front of her in horrific ways and she watched as she (and the other friends she came to make) drifted slowly apart from her in her endless and futile attempt in saving her from what proved to be an inescapable fate. also she’s 14 and also she’s (canonically) mentally ill and a lesbian. not a monster, not evil, not “psycho”. and that’s that!

#asks #luna-mistrunner #homura akemi #analysis #THIS MAY HABE TAKEN ME LIKE 2 DAYS ON AND OFF

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365days365movies · 3 years ago

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August: Westerns

Time to saddle up.

The Western! An old American staple, and one of the most iconic film genres ever. They’ve had many forms over the past 100 years, but you usually know a Western when you see it. And there are a few reasons for that, from my relatively limited understanding.

Now, I say limited because I really JUST got into Westerns. Before about 4 years ago, I’d only really seen one or two. But, since then, I’ve got a few more under my belt, and I do actually like the genre. But OK, what exactly is the genre about? Haven’t done a genre recap in a good while, but let’s give this a shot! So, first things first...

Setting

While not every film classified as a Western takes place in the same location, the classic setting for the Western is, well...the West. Specifically, the American Old West, or the American Frontier. Cattle ranches, dustball towns, the prairies and the desert, so on and so forth. The vivid landscapes of the American deserts are a often gorgeous and usually iconic background for these films.

And, since I just finished watching a bunch of historical films, it behooves me to mention the history involved here. There are Westerns set in the modern day, but the VAST majority of these films are set between 1848 and 1899, and focus on settlements that were established during an area of vast expansion into the western half of the American continent. The beginning of the period is the beginning of the California Gold Rush, and that alone causes a huge amount of immigration. This so-called “Manifest Destiny” disrupted the lives of countless indigenous populations, and...yeah, that horrendous topic is a needed conversation for a later date. Trust me. Anyway, these new settlements were founded upon a few industries and values, and these prompted the development of specific...

Characters

Cowboys, ranchers, and cattle wranglers! Criminals and sheriffs! Disenfranchised native peoples trying to fight for their ancestral lands only to be fucked over by the brutal invasion from the east WE’LL GET THERE I SWEAR! Also, prostitutes. Lots and LOTS of them. Which, to be fair, is actually a major part of the time period, as brothels helped to build the Old West from the very beginning. But anyway, the characters!

The people in these films are representative of real people from the time, although almost always somewhat exaggerated for cinematic effect. Occasionally, you have those who change out, like Clint Eastwood’s The Man with No Name, or the Lone Ranger, or the real life Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday. But more often than not, the iconography of the characters combine with the setting to make them iconic. Cowboys riding out to the desert on their horses with a herd of cattle. A lone sheriff standing up against criminals trying to take over the town. Native Americans trying to survive against the onslaught of those who would destroy their way of life. Yeah. That’s kind of a theme, and I’m...not looking forward to that part of it.

Plot

Started hinting at this with the last part. There are a few plots that are pretty standard in the Western genre, and those plots both feed off of and into other genres. Some involve the construction of the railroads, and the trouble contained there within (The Great Train Robbery). You’ve got the interactions and struggles between ranchers and Native American populations, or course (The Searchers). One or several outlaws may menace an area, only for a lone vigilante or gunslinger to take them down (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly...and Rango). And let’s not forgot stories about bounty hunters taking someone down (True Grit).

There are quite a few stories that use these beats, but there are also other plots in Westerns. Still, these are quite common, and I’m sure I’ll see these throughout this month of films. I’ll point them out when I do, don’t worry.

So, with that...which Westerns have I actually seen? Lemme check my Letterboxd real quick...

The Searchers (1956), dir. John Ford: Excellent film! I give this a 90%.

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (1966), dir. Sergio Leone: Another excellent film! Gorgeous and iconic, sitting at a 92% as well.

Blazing Saddles (1974), dir. Mel Brooks: One of my favorite Mel Brooks comedies, for various reasons! A 95% for this one!

Dances With Wolves (1990), dir. Kevin Costner: This historical film (which is only lightly historical) is technically a Western. And it’s not bad, honestly. 80% from me!

Brokeback Mountain (2005), dir. Ang Lee: It’s known for being a romance, but it actually is a Western when you look at it! Check out my Recap (Part 1 | Part 2) and Review from February on this one!

Jonah Hex (2010), dir. Jimmy Hayward: One of the most interesting DC Comics characters! In an EXTREMELY shitty movie, dear God. 40%, and that’s generous.

Meek’s Cutoff (2010), dir. Kelly Richardt: This movie about the Oregon Trail is...goddamn, it’s bleak and wonderful. Not as typical a Western as the rest, but quite good. 80%!

Rango (2011), dir. Gore Verbinski: Johnny Depp is a chameleon stranded in the Wild West. Ridiculous. It’s...it’s one of my favorite Westerns. 85%.

Cowboys & Aliens (2011), dir. Jon Favreau: I cannot express how much I dislike this movie. First of all, the comic book is a lot more interesting (despite being mediocre). And second of all...it’s just not a good movie. 25%.

Django Unchained (2012), dir. Quentin Tarantino: Look, Tarantino might use the n-word a little...much in this one, but it’s still pretty good. Didn’t get as much out of it as many, but it’s still a good movie, and one of the few I’ve seen with a black lead. 74%.

The Hateful 8 (2015), dir. Quentin Tarantino: Yet another Tarantino Wester, and one I didn’t like...at first. I’ve only seen this 3-hour monster once, and it left a 65% taste in my mouth. But I keep hearing that this one needs to be rewatched to be appreciated, so...maybe...

The Revenant (2015), dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu: Can I just say...holy shit? This movie is fantastic, and no wonder DiCaprio won an Oscar for it. 90%, all the way.

Logan (2017), dir. James Mangold: YOU BETTER GODDAMN BELIEVE THIS IS A WESTERN. This is a Neo-Western, and a brilliant one at that. One of the best superhero movies, and a refreshing take on the genre, this one’s a goddamn banger. 95%. Hell yeah.

I’m genuinely excited for this month. Not only because of the genre in and of itself, but also because of the unique takes on the central genre. Western is both overly specific and quite versatile, and the specialized diversity is to be appreciated. Those variations, by the way, are reflected in the various subgenres. Your classic Western is what I’ve already described above. I’ve got a few of those on my list this month, specifically:

Stagecoach (1939), dir. John Ford

My Darling Clementine (1946), dir. John Ford

Red River (1948), dir. Howard Hawks

Broken Arrow (1950), dir. Delmer Daves

The Naked Spur (1953), dir. Anthony Mann

Shane (1953), dir. George Stevens

Johnny Guitar (1954), dir. Nicholas Ray

3:10 to Yuma (1957), dir. Delmer Daves

Rio Bravo (1959), dir. Howard Hawks

The Magnificent Seven (1960), dir. John Sturges

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), dir. John Ford

But you’ve also got:

Spaghetti Western: This is barely a subgenre, and is more of a school of Westerns. These are the films directed by Italian directors, especially Sergio Leone, who really defined the genre. Low-budget, shot on location, with true neutral aligned protagonists, as opposed to the typically good-aligned protagonists of classic Westerns. These films were grity, serious, and took a lot of risks with their protagonists. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is one of these. On my watchlist, I have these:

A Fistful of Dollars (1964), dir. Sergio Leone

For a Few Dollars More (1965), dir. Sergio Leone

A Bullet or the General (1966), dir. Damiano Damiani

Django (1966), dir. Sergio Corbucci

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), dir. Sergio Leone

Acid Western: This is the successor to the classical and Spaghetti Western, mostly emerging through the 60s and 70s. These are far more surrealist, taking the trappings of the Western genre and injecting them with the counterculture stylings of the era. Basically, it’s the Western on acid, hence the name. There are a few of these, like 1970′s El Topo by Alejando Jodorowski, and Alex Cox’s 1987 film Walker, but I’ll only be looking at one for the sake of simplicity.

Dead Man (1995), dir. Jim Jarmusch

Revisionist Western: Here’s yet another take on the Western genre, born in the 1940s, and reborn in the 1960s, smack-dab in the middle of the civil rights era for both Black Americans AND Native Americans. The changing political landscape caused a welcome reexamining of the genre, and degraded the idea of the lawful good Western hero. Like the Spaghetti Westerns, it added shades of grey into the spectrum of the Western. But they also included Native Americans in this, which was not done as much in spaghetti Westerns. Instead of putting them in the role of villain (which was their normal role in Westerns), they were given a lot more agency and positive representation. The ones on my list in this subgenre (that I haven’t already mentioned) include:

High Noon (1952), dir. Fred Zinnemann

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), dir. George Roy Hill

McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), dir. Robert Altman

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), dir. Philip Kaufman

Unforgiven (1992), dir. Clint Eastwood

Tombstone (1993), dir. George P. Cosmatos

True Grit (2010), dir. Joel and Ethan Coen

Neo-Western: There are surprisingly a lot of these. The Neo-Western is a more contemporary take on the Western. This usually means that it’s set in the modern day with the trappings of a Western attached to it. I’ve seen a few of these, like Rango, Logan, Brokeback Mountain, and the Mad Max franchise (although, those are really more Outback Western, to be fair). The ones on my watchlist in this genre are:

Midnight Cowboy (1969), dir. John Schlesinger

No Country for Old Men (2007), dir. Joel and Ethan Coen

Hell of High Water (2016), dir. David Mackenzie

Epic Western: A version of the historical epic, these are the films that put the Western on an epic scale. This either involves a massive production, or a massive event. This includes the American Civil War, the Mexican Revolution, and conflicts with Native Americans. Many of the Spaghetti Westerns adhere to this, like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and The Searchers. So does Dances with Wolves, Django Unchained, and technically The Revenant. On my list in this category, you’ve got:

The Wild Bunch (1969), dir. Sam Peckinpah

How the West Was Won (1962), dir. Henry Hathaway, John Ford, and George Marshall

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), dir. Andrew Dominik

Ramen Western: And finally, Italy’s not the only non-American country to make a Western. Russia, Greece, Australia, India, Mexico, and China have all taken a shot at the genre. And then, of course, there’s Japan. The Ramen Western isn’t overly popular, and I’ve never seen any of them. In fact, I’m technically cheating on this list, as one of these isn’t as much of a Western as it is inspired by them, and influential in its own right. And the other one is...interesting.

Seven Samurai (1954), dir. Akira Kurosawa

Sukiyaki Western Django (2007), dir. Takashi Miike

And there’s the list! Well...most of it.

Here’s the thing: as I’ve previously stated, the whole movie-a-day thing is a little tougher than expected. However, these are the films that I’ll be trying my damnedest to get to. Probably won’t complete the list, but I’ll at least be making progress on it! And the fun thing is this: I have more films. In fact, there are 19 more films on my watchlist, at minimum. I’ll get to those eventually.

So, who’s first?

Next: Stagecoach (1939); dir. John Ford

#western #western genre #western film #western august #genre summary #film genre #365 days 365 movies #365 movie challenge #classical western #acid western #neo-western #epic western #ramen western #spaghetti western #genre study

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the-tiger-with-a-computer · 4 years ago

Text

Twisted Wonderland NoSleep Au

Heartslabyul Part 2

For now on this Au will be called the NoSleep Au as a reference to the subreddit that helped to inspire this Au. So a quick recap, Yuu has mentioned that something is VERY wrong with their town but refuses to talk about it which worries the others and when they went to see about getting Riddle to remove the collar Cater said that they need to get a apology tart and then the school day officially begins.

Yuu: So, we have potions class first right?

Deuce: Yup.

Ace: Who was the professor again?

*Then the professor walked into the room*

Crewel: Glad to see such fresh new faces in my homeroom. There are some rare hair colors in the bunch, not bad, make sure to take proper care of it. My name is Divus Crewel and I am your potions teacher. Class will begin. I will beat the names of 100 types of medicine and poison into your little brains. We'll cover fungi later, no memorize these so you don't get yourselves poisoned. Dogs will eat anything that they find on the ground. Your training will be strict and I better not see any red marks on your tests.

Deuce: What's a fungi?

Yuu: Any type of spore-producing organism, they also cluster together sometimes.

Deuce: Thanks.

Ace: I'm no good at memorization.

Yuu: I can help you later Ace.

Ace: Thanks Yuu.

*Next up was History, which Yuu was very exited for*

Trein: I am Trien and I am in charge of your history lessons. This is my familiar, Lucius. You will learn about the history of magic that has brought prosperity to the world. Participation in class will affect your grade, not just reports. I will not forgive sleeping in class. Open your textbooks to page 15. We will start with the discovery of magic crystals in the Dwarf's Mines. Magical energy spread throughout the world after this century. We call it the "Beginning of Magic".

Ace: This is boring.

Deuce: Didn't we go to those mines?

Yuu: I think so.

Grim: I want to use magic already.

*Third period was Athletics which Yuu was less exited for. Also this is going to be SO long, what I will do now is just give a general rundown of the class, teacher, and Yuu's thoughts on the class*

The teacher for this class is a man named Vargas. He boasted about how healthy and fit he is and how it is important for wizards to train their muscles and stamina. Fun fact, Yuu might be a great runner but they have no overall strength or stamina whatsoever, so this class proved one of the most challenging classes for Yuu.

After this class Grim tried to run away saying that he wanted to learn magic. It took a while for the group to catch him. During lunch they got into trouble with some other students, but thankfully Yuu was able to defuse the situation. After that the group saw Cater with another student with green hair. That person was Trey, and he explained to Yuu and Grim about the seven dorms and their quirks. When talking about Diasomnia another student by the name of Lillia appeared to talk. It was very surprising but Lillia was very kind, though the students that were with him did not look that way. But when Ace started bad talking about Riddle, Riddle overheard and decided to not remove the collar. Ace then earned a smack on the head from Yuu. After Riddle talked about how rule-breakers should not be forgiven Yuu felt as if something was off. As if there was a darkness overtaking Riddle, after all Yuu could understand where he was coming from, their home had a lot of strange rules that are meant to keep everyone safe. One wrong move could lead to your death, or in Yuu's case, having their left eye completely removed. Then Trey explained how Unique Magic worked and how it's a type of magic that only they can use. Back to the whole tart situation, Cater said that Trey is a baker and that he could help them. Trey was happy to help but asked the group to gather chestnuts for the tart. So it was off to the forest after class.

Ace: So we have to collect a lot of chestnuts. How should we do this?

Yuu: First, we need a basket to hold them, and since chestnuts have thorns we need something to grab them.

Grim: They have thorns? Thanks Yuu, I was about to start picking them.

Deuce: Well, I think there should be what we need in the botanical garden.

Ace: Then let's go take a look.

Deuce: There should be a caretaker, we should split up and look for them.

Ace: I'll go left.

Deuce: I'll go right.

Yuu: Me and Grim can go straight to the back.

Grim: There are many good stuff here. I just might eat some!

Yuu: Grim, don't or else there will be no tuna for you.

Grim: Fine. But it better be good tuna.

Then Yuu felt like they stepped on something.

???: Hey, you got some nerve stepping on someone's tail without saying anything.

Yuu: I'm sorry about that. I was looking for the caretaker.

???: I was in the middle of a nice nap. Then you came and walked all over my tail. This sucks.

Yuu: Again, I'm so sorry.

???: Hang on a moment. Aren't you that herbivore that the mirror said can't use magic? *Snif snif*

Yuu: *Why is he smelling me?*

Leona: You really don't have a speck of magic on you. I don't feel like taking on an opponent that can't resist. But I, Leona, can't just let you walk away after you stepped on my tail. I was having a nice nap, but now I'm pissed.

Yuu: *He's gonna hurt me!*

Then, thankfully, another student came in and told Leona that it was time for his lessons. He also said that if Leona kept being help back, then they were going to be classmates. Leona left, but not without giving Yuu a warning.

*Outside Yuu explained everything to Ace and Deuce.*

Ace: Yuu is right, that was definitely not the caretaker.

Grim: He was wearing a yellow vest.

Yuu: I think that he was from the Savanaclaw dorm.

Deuce: Is it just me, or are there a lot of delinquents at Night Raven Collage?

Yuu: It's not just you, I've noticed it as well.

Ace: Anyway, our chestnut pile is really big. Let's get them back to Trey.

*This is already starting to look a bit long so I will end it here. The next park will take place when the gang get back to Trey. Until next time.*

#twisted wonderland #deuce spade #ace trappola #divus crewel #twst grim #mozus trein #ashton vargas #cater diamond #trey clover #lillia vanrouge #leona kingscholar #twst NoSleep Yuu #twst NoSleep Au

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oftenderweapons · 4 years ago

Text

Love Talk - Jimin

Pairing: Jimin x reader (nicknamed Princess)

Wordcount: 6.6k words

Genre: smut, fluff, lowkey angst

Rating: 18+

Hello cuties! 💜

I’m back with a new piece and this time we have a very soft boy Jimin with a lot of fluff (plus smut, ‘cause we all know I’m a certified slut by now). This is the right moment to remind you that if you’re a minor the content under the cut is not intended for you and you should not read.

Anyways, quick recap: Jimin and y/n-Princess have been dating for about four months at this point, they are seeing each other exclusively, though they haven’t yet explicitly said ‘I love you’.

On to TRIGGER WARNINGS: discussion of eating disorders (they are NOT condoned, but rather addressed and gently corrected), alcohol consumption (just mild tipsiness, nothing major). Swearing. Sub!Jimin wants a spanking. Of course he gets one. Very in-depth discussion of BDSM conditions and limits related to a spanking scene. Punishment scene and powerplay. Teeth-rotting fluff. Unprotected vaginal sex (do I need to remind you to use protection whenever you engage in oral, anal or vaginal sex? Well, this is me, kindly reminding you to keep it safe). Woah, these warnings are shorter than usual.

Wordcount: 6.6K

A small thank you to @nervous-moon for the constant love and support (and for listening to me ramble for days about crazy themes and prompts) and another silent thank you goes to an amazing angel who listened to me panicking about this fic not working and putting me back on track.

Here is my masterlist!

And before I let you read in peace, please remember to vote for the next theme :) (link in my bio)!

Enjoy!

Jimin is a tense bundle of nerves, walking back and forth at the feet of the bed, pacing anxiously before sitting and grabbing his hair, tugging it in exasperation. How could he possibly do this?

It’s not like he could bend over your lap and scream “I won’t stand up until you spank me raw.”

But at the moment he was desperate enough that he was actually considering. He threw himself on the mattress, rolling on his belly and whining loudly, kicking and punching the covers.

Nuzzling his face into the duvet, he took in the smell of you on the bedsheets, finding small comfort.

What if he moved your hand on his ass, leading your wrist so your hand smacked on his ass?

He grimaced and shook his head.

Turning around he stood up and went to the kitchen. It was late. You should be here in ten minutes. Maybe tipsy from your night out with your friends. He spotted the bottle of beer in the fridge.

A little liquid courage?

He nodded to himself, grabbing the bottle.

The bottle was empty when he heard the door unlock. A sweet chill ran down his spine as he heard you take off your shoes, silent footsteps heading down the hall, following the light from the kitchen.

“Hi.” You said, surprised, noticing the bottle on the table. Your mind, already growing suspicious, noticed that there was only one glass on the table. You calmed yourself down.

“Hello.” He said with a cute blush, puffy cheeks and his sweet smile. “You’re back.”

“And you’re tipsy.” You replied, smiling at him incredulously.

He nodded, lids heavy.

“Come with me.” You murmured. “Put down that stuff.” You invited him playfully.

He looked at you with a dreamy look. “Haven’t you drunk?”

“No, Jimin. I was assigned to sober godmother duty tonight.” You huffed out, slightly stressed.

He cocked his head to the side. “Don’t you want a sip, then?”

You looked at him. Your sober godmother duty wasn’t over, apparently. You were sure of it when you saw him oscillating dangerously on top of the barstool by your kitchen island. “No. I want to undress and get to bed.”

He made a grumpy face, all of his features scrunching up, his lips locked in a pout. He extended his arms towards you, making grabby hands.

You took a few steps towards him, hugging him as he smiled once more as you helped him down the chair. He kept holding you tight, brushing his face all over your neck and the small triangle of skin appearing from your demure top. “What do you want, Jimin?” You asked sweetly, your index tipping his head back so you could look at him.

He only shook his head, trying to escape from your inspecting gaze.

You had none of that. “Jimin, love. Do I need to take you to bed?”

He smiled, eyes closed, whining out a long, giggly “yes”.

Keeping an arm around his waist, you started walking to the bedroom, leaving the lights on in the kitchen. You had to go back for the bottle anyway.

“You didn’t drink that much, baby.” You kissed his temple. “Did you eat?”

His brow creased as he shook his head.

“Why not, Jimin?” You asked.

“I wasn’t thinking about it. I had lunch with Yoongi hyung and Taetae. Dinner kind of passed by.” He mumbled.

“That’s not good, Jimin.” You reprimanded lovingly. “Your body needs yummy food. Nutrition.”

“I know. I didn’t do that on purpose, though. I wasn’t hungry. I forgot.” He admitted.

Reaching the bed, you made him sit on the edge. “I’ll go fix the kitchen. Make yourself comfy.”

In the kitchen you put some instant rice in the microwave as you threw away the bottle. Waiting for the rice, you prepared some salad, opening a small jar of kimchi and laying it all out on a tray.

The microwave dinged and you grabbed the bowl, adding kimchi and sausage slices. Satisfied with the result, you went back to the bedroom. Jimin was laying on the bed, his back straight against the pillows by the bedpost.

“Here,” you offered, laying the tray on the bedside table and sitting beside him, on top of the covers.

“I want you here with me.” He complained, trying to drag you under the sheets.

“I have my day clothes on.” You justified yourself.

“Take ‘em off.” He giggled.

You shook your head, snorting. “Stay there, I’ll go get changed.”

A few minutes later you came back, dressed in your soft silk pajamas and a robe. “Time to eat, Jiminie.” You climbed in bed, settling beside him, your legs disappearing under the sheets. Holding the tray, you moved it on your lap while Jimin curled up against your side, arms wrapping around your arm and squeezing it. You took a spoonful of rice and brought it to his lips as he leaned over the tray.

Opening his mouth wide, he put his soft, plump lips around the spoon, eyes wide, fixed on yours.

He was teasing you.

You huffed out a heavy breath. “Jimin.”

“What” He sputtered through his mouthful of food.

You shook your head.

“More.” He muttered before opening his mouth wide. “Aaah.” He said, inviting you to feed him.

You huffed out, slightly annoyed, and offered him another bite. “Come on, good boy.” He brushed the side of his face against your arm, his lips curling up in a confident smirk.

You fed him the whole bowl, alternating it with salad leaves, offering him sweet praises and cuddles. “Now, will you explain to me why you are not taking care of yourself, Jimin?”

You gave him a serious stare, your voice concerned but also caring.

“I’m just busy.” He shrugged. “No big deal.” He didn’t look you in the eye.

“Jimin.”

This time he looked up at you. “What?” He taunted.

“You’re tense, baby. I see that you’re stressed.” You caressed his hair. “What is it?”

Was this the right moment to tell you? He shook his head. “It’s just work. We’ve been producing more material than usual and it’s taking its toll.”

“Is that why you’re not eating much?” You moved the tray out of the way, taking your arm away from his grip and wrapping it around his shoulders.

He hid into your chest, nodding.

“Oh, my poor baby.” You cooed, pampering him, brushing up and down his spine with your palm. “Do you want cuddles?”

He felt spoiled. He felt cared for and loved. He felt like you could understand him. It felt right.

With a wave of courage taking over his body, he slithered out of your embrace and quickly found his way to the bathroom, fumbling with the drawer where he kept the hair dryer.

When he came back, his pace was significantly slower, his footsteps wary and insecure. His whole posture had changed as he hid his head low between his shoulders, his back hunched, his hands holding something to his chest.

You watched perplexed as he neared the foot of the bed. “I really don’t know how to say this.” He murmured with a little lisp in his words.

You felt like melting on the bed. Ever since your first day you had grown fond both of his tender, delicate side and his flirty, cheeky one. The shift from one to another always kept you on the edge of your seat, never knowing whether you’d be confronted with the sweet, affectionate boy or the forward, bold man. All that you knew was that, since you started dating four months ago, you had started falling for him. And just now Love hit you like a train on a track.

And he had been falling too. All he needed was the final push, confirming that you would satisfy that tiny whim of his, that recurring fantasy that he never had the courage to bring up since you two started messing around, a couple months ago.

“You can say anything to me, darling.” You reassured him. “Come here, show me what you got there.”

He climbed on the bed, crawling toward you on his knees, hands still plastered to his chest. “Will you promise me you won’t laugh at me?” He whispered.

“Look at me, sweetheart.” You said, your voice calm and comforting.

His wide, glimmering eyes met yours and your whole body warmed with understanding and compassion.

“I would never, ever laugh at you, pretty duckling.” You opened your arms wide and he let his body fall gently into your hug. Now he was curled up against your side, head laying on your chest, leg wrapped around your hips possessively.

He let the secret object fall on your belly.

A hairbrush.

Your brow twitched. “Jimin, baby, I need you to explain.” You felt too confused to put two and two together.

“I— You know that sometimes people feel the need to… Get a little rough?” He searched for your hand, toying with your fingers. He was looking even smaller now, all your protective instincts surging beneath your skin.

“You want to get a little rough?” You asked, still trying to understand the exact implication of that.

“I want you to get a little rough with me.” He admitted, blushing violently and hiding his face into you.

“You want me to use the hairbrush on you?” You asked, trying to clarify.

He nodded into the crook of your neck.

Well, of course you were a little shocked, but not surprised. Not at all. It was clear that Jimin liked to be pampered and spoiled. He liked praises and cuddles and attention. He liked flirting and he liked when people flirted back. He liked when people decided to one-up his cheekiness, to beat him in brazenness.

And of course he liked partners who could put him back in his place.

“I need you to sit up, duckling.” You ordered him with honeyed voice. “And I need you to listen to me very carefully.”

He heard the change in attitude and he parted from your chest, looking you in the eye.

“Sit up, Jiminie.”

He obeyed, bending his legs under his torso, his ass resting on his heels.

“I’ll play it out for you, all you need to say is yes and no.” You assisted him in this laboured confession. It was unusual for Jimin to act shy, and you assumed that you had to treat such vulnerability with tender and loving care, creating a positive association to him confessing his insecurities, through praises and affection, emotionally wrapping him up in a warm blanket, putting him in a pretty bubble that could become a safe environment until he felt strong enough to go back into the real world.

“You want me to spank you?”

He nodded, hiding his face behind his lovely hands.

“Look at me, duckling.” You told him quietly, holding his wrists and taking his hands away from his eyes.

He whined a little but at the end he settled his hands down on his lap and looked at you.

“I cannot use the hairbrush on you, Jiminie. Because I don’t know how to use it and I could hurt you.” You knew you weren’t ready for it. And it would have been dumb and dangerous of you to ignore your lack of experience and preparation. This is not stuff that should be played with, especially without proper research and training.

He looked at his lap and nodded, understanding you completely, but still a bit upset at the thought that he needed to postpone this experience with you. Because it wasn’t a no, right? It was a maybe later, right?

You looked at his unhappy expression. You not wanting to use the hairbrush on him didn’t mean that the whole scene was cancelled. Maybe if you set the right terms you could be safe and still make it right for him. “Would it be okay if I used my hands? Get you used to those before we get naughtier?”

He looked up at you, eyes gleaming with surprise and gratitude at your offer. He nodded eagerly.

“Then that’s it, duckling. We’ll go with my hand. But first we need to talk about this very thoroughly.”

“It’s okay. We can discuss rules and safewords.” He suggested.

You nodded. “That’s right. I need to know what you want me to do, Jimin. I need you to help me make it safe and pleasurable for you.” You felt like you needed his guidance. “I need you to help me, Jimin.”

He noticed you using his name, twice, and the submissive side of him subdued as he annulled the power imbalance and came in your assistance. “We can start from something very easy. I would say we could try a set of ten, but the golden rule of every first scene is to stay hungry and do only half of one of the many many things you want to try. So the best way to do this safely is to limit this to five hits. Can you do five hits, ____?”

You thought about it carefully, not letting yourself be seduced by the thought of Jimin in such a vulnerable position. “I think so. But as I said, guidance is key.”

“It’s okay. I’ll try and lead you, call that a power bottom.” He giggled shyly, trying to brighten the mood. “I’ve been trying to talk about this for a while.” He explained. “I didn’t know how to ask.” He tweaked his fingers in the meanwhile, torturing himself a little.

“Is that why you’ve been tense lately?” You questioned.

“Yes. I mean, I think I’ve always thought about this since we started dating, but lately it’s a way more recurrent thought.” He explained, shoving his hands under his thighs.

“Okay. Let’s take this as a trial round. We’ll start with five hits. I’ll only use my hands. You can stop me at any moment. And I may decide to interrupt the scene, if I find myself inadequate.”

He looked you in the eye. “Do you want a safeword for yourself? I mean, technically you’ll be dominating but it is not uncommon for novice dominants to have a safeword they say before they snap out of their role. It can also be a signal that determines the end of the scene.”

You took a pause to mull over it. “Good. Do you have one that you’ve used before or that you’re comfortable with?”

He thought about it, quickly, trying to remember the information he had picked up from various websites. “The most obvious one would be the colour system. Green for good, Yellow to slow down and Red to stop?”

You smiled encouragingly and caressed his face. “Yes, of course. That’s easy.”

“Usually this kind of scene is used for punishment and atonement. I think that you can interrupt it by explicitly saying “you are forgiven”, or any sentence along the lines of that.” He suggested.

That was smart. Intuitive.

He looked back at you, holding your face. “I trust you. You’re smart and compassionate. You’re empathetic. I know that you won’t hurt me. I value your common sense and your affection. I know you’ll keep me safe, ____.” The words were almost there. I love you, Princess.

You leaned in his hold, inhaling deeply.

He continued your briefing. “I’ll help you through it. Five blows sound like a small number, but what’s important is the quality. Take your time after the first one, rub the spot you’ve just hit and the one you’re going to hit next. Sensitise the skin before you hit.” He directed you. “Normally a submissive can speak only when directly addressed to, however it’s our first scene, so if you prefer I can interact with you at any given time.” He explained, comforting you some more.

“Okay, Jiminie.”

His eyes crinkled as he smiled at you brightly, giggling slightly.

You huffed out a focused breath. “Let’s recap. Just five spanks, with my hand. If you want me to slow down, you say yellow. If you want me to stop, you say red. You can interact with me as much as you want. Between one spank and the next, I will rub your skin and receive your feedback.” You took a deep breath, preparing yourself to enter our role as a dominant. “I will take care of you, Duckling. Are you okay?” You waited for his confirm.

He nodded, looking at you with such adoration in his eyes that your whole heart melted.

“Is it okay if I call you duckling, baby?” You asked him.

He nodded. “Yes, ____. Is there any name you want me to call you?” He asked in return.

“For now my name is okay, Jiminie. Are you still tipsy, baby? Your consent is important and I cannot play with you unless your consent comes as an extremely lucid decision.”

He nodded. ��I am okay. I didn’t drink that much, and I ate too. The alcohol is already gone, I promise.” He wasn’t looking impatient or greedy, both things that would cloud his judgement.

“I am very thankful that you trusted me enough to talk about this with me, and that you trust me enough to let me try this with you. I really can’t wait to explore with you, but I will have to do some research after tonight.” You admitted. The nourishing instincts of a carer had always been natural to you, and his request didn't sound absolutely inadequate or unfeasible. To put it plainly, you were quite interested into becoming more dominant, and learning about BDSM practices didn’t sound bad at all. Especially if Jimin was the one you would be using them with.

He let the thought sink in. "So you would be okay with this becoming a more frequent thing?" He asked.

More frequent? "Well, for now let's try this tonight. And then we need to learn how to do this in full safety. The best thing to do would be to learn about this first — better safe than sorry — but you said you will help me, and we’re taking this slow, so I can learn as we go. Just a few smacks, to see if you like this. Innocently. You know I wouldn't do this if there were even the smallest chance of me hurting you, right?" You reassured him, thinking of all the things that could possibly go wrong.

"I know you would never hurt me.” He said, big, pleading eyes set on you. God, I’m such a fool for him._

“Do you want this, Jimin?” You asked very seriously.

He nodded before holding your hand. “Yes, I do.”

“I need you to be really, really sure, Jimin.” You repeated. The more times you asked, the better. He needed to understand that consent is important. For girls such a lesson is somehow engraved in their mind. They grow up learning that “yes” and “no” are very heavy, big words. Boys sometimes tend to forget that. They’ve been subjected to centuries of predator theory, being only subjects of desire, rather than objects of it, forced to actively initiate sexuality and hardly ever taught of being on the receiving end of lascivious intentions. They never had to learn to say yes or no because society never supposed that they would be the ones answering rather than asking.

“I am really, really sure, ____.” He confirmed, holding both of your hands now.

Nodding, you bent and kissed him sweetly. “You know I care about you a lot, right?” You whispered on his lips. You felt like the “I love you” was right there, on the tip of your tongue, still you swallowed it, letting only the watered-down taste of affection slip past your lips.

“I know.” He blushed and kissed you harder. “And I trust you. And I care about you too.”

“Then, would you like to take off your clothes, duckling?” You offered.

He hummed in confirmation, standing up at the foot of the bed and taking off his shirt.

You stood up next to him, your hand caressing his chiselled abdomen, running upwards, following the thin valley connecting his navel to his jutting breastbone. “Look at my lovely boy.” You whispered at his ear, standing behind him. “He looks so good when he takes care of himself.” You massaged the tense muscles of his shoulders. “When he eats he becomes a strong, healthy boy. So good looking.” Your hands dove into the hair at his nape, tugging it slightly so that his head was thrown back, exposing his sensual neckline and his strong jaw.

“Can you take off your sweats and underwear, duckling?” You asked, your voice resembling a sickeningly sweet dark poison.

“Yes, ____.” He murmured, undoing the ribbon of his sweats and tugging both them and his briefs to his ankles. As he was bent over in front of you, you held him steady with your hands on his hips, caressing the swell of his ass as he stood back up straight.

When he felt your hand on the muscle, a shiver ran down your spine, making him exhale and whine quietly.

“You like it, Jiminie?” You asked kindly. “You like booty rubs?”

He blushed, nodding with small motions.

“Say it out loud for me, duckling. Let me hear what makes my baby happy. Do you like booty rubs, Jiminie?” You cooed.

“Yes, I like your booty rubs, Princess.” He used your nickname, trying to reconnect with that fond, well-known part of you. He felt vulnerable and reminding himself all the times you’d been a sputtering mess below him, as he teased you with the nickname, brought back slight balance in his mind.

“Good. Now, you asked to be spanked, Jiminie. Would you like to get in your favoured position, baby?” You let him choose. If it were for you, you would love to see him on his knees and elbows on the bed, but you thought it would be better to let him choose.

“Do you think I can just lay on the bed on my belly?” He asked, insecure, waiting for you to confirm.

You thought about it. “As long as it’s not uncomfortable laying on your front when you’re turned on.” You reasoned, thinking about his possibly painful erection. “And you need to be relaxed and comfortable. Can you breathe comfortably like that?” You checked.

He nodded. “I just need a pillow under my chest.” He informed you, assuming his position. You were still at the foot of the bed, staring at his beautiful backside, taking in the strong lines of his back and spine, the twitching muscles resembling the fluttering feathers of a regal swan.

“You are a vision, duckling.” You complimented him, and his blush made him hide his face in the comforter.

“Thank you, ____.”

Miss, that’s what felt right. But that would be for next time. Right now you wanted one task and you wanted to carry it out perfectly.

“Where do you want me, duckling?” You asked for his directions, still trying to make it sound like you were the one in control, the one making him a favour by asking for his preference.

“Could you sit on your knees next to my hips, on the bed?” He suggested, his tone so sweet and delicate you felt like you would give him the moon if only he asked.

Following his direction, you sat beside him as instructed. “Here, duckling?” You felt like addressing him with such nickname was helping you separate your boyfriend from the splendid, unfamiliar figure on his bed.

He turned his head slightly, checking your position. “Just make sure that you’re comfortable staying like that, that you can fully control the movement of your arm. You can touch me and check whether the angle feels comfortable for you. You could hurt yourself too if the angle is wrong.”

You nodded, rolling your shoulders in anticipation. After taking a deep breath you let your hands run from the back of his knee to the full, toned muscle of his ass, your nails scratching delicately, in a barely-there motion.

He hummed out a gentle moan at that, nodding in appreciation. “This is the right moment to locate any vulnerable parts. Careful with bones and nerves: you must not go there. Locate the tailbone. Use your thumbs side by side, down the spine.” He instructed, the briefing identical to the one he used when he massaged Taehyung after tough workouts.

You followed his directions, finding the delicate spot a couple inches down the seam of his ass. “Here?”

“Exactly. Before you go, place your non-dominant hand on the spot you’ve just found. That will keep you from hitting anywhere dangerous. Identify the soft, fleshy parts — the lower part of the cheek, the upper thigh — there, you can hit without worrying too much.” He was relaxing you through the briefing. You felt already more confident, his calm voice leading you and making you feel like everything would be okay.

With one hand blocking the no-zone, the other one on your target, you started massaging the skin gently, correcting your posture as you went. You found yourself sitting with your thighs perpendicular to him, your palm caressing his butt cheeks, just like he’d told you. “Is it okay?” You asked.

He turned, looking at you, enjoying how he had to twist and arch his back to see you. Analysing the position quickly he nodded. “That’s good posture, princess. Check that your wrist doesn’t strain. Check if your hand creates a rough angle with your forearm.”

Your wrist kept a neat line. You nodded. “Okay.”

“I trust you, princess.” He reminded you, caressing your calf before tucking his hands under his chest.

You smiled, confidence renewed. Your aim is to take care of your man. That’s all you want. You would do anything for him. And to see him relaxed and sated? Because you gave him what he needs? Yes. Anytime, anyplace. “Are you all set, puppy?”

He released a tight breath. “Yes, ____.”

“Perfect. Do you remember your safewords, duckling?” You asked, making sure that he remembered that he could stop you at any given time.

“I do, ____.” He confirmed, his voice firm but incredibly sweet and slightly high-pitched.

“Okay. I’ll start.” You rubbed his flesh a couple times, then you lifted your hand, aiming for the lower part of his ass, where it curved downwards into his thigh. When your hand was a foot or so away from your target, you stopped, gathering the tension necessary to smack him. Biting your lip, you struck.

He chirped out a “yes” while your hand stayed on his skin rubbing gently.

“Are you good, duckling?” You checked.

“Yes, ____. Yes. That was a perfect thud. Keep rubbing.” He directed.

Fuck, that was truly a lovely thud: heavy handed, with a nice, rigid wrist, the palm sufficiently cupped to adhere to the skin.

“Any feedback?” You asked.

“Not really. Just advice. Hit with your wrist and your elbow, not with your shoulder.” He hummed as your hand stilled and just pressed more firmly against his reddening skin. “That’s good, ____. Keep your elbow tucked into your side. Try again, on the other leg now.” He suggested.

Adjusting your angle, you mentally repeated the instruction. Elbow tucked in, rub. Check the wrist angle. Check the other hand covering the tailbone. Move your dominant hand away. One foot roughly. Deep breath. Focus. Release.

The breath Jimin was holding came out as the softest, angelic sound, his head hiding in the sheets, his legs twitching while your hand on the small of his back kept him still.

Focusing on your task, you didn’t let his sound distract you as you kept your hand pressed into his bum. “You liked that, duckling?”

“Yes.” He giggled, huffing out a quiet whine. “Can you go harder? Just like before but harder?”

You took a deep breath, your palm raising from his skin so it was only the tip of your nails drawing small circles on the blushing imprints on his ass. “I can go harder, duckling. Are you uncomfortable on your lap?” You worried, thinking about how hard he must be by now.

“No, I’m okay. Thank you, ____.” He reassured you.

“Perfect. Harder?” You asked, removing your hand, letting some anticipation slip in.

“Please, ____.” He moaned.

You knew what you wanted, right in that moment. You could handle just that one more thing. So you asked.

“Do you think you would enjoy calling me Miss, duckling?” You questioned very carefully.

He turned towards you. “Are you sure?” He asked, eagerness filling his voice.

“Yes.” Just like you called him “duckling”, you wanted your identity as his girlfriend the be partitioned from what you were doing right now. “What do you say to this, duckling?” Use that name for me.

“Thank you, Miss.”

Satisfied with his reply, you let your forearm swing and hit. You slightly reprimanded yourself for your shoulder slightly accompanying the motion, but how could you feel sorry when Jimin moaned like that?

The movement felt more familiar now, your arm getting used to measures and intensity.

You rested your palm for a few seconds. “What do you say, duckling?”

“Thank you, Miss.” He cried out deliciously, voice dripping in pleasure.

“That’s a good boy.” You cooed. “Ready for the next?”

“Yes, Miss.” He replied quickly.

“There we go, duckling.” You said. This time you carefully took initiative. Elbow a foot from your side, you rubbed your target. Check the wrist angle. Check the other hand covering the tailbone. Move the hand away, this time a foot and a half. Deep breath. Focus. Release. You let your forearm swing back a little, gaining momentum, before lashing forward, hitting him with a last minute flick of the wrist, curving the swipe upward.

“Oh, Miss, thank you.” He squealed, his hips thrusting against the bed.

“You’re welcome, duckling. You liked it more or less than before?”

“More, Miss.” He chirped enthusiastically.

“It’s the last one, duckling. You want me to give you another like the one I just gave you?” You asked, glad that he was enjoying the scene.

“Please, another stinging one, Miss.” He pleaded.

“Here it comes, duckling.” You took a few more seconds, feeling more comfortable, prepping just like you did before. Big breath. Swing back and… smack.

“Thank you, Miss.” He breathed out.

“Are you okay, duckling?” You asked, massaging him before bending down to kiss his reddened skin. You kissed both his reddened glutes, your other hand caressing his spine now that the spanking was over. Raising up, you kept stroking his back until you reached his head, moving his hair off his face, inviting him to look you in the eye.

As soon as he established eye contact, you gave him your agreed cue. “You are forgiven, Jimin.”

His lips parted gently, his eyebrows arching and knitting together, his soft features expressing confusion. “Is it over already?” He asked.

“Yes, baby.” You comforted him. “Five hits. One set. Just like we had agreed.” You reminded him.

“Oh.” He sounded disappointed. “Okay.”

“How are you feeling?” You asked, even though you had just checked in.

He looked at you as you sat on your hip, moving closer to his face, bending down to press a kiss to his forehead.

“I’m very glad I did this with you.” He whispered.

You kissed his lips. “I am glad you asked, baby.”

He slowly brought his arms out from below himself, letting the one on your side fall heavily on top of your body. “Can we make love now?” He asked with the most tender, vulnerable voice you had ever heard from him.

You felt like crying. Because of his request, of his word choice, of the gentleness of his voice.

“Yes, if you want to.” You murmured intimately. “Let me undress.”

He let go of you and turned on his side to look at you standing by the bed, removing your clothes in an absolutely ordinary fashion. The room was basking in the yellowy soft light coming from the bedside table, turning your skin a mild golden shade.

“You look so pretty.” he whispered, completely enchanted by you.

Smiling shyly, you let your panties fall to the floor, climbing on the bed. “Thank you.” You whispered.

You were laying side by side, naked, looking in each other’s eyes, no embarrassment between you. It felt right.

“I love you.” He whispered, his arm coming around your waist.

It was your turn to stare at him with your mouth agape.

“You don’t have to say it back.” He said, at the same time as you told him: “I love you too.”

He giggled, eyes disappearing, lips stretching in a fond smile.

He rolled on top of you. “Say it again.” He ordered sweetly.

“I love you too.” You murmured, chuckling.

“I love you too.” He said right back, leaving playful, messy smooches all over your face. You laughed even more, basking in the warmth of this moment, in the domestic surety that it will be forever saved in your memory, with its colour, sound, scent, and feeling. That such tenderness would always be associated with Jimin’s smiling face hovering over you.

He used his knees and one elbow to sustain his weight as his palm reached to cup your cheek, thumb pressed on your lip. “I love you a lot, princess.”

Your eyes closed as you smiled at him. “I want you, Jimin.” You said, opening your eyes and biting your lip.

“Want me to grab a condom?” He asked, always considerate.

You thought about it quickly. You were both tested and clean, you were monogamous and you were in a committed relationship. You loved him and trusted him. And he loved you and trusted you too. What could possibly hold you back at this point?

“We can do it without, if it’s okay with you. You know I’m on the pill.” You stated.

“Are you sure?” He waited for you to confirm.

Nodding, you moved your hand into his hair, bringing his face closer to yours so you could finally kiss him a you wanted to.

You immediately took his plump lower lip in your mouth, sucking on it as he growled, letting you do what you wanted with him, too lost in you to do anything but follow your lead. Your hand moved down his abs, landing on his hard length.

He drew back from your mouth, kissing your jaw, moving to your ear.

“Touch yourself, princess. I don’t know how long I’ll last bare inside you.” He explained, his mind set on making you cum around him before he lost his cool.

You obeyed, fingers finding your clit as he slid a bit lower down your body, so that his mouth was at level with your breasts. Sucking your nipple in his mouth, he focused his eyes on the expression on your face, bliss making your features flutter. As his mouth moved to the other nipple, you thrust your hips upward, into him.

“Are you ready, princess?” He asked, moving towards your face, looking at you intently.

You nodded, moaning. “Please.”

Propping himself on his elbow, he used his free arm to stroke himself a couple times, dragging the tip against your slit to make the access more slippery. “Ready, princess?” He asked. As you nodded he reminded you once more: “I love you.”

“I love you.” You replied as he slipped in.

It wasn’t easy. But it was not difficult either. It was different. He felt warm. Warmer than usual. And slippery. Everything felt wetter. Maybe because you were.

“Hell, princess, I can fell everything.” He growled. “So damn good, baby.”

You grunted quietly, panting, trying to adjust to him. One of your hand stayed on your clit, drawing small circles on it in hope that the stimulation would help you relax and stretch for him; your other palm moved to his waist, caressing his spine.

“Can I?” He asked, grunting himself as he tried to keep still.

“Just another second, love.” You murmured, closing your eyes and taking a big breath.

He bent down and kissed your cheek. “I should have prepped you.” He whispered.

“It’s fine.” You reassured him. As his small gestures of affection calmed you down, you felt ready for him to move. Pushing your hips away from him, you started grinding on him, letting him slip out only for an inch before taking him inside you again.

“Dammit baby.” He murmured. “So tight.”

You kissed his furrowed brow, eyes shut tight in concentration. He tried to open them to look at you, dropping his head to kiss your mouth, your chin, the crook of your neck. “You’re perfect, baby. I love you so much.” He repeated once more and you knew, right in that moment, that he would never get tired of telling you.

“Jimin, faster, please.” You begged.

He growled and smashed his hips against yours. “Baby, I need you to...” Still supporting his weight with one arm, he used the other one to bring your hand from his waist to his ass, where you knew his skin was still stinging with your spanks. You felt the skin grow hotter there, probably because it was red and tender. “Grab it, princess. Use it.”

He looked you in the eye with scorching intensity before his mouth dipped to your breast while his fingers unlatched from your wrist and landed on you breast, his digits tweaking your nipple.

His pace got incredibly faster, encouraged by your hand leading him, setting the pace and manhandling his sensitised skin. The lewd sound of skin slapping against skin drowned your laboured pants. The hand on your clit stopped just as you threw your head back with a silent scream, your climax surprising you, and Jimin too, your tight grip on his cock becoming even tighter. He completely lost his pace, hammering furiously inside you until relief washed over him, his orgasm filling you so deep you felt your bones melt at how hot he was inside you.

“I love you.” You murmured for the millionth time as he collapsed over you.

“I love you too.”

⁂⫷ ⁛ ⫸ ⁂ ⫷ ⁛ ⫸ ⁂ ⫷ ⁛ ⫸ ⁂ ⫷ ⁛ ⫸ ⁂ ⫷ ⁛ ⫸ ⁂

I left the book in Jimin’s office. Joon let me in. I left you some notes in it, including other useful resources. We can talk about it anytime.

It was a text from an old highschool friend of yours, who apparently had been dating Namjoon for a while now. You had met maybe a bunch of times during group celebrations, small dinners, birthday parties. It didn’t take long before you got acquainted again, going for coffee dates, hanging out together, especially when the guys were busy — you also found out that your university flatmate and her knew each other, which really seemed a strange twist of fate. Your first reaction the day after your steamy night with Jimin was to text her. You knew it would be absurd and possibly uncomfortable or embarrassing, but it’s not like you were unused to gossiping about your sex lives: your partners too famous for the two of you to confess anything to anyone else. It was a strange friendship, but somehow, among all that madness you both found solace and companionship with each other. So, when you texted her, you somehow expected her to help you, however, her reply surprised you.

It’s okay, I’ve got something for you. But we better call Lace too. She’s the best.

It took you a few days to read the book. As soon as you were done reading the guide, you texted both Lace and Vixen.

Dinner at mine this Friday?

And that’s how you found one trained brat, one certified rope bunny and a BDSM guide in front of you, at the dinner table of your apartment.

“Where do you want to start, sweetheart?” Said Vixen.

“This is gonna be so fun!” Chimed in Lace.

Thank God there was wine in the fridge and a long night before you.

#bts smut #bangtan smut #jimin x reader smut #park jimin #jimin one shot #jimin scenario #jimin imagine #jimin x reader #jimin fanfic #jimin fluff #bangtan sonyeondan #jimin reaction #sub!jimin

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itsthenovelteafactor · 4 years ago

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Vanya and the Phantom

I asked and y’all answered (special thanks to @schizoidwire and @the-aro-ace-arrow-ace and all the people who responded to my earlier post for encouraging me!), so it is time for how The Phantom of the Opera song introduction can be read as a look into Vanya’s self-narrative and also foreshadows future events in a really subtle and interesting way.

I’m channeling my inner Elliot and going into full conspiracy mode. This is gonna be a long one, y’all.

Part One: In Which I Expose Myself as a Former Theater Kid

So, for those who aren’t familiar with The Phantom of the Opera, it was originally a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux back in 1909. In 1986, Andrew Lloyd Webber rewrote it as a musical. For purposes of my analysis here, I am just going to be discussing the musical because 1) the score used in the opening scene is from it and 2) I’ve never read the book. (If anyone out there has read the book and wants to weigh in, please do!)

It’s a very aesthetic show, and draws on a lot of gothic themes and imagery. The plot follows an opera house, and specifically a young chorus girl named Christine Daaé. I’m not going to explain the whole show plot in detail because wikipedia exists, but I will do a quick overview here and point out some things as they relate to things I’ll be discussing later. Also there will be a test after and it will NOT be multiple choice.

The show begins when the opera house is sold to new owners who 1) just want to make money and 2) do not respect the opera house’s resident ghost (who isn’t really a ghost, but we’ll get to that later.) When the Phantom makes his presence known, and freaks out the resident prima donna singer (who will be relevant later) Carlotta, who says she won’t sing under these conditions. It is then that Christine appears. She’s quiet and humble and has always lived in the background, but is incredibly talented. The woman who runs the chorus (also owner of the opera house’s resident braincell) suggests Christine sing the part. She does, and is amazing. Everyone is blown away, and she’s catapulted into instant fame and success.

We later learn that Christine has been studying under the Phantom, who appears to her in mirrors. She calls him the Angel of Music, and thinks that he was sent to teach her by her recently deceased father. He isn’t. He’s actually pretty malicious, and is obsessed with Christine, wants to control her voice, and doesn’t like her dating anyone. Which is a bit awkward when her childhood friend shows up and promptly falls in love with her.

Anyways, Carlotta is jealous of the attention Christine has been getting and threatens to leave prompting the new owners to cut Christine from the program. The Phantom doesn’t like it at all, sends a bunch of letters, things escalate, people are murdered, and the whole first act ends with the chandelier falling from the ceiling and crashing onto the stage (which is done with really cool effects, oftentimes beginning the show hanging over the audience. It’s a BIG MOMENT and one of the most iconic ones from the show. This will also be relevant later.)

Act two takes place a few months later, wherein no one has seen the Phantom. Shock of all shocks, though, he’s not dead. He’s been writing an opera and he wants Christine to star in it. More stuff happens, you learn the backstory of the Phantom (which is pretty sad, ngl, but in no way makes him less of a creep) and the story ends with the Phantom kidnapping Christine and giving her an ultimatum: stay with him forever, or he kills Raoul (aka childhood friend/romantic interest guy). She agrees to stay with him and he’s so moved by her compassion that he lets them both go and disappears forever.

Part Two: Casting the Characters

That’s interesting, Rosie (note sarcasm) but you said this was about The Umbrella Academy? I did, in fact. So, we meet Vanya when she’s playing a medley of songs from The Phantom of the Opera. Since it’s primarily the melodies and not one of the orchestral pieces from her performance later (I don’t think), we can assume she’s just playing it for herself (which is nice! good on you, Vanya).

Maybe she’s never seen the play and just likes the score, but for purposes here, let’s assume she’s familiar with it.

You can tell a lot about a person by the stories they connect with (for example, I like TUA because I like fun sibling dynamics, found family, music, and being sad). And I think that it makes sense that The Phantom of the Opera would be a story that resonates with Vanya. The overlooked chorus girl finds power in music, and, after years in the background, is finally given a chance to show how special she is.

So, yeah. I don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility that Vanya sees herself as Christine. There are some discrepancies, sure, but this is Vanya’s self-narrative, which we learn pretty much immediately is unreliable. (Love her, but it’s true.) And if Vanya is Christine, then we can try and tap into her perspective to look at some other characters.

Anyways remember Carlotta (the prima donna opera singer who always got the spotlight and tried to destroy everything good that happened to Christine because she felt threatened that someone might be as good/better than her whose entire personality and role in the story I just summarized, rendering my plot recap useless)? Carlotta is how Vanya views Allison. (Kind of all her siblings, but her relationship with Allison is the most important here.)

Think about the scene in the cabin?

“You couldn’t risk me threatening your place in the house! You couldn’t handle the fact that Dad might find me special!” - Vanya, having a mental breakdown.

This always struck me as an interesting accusation to throw, since prior to this moment, I don’t think there was any indication that Allison had ever felt threatened by Vanya. She excluded her, sure, and wasn’t super friendly at times, but the idea that Allison has been pulling strings to keep Vanya out of her spotlight is new. But that is exactly the role Carlotta plays in Phantom.

Fun fact! At one point in the musical, the Phantom enchants Carlotta so that she loses her voice right before coming on stage.

Part Three: The Phantom of the Opera is there

So based on everything I’ve said so far, the most straightforward reading is then, that Leonard Peabody/Harold Jenkins (who for purposes here I’ll call Leonard) is the stand in for the Phantom, which works... really well. Both in helping to understand Vanya and also because it foreshadows the twist of season one in a really cool way.

So, the Phantom appears to Christine first not as an enemy, but as a friend and teacher, who encourages her to be more confident in her abilities. He trains her to develop her singing ability. While the teacher-student dynamic is actually inverted initially with Vanya and Leonard, from the get go, he is showering her with compliments, encouraging her to be confident in her abilities, and, at least on the surface, supporting her in a way she hasn’t been supported before (he’s a trash human but an expert manipulator).

But, in the play, the Phantom is also very possessive over Christine and her power (er, I mean voice). He also is perfectly willing to kill and/or hurt people who he views as standing in the way of Christine and her success (see the aforementioned Carlotta incident). Which is exactly what Leonard does to Vanya. He kills the first chair violinist to help her get it, and orchestrates a whole master plan to get her to reveal her powers on his terms.

Even the part where he starts “training” her to use her powers kind of resembles the second act of the play. The Phantom wrote a play for Christine and she’s going to star in it, whether she wants to or not.

(One could even make the argument of the parallels between Christine believing the Phantom was sent by her father to teach her and Leonard showing up because of his revenge scheme against Vanya’s father, but I honestly don’t have much support for that.)

Part Three: Two Conflicting Narratives

So, as you might’ve noticed, I sort of have two different threads of analysis going on right now. 1) The Phantom of the Opera parallel is part of Vanya’s self-narrative and in it she mischaracterizes Allison, making her more suspicious of her motivations and 2) Leonard Peabody is clearly the Phantom and doesn’t bother being subtle about it. I hope that I’ve been convincing (or at least intriguing) for you to get to this point, because here is where they come together.

Vanya has this parallel going, but she doesn’t see Leonard as the Phantom. In the beginning at least, he’s her Raoul. If I had to guess, I’d say Reginald Hargreeves is the Phantom in Vanya’s self-narrative (says he’ll train her but wants to manipulate her and keep her locked away for himself, strict teacher who doesn’t really care about her well being, wearing a mask to appear more normal/human... she wouldn’t exactly be wrong). Leonard, on the other hand, is Vanya’s supporter. He validates her, and believes in her, and taker her side when Carlotta and the opera house owners (er, the rest of the Hargreeves children) gang up on her and conspire to keep her out.

This is all building to, of course, the final confrontation. The Phantom says Christine has to pick one or the other. When Allison comes to talk to Vanya, Vanya feels as if she’s been given an ultimatum and lashes out.

And that’s where everything (including this parallel) starts to crumble.

(I honestly don’t know a lot about the other characters and how they fit in. I suppose we could have Five = Raoul if we ignore romance plot and focus on the childhood friend that hasn’t been seen in a while angle? And maybe also Pogo = Madame Giry. Vanya doesn’t really have any friends to be Meg.)

Part Four: It’s All About the Moon

So that is kind of the gist of The Phantom of the Opera as a window into Vanya’s self-narrative theory, but there are a couple of other loosely related ideas I thought I might as well bring up since this thing is already ridiculously long.

Remember how I mentioned the chandelier is like, THE scene from The Phantom of the Opera back in part one, and said it’d be relevant later? Bringing that back now, because I’m going to pull a Luther and connect everything to the moon.

So, to get the obvious out of the way, the moon exploding and the chandelier coming crashing to the stage are similar because something falls, breaks into a bunch of pieces, destroys a bunch of stuff, and creates a powerful and memorable image to close off before an act/season break (the next installment of which begins with a time jump).

Additionally, it’s worth mentioning that The Phantom of the Opera is told out of order. The opening scene shows a grown up Raoul at an auction for the items left behind after the opera house closes, and it switches to the past as the remains of the chandelier rise upwards to the ceiling, Phantom’s theme swelling (it’s a really cool moment, tbh). Following the prologue of The Umbrella Academy, we switch to the present with two images: Vanya alone on the stage, and then Luther alone on the moon. Which has a kind of symmetry that might mean nothing, but is still kind of cool.

(Also the item that Raoul buys from the auction is a music box with a monkey crashing symbols on top of it. Which might mean nothing.)

Part Five: How is she STILL talking about this? (AKA Conclusion)

To be honest, this is more a very tangled “things I noticed and thought were interesting” discussion than a formal essay with any clear thesis. While there is a chance that this was all coincidental and I’ve gone full Pepe Sylvia, the music selection in The Umbrella Academy is one of the things that they seem to be really deliberate about.

I would love to chat with anyone about this theory, so feel free to reach out in the notes or message me! My inbox is always open. Much love, and thank you for reading, if you got this far! ❤️

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uwua3 · 4 years ago

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your name (pt.1)

❄️📚 tsukioka tsumugi

part 1 — part 2 — part 3

summary: being an adult is tiring, tsumugi knows that all too well.

warnings: class divide (struggling financially), food

author’s note: this is the first ever series i’m doing! please anticipate the next installment of the “your name” series tomorrow :D i’m so excited to share this since part 01 is my first ever wip for a3 ever 🤍 please enjoy!

word count: 2,932

music: kimi no na wa soundtrack – radwimps

Running with reckless abandon, a boy trips amidst the bustling public traffic in the station, books flying out of his arms from the sheer force of his turn. Passer-bys barely spared a glance at the panicked tutor as he bent down to gather his academic papers, all imprinted by strangers’ shoes. In a moment of lifelong embarrassment, the world continued to spin as nothing rippled the fabric of time.

Murmurs spread across the crowd, daily small talk between people who would never see each other again on the complex train system. Students shared personal gossip too loud for their own good as their prestigious private academy skirts flew past him. Businessmen burdened themselves with client phone calls as they were all weighed down by the same leather briefcase. Employees wore their customer service mask, smiling politely before dropping their act immediately afterwards when they thought no one was looking. As expected, there was no time in the schedule to stop and help a recent university graduate out of his clumsy peril. Everyone was too distracted by their own problems to consider breaking their routine.

Perceptive by nature, Tsukioka Tsumugi didn’t need to glance at his watch to know he was late to his study session. The automated female voice sounded dull over the speakers, announcing his designated train was to depart in five minutes in a monotone attitude. Tokyo was a busy city with no mercy for those who didn’t plan every second of their future. That much was understandable by the aspiring teacher who quickly pulled out his outdated flip phone as he carefully eyed the assignments back in his possession.

A single tone rang before a drawl was heard in poor quality, with a shit–eating grin Tsumugi knew all too well.

“Tsumu, did you finally realize I don’t need your tutoring?” Settsu Banri mocked, the distinct background noises of his new video game obsession making Tsumugi speed walk even faster. With his books held tight against his chest, he sighed and almost pinched the bridge of his nose before realizing none of his hands were free. Placing the phone in between his shoulder and ear, Tsumugi rolled his eyes as he attempted to organize his mess.

“Banri-kun, please refer to me as Tsukioka-san. I am your senior by years, if I may remind you.” Tsumugi reprimanded, noting Banri’s agitated groan and muttered under his breath about the age difference between them. Unlike the other students Tsumugi tutored, Banri was defiant. Over–the–top, lazy, and arrogant—but deadly smart. Ever since Tsumugi carefully took off his shoes in the Settsus’ overpriced apartment, Banri took it upon himself to make his life a living hell by refusing to do the work but getting every question right. The only thing Banri cooperated with was talking about video games, which distracted him from his innate ability to be the best at everything. So on Friday afternoons, Tsumugi would visit to recap the weekly curriculum and try his best to stay patient with Banri’s snappy attitude.

“Why’d you call anyways? You’re late, by the way.” Banri pointed out right before Tsumugi fell through the two closing doors on the train, tumbling into a displeased but silent group as he gripped the overhead. Spectators only stared for a second before turning away as Tsumugi blushed under the attention, stammering back a half–assed apology of how he was going to be twenty minutes late for their session.

“Hold on, am I talking to the right person? Tsukioka Tsumugi, late? Real funny, just tell me you quit or something.” Banri feigned a bothered persona, but it was nice to pretend he was actually worried over the possibility of not seeing Tsumugi. Apologizing quickly to a corporate worker he bumped into, Tsumugi fixed the bag slung too low on his right shoulder as he took the phone back in his hand. At the same time, the zipper on his decade old bag gave out as it took his foot’s entire strength to keep the folders in place. Great, another thing to replace.

Staring outside the window, the school year was coming to a close as the heat of incoming summer air made him grip the phone in case of vicious sweat. “Banri–kun, you know I value our study sessions together.” He didn’t respond, just a resigned hmph before hanging up as Banri started swearing into his gaming headset. Tsumugi closed his eyes, getting his minutes of shut-eye for the first time in days as the sun glowed. Time didn’t stop for anyone, especially not Tsukioka Tsumugi.

After being greeted way too properly by the Settsu chain of servants, Tsumugi could hear the exaggerated game sound effects throughout the rather empty mansion. Walking carefully into Banri’s wide open door, Tsumugi grimaced at the sight of the energy drink cans crushed and thrown haphazardly near the trash can. Junk food wrappers were kicked underneath the expensive furniture as Banri was focused on his two–screen gaming setup. The rainbow LED keyboard was smashed expertly by Banri’s quick fingers all without looking down, getting him a #1 win as he boredly stared at the victory. As expected of NEO-san, a top league player. Or so Tsumugi’s heard by his other student, Taichi, who dramatically cries every time he loses against Banri.

“Banri-kun, please excuse my interruption.” Tsumugi announced, holding up the textbooks he had carried with a strained smile. Banri didn’t even look over as he logged off, saying something about GG to his teammate by the name of “Taruchi” before pushing the cat headset down around his neck. Spinning around in his black gamer chair, Banri raised one eyebrow at Tsumugi’s disheveled appearance panting slightly in the doorway. It was unlike his composed, proper tutor to be... like every young adult out there? Tsumugi didn’t seem like he had all the wisdom and knowledge in the world, he looked more... confused than anything.

“Geez, Tsumu. Didn’t think you’d sleep in, watched the meteor strike last night?” Banri smirked, rolling his chair across the room to his school desk as he put his legs up, stretching his arms beneath his head lazily. How he hadn't changed out of his white t-shirt and sweatpants was beyond Tsumugi as he sat in his normal chair silently, unlike the loud high schooler who glanced at the folder of work with a yawn. Grabbing some trendy bucket hat, Banri shoved the brim over his eyes as he took a break from the flashing neon blue light from his monitor.

“Meteor strike?” Tsumugi questioned innocently, attempting to hold conversation as Banri hummed a game soundtrack absentmindedly. Nodding, Banri pulled up his modern phone that made Tsumugi wince thinking of the price of that thing. Shoving the screen in front of Tsumugi’s wary red eyes, he blinked rapidly to adjust to the bright overpowering pixels. Tsumugi noticed an event marked that raved about the phenomenal light show the day before. Thinking back on the train incident this morning, Tsumugi remembered the excitement buzzing through the students a week prior as they whispered about a new chance to wear their best yukatas to celebrate. It had been so long since he was in school, that he completely forgot about all the childish euphoria that came with change.

“I must’ve slept through it. I didn’t notice at all.” Tsumugi admitted, tilting his head as he tried to remember the news every morning the past week. He couldn’t remember a single story of the astronomical event, although every day felt the same as usual. It was peculiar; Tsumugi was awake all night, too. He couldn’t sleep without his medication... maybe he should have looked up for once.

Taking his phone back to check the game notification popping up on screen, Banri chuckled as he shoved a stick of chocolate pocky in his mouth. “Mhmm, said it was a historical event n’ all. Supposed to be life-changing.” Banri offered bare minimum detail on anything and everything, but it was enough for Tsumugi to have a slight understanding as he set up the workspace. Banri noticed the distant look in Tsumugi’s eyes, the tiredness stifled underneath the graceful mannerisms as it looked like he was going through the motions. Attempting to lighten the mood, Banri’s voice came off meaner than he intended. “Aren’t you like? 25? How come you don’t know this stuff, you’re no boomer.”

Tsumugi frowned, glancing at Banri who looked away immediately with a flustered expression. Leave it to Banri to overthink whether or not he overstepped a boundary but refuse to acknowledge it. Tsumugi kept the meme going, sarcastically deadpanning, “Haha” before tossing a new eraser at Banri’s mushroom hair. Banri caught the gift in one hand easily as he slowly turned it over, turning his body to fully face his tutor. His feet dropped to the floor with a bang, startling Tsumugi to straighten his posture and stare directly into Banri’s curious face that had a glint of... concern?

“What’s all this? A gift to make me like you or something?” Banri jokes, nudging Tsumugi’s foot with his own. Tsumugi couldn’t help but notice the tight death grip Banri had on the small, game controller shaped eraser he had found at his full time work as a florist. Across the street was a one dollar convenience store, where teenage workers stood at the register on their phones as Tsumugi checked out the stationary. Wearing his dirt–stained apron, he remembered coming across miniature, adorable erasers that made him think of his students. Especially the red and blue Nintendo Switch joy con erasers that made Tsumugi think of Banri’s whole rant about the superiority of Fire Emblem: Three Houses’ Black Eagles for the potential wife girls. Sure, it was a hit on his already fragile bank account, but it was worth it to see Banri genuinely happy about something for once.

“You already do, I’m the longest tutor you’ve had.” Tsumugi didn’t need the thanks, because it was clear in the way Banri for once put something down without throwing it. Banri scoffed, mumbling a weak comeback as he flipped open his notebook. He even tossed his hat off his head, revealing the messy long hair tucked behind his ears. Oh, he did his homework for once, Tsumugi mused with satisfaction before trying to flip to the appropriate page in the school’s textbook. It was open to a section on meteors, and glossy colored pictures of the sky made Tsumugi’s eyes focus. The image seemed familiar. Perhaps he stared a moment too long, because Banri took the book himself and thumbed his way to the marked section, warily sparing a careful glance.

“Hey... you good? You don’t look... normal.” Banri roughly phrased, trying his best to emote like a normal human would. Tsumugi nodded, not convincing anyone he was off. Brushing his sweaty palms upon his jeans, Tsumugi pushed his hair back as he started reciting what he knew of the topic and reviewed the homework, failing to catch Banri’s attentive stare at Tsumugi’s cheap, hole-ridden pants and bag bursting at the seams.

Tsumugi went back on the same train. The people were the same, his schedule was the same. Banri was different today though, paid more attention today despite knowing it already. Maybe he just wanted to get it over with, probably some tournament tonight.

In the face of the orange sunset above the skyscrapers, Tsumugi walked home with a slow, natural pace that fit his time slot he allocated for transportation. The mental reminder allowed him to look up for once, seeing the birds fly together around the quieter part of the city as a golden haze reflected off the glass. Community members said their usual predictable greetings as he waved back, respectfully wishing good health to his elders and telling funny jokes to the youth playing sports. Yet, it didn’t bring him the fulfillment he got before when he was young. Being an adult, was tiring.

It was the same everyday, as Tsumugi left the residential area and climbed through the back alley to a slum part of town. Lights flickered as abandoned businesses creaked amidst the silence. He escaped the prying eyes of neighbors and unlocked the door to his dingy, unsafe apartment. Closing the door quietly, Tsumugi stared at the studio as silence overtook his surroundings. Dust floated in the golden hour as everything was where he exactly left it.

“Welcome home.” Tsumugi whispered, his own voice echoing in between his four walls. Alone, again. It was the same everyday.

Heating up the instant ramen expired in his cupboard, the microwave sparked every once in a while as Tsumugi leaned against the counter. Each surface he touched creaked with uncertainty, as if it didn’t know how long it could last. His one–room housing felt cramped despite the lack of furniture around Tsumugi. His run–down appliances, aged decor, and rising rent made the location even better as Tsumugi did the usual routine of eating half the calories he needed and staying up browsing job listings. This time, the ramen wasn’t as satisfying as the pastry Banri stuffed in his hand before he left.

“What’s this?” Tsumugi remembered asking, immediately feeling sick to his stomach once he saw Banri’s serious expression stare back at him. At the moment, it felt like Banri was his teacher. The sweet, strawberry mochi wrapped in plastic felt warm in his palm as Banri stood at the door of his own home, leading Tsumugi out with a gift.

“Mochi. You’re Japanese, dipshit. Just a thanks, I guess.” Banri bullshitted, rolling his eyes as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. Tsumugi noticed they began to fidget a little bit as Banri tapped his foot against the welcome mat. “School punk named Juza bakes or whatever, has a family business so thought you might like it. Or whatever.” Banri elaborated, using one hand to tug at the already loose v–neck collar of his week old t–shirt. Was that a blush Tsumugi saw on his rather indifferent student? No matter, it wasn’t his business to ask about a troublemaker turned pastry chef.

He’d make sure to thank his student next time he tutored him, which would be (Tsumugi checked the wall calendar disappointedly) next week. Banri was a good kid, even if he had his teenage angsty rebellion phase for a while now. Privileged kids liked doing that, pretending the whole world was against them despite having everything, Tsumugi thought bitterly. Even he was slightly surprised and caught off guard by his own pessimism, before the microwave beeped, signaling its task was done.

When Tsumugi tried to pull open the door, the handle snapped off and a quiet sigh escaped Tsumugi’s lips. Guess no dinner for tonight, then. Tsumugi didn’t have enough fight in him to care, so he dropped the handle onto the counter with a clatter. Inside this studio room, there was nothing for Tsumugi here. Not even his own food.

So, Tsumugi sat down on the couch that groaned beneath his weight. Except, it wasn’t his own body that made his sofa creak—it was the stack of papers needing to be graded in his arms. With a red pen tucked behind his ear, Tsumugi began marking his students’ work. A minute passed before Tsumugi quickly turned the television on, letting the sound of the news distract him from the unbearable loneliness.

Sure, it was going to increase his bills but... the money would be worth it to make his thoughts quiet for a moment. Tsumugi had a job to do, and he wouldn’t let his mindset get in the way. Being an adult was something else, indeed.

When had he fallen asleep?

Tsumugi blinked slowly, finding that his cheek was resting against a substantially smaller stack. Another pile that was distinctly red ink was on the other cushion, the pen without its cap rolled across the carpet. Tsumugi subconsciously winced when he realized the T.V. was on, the same channel on in the background.

Lifting his head, Tsumugi tried to comprehend the visual of the screen through his blurry vision. Tsumugi’s glasses must’ve dropped somewhere; he hoped he didn’t step on them. From what he could hear, the duo of news anchors were animatedly discussing some supernatural phenomenon tonight. Tsumugi rubbed his eyes, leaning closer to the small box screen ahead.

There was no way he possibly heard that correctly. Yet, there it was on the T.V.: “Historical Meteor Shower Tonight!” in big bold letters at the bottom. Tsumugi could remember Banri talking about something like this, but it had occurred last night. Was there another one? How common was it for two meteor showers within a span of mere hours? Sitting up, Tsumugi watched the pair talk about the light show.

“This is said to be the first event of its kind in Japan!” The host exclaimed, the screen switching to a picture of the meteors. A sense of familiarity struck Tsumugi once more, the same feeling when he had seen Banri’s textbook earlier that day. “It’s said to be life–changing—” The other one replied, Tsumugi’s wide eyes focused on every single passing word and image. Could deja vu possibly last this long?

As Tsumugi fumbled for his phone, he made his way out onto his balcony. Something inside him was telling him to get some air as Tsumugi dialed Banri’s number. Before Tsumugi could confirm the call, a bright light appeared out of the corner of his eye.

Tsumugi looked up to see two bright meteors splitting from one another. At the sight, Tsumugi’s phone landed upon the balcony floor.

#tsukioka tsumugi #tsumugi tsukioka #a3! act! addict! actors!#a3!#act! addict! actors!#a3! actor training game #mankai a3!#mankai company #a3! x reader #a3 x reader #tsumugi x reader #a3! tsumugi #a3 tsumugi

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district2001 · 4 years ago

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Fake Fan

Seventeen AU: 14th member

ERA: An Ode/ Fear

Jangmi x SVT

Recap: Jangmi deals with an unpleasant situation at a fansign, and takes it a lot worse than she expected

Words: 1.3k

AN: Requests are OPEN: Please please please send me what you want to see from Jangmi. I’m also open to feedback :)

Let me know if you want a part 2 on the members reactions

CHECK OUT MY MASTERLIST FOR MORE JANGMI CONTENT XX

“OMG We have matching earrings!” Jangmi squealed as she continued signing the carats album, adding a quick ‘twinning’ alongside her autograph.

Seventeen were currently smack bang in the middle of the ‘An Ode’ promotions, and their schedule was packed with music shows, radio interviews and fan signs. The latter being her favourite. She could secretly eat snacks, mess up the performance as much as she pleased as well as spill some of the tea with Carats.

She waved goodbye the fan, before taking a sip of her water whilst waiting for the next fan to move along. She was squashed between Mingyu and Hoshi, who had both decided that would be super loud and annoying today. She grabbed one of the feather boas near Mingyu and wrapped it around her neck. It definitely didn’t match her leather suit, but the bright pink allowed her to stand out from the rest of the members. As if being the only girl wasn’t enough.

She turned to face the next carat, who was still talking to Mingyu. Must be their bias, she thought. Jangmi continued waving at the fans back in their seat, making stupid faces to them.

One of their staff came up behind her and tugged the boa, so it came off her neck. Jangmi turned around to face them, whilst pouting.

“Nice try.” They teased, ruffling her hair slightly, but not enough to ruin the difficult task their hairstylists had this morning. They then ushered the fan who was still with Mingyu, to move over to Jangmi.

“Hi, how are you today? Is Mingyu your bias?” Jangmi asked. Whilst trying to grabs the fans hands to hold. But they just shoved their hands back.

Strange. Jangmi thought. But then again not everyone wants to hold hands.

“He’s my favourite person in the entire world.” The fan declared, a smile on her face from ear to ear.

Jangmi politely smiled. “He’s a good bias to have. I mean did you see the amount of content he gives carats. Mukbangs after emceeing every weekend. I think Joshua’s stans are in a continuous drought.”

Jangmi reached over to grab the album, but the fan once again pulled it out of the way, hugging it tightly

“Do you bias him” they asked cautiously.

Jangmi tilted her head, at the strange question. “Ofcourse I do.” She then lowered her voice into a whisper. “He’s my favourite member.”

The last comment, which was meant to be a joke, clearly hadn’t turned into one, since the fan was furrowing her eyebrows at Jangmi.

Jangmi awkwardly looked around, trying to find a way to diffuse the tension. She couldn’t think of anything, so she leaned over to get the album- to sign- since it was technically a fansign.

What she didn’t expect was the ‘carat’ to thwart her hand away.

“Stop throwing yourself at Mingyu, you little slut. I know he’s your boyfriend” They whispered, loud enough only for Jangmi to hear.

“He’s- He’s not?” It can out more like a question then a statement. Jangmi furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

The fan quickly grabbed Jangmi’s hands, and squeezed them a little too tightly, for her liking. She tried pulling away, but they started digging their nails into her skin.

“I don’t even understand what he sees in you. You’re just a little fat fuck who is free-riding on Seventeens success. Don’t think you’re better than anyone else. You don’t deserve his heart”

Jangmi widened her eyes, trying to silently motion for the staff to come over. Where were they when she needed them.

“Please let go of me before I call security.” She firmly said, hoping they didn’t catch the little quiver in her voice.

The fan leaned over closer and sneered, tightening their grip on her arms. “Do it, I dare you. Bring more attention towards the truth.”

She was weighing up her options, when Hoshi suddenly interrupted her train for thought. “Jangmi, don’t steal all our carats.”

“I’m not.” Jangmi scoffed, holding up her hands which were still being held by their fan. “She’s not letting go.”

“Not her fault everyone loves her.” Mingyu chimed, causing the fans eyes to widen.

“Do you love Jangmi?” The fan asked quickly, tripping over their words.

Mingyu, being the most unobservant person on the planet replied with a simple “obviously,” whilst leaning his head on Jangmi’s shoulder.

Jangmi tried pushing him off to not make the situation worse, but the damage was done once the fan let go of her hands and stood up on their chair.

“Everyone” She yelled, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and look at her. “Mingyu just confirmed that he loves Jangmi.”

Jangmi held her breath, waiting for the crowd and staff to go crazy.

They did not.

They just laughed, and went back to doing what they were doing before the interruption.

Jangmi mentally laughed. Why was she even worried? Carats were so used to dating rumours with her and her members. Legit. They don’t even trust Dispatch anymore.

Unfortunately, her happiness was short lived, when the fan started yelling again. Except this time, instead of spilling the tea, she was calling Jangmi out for being a shitty human being.

“What does Mingyu even see in that talented bitch?” All the members stopped signing again, with Seungcheol pre-empting the situation and alerting security.

“Mingyu’s never going to be yours. You can’t sing. Can’t dance. Can’t rap. You can’t even speak Korean. Plus you look like you need to go on a diet. You’d probably have been kicked out already if you were in a kpop girlgroup.”

Hoshi quickly stood up, pulling Jangmi with him, and stood infront of her, shielding her from the fan.

“Ignore it.” He whispered, not breaking the deathgare he was shooting at their fan.

The fan’s rant was cut short by security asking her politely to get down from the stool and walk off stage.

Jangmi felt someone’s hands wrap around her shoulders, and she leant into their embrace, slightly embarrassed for being the centre of this whole ordeal.

“You know what?” The fan screamed at their security. “I don’t want this shitty album anyway. Since her medicore vocals are on it.” She pointed her finger at Jangmi before hurling the CD towards her.

Jangmi, who was too busy looking at her members reactions, didn’t have enough time to process what was happening. And before she knew it, she felt the sharp corner of their album hit her cheek, before crashing on the floor.

Hoshi quickly turned around to face his maknae and cupped her slightly red cheeks. “Are you okay?” He asked worriedly, quickly scanning her face for any signs of distress.

She nodded while biting her lip, trying not to show any emotion. That was the first rule of fansigns; make it a positive and fun environment for carats.

She felt the arm around her shoulder pull her towards the side of the stage, and she didn’t object. Instead she grabbed one of the signs she was gifted as shielded herself from the fans.

“Thanks Hannie” She whispered, as they walked off the stage.

Hannie’s arm was replaced by their managers, who guided her to the nearest couch.

“Go back onstage. And tell everyone that everything’s under control.”

“Can’t I stay with Jangmi for a little while.” Jeonghan pleaded, but one look of their managers face made it clear that it was no point arguing.

Jeonghan quickly untied her high ponytail and took out all the bobby pins, before running his fingers through her hair. “Just relaxed for a bit. Don’ worry we can handle the rest of the fansign.”

He quickly ran back on stage, but not before turning around and giving her a thumbs up.

Her manager came back over to give her a bottle of cold water, which she gladly accepted.

It’s not like she hadn’t received hate comments before. She was basically the only girl in a group full of guys. Not to mention that they were all considered visuals, and she-well the fan was right- definitely did not fit into any of the beauty standards of the industry.

But she had never really had to deal with a hater in person before, especially right in front of her. Usually, they just talked shit on the internet, and she could give a snarky reply from her secret fan account.

This was different. Everyone heard it. And she was so sure it would be the talk of the town for the next few weeks. Pledis would make a statement, the members would be ultra protective of her and her parents would once again question her decision of being an idol. Fucking fantastic!

She heard Seungcheol making a statement, and fans screaming back towards him. She heard a few ‘I love You’s’ and ‘Jangmi’s,’ but she honestly was a bit over the situation, to really understand what was happening.

As she sunk deeper into the couch, she accepted the fact that she was not ok after this ordeal. But she’d have to keep on a brave face. Considering the end of promotions was nowhere near in sight.

Next: Hyung Line’s Reaction

#seventeen #svt #seventeen fic #seventeen imagine #svt imagine #svt fic #seventeen angst #seventeen 14th member #seventeen au #seventeen oc #svt oc #kpop oc #female member kpop #kpop additional member #kpop additional female member #kpop #hate

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thedeviltohisangel · 4 years ago

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Good Days, Bad Days//1//

“You have it,” she whispered after a moment of silence. There was a gentle breeze that wove itself between them as if to capture the agreement they had come to and carry it somewhere they could neve break it. Clara could see in his eyes that he was being serious. That he wanted her to understand that because they wore camo and she didn’t, didn’t mean one was more expendable than the other.

masterlist is my url/writing

accepting requests for these two

She wasn’t sure what she was expecting. Everyone had told her not to think it would be like Jack Ryan when she got there but she couldn’t help it. There was no way to characterize how you would find the desert when you landed there so no one had really tried. They told her what it wouldn’t be, not what it would be. It was quiet. It was lonely. It was twelve hour days and short showers and nothing but the gym to keep her busy. She did her job and she did it well. Using her spotty network connection to research locals and their networks. Developing target packages for the case officers that worked around her and anxiously awaiting her turn to go into the field.

“Did you hear Leo met with the source you found last night?” That perked her up as she was picking over some chicken thighs at her desk.

“Yeah? Get anything good?” Leo was due to rotate out soon. She had been gearing herself up to ask about taking over his assets once he did.

“Don’t know. Debrief in an hour. You should be there.” She didn’t need to be told twice. Forcing a couple more bites into her mouth, she ran back to her housing unit to brush her hair, teeth and reapply deodorant. And after a pep talk to her reflection, she was ready. She stood towards the back of the room and hid partially behind the shoulder of a guy in camo. Her hope was to blend in, not draw any attention to herself. Listen and learn. That was the mode she was in.

“Alright, listen up. Last night we made positive contact with a lower level associate of Asif Ilyas. Through strong execution of tradecraft we are one step closer to taking down one of the most wanted terrorists. I’ll let Leo Davis up here to talk specifics and next steps.” She listened to the mission recap with full attention and smiling when her background work was highlighted as one of the keys to mission success.

“We’ve now encountered a problem. The associate said that one of Ilyas’ wives might be open for recruitment. She will only meet with another woman, only speaks Arabic and can only meet in the tribal areas.” Clara looked around the room and noticed there was an underwhelming amount of women. She assumed even less than them had the language skills and the defense skills that a remote meeting in a hostile environment would require.

“I think Clara fits all those requirements.” She froze as her colleague from before spoke up and everyone turned to look at her. “She did the background work on this op anyways so she’s already up to speed. She got a perfect score on the Arabic language test and the guys at the shooting range said she makes it look natural.” Clara felt like shriveling up and dying. While it was true she didn’t want to be the girl behind the computer for her entire career, she didn’t want to be the center of attention either.

“Is this all true Miss…?”

“Nilsen. And, yes. Sir.”

“Perfect. Problem solved. We start now.”

----

It hurt when she was taken off her desk. Her instincts were telling her to dive into her research and start acquainting herself with the source and what her knowledge pool would be. But her superiors had told her she needed to get better with her self defense and to leave the research to the analysts.

“This is Captain William Miller. He’ll be leading your escort to the tribal regions and his team will be at the ready in case anything goes south.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Ma’am.” She took his hand, which was large and calloused, and took note of his firm grip.

“You as well.” It was hard to keep eye contact with him. His eyes were blue and his jaw was strong and he was looking at her in a way no one had in a long time.

“I want you to train with him and his men until everything else is in place. He’ll keep me updated on your progress and we won’t send you in until he thinks you’re ready. That clear?”

“Yes, sir.” He nodded once and then turned back the way they had come, leaving them to it.

“How comfortable are you around firearms?” Will asked as he started to lead her towards the range.

“Very. I completed all the operational qualifications prior to my arrival here.” He stopped.

“I didn’t ask how well you scored on the exam.”

“Are you asking me if a gun feels like an extension of myself when I fire it?” She continued to wither under his gaze as he kept silent. “The answer is no. But I’m sure you’re capable of fixing that for me.”

“I can. But I need you to know that me and my team are tired of dealing with CIA dipshits who like to run around a warzone like they own it. You all might be used to playing God but it puts our lives on the line when you do it. I need your assurance you’ll keep both your feet on the ground while we are working together.”

“Good. Then let’s get started.”

----

For the next few days, Will didn’t even let her fire a gun. He had her taking them apart and putting them back together and doing it until her hands were cramped. But she learned quickly. She got faster every time. More nimble. More focused. She ignored him when he tried to talk to her while she was doing it. Ignored his teasing whenever she had a misstep. Didn’t buckle under the pressure when others gathered around to watch. On day four, she finished putting it back together and took a step back from the table.

“I need a quick water break. Then I’ll be back at it,” she said as she waited for his permission to go and sit.

“Fire it.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Test how well you put it together. Fire it at that target,” he was pointing towards a metal circle a couple hundred meters away. Clara picked up the weapon with confidence, squared her shoulders and pulled the trigger. It pinged off the center of the target perfectly. “Again.” She did so until it clicked empty, placing the gun back on the table and looking at Will expectantly.

“Satisfied?” His face didn’t show any signs of emotion as he continued to look at her.

“Be quick with the water break. Then we go again.” He walked away from her with his usual saunter that annoyed her to no end. He was broad yet so tight and moved with a grace a man of his size should not be able to possess. Clara did not go into her line of work because she was someone who sought praise. She knew that didn’t come with this territory. But there was something about Will that made her want that. She wanted him to tell her she was progressing. Wanted him to tell her she was doing better than he had given her credit for. That, soon, she would be ready.

“Don’t worry. He’s extra stoic when he’s happy.” Gavin, one of the other guys from the team, was popping grapes into his mouth as he strolled over to her with a bottle of water.

“Thanks,” she took it and drank half, “I don’t care. Just as long as I obtain whatever skills needed for him to sign off on me and this op.”

“I’m sure you’re doing fine. And we’ll be with you the whole time. That's more so what his job is about. Can we trust you to have our back? Not drag us into an ambush.”

“Well if that’s the case, I should be allowed back at my desk to do the work. I feel useless out here when I could be back there, knowing my source and understanding their access to the target.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” She turned to see Will had made his way back. He was standing with his hands on his hips, head tilted in disappointment. “You are the target. That’s why you are here learning how to shoot. How to protect and how to kill.”

“I’m not dense, Captain. I understand they’re the enemy and we are on their turf.” She hopes he wasn’t implying that she was losing sight of what she had come there to do. He could never understand her commitment to the cause. The time she had dedicated to be able to stand before him in that moment. To get her shot at doing something meaningful for her country.

“I don’t think you do. I think-” he abruptly shut his mouth and shook his head as if he was trying to get rid of the thoughts that resided in there. “Forget it. Let’s just get back to what we were doing.”

“No. I want to hear what you think.” She didn’t think she’d be able to carry on it if she didn’t.

“It’s best we just keep things professional from here on out.”

“Fine.” If she imagined his face on the target for the rest of the day, he didn’t need to know that either.

----

Will was looking at the words on the page but he wasn’t reading them. He was thinking about today. How he had lost his cool, if only for a split second, and how he wishes he could shove his words back into a box and shove them under his cot. He doesn’t know if he meant what he said. Doesn’t know because he didn’t want to know her. He didn’t want to get to know Clara and what drove her to do what she did. What made her wake up in the morning. What had inspired her to learn to pull a trigger with such ferocity. It only made the necessary detachment all the harder.

“You wanna talk about what almost happened today?” Will raised one eyebrow and didn’t spare the soldier a glance.

“Just like you said. Almost happened. Nothing to talk about.”

“The point is for there to be numbness between you two. Nothing. Even animosity has the potential to derail this whole thing.” He dropped his book onto his chest with a sigh. It didn’t look like he could avoid this conversation.

“I don’t want to watch her die.” That shut up his interrupter. The past agents that Will had escorted to the tribal regions hadn’t made it back. They stuck out like sore thumbs and asked hard questions up front and kept twitching their hand towards the gun tucked to their side. He didn’t think he could watch it again. Carry her body back to the airfield and know he failed one more time.

“She’s good, man. Maybe tomorrow you start actually looking at how she’s doing instead of trying to ignore her. Might put your fears at ease.” Will felt his hand hit his shoulder in a comforting slap before he was left alone again with his book and his thoughts.

The next day, he tried his best to stay relaxed and focused while Clara worked her way through the tactical course they all trained on. He watched her find the targets easily and hide from their line of sight like it was second nature. But he still couldn’t let his guard down. Complacency was the real enemy out here and he’d been working double time every day to keep it at bay.

“Good job. You were partially exposed on that last choke point but overall don’t think you would’ve gotten yourself killed.” Clara laughed at the way he formed what she thought was his version of a compliment.

“Thanks.” She doesn't know what happened overnight but she was enjoying the new leaf he had turned over. Today he was more vocal. Telling her not only what she was doing wrong but also what she was doing right. He was still a man of mystery but she thinks she had managed to crack him just a little bit. “Are you going to the volleyball game tonight?” she asked after a few moments of silence. She thinks she would have remembered seeing someone as handsome as him at one of the morale events and he didn’t seem like the type but she was going to seize on her opportunity to crack further.

“Wasn’t planning too.”

“Well, you should. It’d be good for you to smile on occasion. Watching these idiots throw themselves around might do that.” He chuckled and looked at her with a smile that melted away all of her confidence.

“You’ll be there?” She hummed affirmatively. “Then save me a seat.”

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