#the post I talked about emphasized ‘pls just call it something else’

[spectroscopic-binary]

Just saw a post that was an image of someone drinking something out of a beaker with the beaker labeled “super hitler serum” and the person labeled “white people when natives ask them not to say w******”

And I just think it’s a bad comparison and all around not the best way to convey the point you’re trying to make. (Also I had no idea what the word was, had to parse enough info from the tags and reblogs to find it on Google. For others who are clueless, it “is a mythological creature or evil spirit originating from Algonquian folklore.”)

But I thought that the premise of the post was really interesting and could (should?) open up discussions about which mythological creatures are being used disrespectfully and should be given back to the cultures they originate from, and which are “fair use” so to speak. I only recently learned about the origin of zombies. They are a Haitian myth, which come from the idea of your body continuing to work under someone else’s will after you have died, after your soul has left your body. It’s deeply rooted in slavery and after learning that, it does feel disrespectful, the way zombies are portrayed in media. I don’t have any sort of conclusion to this long post but I feel like it’s food for thought and maybe can open up conversations

[ad-hawkeye]

ok so it's lit student again and im like, already lacking sleep but instead of sleeping i'm gonna go catch up on all of artem's cards Just Bc like i genuinely have no idea why it's always in the dead of night that i get hit with an overwhelming wave of adoration for artem?? i'm about to start YAPPING in your inbox again im so sorry DHAKDJKS *does it anyway*

continuing off my last ask they me think of the movie i watched recently called "past lives" that's fully centered around the concept of fate (it's so good 10/10 i really want to see artem review it),,, i won't spoil but it's like hshsjadhsjhdjshs "destined by fate" but fate doesn't tell you what it holds for you??

after watching it i looked up more about the term "inyeon" (korean term for fate or providence) which the movie heavily emphasizes on and found a reddit post talking about it (i'll paste the link below <3) where they quote a comment explaining its meaning and what it says is that inyeon isn't just about the person you're destined to end up with, but also the people you encounter in your life. basically, with inyeon, your string of fate isn't simply linear but also looped around every person you'll interact with. to reach the person at the end of your "string of fate," you're supposed to treat each interaction with respect or else you'll never find them AND LEARNING THIS MADE ME LOVE THE MOVIE EVEN MORE 🥹🥹🥹

a lot of destiny tropes give the characters an easy way to end up together kinda like the opposite of "doomed by the narrative" as in they could do simply nothing and still find their way to each other, but to reference the comment from earlier: your destiny doesn't end the moment your meet your "destined one." artemrosa learned so much and worked so hard before they became a couple a d still continue to grow both individually and together even after they started dating 🥹 they're still the same precious individuals that they were in their pre-dating arc, only wiser and stronger with combined forces 🫶 they aren't together just because fate wanted them to be, they Made it happen and they're still Making it happen‼️ something something every choice i made, every path i took (indirectly and directly) led me to you

like. i genuinely wanna know more about how they met/knew each other in college because it's SO fascinating to me that their paths have crossed so many times, and they don't just simply get together. a lot of things happen that they learn from that shapes them into their best versions that also complement each other. to me it's like,, no matter what happens, what they feel for each other or how the end up, their paths will always be destined to cross, whether it's by brushing past each other on the street and never meeting again or becoming each other's partners both in work and in life and as seen from the different universes that hoyo has shown us so far, we can see that they always end up becoming each other's most cherished person, despite the varying journies that led them to that point WUAWUAWUA

pls enjoy my rambling i might actually pass out from this 😭 good fucking NIGHT

p.s. this was not written with the proposal card in mind god bless 🙏 that's an example of "it happened bc the gods demanded it and they sent a lightning bolt down to everyone who opposed it"

https://www.reddit.com/r/redikomi/comments/16drqze/the_meaning_of_fate_in_yeon_%EC%9D%B8%EC%97%B0_in_korean/

omg shut up i literally read this AFTER replying to your last ask and we literally came to the exact same conclusion HAHAHAHA OMG NO WAY. SUFFICE TO SAY. YEAH. I ENTIRELY AGREE WITH ALL OF THIS.

THIS SPECIFIC SUBVERSION OF THE RED STRING TROPE is WHY i love it in artem's route!! ohhh it's so GOOOODDDD YOU HAVE TO WORK FOR IT!! YOU HAVE TO BECOME BETTER PEOPLE!! my ass in 2021 would not shut UP about this and dear god im not going to shut up about it right now.

i just want to say you not only took the words out of my mouth but you also made them more concise and well said and ooughhh. Artem Fans. read this. NOW. you will all look at this post. oh im dizzy. oh im going so insane.

[kouhaiofcolor]

Like it be sounding so put on. Not that I’m saying fat ppl experience no mistreatment by society, but. Girl ain’t no way you give a fuck about fat black ppl, stoppit. 🧢😂You wouldn’t even mention them if it wasn’t a set up for the cult-ish gatekeeping you’re about to follow up w as to who has a voice for xyz & to what extent within the community anyhow. Everything’s not comparable to racism; esp not antiblack racism. Very few concepts hold a candle to how globally harmful antiblackness is, bffr. Also, it’s weird that racism is so top-tier for them to reference when it’s convenient to use as an example of something they perceive as “adjacent” to what mistreatment they experience day to day contingent on their weight — yet they do not discuss racism this transparently or by itself if it’s not something they can play up a proximity to. Lol interesting.

Like can yall pls stop trying to equate antiblackness as synonymous w fatphobia. You can make the same points ab social inequalities unique to being overweight w/o using antiblackness as some sort of "topic garnish"🙄. They are literally not at all the same things — even tho, yes, there is certainly intersectionality between being discriminated against for being both plus-sized and Black. Esp for Black Women. Absolutely. But this is not the “two sides of the same coin” matter that yall are making it out to be. Like at all. As a white woman, you are not at all — even on the worst kind of day, let me emphasize — affected by fatphobia the way women whom are the least protected and most casually dehumanized are. Period. If that offends you, ask yourself why. Why does it bother you to not be depicted as someone who suffers most on this? Pipe down.

I’ve also noticed that the, “Fatphobia is extensively or entirely racist” stance is also the same preface they use to bring up plus sized black women in general. It’s the only time they ever mention them so casually, actually. 😂And then there’s all the internal discourse over being “straight-sized”or “midsize” & how losing weight or just taking up healthy habits in the interest of bettering your health & posting ab it is incredibly problematic to them? I be having to scratch my head. White women make these conversations absolutely exhausting to even just spectate or respectfully listen in on. I’d rather hear anyone else’s perspective/take on the matter but theirs, bc they certainly talk the most and loudest while assuming the wildest control and authority no one assigned them over this group. But call it cultish & they lose their shit lol.

They’ll compare fatphobia to racism, identify w that as a basis of prejudice that somehow affects them disproportionately — and then negate that their whiteness not only provides but secures them any sort of racial privilege in the same breath. You’re still a white woman, girl; being fat does not negate that. Even fat, you still belong to a racial group of women whom are by far thee most protected and esteemed in the world — no matter how little of that consideration you might actually deserve when you think ab how easily y’all tend to totally overlook or forget about that.

These are just some of the wilder stances I’ve watched them defend with their teeth:

Before and after pics are fatphobic. Fatphobia stems from the Atlantic Slave Trade. “Health at Every Size” — but you better be fat-fat and not little-fat if you have any sort of stance or personal opinion on obesity. Don’t talk about the health issues you have due to being overweight; that’s basically weight loss propaganda. You owe it to the following you amassed online for just happening to be fat or for consciously promoting fat acceptance to STAY, FAT. At all costs. It’s ok to lose weight by accident or like if you’re sick but if you so much as fucking dream about losing weight intentionally wheeeeew bitch you fucking traitor bitch😮‍💨. people fail 99.99% of dieting attempts; what’s the point if you’ll inevitably gain all the weight back? Doctors are always gonna tell you you need to lose weight bc healthcare is just fatphobic. Why is there no positive representation of obesity?? Where do obese children get to see themselves in cartoons or movies or tv shows in a positive light? The floor plan of my apartment is fatphobic. Airlines are fatphobic. Dating apps are fatphobic. There are wage disparities between what thin ppl are paid versus what fat ppl are paid.

They've made it a circus gatekept by the same white feminism that reduces them to little more than the obesity they stan. All by themselves.

So here lately I’ve taken a nose-dove into learning what fat acceptance is in context (just to educate myself honestly), & w/o looking to stir controversy, i am so tired of white women who are part of this movement having go-to takes on fatphobia that compare it directly (or eventually; it always seems to comes around) to racism. 😭 like I could not take them less seriously than when they thoughtlessly get ready to compare what they negatively experience about their weight to the literal history (*of ppl who look nothing like them, at that) being dehumanized & slaughtered for centuries bc of the color of their skin — in the name of white supremacy 🫠

To me this is so genuinely tone deaf. Ima follow up.

[whoopsieintheuniverse]

Headcanon Time!

Yeeeeaaaaahhhhhh I’m writing for Naruto again!

Kisame Headcanons

NSFW under the cut so Imma need the minors to not go under there. Thnks. 

Very polite, mhm. 

This is kind of canonical, but I just wanna emphasize how polite Mr. Hoshigaki is. He will kick your ass in training and then tell you to have a good day and genuinely mean it. 

He’s also just not very judgmental, which is probably due to how he was raised. 

I headcanon that Kisame had a very country, almost hilly-billy like family. In canon, there are no Hoshigaki names on memorials in his village; they’ve been expunged. I don’t know why but that’s some Hatfield-McCoy type shit. The Hoshigakis were menaces to society for no particular reason, and Kisame just had to go with the family.

After seeing what he’s seen, yeah Kisame is not judging you at all. 

Talks to Samehada and knows its responses like the back of his hand.

I think the bond to Samehada and its user works similarly to Venom and Eddie Brock. 

That shit is a symbiote and you cannot change my mind. 

A FULLY SENTIENT SWORD?? THAT HAS FOOD TASTE PREFERENCES??? yeaaaaahhh your honor, that’s a symbiote. 

Sometimes, who Kisame trains with is dependent on what chakra Samehada has a taste for that day. Kisame definitely soils her. Talks to her like a dog when no one is looking. 

Itachi has seen it. He says nothing, but he think it’s cute. 

Because of the bond between him and Samehada, I think Kisame can kind of taste chakra, too. He’s been bonded to the sword so many times that he has some of its powers even when not formally bonded together.

Kisame can swim, but he can’t fish.

 It makes no sense, but Kisame is terrible at fishing. He isn’t all that patient, and sedentary activities like that don’t strike his fancy all that much. 

Itachi is convinced that sometimes Kisame scares the fish away on purpose. 

As for swimming, Kisame, of course, is a strong swimmer, but did you know that wasn’t always the case? 

Kisame couldn’t swim all that well until he hit the ninja academy. I definitely think his family just chucked him into the water, and poor baby was pretty sure he was drowning until he remembered his gills. 

I think the “fussy, nervous kid growing up into a laid-back adult” trope is just funny, and it fits Kisame in my mind. 

Instigatorrrrrrrr. 

Again, pretty canonical, but one of Kisame’s favorite hobbies is starting shit. 

The rest of the Akatsuki is sooooo used to hearing him pipe up,” You just gonna take that?” during an argument. 

Itachi tries to get him to stop with one of his patented “Uchiha glares” but pouring fuel on a fire is too good for Kisame sometimes. 

Besides, he doesn’t do it often. More of just messing around. The Akatsuki is really the first place Kisame has been more comfortable of being himself and not just a weapon or tool, so his personality really has a tendency to chime through when he finds something funny amongst the members. 

In addition to this, Kisame also is very physical in a big-brother way. Very much will give Deidara a noogie. Is also the king of the shoulder-bump thing guys do when they pass you. Kisame is your annoying frat-brother confirmed. 

To go with the above, Kisame has not had many friends.

He didn’t allow himself to have friends. Thought they were liabilities. 

As such, even though Kisame will consider you a friend in his mind, he will be very independent. 

This is because he still struggles with the “shinobi have no friends” mentality, and because he doesn’t want his friends to think he can’t handle himself. 

To Kisame, if he isn’t firing at 500%, he isn’t good enough and other people will think that as well. 

Pls tell him he’s good. 

***********************NSFW CONTENT BELOW!!***************

 NSFW Kisame Headcanons

Get into it, yuh

Firm believer in “attitude adjustments”. 

Like, if there’s something seriously wrong, of course he’s not gonna be one of those guys that just pop it out unprompted. However. 

You feeling bad, babe? Shooot, let your man fix it. Hidan pissed you off? Yeah, let him make it all better. That movie made you sad? Sit on his lap and tell him alllll about it.

Let. Him. Pin. You. Down.

Kisame has such a huge thing for immobilizing his partner. Not even in a bondage way, but definitely with his body. Gets him hot for sure. 

It also makes him feel all mushy that you trust him enough to let him have that control. Think about it. You trust him, a missing-nin, a mercenary, and whatever else people call him. Despite everything he’s done and everything he’s been through, you still trust him and love him. Makes Kisame love you more each time.

Adventurous in bed. 

The Kama Sutra is a checklist for Kisame. No, I will not accept criticism, and no, I will not take it back. 

Every time, it’s kind of interesting to see what positions Kisame will think of next. 

He can’t help it! He loves every part of you, so of course he wants to see and touch and taste everything. One minute, you’re face to face and the next minute, he’s slinging you into a different  position. Just how it is babes. 

He will look out to not stress or stretch your body in any ways you can’t take, especially if you’re not a shinobi. 

Kisame has a thing for being used by his partner.

Now let me explain. To put it lightly, sit on his face. Use him as a dildo every once in a while. Take what you want from him, pls. 

Kisame just wants you to be completely satisfied by him. Using his body to get off like that is just *static noises*. Please just top him once in a while, I promise he will love it. 

So sweet after.

Kisame is not stupid. He knows his stamina is crazy, and he knows he’s rough.

Gives the best massages! Let him work out those knots he’s put into your back.

Likes to cuddle. He’s touch-starved and the first time you curled up to him, it freaked him the hell out. After that though? If you don’t cuddle up to him post-coitus, he’s going to assume something’s wrong unless you tell him otherwise.  

He also likes little forehead kisses and kisses on his shoulders. Don’t tell the guys, he has a reputation to keep.

[fonulyn]

Omg pls write that last prompt on sleepy Leon. That shit is adorable. Ofc once you're no longer burned out. Gotta make sure you're taking care of yourself first you absolute legend.

oh you absolute darling you 💖 i am wholly undeserving.

also, I'm not sure which part of the ask/answer/post you're referring to, so... some generally sleepy Leon? :'D if you were thinking of something else feel free to throw me another message haha

somehow today is apparently an ot3 day.

-

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Leon protested, yawning so widely that it looked decidedly uncomfortable. He frowned, squeezing his eyes shut once, twice, three times in the way that was a telltale sign of them being dry enough that he was trying to make them work properly. Despite that, he just lifted his chin little, huffing “I’m not even sleepy.”

“Yeah, sure,” Chris said, amusement and affection clear in his tone. Easily he grabbed the cup of coffee Leon was aiming for and held it out of his reach, handing it over to Piers who nonchalantly took a long sip. “No coffee for you,” he went on, ignoring the grumble from Leon. “You’re going straight to bed and sleeping for a week.”

“I told you,” Leon said. Then he promptly yawned again, a shudder going through him right after, and yet he stubbornly blinked at the other two. He was probably trying to glare, really, but it didn’t exactly work out so well. “I’m not even sleepy.”

Instead of even giving him an answer, Chris turned to Piers and they exchanged a look that promised nothing good. Piers gave a shrug, and Chris seemed to take it as permission as the next thing Leon knew he was being hauled up over Chris’ shoulder and unceremoniously carried towards the bedroom. “I can hear you!” he called, mock-annoyed, but that only made Piers cackle even louder.

Within a minute Leon was dumped onto the mattress of their gigantic bed, and despite his protests he was tired enough that he didn’t protest when Chris practically manhandled him underneath the covers and made sure he was properly tucked in. Leon kind of expected to be left alone, then, but instead of that Chris climbed in bed with him, shifting until he was so close Leon could curl up against him.

Soon enough the mattress dipped behind him, and Piers settled comfortably on the other side of him, with an arm thrown around his waist. It was wholly impossible for Leon to keep his eyes open, anymore, so he let them slide shut and relaxed in the shared warmth and closeness. He was lingering somewhere between awake and asleep, probably (absolutely) drooling on Chris’ shirt, and the other two probably thought he was sleeping already.

“I swear, he keeps on getting more stubborn,” Piers said, moving his hand over Leon’s chest in a slow caress.

Chris huffed out a laugh. “You’re one to talk.” He was obviously grinning, that much was obvious from his voice alone. “It’s a good thing I’m still stronger than either one of you.”

Piers started to protest, but he fell silent the second Leon sleepily interjected. “I could beat the shit out of you,” he mumbled, yawning a little as if to emphasize his point. “Both of you.”

The next second he felt Piers shake with laughter against his back, wherein Chris only sighed, a little dreamily. “I know.”

Content, Leon made an approving sound. “Good.”

He didn’t exactly register what the response to that was. Within three and a half seconds he was fast asleep, snoring ungracefully. Not that anyone minded.

[crystalirises]

The Exiled and The Forgotten

Hello! So this is a fic about Tommy and Fundy just talking about their issues in Drywaters. Essentially, this is part of a series of one-shots where Eret and Fundy find Tommy in exile and they take him to Drywaters to heal. This is a continuation of ‘Safe and Sound’ (which I think posted before on Tumblr?) and ‘You Reap What You Sow’ (which is on my ao3 one-shot book since I haven’t gotten the permission to crosspost here on Tumblr.) You should probably read those two first before understanding this one.

TW:  Abandonment Issues, Implied Cheating (not really but Fundy thinks so, I don't write about actual cheating I just can't ;-;). and Mentions of Suicide and Suicidal Thoughts (Tommy pls ;-;)

Pls stay safe everyone!

ao3 link:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28886223/chapters/74251095

Fundy didn’t know how long he had been out, but it was the distinct smell of smoke and meat burning that made his eyes snap open. The hallway was dark, save for a small sliver of light that came from beneath the kitchen door. He yawned, wiping at his eyes as the world slowly focused into view. It took him a moment to realize that he was on the floor, a tattered blanket draped over him as though to keep away the chill of the night that seeped into the thin walls of the house. He forced himself to sit, startling awake as he realized that he must have fallen asleep while waiting for Dream to leave. Dream to leave… Dream… Dream had been there… Tommy…

Tommy! Fundy flung the closet door open, heart pounding in his chest as he found it to be empty. He took a deep breath, the smoke strong in the air as if… Fundy stood up, the blanket left discarded on the ground as he made his way to the kitchen, nearly tearing the door off its loose hinges in his haste to get there. A strong and sickening torrent of heat attacked him, choking as he tried to bat the gray smoke away from his face. “Tommy! Tommy! Tommy, where the fuck一”

“WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU SHOUTING AT THREE IN THE MORNING?!” Fundy jumped at the response, coughing and wheezing as he moved away from the direction of the smoke. 

As the smoke began to clear, Fundy saw Tommy standing by the poorly made table, two smoking plates of steak - if they could be called that - on top of it. Tommy had an exasperated look on his face, as if Fundy was being hysterical for no reason. “Tommy, why are you cooking at 3 AM?”

“I couldn’t sleep, and you told me not to leave the closet until Dream left. He left an hour ago. Honestly, man. I don’t know what you ever saw in that psychopath.” Fundy rolled his eyes, not ready to continue that point of conversation. He wasn’t sure if his heart could take it. The fox hybrid eyed the meat that was on the table, surprised that Tommy had even thought about making him food. Well, the meat looked awful and burnt to a fucking crisp but Fundy wasn’t going to say that outloud. “Are you going to keep standing there or are you going to sit and eat?”

“I would but… eh… I usually eat when the sun is up.” As if to emphasize his point, a yawn escaped him as Fundy settled on sitting against the creaky window ledge. Tommy shrugged, turning towards his meal. Fundy tried not to wince as Tommy began to eat. “Nightmares?”

“What fucking else? How the fuck could you sleep with Dream threatening to bash your door in? I couldn’t sleep a wink.” Fundy ran a hand through his hair, sighing as guilt ate at his heart. Tommy was right, he wasn’t sure how he’d fallen asleep. He forced himself to stand, moving to sit next to Tommy in some semblance of comfort. Fundy wasn’t really sure how to comfort someone after a nightmare. No one ever showed him how. He spared a glance at the teenager, shivering as he noticed soot clinging to Tommy’s shirt sleeve. “You know I think it was good that you found me. We both know Dream could’ve broken down the door if he really wanted to. Guess that’s what you get for being on his good side. He doesn’t act like a bitch around you.”

“Can we talk about something else? I’d rather not discuss my ex-fiance and the many reasons why he didn’t just smash my door.” They settled into an uncomfortable silence, but it wasn’t unnatural. Ever since Fundy and Eret brought Tommy to Drywaters, there has been an atmosphere of awkwardness and tension that permeated the air. Fundy couldn’t recall the last time he had even spoken to Tommy, the memories of tragedy and war muddling whatever positive moments he’d had in the past years. When was the last time they’d had a proper talk? When Tommy had mocked him in Pogtopia or when Tommy had publicly disowned him and threatened him during the elections? When did ‘uncle Tommy’ slowly change into just ‘Tommy’? Fundy couldn’t recall. “When you were in exile… what did you… you never told me一”

“Can we talk about something else? I’d rather not discuss my ex-fiance and the many reasons why he didn’t just smash my door.” They settled into an uncomfortable silence, but it wasn’t unnatural. Ever since Fundy and Eret brought Tommy to Drywaters, there has been an atmosphere of awkwardness and tension that permeated the air. Fundy couldn’t recall the last time he had even spoken to Tommy, the memories of tragedy and war muddling whatever positive moments he’d had in the past years. When was the last time they’d had a proper talk? When Tommy had mocked him in Pogtopia or when Tommy had publicly disowned him and threatened him during the elections? When did ‘uncle Tommy’ slowly change into just ‘Tommy’ ? Fundy couldn’t recall. “When you were in exile… what did you… you never told me一”

“It was during Manburg when I first met him.” Tommy fell into shocked silence, and Fundy took that as a sign to continue. “I don’t remember much about that day, but I know that I was upset. So, like I usually fucking do, I ran away to the forest until I collapsed by a lake… He was there.”

Fundy ignored Tommy muttering underneath his breath and continued with the story, “Ya know I thought he was going to kill me but he surprisingly left the moment I got there. So, I kept coming to the lake each time I was upset and he was always there, staring into nothing like the idiot he is.” He wished he could keep the amusement and endearment out of his voice, but he couldn’t help but remember the man that he’d fallen in love with. “One day, he decided to stay long enough to ask why I always looked upset each time I went near the lake, and it was stupid of me to tell him but… all I ever wanted was for someone to care enough to ask. So I told him why.”

“Horrible decision, really. 0/10 shouldn’t have done that.” Fundy nearly laughed as Tommy scoffed, rolling his eyes that they were practically disappearing into his skull. “You could’ve chosen anyone but you chose the green boi. I’m not fucking surprised, you got Wilbur’s tastes in people. Should’ve taken lessons from me, big man. I’m a fucking expert in people.”

“Sure, you are. Is that why you’re still single?”

“Oh shut the fuck up, furry.” Fundy found himself cackling at the nickname, somehow not as irritated as he should be at 3 AM in the morning where he was usually ready to just kill anyone who decided it would be funny to wake him from his slumber. “Go on. Tell me about how you fell in love with Dream of all people. I won’t judge your tastes, but they’re clearly fucked.”

“Whatever, Tommy. I told him. It was hard, do you know how painful it was to pretend to be someone I wasn’t? To act like I hated my own dad, to be hated by everyone all for a part that ultimately never even gave me anything? Dream was so nice about it too�� he listened. He actually listened. He didn’t mock me or ridicule me or insult me… he just listened. I know. I know. I shouldn’t have revealed what I was to an enemy, but I just… someone had to know. I needed to tell someone.” Tommy had remained disturbingly quiet as Fundy spoke, his lips pressed into a thin line. “And he understood, at least that’s what he told me. He said he knew how I felt. He knew my pain and it was so easy . It felt like it was meant to be and I… I fell, hard. He knew what it felt like. He knew my pain and it was felt so good and so real that I一”

Fundy hadn’t meant to cry, or let out a whimper. He quickly tried to wipe his tears away. Gods, he was supposed to be the fucking adult here. Fundy felt a hand pat him on the back, an awkward gesture that helped Fundy cement himself back to reality. He sniffed, casting Tommy a smile. “I proposed. We were supposed to be married in a few weeks… guess I have to cancel the wedding invitations and preparations. I feel… stupid. I clung to the one person I thought… fuck it.”

“You could have talked to us. You had Niki. You had Eret. Why Dream?”

“I had no one, Tommy. In Manburg, I was alone.” Fundy ran a hand through his hair, pulling at the tips as his tail curled around his waist. “And I… I thought he understood. I really thought…”

Fundy took a shaky sigh, recalling the signs that he should have seen. “You probably said it to cheer me up but Dream doesn’t love me. I don’t think he ever did looking back on it now.” He felt the urge to curl into himself, to pull his knees closer to his chest and just bury his face in his arms. He glanced over at Tommy, a frown playing on the teenager’s lips. Fundy couldn’t bring himself to act childish, not around Tommy. “I should have seen the fucking signs. The way he wanted to keep us a secret, the way he never even looks at me when we meet in public, the way he had chosen to spend all of his time protecting George. It was always fucking George. It was so fucking stupid of me to even think that he cared. Slip of the tongue, what a fucking joke. Those flowers were always meant for George. It’s never me, Tommy. No one ever chooses me.”

“George?! Dream… what the fuck. I’m going to kill that son of a bitch一 How fucking… No one messes with the fucking Soots!” Fundy forced a laugh, hoping that his tears weren’t showing as he turned towards Tommy - who had forgotten about his steak, much to Fundy’s relief cause Tommy needed better food than that. Tommy’s eyes were narrowed, his hands gripping the edge of his seat. Fundy smiled, even if he knew that Tommy’s bravado and threats were nothing but for show. Tommy only cared about him because Fundy was protecting him. Once Dream was no longer a threat, Fundy would go back to being forgotten. As it should be一 “Hey! Stop that! I can see the self-pity in your eyes, stop it! You shouldn’t be this fucking sad... I mean, don’t be sad!”

“I’m not sad.” He rolled his eyes, tail lifting and falling as Fundy looked down at his boots. “It’s fine, Tommy. I get it. I’m okay with it. We barely even care about each other as it is. I’m not一”

“Going to lie to yourself? Yeaahhhhhhhhh, I can read you like a damn book, big man. You aren’t getting anything past Tommyinnit.” Fundy shook his head, conflicted on how he should feel by it all. Tommy was acting like his old self and he felt guilty at doing a shitty job as a caretaker. Fundy was supposed to be helping Tommy, not the other way around. “HEY! STOP IGNORING WHAT I’M SAYING AND LISTEN! I’m not just gonna… fuck off once this whole thing is over. Hell no. We’re all gonna be living in L’Manburg, every single one of us. One big fucked up family. We might even get Technoblade back if we convince him to break up with anarchy.”

There’s a smile on his face, Fundy can tell despite the ache in his chest. For a moment, he feels like a little kid again, looking up at his - at the time - taller uncle. He had been embarrassed, being older than Tommy but still somehow less mature. And now… he was tired. “Promise?”

Tommy scoffed, reaching out to smack him on the back of the head. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Fundy laughed at that. It was the same response that Tommy had given him all those years ago. The war was just beginning at the time, and Fundy had been frightened that he had decided to dig himself a little fox mound to hide in. Wilbur had tried everything in his power to get him out, but Fundy had refused to leave… until Tommy showed up and jokingly mocked him for being a baby and to “get out and fight like the man Fundy was”. What got him to leave was Tommy promising him that they’d all be alive by the end, that “uncle Tommyinnit was going to beat everyone and win the war for us!” Tommy always did have a way of making everyone feel hope.

“Thanks. Sorry for一” Fundy stopped as Tommy casted him a glare. He had nothing to apologize for… wow, that’s a first. He shook his head, trying to clear any negative feelings he may still harbor. There were many problems to be spoken about, and they both couldn’t say everything in one night. “Well, you’ve heard my shitty life problems… You don’t have to talk about yours, Tommy. What you went through, it’s a lot. I understand if you can’t really talk about it yet一”

“WELL TOO BAD BECAUSE FUCK YOU, I’M TELLING THE STORY, BITCH!” Fundy groaned as Tommy practically threw himself on top of the table, the plates rattling and nearly falling off the edge if Fundy had reached out to grab them. The table shook as Tommy began to pace on top of it, his energy a little too much than what Fundy could handle for a 3 AM talk. He leaned back, ears pressed to the top of his head as Tommy finally settled on sitting on top of the table, facing Fundy with a grin on his face. Fundy frowned, noticing how Tommy’s smile didn’t quite match the look in his eyes. It felt like Tommy was putting on an act, and Fundy knew all about acts and pretending. “Now, I’m a big man, you know? I can handle myself! I’m Tommyinnit! But… this exile, wow, it uh… it sucked bigtime. I fucking hated every moment.”

A somber look appeared on Tommy’s face, guilt appearing in eyes that had seen too much of the world despite Tommy’s youth. Fundy bit his bottom lip, knowing that look far too well. “I fucked up. I get that. I fucked up and I said shitty things to Tubbo when all he was doing was looking out for everyone. Selfish… Maybe… Maybe I was selfish. We had peace and I screwed it up because… for some discs?” Fundy felt a pang in his chest as Tommy raked a hand through his hair, shaking and pulling as though trying to make sense of it all. “I missed him. I missed L’Manburg, sure but I missed Tubbo. The thought of seeing him again kept me going because my exile had to end sometime and then I could go back and see Tubbo again. The thought of going home again kept me sane… at least it was holding me back from… from…” Tommy began to tremble, fear flashing in the teen’s eyes as his breath began to quicken in pace.

"You don't have to say it, Tommy. If you're not ready to say it, then you don't have to." Fundy reached out to tap Tommy on the arm, breaking him out of his panic as he looked around the room, as if cementing himself back to reality. Fundy's tail hung low, sad to see that Tommy was still suffering even if he did try so hard not to show it. Fundy didn't like seeing Tommy so… scared. "You can… tell me another day, ya? It's difficult, I get that. Maybe you can tell me one day, but maybe not today. You don't have to force yourself, you have every right not to talk about it. Tommy—"

"I want to. I want to get it off my chest because who the fuck else is going to listen to me?" Tommy snapped, rubbing a hand at his mouth as his eyes shut tight. Fundy wasn't sure if it would help but he reached to hold Tommy's hand, squeezing it. Tommy didn't let go, his hold tightening around Fundy's as his eyes finally blinked open. "I… I wanted it to be over. I wanted it to be so fucking over that I… I thought of… leaving. Just leaving, one final goodbye to the world. All it would have taken was one step off the platform. The lava looked so inviting, so warm and Logstedshire felt so fucking lonely and cold I— I wanted to go. Dream fucking stopped me but I doubt he did that out of the goodness of his heart. He said he cared about me too, about how he was the only one who cared about me… Fundy, how is Tubbo? Does he? Does he miss me? Dream said Tubbo didn't care, he was lying, right? Tubbo missed me, right?!"

"Tommy. I don't what the fuck Dream told you but Tubbo missed you. He didn't want to exile you, you know that." Fundy felt that Tommy needed more than assurance, needed more than words to quench his fears. He stayed where he was, unsure if Tommy would even want a hug from Fundy of all people. For the time being, all he could say were what he hoped would help Tommy realize that Dream had lied. His blood boiled at the thought of Dream wondering what he had done wrong, how could that idiot be so fucking stupid? Tommy was hurting and Dream continued to rub salt into his wounds. He shivered, wondering what would have happened if he and Eret hadn't found Tommy. Gods… would Tommy have been— Fundy felt sick at the thought of having another ghost haunt L'Manburg. "When you left, Tubbo threw himself into his work. He barely went out of that stupid office and he just kept planning and planning. He never said it out loud but everyone knew he missed you. He's… he's not doing so great either, ya know? I think it would be good if you two meet up! Oh! I could bring him over to Drywaters sometime… We could go to L'Manburg but I don't trust Dre— Dream enough that he wouldn't send or stay near Drywaters for a while. But, whatever. Fuck Dream. We're… we're going to plan a good ol' reunion. That would be good, ya? We could do that, right?"

"Yeah… that would be fucking great… AND OF COURSE TUBBO MISSED ME. FUCKING DREAM AND HIS LIES." Tommy jumped off from the table, nearly sending the plates to the ground, again. Fundy laughed, weak and almost pitiful in his ears as he looked over at Tommy's smile. It felt so surreal about how Tommy could still remain smiling despite everything he had just been through. "One day, I'm gonna beat the shit out of that fucker—"

Tommy paused, gaze snapping towards the curtain-covered windows. There was a worry in his sky blue eyes, a terror that was gone just as quickly as it had come. "That bitch better not be out there or I'm gonna kill him myself. Yeahhhhhhhh, I could do that. Show him what happens when you mess with Tommyinnit and his fucking family. How dare he…" Tommy began to tap his foot against the floor, anger burning in his eyes as he continued to rant.

"Tommy… are you okay? Are you okay now?" Fundy hadn't missed the way Tommy had glossed over the whole… he had wanted to give up. He couldn't help but fear what pain Tommy had through. Fundy wanted to cry, wanted to cry for both of them when Tommy refused to do so for himself. He couldn't help but move closer, wanting nothing more than to just hug his uncle until both of them felt somewhat better."Did you… Did you really want to?"

"I did. I was just so tired, so alone and stuck that I didn't know what the fuck I was supposed to do. I was exiled from my own country and I screamed and kicked the whole time. Tubbo… I hurt him. I hurt a lot of people. Fuck, I hope I didn't cause Ranboo problems since he tried to defend me. I—" Tommy took a deep breath, finally collapsing back into his seat, exhaustion in his gaze as he rubbed his hand on his mouth. Fundy moved a bit closer, hesitating before finally placing a hand on Tommy's shoulder. It wasn't a hug… neither of them were really good with giving those anyway. It was either Tubbo or Wilbur who started them and it was always Fundy or Tommy who would quickly pull away. "Thank you. I'm happy to know that he isn't mad at me, I wouldn't fucking blame him. I was a dick. I'd like… I'd like to see him again. Maybe plan ahead for whatever awful shit Dream wants to do."

“Ya… I’m sorry about what you had to go through.” Fundy patted him on the back, Tommy scoffing at the awkward display of assurance… but it was the best they both could do. Tommy patted his hand in return. “Dream’s gonna pay for that, he has to pay for that.”

“I just want to go home.” Tommy sighed, closing his eyes. “I just want—”

“You’ll see L’Manburg again, Tommy. Not today, not tomorrow but someday. I’ll make sure of that.” Fundy wished that they could leave right then and there, but he couldn’t risk it. Not with Dream still out there, waiting and plotting. “You’ll be home again. You’ll be happy again.”

Tommy hummed a low tune beneath his breath, a habit that reminded Fundy of Wilbur. 

After a moment, Tommy finally looked up, a hint of tears in his eyes. “Promise?”

“Ya…” Fundy wasn’t the best protector, but by the gods was he going to try.

“I promise.”

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

But ye, hope you guys like this! Bye bye!

[goatsandgangsters]

do you have any writing tips pls 🥺🥺

Ohhh big question! I’m flattered that you want my writing thoughts, anon!

So. Are we talking about tips on getting through writer’s block/sitting down and actually writing? The mechanics of writing itself, the individual sentences and word choices? Developing a plot? Characters or dialogue? Drafting and revising? If there’s a specific part of the process that’s angsting you, let me know, I’m happy to say more on that. For now I’ll try and touch on as much as broadly as I can.

Writing is a process, a craft, a practice. A joy and a trial. The act of hitting some keys with your fingers but also making something out of nothing. Which is to say—it comes with practice, it can be frustrating, it can be rewarding, and however you’re feeling about writing, you’re not the only one.

Inspiration/actually sitting down to write:

I find that writing is like exercise. Yes, in the sense that it takes practice to build up those muscles, but MORE IMPORTANTLY writing, like exercise, makes me groan and go “but that’s haaaaard I don’t wanna doooooo it, what if I just siiiit here insteaaaad.” And then I grudgingly get started. And I start to get into the rhythm. And then “oh goddammit. This DOES feel good.” I’ve still never experienced a runner’s high, but I have experienced “no I don’t wanna write. well I guess I’ll write. oh hey I’m writing. oH HEY!! I’M WRITING!!!” Sometimes you just need to push yourself through to start.

That said, sometimes you don’t need to push yourself to start. Sometimes it’s better to let something sit. It’s okay to pivot to another project if you’ve stalled out on one. I saw a post once that called this “crop rotation” and I think that’s true. Sometimes the challenge is getting started, but even when you can’t get started, the time away can be valuable, because it allows you to return with fresh ideas and fresh ideas.

I love using Fighter’s Block for when I can’t get started. It curbs my perfectionist tendency to write the same first sentence over and over again by forcing me to write consistently and quickly without refreshing tumblr between every sentence. Once I’ve got a paragraph, I’ve got enough of a rhythm going to keep writing on my own. You can use it for longer stretches of time, but I find a couple rounds of 200 word count goals is enough to get me through the inertia of getting started.

Read a lot:

Reading makes you a better writer. You will absorb aspects of the craft in the process—sentence structure, rhythm, plot beats.

Then think about what you read. Think about what works. Think about what doesn’t. Notice sentences that you love—not by meaning but by sound. Think about how the story is told, how the plot elements come together, how the themes operate, how the narrative is structured. Did the flashbacks works or were they superfluous? Did you love the metaphors and descriptive language, or did it feel vague and unhelpful? What parts grabbed you, what parts didn’t?

Being able to identify what does and doesn’t work in someone else’s writing will help you apply it to your own. It will also help you craft your own voice and style.

Use writing tips as a challenge, not a rule:

We’ve all seen those “writing rules” like don’t use adverbs, don’t say feels or thinks, don’t say said. Never listen to writing “rules”; instead, see them as a writing “challenge.” You don’t need to jettison every single adverb or permanently strike certain words from your writing. Sometimes, an adverb is the best word. And sometimes it isn’t.

These tips are useful, but not as hard-and-fast rules that must be obeyed every time under every circumstance. Instead, use them as tools to challenge you to think about your writing in new ways, to see if there’s a better way to say something (and maybe there is and maybe there isn’t), and to bring a freshness to the process.

I actually do really like to challenge myself to minimize feels and thinks. “He feels sick to his stomach” will pretty much always be less powerful than “His stomach lurches.” But sometimes feels and thinks work better, either because I need quick exposition or because it specifically emphasizes a thought or a feeling as perception. Again, it’s not about rules. It’s about challenging your habits to breathe new life into your writing. 

Revising tools:

if you’re a tactile person and you own a printer (which I am but I don’t), I like to print out a draft and sit on the floor with a pen and a highlighter and highlight anything that sounds clunky or that doesn’t quite fit. Then I massage those specific sentences, looking for other ways to say them, and narrow in on those parts rather than trying to edit everything overall.

The hemingway app method (as long as you know you’re allowed to disagree with it) can be good to catch certain things. Sometimes I use it and think “yeah that sentences IS too long and awkward, I should rephrase it” and sometimes I think “nah, that sentence is long but it’s controlled and it works.” Sometimes it’s useful in pointing out that I used the word just way too many times; sometimes I’ll keep my adverbs thanks.

Retyping the entire thing in another word document is another revising trick. So is reading the entire think out loud to yourself (your actual ear will catch awkward rhythms or typos that your inner voice glossed over).

(Note: I don’t do all of these all the time. I revise with whichever method I happen to be feeling at the moment)

Character interactions:

Overly expository character interactions are probably my #1 writing pet peeve. People don’t say what they mean. They don’t calmly and carefully and eloquently articulate exactly what they feel. If your characters are conversing in well-practiced monologues where they’re able to objectively analyze and express their exact feelings, it’s not believable. It’s also not fun for the reader, because Explanations of Emotions are being used as a stand-in for actual emotions.

Example: You don’t have a breakdown because you’re stressed about losing your job and you had a fight with your sister and you’re also the protagonist who has to save the entire world. You have a breakdown because you can’t find your fucking pen. It was here a moment ago, you know it was, you put it THERE because that’s where you PUT things but now it’s gone and the pen is gone and you can’t even find the fucking pen so how are you going to save the world and everything is going to SHIT because you can’t FIND your goddamn pEN.

Your character is probably not even an expert on their own feelings, let alone able to objectively explain them to someone else. There are things we can’t make ourselves say out loud. We deflect. We put all the big feelings into small things. We squeeze someone’s hand and say come on, let’s make dinner because you can’t say everything is going to be okay I promise you and I love you so much and one day you’ll see that it’ll all work out.

What are your characters saying with their body? What are they saying with what’s left unsaid? And when are they saying something Else that’s really about Them? (“You did what you had to do,” character A assures character B, because character A’s own guilt weighs on them. They’ll never say this out loud. They don’t even need to specifically think “just like my own guilt, which weighs on me.” We know it by what they say, about other people and about other things, because these are the times when you’re really talking about yourself)

Also, the size of the emotion displayed does not translate into the size of the emotional impact on the reader. A big sweeping declaration of I love you shouldn’t be used as a stand-in for real chemistry or a moment of love that is specific to those characters. An absolute sobbing breakdown isn’t inherently more tragic for its size. You don’t need torture porn to evoke angst. Emotions are a lot more subtle than that. Using a caricature of emotion in the extreme often cheapens the emotion for the reader, rather than enhancing it. 

Other assorted tips:

Write notes! Sit up at 3 AM and write down a snippet of dialogue in a note on your phone! Jot down the plot idea for later! Note the phrase you heard someone say that sounds like it would be a good title.

If you can’t figure out how to end your story or your section or your chapter, it might be because it’s already over and the story has finished telling itself. If the beginning doesn’t feel right, if it feels slow and clunky, it might be because your starting place is too early. If the character interaction feels wrong or the scene isn’t going right or you can’t make that line of dialogue work, the problem is probably about 5 or 10 lines up where you took a wrong turn.

An em dash—like the one I used here—separates out a part of the sentence that couldn’t be a sentence on its own. Semicolons join two independent sentences together; this is an example.

The dialogue tag is part of the sentence. Correct: “I love dogs,” he said. or “I love dogs.” Incorrect: “I love dogs.” he said. or “I love dogs,” He said.

That’s everything that comes to mind immediately. If there’s another part of the process that you want me to focus on, let me know! I’m happy to go more in-depth on specifics! 

[tsukikento]

Empathetic Ch. 7

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

Summary: After your mom, the number 1 hero in America, gets offered a teaching position at U.A., you two pack up your things and head to Musutafu, Japan to start a new life. Pressure for you in America was at an all-time high, and now you're in Japan, where almost no one knows you, or your family's past.

This tale starts on your first day of class where your new teacher decides the best way for you to fit in is to fight against the strongest person in your class: Bakugou Katsuki.

Warnings/Genre: This piece will feature some angst and reference to an abusive parent, if you are ever worried about other tw’s feel free to send me an ask and I will let you know. There will also be fluff, slight angst, pining, and slowburn.

A/N: This is also posted on ao3 under @allie_win. I’m transferring it over here, pls let me know if you like it! I love your comments! Just a note that any italics means thoughts.

(series masterlist)

~~

The next day everything started off fairly smoothly which was a great change to the chaotic afternoon yesterday. You started the day off waking up at sunrise and going on your typical run before going to shower and getting ready for the day. It was relieving that you were able to spend this time with yourself, only crossing paths with a few of your classmates.

That day, you happened to walk with Iida to class because you left early and he caught up to you due to his speed.

The polite boy stopped to walk with you and complimented you on your performance yesterday, making a comment about how he wished to see you in action and possibly even battle against you. At that, you sheepishly laughed and told him you specifically stayed away from him because of his advantage over you.

When you arrived at the classroom, Iida excused himself and began working on some classwork while you found yourself doodling on a sticky note. The drawing was similar to the one you were sketching last night, except instead of Nyikang in the gorgeous costume, it was you.

Ever since last night, you’ve been thinking about your actual hero costume in comparison to Nyikang’s. Throughout this process, you continuously tried to justify changing your hero costume. Additionally, it made you debate the healthiness of being afraid to change your costume and disappoint your family.

Once again, you bit your lip, your habit getting worse over these last few days, and continued to work on the sketch. It was nowhere near perfect, but that just encouraged you to keep working.

When class started, you crumpled up the sticky note you had been drawing on and started focusing on the discussion about yesterday’s game.

As the average day continued to drag on, a few other teachers came into the classroom to teach their respective subjects.

All of them mentioned yesterday.

All of them congratulated your team.

All of them made eye contact with you as if silently calling you out.

Now, Aizawa was standing in front of the class, telling you all to go to lunch.

By this time, you were quite hungry, and so, you walked up to Ashido’s desk as a few people got up and began exiting. “Hurry up! Let’s get Hagakure and go, I’m so hungry!” You complained, rubbing your stomach to emphasize your want or delicious food.

“Actually,” Mina smiled widely and sneakily pointed to Hagakure walking with Ojirou out of the classroom. “They made a lunch date yesterday during the game.” She whispered to you, so no one else could hear.

“So it’s just us?” You asked as Ashido grabbed her phone out of her bag and stood up.

“Actually,” Ashido started, once again grinning. Before she could finish her statement, Kirishima came up from behind and wrapped his arm around the pink girl’s shoulders.

“She’s eating with us,” Kirishima finished, gesturing with his thumb to Kaminari, Sero, and Bakugou. “You are welcome to join though.”

In all honesty, although you were tired from the previous day, you would love to sit with them. They were all so kind and humorous and made you feel so accepted. It would be the best way to relax.

Well, that would be true if Bakugou wasn’t included in that group.

Not that Bakugou was annoying you or making you miserable. He was just unpredictable and made your heart pound in your chest. You wanted a day with no stress, and Bakugou was a source of stress for you without him even knowing it.

“Sure,” You replied, knowing it would be rude to say no.

It’s only 45 minutes. What could go wrong?

~~

Not even 10 minutes later, you were a blushing mess.

After sitting down with your plate of scrumptious food, Kaminari and Sero began bombarding you question after question.

“Is it true that American quirks are weaker than Japanese ones?” Kaminari asked, before you had a chance to start eating.

“No, that’s a dumb rumor.” You rolled your eyes and looked at your blond friend, “Duh.” You grabbed a french fry and popped it into your mouth in an attempt to soothe your grumbling stomach.

Before you even swallowed that bit of food, Sero inquired, “Do you think your mom could beat Endeavor in a fight?”

You took a moment to think over the question before replying, “Yes, his quirk is at a disadvantage against her’s.” You grabbed another french fry and eyed the tempting sandwich that was next to your fries.

“Why do Americans eat so much?” Kaminari asked.

You looked up to look Kaminari in the eyes. Was that a personal comment? His eyes seemed innocent and unaware. Nah, there’s no way. “Capitalism? I don’t know,” You replied before taking a swig of your water. At this point, you were already over these questions and your empty stomach was not helping to calm your annoyance.

“What’s ka-pi-tah-whatever?” Kirishima added.

You hadn’t realized you said ‘capitalism’ in English. Your face went red in embarrassment and you completely forgot about your stomach, “I don't know the word in Japanese, sorry!”

Everyone chuckled in response, making your face turn just a bit pinker.

However, that wasn’t even your ‘blushing mess’ moment.

“Speaking of America,” Ashido began after the laughter died down, “you said you saw us in the sports festival. Is Japanese heroism popular there?”

“Um, a little bit,” You replied, biting your lip in thought. “Some people are really into it, and others just watch it to see the cool tricks. The U.A. sports festival happens at basically the opposite time of year in comparison to American hero competitions. So, a lot of people like to watch because they miss the hero competition.”

“If you watch us, then are there favorites? Like, I saw an article in the magazine that was about up-and-coming student heroes and was basically a rank for some really popular students,” Kaminari said.

You had just taken a bite of your sandwich and were trying to swallow quickly, but before you could reply, Sero shoved his friend teasingly.

“That’s a Japanese magazine, idiot! Why would Americans rank Japanese students?”

“I was just asking!” Kaminari defended.

“Well, it was a dumb question!” Sero replied.

“You’re a dumb question!”

“Shut up, dumba--”

“We do rank some hero students,” You interrupted Sero before anything more idiotic cold happen.

“Really?” Sero and Kaminari both replied, the brunette looking surprised and the blond looking excited at the prospect.

“Uh, yeah…” You replied, wondering if telling them that was worse than just keeping silent and letting them bicker.

“Are we ranked?” Kaminari asked.

You bit your lip and debated how to respond. “Kind of?” Everyone looked to you and waited for your explanation. You attempted to swallow the lump in your throat before talking, “There are different categories for the rankings, but they are childish. Like, they would be titled: ‘Top Ten Cutest Japanese Hero Students’. It’s all done by teen magazines so they aren’t realistic for how heroes are actually ranked.”

“Well?” Sero replied.

“Well, what?” You asked.

“They want to know if they are ranked in the top 10,” Ashido whispered to you.

“Oh, no, they aren’t,” you said.

Ashido laughed loudly as Kaminari and Sero expressed their sadness by fake crying loudly in the middle of the cafeteria.

Bakugou kicked them under the chair and they promptly shut up.

In all honesty, you weren’t keen on talking about this pole. Your friend from school had forced you to vote and you chose Bakugou on a whim. Additionally, you had trouble keeping your mouth shut when you were nervous. You took in a deep breath and tried to mentally prepare yourself for your habit of blabbering on.

“Don’t feel bad, first years never make it,” You comforted them as they quietly weep on each other.

“Really?” They both asked in unison again.

“Well, yeah,” You paused for a moment, debating whether or not to say this next part, “Except Todoroki. He got 1st place last year.” This fact could either be your blabbering habit or just the perfect thing to say to keep the conversation interesting.

Everyone, including Bakugou, shot up at that.

“What?!”

You scratched the back of your head sheepishly as the five people in front of you stared as if silently asking you to explain yourself.

Maybe I should have kept that to myself, you thought as your classmates continued to stare.

“It’s not like it matters, the poll is silly and not even accurate, the guys that won weren’t even who I--nevermind.” You quickly ate a few more fries to stop yourself from talking as the people around you contemplated the information they were given.

That was a close one…

“Todoroki always wins with girls, it's not fair,” Kaminari sighed.

“Well, can you blame him? Todoroki is cute,” Ashido replied.

Kirishima, now with red cheeks that matched his hair, interjected in the conversation, “You think he’s cute?”

“Um,” Ashido mumbled as she looked towards the ceiling; her face somehow got even pinker, “Conventionally he is cute.”

“I think you guys are forgetting something,” Bakugou grumbled, grabbing everyone’s attention. He had his eyes closed and his feet propped up onto the table, similar to how he acted during class.

“What?” Kaminari inquired.

Bakugou pushed himself up and opened his eyes to look straight at you. He had a smirk on his face and a glint in his eyes that you didn’t quite understand. Your heart beat faster as you wondered if he realized your mistake. “She said it's not accurate. That implies that--”

“Y/L/N-kun likes someone!” Ashido interrupted.

Shit.

Your face became much redder than before and the heat from your embarrassment radiated in the room. Suddenly, your armpits were sweaty and you genuinely debated running out of the room.

It’s not like you had a crush at this point, but Bakugou definitely made you queasy in a way that resembles a crush.

Everyone stared at you with curious faces, as if you would blurt out who it was you liked, but there was no way that would happen.

“That’s ridiculous!” You replied. You bit your lip before speaking carefully, “I just said it wasn’t accurate because it's little girls voting and is nowhere near a well thought out ranking.”

“Did you vote?” Kirishima asked.

Just fucking stop talking you idiot, you begged yourself. Don’t make yourself look like even more of an idiot.

“Um, my friend made me,” You mumbled as you looked down at your food, avoiding the eyes of your friends.

Kaminari grinned and got closer to you. “Who did you vote for?”

You chuckled bashfully and looked quickly over to Bakugou, who was the person you had voted for. He was once again lazily sitting with his feet up on the cafeteria table. His arms were crossed and his eyes were like slits as he stared at you.

You looked away from Bakugou as abruptly as you had looked at him, flustering even more.

Does he care about whether or not I like someone?

You bit your lip and looked down at your food once again. You debated whether or not you should take out your earbuds. First, you would have to figure out how to take them out without anyone noticing. Next, you would be immediately flooded with the thoughts of the whole cafeteria. It would take a moment to hone in on Bakugou and you weren’t sure how strong your quirk was after yesterday.

It wasn’t worth it, especially because the answer might be bad.

You bit your bottom lip and encouraged yourself to finally respond, “That’s none of your business.”

“What?” Kaminari exclaimed. “Can’t you just tell us if it was one of us?”

There is no way that is happening. “It wasn’t,” You lied through your teeth.

“You know what?” Sero interjected, “I bet she voted for Todoroki.”

“Oh yeah!” Kaminari replied. “That’s why she won’t tell us! She doesn’t wanna seem like an idiot because she called the poll dumb.”

Although they were ultimately just teasing you, their words irked you slightly because of the sentiment. You knew that they really hoped it was one of them, that was clear. As up-and-coming young heroes, the job is often more important than your social life, and that definitely impacts your love life too. You tend to only hang out with other heroes because that is just who you are around.

Regardless of the teasing and disappointed looks that Sero and Kaminari shared, this reality was much better than the one where Bakugou learned that you actually voted for him. And so, you kept quiet as Mina jumped to your defense, claiming that it makes sense I would vote for Shouto considering how cool and handsome he was at the festival. That then led Kirishima to say that he was also equally cool and more manly than Todoroki at the sports festival.

All the while, you finally stuffed your face with your lunch, completely unaware of the red eyes glaring at you.

~~

After lunch, the conversation about America and hero rankings died down, everyone now focusing on Ectoplasm and his lecture on calculating high-value exponents without a calculator.

From there, Present Mic came in to lecture on English. He passed out a new vocabulary sheet, which didn’t really mean anything to you because of your fluency in English. Although this period of the class ran fairly smoothly, Present Mic did occasionally start a conversation with you in English to show off his skills.

By the end of class, you finished the English homework assignment within only a few minutes and Present Mic left with a more than awkward joke.

Quickly, you packed up your things and met Ashido and Hagakure to walk back to class. During this time, the three of you chatted about Hagakure’s lunch date.

“I swear he likes you, you should just confess already,” Ashido whispered so no one else could overhear.

“Shut up!” Hagakure playfully pushed her friend away which barely moved Mina.

The three of you continued to chat away, you not talking nearly as much as the other two. However, the walk home was still fun. When you got home, you all placed your jackets on your respective coat racks and took off your shoes. Hagakure and Ashido went to grab a snack while you excused yourself with the excuse of needing to do homework.

Honestly, you were ahead on your homework and could definitely spend some time relaxing with the girls. However, all day, you had been thinking about your hero costume and craved drawing up a design for a new costume. Furthermore, the stress of lunch made you want to destress by fantasizing about the perfect hero costume.

Relieved, you entered your room, took off your school uniform, and changed into your hero uniform. You then spent the next few minutes analyzing and critiquing everything you hated about it. On a piece of paper, you jotted down all your ideas to change the hero costume.

After what seemed like half an hour, you sat down at your desk and began sketching out a similar sketch to the one you made in class. The costume featured loose pants that tightened at your shins only to be wrapped in armor. Your top had armor wrapped around your waist as well but left your chest loose to help with mobility. Additionally, on top of your shoulder were two curved spikes, mainly just for fashion.

It seemed like so long ago since you started drawing this costume. You had gone through multiple papers, with two of them being filled completely with notes on what you wanted to be featured in this new costume.

You bit your lips in concentration, finding all the flaws you could in your less than pretty drawing. You were not the best artist and it didn’t help that you were struggling to contemplate all the changes you wanted.

Maybe I’m going to need more help with this costume than I think.

Defeated, you opened your computer and searched for local costume designers. You found a few options and were getting more into your research on the person you would most likely be paying hundreds of dollars to before you heard a small gurgling sound.

It was your stomach.

You looked at the clock on your computer and saw that it was half-past eight.

“Holy shit,” You whispered in shock as you thought back to the literal hours you spent on fixing your costume. You had barely achieved anything on top of that. Nevertheless, you closed your laptop and changed into a different outfit before making your way downstairs to hopefully find some food.

As you came downstairs and walked into the kitchen, you noted that Kirishima, Mina, and Bakugou were all sitting in the living room. Kirishima and Mina were both watching a movie on someone’s laptop while Bakugou more or less just stared at his phone the whole time.

It looked like they were on a date and dragged Bakugou along because they didn’t want to admit it was a date. As you walked past them and stared at the scene, you paid no attention to what was in front of you and ended up walking right into the dining table.

“Fuck!” You groaned as you grabbed your side to try and soothe the aching pain.

The sounds of the movie stopped and you looked up to see all three people looking at you.

“Are you okay?” Mina asked as she stood up. “Let me grab you an ice pack.”

“Nah, I’m good,” You responded. “I just wasn’t paying attention.” You chuckled to try and lighten the mood.

Tentatively, Ashido sat back down in her seat. “Where have you been all day, anyway?” She asked after it seemed like you recovered enough.

“Oh, I just got distracted upstairs. I didn’t realize how late it was, so I was gonna grab some food,” You replied.

“There’s no dinner left,” Kirishima sheepishly explained as you made your way to the kitchen.

“And we are kind of low on food,” Mina added while you looked through the fridge and cabinets.

You hummed in response and rummaged through every cabinet. After taking a look around, you realized all the food you all had would result in you having to cook. You bit your lip, fully aware that you were too lazy to cook anything.

Maybe I should go get some food. There is a convenient store right next to the campus.

You walked to the coat rack and grabbed your coat off the hanger. “I’m gonna go to the convenience store to get some food, just some instant noodles or something,” You explained to the three other people downstairs.

“What?” Mina interrupted as you opened the door. “This late? I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

You bent down to slip on your shoes before standing up again. You shrugged to the two people actually paying attention to you. “I’m hungry and don’t wanna cook.”

“Bakugou can cook!” Mina exclaimed while putting her hand on his shoulder

“Shut up,” He grumbled while shrugging her hand off him. “I don’t want to cook.”

“Well, hey!” Kirishima exclaimed as he jumped over the back of the couch to meet up with you. “I can’t let a young lady walk around at night without a manly guy to protect her.” He grinned at you and slid on his coat and shoes.

Honestly, it felt great that someone would be coming with you because you would be walking around an area you weren’t quite familiar with yet.

Suddenly, Bakugou stood up and made his way to you.

“You coming, bro?” Kirishima asked. “Damn, must be j--”

“Shut up,” Bakugou barked, “If you’re going then so am I.”  Silently, Bakugou put on his sweater and shoes while Kirishima chuckled and patted his friend on the back.

“Wait!” Ashido exclaimed. “I don’t wanna be left out,” She said as she walked around the couch to meet you at the door. “We don’t have any movie snacks anyways.” She quickly slipped on her shoes and cheetah print coat. She grinned happily at Kirishima who matched her cheery face with his own.

Even though you were now a group of four, Bakugou did not bring you much comfort and seeing the lovey-dovey Ashido and Kirishima blushing at each other made you feel like a third wheel.

“Let’s hurry. I’m tired,” Bakugou groaned as he put his phone away and opened the door.

“Of course you’re tired, you are usually in bed by now,” Kirishima laughed as you followed behind Bakugou.

Mina exited after you. “Bakugou,” She began, “I don’t know how you fall asleep so early and then also wake up so late, almost at noon.”

That brief conversation sparked an interest in you. Not only had you seen Bakugou up late just a couple days ago, but he also thought about how precious that alone time was for him. If not only for a moment, Bakugou looked towards you before looking forward again.

If you weren’t looking at him, you would not have noticed. However, you were lucky enough to be looking at him and smart enough to know that he was also thinking about that night.

“That’s none of your business,” Bakugou finally replied, his voice eerily quiet yet agitated, as Kirishima closed the door.

Kirishima just laughed as a result and Ashido shrugged at you. You shrugged back, nonetheless curious about Bakugou’s sleep schedule.

Silently, you followed the other four throughout campus. As you walked, a pattern formed where Kirishima and Ashido were walking upfront with you and Bakugou trailing behind. The silence between you and Bakugou was rather awkward and you spent most of your time observing the couple in front of you.

You knew they weren’t dating, but a stranger may just think they were in a relationship. The only thing that someone would notice that could make an argument for them not being a couple was the nervousness, blushing, and lack of PDA. Nonetheless, they still had their hands all over each other and were flirting nonstop.

“It’s gross isn’t it?”

You looked to your left at the sound of Bakugou speaking to you. “Uhh,” You looked away from the fierce red eyes to look at the couple again. Ashido had just teasingly shoved Kirishima while laughing incredibly loud at one of his jokes. “I guess so. I don’t really mind.”

Bakugou scoffed. “You probably don’t mind because you just met them.”

You gave Bakugou a puzzled face, silently asking him to elaborate.

“They’ve known each other since middle school and have been acting like this since the end of our first year,” Bakugou responded. Although you didn’t purposefully try to analyze Bakugou’s voice, you noted his rough, coarse, and tired voice.

I bet he has no clue how attractive he is. Big muscles, deep voice, and messy hair that falls in front of his tired, piercing, red eyes.

You bit your lip and forced yourself to focus back on the conversation. “Ah,” You replied. “It’s just like that sometimes, “You shrugged your shoulders as you spoke, “Hagakure and Ojiro are the same way.”

The conversation died for a moment as you finally made your way off campus and started the trek to the store nearby.

“Who?!” Bakugou finally barked as if he actually took the time to try and remember who they were.

You rolled your eyes and laughed, remembering when Kirishima had to call everyone by a certain nickname. “I think you know them by the invisible girl and tail guy.”

“Ugh, those two?” Bakugou groaned. “They’ve been like that since day one. So bland and boring.”

“Bland and boring?” You repeated, scoffing at the wording. “What does that even mean?”

“They should just date if they want to, it doesn’t matter,” Bakugou groaned.

“Why doesn’t it matter?” You questioned him.

Bakugou looked at you before looking back ahead. After a moment, he mumbled, “Nevermind.”

Apparently, that was his cue to end the conversation, and you decided not to try and push your luck at the moment.

However, that gave yourself some time back to your own thoughts, specifically your thoughts regarding your hero costume. You had made a mental list of all the costume designers you found and liked. The list included their names, average pricing, and specialties. If you were to hire someone to help you with your costume design, you were most definitely going to be thorough in picking someone you could work well with.

Soon enough, your group arrived at the convenience store and brought you out of your deep thoughts. You quickly made your way inside to grab snacks and food. You looked through the large selection of meals and instant noodles, not quite sure what to pick. Asian convenience stores were much more diverse and impressive compared to American stores. Because of this, you didn’t quite know what to pick. Comparatively, Ashido and Kirishima flew through the isles, grabbing a plethora of foods without even having to cautiously look at the label.

This was one of the few times you felt silly. You did not speak perfect Japanese, and you had to meticulously read everything on the box to make sure you knew what you were eating. You felt bad that you might hold up the group and you were tempted to just grab something and suffer the possible consequences.

“Here.”

You looked up to see Bakugou handing you a large package of noodles. You curiously took the box and started reading it.

“Don’t bother. It has more veggies than other ramen and is the right amount of spice for food this late,” Bakugou mumbled as he grabbed himself a box too. However, his box had more red on it and you assumed it was spicier.

“Thanks,” You quietly replied. It was nice of Bakugou to grab food for you, preemptively knowing exactly what you were looking for. You brushed the thought away, telling yourself it was more likely that he was doing this because he wanted to be home as soon as possible.

Bakugou nonchalantly hummed in response before looking around the store, his head peeking just over the shelves. “We need some other stuff too.”

Or maybe not. Maybe Bakugou was once again making you a meal, ensuring that you were eating well.

No, don’t read too much into this. Bakugou isn’t a relationship person and you aren’t in the best place to be in a relationship.

Silently, you followed Bakugou around the store as he grabbed a package of strawberries, which he practically threw at you, and some pre-baked tofu. He also grabbed a small package of seaweed and two drinks.

You continued to follow Bakugou around the store and up to the counter. He dropped everything on the counter and you also placed your package of noodles and strawberries on the counter. The older lady working at the counter smiled politely as she scanned everything placed on the counter.

Although you were rather clueless about why Bakugou was being kind and once again making sure you ate well, you were able to recover once you saw Bakugou grab out his wallet.

“No, no, no,” You interrupted and pulled out your own wallet, and the cash you had.

Bakugou looked at you as if you were crazy and you used that moment to push enough money forward to pay for the meal.

The cashier chuckled sweetly and accepted your cash. Bakugou groaned and leaned back on his foot, upset that you were paying.

It’s for the best, you thought as the cashier leaned forward to place the change in your hand.

“You two are such a cute couple,” She whispered to only you as she placed your change into your hand.

Just as quickly as she spoke, she pushed herself back to being upright and began bagging the food.

While completely red, you looked to Bakugou to see if he heard her comment. “What?” He groaned as he glared at you.

“Nothing,” You mumbled back and looked down to place the money back into your wallet.

Bakugou grabbed the bag of food from the woman and you bowed to say thank you, before following behind Bakugou to exit the building.

Outside, Kirishima and Ashido waited for you two with a bag of their own snacks and smiles on their faces.

“Y/L/N-kun,” Ashido yelled as she ran up to you, pulling you out of your trance. Ashido grabbed your arm and whispered to you, “Come walk with me!”

[iwaasfairy]

some ask answering in one huge post so that we can get back to the positive vibes (i will be deleting any asks about this topic if i get any more because i’ve said all i wanted to say on it and explained my point plenty!)

you didn’t miss much!! i feel like i just had to explain what i meant a couple of times over so it’s all along the same line (｡-人-｡) i agree with everything said here though! once i realize i don’t like someone’s characterization i just don’t read it anymore, and move on!! but i guess it seemed like i was calling someone out, which i didn’t mean to, it was just me venting. ily too and thank you for the lovely message!! i also hope i don’t get discourse again jbdfjhzefj but any time i give my opinion there seem to be a few people mad about it in inbox so it probably will happen again at some point >_> just block the tw.discourse tag and you should be all set though ♡♡ many kisses back and iLYYY 2

All of this, thank you! I wasn’t calling out writers of minor characters with that post, if anything I’m down on my knees bc I’m grateful that they write them. Truly, bless anyone writing minor characters bc they love that character, even if it doesn’t get seen or loved as much. But if someone felt attacked by that post, it probably means that they have at the very least noticed the problem too, which kinda proves my point. There is such a thing as lazy characterization. (@bokugaos​ belle ilysm and ty)

that’s true, but i wasn’t talking about anyone’s fanon/canon personality. i don’t think i was telling anyone to write in a certain way, other than with care/effort. read the tags of my original post again, i didn’t give anyone any shit about how they write meian or anyone else for that matter. like i said, write him however you want/enjoy him however you want, just do it with as much effort as you can give fan favorite character.

if you don’t like how i write the twins in a piece then yeah, avoid my posts about the twins in the future!! you’re free to do so! but you will only know if you like how someone’s written a character after reading it, yk?

dan ily, i smooch you, and thank you so much for the compliment ((´д｀))♡ i love him very much, but i’ll still try to write him better + more complete in the future @onefortyninecm

i won’t rehash it again, i cleared up what i meant here. the thing is,, if you don’t care about the character you’re writing (imo), there’s very little use of writing them? in my experience, they don’t come out good and the writing feels very flat or ooc because of it, which isn’t an enjoyable experience as a reader. 

i don’t care to write for daichi or suga for example! so i won’t go out of my way to write for them (unless i get an ask specifically for them) or if i’m really passionate about something i’m writing with them in it. if it’s something i half-assed, i won’t put you through having to read it, even if it might get attention. i feel like that’d be a bit rude to people who love writing daichi or suga, because it feels like i’m just using the characters for gain. if that makes sense.

as long as it’s done with effort, i don’t mind characterization. i’ve written tsumu as a softer, giving and sweet character in some pieces, and as a total jerk in others because both interpretations are parts of his character brought to the front in different ways. but both were written with as much care and love for his character.

and “otherwise don’t fucking write him :(( pls”, i just got a potty mouth. it wasn’t meant to be mean or rude, i just swear a lot. ‘fucking’ is basically an adjective to emphasize for me

thank you so much for the compliment!!! ( ɵ̥̥ ˑ̫ ɵ̥̥) i have a lot to improve on for sure but i do love writing him a bunch (alSO IWA PLSDHGIHGhz hEART FAT WITH LOVE) ily too sweetheart, thank you @tonhwa have a good day/night yourself!!!! ♡

i always think his voice is in the same range as mattsun or ushi, though ushi’s voice is so recognizable and deep and I don’t think it’s quite as deep as that! I’d say: deep, warm, and in my head he’s got a very level voice, a bit like Kita? Not much waver or tons of ups and downs in his voice, I don’t think.

I think Tetsu Inada would do him very well (you probably know him as enji todoroki in bnha) because when you hear him talk normally his voice is very warm and deep and has a bit of grit to it which i personally think fits very well! Hiroshi Tsuchida (who voiced grisha jaeger in snk) would also fit really well imo! Not as deep as Ushi but a tiny bit raspy and warm and full of authority!

If we’re talking advice, I can only give my opinion of course, but I can do my best to give you how I see him ♡ but like everyone’s been saying, there’s no one right way and as long as you write him with the character kept in mind I think you can get away with plenty of characterizations that would fit him!

Purely from what we get in the manga (and it’s so little, i cry a bit every time),  there is a few things that I try to keep in mind.

First off, he’s the Captain of a team which has Bokuto, Hinata and Atsumu in it, so he definitely has to 1. be able to deal with their shenanigans on a daily and keep them ruled in and focused on practice, so imo that shows that he can both join in with their antics from time to time or at least appreciates it, but he’s also not someone to mess with. The same as Daichi in that sense, though I don’t think he’d shout or raise his voice when he gets to that point.

2. be someone who balances that out. Bokuto had Akaashi, Hinata had the third-years to calm him down and Atsumu had plenty of characters (Osamu, Suna, Kita) who took him down a notch when needed,, and I think Meian is very much that. Very stable, and I feel like all captains have that air of deep investment in the people around them inside. He’s someone you can rely on and someone people look to when it’s getting tough to step up and take charge.

There’s one panel where he goes up to spike and gets blocked by Fukuro, and he’s got the cutest scrunched up and irritated face,, but I think that shows two things too. First, he’s competitive and cares about the game deeply (which I feel makes so much sense bc all the pros on both Msby, Adlers and even EJP all show so much love and passion for volleyball), but his reaction reminds me so much of Tsukki or Suna getting blocked. No words, just a frustrated glare and then he’s back to being his cool self.

He’s also got a bit of a rivalry with Fukuro in most panels he’s in which I think is very fitting and funny and I imagine them to be pretty good friends who try to outdo each other at every turn (you know how hq is with their pairs, meian and fukuro are another)

There’s also a few panels where he’s got this dumb, goofy grin on his face that makes me giggle every time, or a really funny shocked face where he’s all :O and it’s just very cute to me. And you can see this as a few things I’m sure, but I see at as him being pretty expressive? Like, you know what he’s thinking by looking at his face, and he’s not trying to hide it. I think he’s a bit of a goofball, he likes to make jokes and reminds me a lot of Mattsun in that way too!! A dry wit and just some things that he does that have you rolling your eyes but laughing anyway.

Then for how I personally choose to write him, so this is how I like filling out his character more but it’s very much based on how I see him or imagine him in my head, so this isn’t strictly canon or anything, but I think it does fit his character well if you take the things above into count:

I think he’s pretty sarcastic, he’s seems to me like he’s got a really snaky sense of humour that only comes out when he’s comfortable or in a place where it’ll be appreciated, like with his team or with friends. He also seems like he interacts with people really well/smoothly, he’s really observant of others and how they are doing (it’s the captain in him).

And because I think he’s caring and understanding, I also think he’s really good at ‘handling’ other people’s emotions? Like, no words needed, he’ll notice and get it done for you, definitely when you’re not wanting to talk about it. A bit how Kita handles his team, they have very warm hearts and it shows. He just seems like such a teddybear, like someone who really appreciates spending time with others and being in their presence even if it’s to do nothing.

He seems like one of those people who just got his shit together, you know? He’s an Adult adult, but still enjoys goofing off and messing around with the team when it’s appropriate. (This is very niche but maybe helpful to people who love zodiac stuff like me, I hc him very heavy as a capricorn sagittarius,, with mars in aries and a lot of gemini in his chart. Because we don’t know his bday this could be entirely off but for now that’s what I imagine him like in my head.)

There’s probably more things but yeah, this is off the top of my head ♡ I hope it helps a little if you were looking for more facets of his personality, but again, write him with effort and either way you’ll be fine!!

[vxlkyrie]

everything i wanted

pairing: steve rogers x reader

genre: angst, fluff, nonavenger!au

warning: cursing, body image, bullying, mentions of suicide (pls listen to the song before reading this)

word count: 3.6k

summary: going to a high school reunion sounded like fun, until all the nightmares and bad memories started coming back

request: anon said “hii, can i request steve rogers x reader based on billie eilish song everything i wanted. thank you and have a nice day.”

a/n: i’m sorry it took so long! i don’t know why i kept scrapping every idea i had for this one, but i’m finally satisfied with this plot (i swear it’s based on the song, also peep the lyrics). it gets really sad, but i hope you all enjoy!

you were in the kitchen cooking up breakfast, waiting for your boyfriend to come home from his morning jog. suddenly, you heard the door open.

“honey, i’m home.” steve said. you laughed at the cheesy line, greeting him with a quick kiss.

“go change. breakfast is almost ready.” you told him, earning a nod from him.

“i also checked the mail.” steve said, placing a pile of envelopes and magazines onto the dining table.

as soon as you prepared two plates, you sat down and looked through the mail as you waited for your boyfriend to get ready.

bills, coupons, greeting cards from wanda and vision, files from the law firm, letter from your high school – what?!

your eyes widened as you examined the envelope that displayed your school’s name across the top.

“hey doll, whatchu looking at?” steve’s voice broke you from your thoughts. you didn’t even notice him taking his seat across from you.

“oh, uh, just something from my high school.” you said, raising an eyebrow at it.

“yeah? what is it?” he asked. 

you shrugged as you carefully rip open the top. you unfolded the paper that slipped out of the envelope.

“y/n l/n, you have been formally invited to your class’s ten-year reunion.” you read out loud. you felt your stomach twist.

“a high school reunion? that sounds like fun.” steve said as he chewed his food.

“yeah, no.” you shook your head.

“and why not?” he snickered.

“let’s just say i did not have the best experience in high school.” you simply answered. you never really told steve about your days before you went to college and he never asked.

“i’m sorry to hear that. i mean, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to. but i mean, you haven’t seen these people in years.”

“i would like to keep it that way.” you quipped.

“maybe you could use this reunion as a chance to show everyone that you are not the girl you were in high school,” steve started. you recognized his ‘motivational speech’ voice coming in. “i might not know what you were like back then, but you can show them that you’ve made it – that you’re better than them. you can make them regret doubting you all those years ago.” steve explained.

“you sound like nat when she wants revenge on some guy that dumped her,” you joked about your coworker, making him laugh. “but, seeing people’s face drop is pretty fun.”

“so you’re going?”

“we’re going.” you emphasized.

-

“do you see what she’s wearing?” she whispered to a group of girls.

“yeah, it looks a little too tight on her.” another girl said as the others giggled.

“who told her that looked good on her?”

“oops, i did.” one of the girls admitted, earning even louder laughs from the group.

you wrapped your arms around your middle, feeling very insecure as you stood in the corner of the room.

i shouldn’t have went to this stupid party. i thought they were my friends.

“y/n?” a male voice called to you. you snap your head up to see steve looking down at you.

“s-steve?” your eyes widened.

what is he doing here? he can’t see me like this!

you looked up again to see the familiar group of girls and steve laughing at you.

no, please no. stop this. you tried to yell, but silence only came out of your mouth.

“stop!” you shouted, jumping up from your bed.

“doll?” steve groaned, only hearing you panting as you held your heart. “are you okay?” he sat up.

“uh, yeah. just a nightmare, i guess.” you said, melting under steve’s touch as he rubbed circles on your back.

“do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

“no,” you shook your head. “i’ll be fine, thank you though.”

“okay. now come here, we got a flight to catch early in the morning.” steve said, pulling you into his arms as you both drifted into slumber.

-

as much as your body (and steve) wanted you to, you couldn’t bring yourself to sleep on the plane. you haven’t had nightmares like that since before you started college. you thought after graduation, you wouldn’t have to deal with anyone from high school ever again. but now that you’re going to be seeing them after ten whole years, your brain couldn’t help but bring back memories.

all of your friends turning their backs on you after one small mistake.

“how could you do that to me? i trusted you!” she yelled at you.

“it was a mistake! i didn’t mean to tell him, it just slipped. i’m sorry!” you said, tears brimming your eyes. “can’t we just talk this out?”

“there’s nothing else to talk about. go fuck yourself.” she spat in your face as she walked away.

you looked at your friends for help, only to be given dirty looks as they followed her.

all the bullying and shit-talking and petty social media posts.

“look at this fat pig. i was only her friend cuz i felt bad for her.” she laughed as she flipped her hair.

“did you see her new haircut? she looks like an abomination.” she laughed.

you scrolled through instagram to see that she posted a picture of her and her friends, making it obvious that she cropped you out.

“so grateful for my best friends!”

you thought you were going to puke.

even all the good times you all had before they decided to kick you out.

“oh my god you look so good in that dress!” she cheered at you as you and your friends went dress shopping.

“thank you! you look great too.” you smiled at her.

“we all look great. we are going to kill it at prom.” another girl said, holding her phone up to the big mirror as you all posed for a picture.

“you know i would trust you with my entire life, right y/n?” she told you. you slept over at her house, comforting her after she broke up with her boyfriend.

“yes, and i trust you with mine.” you smiled at her.

were they all lies? did they ever like me to begin with?

they all flashed through your head and you felt your breathing stop. you sharply inhaled, suddenly reaching for your water bottle as you chugged the rest of it down.

“you okay doll?” steve asked softly. you nodded, smiling at him, telling him to go back to sleep. “i love you.”

“i love you too.” you smiled at him. he squeezed your hand with his before he knocked out.

everything’s going to be fine. you and steve are going to walk in that venue tonight and you’re going to show them that you’ve been doing better without them.

you distracted yourself with the files your boss sent you for the rest of the flight, ignoring the anxiety that ran through you.

-

you were putting on the finishing touches of your makeup in front of the bathroom mirror.

tonight was the night.

you concentrated on putting on mascara, not even noticing your boyfriend walking up behind you. you almost jump at the feeling of arms wrapping around your middle.

“you look great, doll.” steve whispered in your ear, sending chills down your spine.

“thanks, nat bought me this dress,” you smiled as you looked at your cocktail dress that hugged your figure perfectly. “you clean up well yourself, mr. rogers.” you chuckled, pointing out his slacks and dress shirt that had the top two buttons undone.

“why thank you, doll.” he beamed at you, leaning towards you.

you met him in the middle and molded your lips together. after a while, you two pulled apart to catch your breaths.

“as much as i would love to stay and do this, we got a reunion to attend.” steve said, earning a pout from you.

“fine,” you sighed as you exited the hotel bathroom and grabbed your handbag. “but if i want to leave, will you come rescue me and sweep me off my feet?”

“of course, doll.”

-

“name?” the man at the check-in table by the entrance of the venue asked, his eyes looking through the list.

“y/n l/n.” you answered. the man snapped his head up at you.

“my, my, my,” he smirked. “my eyes must be deceiving me. there’s no way y/n l/n is standing right in front of me.” he joked.

“unfortunately, tom, they’re not.” you laughed.

“well, you look great! ten years did you good.”

“thanks.” you gave a small smile.

“and who is this fellow with you?” tom asked, eyeing steve.

“steve rogers, y/n’s boyfriend.” he spoke up, offering his hand to tom.

“you even got a boyfriend! i must be in a different dimension,” he joked once again, making you roll your eyes at him. “anyways, you’re good to go. have a great night!”

“thanks tom.”

“oh and y/n?” he caught your attention once again. you raised your eyebrows at him. “they’re here.” he said, causing you to swallow the lump in your throat. 

you nodded at tom as you walked into the ballroom, admiring the decoration that filled up the walls.

student council still doesn’t disappoint when it came to events.

“who’s here?” steve asked, wrapping an arm around your waist as you walked around the tables, trying to find your seats.

“um, just some people.” you dodged.

before steve could ask you to elaborate, a voice shouted towards you two.

“oh my god, y/n?!”

you nervously looked around to see a girl running up to you. you exhaled in relief.

“zoe?!” you exclaimed, beaming at the girl that pulled you into a hug. “how have you been? i’m so sorry that we haven’t talked in so long.” you almost cried.

“don’t be sorry. we both got jobs to do,” she smiled at you. “i heard you’re a lawyer now! i’m so proud of you.”

“yeah!” you nodded. “and i heard you’re a doctor in korea. i’m so happy for you, i know you’ve always wanted to move there.”

“thank you! and who is this hunk?” she smirked at steve who had been silently listening in on their conversation the whole time.

“this is steve. he’s my boyfriend.” you shyly smiled.

“nice to meet you ma’am.” he smiled at zoe, shaking her hand.

“and he’s a gentleman too! you got a keeper,” she joked, making the two of you blush. “he’d give those bitches’ boyfriends a run for their money.” she snarled, looking in the direction of a big group laughing a corner.

“i’m still surprised they’re all still together, they all just swapped partners.” you quipped while looking at the group too. zoe laughed at your remark.

steve looked in your direction, nodding to himself as he tried to piece the puzzles together.

“i’ll be right back, save some seats for me!” she added right before walking away.

“it’s nice to know that you had at least one friend from high school.” steve said, grabbing your hand.

“yeah,” you smiled. “she was there for me when no one else was. i feel bad for not contacting her after high school. i moved away and she was studying abroad. but it was nice to see her again.”

“that’s good,” he smiled at you. “and from the looks you both were giving to that one group earlier, i’m assuming those were the people that made high school a living hell for you?” he added. you nodded.

“yeah,” you sighed. “they were, uh, my friends, um, until-” you felt yourself starting to heat up.

“hey, it’s okay,” steve turned towards you, placing a hand on your shoulder. “you don’t have to tell me anything if you’re not ready.” he comforted you. you nodded, giving him a small smile.

“thanks.”

“of course.” he said, placing a chaste kiss on your lips.

“y/n l/n?!” a painfully familiar high-pitched voice called to you.

fuck, here we go.

you and steve turned your head to see a girl with the fakest smile on her face.

“hi alicia.” you said, trying to keep your composure. you acknowledged the other girls behind her, noticing the confused and surprised looks on their faces.

“it’s been so long!” she squealed, opening her arms. once she took a step towards you, you instinctively stepped back. steve immediately placed a hand on your lower back. “oh, there’s no need for hostility here. we’re all friends here, right?” she smiled as the other girls chuckled.

“i don’t remember you calling me your friend after you turned your back on me.” you snarked.

“that was years ago! we’re all adults now,” she laughed, clearly putting on the nice girl facade. “i see you finally got yourself a man – it’s never too late to have a first.”

“thanks,” you gave alicia a small smile, ignoring the backhanded comment. “i see that you’re still with kevin – or are you with henry now? you know, the one that dated jenny. or are you dating brad? i heard from my law firm that he and mia went through a nasty divorce. i’m surprised all of you are still friends.” you smirked as steve suppressed his laugh. the other girls gasped as alicia laughed right back, trying her best not to lose control.

“i see you still got a sense a humor. i thought you usually get less funny once you lose a lot of weight. got tired of not being able to fit into a small?” she bit back.

“maybe. but i see you still use people’s appearances as a way to make yourself feel better.” you shrugged your shoulders.

“alright everyone, let’s get this party started!” someone announced over the microphone as people cheered.

“watch this one,” alicia looked at steve. “that little mouth of her’s has always gotten her in trouble.”

“and yet her pretty little mouth turned her into one of the best lawyers at her firm.” steve spat back, which made you smile from ear to ear.

alicia gave you two one more dirty look before her and the other girls returned to their boyfriends. you felt like you could breathe again.

“i’m sorry you had to go through that.” you apologized to steve.

“don’t be sorry. i’ve never seen you snap at someone so calmly before. it was kind of scary – but also kind of hot.” he laughed.

“i’m going to have to stop you right there,” you placed your hands on his chest, laughing back. “i don’t know where that confidence came from, but i wish i had it back in high school.”

“well, i’m proud of you. you did amazing.”

“fuck yeah she did!” zoe said, walking up to you two.

“you saw all of that?” you raised an eyebrow at her.

“at least half of our class did,” she chuckled. “never mind alicia, let’s enjoy this reunion and dance until our heels break!”

-

almost an hour past by, and it was safe to say that you were enjoying yourself. you danced with zoe and caught up with a few more classmates before everybody was told to sit back down.

“as you guys know, it’s been ten years since we’ve walked the halls at our high school,” the class president spoke into the microphone. “let’s take a trip down memory, shall we? i had a video made filled with all of our memories as high school students. i hope you all enjoy!” she raised her glass as the crowd applauded and averted their attention to the big screen above the stage.

the video started playing nostalgic music – a remix filled with throwbacks that were popular when you were still in high school. everyone laughed as they watched videos and pictures of friend groups having the time of their lives and pranking each other. 

you weren’t expecting to see yourself that much. maybe a few pictures of you and zoe, or maybe even an accidental video of you hanging out with alicia and the other girls – until more videos started playing.

“get her!” alicia yelled as the other girls threw eggs at you. you screamed as you tried to shield your body from the attack.

“please! why are you doing this to me?” you cried.

“this is too easy when your fat body is an easy target!”

“i don’t remember this from the final edit.” the class president muttered as the laughs suddenly stopped.

you gulped as the video continued on to the next clip, not noticing alicia and her friends laughing at you from their table and in the video as if it was some terrifying echo.

alicia laughed into the camera’s microphone as she filmed the bonfire in front of her. she zoomed in closer, focusing on pictures of you that continued to burn.

“that’s what you get for being a fake bitch!” mia cackled.

“just go kill yourself already!”

“can someone turn that video off, please?” the president pleaded. you felt your breathing get quicker, steve grabbed your hands.

“y/n, doll, look away.” he told you, but your eyes stayed glued to the screen as tears began to form.

“hey y/n, can i ask you something?” a man asked you. the camera’s angle looked weird. it was as if someone was secretly filming you two.

“yeah, ryan, what is it?” you smiled at him.

“i-i was wondering if you wanted to go catch a movie with me this weekend?” he nervously scratched the back of his neck.

“sure, that sounds nice!”

“great! i’ll pick you up at-” suddenly the camera got closer to you two as you heard laughs.

“i’m sorry ryan, i couldn’t take it anymore!” alicia laughed.

“w-what?” you said, pushing you glasses up as you looked at alicia and ryan in confusion.

“here’s your $20. i didn’t think you’d actually do it.” jenny laughed as she handed ryan the dollar bill.

the camera catches you crying as you ran away.

“watch out people, earthquake coming in!”

suddenly the screen went black. an awkward silence filled the room, only to be broken by familiar cackles from alicia and the rest of their group.

“y/n...” zoe said softly, placing her hand softly on your shoulder.

you couldn’t take it anymore. you got up from your seat and ran towards one of the exits, letting the cool air hit your face as tears ran down your cheeks.

“y/n!” a deep voice called out to you. you turned around to see running towards you, pulling you into his arms. you started sobbing into his dress shirt. “it’s okay. i’m here. no one can hurt you.”

“how could you still love me after knowing that i looked like that? that i was such a horrible person back then.” you tried to wipe your tears away.

“y/n, listen to me. you aren’t a horrible person – you were never one to begin with. those girls were never your friends. from what i can tell, they were fucking toxic and bullied you. they’re the horrible ones heres.”

“no one even noticed or even cared to stop them.” you sniffed.

“i know and they don’t deserve you. and who cares what you looked like back then? you’re everything i want – everything i need and i want you to see yourself the way i do.” steve said.

“can i tell you something?” your voice croaked.

“you know you can tell me anything.”

“i- the nightmare, me zoning out. they were about them.”

“oh, y/n-” steve gave you a sad look.

“i had my life together. i had a job, a place to live in, you. but then once i read that invitation, memories started flooding in and it just reminded me of how-” you suddenly stopped yourself.

“how what?”

“it reminded me of i, uh, almost tried to kill myself one night,” you felt tears starting to build up again. “i was at a bridge looking over the river, and uh, i was thinking about jumping in it and letting the waves take me away. i was so weak. i couldn’t take it anymore.” you cried. steve immediately wiped his thumbs across your cheeks.

“y/n, doll, you are a survivor – a fighter. they might’ve hurt you, but they never broke you. you win by simply living your life without them. you’ve already proven yourself that you are above this, that this did not define you.”

“thank you steve.” you smiled.

“you’re welcome doll,” he kissed your forehead. “and i’m sorry for making you come to this stupid reunion.”

“don’t be.” you chuckled.

“y/n! there you are!” you both turned your head to see zoe running towards you two. “are you okay?” she pulled you into a hug.

“i am now.” you smiled at her.

“thank goodness you’re okay. after finding out that alicia switched the video, she and those fuckers got kicked out.”

“really?” your eyes widened.

“yeah, and the whole class started cheering and went back to dancing. they were asking for you, and miss class president sends her apologies.”

“tell her it’s okay and it’s not her fault.” you told zoe as she nodded.

“well, i’ll be inside if you need me.” she smiled at you, heading back inside.

“you don’t have to go back inside, you know?” steve asked, knowing that after all the shit that you’ve gone through today, you’d probably want to go back to the hotel.

“i know. but i think i can survive the next few hours dancing. how about you?” you grinned. steve held out his arm for you.

“lead the way.”

[lordxgrinnyxboy]

rewatching tgm for the umpteenth time: wifi's not working edition 1/?

ngl i've Never, In My LIFE, done any singing or acting outside of puppet shows when i was in like the 3rd grade but every time i watch TGM i'm more and more like "GOD i wanna be cast as Barkilphedro" and i don't even know why? like why would i want to be the greasy clown nasty? He has No Rights? I Don't Like Him Or Sympathize With Him At All? And Yet???? It must be a calling.

there's like. two barrels on the stage.

uggggggh i love Ensemble!Maskell and Ensemble!Obianyo they're both so pretty

FEEL SO LOW YOUR PULSE NEEDS CHECKING

ngl Barkilphedro has No Rights and he gets No Sympathy from me but i do feel sorry for him when he talks about his mother. also sucks for him that he wasted so much time hoping his loyalty to Clarence would pay off, only to get nothing but mockery in return. also also as 'comical' as the Erotic Breakfast Dance scene is played it's still...really gross and Not Okay. This dude's 100% culpable for his actions and he made his own choices and is absolutely slimy but it's like those bits in LotR when they talk about Bilbo pitying Gollum. idk i just kinda hate that ol' Barky let himself be twisted into such a wretched creature. He crossed the No Rights line the night he decided to carve up a kid's face tho and just kept right on going.

ensemble!maskell is so cute send help

it's the eye makeup and the lighting it's just. a really good look

ms. obianyo pls

just noticed Bark's little pose on "obsessed with the pursuit of beauty"

okay so i've seen some comments around about Clarence's "How do you keep your pecker up" remark and just thought i'd- dude's fingernails. wow they're so shiny. ahem -mention here that i've looked into this expression before and it's actually a term that i guess is mainly used in England or something and it's like nose = beak = 'pecker' as in birds which ‘peck’ things with their beaks. It's basically the same as "keep your chin up". Snufkin says it to Moomin. I mean with Clarence i wouldn't put it past him to mean it another way but also given where the show is set it makes sense he would use such a term.

ngl i want to Know about Angelica tho like. why is she Brutalized. why did Clarence send her awaey. i actually want to know about the whole family. I feel like it's a three separate moms situation but even if it's only two separate moms Where Are The Moms. did Clarence send Them awaey too? Did one or more of them Die? Were they Killed? oh god what if it's like in Light Princess and he actually Had (one of/)Them Executed. I think it's interesting that Clarence Lorded Dirry-Moir. we don't get to know about how he treated Josiana, but none of his kids even turn up to his funeral and the only one who talks about him at all only does so to denounce him.

also thinking about the differences yet similarities between the Green Box Family and the Royal Family but i can't articulate worth anything rn so i'll just *pins for later*

love Ensemble!Brisson

also ngl even if the whole Royal Introduction/Lords on Palace Hill bit isn't 100% literal it still paints a pretty clear picture of the kind of toxic and vapid society that's encouraged under Clarence's reign.

does 'bonnie prince' mean anything specific or

ugh i love Osric

wait i just noticed the stripies on dirry--moir's shirt. nice. i'd wear that.

not as much as i'd wear the heck out of Osric's coat though. actually his whole outfit. add Osric/Lord Trelaw to Roles I Wanna Be Cast For In The Timeline Where I Sing And Act

the face Dirry-Moir makes while Osric's getting started introducing the fair tho. he looks like a kid trying to fit in with a cool new friend group.

the way Mr Maskell sings "we have a huge collection of the crippled and the dabbed" tho it sounds like he's got a cold

i'm gonna need somebody to meet me irl just to do that lil dance that Dirry-Moir and Osric do after "If you've got the money/I've got the misery" it looks fun!

au where Mr. Maskell stays on stage through the end of Laughter is the Beast Medicine. i need to See him do the choreo for this part.

had a real cursed idea right here but no it's Too cursed

the look on Osric's face when Bark grabs his bad arm tho

this whole "imagine laughing without any cruelty at all" is such a weird bit tbh

have i already said that i love the whole look of the "the poor soul who stands before you" part like idk if it's the pose or what but Gwyn Looks Really Good In This Scene

okay but the way puppet!Gwyn holds out his hand toward his mom and then she goes to- hangon i can’t describe lemme see if separate post separate post

okay

ngl im real curious as to whether this bit on the pirate ship (idk why i’ve always defaulted to ‘pirates’ for these cats) actually happened or if Ursus fully made it up like we really Don’t get to Know how much of this has any basis in what really happened that night do we u-u

kay but the fact that Dea’s mom’s lying there with her eyes open and the way they emphasize her frozen-ness by having her arm stay up like. wow.

wait a minute is that Born Broken playing for lil baby Dea? i think it is.

yeah sing it hazlit

interesting how Ursus has little!Gwyn sing “they put blood in my nightmares” but also vow to find the man who cut him. which i mean singular ‘they’ is obviously a thing but as i doubt the intention was for Gwyn to have decided that whoever cut him must be a they/them man i just think it’s interesting that even the wording in the puppet show points to the fact that there was Someone Else There, even if it does then swerve back to a single perpetrator. But also it’s still accurate because while it was only one man who cut Gwyn’s face, it was both Barkilphedro and Ursus who contributed to putting blood in his nightmares.

honest question why is Mr. Maskell’s voice Like That like who gave him the right

love how puppet!Gwyn and puppeteer!Gwyn and later real!Gwyn all do that same little motion with their head on the word “disgrace”

OH HEY we’re at the part where Lon Don picks up NICE

add Mojo Puppeteer to my list of dream roles

wait ohmygod there’s this thing kind of hanging off the cart and i was squinting at it like “what is that” and then the cart turned around and i realize that’s the body that goes to the head-on-a-shelf ursus what the hell

wait so Dirry-Moir genuinely thinks Dea went blind from looking at Gwyn’s face but he also wants to see it? although granted Ursus said she went blind from “gazing too long” so maybe Dirry-Moir assumes he’ll be safe if it’s only a quick look. still. Concept: Post-Show Dirry-Moir having this tendency to Not Look At Gwyn very much until eventually either he explains why and somebody has to Tell Him, or maybe at some point he’s like “wait a minute. that was made up wasn’t it” and everyone has a bit of a laff

ngl i love the inside of the cart and how there’s like four, maybe five puppets, counting Beauty and Beast, and also some of the shadow puppets...all kinds of vials and bottles and what looks like painting supplies...what looks suspiciously like crimson lethe on the stove...looks like some cabinets and extra storage up very top. im curious about the layout since we only get to see one part of the cart at a time.

wait why’s the song called stars in the sky when does he say th- why isn’t it called “New World” or “dreams” or something why stars in the sky he doesn’t even say- does he say it in the reprise???  *skips ahead* NO?

does the Disney Chorus Say It??

THEY DON’T

WHY IS THE SONG CALLED STARS IN THE SKY? WHY HAVE I BEEN UNQUESTIONINGLY CALLING IT STARS IN THE- WHEN ARE STARS MENTIONED??

IS THE TITLE A REFERENCE TO THE FACT THAT URSUS IS ONE OF THE ONES WHO ASSISTED IN STRIPPING STARS FROM THE SKY? IDK BOSS IT FEELS KINDA WEAK TO ME

ugh i love ms obianyo

“to help them forget themselves” yeah that’s what you want him to do huh Ursus

“not now, Grinpayne”‘s a p curious line to include and only the fact that Gwyn’s still using his puppet!Gwyn voice while complaining is keeping me from being like “lol Gwyn’s lil rant was actually him breaking character and then Ursus just went with it like it was part of the show lol lol”

cutting here for length uwu Dea finishes the word ‘skies’ at exactly 30 minutes in which is nice bc i didn’t even have to interrupt her mid-word in order to pause for post-length.

[vaguely-concerned]

Twisted Fate/Graves thoughts 2 Electric Boogaloo because none of you can stop me

and I just have a lot of feelings okay

- t.f. taking an entire paragraph mid-fall during a harrowing life or death chase to give you the context for how much the imminent destruction of his boots is a  tragedy is the funniest and most endearing character detail and also irrefutable proof that despite appearances he, too, really does only have that half a brain cell, it simply pingpongs around in there much more than graves’ half (which instead finds one idea and GOES HARD for it no matter what lol bless him)   

also his pov is basically just a flippant ‘well this is a goddamn bitch of an unsatisfactory situation’ until graves literally forces him to have an honest emotion at gunpoint, and y’know... that be what love feels like sometimes when you’re like that as a person, extremely relatable, I feel for him so much

- I’m still just quietly astounded by the hmmm... implied intimacy? I guess? in the argument they’re having once they’re actually talking in burning tides. let’s look at what they’re actually saying to each other:     

T.F.: “Are you ever gonna learn? . . . Every time I try to help you, I-” and “ I tried to get us out. The rest of us saw the job was going south . . . But you wouldn’t back down. You never do.”

vs.

Graves: “You’ll run again. That’s all you’ve ever done.” and “You made out alright, though . . . You know why? It’s because you’re a coward. And nothing you’ll ever say can change that.” 

like them’s the sort of fraught fighting words you have with a spouse right towards the end of an ugly divorce, the full fruitless ‘why do you always have to --’ and ‘but you never listen to me!!!’ deal, especially from graves’ side lol. it’s the sort of hurtful you can really only be with someone you’ve been very, very close to, someone you know incredibly well. considering the whole backstory what graves is essentially saying here is ‘It’s your own fault people have left you; you deserve to be alone’.

(interestingly, in twisted fate’s pov it seems that what’s really messing with him is the part of not being listened to. he tried to plead with his family and they refused to listen, he tried to convince graves to run away with the rest of them and he didn’t listen, and here they are again and graves isn’t listening  a g a i n  and at that point t.f. clearly just sort of. gives up on actually being heard, in a slightly heartbreaking way. and from how graves reacts to seeing that I really think he’s not naturally cruel like that at all, he’s just in too much pain to think until this startles him out of it and then he does actually listen)

- through both stories graves is so desperately, enduringly horny for t.f. to be emotionally present and engaged with him without slipping away into his ~*cool magic gambler*~ persona and I find it weirdly sweet 

- graves immediately getting fond of this leaky battered old rowboat... hfsadkjfhasd he’s sort of adorable in a way? it’s also really cute how he’s got this really tight focus on tf and his mannerisms and how genuine he’s being at any given moment. it’s such a neat way to show what he’s feeling and thinking about, which must be hard with a character who’s so massively oblivious to the finer points of his own inner life lol  

ALSO can we talk about how tf literally winks at him at one point, right after they’ve sort of had a little moment of regained trust... like my good sir that is so deeply unnecessarily saucy of you, please control yourself (though in his defense graves somehow still isn’t picking up what he’s putting down so y’know maybe subtle isn’t the way to go here anyway haha)

- I wonder if t.f. used to go by his initials even before he changed his name -- graves calls him by it straight off the bat in burning tides and t.f. seems to consider his real name mildly embarrassing lol. (also intriguing that he does appear to think of it as his ‘real name’, and not ‘old name’ or something like that. it’s why I feel like we’ve got more of a dual identity going on here than a deadname situation, it feels more like two distinct levels of emotional vulnerability/availability to me. and so ‘tobias’ stops being relevant when there’s no one left to know him as that. ow.)    

- from reading his bio it seems like twisted fate has had to figure out a lot of the magic stuff on his own (except for the mention of his grandpa teaching him the fortune telling part of it -- seems like they had a bit of a special connection, really, if him leaving his old cards with the kid before they left is anything to go by). what I’m saying is that I would read thousands upon thousands of words of him experimenting with it when they were younger and graves hurriedly having to topple a table over and pull them both behind it for cover before they both explode lol 

(and then t.f. popping his head up afterwards like ‘hAH see I TOLD you I could do it!’ and graves disconsolately lighting a cigar from the burning rubble b/c the things one does for love partnerships huh)

- I’ve been looking over burning tides with a writing eye a few times to figure out what makes it work so well for me, and one of the things I really like is that there are a lot of small comments/details that are there or are framed in a certain way specifically to emphasize the familiarity and history between the characters. Just small details like He moves fast for a big man. I’d forgotten that and graves mentioning he’s never liked standing too close when t.f. does the teleporting thing -- not to mention t.f.’s name reveal, which if I understand this correctly was actually new information to the readers when burning tides was going on. (and yes it is still very funny to me that his actual name is tobias. the duality of man)   

(I also feel like there are HUGE differences in writing quality between the different POV sections -- I guess different people wrote for the different characters? Well, both of the first person sections are gold and that’s what matters to me in this story so I don’t really mind. Sadly the Miss Fortune parts read the weirdest and stiffest to me, which is unfortunate b/c I love her lore concept a lot and she’s so cool in double double-cross. WHO the fuck let an unironic ‘the crimson-haired siren’ slip through the edit, is what I really want to know. please, narrator, tell me about her cerulean orbs while you’re at it) 

- The man I used to know seems lost under years of hatred.

I don’t try to say anything else. I can see it in his eyes, now. Something’s broken inside of him.

still makes me SO SAD and I’m incredibly happy it turns out not to be true in the end thank GOD

- this might just be me reading into stuff too much, but I really like this sense that in moments of high emotion/genuine vulnerability, graves tends to sound older and more tired while t.f. sounds younger than he actually is, more frightened and hurt

- if his mind hadn’t been completely focused on partner-rescuing and open murder were in any way his style, t.f. totally could have killed gangplank right there and then before miss fortune even got to blow the fucker up haha. then again if that were the sort of guy he were he’d be dead along with all the rest of them

- it’s so good that graves tries to save miss fortune’s guy before they leave the cave but also isn’t broken up about it when it turns out he can’t, that feels like such a correct encapsulation of his moral character haha

- I really do enjoy graves’ POV so much not just because there’s something immensely comforting about how he refuses to be scared even in the face of death because he’s too damn grouchy and won’t give the world the satisfaction, but also because the language/cadence is so satisfying. he does have a way with words, in a gruff non-flashy sort of way.

It smells like the end of everything – sulfur and ash and death; cooked hair and melting skin -- the rhythm of that is so gooood and that whole section conveys the horror and destruction but also the awe of the scene so well. (I’m telling you graves isn’t actually dumb at all, just astoundingly unbendingly single minded once he’s got an idea in his head lol) 

- I keep thinking about the fact that the last two things twisted fate thinks about before he passes out from drowning is if graves is scared and ‘What would Malcolm do?’ and I’m feeling real 😭😭😭 about it

- I’m still so disproportionately intrigued by graves mentioning his mom in burning tides. considering how early and seemingly easily he left home (...not to mention that he brings her up in connection with someone punching him in the face) it might be a safe bet that they weren’t that close but like. she also seems to be one of the very very few non-revengy things he’s checked up on after getting out of prison. did he send money home sometimes? would he visit whenever they came back to bilgewater? did she ever meet t.f. and if so did she approve or was this a bit of a uncharmable mother in law from hell situation? I um. I want to know these things pls riot it’s for science

.

(First post is over here btw, if anyone’s interested!)

[belladonnabear]

Tomura Shigaraki X Reader: Recruiting (LEMON)

Scenario: Tomura tries to find some new members for the League of Villains since Dabi isn't doing a good job and he ends up meeting a very attractive girl. That girl is you.

The tall man started scratching at neck irritably. Dabi wasn’t finding any new members for the League of Villains like he was supposed to. Kept talking about how none of them worthy. Shigaraki believed him at first but over time Shigaraki was getting fed up with no results. How hard could it be to find someone to join the League of Villains that wasn’t a total idiot?

He was going to go searching for some new members himself but he had one quick stop first. He found himself at a video game store to just browse around and look for something enjoyable. Not wanting to attract attention, he strolled through the very back of the store. His eyes however drifted to a very seductive girl who was also searching the shelves for a game. 

His eyes examined her figure closely, taking in every detail of her body. From the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. She was reading the back of a video game case with a bright smile on her face. He felt his body become heated all of a sudden and his head felt like it was spinning around.

What is this? Why was he reacting this way? Why did she look so good in that jacket? That skirt, why is it so high up? What kind of underwear did she have on underneath? Did she have some sort of special quirk that made him feel like this? 

However, he noticed he wasn’t the only one eyeing at her. Two perverted scumbags sauntering over to her. One of them wrapped his arm around her shoulders and he greeted. “Hey there gorgeous! Whatcha got there?”

Shigaraki didn’t know what this feeling was burning deep inside of him. It felt something similar to rage. A fire erupted inside of him and he was glaring at them with a burning hatred. He hated them.

“She’s got herself a Pokemon game! That’s cute!” the other guy snickered.

You however didn’t think it was cute at all. You smacked the guys arm off of you and frowned. “Could you not?”

“Not what?” the guy who had his arm wrapped around her asked.

“Look at me like I’m a piece of meat.” you rolled your eyes.

“Can’t help it hot stuff, maybe you should be more careful about what you wear.” the other man said from behind her.

While she turned around to glance at him, his friend flipped her skirt up revealing her panties underneath it. Shigaraki was about ready to turn them to dust when something unexpected happened.

The pretty female had whipped around and gave a good roundhouse kick to the man. He slammed against the shelves, the back of his neck hitting the bracket of the shelf. The other man tried to swing at her but she blocked his arm with her own and kneed him in the crotch. He sunk to his knees, tears beading out of his eyes while he whined.

The other man got back up and brought out a pocket knife he ran at her trying to slash at her but she maneuvered herself out of the way and jabbed his throat. He dropped the knife while she quickly took it. Hovering it above his eyeball, he froze in fear as he stared at the glistening blade. Afraid to move in case he would accidentally cut himself.

“People like you are trash. You don’t aspire to do anything with your lives. Instead, you want to make other people miserable because you’re miserable. There’s nothing worse is this world than a person with no aspirations or motives. You’re just a waste of air.” you darkly whispered.

Shigaraki was enamoured in this moment. A strong beautiful woman with a mind of her own. Not at all content to just let others push you around. 

The other man ran away while the guy pinned down was frozen in fright. What were you going to do? Were you going to kill him? Would you stab him in the eye? Shigaraki couldn’t get enough of it and watched the show in awe. Loving every second of you teaching this guy a lesson.

“If you’re afraid, then never appear before me again.” you threatened.

She got off of him as the man stumbled to get up before running away. You casually put your blade away and stretched your arms above your head yawning.

“Man, that was a thrill. But I didn’t even see the game I wanted! What a total waste!” you complained.

The way you handled yourself against that total idiot spiked a huge sensation through Shigaraki. One that led him to become very aroused when he saw your slim beautiful legs that looked so soft to touch. He wanted more. He wanted you.

As if on cue, you glanced over at him with a carefree smile. “Wanna take this back to my place? It would be a shame to let this night go to waste.”

A shame indeed.

~~

The two of you barely made it back to your place. Shigaraki wanted to take you on the side of the building but you managed to get him to hold back until you two made it into your apartment complex. Once you made it there though, all bets were off and he was touching you liked a starved man. You were laying on the bed while he started taking off his hoodie.

Your legs wind around each other, and Shigaraki’s weight drives you down into your bed, and his hot lips consume against your lips. He kisses his way down to your collarbone, and it sends, pleasurable strikes each time his lips contact your skin. You could feel the wetness gathering between your legs, and there was a growing bulge in the mans pants. The man with wild red eyes that gleamed at you mischievously. You could tell from the way he was watching you, that he was no ordinary man. And that's why the idea of sleeping with him made you giddy.

Without a word, Shigaraki silently moved his hands to the waistband of your panties, delicately placing all five fingers on it as it disintegrated. Seeing his quirk in action caused you lick your lips in satisfaction. The things those fingers could do to you...

His touch was increasingly soft now, his voice wheezed tenderly as he disclosed to you how wonderful you looked, emphasizing his words with light strokes on your exposed clit. And after that his fingers were pushing themselves against your wet cunt, two long digits rubbing your clit and all of a sudden you knew nothing else, it was all this stranger and his fingers. It didn't take him long to get you directly on to the edge and after that he pulled his fingers from your warmth. You could hear him licking them clean, tasting you, and that prepared you much more for what was to come.

Then the man removed pants and you saw as he threw his trousers across the room. He didn’t have anything on underneath and it excites you more to see him bare. He moaned as he stroked himself multiple times. And after that you let out a cry of joy when he at long last, entered you. It wasn't delicate, it wasn't making love, this was pure unfiltered fucking. Carnal, crude and obsessive. His hands were snatching your hips, fingers delving into your soft hips as you gripped the sheets of your bed tightly. He was huge and filled you to your very center in only one push, yet it felt tremendously satisfying. He gradually pushed out and did likewise again however this time increasingly slow trembled with joy as you felt him inch into you and fill you gradually.

“F-F-Faster!” you moaned.

“Keep begging!” he ordered.

You wanted to just take the reins and ride him but you were too lost in the moment to really care.

“Pl-Please! I want it! Make me c-cum!” you begged.

“Scream my name! Shigaraki! Call me by my name!” he demanded.

And without hesitation you did.

“S-Shigaraki!!”

All you heard was his satisfied laugh and rugged breath as he pushed into you a couple of more times, hitting your g-spot again and again. His hips snapped into you and you yelled out his name. Your back angled off the bed as you shouted; his finger is pushing against your clit as he pushes into you, his gleaming red eyes fixed all over your body. Loving every sound that was coming out of your pretty mouth. 

“That’s my pretty little pet,” he groaned above you. “Oh, fuck!” 

A silent scream was torn from you as he mercilessly thrusted into you, making you shake through your climax, joy wracking your body. You were both falling into the profundities of your sweat-soaked, foul, messy however very pleasurable climax. He laid his head on your chest chuckling maniacally. He was so glad he left the bar and found perfect entertainment.

“Was it good?” he smugly asked.

“Hell yes.” you responded with a grin. “Wanna try this again?”

“Oh absolutely. But first, I want to talk to you about joining the League of Villains...”

~~ Author's Note: Time's have been tough lately. If you want to give me a donation, please visit my Ko-fi page. Remember, if you have any suggestions for what to write here's the rules to submit a writing prompt.

(I am allowed to decline writing prompts if I don’t have inspiration to write) 1. No OC’s pretty please. Reader inserts only. I have had a bad experience on Deviantart trying to write someone’s OC for a request and they ended up harassing me for months because I didn’t get it right. 2. Don’t submit multiple posts. Try to limit to one so I don’t get overwhelmed. 3. Please be polite to everyone you see here.

Ko-Fi Account: https://ko-fi.com/P5P515Y3Z?action=setcovercompletion

Thank you everyone! Have a fantastic day!

[untaintedtea]

I should have written this earlier when Witcher Netflix was more fresh in my mind (I haven't done a proper rewatch yet) but I still wanted to write a post about some thoughts I had (that I actually remember lol) and stuff I want in the next season. It's like 99% about Geralt/Yen/Ciri bc I have three brain cells and they're dedicated to them.

The spoiler-free stuff: I definitely loved it! There's some scenes in the book that I would have loved to have seen on screen that I'll mention later, but I really liked it for the most part. My main issue is the pacing, but I understand them trying to fit so much into only 8 episodes -- I hope next season will have at least 10 or even 12 eps to fully flesh out the storylines. There were times where I wondered how easy it was to follow if you didn't know the books, and it seems that it's kinda been mixed? But all-in-all people are loving it, there's lots of memes and new content, and I'm happy about that.

Yennefer's backstory and Anya Chalotra were the highlights for me, and I loved Tissaia as well. By "I haven't done a proper rewatch" I mean that I've only rewatched the first ep (Renfri ❤️) and the parts with Geralt/Yennefer lmao. I'll prob watch it all again later on. Now to the spoilery stuff (includes some refs to the books):

Some specific stuff I liked:

Geralt finally being able to sleep in the Last Wish episode and then him saying in the next ep that before he met Yen, "nights were restless" so she/the thought of her helps him sleep now? lol

Yen touching Geralt's face after he tells her she's important to him as if she can't believe she's important to someone right then and needs to make sure he's real or that she's not dreaming 😭

Téa and Véa and how they actually talked instead of not really communicating well themselves in the books

Yen's elven blood being emphasized and it being a thing that allows her to be naturally inclined towards magic…idek I'm just into that lmao

Geralt "hm"-ing all the time was excellent and is, unfortunately, v relatable

I wasn't gonna say this but since I posted about his casting on my blog previously…I'm still not a fan of Henry but I cannot deny his knowledge and dedication to Geralt and the Witcher lore, and I think he portrayed Geralt very well to the point where I don’t think I imagine anyone else playing the role now? I really mean this bc before I refused to reblog/tweet anything with him in it bc I’m petty LMAO

This is obvious but Toss a Coin to Your Witcher is the song of the year and Her Sweet Kiss is also good. @ netflix soundtrack WHEN

Some stuff I have issues with:

Istredd getting an expanded storyline is fine with me (and will probably set up better angst) but I wish he didn't do the thing Geralt does in Thanedd where he thinks about things Yen likes…I guess that's minor by itself, but Geralt thinking about the house in Thanedd is so important and I hope at least they keep that for the future. Also making the imaginary sorcerers Yennefer conjured up clap like in Thanedd is like…ok I'll allow it but Thanedd better be Extra Good bc I remember reading the part where they're in bed again when I wanted to make myself upset lmao

I wish we got the line when Geralt first called Yennefer "Yen" because "nobody's ever called me that. Say it again" is SO POWERFUL and I think that would have helped set up Geralt/Yen better in the series. Anya did describe the relationship as "animalistic and full of lust" and honestly that's fair but I also want people to understand why tf I'm smiling when we watch them fuck after the last wish instead of being like "ok but where did this come from" lmao. Yeah they’re horny af but pls!!!

Tbh I just want more Angst...like in the Bounds of Reason ep, the "you left" thing and Geralt asking for forgiveness was so short and would have been better if they just…expanded on it a little more…idek this is where I really wished they had an extra episode or two just to elaborate :/

The lack of baby dragon is so sad tbh. I liked that they did without Yen getting her titties exposed and threatened with rape obviously but the baby dragon running over to Yen tho!!

Ciri is my sweet child whom I love dearly and I understand her storyline but I wasn't super into her parts in a way? It makes sense since she's running and hiding and I felt her panic and loneliness and all that, but I think this could have only been fixed if they did Brokilon like in the books. I guess they'd have to cut down on Calanthe maybe?

As for the "Who is Yennefer?" ending:

I know many book readers weren't super satisfied with this, since ofc this is the famous "you're something more" scene, but I think it's fine within the context of the show because of the way Brokilon was handled (obviously I would have liked to see Geralt + Ciri interactions so we could have gotten “something more” though). It also sets up a connection between Yen + Ciri early on -- not really a strong one, but a connection nonetheless. And ofc it makes sense to people who don't know the books, and this is an adaptation after all.

I wish it wasn't as abrupt though? The fact that Ciri's first words to Geralt were about Yennefer is kind of a weird, but I guess that Ciri's vision was so vivid she couldn't help it maybe? And her mentioning Yennefer after Geralt talked about being linked by destiny enforces that it's all three of them linked.

I think this ending line allows for flashbacks via communication? Like if Geralt were to tell Ciri about Yen (and Yen telling Ciri about Geralt), they could elaborate on the relationship between Geralt/Yennefer that way and maybe have a flashback episode or at least a few scenes. I don’t really imagine Geralt saying too much about Yen but still?

So that takes us to things I want in the next season (not exhaustive; I need to do a BoE re-read):

The Dear Friend letter!!

And obviously before that, Triss staying at Kaer Morhen for a while…I wouldn't mind if they completely wrote out any attraction she had to Geralt ofc, but Ciri being sure that Triss is "not Geralt's woman" is also good

Imagine Ciri reading Yennefer's mind and accidentally seeing her thoughts about Geralt…not that she'd even need to though, as long as Yen tells Ciri that Geralt's hands are very gentle is enough lmao. But I'd love the "what is there between you and Geralt" line! In general, I really want Yen/Geralt to be like, the most obvious thing to the audience lol.

Yen telling Ciri that she's lucky bc Ciri knows that Geralt will come back for her and Yen isn't sure that Geralt would do the same for her 😭

Since they're doing the story with Nivellen, I'm hoping for other short stories to be adapted too. My favourite is A Shard of Ice, and I read that it's Henry's favourite too so I'm optimistic about it being included somehow. And since Istredd has a bigger role, it could work? ALSO WE NEED EVERYONE TO KNOW ABOUT THE UNICORN. PLEASE

Flashbacks to Belleteyn (is having another orgy scene ok. pls say yes) and the Geralt seeing that the 14th name on the hill wasn't Yennefer. He wanted to die again ahhhhhhh

Yarpen asking Geralt "is [Ciri] yours?"

More Jaskier songs about Geralt/Yen…even just one pls

And more angst bc like. There's so much come on lmao hurt the audience

A lot of Yennefer + Ciri. Just a Lot of it.

[rionsanura]

@jadefyre​ said: hello yes I would like the deets of how the POTC theme evokes the swashbucklery so amazingly please

@mochuelita​ replied to your post: I am HERE for the swashbuckle deets

@jackironsides replied to your post: Will you divulge the secrets??

Oh I will absolutely try. I have no perspective about how much anyone knows about music, so I am likely going to vacillate wildly between explaining basic concepts in insulting detail and glossing over things that seem obvious to me but may not be, but I love this damb song so much that I am bout to EXPLAIN IT SO HARD. (Pls let me know the degree of unintelligibility you encounter here, and in what deet, and I will try to ameliorate.)

This glorious Hans Zimmer/Klaus Badelt/Geoff Zanelli thrill, the crowning achievement of hollywood pirate music, named, appropriately, He's A Pirate, is a deep and riotous well of perfectly executed brain-melting techniques. Welcome to my Deet Tour. The biggest categories of secrets here are

1. hemiola 2. augmentation(**) 3. orchestration 4. modal borrowing 5. cadential rhythm

So the biggest and most important rhythmic secret anyone can ever learn has a name that sounds hilariously like either an unfortunate blood disease or an unfortunate Ancient Greek poet. But it is Life and Greatness; it is the secret that makes compound time magic, and I am such a huge sucker for it that back when facebook was an exciting new platform that had just been opened to a few schools outside the ivy league, including mine, back when fb groups were a form of self-expression and not a freebooting nightmare, I made a facebook group called "If Hemiola Were A Person, We'd Be Married." Yes. And 17 of my closest music school friends joined, because hemiola is really that great.

Here is what it means: you are in compound time (a kind of meter that has beats made of 3 smaller beats). You arrange those tiny beats into groups of 2 instead.* Like this:

| | |   | | | -> | |   | |   | |

Think of the coolest thing about the rhythm in the classic Theory 101 hemiola demonstration standby, America from West Side Story. It goes onetwothree onetwothree onetwo onetwo onetwo. That's one way to hemiola. The most obvious way, very good, very satisfying.

A more advanced (and more connotatively piratical, but we'll get to that in a bit) way to hemiola is to do the 3 and the 2 at the SAME TIME. This can be in different instruments, or in the same instrument at different points in the melody of the same bar; the options are endless. You end up with a rhythm that, devil take it, can only reasonably be called Rollicking. Is it in 3? Is it in 2? DOESN'T MATTER. IT'S HEMIOLA. IT'S IN BOTH. Listen to the A section of He's a Pirate; it has everything that can possibly be in both 3 and 2 going on at once. The melody, played by some forthright horns and low strings, has a rhythm that mostly divides the bar into 3, while still keeping the pickup subdivision that makes you feel like the little beats are in 2 big groups of 3. I'll write the rhythm out with periods for rests and pipes for played beats and divide them into the groups I hear them in, with big spaces between the bars: (...) .||    |. |. ||    |. |. ||    |. |. ||    ||. .||    |. |. ||    |. |. ||    |. |. ||    |.. .||    |. |. ||    |. |. ||    |. |. ||    ||. .||    |. |. |.    ||. .||    |. |. ||   |.. ...

The most ambiguous thing here is the middle beat of the bar, the 4th one if you're counting it in 6 (2nd if you're in 2, 1.5 if you're in 3). This whole melody hinges on that empty beat. Is it part of the second note? Or is it a springboard for the last two notes? Is it an on-beat or an offbeat? IT'S HEMIOLA. IT'S BOTH. MAGIC. Obviously some bars will be easier to hear in 2 (the fourth bar at end of each phrase, for example, which starts with two notes in a row with no space between, and a really emphatic drum hit on beat 4 (or 2, or 1.5) while no notes are happening). Some are easier to hear in 3; the rest of the phrase, besides the fourth bar, has at least two notes per bar that sounds like they should be grouped in Big Three (two little beats per group). The best part about it, and what makes the Rollicking so successful (one might even say, as OP did, that it is Jaunty) is that for most of these bars, it is equally easy to hear them in 3 or in 2. The British Isles, particularly the bits that the English tried and failed to assimilate, are deeply associated with this kind of rhythmic ambiguity. In fact the wikipedia example of what an Irish drum (bodhrán) sounds like is mostly composed of 6/8 hemiola, and though it's not the best playing I've ever heard, it is a good example of the rhythms usually played on that drum.

I'm counting the climactic bit that sounds like cutlass swipes (there's our Swashbuckling) about 0:33-0:46 as a B section. Why does it buckle the swash? Because all the beats of the melody have been occupied so far in this tune, and now there are big holes. Are they still hemiola? Yes. It's just the slightly more obvious kind that switches back and forth between 2 and 3 beats per bar in one voice instead of both at once through ambiguous beat 4 (or 2 or 1.5):

|.. .||   |.. ...   |.. ...    ||. |..    |.. .||    |. |. |.   |.. .||   |. |. |.   ||. ...   |. |. |.   ||. ...   |. |. |.   |.. .(||) (the last two pipes here are the pickup to the C section and can be counted as rests for the purposes of the B section)

But don't worry, both kinds of subdivision are still happening everywhere else. It's a mechanically complex but simply majestic pearl of a tune.

Which brings us to Secret #2: augmentation. This is why we feel the buckle is swashed atop the bowsprit, rather than anywhere else on board. This one is Particularly Secret, because to be honest there is no literal augmentation going on in this song, just the implication of it.** This might be a bit harder to explain.

The C section of this song, starting at 0:45 right after the cutlass swipes, goes rhythmically like this (basically two times in a row, with different notes the second time):

(||)   |.. .||    |. |. |.    |. |. |.    |.. .||    |.. .||    |. |. |.   |. .. |.    |.. (...)

Look how many groups of unambiguous 3 there are in this horn melody! With big holes in the rest of the bars! This makes the melody sound slower, because not as many small notes in a row are being played, even though there are still the same underlying rhythms happening in the drums and the accompanying figures that are not the melody. It's like we're on the top of the ship instead of underneath in the waves being bashed on the hull by all the little chops and splashes we hear in the drums and cellos. We can see/hear those little subdivisions, we're just not involved in them right now: this is how we become majestic. The drums are definitively in 2, which emphasizes the moments when the melody is more 3ish. The bass line and accompanimental figures are ambiguous.

This brings us to Secret #3: orchestration.

The magnificence and high wind (which causes rough seas) are indeed related to some cellos. The swash wouldn't be nearly so all-encompassing if the orchestrators hadn't picked the instruments they picked (I'm not sure who orchestrated this particular moment of the soundtrack; see the wikipedia entry on the 7 different composers hired to orchestrate this score because of weird production reasons). There is an ASTONISHINGLY small number of kinds of instruments used in this song considering the forces available in an orchestra, and all but the cellos, horns, basses, and drums are basically decorations on top of the main tune.

Here is the obvious thing: it's very low. Cellos are pretty low instruments, basses are Really low instruments, horns have the capability to go high but do not do it in this song, and drums have no exact pitch but most of the ones used in this piece for the main beats are low in frequency with occasional high crashy sounds for emphasis. Cellos, and I don't think I'm making this up, I've read association studies, sound like wood. Horns are used in hollywood scores (and for hundreds of years before movies were invented) for noble and majestic melodies, associated with noble and majestic characters and environments and qualities (check out some Wagner for more information about the association of melodies with story elements before movies were invented). This is the deet where we start thinking about notes instead of just rhythms.

It is pretty unusual for notes so low to be so fast. A gem of an aphorism I picked up in high-school-orchestra rehearsals (from the director, no less): "an octave lower, an octave slower." (This was usually meant as a gentle tease to the bass section for not playing their part right, or on time, but it works as an explanation of normal orchestration principles.) We don't expect our driving, foundational bass frequencies to move from note to note so fast. Usually if they do, it's an exceptional showoff moment in a bigger orchestral context where the violins or other high instruments are doing the rest of the fast stuff. Here, the violins are just doubling the low strings to emphasize them when the melody is repeated; the high strings aren't even playing all the time. What this means is that the low instruments are showing off all the time, so it's very drivy and feels much faster than it would if just the high instruments were doing the tune.

It's also one of the reasons the song is foreboding; very low notes, punctuated with high shrieky interjections (like the violin swashes in the cutlass section), is the technique used in horror scoring, which we have been conditioned to associate with something scary. Also I think there is some science there.

Another reason it is a bit foreboding (though other sections of the soundtrack are More Foreboding, for example Fog Bound but we're just talking about the main theme in this post) is Secret #4: modal borrowing.

Let's be clear here, there's nothing Super Weird going on in this melody modally, but there are several ways to do a minor scale, and it takes advantage of more than one. Minor keys have a surprising amount of options regarding what notes to use after the fifth scale degree; you can have a low 6 and 7 (often used coming down the scale), or a high 6 and 7 (usually for going up), or low 6 and high 7 (this is often used to sound middle-eastern) or a high 6 and low 7 (this is not often used, since low 6 is good for tension in that half-step going to the 5th degree, but if it is used, it sounds folky and maybe Old). This array of usual options means you don't really have to borrow much to have both kinds of 6th and 7th scale degrees, but the fact that the melody so frequently emphasizes the low 7 (whole step between 7 and 1, instead of half) makes it sound modal and British-folk-ish. Listen to some jigs (Butterfly, for example) or reels (like this whole set of them) or really any minor-key Irish or Scottish folk music and you'll find it has low 7.

This frequent low 7th scale degree means the chord that starts on the 5th scale degree, usually called the V chord in classical parlance, is in fact in this situation the v chord, because it's minor. That's modal borrowing! The minor v chord is not really native to any mode, because usually we make the V chord major even if 7 is low in the scale, but we call it borrowing anyway. It is a particular kind of sound where the drive of the five chord to the one chord is less strong, because the low 7 doesn't want quite as badly to lead to 1. This makes the chord more atmospheric than functional, and it might be more foreboding this way. It's not rare, it's not exceptional, but it is definitely associated with the British Isles (more the 19th century than the 17th, but fewer people know actual 17th century tunes) and folk music and sea chanties etc. This may be how we know it's the jolly roger flapping from the mast.

However! The tune also has moments of high 7! And this means V is major sometimes! Like the end of the A section before it repeats slightly differently (0:17). The fact that both of these chords exist in this tune makes it even borrowier, because usually you get only one of these kinds of five chord. But sometimes we have major V, which makes it More Climactic, the spectacular flaps of the jolly roger.

The last Secret I would like to relate is #5: cadential rhythm. This is the reason we have any actual association with the 17th century instead of the 19th (most piratey music anyone knows is from the 19th century).

Cadences (a cadence is the way a phrase ends) have been classified over the centuries, in terms of both rhythm and melody, into two kinds. They are conventionally called masculine and feminine, or strong and weak, but those are bullshit names so I am calling them direct and indirect. A direct cadence lands on the downbeat, and probably on the root of the chord. An indirect cadence lands after the downbeat, and so the first note of the bar isn't the cadential note; the note after it is.

The way He's A Pirate uses indirect cadential rhythm is especially emphatic. The very first phrase (0:05-0:08) cadences on the second tiny beat of the bar instead of the first. Since the tiny beats go real fast, it's very obvious how the phrase lands on Not The Big Beat. The tinier the beats are, the more emphatic the syncopation is. BUT THEN: the second phrase cadences directly (0:08-0:11). It goes back and forth between direct and indirect until the end of the A section when we have two indirects in a row, which makes the direct (on major V, no less!) last one especially swashbuckly.

Here is a playlist of 17th century English songs (mostly in compound time), the first of which is also full of hemiola, many (especially the third, 14th, 15th and 16th) of which have indirect cadences at the end of nearly every phrase. The switching back and forth between the two kinds of cadential rhythm is really important to the piratical nature of this song, contributes to the jauntiness, and has actual connections to historical 17th century tunes (though this cadential strategy is also common in the 19th century sea folk tunes people are more likely to know). BEHOLD THE GALLEON.

I hope that these Secrets have been Revealed. If my explanatory techniques have been too obscure, please do ask me about things you find unclear; I larve this song to tiny tiny bits and would be delighted to explain it forever.

*Or the other way around. Hemiola just means messing with the subdivision of beats, regrouping them either from 2 to 3 or 3 to 2. OR BOTH AT ONCE YAAASSSS. also you don’t necessarily have to be in compound time (which is subdivided into 3); you can be in any meter, as long as you are regrouping things between 2 and 3. it’s just easiest and most rollicking when you’re in, for example, 6/8 or 9/8. **Despite my 11 years of music school, I have not found a better inaccurate but explicative term for this technique, but let me explain to you what augmentation actually is, so that you know why this isn't exactly augmentation. When you make a melody twice as slow but with the exact same thing happening, that's real augmentation. Like if in the original melody from my first dumb rhythmic transcription had values of quarter notes instead of eighth notes; if it just sounded slower with the rest of everything going the same speed. Obviously the melody in the C section is not the same as the A section, and it does not actually use values that are twice that of the A section, but it expands the beat to feel slower in a way that is compatible with the flexible ambiguous 2 or 3 subdivision of compound time.

[sage-nebula]

Okay, now that I finally have a minute, I can finally talk about the biggest event of the day:

GEN! 8! REVEAL! FAM!!

In a way, this was not surprising at all. The official Pokémon YouTube channel had been posting promotional videos of all the main regions for the week leading up to today (Pokémon Day), and once a Direct was announced we knew that they would not use that Direct for anything less than Gen VIII. Nintendo and Game Freak have made some questionable decisions in the past, but even they would not be so foolish as to dedicate a Direct to anything but a new set of games, particularly since they’d already promised us Gen VIII would be coming out this year. (Which is why those who are angry that this announcement wasn’t for Sinnoh remakes don’t really make a lot of sense. We were promised brand new core titles for a 2019 release. This couldn’t have been anything but that.) Even so, I am still thrilled by what I saw in the trailer, and I still want to talk about it because I’m so excited.

So:

Pros:

The Region: Some leaks that had come out ages ago suggested that the region could be based off the UK, and I’m so happy to see that was true. (Very little else in the leaks came true, but I’m okay with that, too; Sword and Shield are much better version names than Crown and Scepter.) The region itself looks like it’s going to be beautiful, both in terms of its countryside areas and its urban areas. It reminds me a bit of Unova in that way, how there’s a bit of a divide there, and with that divide emphasized in this reveal trailer, I wonder if that’s going to affect the plot. Either way, I’m truly excited about the region itself, particularly with some of the shots of it that we saw (both interior and exterior) in the trailer.

The Graphics: On that note, the graphics are so nice! There’s so much detail everywhere! In particular I can’t help but think of shots like the library the female trainer was standing in near the end, or the various towns the characters ran through . . . I know some people were hoping for hyper realistic graphics, but that’s never been Pokémon’s style. I’m just glad that these games are so, so much prettier than Let’s Go. I’m so glad all the models and the environment was fixed.

Random Battles are Back In: Speaking of things that were fixed, we can actually train our pokémon again! I was very relieved when I saw that, haha.

Gyms: We’re also back to the Gym system, which is also something of a relief. Honestly, I don’t mind the concept of the Island Trials, but I don’t feel that it was implemented well at all. The Trials themselves were basic and empty, and in many ways felt like watered down Gyms. In USUM it was even worse since you weren’t even allowed to explore during them (and instead had the Captain walking you through the Trials, such as in Mallow’s). Since they weren’t going to get creative with the Trials, I’m glad they’ve scrapped them to go back to the Gym system. Hopefully we’ll get a dark-type Gym this time around.

The Starters: The starters are all so cute! My favorite is Scorbunny (whom I keep calling Scorbunny-bun, haha), but I like Sobble and Grookey as well. Which one I pick will depend on the final evolutions (since I can’t just not look, although I will say I do miss the days of my youth when final evolutions were a surprise and you picked your starter based on first impression), just like which version I get will depend on version differences, but at the moment, if I had to just pick today? It would be Scorbunny. Little soccer bunbun is so cute, I love him. (Sobble would be my second choice, and Grookey my third.)

The Trainers: I LOVE BOTH OF THE TRAINER DESIGNS SO MUCH!! I actually feel like trainer customization might not be back in (more on that in the next section) because we didn’t see any customization in the trailer, and both of the designs are more detailed this time around (whereas the boy design at the least is usually generic in customizable games). But even if we don’t, I’m fine with that. I love both of the designs. I do wish the girl was able to wear pants for the snowy areas, but I love her sweater and her haircut, and the boy’s hat is cute. Really, they’re both fashionable and cute kids. I love them.

The Box Mascots: Of course we know nothing of the legendaries (legendary?) yet, but they look very lupine and I’m excited about that. GIVE ME MY SWORD WOLF, GAME FREAK!!

The Cons:

No Trainer Customization?: We might get a surprise here and that might be back in after all, but right now it looks like it might not be, so that’s a potential con for me.

No Following Pokémon?: Most of the shots that we saw of the gameplay looked empty (for instance, no other NPCs in town shots), so maybe we will get following pokémon and they’re just not able to show that yet. Bu tif we don’t, that’s also something that will make me sad, albeit it’s also something I can live with, haha.

No Pokémon in Overworld: While I am THRILLED that wild battles are back because that’s a deal breaker for me, one thing I actually did like about Let’s Go is that you could see pokémon on the overworld, and I do wish they had implemented that here. But again, I can live with it not being implemented, haha. I’m fine with wild battles, too.

The Miscellaneous:

Professor?: The leaks I talked about earlier mentioned that these games have no professor, and that we instead receive our starters from a princess. No idea if that’s true or not yet, obviously, but if it’s not and we do still have a professor, I want them to be either Poké David Attenborough or Poké Jane Goodall. (And on a related note, if the monarchy is in this game, let me throw down with the queen pls.)

Give Us the Great Galaran Bake Off: You know how each gen has a little side gimmick? Like we had Contests in Gen III, Super Contests in IV, PokéStar Studios in V, and so on? Give us Bake Off in Gen VIII. The Great British Bake Off has popularity that transcends its borders and it would be so great to implement that into these games. The bonus is that when the Galar anime starts up, there can be an episode where Ash somehow makes his way into the tent as a baker (and I say somehow, because you have to audition and everything and prove yourself worthy of being there irl and Ash cannot cook or bake for anything) and then is the first person eliminated because his pastries have soggy bottoms and are not crisp, and also his cakes have overbaked sponges and you cannot see the layers in there at all. (I hope the anime gives us that episode even if we don’t have the gimmick in the games. Come on, PokéAni. Show us the forbidden Poké Mary Berry and Poké Paul Hollywood, along with Poké Mel and Sue.)

Anime’s English Dub: On that note, I both am and am not looking forward to TPCi hiring garbage actors who will absolutely brutalize every single British* accent they have in their cast. If it was 4Kids, I would trust them to hire actors who know what they’re doing. But TPCi? I remember what they did to Alan. I’ll never forget nor will I ever forgive what they did to Alan. They hired a no-name rando off the street who had no talent whatsoever to voice Alan. If they do try to make the Galaran characters British, there is no way those accents will be passable. It will be a travesty. That said, if the PokéAni actually had a good job with a talented cast, I would pay them actual money to make Ash’s female companion have a Cockney or south London accent. I LOVE those accents and I would love to have a character with one on the main cast. They could also give Ash’s male companion (should he have one) a Scottish accent to just complete the whole dynamic and it’d be incredible. Like I know they’d probably go for standard pronunciation, but god what I wouldn’t give for regional accents for an English dub of the Galaran anime. It would be incredible. (*I said British instead of English here because not all British accents are English. Scotland is part of Britain, and therefore a Scottish accent is a British accent, for example. So believe me, I wasn’t conflating British and English; I know the difference, and I was incorporating all of them.) 

Unova vs. Galar Rivalry: I want to see some (friendly) rivalry between Unova and Galar, just like those posts from Ye Olde Tumblr where Americans and Brits would get into “fights” over things. Obviously Unova is not the only United States region (Alola and Orre also exist), but it’s the one up in New England, and the one most blatantly American, I feel. It’d be neat to see that in the game. (And on an unrelated note, was Galar the region that warred with Kalos 3,000 years ago? Hmm . . .)

All in all, I’m super excited and I just can’t wait for these games. November can’t come fast enough (and neither can more info, haha)!