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meowmeowriley · 9 months ago

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Convention Commotion

With help from the lovely @tactax-art, who encouraged me and drew the art for me, this is a lil continuation of the previous cosplayer AU for my beloved Costume Anon ❤ Hope everyone enjoys 😉 proper art near the end of the fic.

***

What had started as his uncle taking pity on him for not being able to go to a convention by himself, had become a tradition of sorts. Any time uncle John was on leave, he'd ask Andy if there were any conventions. And any time there were, they'd meet up with Simon.

"Ye cannae call him Simon, Andy. It's Lieutenant Ghost, or Lt., or Mr. Riley. Or anythin' else, really. Just show him some respect." Uncle John had chastised him after he'd asked once if Simon was gonna be at convention they'd just arrived at.

"Until he joins the army, Johnny, I'll have none of that nonsense." Uncle John had jumped out of his skin (Andy had too, but that was less surprising. He wasn't a highly trained soldier, after all.) when the big fucker had snuck up on them and began speaking. "Just Simon is fine, Andy."

"Chew ma banger, uncle John." He'd said with a shit eating grin, before ducking out of the way of his uncles swipes.

So they'd taken to meeting up with Simon at conventions. Andy had realized two things rather quickly. One: there was undeniable chemistry between the two of them, and two: neither one of them was going to make a move on the other.

They danced around each other. Flirting, but in a "ha ha, I'm only gay for the joke" kinda way. They stared at one another, getting lost in each others eye's in a sickening display of obviously clear affection. God forbid one didn't catch the other's eye, either, because when that happened the one staring would take on this dreamy dopey smile. They were constantly touching. Brushing up against one another, putting their hands on the other's shoulder, or back, or thigh.

They were disgusting. It was adorable. And he had to share it. Because if Andy could see how perfect they were together, so would the internet. 28,000 followers on tiktok later, and every convention they went to, Andy filmed the whole thing. He'd divvy up the videos and get months worth of content, to tide them over till his uncles next leave. Simon and uncle John had no idea how large their fan base was. Or how feral. Those who weren't hard-core shipping the two together, were vying for the attention of one or the other, or both, in the comments.

For most, though, they'd lose their minds with every little interaction. Every gentle touch, prolonged moment of eye contact, soft smile, or act of service from one man to the other, and their fans were swooning, and it seemed all their waiting was finally paying off. Or, at least, Simon was now aware of John's feelings, though how he'd found out was less than ideal.

***

Soap was ecstatic. After the Spiderman and Deadpool totally-not-couples-costumes went over so well with other patrons at their last convention, Andrew had assured them that their tiktok fans were over the moon for them as well, Simon had agreed to do more comic book stuff with him. While Soap had wanted to be Deadpool, he couldn't deny how well it suited Ghost to be the merc with a mouth. Soap hadn't known beforehand how much the man loved katanas, nor that he even knew how to use them. More important than his skill with the (in this case fake) blades, however, was Simon's ass in that outfit. Which had led him down a rabbit hole of sorts. Yes, it was the source of plenty of wet dreams both before and after seeing him in spandex, but that wasn't what this was about. No, after seeing Ghost dressed as Deadpool with his nearly godly physique, John couldn't help but think of the superior comic book company: DC. Ghost would make an incredible Red Hood, and Soap had wanted to be Nightwing since he was a lad. After voicing that desire, Ghost had agreed, and got to work on the costumes.

At some point during the process, Gaz had found him deep in his work and asked Ghost about it. He then promptly kicked down Soap's door to yell at him for not telling him about their 'convention dates' he wouldn't hear of it that they weren't dates.

"So Gaz is comin' now." He'd said in lieu of greeting when he'd entered Ghost's room that night.

"Mhmm." Ghost had nodded and continued to work away at his sewing machine. "Said he had a matching cosplay. 'Red Robin', he'd called it. Assured me it was different from mine. Tried to tell him I wouldn't know or care, I just enjoy makin the costumes." Soap had made himself comfy on Ghost's bed, and pulled out his journal to doodle. Ghost continued. "Roach is tagging along too, said he has a costume for Blue Beetle. Said it's not Batman related, but it's the same comic franchise."

"Blue Beetle's costume is pretty sick, that'll be cool." Soap had been a little down in that moment that the others would be tagging along, and he'd no longer have Ghost to himself, but he got over it quickly. They were still his friends. "We should drag Price along. Bring the whole team."

"You convince him to go, and just tell me what to make."

And now here they were. The 141, arguably the worlds most elite counterterrorism task force, dressed up as various DC characters. At a cosplay convention. Soap had never felt hotter.

Andy had hit it off with Roach pretty much immediately, the two of them talking at length about tiktok of all things. Soap wasn't aware that Roach had one. They couldn't convince Price to wear a costume, but that was okay. Several people approached him and said his Dum Dum Dugan colspay was cool, resulting in all three of his sergeants cackling at his confusion.

"You can't smoke that in here, boss." Ghost had whispered when Price placed a cigar in his mouth.

"I'm not. It's for emotional support." It fueled other peoples assumptions that he was cosplaying a marvel character, is what it was doing.

As was usual for a convention with Simon and his incredible cosplays, they were stopped by tons of people for pictures, and Andy recorded everything.

"Excuse me." Their group turned around to see a man in red, maroon, and gold robes of some sort.

"Oh, cool! Prince Zuko!" Well at least Roach knew who he was.

"Oh, uh, my friends call me Costume An-... You know what? Yeah. Just Zuko works. Can I get a picture of you guys?" Everyone nodded or gave the guy some sort of affirmative, and he turned specifically to Gaz and Ghost. "Do you know the panel where Tim kicks Jason in the balls? Can you do that? It's my favorite."

Soap knew the panel. Gaz knew the panel. Ghost certainly did not. All eyes were on him. He shrugged. "I'm wearing a cup." Gaz had the most feral grin Soap had ever seen him with. In hindsight, that should've been their warning.

"Right, Lt., you're gonna stand here," Gaz placed Ghost with his back to the cameras held by both Zuko and Andy. He used his foot to guide Ghost's stance wider. "Like that. Perfect. Everyone ready?" Gaz had the cheek to wink at Andy's camera.

He reared back.

And gave it everything he had.

That cup could only do Simon so much good.

Everyone winced as Ghost crumpled. "Gaz what the bloody fuck?!"

Price was barely keeping a straight face. He used his hand to grab his cigar and hide his failure. "Haven't heard your voice that high since you enlisted, Simon."

"He's dead." Soap whispered.

"You're dead." Roach informed Gaz as he made his way away from Ghost, who was still crouched on the floor.

"I'm dead." Gaz agreed, albeit with a shit eating grin. "Worth it, though. Bastard used me as a training dummy for forty-five goddamn minutes yesterday!" Soap had seen the aftermath, Ghost was pissed at some rookies and dragged poor Gaz into the ring to blow off some steam. The bruising all over Gaz's body were no joke.

"You said you weren't going to hold it against me!" Ghost wheezed.

"I lied!" Gaz shot back.

"Dude..." Andy definitely felt bad for poor Ghost, as did Soap.

"Man I needed those working." He bemoaned. Talk about foot in mouth, he hadn't meant to say that out loud.

"Oh, d'you two get your shit together? I'm sorry, I guess." Gaz laid a hand on Soap's shoulder.

"You'll apologize to him and not to me?!" Ghost's voice was marginally less strained and more angry.

"I was apologizing for accidentally cockblocking you two. I didn't know." Well neither did Ghost! John thought angrily.

"WHAT?!"

"GAZ!"

Gaz clearly realized his mistake, because Ghost was on his feet, and Soap himself was fuming at being outed like that. He bolted. Soap gave chase, and could hear Ghost charging after as well.

***

Andy turned to their new buddy, Zuko. "You'll send those to me, right?" He asked. He didn't really feel like Simon deserved that, but damn was it funny.

"He's gonna be okay, right?" Zuko asked.

"Ghost has taken worse hits. Gaz might need medical leave when they catch him though." Roach said while laughing. Soldiers were weird. But damn tiktok was gonna love this. Maybe they would finally get their shit together after they finish breaking their friend's legs.

#ghostsoap #soapghost #ghoap #cod mw2 #call of duty #modern warfare #fanfic #fanfiction #text post #simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #gary roach sanderson #captain john price #kyle gaz garrick #cosplay #cosplay au #cod fanart #cod fanfic

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s10127470 · 8 months ago

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The Evolution of the Ninja Turtles' Designs

As I'm sure many of you know by now, this year marks the 40th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

What initially started off as an intended one-off parody of the dark and gritty comics of the early to the mid 1980s (particularly the works of Frank Miller like Ronin and especially Daredevil) would grow to become one of the most successful media franchises in history.

The one-off quickly became a full-on series, running for a total of 30 years from 1984 to 2014.

It also led to the creators of the Turtles, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, to start their own comic publishing company, Mirage.

And apart from that, this franchise has seen multiple of other comic runs from the likes of Image, Archie and IDW.

Four animated series (with a fifth one coming out this summer).

Ten feature-length films (7 being released in theaters, while 3 were released direct-to-DVD).

A live-action TV show that nobody likes to talk about....

And a boatload of video games, toys, food products, and just about any other kind of merchandising you can think of!

And it's honestly impressive just how consistently popular the TMNT brand has reminded over the four decades they've existed in pop culture.

Even more so is how much of a spotless track record they've had when it comes to the quality of their products.

Okay a mostly spotless track record....

But today I'm here to talk about one of the coolest things to notice when looking at this franchise. And that's the visual evolution of the Turtles.

I'm gonna be looking at the designs of the Turtles from the original Mirage comics and the animated outputs of the franchise to see just how much the Turtles have visually changed.

Starting this off we have the Turtles from the Mirage comics, the 1987 cartoon, the 2003 cartoon and the 2007 film.

The reason I decided to lump these four iterations together is because they all share something in common....

What that's you may ask?

Well, a while back, I watched a video by YouTuber Just Stop called "Death by Nicktoon", where he looked at the many Nicktoons that were unfairly snubbed and sent to the Nicktoons channel to die a slow and painful death.

And one of those Nicktoons was one of the next TMNT series I'll be talking about pretty shortly.

When talking about that series, Just Stop mentioned the Silhouette Test.

As I'm sure many of know by now, the Silhouette Test is major component when it comes to character designing.

Essentially the saying goes that you know a character has a good design if their silhouette is easily recognizable.

And Turtles do pass this test.....but only as a group.

Because individually, these versions would all fail that in an instant.

And that's the thing they all have in common.

Within the pieces of media each of these groups come from, all they look exactly the same.

Out of all of them, the Mirage Turtles have this issue the worst.

During the early years of the comics, the Turtles basically acted damn-near identical to each other.

And if you were trying to find another way to differentiate them from each other, I don't know what to tell you.

As I mentioned earlier, these Turtles look exactly the same and the fact that they were in black and white for a good chunk of the comics didn't help matters either.

But when they were in color, the Turtles were all depicted wearing red masks.

Really, the only way you could actually tell which Turtles is which is by their respective weapons.

Leonardo wields the dual katanas.

Raphael wields the twin sais.

Donatello wields the bō staff.

And Michelangelo wields the dual nunchucks.

But when the 87 cartoon rolled around, the crew behind that show knew the Turtles needed some retooling in order for a wider audience to get into the brand.

Thus, they did two things that have become staples in the Turtles franchise since then.

They gave each of the Turtles their own distant personalities. Leonardo was the calm, brave and strategic leader, Donatello was the tinkering, inventing genius, Raphael was the cynical and wisecracking smartass with a slightly bad attitude, and Michelangelo was the fun-loving, Cowbunga-shouting goofball.

They gave each of the Turtles different colored masks. With the expectation of Raphael (who was still rocking the red look), Leonardo got a blue mask, Donatello got a purple mask, and Michelangelo got a orange mask.

And although their visually more distinct when compared to the Mirage Turtles, they still suffer from the same problem where physically, they look exactly the same.

Plus the fact that a lot of promotion and merchandising for this show often depict the Turtles as having the same expressions didn’t help either.

However, there was another visual element added to the Turtles' designs.

They gave each of the turtles belts with buckles that had the initials of their respective names.

But if you had put these Turtles in black and white and took away their weapons and belts, you most likely wouldn't be able to tell who was who.

The same can be applied to the 2007 Turtles as well....minus the belts since they don't have those.

But in the case of the 2003 Turtles, this is where things get interesting....

These Turtles do share the same issues as the three other iterations listed above, being that they look exactly the same to each other, minus the colored bandanas and trademark weapons (which I'm still surprised they carried over from the 1987 cartoon given that Turtles co-creator Peter Laird, who was heavily involved in the 2003 cartoon, is kind of infamous for having a bit of a hate-boner towards that series).

However, there is another visual element to these Turtles that would help differentiate them from each other.

This would mark the very first time in the franchise's history where the Turtles were given different skin colors....or more appropriately, shades, as each of Turtles' skins were a different shade of green.

Leonardo was forest green.

Michelangelo was blue green.

Donatello was olive green.

And Raphael was emerald green.

But with that being said, if you put these Turtles in black and white just like the others iterations above and took away their respective weapons, it would be the same output as before.....

Or maybe not....

You see, for the last two seasons of the show: Fast Forward and Back to the Sewers, the entire cast received major redesigns, and this led to two notable changes with the Turtles.

Their eyes. In the first five seasons, the Turtles' eyes were depicted as being fully white when they had their masks on. And when they were off, their eyes were just simple black. But in these last two seasons, the Turtles' eyes were now colored and were made visible through the masks. The Turtles all had green eyes....except for Donatello, whose eyes were brown for some reason.

Their heights. In the first five seasons, the Turtles all stood at about the same height, that being 5'2. But in the last two seasons, they were each given different heights. Michelangelo was the shortest at 5'4, Leonardo was the second shortest at 5'5, Donatello was the second tallest at 5'6, and Raphael was the tallest at 5'7.

Next we come to the Turtles from the 2012 series, and this is where everything changed....

For the very first time in the franchise's history, the Turtles were each given unique and distinct looks from each other.

No longer did they look like the same character copy-pasted three times, each of Turtles actually looked different!

If you saw these guys in black and white and took away their weapons, you could definitely tell who was who!

Some of the visual elements of the previous cartoons were carried over such as the colored masks (which have becomes staples of the franchise since the 1987 cartoon), having their skin colors being a different shade of green, having colored eyes and standing at different heights.

But what really sets these versions apart from the others is the fact that each Turtle has a different physical build!

Leonardo is the most well-rounded when it comes to physical builds, he has fern green skin, cobalt blue eyes, and is the second tallest of the Turtles at 5'1.

Raphael is slightly more bulkier and has more defined muscles than the rest of his brothers, has dark green skin, emerald green eyes, a crack on the right side of his shell, and is the second shortest of the Turtles at 5'0.

Donatello has a lean and gangly-like build, brownish green skin, reddish brown eyes, has a gap in the middle of his teeth, and is the tallest of the Turtles at 5'6.

And Michaelangelo has a more stout and pudgy build, light green skin, baby blue eyes, freckles on his face, and is the shortest of the Turtles at 4'10.

Now come to the Turtles from Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles....

Out of all the iterations of the Turtles before and since, these guys are by far the most visually distinct of them all!

It honestly feels like the crew looked at the designs of the 2012 Turtles and said, "Hey! Let's do what they did.....but even better!"

Marking yet another first for this franchise, this would mark the first time the Turtles were all different specific species of Turtles rather than being the same unspecified species for the umpteenth time.

And them being different species are greatly reflected in their designs.

Also, according to several artists on the show, each of the Turtles were designed around a shape, and the use of the shapes also reflected their respective personalities.

Raphael is an alligator snapping turtle, which is why is he's an absolute unit in this series, with a hulking and muscular build to match! This Raphael is the second biggest and tallest he's been in this franchise, standing at a whooping 6'0! And since he's an alligator snapping turtle, Raphael also has jagged and fractured points on his elbow, knees and shell. His choice of species reflect three major aspects of his character.....

His status as the brawler/muscle of the team.

In this iteration, HE'S the leader of the team.

He's the oldest of the Turtles. Oh yeah, marking yet another first for this franchise, this would mark the first time that the Turtles were all made different ages rather than being quadruplets like every other iteration. As previously mentioned, Raphael is eldest of his brothers at 15.

Raphael was designed around squares, to reflect his offensive and defensive fighting style.

His mask, in contrast to half of his brothers, is depicted as more of a bandana (or a possibly a durag). Plus it has the longest tails out of the group, reflecting his status as the oldest brother.

He also wears red bands on his elbows and his thighs, a red belt with his Turtle Emblem off to the right side, and his bandages on a few parts of his body and specifically around his ankles and hands, reflecting his prowess as a fighter and that he's the Turtle most dedicated to training.

Raphael also has bright green skin and a sharp tooth sticking out of the right side of his mouth.

Leonardo is a red-eared slider, which is why he has those markings all over his body and shell and the red markings over his eyes. His choice of species would also reflect his future status as the leader of the Turtles, since red-eared sliders are the most well-known species of turtles. He also has a lean and athletic build, reflecting his status as the team's resident speed fighter.

Leonardo was designed around triangles, to reflect his witty and sharp nature.

The marks on his body are also triangular as well.

Leonardo also has lime green skin and wears blueish grey fingerless gloves and toeless footwear, a blue belt with a strap that overs his right shoulder, a set of pouches, and he has his Turtle Emblem on the left, and is the second tallest turtle at 5'5 (the same height as his 2003 iteration).

Donatello is a Asian softshell, which plays a big part in his personality. Out of all the iterations of Donatello, this one is far more aggressive than most of his prior iterations, even the Mirage version! I mean bro, this Donatello is practically a psychopathic scientist. This is because Asian softshells are known for being incredibly aggressive and one of the few species of turtles that are carnivorous.

As for his physical build, it's quite similar to Leonardo, which is possibly because of the fact they're twins, both being 14 years old.

Though Donatello's is even more leaner and thinner than Leonardo's, giving him a build akin to a swimmer. That's because Asian softshells are known for being some of the couple of turtles that live on land that are semi-aquatic.

Another similarity Leonardo and Donatello share are their mask tail lengths.....well, sort of....

The length of Leonardo's mask tails is squarely in the middle, reflecting his status as the middle child.

Donatello's however are little harder to tell.....

At first glance they appear to be quite short. However, when looking closely, you can see that the tails look folded. So there's a strong chance that his mask tails are both as long as Leonardo's, since they're twins.

(Also, it's fashioned in a similar way to Raphael.)

Donatello was designed around rectangles, to reflect his more practical and blunt nature and his technological prowess.

He also has purple, rectangular markings on his body as well.

Donatello wears purple fingerless gloves and toeless footwear, a silver tech-gauntlet on his left wrist with a blue touchscreen, purple knee and elbow pads, a purple belt with matching pouches, and the Turtle emblem placed on the center. He also has jade green skin and stands at 5'3.

But the most notable aspect of Donatello's design is his mechanical shell.

This not only reflects his technological prowess, but also reflects an aspect of his species and his character.

Asian softshells are known for their shells being on the weaker side when compared to other turtles species. It's in the name. So Donatello wears one for obvious reasons.

It reflects his inferiority complex. Throughout this series, it's shown that he heavily relies on technology due to him feeling inferior to his brothers. That was sort of already from the beginning given that he majorly lacks the same natural protection they do, but thanks to them getting mystical powers, that was made even worse.

Michelangelo is a ornate box turtle, which is why he's the smallest and shortest of the Turtles, standing at 4'7 (being the shortest any of the Turtle iterations have ever been). Him being a box turtle also reflects a major part of his personality, that being his friendly and kind personality, as box turtles are known for being one of the friendliest and gentle species of turtles.

Michelangelo was designed around circles, to reflect his bouncy and kinetic nature.

He also has orange spots on his body and orange markings on his shell, which also serve as an another nod to his species.

Michelangelo also has blue green skin and wears orange wristbands and toeless footwear, and orange knee pads with red faces on them (a dead face on the right and a smiley face on the left), and a dark orange chest harness over his left shoulder with the Turtle emblem placed over his heart.

He also wears a pair of magenta and cyan stickers on his plastron (a triangle and a lightning bolt), to reflect his artistic nature.

Michelangelo also has the shortest mask tails of his brothers, to reflect his status as the youngest.

Finally we come to latest incarnation of the Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem....

Although they're not nearly as visually unique as their previous iteration, they still do a good job at making each of the other visual distinct from each other.

One thing to note is that the just like the 1987 Turtles, they all have initialed buckles again.

Leonardo has a well-rounded build like his 2012 iteration with French lime green skin, has shurikens on his belt, and is the second tallest of his brothers at 5'5

Donatello has a leaner build similar to his 2012 iteration with bitter lime green skin, wears glasses, headphones, and a fanny pack, carries a phone on his belt, and is the second shortest at 5'4.

Raphael is the biggest and bulkiest of his brothers with bright green skin, has his mask fashioned in a bandana-like style akin to Rise Raphael, has a pouch on his belt, and is the tallest at 5'7.

Michelangelo is the skinniest with sea green skin, wears braces and is the shortest at 5'1.

Well that's all for now folks!

The reason I wanted to do this (apart from wanting to do something for the Heroes in a Half-Shell's Big 40), was because although I've seen people talk about the looks of the various iterations of the Turtles before, but only in the sense of that specific iteration.

So I thought I would be interesting to instead do a timeline of their visual appearances to show just how much they've changed over the decades.

Anyway, I'm gonna go to bed.....

Peace.

#teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt mirage #tmnt 1987 #tmnt 2003 #tmnt 2007 #tmnt 2012 #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt mutant mayhem #character design #design evolution #though in all honesty rise is peak character design for this franchise

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tobiasdrake · 3 months ago

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So, the film opens with the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in WWII. A scene I'd love to hear a Japanese perspective on because it feels weird to me.

So, they see two enemy planes flying towards Nagasaki which is that city across the bay. Immediately, the entire camp goes into a total panic.

Soldiers are fleeing the camp on foot.

The officers all get together to commit seppuku together.

Yashida releases all the POWs from their camp. He does this by slicing off the padlock with a katana. I don't know the physics well enough to know if that would actually hold up, but I do know they're setting him up to be an Anime Warrior Superperson so I'm not going to question it too much.

They also take a moment to note that Yashida made this choice in the heat of the moment. There were no orders to release the prisoners; He's just demonstrating his own kind heart. This is conveyed through a guard in a tower shooting at the escaping POWs until Yashida yells at him to hold his fire.

Logan, down in a pit, apparently knows a lot about atomic bombs. Enough to know that a bomb delivered by a B-29 to Nagasaki will wipe out this military base across the bay. He calls out the type of plane specifically like, "Oh yeah, that's the A-Bomb plane, those deliver A-Bombs".

Logan is a Canadian foot soldier who's been imprisoned in a well for an indeterminate length of this war. Would he be able to see an American B-29 in the distance and go "Yep, that means an atom bomb is incoming; better hide in a well to avoid the blast radius."

Then the bomb goes off.

Yashida looks directly into the flash and is totally fine. Um.

Logan then grabs Yashida and jumps back into the well with him. He can't seal the well, so he grabs a big chunk of metal that I guess was just lying around and throws that over Yashida.

Fortuanately, metal is famous for its ability to remain cold under intense heat. So while Logan gets barbecued by atomic fire, Yashida is safe and sound save for one part of his face where the heat got in through a small hole in the metal plate.

Yashida gets up and watches a smoking husk of meat regenerate back into a man. Reasonably freaked out by this, he tries to exit the well, but Logan stops him.

Logan looks up at the sky and sees all the nuclear fallout in the air. So he makes Yashida stay down here in an open-air hole in the ground where the fallout can't reach them.

Honestly, Logan seems to know a startling amount about nuclear bombs. Was he on the Manhattan Project?

This is all....

I dunno. This is the Nagasaki bombing, so Hiroshima just happened three days ago. So it's not like they wouldn't know what's coming. But I don't know. This whole "OH MY GOD THE AMERICANS ARE COMING KILL YOURSELVES OR RUN LIKE HELL" thing gives me a strong whiff of history written by Americans.

I don't know. Maybe I'm just paranoid due to the lack of any Japanese creatives involved with the making of this film. I have no idea what this moment in history must have been like on the ground. I can't even imagine. But this feels very Hollywood.

I cannot say with certainty that any of this is wrong. I am not a scholar of nuclear physics, nor am I well-versed in Japanese military culture circa-1945.

But this whole scene just feels weird to me. Either I don't know enough to explain why this is all wrong, or I don't know enough to understand that it's actually right. But I'm definitely having the creeping sensation of knowing that I don't have enough information to parse what I'm seeing.

(As an aside, I have seen some people point out that this is a dream sequence to explain away how weird it feels. But I don't accept that explanation. What Logan is dreaming up is clearly meant to be the memory of a real event that he lived through. Yashida is not a made-up giraffe man his brain invented to process his feelings about WWII. The events of this day in Logan's history drive the rest of the film.)

#x-men #the wolverine #drake watches x-men #drake watches the wolverine

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kon-igi · 11 months ago

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UN VIAGGIO NELL'ORRORE

Tranquilli, non è il vostro viaggio ma il mio.

Io sono nato all'inizio degli anni '70, quindi mi sono fatto prima tutta la cinematografia horror di Dario Argento&co e poi tutti gli slasher americani con le icone classiche quali Jason, Freddy, Leatherface etc.

Ma c'è un problema...

Io non ho mai visto nessuno di quei film fino al 1990.

Vedete, io vivevo in una famiglia molto particolare™ dove la televisione era vista come il male assoluto, ragion per cui fino ai 14 anni io sono stato costretto ad andare a letto alle nove di sera e durante il giorno potevo guardare solo un'ora di televisione (stranamente non era conteggiato il tempo davanti al Commodore 64 e indovinate un po' chi era il mio migliore amico).

In quell'ora a disposizione io cercavo, ovviamente, di farci stare i miei cartoni animati preferiti ma non mi era possibile guardare film, tantomeno di sera.

Me li facevo raccontare.

Sì perché, evidentemente, il concetto di film non adatto ai bambini si applicava solo a me mentre tutti i miei amici, invece, rimanevano alzati fino a tardi a guardare film pazzeschi insieme ai loro genitori e il giorno dopo me li raccontavano.

A difesa dei miei genitori posso dire che in effetti ero un bambino particolarmente impressionabile ed è forse a causa dei sogni che facevo alle elementari che scelsero di non espormi a quello che in linguaggio tecnico viene definito nightmare fuel.

Non che ne avessi bisogno, intendiamoci.

Per esempio, in terza o in quarta elementare fui perseguitato da quello che io avevo soprannominato Il Burattinaio Cadavere, che si manifestava nel seguente modo: prima io mi trovavo in un qualsiasi luogo a me conosciuto (casa, scuola, parco giochi etc) poi improvvisamente tutto diventava scuro e dei fili tipo ragnatele scendevano dal cielo per toccare le decine di cadaveri che improvvisamente erano apparsi accasciati a terra, i quali si rianimavano come burattini e mi venivano barcollando incontro. Ovviamente mi svegliavo urlando come un ossesso.

E che dire della Lamante, una donna che ogni notte mi faceva vedere un buco sul braccio e mi sussurrava 'Se mi aspetti poi ti faccio vedere cosa mi hanno fatto'. E dopo tornava con le braccia amputate e due lame lunghissime innestate cercando di trafiggermi.

E poi il Buio, la Porta, il Verme Oculare, lo Sghignazzatore Maledetto...

(Beh, forse ero un qualcosa di diverso da 'impressionabile' ma vabbe'...)

Comunque, il primo film horror che vidi a casa di un amico fu Halloween di John Carpenter e al di là dell'angoscia di vedere REALMENTE un qualcosa horror, mi piacque parecchio e lì cominciò la mia collezione di problemi.

Come qualsiasi manuale di pedagogia insegna fin dai primi capitoli, la lunga privazione di un qualcosa di proibito che ero l'unico a non possedere mi spinse a fare binge watching di ogni film horror, di ogni libro di Stephen King, Clive Barker, Lovecraft e persino a scegliere come gioco di ruolo preferito Call of Cthulhu invece del più innocuo Dungeons&Dragons.

Andai fuori di testa.

Ogni notte un Geteit Chemosit che indossava la faccia strappata di mia madre cercava di entrare in camera mia e di giorno giravo sempre armato perché non si sa mai.

Mandai quasi in ospedale la mia povera mamma che ebbe la pessima idea di entrare in camera mia perché mi lamentavo nel sonno (non avevo capito che la faccia era attaccata alla persona giusta) e a distanza di anni ancora ridiamo con i miei amici di quando in campeggio tenni sollevato per il collo lo sventurato che fece un verso sospetto quando, uscendo per pisciare ancora mezzo addormentato, calpestai per sbaglio il suo sacco a pelo.

Per me valeva il motto 'L'uomo che dorme con un machete sotto al cuscino è un pazzo tutte le notti tranne una' e infatti la routine serale dei miei amici era aspettare che mi addormentassi e poi nascondere tutte le mie armi (grazie Francesca perché quella notte particolare avrei senza dubbio ucciso tutti con la mia Katana).

La notte, insomma, non mi è stata mai amica perché forte in me era la convinzione, per non dire la certezza, che il sonno rendesse possibile la venuta di orrori innominabili che si arrampicavano lungo la parte sbagliata della luce.

Verso i diciannove anni facemmo una festa per la fine della Maturità in un'enorme casa di campagna di non mi ricordo chi e dopo aver bevuto l'impossibile ognuno si appropriò di una stanza a casa, chi per trombare (non io) chi per collassare (io).

Solo che non collassai.

Come in un racconto breve di Stephen King mi misi a sedere su un vecchio letto col materasso di lana e tenendo i piedi nudi su un pavimento di cotto dalle piastrelle tutte storte (assurdo come certi particolari rimangano impressi) cominciai a fissare la porta chiusa.

Faceva caldo ma l'avevo chiusa.

Improvvisamente sento una sensazione strana sulla schiena, come di brividi, e i capelli mi si rizzano sulla nuca.

Un pensiero mi si insinua nelle tempie come un ago nel polistirolo...

'Sta arrivando'.

E poi abbasso lo sguardo e vedo che sto tenendo in mano un lungo coltello da macellaio, che evidentemente non ricordavo di aver preso giù in cucina.

Non ricordavo di averlo preso o forse in quel momento avevo capito qualcosa?

Sta arrivando

Punto i piedi a terra...

STA ARRIVANDO

Mi alzo e stringo più forte il coltello

STA ARRIV...

Ma io mi muovo per primo e scatto verso la porta con un fendente dal basso verso l'alto che avrebbe aperto in due la pancia dell'essere non appena avesse spalancato la porta.

TUNC!

Guardo la lama affondata a metà nel pannello della porta chiusa, assolutamente chiusa ma così chiusa che pareva l'emblema della possibilità che io quella sera trombassi.

Allora scendo in cucina, rimetto il coltello nel cassetto e tra i gorgoglii dei conati di vomito di chi aveva ecceduto e l'assoluto silenzio di chi non stava minimamente trombando, mi sdraio sul letto e mi addormento di un sonno senza sogni.

La parte più nobile e metafisica di me vuole pensare che con quell'ultimo fendente dato al vuoto in realtà uccisi definitivamente l'oscurità in me ma in realtà credo di aver semplicemente realizzato che chiunque fosse entrato in quel particolare momento si sarebbe visto rovesciare gli intestini sul pavimento e questo non rientrava tra le cose che avrei voluto fare da grande.

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eleni-cherie · 1 year ago

Text

a thief's end ✨ || bts • myg - chapter 0.8

"so eager to be in a headlock again?"

"only if it's by you."

he thought he was done with the criminal life and ready for some peace and quiet. but his plans collapsed in the form of a strange girl who was in trouble.

»»»

masterlist: here

— genre: thief au, gangster comedy, adventure, romcom, humour, angst, fluff, sexual tensiON, slowburn, mutual pining, strangers to lovers s2l

ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE. CHARACTERS NOT NECESSARILY LIKE THE REAL PERSONS. ALSO VERY UNREALISTIC PLOT LOL - JUST PRETEND READING A MANGA/COMIC OR WATCHING A FILM, REALLY.

SUGGESTIVE THEMES. MENTIONS OF VIOLENCE & BLOOD (BUT NOTHING TOO GRAPHIC, IT'S STILL A COMEDY!)

»»»

The tires squeaked as the motorbike came to an abrupt halt as soon as the small airfield building appeared between trees further down the empty road.

Yoongi didn't want to attract anyone's attention and decided to leave it there behind and walk the rest, using the plants as cover.

It seemed to be one of those private airfields used by hobby pilots or private jets. And this noon, the small airfield seemed to be in use as indicated by the parked van in front of its entrance and the people scattered in a circle around the hangar at the very end of it.

Yoongi cut a whole in the fence with his sword and was about to sneak in as the building was probably hosting even more surprise guests, when his phone quietly vibrated in his pocket and he picked it up quickly. Making sure no one was near to have heard anything.

"What?" he asked in a hushed tone, not even having checked the caller ID.

It was silent for a moment and he wondered if he had declined accidently when Jimin finally spoke up. "Where are you? I'm at your apartment but you obviously not."

"I'm.. out."

It wasn't hard for Jimin to pick up the distress in his friend's voice though. "What's going on? Did something happen?"

"W-why are you at my apartment anyway?" Yoongi asked in a desperate attempt to change topics. Eyes narrowing when seeing the men entering the hangar. Something having startled them but he couldn't tell what.

"I came because of our conversation yesterday. I'm not an idiot, I know you and I know you won't ask for help even if you need it, which is clearly the case right now. You won't tell me what's going on though I can clearly tell y-"

"It's nothing, Jimin, seriously. Go back home," his voice softened. Trying his best to sound as casual as possible and for anyone else it might've been convincing enough, but not for Jimin. And he heard his younger friend sigh on the other end of the line.

"Fine, if you don't wanna tell me.."

A sad smile spread on Yoongi's lips hearing his disappointment. "Don't worry. It's nothing." And he hung up.

I can't let you get involved in this.

Dragging out a breath, he shook his head and decided to redirect his attention to his plan instead. So he slid through the hole to the airfield. Carefully nearing the airplane hangar by always staying close behind buildings and objects so no one would take notice of him. The fact they were still there meant Soyeon had to be somewhere near as well, which was soothing, but not soothing enough.

Five.

He counted five men dressed in cheap suits and sunglasses walking in and out.

Best case scenario, it was only them. Worst case scenario there were more either inside the hanger or the building - or both.

His dark eyes darted a guy who isolated himself from the rest, standing at the side and smoking a cigarette. Taking a long drag, he let the grey smoke evaporate into the warm air.

With slow but steady steps Yoongi drew closer, nearing him from behind. After a few more drags, the man had finished his cigarette and tossed the butt to the ground, stepping on it with his heel. He was about to return inside when suddenly Yoongi's arm hooked around his neck and forced him to his knees. The katana's blade dangerously close to his throat, making him wince in agony.

"Don't do anything dumb like calling for help," he whispered into the man's ear, "How many are there?"

The man refused to tell, wiggling and trying freeing himself but Yoongi's leg pressed down on the back of his bent knees, preventing him from doing so. The blade almost slipped and touched his neck now. And the man immediatelly stopped when sensing its cool touch, his pulse picking up.

"Twelve. We're twelve," he eventually choked out, screwing his eyes shut. Content with the information, Yoongi knocked him off with a hard hit on the back of his head.

Twelve.

Minus one, eleven.

Eleven against one wasn't good.

Even if he was skilled, even if he had two different weapons with him, it wouldn't be easy without help. But he couldn't ask for any.

It wasn't pride nor egoism. It was concern that wouldn't let him.

He cared too much for his friends to ask them for help, although he was certain they'd be upset and perhaps offended if they knew what was going on, but that was a consequence he preferred over any alternative outcome.

They might've been in far more dangerous situations in the past and still always made it through them, however, he couldn't be certain about how this story now would unfold. And after all, they had all agreed on stepping out of this kind of life. He didn't want to drag them into it without reason.

And somehow Soyeon's words rang in his memory and perhaps he understood her better now. Because at the end, they both had similar reasons for acting the way they did.

Besides, it wasn't just the three of them anymore like in their early twenties. Others would get affected as well and he couldn't let Arabella or Cassandra grief for something that could've been avoided. Something that was solely his business anyway.

He took a deep breath then and closed his eyes. Feeling blood flow from his head to his arms and hands, letting his fingers relax around the shaft as his mind went blank.

With a smirk, he blinked them open again. Already spotting his next targets strolling around. And one by one he took down the other four men as well.

First the one who came out in search for his knocked out colleague. Then the second one standing next to the entrance. When the third and fourth one noticed it was already too late for them, they were too slow in drawing their guns and Yoongi had already moved quickly. Disabling their weapons with a swift swing of his sword.

Yoongi wasn't an amateur, obviously he wouldn't just leave all the unconscious bodies laying around but instead tied them up and dumped them in a storeroom in the back. However, he knew their colleagues would get suspicious and ask questions about their whereabouts. So he already mentally prepared for that.

He was finished with them in no time, breathing out of his parted lips. His fingers ran through his hair then, combing back the strands that had fallen in front of his eyes. Letting his brown irises wander carefully around the empty looking area.

There didn't seem to be anyone else there and he wondered if they kept her in the main building or if they had already taken her somewhere else.

Had she already been long gone?

And why did they bring her there anyway?

The sense of foreboding he'd had about them not just letting her off the hook so easily, proved more and more right. Even if getting the necklace, the type of people those guys worked for usually weren't so easily pleased.

But why bringing her there? Did they.. did they plan to take her with them? To another city or.. His breath quickened when realisation hit him. Or another country?

No, why would they bring her to a different place? It didn't make sense.

He turned around, trying deciphering any clues. He didn't dare to call out for her just yet. There were supposed to be seven more guys around after all. So his focus shifted to the private jet parked in front of him instead. Standing idle there when noises were heard from outside suddenly. Still afar but approaching fast, nearing the hangar.

Without thinking twice, he took cover behind wooden cargo boxes and a pile of stacked sacks. Calming his breath as he pricked up his ears to try distinguish any voices or words.

"Get the machine ready, I don't wanna waste any more time waiting for that guy," someone said in an upset tone. A clear accent audible in his words. Soon multiple steps echoed on the concrete floor.

Eight to nine people, Yoongi deducted by the sound of it. In total more than twelve people.

Had that guy lied to him?

The steps came to an abrupt halt then, a short silence following.

"Where's everyone? Weren't they supposed to keep an eye on everything?"

"You think they got cold feet?" someone else wondered out.

The person with the accent scoffed. "They should pray I don't find them then," he said through gritted teeth. The noise of the airplane's door opening being heard next and Yoongi peeked out of his stash. Seeing a man dressed in a pilot uniform climb up the stairs followed by another one in a navy blue suit that looked of a much higher quality than anyone else's. This particular guy actually catching his interest. After all, Yoongi could spot the platin watch around his wrist from a mile away. He was clearly a foreigner and if he had to make a wild guess, he'd say probably an Italian.

Whoever that was, he wasn't a simple goon like the others. No, he seemed of some kind of status.

His gaze wandered to the rest then, seeing another two men on the side dragging something towards the jet.

His eyes widening when realising it was a person. Soyeon.

He almost called out her name. Biting his tongue to keep himself from doing anything foolish now. Instead, he observed her intensely. Jaw clenching at the sight of her dull expression.

Her usually sparkling eyes were resting on the ground, almost desoriented. And she looked exhausted. Exhausted from trying resisting and fighting back. The red scratches on her knuckles and knees saying it all. And his heart ached with rage.

She was quietly letting the two men lead her to the stairs of the plane and only then he noticed her wobbly knees, causing the scowl on his face to deepen. Wondering just what had happened in the past hour since he'd last seen her.

Another man pushed open the hangar's entrance completely then. Allowing a plane to fit through it.

That wasn't good. He didn't have any time left. No time at all. He had to act methodically though and not rush into it. He was in a clear disadvantage after all.

His hand went behind him, taking out the gun from his waistband. He might not be as good as a shooter as Taehyung, but he was definitely still good enough to aim at someone's leg from a distance and hitting them. Repeating it on another man. And another.

Three down. Three left.

"The fck! Who shot?!"

Everyone got tense, pulling their guns out and pointing at all kinds of directions. Shooting randomly at objects.

"I think it came from behind there!" someone yelled and a bullet hit a nearby equipment.

"Hurry and get the plane ready!" another voice echoed.

Yoongi shot another time, hitting one guy in the shoulder this time. Hearing him yell in pain. "There!"

They spotted him, but that didn't mean they could get him. Dodging each one of their bullets with his blade and slicing their weapons with ease while cutting their suits in a way he could twist them around. Immobilizing them in seconds.

As soon as the last one dropped down, he came to a halt. Chest raising and falling when the clicking noise of an unlocking gun was heard behind him. "Impressive."

He didn't have to turn around to know it was the sleezy looking guy in the navy blue suit talking. His hand adjusted its grip around the sword's shaft and he slowly turned around, facing the foreigner standing at the top of the jet's stairs. His gun pointing at him.

"But now I'll close the door, if you allow."

Yoongi swallowed, puffing out a breath. "Let her go first, then do whatever you want."

The man frowned, an amused laugh flowing from his lips then when he began to understand.

"Who? You mean the little thief? That's what this is all about?"

He waved his hand to someone inside the plane. Soon Soyeon's slouched figure appearing at the door frame. And her afflicted expression softened into a stunned one when seeing Yoongi standing there. Her eyes finally having that gleam back.

Her lips mouthed his name, not having the energy anymore to say it out loud or perhaps she was simply too afraid to do so. And he was about to offer her a smile when he froze, seeing sleezy guy's gun pressed against her temple, aiming at her now instead.

"If you want me to let her go I'm afraid it'll only be possible if I shoot a bullet right through her head," the man sighed disappointedly, "But you wouldn't want that right?"

"I wouldn't do that if I was you," Yoongi smirked then with confidence, his eyes piercing his, "Wherever you plan to take her to, she's supposed to be alive when arriving, right? Otherwise you would've already get rid of her."

Soyeon's eyes closed and she exhaled in relief. Feeling the cool metal leaving her skin.

"Smart guy. It's true my boss wants her alive." The engine had started, the turbines were turning. The plane was ready to start rolling into the runway if it wasn't for the still opened door. Time was running. "But he didn't say anything about injuries." His sly grin exuded pure evil as he dragged the gun from her head down to her leg. "So please back off now and let me close that door."

Yoongi remained silent, not even considering succumbing or make the slightest inclination. Staring at the man dead in the eye, causing him to become impatient. He exhaled tiredly, his gun pointing back at Yoongi now.

"Let's just ask her then. Should I shoot your little puppy or will you come without protest?"

"Don't listen to him. I can dodge any bullet," he quickly countered, giving her an assuring glance.

The man bending forward at this to whisper into her ear.

"You wanna find out?" he smirked. His finger already hovering over the trigger.

Soyeon gulped, a deep crease between her brows as she glanced at Yoongi and then at the man. This was what she had feared of happening if she let him get involved in her mess. He'd get in the crossfire and perhaps even get hurt or worse.

She didn't want that, none of that. She just wanted him to continue living a normal life.

If he had only listened, if he had only stayed away from her..

"I'm coming," she eventually breathed with no hesitation in her voice.

Yoongi's expression falling when hearing those words slip from her lips. "Don't!" he yelled perplexed. Taking a step forward only for a bullet to hit right in front of his feet.

"One more step and I won't be so generous," the man warned.

She gave Yoongi a weak smile. Eyes full of sorrow as she saw him standing there, holding her gaze with sadness and disbelief. "It's okay, don't worry." It was quite ironic and even humerous in a way, the fact she was the one comforting him. Although it seemed like she wanted to say much more than that when she blinked away a tear. As if she wanted to say:

this is my fault and I have to deal with the consequences.

But it wasn't her fault. Not in his eyes.

The man smirked triumphatically, but despite getting what he wanted, he didn't lower his gun. Instead he heaved it more, aiming at Yoongi's head. Noticing this, Soyeon instantly grabbed his wrist, spinning the gun away and twisting his arm around his body. It was one of the self-defense moves Yoongi had shown her. And before the man even realised what happened, she pushed the button next to the door. The stairs beginning to lift, her face along with the man's furious one disappearing behind them. And the last thing Yoongi caught her lips shaping was: I'm sorry.

The plane began moving, rolling out into the tarmac. And he stood there, watching it depart from afar without being able to do anything.

The memory of the last time he'd felt so useless and numb crossing his mind then, like an ugly arrow reminding him of his own mortality. The last time he'd felt like drawning in self-pity. The day his uncle had been murdered.

Feeling his breath sucked out of his lunges, he silently sunk down surrounded by the numerous unconscious bodies of those unknown men. And he allowed himself to take in the moment and accept his failures. Whether it was to save his uncle or Soyeon.

In the end, her being the one saving him.

He didn't know how long he was sitting there buried in thoughts or how much time passed as he let his self-loathing to take over.

Only when a pair of legs appeared in front of his vision, he snapped back to reality and looked up. Seeing no other than Jimin standing in front of him. Confusion written all over his face while looking around the area. "Alright, what happened here? It looks like a battle field!"

Yoongi's lips parted, his mind too clouded with frustration and desperation to comprehend why his friend was there. "How.. did you get here?"

Jimin shrugged nonchalantly, his eyes wandering to him. "Tracked down your phone, since you wouldn't tell me what's going on. And seems like it was the right thing to do. Just what happened here?"

His jaw clenched at the memory of what had taken place. Anew guilt and shame overcoming his chest and his gaze lowered. "They.. they got her.." he choked out. The words not wanting to leave his mind. Feeling too embarrassed to admit them out loud. "These guys got her because this.. this.. ugh this stubborn woman left on her own and then.. they got her right in front of my fcking eyes!" His voice was picking up, anger building with every word he said, "And I.. I failed. I thought I could make it but I failed and now they took her to who-knows-where. Maybe Europe. Maybe not. I don't know."

The hot rage in his chest getting replaced by fright at the realisation he'd probably never find her.

"Alright, then let's go get her back."

He blinked, processing Jimin's calm words.

"No, no, no there's no 'us' in this, I'll try finding her alone," he said sternly and got back on his feet. Brushing over his pants as Jimin snorted amused.

"You really think we'd let you go there alone? I'm definitely coming and Taehyung probably as well."

"You two stay away," Yoongi objected, shaking his head. "There's no need for you t-"

"Oh, Yoongi, don't you know me at all?" his friend pouted with a shake of his head, faking disappointment. "I'm definitely coming."

"No, Jimin, listen, you will not come. Am I clear?" Yoongi warned, pressing an index finger on his friend's chest. "I've got nothing to lose contrary to you guys. I won't let you risk getting -"

"No, you'll listen to me," Jimin huffed then, getting fed up with Yoongi's stubborness, "If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't even have something to lose. I owe you and Tae Bella's life and the least I can do is help you help this girl, who you clearly have feelings for."

Yoongi's hand lowered, falling down to his side. He swallowed hard and looked away, not wanting his friends to think they'd owe him anything because they didn't. But deep inside he knew he needed help. He had failed saving Soyeon when it was only twelve men. He definitely wouldn't have a chance if it was more.

His guilty conscious, however, kept telling him to refuse nonetheless. The risk simply being too high.

"You guys don't owe me anything," he mumbled, shaking his head. Jimin simply ignored him, though, and turned around. Beginning walking out of the empty airplane hangar. Making Yoongi huff as he followed.

"You know the moment we step a foot out of Taiwan, pops and his agents will be back on our tail." Contemplation creeping up his voice which Jimin immediately picked up on. Grinning at him with an unimpressed shrug. "So? Wouldn't be the first time. And even if they get us, we'd just escape like we always do."

They made their way out of the field and back to the lonely country road. Yoongi seemingly lost in thoughts as his eyes laid on the ground. And they stopped in front of Jimin's car parked at the entrance.

"Jimin?" he eventually spoke up again. The younger guy hummed with an arched brow as he unlocked his car, sliding onto the driver's seat. Yoongi frowned in concern. "Don't be an idiot. Seriously, it's fine," he tried arguing one last time.

But Jimin only slammed the door shut, starting the motor.

"Can't hear you, the engine is terribly loud!" he yelled purposely loud then through closed windows. Waving at him with a wide mischievious smile before Yoongi could even counter anything else. "See ya!"

And he drove off, calling up the third in the bunch.

»»»

It was way past noon when Taehyung's phone rang obnoxiously loud from the far back of the nightstand. For some reason, however, he didn't hear it or at least pretended not to, much to Cassandra's dismay as she got woken up by it on her free day.

Shuffling under his koala grip, which was definitely a nice thing in winter but quite stuffy in summer, she reached out and patted her hand around the nightstand until sensing the device. Accepting the call then in her half-sleepy state with a yawn, pressing it against her ear.

"Yeah?"

"H- Cas?"

"Huh, yeah. Jimin?" Her mind still too slow from sleep to fully process anything.

"Can I speak to Taehyung for a second."

"You can try," she lightly giggled then and turned around, "I don't know if he'll hear you though." She held the phone onto her husband's ear, soon hearing a deep hum. An indication he wasn't in a complete coma after all.

Her eyes closed and she was about to drift back to sleep when hearing an anew hum of acknowledge, sounding more like a growl this time. His hand grabbed the phone out of hers then as he got stirred up by whatever Jimin told him. Sitting abrubtly up then, the covers sliding off his chest as he rubbed his burning eyes, definitely regretting staying up till 4am with her. She watched his expression hardening and a line appeared between his brows.

"Alright," he eventually nodded and ended the call. Cassandra sitting up as well when seeing him walking away.

"Where're you heading to, cool guy?"

With raised brows, Taehyung stopped in his tracks and turned around. Seemingly startled as if he'd forgotten about her and only now got reminded of her presence.

Slowly he sat back down, dragging a heavy sigh as an apologetic look softened his features.

"Remember that girl Yoongi brought over?"

Her eyes widened and she swallowed. Already feeling where this was leading to. "I-is she okay?"

"No.. not at all."

They exchanged a look and she could tell by his expression that it was serious.

"Alright, then what are you waiting for?"

"Cas.." He exhaled deeply and reached out to hold her hand, giving it a light squeeze. "If I do this, I'll need to leave the country and you know what that means.." His brows furrowed, giving her a stern look as his hand wrapped around hers tighter. "One word from you and I call it off. You know that, angel. After all, we said we're over this kind of life."

Cassandra fell quiet, drawing her lower lip between her teeth.

The consequences were obvious, she knew them. It was the same ones that had always lingered around them ever since she'd met them in that hospital so many years ago. She knew them, she had always known them. And just like back then, she accepted them.

If they hadn't hindered her from getting involved and eventually falling in love with him, he should've known that they wouldn't be reason enough for her to hold him back now either.

Moreover, a civilian was in danger and Yoongi was their friend. Considering all the times he'd selflessly helped them, it was the least they could do. Especially since Taehyung was obviously willing to help anyway.

So she nodded, motioning with her chin to the direction of the door. "Go help them."

"You sure?" He still wasn't fully convinced, so she squeezed his hand back and gave him an reassuring smile

"Go. I'll be waiting here like I always do."

»»»

"Bella, no!"

"Oh c'mon, Jiminie, don't be such a party pooper," Arabella whined, crossing her arms in front of her like a child. "Let me come with you. Like in the good old days! It'll be fun!" Purposely squeezing her boobs together while giving him the pout and an innocent flutter of eyelashes. It was her go-to move to wrap him around her finger. Jimin knew that move too well and usually he didn't mind it, even allowing her to succeed with it. But not this time.

He looked at her sternly, shaking his head. "Bella, no, it might get dangerous and I don't want you to get in the crossfire," he reasoned with soft worry in his voice, "This is different from our little thefts here and there."

Her expression became sulkier and her eyes fell down at her bump. And for a moment she missed the life she'd had only half a year ago. Before the idiot in front of her had knocked her up.

She looked back at him with an evil eye, before eventually sighing and dropping down on the couch.

"I just feel so.. useless in a way and.. I don't know, boring? I can't do anything adventurous anymore while you still can." This time her pout was genuine as she did indeed feel disappointed and futile. It wasn't like she didn't understand his concerns or that she didn't care for the little human growing inside her, because she already cared for it more than anything, and yet she couldn't help but feel sad about her abruptly having to give up so much.

She was showing her vulnerable side, which was rare so Jimin could tell how it truly affected her. And he felt bad seeing her afflicted expression, taking a seat beside her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders to comfort her.

"Aw, love, I'd love to have you around. You know that," he mirrowed her pout. To which she only snorted, looking away.

"Yeah, sure as if. Bet you're glad about it. You can finally flirt around in peace again without me catching you."

He laughed at her adorable backtalk and grabbed her chin between his fingers, forcing her to look at him. His smile sweet when leaning in.

"I won't, I promise."

Arabella sighed into his kiss, something in his voice and the way his eyes smiled at hers convincing her. Because in the end, he was the only person she'd ever fully trust. So she eventually nodded.

"Alright.. but I'll tag along the next time!"

"Of course, love!" he chuckled, planting a peck on her cheek before getting his phone out. "And besides, you're never useless.." The photo of a man showing up on the display when unlocking it and he held it up to her with a grin. "..we could use your help on a little background check."

»»»

and so the main action begins haha

next chapter: 0.9 here

Don't forget to like, reblog & leave feedback! ♡

It motivates me to keep writing :)

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ratsoh-writes · 5 months ago

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*I inhale deeply and exhale flames, doing a few warm ups before my match is called. I give a flirty wink to the cat monster as we bow in*

well well well, I didn't know I'd be paired with such a hottie~ how's it going, kitty cat?

-katana

The cat, a fighter named jangle, grins back

Jangle: it’s going better than I thought, is it me or is it getting hot in here~

You’re gonna like fighting this guy.

Jangle moves first, the cat monster is incredibly fast! He slashes at you and you dodge just in the nick of time to see the rock behind you crumble like sand to the cuts. His claws are covered in a film and magic. You just know letting them touch you is gonna hurt

-_______—-

Sparks: YEA!!! GET HIM KIT!!! KICK HIS KITTY BUTT!!

Charm: YEA!!!! SET THAT TAIL ON FIRE!!

Akira: AAAAAAHDHSVSBSBSVAAAAAAAA!!!

Charm and sparks continue to cheer as Akira attempts to mimic them lol

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the1entirecircus · 6 months ago

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Task Force X Suicide Squad Pokemon Teams

Here is my picks for the pokemon the members of the Suicide Squad would choose.

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Amanda Waller

Malamar- An obvious pick because of her manipulative and malicious nature.

Mandibuzz- A pokemon associated with similar death and malice that Amanda is known for.

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Rick Flag

Watchog- Rick often overwatches the missions of Task Force X

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Harley Quinn

Mightyena- Harley owns a Hyena called Bud

Mightyena- Lou is the other Hyena that Harley owns

Gliscor- Since she's a part of the Batfamily now, her gliscor reflects that part of her. Her Gliscor would also have the hidden ability poison heal which reflects her history with Joker.

Roserade- A nod to her relationship with Ivy that also involves part of Harley's color scheme

Tinkaton- Harley's best known weapon is her giant mallet.

Mega Lopunny- This Lopunny has been through everything with Harley, including the Acid bath that bleach Harley's skin. This turned Harley's Lopunny into a meta pokemon that can mega evolve.

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Captain Boomerang

Marowak- Boomerangs

Manetric- Electric Boomerang

Perrserker- Bladed Boomerang

Excaldrill- Razor Boomerang

Galarian Rapidash- the toy unicorn he has in the movie

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Killer Croc

Mabosstiff- Killer Croc is a crime lord in Gotham City

Feraligatr- Killer Croc is based on the alligator of the sewer myth.

Krookodile- Crocodile (well, Gharial, but similar enough to a crocodile) thats also a crook.

Druddigon- Croc's skin condition gives him a rough exterior

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King Shark

Quagsire- Many often see King Shark as dopey thanks to The Suicide Squad movie.

Cetitan- Another creature that once dwelled in the sea but can walk on land.

Mega Sharpedo- Great White Shark (Well, not really, but its shaped similarly)

Tapu Fini- He is a hawaiian demigod.

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Peacemaker

Braviary- Its Eagly

Seismitoad- Activate Sonic Boom

Chandelure- A nod to how he can see the ghosts of people he's killed.

Scolipied- Scabbies for all (its a stretch i know)

Haxorus- Doesn't he use an ax in the movie?

Incineroar- Peacemaker is sort of a heel in terms of wrestling. He also doesn't care but secretly does like Incineroar.

Peacemaker's team consists of pokemon that come from Unova and Alola given that Peacemaker is a Captain America parody.

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Deadshot

Intelleon- Deadshot is known for his espionage skills so handing him an Intelleon was an obvious choice.

Luxray- A perfect pokemon for Lawton's job, its x-ray eyes can see through anything

Sandaconda- Another type of gun-related pokemon.

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Katana

Ceruledge- This is Katana. She's got my back. I would advice not getting killed by her. Her sword traps the souls of its victims.

Mega Lucario- A nod to her spiritual ties

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Enchantress

Mismagius- She's a witch!

Spiritomb- An ancient artifact containing an evil spirit or just evil spirits.

Cofagrigus- Another archeological pokemon

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Reverse Flash (Daniel West)

Orthworm- Daniel gained his abilities in a train accident.

Elektross- Daniel's Elektross is a meta pokemon. Its able to manipulate metal due to the accident which gave it a connection to the Speed Force.

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El Diablo (Chato Santana)

Skeledirge- Spanish in origin

Salandit- A male salandit which ties into his criminal history and partly to how he killed his wife and children. Again, partly.

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Deathstroke

Intelleon- He's a bounty hunter, so Intelleon was a good choice for him.

Talonflame- A nod to his connections with Robin/Nightwing

Hydrapple- A nod to the film title of Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons as well as his ability to regenerate as his Hydrapple has that ability

Olympian Aegislash- Deathstroke has been known to hold the Godkiller Sword, a weapon that is able to kill gods.

Gardevoir- This is taking a darker turn as this is in reference to Deathstroke's manipulative nature as he manipulated this Gardevoir to be loyal to him.

Kingambit- Deathstroke is not only an assassin like many samurai but he is also a leader.

I wanted to give Slade a very good team, and while I'm not an expert on pokemon teams, I think this is the best I could offer. Like Batman, Slade has other pokemon at his disposal that are also in nod to his other skills.

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Bloodsport

Kryptonian Minior- A reference to him shooting Superman with a kryptonite bullet.

Klinklang- Bloodsport's armor in the movie The Suicide Squad is made up of nano-technology. To reflect this, his Klinklang is a meta pokemon made by Lex Luthor.

Shiftry- This is a stretch, but this is a reference to his time in Vietnam in the comics, as that was a part of his original origin.

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A lot of these guys don't have full pokemon teams because A) I don't know enough about them and B) some don't seem like they would have full teams.

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Up next:

Batman Rogues Gallery

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sloshed-cinema · 26 days ago

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Demons [Dèmoni] (1985)

When the movie starts on a scare the likes of which filmgoers hadn’t seen since “L’Arrivée d’un train en Gare de La Ciotat,” you know you’re in for a treat. Lamberto Bava’s pulpy gore-fest gets the scene-setting, if it could be called that, through quickly enough: folks show up at a new cinema in Berlin, and the shit hits the fan pronto. It’s easy to ridicule the film for a lack of interior logic or sense of continuity. For one thing, a quartet of punks exist solely to add to the already staggering body count, and because someone thought that the image of a person snorting coke out of a Coke can would be hilarious. And the late reveal of a helicopter crashing through the roof of the cursed cinema makes absolutely no goddamn sense until well after it’s happened and all is revealed that things have escalated to outright In the Mouth of Madness tier apocalypse outside these walls. But aside from stating the obvious (nobody gave a shit about silly little details like that during the production), it’s funny how on one level Demons is a jarringly stark commentary on society’s fundamental inability to respond to emergency situations. After they find themselves to be trapped in the cinema, all of the disposable stereotypes assembled almost immediately sign their own death certificates. General chaos is the rule of thumb, with everyone working against one another in their panic. Try to assert yourself and take control of the situation? Sorry, still gonna meet an ignominious end. Go into a state of catatonia? Not helping. The real trick is simply to ooze main character energy. Also having a sweet katana bequeathed to you by your dying friend and a motorcycle that is on exhibit and yet apparently totally gassed up certainly helps.

But let’s be real, this is about the gore. This earns top marks in its intent and, well, maybe we should grade on a curve for execution. The ideas, the sheer number of ways that people are horribly maimed and killed, are relentlessly creative and fucked up. Even if Dario Argento produced this, the effects more align themselves with father Mario Bava’s proto-slashers or Lucio Fulci’s depravity: eyes are gouged on multiple occasions, fingernails split and deformed, teeth displaced, demons sent bursting from distorted backs. But for all of the glorious cringes and winces it inspires, there are a few moments when… well, now her face looks mostly like plastic so I guess something fucked up is about to happen. At least they warned us. Now we just need a nice boyfriend to tell us when it’s safe to look back at the screen, and to promise he’s not lying.

THE RULES

SIP

A song starts.

Someone drinks Coke with a straw (or starts bumpin' that).

A named character dies.

BIG DRINK

The Metropol Theatre logo appears.

Silver mask features in a scene.

#drinking games #demons #dèmoni #lamberto bava #horror #horror & thriller #italian cinema

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sepublic · 1 year ago

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Actually, continuing off of an idea I brought up in my previous post…

So imagine this alternate take for the Sequel Trilogy I’ve considered. Rey and Luke are interested in exploring the origins of the Jedi, and there are three planets in canon/legends contested as the origin of the Jedi order; Tython, Jedha, and Ahch-To. So what if they’re all true, in that each was the site of a pivotal development for the Jedi order’s creation? So naming one planet as the home/origin of the Jedi is true, from a certain point of view…

If the first film of this redone Sequel Trilogy is introducing us to the conflict and new situation, following how Rey joins the Jedi, then the second will start delving into the Unknown Regions and their relation to the Jedi’s history. But first, Luke and Rey must learn backwards, using psychometry through the force to understand the story of the first Jedi (who I’m gonna make female, just because).

Tython is a sensible place to start, near the core and the latest point in the timeline; There, they glimpse into the past and watch as travelers crash land on Tython. There, they meet people calling themselves the Jedi, led by their leader. She explains their whole deal, how the Jedi arrived here because Tython was so verdant in life, and thus a good place to connect with the Force. The Jedi demonstrate their kindness and compassion, and even recruit someone amongst this crew of explorers, that sort of thing.

Next is Jedha, which is closer to the Unknown Regions, and away from the core. There, Luke and Rey watch as the first Jedi helps the refugees she rescued settle on this new planet; It’s a good place to hide as they flee from the persecution of the Knights of Ren. The first Jedi explains how she felt drawn to this place by the force, how she heard a singing, and uncovers kyber crystals.

The vision skips forward a bit, and we see the invention of the first lightsaber; The first Jedi forges the hilt from blackened metal shards, mentioning something about how something that was used for attack can now be used to defend. The shards are melted and reforged into the casing that holds her kyber crystal, and the first lightsaber is ignited for the first time. This is the birth of the lightsaber, and the Jedi’s symbiotic bond with kyber, which fits since Jedha is known for being kyber-rich.

We find out how a society has formed on Jedha, as people look into the nature of the Force. Not all are Force-sensitive, but most are interested in the teachings of the first Jedi that led them here. Tython is discovered, and the first Jedi wants everyone to move there instead, since it’s much better equipped to cultivate a bond with the Force; However, many are comfortable where they are. Rather than make people follow her, the first Jedi manages to compromise (instead of dealing in absolutes), deciding the civilization will remain on Jedha; But those who are force-sensitive and learning under the first Jedi, will go to Tython to learn there.

There’s the unspoken implication that the term ‘Jedi’ originated as a description of these people who hailed from the world Jedha and considered it their home; And as these people were the ones who began and comprised this religious order, they became synonymous with it, hence the name Jedi for those who wield the Force.

Finally, we bring it back to where it all started, on Ahch-To, located in the Unknown Regions. It’s a forgotten planet populated by the Lanai. Once again, psychometry is used at the site of the first Jedi temples… And Rey and Luke find themselves following a Knight of Ren, one wielding a katana. A threatening, masked figure, she and her fellow Knights butcher heretics on this ocean planet.

But this Knight of Ren is separated from the rest after a battle, and nursed to health by local Lanai who still insisted on showing her kindness. Despite her insistence on suffering in pain, the Lanai argue that contrary to what the Ren dictates, pain is not noble; So take the painkillers. As she recovers, this Knight of Ren re-examines her relationship with the Force, connecting with the light side, meditating in nature, etc. Eventually, the other Knights of Ren find their missing comrade, and are ready to slaughter/indoctrinate the Lanai in the name of the Ren.

But this Knight of Ren refuses; One of her former comrades fires a blaster bolt, and she swings her katana to deflect it. Being a metal weapon, it shatters into blackened shards… Her commander calls her by name, but she renounces it, choosing to return to her original name. And she announces it as she takes off her helmet, revealing… The first Jedi, whose name the audience, Rey, and Luke know by this point.

Suddenly everything is recontextualized; The first Jedi was not some peaceful monk, not at first. She started off as a murderer and a butcher, a practitioner of the dark side… But through kindness and compassion that alleviated her suffering, she felt compelled to do the same. A weapon that had bathed in the blood of innocents was redeemed to protect others, and reborn into the first lightsaber, a tool of justice and defense. And I use a katana, since the Jedi are inspired by Samurai in real life; As are their techniques. So the implication is that the style the first Jedi used for her katana, she carried through to her lightsaber, which established a precedent for lightsaber techniques.

The first Jedi is a parallel to Anakin Skywalker; Someone who killed in the name of the Dark Side, a masked villain who was injured. But when shown compassion, she redeemed herself, per Star Wars’ insistence on restorative justice and healing. She rediscovered her name after being given a new one in the service of evil. It’s a hopeful message, about how even the worst can become good, and how it’s never too late to change. The first Sith were rogue Jedi; The first Jedi was a rogue Knight of Ren. Like poetry, it rhymes.

The first Jedi defeats the Knights of Ren, using just the force to pull their weapons out of their hands and crush them. The Knights of Ren attempt to attack with just their bare fists and the force, but the first Jedi is so powerful and attuned that she casually keeps them at bay. Humiliated and beaten, they retreat, but one does look back a final time; It’s implied this Knight of Ren is a friend of the first Jedi that is seen in the previous flashbacks, which happen after this event.

The first Jedi thanks the Lanai, and decides something must be done about the suffering in the galaxy. She gathers the remains of her weapon and flies into space, determined to protect others from the Knights of Ren and their crusades, and bring balance to the Force. A few times she returns to Ahch-To to meditate, builds some humble huts and writes a few texts; But eventually she and a group of refugees explain their plan to escape to a planet beyond the reach of the Knights of Ren, one that ‘sings’ to the first Jedi… The Lanai appreciate, but turn down their offer to follow, as their home planet is important. But they will never forget the first Jedi, and tend to her legacy in her name.

Rey and Luke return from their shared vision, stunned. This changes everything they’ve known about the Jedi order… But at the same time, reaffirms what they have known. With a new understanding, they become more attuned to the Force, Rey particularly, which sets them up for the big climax of the film.

#star wars #sequel trilogy #knights of ren #jedi #tython #jedha #Ahch-to

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