#they’re not meant to have the same structure each time | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

translatemunson · 3 months ago

Text

cat and mouse for a month or two or three • ttfd

chapter eight of the tortured firefighters department

previous chapter | masterlist | next chapter

cw: fem!reader, afab!reader, no descriptions of reader, brains is recovering, idiots in love, short chapter after a huge hiatus I'M SORRY OK , no proofreading otherwise i’d never post this (lmk if i missed something)

A new routine took place. You spend most days inside your apartment, classes online since they were checking all the buildings on that side of the campus, on medical leave from your job because, on top of the broken ribs, they wanted you to recover from the burnout you got yourself into. That also meant you were taking mandatory therapy sessions, and maybe after a month they could let you work again. It was like being grounded from what kept you fueled in your late twenties.

Their first mistake was giving you way too much free time while bored. You wrote pages upon pages of your thesis in your first week. The moment you hit send and sat to wait for your professor’s notes, you found out you couldn’t reorganize your home because it was considered too much effort for your broken ribs. Your kitchen became the latest victim.

But a real victim to all your boredom was one door down the hall, who probably regretted giving you a copy of his keys — to be used just in case of an emergency.

“What the hell are you doing, Brains?” It was the third time this week that Buck arrived at his home and found out you were there, just casually chilling,

“Reading!” You were upside down on his couch, a romance book in your hands.

“I don’t think this position is good for your ribs. Can you sit like a normal person?”

“No. It’s boring. Also, I’m gonna babysit Chris tomorrow, so I’m hijacking your Xbox.”

“Why aren’t you doing that at your place?” He pointed to your silly reading position.

“Because I needed to tell you about your video game. Are you hungry? There’s some lasagna in your fridge.”

“Did you make it?”

“Yeah. Now shut up, they’re finally confessing their feelings for each other.”

Buck turned the TV on just to get some noises into the silent apartment. You were too busy with your book, he was too afraid of doing something he would have regretted later. Somewhere between his first and second plate of lasagna, you put the book aside and started to pay attention to the news.

“Big rescue, hm?”

“I don’t know why they keep building towers with paper thin structures and too many glass windows with shitty fire alarms. What happened to the good ol’ bricks and stones?” He was eating at the table, probably destroying the food in record time.

“Excellent question. I’ll look it up and give you an answer tomorrow”

“You’re really bored, aren’t you?”

“Oh, what gave it away?”

“It’s definitely not the same book from yesterday, you cooked a lasagna as big as the ones Bobby feeds us, you’re gonna babysit Chris on Eddie’s day off.”

“He needs to run some errands, and Chris hasn’t been feeling good lately, probably just the flu. So I offered my services for the day. What’s wrong with that?” You stared at him. Was he cuter upside down than the other way around?

“Nothing, it’s just… are you ok?”

“Please, don’t pull a therapist on me, I already had my mandatory session today. I swear I’m ok, I’m just bored of doing nothing. No adrenaline, no deadlines.”

“You’re really addicted, hm?”

“What can I say, Buckley, I wasn’t made to stay still.” As soon as the local news was over and football started, you moved back to your book. Buck got up and went for some beers. “I’m just gonna finish this and I’ll see myself out.”

“I’m gonna charge you rent for my couch.” He sat on the floor, right next to your face. Third time in his living room was a charm, right?

“Wasn’t the lasagna enough?”

“I thought that was for my Xbox. Want one?”

“No, thanks.”

You opened your book again, but the sudden proximity with Buck was the only thing you could focus on. The five o’clock shadow, the red birthmark on the left side of his face, the brightest eyes you’ve ever seen… Staying alone with your thoughts for too long was making you think of things you once judged impossible.

It was a split second, but he caught you red handed, staring at him. You smiled and moved your eyes to the pages of your book, not sure where you left off.

One big hand snatched the object from you. You turned to your side to complain and retrieve it, giving Buck the perfect opportunity to bring your lips close and kiss you. It barely turned into a deep kiss before you took some space to process what was happening. Your action made Buck a little confused, blinking his eyes and nervously messing with his own hair.

Your ribcage started hurting, so you moved your body carefully until you were sitting on the floor, face to face with him. Giving him enough time to change his mind, to say he actually didn’t mean it. Because how could he kiss someone like you?

You thought you’d never see a glimpse of fear on the eyes of one of the most fearless men you knew. Buck was too stunned to say anything, his full, pink lips slightly open. Your hand found the curve of his neck, your cold skin over his boiling hot veins.

You leaned in for another one. He pulled you closer carefully. However, it was nearly impossible to avoid the messier, helpless kisses. Evan Buckley was finally taking over your mind, maybe even your whole body.

Both of you had to move back a little, taking quick breaths after such intense kisses. You rested your hands on his shoulders and smiled.

“Did it really take me getting trapped in a burning building for us to have the courage to do this?” You bit your lower lip, trying to avoid him noticing your blushed cheeks.

“I don’t know about you, but I wanted to do this for a long time,” he confessed.

And it caught you by surprise. So Maddie was really telling you the truth.

“Wait, how long?” He avoided eye contact and you laughed. “No, Buck, please. Tell me.”

“Do you remember that shift I got your number with Eddie? So,” he took a deep breath, “I was planning on asking you out that day, but I just… I chickened, ok?”

“And right after that you ate all my cupcakes when I was at Maddie’s. Off to the best start, Buckley.”

“Not my best move, ok?” He laughed. “How many months ago was it?”

“No clue, to be honest.” You pecked his lips again.

Buck’s arms held you close, not willing to let you go. His lips were just inches away.

“Should I remind you of my doctor’s orders?” you whispered.

“You’re never walking into danger on my watch again.” Buck finally let you go, but it was written in his face it wasn’t what he wanted. His touch lingered a little longer, a little too deep. And you were sure you were mirroring his actions.

“I know.” You got his video game console and your book. “See you tomorrow?”

“Sure thing, Brains.”

You leaned over, leaving a goodnight kiss and a promise to come back to whatever you just started.

+++

“Ok, do you want some snacks? I,” you checked your storage once again, noticing how you should’ve added “do groceries” to your list. “How are we feeling about popcorn?”

“I love popcorn!” Chris replied, his focus on the TV screen.

“Popcorn it is.” You turned the machine on and measured the serving. You heard knocks on your door. “Just a second!”

Maybe Eddie was back because Chris forgot something in the car? No, he had everything in his backpack. You opened the door, but your eyes stayed on the kid on your couch. “Really, Eddie, don’t worry. I can watch him for as long as you need and… Buck.”

“Hi.” Even if he looked like he just left the shower, his voice sounded like he ran a marathon and stopped at your door.

“Buck!” You both heard Chris from the couch. “Are you joining us?”

“Only if Brains let me.” He smiled, waiting for you to invite him in.

“How could I say ‘no’? Come in, we are playing video games and having popcorn.”

“You can play with me!”

“I’ll be there in a sec, Chris. I just need to talk to Brains first,” he pulled you aside and out of Chris’ view. Not like the kid is paying any attention to you, anyway. “Hey there.”

“Hi. Why do I have a feeling you’re here to babysit me?” You move to your kitchen, rushing to find the popcorn bucket in your cabinets.

��Can you blame me? You have two broken ribs, self diagnosed burnout syndrome,” you mumbled, “ok, your therapist said you have it, and you’re babysitting Chris on a day you’re supposed to wake up after 3.”

“It’s just for a few hours, and he’s not like Jee-Yun,” you pointed out the reality: Chris was just a little bit sick and Eddie didn’t want him to be alone. “So you’re here to see if I have plans for today.”

“Kinda.” He opened the top cabinet and gave you the bucket. “Do you?”

You elbowed him on the torso, playfully.

“Watch your step, I know his reputation.” You pointed to Chris over your shoulder. “But the answer to your question is no.”

Buck smiled, satisfied with himself. “Hey, Chris, orange or apple juice?”

“Apple, please! I’m crushing you!” The kid's voice indicated a promise to end Buck’s character.

“Ok, buddy, if you say so,” he turned to you and whispered, “so it’s a date?”

“Yes, Buckley. Now are you gonna help me with Chris or not?” You served two glasses of apple juice.

“Sure thing, but I might need to run some errands later because,” and he stopped himself. “You’ll see.”

a/n: hi is there anyone here still? i know guys, i was gone, no sign of life, but hey, i'm back (i hope so). IT FINALLY HAPPENED! i had to make this chapter shorter than usual because otherwise it would be too big. so that's it. see ya soon!

#evan buckley fanfic #evan buckley #evan buckley x reader #evan buckley x you #9 1 1 abc #9 1 1 fanfiction #evan buck buckely #buck fanfiction #evan buckley imagine #effie writes

61 notes · View notes

the-100-days-of-junkan · 30 days ago

Text

Day 97

Smile by Kayleen756894

Same as when we covered Burning Lungs, check the tags for this fic before ya jump in cause it gets pretty dark even within the first chapter.

It’s a big day for the project people, I mentioned back on Day 60 that there were three fics that I consider directly responsible for this entire thing since they’re what set me on this path of a comically large amount of Junkan. And today we FINALLY talk about another one of them, even if I admittedly did cover a little bit of my history with this specific story during Day 60 for the sake of context. Apologies if I repeat myself a few times!

The previous few days I’ve been covering fic first, then the art. For this day however I’m going to cover the art first, along with any other bonus facts I have, and THEN i will do my best to adequately sing the praises of today’s stories.

Also let it be known that the music I put on while I read through the whole fic in preparation for today’s ramble was “LEASE” by Takeshi Abo. 10 hour loop too. Someone will find that funny probably, maybe even you!

(This is another long one, get ready)

Before I address the art I might as well have a little fun and discuss the order I decided to do these in, interesting I know.

Days 91-92 were easy, the first Soft Fic and the first fic to use the Non-Abusive Tag, they had to be the opener. Day 93 was one of the longer stories so I did that one first, since I did read each story before working on the art. From there it’s a pretty simple pattern of “Short Fic followed by a longer, more serious fic that I gotta psyche myself up for.” And it was done pretty much with todays subject in mind, but we’ll get for it.

You’ll notice I have two different art pieces today, the reason is simple. I wasn’t very happy with the initial art, so I made a much more direct adaptation of a scene from the first chapter to go with it. And in a rare instance I can also bring you some early versions of the initial piece!

From the initial sketch you can see that this was supposed to be a proper cover for the story, as I wanted to feature scenes from each of the three chapters, that middle shot is one I’ve had in my mind since the first time I read the story. Those who have read the fic can probably recognize each one. The second image was almost the final version of this. I scrapped the lower portion of the art for a few reasons. The flames of burnout were miniscule but still present, though rest assured these would not come into play until after the point of when the fanfic art is all finished. Secondly, when I was supposed to work on this art, a power outage hit my house. This also meant that in terms of making the art I only had the first chapter read, anything else was purely memory (Like I said though, I read the full fic for todays ramble, rest assured). And thirdly, I kinda, just thought it didn’t look good? And as you can see this version had details cut despite how far into the process it was, fully removing the expressions outside of the two smiling. Cause y’know . . . “Smile.” Plus in retrospect the eyes, while striking compared to the rest of the art, look kinda fucking silly?

Why didn’t I like the end result? Honestly I think I was just in a bad headspace at the time due to the combination of the power out stressing me out, and just generally speaking my mental health has never been the most structurally sound aspect of myself. I’m good at drawing, not so much being well put together. Looking at it now, while I think the piece is a bit esoteric and might not be what I’d make today for a piece based on this fic, I like it a lot.

And at the end of the dead even if I didn’t like how the first one turned out, I’m pretty happy with it! Even with perfectionist brain bitching at me that I could have done Junko’s hair a bit better at the given angle. Just a straight adaptation of Junko and Mikan’s first kiss from Chapter 1. The most interesting note on it’s creation is that I had to make last minute changes to Mikan because I realized her hair needed to be a lot shorter and more well put together, as earlier in the fic Junko does fix it up a bit.

Oh! I did also send the second pic to the author herself as a way of introducing myself and showing appreciation, so that’s a bit of added sentimental value! Kayleen’s an absolute treat by the way, super fun to talk too, great insight on writing, you should absolutely check out the rest of her writing! I’m not in most of the fandoms featured say for RWBY, but based on the quality of her writing on the Danganronpa side of things, I feel confident recommending anything she’s published in the past, present, and future!~

Speaking of writing, I should probably like. Talk about the god damn fic, huh? Well. Nope! I still have more fun facts!

I almost didn’t adapt Smile! I knew for certain that Kayleen needed a spot on this list, it would have felt wrong otherwise. And there were two fics in mind for adaptation.

“Smile”, obviously, and “Soft (But only for Her).” My earliest plan was going to be to just do both. However I only had 8 days to work with, and spoilers, Day 98 is in fact a returning author, so I didn’t want to take up half of my slots on two authors, I wanted to show my appreciation to as many as I could during this string of the event before going back to my own stuff for the last two days. So I thought it over, and decided that Smile was too important to pass up on this project, leaving Soft (But only for Her) for later.

I did have a full plan for it though, unlike Smile where I didn’t really have an idea going into it. I’ll tell you what the plan was gonna be.

Most people would be curious which of the around 30 wonderful one shots I could have chosen to adapt, I’ve already done one of them with the very first chapter in that collection! However you my audience, are not most people. There’s a good chance you’re reading this paragraph, rubbing your temples and resigning yourself to the fact that I was very much going to draw art based on every single piece of that collection. Because yes I was just gonna adapt all of it. Was gonna make a big collage out of all of em, even the chapters that have so much angst I struggle to even read them cause they make me too sad! I’d still do it too. I probably will. When you least expect it.

For now though I really wanna draw something based on Chapter 25 when I have the time. I wanna draw art based on a lot of other fanfics actually, I’ve just been pretty swamped. But rest assured, to those of you who’ve written a Junkan fic and weren’t featured. Rest assured, I have my eyes open, I’m always looking that tag over, and there were definitely some stories omitted that I really wish I could have included IN the project. Give it time. My self control grows weaker by the day!~

Okay, okay. NOW, I should be able to talk about the fic. Probably.

So I’ve told this story before, but now you’ll get to hear it in a bit more detail compared to before. Will hopefully not be too repetitive for ya’ll!

So once again we jump back a few years during say, 2020, MAYBE early 2021. I find a fic that includes Junkan when I was simply trying to find Ikuzono. It ends up being pretty cute and makes me curious, “I thought this ship was super toxic? How is this one so cute?”

So, I look around the tag, still not sure how to Navigate AO3 even after gaining a lot of experience through the power of many late night tokomaru binges. And as you already knew or could guess, I came across Smile.

At the time it only had 2 chapters, which normally might have turned me away at the time, I wasn’t a desperate animal like I am today. However I guess I either ignored that, or just didn’t care, too curious to see what else this ship could entail.

So here I am, sitting in my bed, writing this ramble, trying to figure out once again how to talk about one of the fics that set me off on this obsession with Junko and Mikan as a softer, loving couple. That and also a fic that is much more serious in terms of its tone and content, as this fic, like Drowning, is one of the only fics in this stretch of the project that is definitely set in the main canon of DR. Serving as essentially a new origin for Junkan as a couple prior to the tragedy.

I’m sure I’ve said before that when it comes to how I view Junko and Mikan’s relationship, that Val’s work is basically the primary blueprint for how I interpret and portray them. However that’s for the Non-Despair AUs, while there is some bleed over in how I handle Canon portrayals (And I admittedly haven’t done a lot with a serious interpretation of that), in my brain this story, Smile, is the blueprint of how I view a canon timeline version of Junkan. That might just be bias from it being the first fic I read that like, but it does kind of help that this is just one of the most excellently written interpretation of these characters I’ve ever bared witness to.

The first chapter was originally supposed to be a Standalone according to the Author’s Notes, and it really works as one! It’s a very complete story that’s super well put together, and ends very satisfyingly if you just stop after finishing it. I’m extremely glad it continued, as I don’t think my obsession would have come to fruition when it did if not for those following two chapters. But maybe I’m wrong cause this fic certainly knows how to hook you on a ship!

I was god damn mesmerized reading the first chapter. This has to be one of the saddest takes on Mikan’s character that I’ve ever read. Burning Lungs comes close however we never get to actually see things from her perspective, that’s all from Junko’s outsider point of view. Here we get to see it all from Mikan’s perspective, all of it, the sad stuff, the extra sad stuff, the stuff I don’t really know how to talk about because I’m inadequate with this kind of subject matter. And some gay panic, because it’s not Junkan without at least a little gay panic somewhere in the mix.

Junko is really god damn good in this first chapter, she’s god damn good in the whole fic but we’re talking about chapter one right now so i’m specifying. She has such a mysterious aura around her the entire time, and not just the obvious “Oh she’s planning the tragedy behind the scenes,” but also the mystery of how she feels about Mikan! It’s something left up to viewer interpretation in the first chapter, and to a much lesser extent the following chapters (I say lesser extent cause it does eventually lean into her having real feelings for Mikan, just being super confused by them. At least that’s how I look at it). Everytime I read one of these stories that serve as an origin point for these two’s relationship, it’s always really interesting to see how things initiate. It’s pretty much always Junko initiating of course, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a fic where it was Mikan who made the first move? If there is I’m having a severe lapse in memory it seems, or I’ve misinterpreted! The point of course being I really like the way Junko handles things here, saving Mikan from her darkest point, all that good shit!

And the kiss? I drew it for a reason, it’s amazing. From the buildup to the way Mikan has a rare instance of boldness and grabs Junko’s tie? The grabbing the tie part makes my brain explode, the fact that Junko herself was surprised by it is even better. I love it whenever Mikan can actually get Junko surprised or flustered. It’s great!

I feel like I should be more detailed, more meticulous, but it really is a struggle trying to be in depth when discussing something this good, I wouldn’t consider it my strong suit?

So let’s try moving onto chapter 2! I do at least have a story with this one but that can be for when I finish desperately trying to talk about the chapter itself.

It’s lovely! Big shock! We get to see the two of them just acting like a normal couple for a bit, and even better we get to see the two partaking in some sleepy cuddles. That scene also does one of those Junkan things I fuckin love where Junko just, fucking reads Mikan’s mind. I know that’s not what she’s doing but also it’s funnier to put it that way. I just like Junko putting her analytical ability to use by reading Mikan and understanding her finer details. It can be used in all kinds of ways, cute ways, funny ways, saucy ways, but this might just be my favorite way? Her being able to tell when Mikan’s about to spiral and snapping her out of it quick.

Their date is lovely by the way, love the drive there, the conversation is just a treat. And I really like the reference to the grenade scene from the DR3 anime, I might not have fond memories with that series like, at all, but that one clip of Junko tossing the grenade and Mukuro (We’ll get to her) catching it is just a really fun bit of energy. It’s also just fucking funny because it reads like they practiced that shit for like 2 fuckin weeks- Sorry, distracted. Anyway I think the scene is both a fun reference, and another good way to kinda remind of us the darker parts of this storyline underlying the softer surface. Junko is in fact trying to burn the world down, she just also happens to have a tooth rotting-ly sweet relationship with a very sad nurse. The moments where Mikan unintentionally peers into that world, whether hearing an explosion or seeing the red roots of Junko’s true haircolor, I love it all!

Great moment with Mikan helping that kid from bullies, always love to see Mikan flourishing in these stories (foreshadowing)! I think it is very funny that the small child just immediately clocked that Mikan and Junko were dating, the kid either has a crazy gaydar or Mikan and Junko are the least subtle people alive . . . okay yeah it’s that second one.

The following scene is great too, fuck those parents, and fuck yeah to Junko coming in for the clutch as she is one to do in this fic. The kiss to follow? Fantastic. Junko’s joke about exhibitionism? Also fantastic. The part where Mikan says she’s gonna go see her parents- Fuck.

Okay so, I’mma make the assumption that if you’re this deep into my ramble you’ve probably read the fic already. And if you skipped out on the fic due to the subject matter noted in the tags, you can probably already tell by my apprehension that everything in this fic from here on out is like, the opposite end of the spectrum from all the sweet (albeit ominous) stuff we’ve had up till now. And you’d be correct, and I quite frankly don’t know how to talk about it, like, at all. There are parts of this that I do wanna talk about from this and the following chapter, but also I feel neither confident nor comfortable explicitly discussing what happens to Mikan here. Even if you can probably already tell.

Still, I must show my respects to the literature and it’s author, so I will do my best. Apologies if I fumble here.

I’m still not gonna talk in depth about Mukuro here, but I do like the conversation leading up to this scene, before Mikan shows up. It’s something that was going to inevitably come up, because yeah, Junko can make Mikan fall deeply in love with her, but that won’t exactly prepare her for being complicit in the apocalypse. There’s a part of me that’s curious what her gameplan was before the end of this chapter happens, how was she going to try and turn Mikan over to her side 100% and make sure she’s ready. The world will never know.

Junko’s great at the end of this chapter, not just the comfort she provides. But the way she, in the words of the story, Snaps. That line? That stuck with me when I first read this. I think it’s the moment that confirmed for me personally, that yeah, Junko does love Mikan even if she doesn’t understand it. And it wasn’t just that moment that stuck with me, it was the whole fic by this point.

That’s right, it's story time. So when I found this fic, there were only two chapters. And I wanna remind ya’ll that before this fic I read a fic so silly, soft, and fluffy that it made me question what this ship could be. Jumping from that, to this was definitely . . . Whiplash?

What happened after that is fun, because I don’t fucking remember. I think unironically the amount of stress that ending put me under just from the shock of it, made me fuckin black out?? Which by the way, huge kudos, it takes some really fucking good writing to get me so invested that I get real life stressed as shit because of bad things happening to the characters. But anyway, I didn’t actually just, black out from stress. But everything after that is so blurred that it’s borderline incomprehensible, I try to remember past that point, and it’s like looking at memories put through a paper shredder before being put back together by a toddler doing a handstand.

All I can say for sure is that starting from the morning after, I was obsessed. I woke up, and kept fucking checking to see if Chapter 3 was out yet. I hadn’t checked the time of the latest update, I still barely fucking understood how AO3 actually worked. I’m pretty sure it was through this fic that I learned that when a fic updates it moves to the top of the page for a given tag. This was also way before I had an AO3 account, so I couldn’t just subscribe or bookmark it. I’m sure I read other fics at this point, probably including Kayleen’s other works? But the timespan between Chapter 2 and 3 feel like white noise, whatever I read didn’t exist in my memories by the time that story ended. And god damn did it end.

When Chapter 3 popped up, it was late I’m pretty sure. I don’t know what I was doing at the time, maybe looking at manga online, talking with friends over discord dms, failing homework over online school, maybe even doing some of my own writing since i’m pretty sure this was back before my passion for it died out. Whatever it was, I dropped it fucking IMMEDIATELY. I needed to see this ending, I needed that catharsis.

So I layed in my bed, in a house I was still new to, and read the god damn chapter.

It was perfect. One of the first times to my knowledge where I’ve had the satisfaction of reading an unfinished fic and getting to actually see it end.

Where do I start, what do I even say? Anything I say just kind of boils down to “Junko and Mikan are perfectly written and I love their interactions and also god dammit I feel so bad for Mikan.”

The scene on the rooftop is great, I remember in one of Kayleen’s other fics Mikan shows concern for Junko’s eating habits, so getting to this scene and seeing the reverse was nice. And like, god, Junko’s so good in this. I get she’s trying to start the end of the world but she’s doing such a fucking good job here. Sure, she asks Mikan to kill her parents right after this, which might not be the most normal way of helping your girlfriend through a severely traumatic experience, but that’s just Junko y’know?

Should I talk about Mukuro now? I should probably talk about Mukuro now, I really wanted to wait like one more scene but fuck it we’re talking about Mukuro now.

Have I ever really talked about Mukuro in the context of Junkan? I know I’ve definitely made note of her, and I’ve obviously included her in these pieces with varying degrees of prominence. But I don’t think I’ve ever noted how I think she’s is one of the most interesting and amazing assets of Junkan as a ship. Calling Mukuro an asset feels like a disservice, but I lack the words to adequately describe what I mean here.

The Despair Sisters are already one of the most interesting dynamics in Danganronpa, and a pretty versatile one at that based on the various interpretations I’ve seen of these two. And I think adding Junkan into the mix is just lovely, because it adds an outsider perspective, but not just that, it’s the outsider perspective of someone who’s closer than anyone else due to Mikan dating Junko. Bonus for the contrast of Junko pampering Mikan and shit talking Mukuro, even if I believe that shit talking is just a very layered way for Junko to express that she does care about Mukuro as a sister.

And I think Mukuro and Mikan is a really fun dynamic too! I love the idea of Mikan finding love through Junko, and then in turn getting a second person in her life that cares about her. Mukuro being Mikan’s bodyguard bare minimum is great, protect that sweet little nurse you desaturated girliepop you. But I think the way their dynamic can evolve overtime as Mikan continues to date Junko is great.

Mukuro getting to see firsthand how Mikan is changing Junko for the better, even if it’s in a canon timeline where Junko’s still like, very locked in on the apocalypse. She’s getting to be happier in a more genuine way, which I’m sure Mukuro would be grateful for, and that just makes her caring about Mikan’s wellbeing all the better.

Plus like, something I don’t think about often, at least not until very recently, but if Junko and Mikan are dating, and inevitably get married. That does just kinda mean Mikan and Mukuro are sisters in law. And, I fuckin love that? Mikan not only gets an amazing relationship with Junko, but she also just gets to have a sibling, something that to my knowledge she doesn’t have in canon. It’s that found family stuff that I love, even if the found family in this case is a bit more literal rather than just being a metaphor. And Mukuro gets a new sister, one who cares about her just as much as Junko, but is just significantly better at expressing that by comparison. I think Mukuro would really appreciate having a sister who like, hugs her without slinging an insult, or just getting any kind of open, visceral appreciation without having to read between the lines.

I love to see Mikan with plenty of friends, she has a bunch of dynamics that I appreciate. But I also have a lot of appreciation for the idea of Junko and Mukuro being the only people she cares about, the only people she needs to survive.

Where was I- Oh right.

Kayleen’s depiction of Mukuro and her dynamic with our other two primary characters is amazing. Spectacular even. Fucking perfect perhaps. It does everything I love about the Despair Sister’s dynamic without bordering into uncomfortable territory like some facets of the main canon does. But what I especially love is her dynamic with Mikan in the few moments we get to see them interact. A protector, a friend, and eventually a sister to her, it’s amazing. The scene when Mikan wakes up to Mukuro watching over her while Junko is away is phenomenal, and I love Mikan’s concern for her given the way Junko treats her, which does look pretty bad without the deeper context. The moment at the very end of Chapter 2 where Mukuro just heads off to (I assume) kidnap Mikan’s parents after just sharing a look with Junko, it’s another one of my favorite bits in that scene.

And of course, the scene that lead me to start yapping about Mukuro like that out of fucking nowhere, her talking to Mikan about Junko’s test. It’s great how she tries to help Mikan come to a decision without forcing anything. But also finally giving some more confirmation that Junko definitely feels something for Mikan, expressing how many changes in her demeanor she’s noted. And the reveal that Junko routinely struggles with Nightmares whenever Mikan isn’t around?? Fuck I love that. God dammit.

I feel like I should talk more about this scene, but I feel like I kinda did? To an extent? A lot of what I just said about Mukuro’s place in this dynamic kinda sums up a lot of the great things about this scene. So I suppose we move on.

The buildup to the big scene of this chapter is wonderful of course, not much to say there. And I admittedly just really want to talk about the scene that follows.

Because god it’s everything I was hoping for when I finished that second chapter and had no idea whether I’d see this scene or not.

The reveal is great, and as grotesque as I anticipated. I do cringe a little reading some of the details, not the modern dickhead definition of cringe either I mean the “Oh god fuck that’s brutal” kind of cringe. And it is so perfectly contrasted by Junko being Junko, love the idea that Junko and Mukuro just nabbed up these people and didn’t explain a goddamn thing until this very moment where they finally figure out that this crazy bitch is dating their daughter. Mukuro punching Mikan’s dad in the face was fucking great too.

And the buildup to what comes next, is so god damn good. It feels weird out of context celebrating it, but the scene where Mikan breaks? Fucking spectacular. The distortion on the word Red hits like a fucking truck, and also speaks to my childhood of being a creepypasta kid because i’m like, half sure that’s the zalgo text filter, correct me if I’m wrong of course. Point is it was an out of nowhere detail that perfectly emphasized the tensity of what’s about to happen.

And I can go on another tangent now, because this is something I have had no opportunity to talk about during the entire duration of this project. At least not to my memory or knowledge.

I love Angry Mikan. I love the Mikan that snaps and is fully over the edge, not willing to deal with anyones bullshit. I of course have criticisms of Chapter 3 in DR2, but Mikan’s reveal of her true self, or I suppose the herself prior to the NWP, I love that moment.

I’ve never depicted Angry Mikan before, but someday I really want to. So until then I take great enjoyment in seeing such a rare side of Mikan, which itself is even rarer in these fics. I think counting this one there are only 3, maybe 4 other fics off the top of my head where we get to see Mikan fully lose her temper. Now of course, I could be suffering another lapse in memory, or I just haven’t read the other stories that feature it. I only think I’ve read like, 90% of the Soft Junkan out there, I can’t confidently claim I actually have for certain, so maybe I missed it!

Point is, seeing Angry Mikan is a treat. And here especially is fucking amazing, the verbal teardown, the havoc of it all. It’s great. And Junko just adds to it with her sheer excitement (which is putting it lightly given some of the dialogue), getting to see Mikan finally become, from her perspective, the best version of herself. Someone who can survive alongside her.

When things start moving, it’s amazing. A small moment I really love, and the moment I was originally gonna wait for to talk about Mukuro with. Her offering up an assortment of firearms from “Her personal collection.” is just, weirdly wholesome? The things I get to say talking about this ship I swear. I dunno, it feels like such a small, personal moment and offer that only Mukuro could provide, and feels like the perfect cap to Mikan and Mukuro’s dynamic throughout this fic.

Also, fucking enamored with the the presence of a Rocket Launcher. Funniest alternate timeline sitting right there, imagining Mikan with a fucking rpg over her shoulder is hilarious.

Junko offering the reverse side of the weaponry coin is lovely too of course, but it’s the wonderful stuff I’d already expect with Junko, so much less of a pleasant surprise like Mukuro. I do appreciate her keeping a knife used on Mikan’s father as a trophy though, imagine that over the fireplace.

Anyway I don’t know how I could really explain to you why the torture scene is nice. It’s catharsis, it’s just catharsis. I don’t even remember how fucking long I waited to read this moment but it was so worth it, Junko and Mukuro joining in to help setup equipment was also really cute . . . i feel like i shouldn’t be calling segments from a torture scene cute. Hm. Well anyway, I can say that while I appreciate its existence, I’m also glad Kayleen chose not to drag it out for too long. Ironic coming from the most excessive bitch around here, but it probably would have been a bit much if it took up the grander majority of this chapter.

Which means we say goodbye to Mukuro and return to our regularly scheduled Junko and Mikan moments.

And yeah what do you want me to fucking say, it’s amazing? Because it’s amazing as fuck, yeah. I’m running out of ways to just say how fuckin much i love this, but i’ll persevere best I can.

I mentioned way earlier that I love it when Mikan catches Junko by surprise, and we get more of that here. Though in this instance I think it’s better to describe that this is the first time Mikan just gets the upper hand on Junko, who’s struggling to fight back in the conversation because she’s already struggling to figure out her feelings. And it’s really lovely to see Mikan fighting past Junko’s own insecurities, especially when she regards herself as a bad girlfriend. It’s great, and it’s more of that role reversal I love.

The book analogy near the end of this conversation is so good, it’s sappy as fuck but that’s why it’s good. And Junko leaning into it despite how lame it is makes it all the better, and I only noticed on this recent reread that there’s even a cheeky V3 reference as well, clever!~

The kiss is of course great, and I think i’ve just fully fucking run out of ways to talk about how much I love Junko and Mikan kisses in these stories. Thank god there isn’t one in tomorrows fic- getting ahead of myself.

Rip to Scissorhands, thanks for the gay but you will not be missed.

God damn amazing fic, so well written. It’s one where I have to be in a very specific mindset in order to read it, as that middle chapter really does stress me out enough to be a bit of a roadblock. But admittedly this most recent reread wasn’t the worst compared to the previous few times. That said the fic definitely had it’s effect on me like usual, my body felt all kinds of wild ways, my heartbeat was a lot more intense, breathing a bit wacked out, my nerves up. The whole shebang, so good fucking writing. Equally bittersweet considering that, at least I assume, the normal events of DR are going to follow this story, even if not immediately. So Mukuro’s gonna die, Junko’s gonna die, and then Mikan’s going to have her brain undespaired and probably lose all her feelings towards Junko (Though I will admit, the idea of Mikan after the actual events of canon still having feelings for Junko while not being a remnant is pretty interesting).

However, I can live with that. It’s still an amazing story even with main canon in consideration, and I think I’ve run out of things to say here.

Tomorrow is the last fic based art in the event, Days 99 and 100 are all on me. And by process of elimination you probably have an idea of what Day 98 is, you may even know the exact fic.

I said there were three fics that were vital to me reaching this point in my life, being this obsessed with Junkan as a ship.

The Third Fic, Everything You’ve Ever Dreamed, is the fic that sent me spiraling into brainrot to the point of snapping and drawing art of it behind closed doors, eventually snapping me into drawing more Junkan than I imagine most if not anybody ever has.

The Second Fic, Smile, is what got me obsessed with the ship in the first place, of course only enough to enjoy reading it in secret, which would lead me to EYED.

All that’s left is The First Fic, which you’ll see tomorrow. The fic that made me bother to even give this ship a chance in the first place. Hilariously, I will probably not yap about it nearly as much as the previous two, even if I love it.

As always, Reblogs, Comments, and Little Notes in the Tags are appreciated!~ They always make my day!~

#danganronpa #junkan #junko enoshima #mikan tsumiki #enomiki #junkomikan #junko x mikan #enoshima junko #tsumiki mikan #shipping

45 notes · View notes

triscribeaucollection · 2 months ago

Text

(Fiddling around with a new MCU time travel idea)

There are a couple of kids in Tony’s living room.

Well- there’s one bonafide child, early elementary school age, and then one teenager somewhere on the cusp of young adulthood. But Tony would bet if he put their ages together and divided by two, he’d get a number in the realm of ‘should probably still have a babysitter when the parents go out for an evening’, ergo, kids.

They’re still asleep, for the moment. Or, unconscious, rather. Not awake, at any rate, and they haven’t been since falling through a big glowing circle into his living room, teenager curled protectively around the little girl. Which is a little annoying for two reasons; first and foremost, Tony has questions, but also he’d rather not have Pepper or anyone else walk in and demand to know why there are two unconscious children lying on his sofa.

That’s just such an awkward question. Though he does at least have proof in the form of security footage that the pair arrived by means entirely beyond Tony’s control. Speaking of which; Tony flicks a finger, and JARVIS dutifully rewinds said footage to the beginning, and plays at an again-reduced speed. Ultimate slo-mo doesn’t reveal any answers, however. There’s no prior warning before the light flares, startling video-Tony into spilling his coffee as he crosses the room, and no hints to be found beyond swirling white and orange as the kids fall through. The light vanishes as soon as they’re clear, then the boy hits the floor, hard. There are honest to goodness cracks in Tony’s floor, he had JARVIS run a scan on the structure beneath his lovely thick carpeting just to check.

No cracks in the kid’s bones, though. And- okay, in all honesty, questions and unknowns and everything else aside, Tony does prefer it that way, rather than the reverse.

As far as JARVIS could tell with further scanning, neither kid bore any injuries - just some lingering traces of quantum energy, fading further with every minute. With any luck, as soon as that finishes up, there’ll be some waking up and answering of questions.

Though of course Tony couldn’t just sit around and do nothing while he waited.

The little girl is definitely wearing designer brand clothing: durable sneakers, high quality shorts and collared shirt, a lightweight jacket that wouldn’t look out of place in a magazine for children’s spring collections. Also, just to hammer home the fact she comes from money, JARVIS detected extremely sophisticated tracking beacons inside every single garment. Even the socks. Tiny devices, clearly some kind of advanced nanotech... With a mini Stark Industries logo etched onto each one.

Trouble is, Tony’s never made beacons this small and impressive before.

Her watch is a similar conundrum. It’s red and yellow, clearly meant to look like any other cheap Iron Man themed child’s decoration, except for housing what Tony would swear is the same sort of satellite connection he puts into all of his suits for JARVIS to link up with. Top of the line encryption, tiny hologram projection, more tracking software with options to send specific distress calls, and all of it bio-locked, which- which should have been a problem. Even without an AI present in the device to fight him, it should have taken Tony significant time to crack through the locks and get a good look at the watch’s internal circuitry. Instead, it- recognized him. Recognized his bio-signature, and let him in.

He’s still mulling over the implications of that one.

Now, the teenager, there lie some other mysteries. Far shabbier clothing, for one thing. The ragged shoes alone look like they’ve picked up grime walking from one side of NYC to the other and back. Jeans with a faded appearance that’s not artistic enough to be artificially crafted; sweatshirt that has some amateur stitchwork patching up the elbows; t-shirt with holes in the hem and a cartoon character Tony didn’t recognize on the chest.

Thing is, JARVIS didn’t recognize the character either. Not even after running a search through the whole dang internet. And it wasn’t an indie creation, there was very definitely a Disney logo on the shirt’s tag, where it stuck up from the back of the collar.

And then there’s what the kid’s got under his clothes.

No, Tony did not undress him, but peeking out from under the cuffs of that sweatshirt and visible in the gap between pants and shoes is a very different sort of material. Durable, flexible, extremely form-fitting to be hidden so well by regular garments. Physically rifling through the kid’s sweatshirt pockets turned up a pair of gloves and mask, too. Very Halloween-y, Tony would probably jump out of his skin if he turned around to find those big white eyes looming out of the dark. Attached to the gloves, he also found a couple of small gadgets, fairly sophisticated, capable of spitting out an atrocious substance clear across the room. A large, sticky web still occupies the far wall by his bar as proof.

Those, Tony gingerly set down next to the girl’s watch, to be considered later. When their owners are awake, and capable of telling him things like hey don’t touch that button.

In the meantime, he’s finally accepted there isn’t much left to do but wait, idly replaying the security footage over and over, less idly hoping there’s some kind of change before any company arrives.

His luck, perhaps predictably, falls through.

“Sir,” JARVIS announces into the otherwise quiet room. “Miss Potts is on her way up.”

With a long, drawn out, highly exasperated sigh, Tony sets his empty glass aside and stands to face the music.

---

“Time travel,” Pepper says flatly. That’s a very clear, Pepperish tone of you can’t be serious. But before Tony has a chance to voice his defense, she’s already sighing, and bringing up a hand to rub at the bridge of her nose. “Why do you think this is time travel?”

So he starts reviewing the data.

The cartoon character that doesn’t exist yet only earns a raised eyebrow - when Tony gets into the particulars of the girl’s watch and trackers, Pepper looks a little less unamused, a little more disconcerted. Pointing out the boy’s suit and gadgets and drawing her attention to the web still occupying his wall even earns two whole startled blinks. “That’s... Tony.”

“Yeah.”

“Tony.”

“Yeah,” he repeats, fully in agreement. “But it’s either time travel, or R&D has been doing some serious overtime tinkering without letting either of us know!”

Pepper rubs a hand over her face, sighing again. When she pulls it away, her gaze goes to the pair of kids, girl still held in the boy’s arms, both of them laying on their sides where Tony managed to haul them up onto his sofa when the whole bizarre event began. “What do we do, then?”

“Not much we can do, besides haul them down to the infirmary and try injecting things to induce an early wake-up call.” Even as he says it, Tony swipes up and enlarges the holo-window with the energy reading and its total dissipation countdown. T-minus eight hundred and seventy-three seconds. “Otherwise, wait to see if anything happens in about fifteen minutes.”

Pepper let loose her third sigh, and went to get a glass of wine.

#marvel #mcu #time travel #tony stark #peter parker #morgan stark #pepper potts #wip

37 notes · View notes

beemochi-art · 25 days ago

Note

Fandom hot take?

Oh I’ve got a couple

1) Not a big fan of cygate. It just feels kind of weird.

2) I’ve ranted about this before but The treatment of Nightshade is unacceptable. And I’m not talking about the standard homophones, no one cares about what they think, haters gonna hate and all that. No, what I’m more concerned about how they are treated amongst the fandom. For some basket case reason we’ll have these people crying from the rooftops about protecting trans kids but when an individual comes along who represents trans kids, oop! Time to make porn! I never understood that, what makes people see a non binary kid and suddenly it’s and excuse to sexualize. Like if it’s a pass. Why! It usually Just Nightshade. It’s honestly made me uncomfortable to post them. I’ve drawn a bunch of Nightshade stuff, a bunch of goofy comics that probably won’t see the light of day. I’ve already had some idiot on here try to share their perversion to a completely innocent comic. It makes me so angry, if anything would make me gtfo off this page it’s that.

3) There are a lot of problems with Oplita fans. I’m a fan of the ship, I LOVE the ship. But I think the way most people ship them it also takes away a lot from elita. It seems like her existence is just to compliment Optimus. Many Oplita fans can’t describe Elita without saying mommy, girl boss or pegging. Maybe not that last one but still. I enjoy seeing Elita just on her own sometimes, skybound, earthspark and tf one some examples (idw as well but I don’t like her too much, she kinda eh. Honestly I’m not a big fan of angry boss lady but to each their own.) I think when people approach this ship they should try to ask themselves about her hopes, fears and motivations. If all you can describe her as “mother is mothering” I don’t think that’s good. I like mom Elita! I really do, but the thing you’ve got to remember about moms is that they were a person before they had kids. Elita is such a cool and interesting character and shouldn’t be treated as just Optimus girl boss accessory.

4) I’m of a clear enough mind to recognize that JazzProwl fans are insane and that’s ok. Cause Prowl and Jazz don’t really have any meaningful interaction in most continuings, except in tfa. But if we were all sane we’d ship tfa prowl and jazz. Not everyone will like the ship on the basis of they look good together and that’s fine. That kinda of why Forte-verse is just kind of silly. It ain’t that deep.

5) Tf one Megatron was wrong. His feels were valid all the way until he dropped Optimus. I think the villain worshiped is a bit unsettling, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Megatron. But I think only focusing on him and his crash out takes away from the message Optimus gives. Optimus was incompetent and a bad friend but that didn’t warrant death. I think a lot of times Orion was just so shocked by what his friend was saying that he struggled to say the right things D16 needed to hear. Orion was soo close to getting through to Dee, but then he, as Dee’s best friend compared him to Sentinel. That was a major trigger for Dee.

On another note, I think it’s interesting the reactions to Sentinel’s betrayal. I noticed Megatron uses a lot of language that is related to religion, “no more false prophets.” “Have faith in Sentinel Prime.” this was his everything. For Orion it may not have ever been that deep. For Dee his faith, body and sanity all rise of what he believes in, if he could serve the primes by being a slave it was all worth it. Unfortunately Sentinel is just like those mega church pastors.

6) I think the existence of femmas are cool and important. I think gender dynamics and social structure can have a part to play in Transformers even if it’s an uncomfortable subject, but they’re existence shouldn’t be a we are all the same gimmick, if you look to our real world the dynamic between the two sex’s and the social structures are different and sometimes not equal. I’m not saying that’s how it’s meant to be but I think it’s a topic that can be explored without shame. And as much as I think that, femmas in series also outline the nature of the writers as well even if it’s negative, the fan project Galvatrons Revenge being a good example.

7) I was looking at the story boards of the first story for Tf one. I think those were fun and all but I prefer the product that we got. A lot of people are saying that we were robbed but I don’t think that’s the case. That Megatron was evil, and his actions of shooting Orion didn’t feel as heart reaching as it does in the og. Tf One Megatron was emotional and vulnerable, I think he connected with the audience much better, his raw emotions is what makes a good megatron. And the storyboards just didn’t have that. It wasn’t nearly as emotionally impactful, I’m shock people said they would have preferred that over the Original. I don’t think I would have liked it nearly as much if so.

Not to say that they’re weren’t very sweet lines in the ere that I liked very much. I liked hearing about Dee’s motivations and dreams. And how he had a home with Orion. I liked how Dee looked to Elita and Bee when Orion was making him choose. There are parts that I thought were very sweet. And if the movie was that I still would have liked it just not as much.

Ok I’m done

I hope some of this made sense. Some things annoy me more than others lol.

#hot takes #transformers #bee talks #asks #transformers earthspark #transformers one

27 notes · View notes

cloud-somersault · 4 months ago

Text

okay, here's that whole "mate day" thing I was gonna talk about the other day LMFAO

So, the whole mate day vs. kidnapping thing in demonkind is something I’ve thought about a fair amount when planning Constellations out. I had to do a “wedding day” of some kind for obvious reasons and also just to capture that moment of them becoming mates. And of course I thought about “kidnapping/courtnapping” as an option, but the more I thought about it, the more I think it did a disservice to the world-building and structure of the AU.

So, demons kidnapped humans A LOT in JTTW and in other such material and various things would happen because of it. They’d have to live in hiding, they’d get hunted down, fights/wars break out, etc. They’d also get punished by the divine for interfering or doing something they knew they shouldn’t have done.

When it comes to demons kidnapping their own kind, I believe that custom was expected, but then we also have the whole “demons fighting each other, not agreeing with the union, hunting down their own kind, territory disputes, etc.,” there, too. I thought it would cause problems either way, but, more than that, I thought about how societies and customs change over time.

We see this with the divine, how they create new magic and come up with new systems and such things when it comes to organizing the multiple workflows within Heaven. They still, unfortunately, rely too heavily on paper, but regardless, I believe there’s been a change in Heaven compared to thousands of years ago.

I think the banquets that are held are a bit more modern. The attire and such is the same, but the food, the activities — I think those adjusted slightly to incorporate more influence from the other realms, mainly those of the demi-gods and mortals. More exciting and entertaining things.

There’s also the presence of magic and how new subsets are created frequently. This allows them to use magic in new ways to enhance these get-togethers. I haven’t given extensive thought to this, but it is something I keep in mind.

And, obviously, there’s the mortal realm. Mortals have changed substantially over the years, coming up with new technology, making advancements at a quick pace — and all without magic. The divine would glance down at those advancements and study them. And demons… Demons live side by side with mortals. Their societies are heavily integrated. Demons hide in plain sight. They would get inspiration from mortal behaviors and rituals and celebrations.

So! I think, since the “courtnapping” thing often led to more trouble than it was worth, some clans of demons started to play around with the idea of improving this idea. They look to the mortals and the divine for inspiration and see that…actually having a feast and celebrating is more fun, actually. It gets the community involved, no fighting, and everyone gets to enjoy themselves. Also increases the purchase of demon-made goods (LMAO) and all that. They’re helping each other this way.

I think iterations of this evolved through the centuries. Maybe courtnapping turned into “Demon A kidnaps Demon B and takes Demon B to Demon A’s residence so the union can be blessed and, if it is, then PARTY!” that kinda thing. Then it possibly evolved into “both demons are secluded together for some time and, if there’s no bloodshed after three days, then the union was meant to be” like different things like that.

Because, not only does demonkind have the influence of mortals and the divine, they also have THE Monkey King who resides on his own mountain and makes his own rules. Wukong wouldn’t want to incite more fighting when he’s already got demon kings killing each other. He’d want a more peaceful solution. So he’d take influence from mortals, too, especially since he spent so much time with them learning their language and way of life. He’d bring those lessons home and mix them with the previously established ceremonies that FFM partook in.

And if the Monkey King’s doing it, then all of demonkind kinda peeks their heads over to see what it’s like. And it’s fun! Having a nice, big feast and the two (or more) demons that are getting married get to spend a day to themselves and exchange gifts and love on each other.

So, mate day grew into what it is now over time. I wanted to show that societies change to give respect to not only the world-building, but to time. It’s a great way to show how things came to be. And I just don’t think that, with demonkind being so close to mortals, they wouldn’t pick up on the fun stuff they’re doing.

And they just add their own flavor to it! Demons have their own foods, drinks, things they do for fun, etc., that they bring to the mate day celebration. It’s a great time to try new things with magic as they light the sky with fireworks or put on shows or play music. It’s an opportunity for advancement.

Demonkind is also like. A fully thought of thing in Constellations, though we haven’t had time to go that deep into it. But when the Gold and Silver demons were hiding in that cave with an illusion — demons hide in plain sight, they’re always looking at humans (to eat them but whatever). But demons have their own marketplaces hidden in the mountain trails of certain peaks, their own towns and cities that have been created with magic and hidden. I wanted to give respect to that and how demonkind is its own society with its own rules.

They hate (some respect) the divine. Some of them hate each other. But most are just trying to live, and doing mate days like this allows for so many more demons to live and thrive and it allows unions to lead to bonds being forged between families and clans, etc.

I wanted there to be this structure, and it was perfect for Wukong to have this place in it, because FFM didn’t have a defined set of rules. That’s why Macaque said he proposed because he was taking inspiration from mortals and from demons, smashing the two ideas together. The concept of “mates” is a demon thing and has existed forever, but how two demons became mates? That was ever-changing. So, Macaque went the proposal route (at that time, some demons were still doing courtnapping, but it was getting phased out). And also, Wukong brought that idea home and told it to his family with excitement that humans had ALL THESE DIFFERENT WAYS to celebrate things, etc.

I think it’s a cool way to tie multiple things together: Wukong’s journey of learning about humans + how demon society changes just like every other society (and also just giving demons more respect toward their customs, etc.) + giving history to the world and showing how things can change + maybe having some characters that prefer the old ways.

#constellations fic #I just like how celebrations and rituals can change over time tbh #like looking at different iterations of major holidays #what things stay and what things were left behind #it's interesting af

17 notes · View notes

cabeswaterdrowned · 6 months ago

Text

Was looking up every mention of Aurora in the books for the char study piece I want to write about her and my jaw dropped here because I had been misremembering that “She was the only person who he could not dazzle, and he loved her for it.” line as being a Bluesey quote when it’s about Niall and Aurora… yikes @ myself. But really when you isolate just that line it is very romantic and fits the definition of romance we see for the other main couples. Bluesey Pynch and Jordeclan are all structured as

character A (Gansey/Adam/Declan) who is a social masker and disconnected from the ‘real them’ to some degree in a lot of interactions with the world around them x character B (Blue/Ronan/Jordan) who in Blue/Ronan’s case especially is very authentic and blunt and fearlessly themselves, that’s a little more complicated with Jordan who also has to perform as a version of Hennessy and then kind of find herself outside of that at the same time she starts her relationship with Declan, but she’s imaginative and creative the way Blue and in a less artistic way Ronan are and that proves an “authentic” contrast in a similar way, and she’s a helpful relationship for Declan in some of the same ways as Bluesey/Pynch.

So understanding that’s a notion and type of dynamic this verse generally paints as romantic, Niall and Aurora’s relationship being a warped take on the formula is pretty interesting! Niall wants to be with someone who sees the truth of him and wants the truth of him, which was Mor who is also too complicated and sharp-edged for him to understand or to give him the type of love he wants, so he has to craft someone both much sweeter who is a more conventional housewife for him, but she couldn’t be someone who agreed with him 100% of the time because she had to be fundamentally different from him and also provide him with the faintest, most easily controlled glimmer of what he liked about Mor’s challenging nature, without any danger of her actually leaving or overpowering him. So Aurora can contradict him or call him out when she says he’s lying about the way Ronan was born, but she can’t truly Challenge him there’s a difference. I do get the sense from the way the brothers talk about her and the few flashbacks to her in that time she was more dynamic and complex pre Niall’s death than the Aurora we meet in trc present, which makes sense based on the mythology, and I don’t see a reason for her to not have an individual personality the same way Mathew and Jordan do although it would still be comparatively muted by her role.

But basically, Niall wanting the same thing Gansey/Adam/Declan do but not being willing to actually build a recirprocal connection with someone with autonomy and offer them support too. There’s no Gansey comforting Blue after Persephone passes or Bluesey connecting over their similarly curious natures and wants and strange-loving relationship with Henrietta, and also none of their arguments which are honestly quite integral. If Niall’s… well does Niall have friends probably not, but theoretically if he had a male friend who made a comment like Henry’s very unfortunate r*pe joke in BLLB Aurora’s wouldn’t take Niall to task for putting her in that situation at all she would probably just smile along… None of Adam and Ronan’s conflicts or their viewing each other as equals would be able to occur same for Jordeclan.

I feel like seeing how that desire to have someone unconditionally understand you can be warped to the point of not respecting your partners agency or seeing them as a person outside of what they provide you really puts the main relationships into perspective for how they’re different, is what I meant to say. That’s not to say they’re without flaws (and they would be boring if they were), and I think some of the notion that perfect understanding is possible is one I would have liked to see questioned a little more than it is in canon, because I think these relationships provide the chars with types of understanding they crave and Might know them better than anyone else, but that doesn’t mean said understanding is absolute. As much as I love Bluesey I do think it’s fair to point out there’s sometimes a gap between how much Blue is encouraged by the narrative to understand Gansey and how much he has to reciprocate because of some misogyny and classism in the narrative, so there’s that. Or rather I’d say he reciprocates the understanding but less so when it comes to gendered conflicts. I think the ideal version of the Pynch arc in TD3 would be that it’s meant to challenge the notion we should rely on one person / our partner to always understand us fully by making it clear how terrible their communication has become and the gaps in their understanding related to their contrasting life goals and desires. It would actually be a really fascinating thing to deconstruct with them and if it had panned out I think that storyline could’ve been something truly special, but then either because of an audience feedback loop or just Maggie getting cold feat about some concepts, there’s a major backtracking to actually-love-solves-everything, Like, in isolation Adam telling Ronan that he’s the only Real thing in his life at this point and that’s worth too much to let go of is really romantic …. but then if you truly think about everything in the text around it and where Adam is at this point, and your reading a tad more cynically, you could also say that it reads less as high romance and more as a sunk cost fallac- but I digress the point was that Aurora & Niall’s relationship functioning as a mirror to these protagonist relationships is interesting, and there’s more to be said about the Mor&Niall/Adam&Ronan parallel and how it intersects with the comparison but I don’t have the energy.

(Also worth noting that while comparatives exist the m/m relationship is obviously never going to operate under the same gendered lines as the m/f romances and so any of those comparisons would be imperfect).

TL;DR Niall and Aurora’s romance is a warped mirror of the protagonists (Bluesey Pynch Jordeclan) romantic dynamics in that they show how a relationship built on a similar dynamic premise of desire to be understood could be horrifying if one stops respecting the other party as an autonomous being outside of the understanding they offer them.

#s speaks #Trc #tdt #aurora lynch #niall lynch #blue sargent #richard gansey #adam parrish #ronan lynch #declan lynch #jordan hennessy #my meta #Aurora fic #(for reference)

22 notes · View notes

autumnalfallingleaves · 7 months ago

Note

Question, in the first few chapters on WondLa, before Rovee gave Eva the translator, were you able to decode what Besteel and Rovee were saying? I’m still having a hard time trying to figure out what they’re saying. Still wondering what Shee-na means.

*spreads arms dramatically* My time has come.

Lmao. I love conlangs, so I've definitely tried to translate the non-human dialogue a couple times over the years, so I'll give it my best shot!

First, I think "shee-na" probably means "quiet" or a variation thereof, given that Rovender makes a shushing motion when saying that. As for book dialogue:

"'Ovanda say tateel?'" (pg. 69, Rovender)

Likely "What are you doing?" I'd be inclined to translate as "Who/what are you?" instead if not for the fact that Rovender says this same thing to Eva when she's hiding under Otto on pg. 94. They're sort of familiar with each other at this point, so it doesn't make any sense to ask who she is again.

"'Daff effu Cærulean?'" (pg. 77, Besteel)

Possibly something along the lines of a snarky greeting, or "What are you doing, Cærulean?", or even "We meet again, Cærulean?". From context clues, I'd say Besteel and Rovender have crossed paths before (they seem slightly familiar with each other; Besteel knows Rovender by name) and have a history of not liking the other/Rovender keeps messing with Besteel. This is also why I'd posit a snarky greeting.

"'Tuda neem,'" (pg. 82, Besteel)

"Don't worry," meant in an extremely worrying fashion.

"'Kap und gabbo.... Ta, broog iffa yu nabba,'" (pg. 83, Besteel)

Context seems to suggest "ta" is "yes" in the common Orbonian language. The whole thing is perhaps "You can't escape [or you are scared].... Yes, you will be perfect [or: you will live]," possibly as a reference to his mission to capture specimans to free Redimus.

"'Oeeah. Te banga nee peezil,'" (pg. 83, Rovender)

"Oeeah" is an exclamation, so has no translation. Possibly "see what he's doing there"?

"'Dot, dat.'" (pg. 83, Rovender)

"Stop, no." "Dat" appears to be "no".

"'Peesa van shuuzu,'" (pg. 84, Rovender)

"Going up is the only way out"; "peesa" is "up".

"'Ta! Ta! [...] Peesa.'" (pg. 84, Rovender)

"Yes! Yes! [...] Up."

"'Pra! Dooma boffa!'" (pg. 85, Besteel)

"Back! Stupid animal!" (translation note: what an asshole)

"'Dat, dat, dat. [...] Te,'" (pg. 85, Rovender)

"No, no, no. [...] There,'"

"'Tasha, zaata,'" (pg. 87, Rovender)

"Alright, go,"; "zaata" is "go".

"'Bluh, sizzu feezi,'" (pg. 88, Rovender)

"Bluh" is an exclamation and has no translation. "Feezi" means "nymph"; this seems to be a word Orbonians-- or at least Cæruleans and/or Halcyonus-- use for children. Eva is referred to as "the nymph" and-- I believe-- "the nymph of the forest" and, in the 200 years later epilogue, the language blend of English and the common Orbonian language gives us "'Feezi, known as Eva'", providing a direct translation. This whole phrase, then, could be "Bluh, ridiculous nymph."

"'Feezi meed! [...] Ya battee meer de hagrim Ruzender. Wha seesha?'" (pg. 88, Besteel)

"The nymph is gone! [...] You're to blame for this, Rovender. Where is she?"

"'Grazeet! [...] Zaata! Zaata! Zaata!'" (pg. 90, Rovender)

"Move! [...] Go! Go! Go!"

"'Nassa Ruzender Keet!'" (pg. 92, Besteel)

"Goddamn [or Orbonian equivalent curse word] Rovender Kitt!"

"'Tista baffa fooh!'" (pg. 94, Besteel)

"Get back here!"

"'Gabu Baasteel!'" (pg. 94, Rovender)

"[insert Orbonian curse word] Besteel!"

"'Feezi! [...] Zaata! Zaata!'" (pg. 96, Rovender)

"Nymph! [...] Go! Go!"

"'Dat, dat, dat, [...] Feezi zaata. [...] Ruzender zaata.'" (pg. 96, Rovender)

"No, no, no. [...] Nymph go. [...] Rovender go." Sentence and grammatical structure are likely heavily simplified due to neither of them being able to understand one another and Rovender being like "what is the most simple thing this weird kid could understand"

"'Grasset de fugill Ruzender!'" (pg. 97, Besteel)

"You're dead, Rovender!"

"'Ewa seetha tadasha,'" (pg. 99, Rovender)

"That was exciting," said by someone who wishes this never happened.

"'Ta! Feezi!'" (pg. 99, Rovender)

"Yes! Nymph!"

"'Zuzu, zuzu,'" (pg. 100, Rovender)

"Wait, wait,"

"'Kip! Kip!'" (pg. 100, Rovender)

"Talk! Talk!" The transcoder later has Rovender say "Tes, continue kipping" as it calibrates, so "kip" is probably "talk".

"'Dat, dat, dat, feezi, [...] Doot, doot, ba kip!'" (pg. 100, Rovender)

"No, no, no, nymph, [...] Closer, closer, and talk!"

"'Dat, [...] Peesa tobondi feezi, ta kipli.'" (pg. 101, Rovender)

"No, [...] Keep it up close, nymph, and talk."

"'Zazig. I try to peebla foo,'" (pg. 101, Rovender)

"Sort of. I try to make it easier,"

"'If you do, [...] you hret graaveem my speech.'" (pg. 102, Rovender)

"If you do, [...] you understand my speech."

I think that's all the Orbonian language we get; I hope this helps! :)

#no accounting for besteels accent of course #i like conlangs but i dont think i could really get into it like linguists do...#wondla #the search for wondla #wondla trilogy #beans answers

22 notes · View notes

chuuyadelune · 2 years ago

Text

now that i have recovered from the emotional shock of seeing *that* akutagawa scene from chapter 88 animated in HD 4K (i thought i’d have another week to emotionally prepare myself LMAO), i just wanna be a little bit of a nerd and say that i really liked the cinematography/composition this episode.

in particular, i really enjoyed the anime’s decision to draw visual parallels between this fight and previous fights (in particular, the fight against francis, which is important because it is the first time they worked together).

after all, this fight is the culmination of everything they’ve done together. from the combining of their abilities, coming to an understanding with each other, realising the potential of beast-beneath the moonlight-rashoumon… bringing back similar shots that were used in previous fights is SUPER effective at highlighting the parallels and how far they’ve come, in my humble opinion.

here are a few things i noticed:

- first of all, both of them activating their abilities one after another is an explicit nod to S2’s fight;

- the confrontation/conversation in the hallway from S2 (to an extent! they’re on the same sides, which caught my eye);

- akutagawa blowing up the engine room on the ship, and kyouka doing the same during the first fight between him and atsushi (S1);

- and a similar angle being used for black tiger claws / koukko zessou as a nod to the fight in the S3 finale.

the parallels — though maybe less explicit, *are* still there in the manga? like, the entire “structure” of the fight so to speak is very similar to the francis fight in S2 — akutagawa finding atsushi, taking place on a(n air)ship, breaking away from the fight to strategise before confronting the final boss (then, francis, and now, fukuchi) is undeniably a nod to that fight? i love that this is given its due in the anime as well.

another thing about the cinematography this episode i loved was them using the clock as being the indicator of fukuchi’s fuckass space-time sword doing its thing. that was a really nice touch, in my opinion; the cuts in between were jarring and disorienting and really helped put us into sskk’s shoes.

and as for the background design alongside the clock itself — there were a couple of things about them i enjoyed:

- the number of floors / levels of the ship in the back (5, as a nod to the five ways an angel decays, the DOA)

- the blue of the clock is meant to be reminiscent of fukuchi’s sword, i’d argue, with the way both of them pops out of the sunset/orangey-red lighting

- the clock’s design being super ornate and gold plated reminds me a *bit* of a tabernacle (where they keep unused eucharist in a church) — and thus brings up connotations of sacrifice. that white bridge-thing beneath the clock as well reminds me a lot of an altar, too (see the image above the last to see what exactly i’m referring to, because image limit)

okay, yeah, that one might be a bit of a stretch, sure. but its placement as being above them, combined with the two tables/boxes to the left and right of the ship’s bow (which looks very much like a cross, btw) gives it a distinctly religious, altar-kinda feel, i’d argue. and crosses have been used in S4 as symbolism as well!

(tbh, there could even be a bit more imagery i’m missing, because — the angels of the DOA refers specifically to the buddhist conception of an angel. i’m not too familiar with buddhist imagery, but i thought that this was worth pointing out regardless!)

the last thing i want to say is that the red and blue symbolism went CRAZY this episode. i don’t have much else to say because it was super obvious — they even reused the same “black tiger claws” shot from S3, after all — but i do wanna point out that the symbolism even went into the carpets. the fucking carpets.

like, the shift: it’s red when akutagawa’s leading the conversation but changes to blue after atsushi’s suggesting of the submersible as a strategy? i mean, i don’t know if this (or anything i’ve said, to be fair) was intentional or not, but it’s a cool detail anyway!

personally, i enjoyed this episode, the action was great, and all of this too was a really neat addition as well! and now… uh. we wait for the chaos to get worse i suppose !? (laughs nervously)

#while i haven’t been enjoying S5 as much as i did S4 i think they still did pretty good w this episode #there was a lot i really enjoyed about this episode!!#studio bones will always deliver on the action. we can count on that bit at least LMAO #next week though…. it’s shin soukokover #bsd #jem rambles #bsd s5 #bungo stray dogs #bsd spoilers #atsushi #akutagawa #shin soukoku #bsd atsushi #bsd akutagawa #bsd sskk #sskk #i do mourn the loss of some of the nuance of their characters but. they did say at the panel the anime focuses more on action sooo 🥴#you win some you lose some i guess #only reason i was able to make this post btw is because ive watched bsd so many times to the point shit’s literally engraved into my brain #it’s bad for me NDLDGAJ #bsd analysis #bsd anime analysis #bungo stray dogs season 5 #bsd season 5

120 notes · View notes

shoechoe · 9 months ago

Note

Hiiii attacking your ask box while I procrastinate 😛

So regarding Passione’s structure: Been doing a lot of reading lately on the mafia and have found that interestingly, the Neapolitan mafia is generally much more fragmented than other mafias in Italy, particularly the Sicilian and Calabrian mafias (the Cosa Nostra and ‘Ndrangheta respectively).

That is to say, the “boss of bosses” model seen in other mafias is not really present in Calabria and Naples, where the gangs are instead smaller and more numerous, controlling many minor sectors of criminal society instead of one broad huge, organization blanketing massive swathes of the land.

This makes me think about the odd way that Passione’s hierarchy is illustrated when we’re being given exposition about it in the story. Although Passione is depicted as this pervasive, all-powerful thing, it seems to be very horizontally organized overall, which makes me wonder: Is Passione a singular gang, or is it meant to be more of a replacement for the Camorra in the story altogether, i.e. a loose coalition of clans operating broadly under the same roof, but generally independent from one another?

Or is it some weird mix of both? Each “squad” seems more like its own distinct thing than a unified part of a larger whole given all of the infighting, but everyone ultimately takes orders from Diavolo anyway. I wonder if the Camorra also still exists in this universe, parallel to Passione…

The structure of Passione seems to be rather lacking in middlemen altogether: there aren’t many “tiers” of it to climb. There’s the grunts, then squad leaders like Bruno or Risotto, then caporegimes like Polpo, and then directly above that is Doppio+Diavolo.

The structure at the top is definitely fucked backwards no matter which way you look at it because Doppio/Diavolo is his own boss and his own henchman at the same time and he doesn’t seem to have a consigliere or any other personal advisers—just his personal guard, who seem to mostly just be… hitmen? There doesn’t seem to be much evidence that Cioccolata, Squalo and Tiziano et al. conduct much business for the gang. They’re just… attack dogs, I guess ?

(To note, the official illustration of Passione’s hierarchy says that the position that belongs to Doppio should be a consigliere, but this is more of a non-combative, lawerly, legal-counsel type role which is something that Doppio appears by all accounts to be woefully inadequate for, so this doesn’t really make sense.)

There’s also oddly not much mention of blood relatives within Passione: I don’t think we hear of any gangster characters who are actually related to one another, which is highly unusual for the mafia. Is it because near everyone seems to be a stand user, save bottom-tier lackeys like Luca? Do they put less stock into blood relations in Passione because of this (and maybe also because of the boss discouraging such things)? Do they skip over most of the formalities of being “made” because they find the stand arrow test to serve as a sufficient initiation? This is the stuff that keeps me up at night.

That is some very interesting real-life context. The only gang I've read a book on so far is Cosa Nostra, but organized crime in Italy definitely goes beyond that and varies from mob to mob. Personally, I doubt there was too much thought put into how Passione replaces the real-life mob structures in Italy; Araki was probably just thinking "media-like depiction of an Italian mob" and didn't pour himself into study of real-life mob structures or anything.

I always kind of assumed other gangs were practically irrelevant, since conflicts with other gangs are never mentioned and Passione seems to be so powerful that it's basically the "main" mob in Italy due to its high concentration of Stand users and monopoly on the drug trade. (Though Purple Haze Feedback isn't canon, it does make a point that Passione is powerful beyond powerful in terms of mobs with Giorno in charge.) Though, there really isn't enough info given to tell, just like a lot of things with the mob in VA, lol.

I have also noticed the whole "consigliere" deal before- I made a post about it some time ago. Personally I get the feeling that VA was just using "consigliere" functionally as a synonym for "underboss", since they mention a "right-hand man" in the structure. It's a little annoying and inaccurate, but what can you do?

The lack of family dynamics playing a role is definitely something I noticed Passione strongly breaks away from real-life mobs in. The concept of family is extremely important in most real-life Italian mobs, with gang higher-ups often operating within families and successors being sons of the boss. Passione, on the other hand, seems to have absolutely none of this.

This also makes Diavolo's hatred and avoidance of family really interesting, and indeed, what causes Vento Aureo's attempts to have Passione mimic a "typical mob structure" come out extremely broken. There is nobody planned to take over if something happens to Diavolo because Doppio is his underboss (who wouldn't work as a successor for obvious reasons) and he cut off all potential family and connections to people besides himself. I guess that just goes to show Diavolo's sheer confidence in himself and his distrust of anybody else that might replace him. He also might have just truly not given a shit about what will happen to his empire after he dies.

Passione is, in my opinion, a pretty simplistic idea of a mob. It's written just enough to get a vague idea of what it's like and also to get the plot working, but upon further inspection, you really realize just how vague it is as an organization. It makes me want a prequel to see how Diavolo started all of it even more lol.

#asks #vento aureo #diavolo jjba #shoe talks a lot #long posts

15 notes · View notes

ink-flavored · 11 months ago

Text

Purgatory

BTS Series: ⬅ Table of Contents Also available on Neocities! P&J Taglist (Check out my Google form to get added): @elegant-paper-collection @auroblaze@zeenimf @vacantgodling @foxys-fantasy-tales Banner art by @auroblaze

Traditionally in Christianity, Purgatory isn’t a place, like pop culture depicts. It’s actually a “cleansing ritual” that some people have to go through to be worthy of Heaven. Sometimes it involves literally being cleansed in fire! However, I’m going with the more pop-culture-y depiction of Purgatory because it better fits the tone of the story, and allows me to do a little more sociopolitical commentary. Which I love, and will always do. Anyway, here it is!

The Structure of Purgatory

In the quilt of the universe, Purgatory is a fascinating square. It holds a mirror to Earth, reflecting it as a plain, unchanging, eerie dreamworld. There are things that look familiar to the souls that wander there, but with a distinct alien veneer that reminds them they are not in the same place they left.

Souls who aren’t worthy of Heaven, but aren’t sinful enough to be sent to Hell, are prescribed time to think and to repent in Purgatory. God gives them a second chance after death to reconcile their sin, and once they’ve atoned to His satisfaction, they’re permitted to take their place in paradise. Those that aren’t forgiven wander until their souls eventually fade to Hell.

Those wandering Purgatory cannot enter or exit of their own volition. The process of forgiveness or fading can take centuries. Hundreds of years of circling in the same empty plane with other souls, just as aimless. Simply put, Purgatory is a holding cell, for those souls who have nowhere else to go.

Wandering Souls

Though they certainly can, the immortal beings of other realms rarely appear in Purgatory. Angels and demons can travel in and out whenever they wish, but angels appear only to bring souls there or relieve others of their roaming, and demons have little use for souls that can’t be further corrupted. The souls of Purgatory have very little company outside each other.

The souls that wander are given little direction as to how they’re meant to appropriately repent. They have not broken their relationship with God, they’re assured, only injured it, and that injury can be repaired with time and atonement. However, many souls in Purgatory are confused as to why they’re even supposed to be repenting. Lying, gossiping, drinking to excess, failure to pray, and suicide are all on the list of venial sins that these lonely souls are meant to be making amends for.

For those confused, they have plenty of time to work through the feeling. Souls in Purgatory are meant to consider their mistakes in life, atone for them, and God would recognize the way they’ve held themselves accountable and offer forgiveness. Eventually.

Some souls, though, become frustrated. Some felt their sin was unavoidable, some felt they didn’t have a choice. Some had no idea they were sinning in the first place, they thought they were doing the right thing. It’s difficult for many souls to capitulate to a God they had never believed in, or to apologize for something they couldn’t have averted.

But even among those that atone as best they can, the resounding silence from above becomes disheartening indeed. After centuries and centuries of wandering, plenty expect that they’ll never be forgiven, no matter how long or how many times they repent. When the angels appear to usher the scant few forgiven souls to Heaven, leaving countless others behind, the demoralization drives them deeper and deeper into despair.

Forgiveness and Fading

The process of being forgiven is, in writing, very simple. Once God has decided a soul wandering Purgatory has repented to His satisfaction, He orders an angel to bring them to Heaven.

In practice, the qualifiers for “satisfactory repentance” are vague. The criteria for one soul might be wildly different from another, regardless of their sin. Some are waiting for a short amount of time compared to the souls that wander the longest, and there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to which souls are accepted and which aren’t. God seems more determined than ever to smoke out the unworthy, and the length of time it takes for any one soul to reach forgiveness stretches far longer than many of Heaven’s agents think is justified—though these angels are wise enough not to voice their criticisms.

Part of the unspoken concern lies in the fact that souls in Purgatory don’t stay there for eternity. The longer they sit, the more they despair, the closer they are to giving up on the chance of being forgiven altogether. Many don’t see a point, after waiting for so long. God had abandoned them, left them to rot and tread the same ground over and over, waiting for a forgiveness that would never come. When these souls turn their backs on Heaven, there is only one place for them to go.

Hell doesn’t “claim” souls from Purgatory. Demons aren’t sent up to collect them, and it’s not as though the souls from Purgatory are itching for damnation. Instead, God watches these souls slip farther from forgiveness, and eventually He lets them go. Like a fishing line, He stops reeling them in, and releases them to the depths.

And though Hell doesn’t necessarily gather up these lost souls on purpose, Lucifer will accept them happily. After all, what better way to motivate his army than with more fodder to be made an example of? What better way to show them how pointless God’s plans are, than with the very souls He claimed to love so much, abandoned at their doorstep? The constant churning of Purgatory’s lost souls are the perfect talking point—remember how much God loved His creations? This is what He thinks of them now. The only option becomes overthrowing Heaven, and proving themselves righteous.

The angels in Heaven who are brave or foolish enough to speak of this problem openly, do so in whispers. They wonder why God is so concerned with keeping out every soul with even a sliver of impurity. They wonder why so few souls get brought up from Purgatory these days, and even if they do, why they stay there for so long. They worry about innocent souls going to Hell under their watch, suffering needlessly for the sake of holy paranoia.

And then they’re decisively hushed, for fear of joining the unholy ranks.

There it is! Those of you who read Justice’s backstory on Tumblr might have found some of this familiar.

I’m not sure how much of all this lore, from Heaven on downwards, will make it into the full story, but I’m glad I got to share it with all of you to make sure someone other than me gets to hear my thoughts!

Thanks as always for your support!

— Annika

#original writing #original fiction #original character #original characters #spilled ink #writers on tumblr #writeblr #writeblr community #annika talks #P&J #Pride & Justice #P&J: Worldbuilding

17 notes · View notes

cartoonrival · 6 months ago

Note

👀Kirishima popular with men and not boruto uglified unhappy married with a woman? Fuck everything else i won(ill take this crumb i was so scared 💀)and my girlss momo, mina, jiro, tsuyu and specially ochaco my fav <3 love seeing them doing ok this is my win, bkdks can have whatever they want idgaf if the girls, some others charas. and my token gay kr (beloved)implied are ok. The rest is to much to unpack i pretend i do not see it atleast it could have been worse, what did you think rival?

honestly i’m really happy with it! i’m really happy that you can tell horikoshi was losing interest in including the obligatory romance and he actually followed through with having uraraka and deku both move on from it, but at the same time in the penultimate chapter they still hugged without it reading as confirmation that they’re in love or whatever. made me happy!! even ships that seemed plausible and like hori was leaning towards them (kamijirou for example, which i actually think is rly cute) weren’t explicitly “confirmed” and i think that’s really refreshing. for such a quintessential shounen manga to move away from the obligatory romance is really dope to me as someone who loves shounen but hates obligatory romance, lol.

especially having just watched naruto, where kishimoto clearly thinks that a person cannot be considered “fulfilled and successful” if they’re not married, despite that not being relevant to the plot up to that point at all, it makes me happy to see hori not falling in the same pitfall. id say the bar is on the floor but it happens literally so often that it’s a genre staple so i think it actually is deserving of a little credit that he moved away from it so completely.

kirishima is gay ☝️ this i know. everyone has known this forever. he’s always been coded gay. it’s one of those situations where whether hori meant it or not (i lowkey find it hard to believe he didn’t recognize what he was doing) it is true, and a hero popular with men is the nail in the proverbial rainbow coffin. i was also glad that he got an aside becuz he’s been sort of left behind by the focus of the story for quite a while it seemed like hori had forgotten that he was such a key player for a while in the middle, so even though i’m still sad his relationship with bakugou was all but forgotten he did still get a nod at the end that most other characters didn’t get.

REALLY LOVE THAT MIRIO IS THE NEW NUMBER ONE AND NOT BAKUGOU. because mirio is literally more talented than him.

pissed about deku getting that tech that lets him be a hero again. i think honestly with the theme of not all people are created equal but we must love and support each other and find our niches nonetheless, it kind of loses its punch of deku to just. have a quirk still essentially. i thought him losing it was dope, and for him to remain the greatest hero of all time but have to pass on the torch because his time in the spotlight was over, whether it was luck or hard work he couldn’t stay a hero forever. because when it comes down to it he was born quirkless, and actually that’s okay, because he still has knowledge and talent and love to offer the world and he still has friends who love him. but whatever. tch

even though they didn’t go through with it, i really loved that all might was the one to suggest eliminating the popularity aspect of the hero chart completely. i think it really demonstrated how much HE has also grown over the course of the series, what he has learned and how his values have changed. i honestly think that would’ve been a better conclusion than whatever mixed bag thing hawks was setting up but it’s whatever. i think more structural changes are necessary and there should’ve been more explicit exploration into what those would look like imo, rather than just “people are nicer now cuz deku inspired them to be nice”. it’s not that it’s BAD because ultimately the structural issues of bnha’s world stemmed from social attitudes, and if those attitudes changed then that’s the first step to uplifting people born with scary or unusual quirks or born as heteromorphs, but at the same time it doesn’t give you the feeling that this peace is going to last.

LOVED DEKU’S FINAL CONVERSATION WITH SPINNER. I LOVE SPINNER AND I LOVE HIS WHOLEHEARTED LOVE AND DEDICATION TO SHIGARAKI AND I LOVED THE FOCUS HE GOT AT THE STORY’S TAIL END AND SEEING HIS REACTIONS TO HOW SHIKAGRAKI WAS CHANGING UNDER ALL FOR ONES INFLUENCE

anyways not perfect by any means, but i’m happy with it ^_^ horikoshi bit off a lot and i think i’m okay with how he decided to tie it off. i think platonic bakudeku is fun and interesting but i think it was better when it was bakugou crying suddenly cuz he thought he’d never be able to compete with deku again since he lost his quirk. if deku gets his quirk back it’s like okay. whatever. would’ve liked to see him continue to respect deku when he was quirkless again. but it’s fine. i still maintain that ppl who think they’re romantically involved don’t get it at all

#asks157 #bmha

7 notes · View notes

theunbonded · 8 months ago

Text

Hazel eyes bore into the back of my skull. I didn’t dare turn around and flip him off in the middle of Battle Brief. Instead, I kept my attention on my notes.

I still sat with my squad, but I kept a barrier between us. Clipped responses to questions, declining extra study sessions, avoiding their pitying glances. It wasn’t completely out of the norm for me, and they didn’t press for more.

It made it easier as I watched them all develop the smaller magic. As I watched them all discover their signet powers.

As soon as class ended, I threw my belongings into my bag and made to leave. Sawyer opened his mouth to say something but I shoved past him into the aisle of the auditorium. He had tried for the past couple of weeks to get my attention. I just couldn’t do it.

I had made it into the hallway and almost out of the building before my arm was grabbed and I was pulled behind one of the giant pillars holding up Basgiath’s stone structures.

“Missed me?” I asked Garrick Tavis, but my voice didn’t have its usual bite.

“You haven’t shown up to our training sessions in weeks,” he hissed, keeping his voice low.

“Didn’t realize you were waiting for me to show up.”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay after everything that happened.” His grip on my forearm tightened. We both glanced down at it, having forgotten about where his body still touched mine, and he slowly released his grip.

“I’m fine, Tavis.”

The corner of Garrick’s mouth turned upwards. “Back to the last names?”

“Are we done here? I have things to do.” I attempted to push past him, but he put his arm up, blocking my exit.

“Beatrice.” He said my name as if it was a reverent prayer, low and quiet just for my ears like I was the only god he prayed to. A flush of heat snaked its way up my spine and across my chest.

“I’m okay.” All of my bravado disappeared around him. He had pulled me out of the water, sputtering and gagging around the lake water in my throat, and flew us back to Basgiath in the early morning. He had seen the aftermath of my meltdown and still wanted to come check on me. “I feel lost and I’m struggling to refind my place here, but I’m figuring it out day by day.”

“I heard they assigned you to deliver Markham’s reports to the infantry quadrant. They’re not giving you any trouble, right?” His tone promised death if they were.

“No.” It had actually become the highlight of my day. Lidia and Divya gave me hell each time I crossed the bridge, their taunts and teasing a respite from the stifling walls of the rider’s quadrant. They didn’t look at me with pity or think that I was less than them; I was a worthy opponent. Our verbal spars were the only times I could feel normal.

It was messed up that those were my breaks from being an Unbonded.

“Good.” Garrick lifted his hand. Slowly swiped his fingers across my brow, brushing a flyway curl behind my ear. “Come back to training with me.”

I swallowed. Hard. Then took a step back. His hand wavered in the air before he placed it back at his side. “I can’t.”

“It’s okay. I can wait.” For some reason, I don’t think he meant just for training.

I stepped around him, and this time he let me. In the narrow corridor, my chest grazed against his. Still so warm. Still the same sharp scent of eucalyptus.

Still those two swords strapped against his back.

“You can do me a favor though.” I turned back around on my heel, leaving little room between us. “The shortswords that are regulation in the infantry, could you get me one?”

Garrick stilled. “Why would I be able to get it for you?”

“You have two impressive swords of your own. I’m assuming you know how to get other ones.”

He shook off whatever had come over him. “I’ll see what I can do.”

⤧⤧⤧

Lidia and Divya were leaning against the wall when I approached, gossiping about something. Divya was waving her hands wildly in the air, and Lidia was laughing at whatever she was saying. They kicked themselves up to meet me halfway.

“Don’t stop on my behalf,” I said, throwing Lidia the satchel.

She caught it with one hand. “Wish you weren’t in that stuck-up riders quadrant?”

“Wish you had the balls to even try?”

Divya laughed. The sound was musical, the sounds like the keys of the piano I used to play in my father’s parlor, warm and resonant. It was more carefree than anything I had heard as a rider. “Yeah, sure. I’m quite happy not being eaten by a dragon, thank you very much.”

I shrugged. “Can’t blame you. They’re scary as hell.”

Lidia cocked an eyebrow. “Isn’t that, like, sacreligious for riders? To talk bad about the dragons?”

“I’m sure they talk bad about us too.”

“You don’t know for certain?” Divya crossed her arms.

“Aren’t you all supposed to be buddy-buddy with your dragons by now?” Lidia copied the motion.

I became the third in a circle of girls crossing their arms. “You guys are smarter than you look.”

“Don’t get fooled by our looks, Beatrice.” Divya flipped her silky, long hair over her shoulder.

Lidia cocked a smile, but nodded her head at me to continue. She wasn’t going to let me off the hook that easily.

“I didn’t bond this year,” I explained. It was my first time saying it out loud to anyone besides Garrick. It made it feel much more… real.

“Which means no dragon, right?” Divya asked, and I cringed at her wording.

“Yes.”

The two girls looked at each other, then shrugged. “That must suck.”

“Understatement of the year,” I muttered under my breath.

“Doesn’t mean much on this side of the bridge,” Lidia said. “Just puts you on the same playing field as the rest of us.”

“About that.” I reached behind me and gripped the hilt of the short sword Garrick had left on my bed last night. There had been no note, but I knew it was from him. It was light in my hands as I brought it in front of me. “I need help using this.”

“You want us to help you?”

“The person I was learning from wielded much longer blades. I want to learn how to use the shortsword. Since you all are required to use them, you’re my best bet. Plus you are more equipped for ground combat. Whatever is in your rucksack, I want to know”

The others in my year had begun flight training. Leaving me hours of free time the professors couldn’t fill. Leaving me in the sparring gym, thinking how vulnerable I was compared to whatever lurked on land. I never thought I would be grounded, and like a dog with a bone, I wouldn't stop until I felt prepared. It was the one part of myself that I could depend on.

“And what do we get from this arrangement?” Lidia asked, already assessing how I was holding the sword in front of me.

I nodded my head towards where the Parapet loomed in the distance. “I’ll help you get your legs underneath you in the air.”

The two girls shared a glance.

“Our courtyard is empty at night,” Divya began to explain. “Beat us both in a spar. Then we’ll consider it.”

“And don’t get your hopes up. We’re the best in our year.” That wicked grin from Lidia.

“Deal.” I stuck my hand out, and the two girls each shook it. “Bring your swords. I’ll want to start right away.”

They both rolled their eyes.

But that night, they brought their swords, and both walked away with bruised ribs and swollen jaws. Nothing but a scratch on my face marred my skin as they used each other as dummies to teach me how best to approach an opponent with the shortsword.

We met again the next night.

And again.

Masterlist

#fourth wing #iron flame #the empyrean #garrick tavis #garrick fourth wing #xaden riorson #violet sorrengail #fanfiction #fourth wing fanfic

14 notes · View notes