#this may be insanely out but hey. u wanted interpretations

[imflyingfish]

OMG FISH HI AM I LATE FOR THE SKIN INTERPRETATION GAME

one fact: this character is fae

one personality characteristic: she is a little bit crazy bonkers, slightly off her rocker

one physical characteristic: she has little bitty fairy wings that i couldn’t rlly represent on the skin

I think i got crazy confused with this because i drew this, then looked at the skin again and went IS THAT A BEAR? But by then i had already had too much fun to change it =w=""

Send me a skin to interporate here!

Sketch + alternate version under the cut :]]

[just-orbiting-you]

on twitter tae solos and even tkkers are literally spiraling and going crazy about the fact that jikook were setting boundaries and telling him that ays is THEIR show and they let him come. it’s kind of insane to see all these tweets but really goes to show how much they coddle tae. how did you interpret the way jikook said it was their show at the japanese restaurant? did u think it was a joke? i honestly took it as a joke when i first watched the ep but rewatching it still obviously feels like they were joking but now i feel like there was some hard truth to what they were saying, we all know jikook have a bluntness in their sarcasm that to eachother can be funny but everytime they joked about him being a guest i can feel the animosity. it honestly made me feel bad for them cause i get hes a close friend and band mate but imagine all of the sudden the plans u had for two changed to three because of a group schedule chat, they didn’t even tell him or the other members themselves lol. anyways this ep felt more light and fun with jikook. i know tae was tired and a little sick but the way he stepped back multiple times to let them be showed he also saw how his presence caused a bit of tension. sorry for the long ask, don’t know if ur tired of talking about this situation lol but i wanted to hear ur thoughts!

hey! thanks for your ask! no worries about the length!! i apologize this ended up being so long 💀💀.

this ties into a larger issue with fans of bts these days, where finding slight issue with a member’s behavior, etc. or in this case, stating literal fact opens the door for defensive stans. you’re right, it is coddling and they were coddling him a month ago with his instagram post. tae stans to me are some of the loudest, most defensive, and will never really see the fault in their rhetoric. that thread someone made saying “tae being the ‘uninvited’ guest” and it was all the ways they deliberately accommodated him and deliberately gave him the spotlight. people are coping hard.

i’d like to compare this situation to jungkook’s second suchwita episode, which was shot around the same time and has a very similar vibe. in this episode, taehyung randomly shows up to their shoot after seeing that jungkook was filming that day from the infamous group chat. jungkook’s immediate reaction was “we are doing a shoot, could you please leave?” which ended in a fit of giggles. yoongi and jungkook make a few comments about how he showed up to just eat their prepared meal and when asked to address army in the video, tae just does a thumbs up. jungkook goes “that wasn’t a sentence,” and tae ends up saying the generic 2025 stuff. he makes small reactionary comments, talks over the other two, but basically just sits, listens to their conversation, and mindlessly eats. where i feel like jimin and hobi were integrated as a part of the larger conversation in taemin and jin’s episodes respectively, (probably because they were planned appearances) tae presents as a slightly awkward presence in the video.

i bring this up to say, while the stakes weren’t as high as are you sure, jungkook said a similar comment which while serious in tone as their omakase comments, ended up being in jest. jungkook nor yoongi stopped the shoot to kick him out. i also think there’s a “well he’s our bandmate…” at play here. like they’re not going to kick out taehyung, it’s taehyung, you know. while his presence may have been slightly distracting, yoongi and jungkook still were able to have their conversation and finish the shoot.

i personally think are you sure was bigger offense, purely because this was a trip with preparation, flights, planning and crews involved. and while many have been saying “jimin and jungkook were seemingly happy to have them there and let it happen,” yes they did. again, it’s taehyung, how could they refuse him, especially if he played a pity card of “why am i being left out of this?”

i haven’t seen this problem with any other member’s behavior during chapter 2, where that member overstays his welcome during another member’s schedule. but tae has a unique way of making me say “why is he here, what purpose does his presence serve?” and i think to him, everything is silly and informal, since these are his members. but he doesn’t have the foresight or awareness to think “well what am i intruding into? why do i feel entitled to be here?” it’s a matter of respect.

hence why i think they made the comments that they did. they accommodated him, made arrangements with the crew to change the plan in 48 hours, yet he turns around to say “i shouldn’t have come here” or “why didn’t another member show up” as if their efforts for him were worthless and he was now running the show to invite whoever. everyone of these conversations ends in a lighthearted tone, just like jungkook’s suchwita comment. but i think they effectively put their foot down with the omakase conversation and they had to. while “i shouldn’t have come here” ends in laughs and jokes, i don’t think jikook particularly liked that comment if they both were saying “go home then!”

if tae didn’t get the memo with that reaction, he got it from jikook at the omakase restaurant, he should at least be grateful instead of making flippant comments. i don’t know what the circumstances were on why he wasn’t debriefed or had any assumption about why this shoot was taking place, because he really does not have the awareness on that first day. jikook did something nice for him but they know how tae is. he expressed feeling left out initially, then they poke fun at him being the “guest looking for attention.”

so tldr, i think we can chock the comments up to playful ribbing with a touch of passive aggression, especially from jungkook. even if they felt like they had to, jikook still let him come and seemingly had fun with him, so i don’t think they have it in them to be outright angry or upset on camera. but their persistent small comments throughout the ep do tell me that there might be a touch of exasperation with him working his way into their plans.

[themetalvirus]

how did u get so good at understanding characters and how theyd react in situations and how theyd think about things /gen i wanna do that too

idk man, im just glad people find my insane ramblings about sonic characters enjoyable. i think i have some inaccurate takes on things the characters say or do, and pretty much all of my opinions on the characters are subjective. as much as i may dislike some interpretations of how sonic characters should act, one must accept that different people's different individual experiences will color their way of viewing fiction and thus their interpretations of it

i think what i do is just. ask WHY the character does x or y thing or holds some kind of principle and keep asking until you hit a dead end for some reason or another. that also requires a lot of personal interpretation and you really end up putting pieces of yourself in what you think sonic is like. i've said this before, but sonic being "the hero" means that every single individual's interpretation of what being a hero means to them is going to affect how they think sonic would or should act. it's honestly all just interrogating your own relationships with the texts laid out before you. at least thats my pretentious take on the whole thing

basically just ask Hey Why Does She Do That. either look thru the text for answers, ask Sonic Loremasters for help if you're not sure about the lore (or make some shit up if youre into that, its fun making shit up), or y'know, make stuff up. if you want your interpretations to be text-accurate, you have to ask WHICH text you want it to be accurate to. preboot archie, reboot archie, the meta era of games, sonic adventure era of games, frontiers' characterizations, the manga, sonic x, whatever other infinite canons are out there. you're going to have to study That Specific Text and ask why writers and artists made the decisions they did. take mental or even actual notes of quirks with the writing, recurring themes or jokes or catchphrases, what you think is lacking and what you think is fantastic

text-accurate sonics are difficult, but for certain people, they are very rewarding. for me, i like to mush together stuff i like from a bunch of different canons and discard whatever i dislike. again, a very personal process which is different for everyone. it's a combination of media analysis, media literacy, and personal exploration. and i think it's fun also. i just think it's fun

[charmanderxerneas]

(going to be tagging this as ruin spoilers but please dont comment any spoilers because we're not actually done with all the game. We've gotten 2/3 endings and are working towards the secret ending where you have to find hidden cameras while also replaying and seeking out the secrets we missed. This is seriously just insane ramblings aimed at no one i just need to get my thoughts out and suggest u scroll past.)

I seriously like. Am struggling to figure out the whole plot of ruin in an analytical story timeline sense. No i do not read or care about fan theories, i interpret the game and the lore by playing it and looking at all the clues myself thank you very much, so my interpretation of the lore is. different from most fans (you have to consider: very autistic, fnaf a Huge special interest for me. So when i analyze lore, i analyze as much as i can, every single secret. And i feel like a lot of people Miss main lore secret plot points. Im not trying to be a contraian, id love for the fans to have good theories. But like 70% of the time they dont. Or theyre dumb lil kids who blindly listens to mat pat)

my interpretation of sb is different from most fans and theories (mostly because I actually take help wanted and ar into account and can like. Use my brain to understand the differences between the vanessas (there are two. The murderer vanny, who we play as in help wanted, is referred to in ar, and is the one in the therapist tapes) and vanessa the nightguard, who's COMPLETELY unrelated and just an innocent nightguard who happens to have the same name and face as vanessa murderer (though it is also possible to me that like. Murderer vanessa chose to try to look more like nightguard vanessa in an attempt to shift the blame of her crimes, but we dont know this for sure.)and i dont think the therapist tapes are two different people because thats STUPID and it obviously is murderer vanessa (people just. Cannot possibly understand that a person being possessed by an entirely different entity might have changes in her prrsonality. Or that a person with anxiety might have something similar to selective mutism or at the VERY least: troubles speaking because of said murderer in her brain)

ANYWAYS THATS A HUGE ASS TANGENT. MY MAIN THOUGHTS AS OF PLAYING RUIN RN (Please dont spoil things for me im not completely done) is that mainly: i dont know who is speaking to us or who mimic is.

There may be two different people communicating with us with the vanni network (as evidenced by helpi changing eye colors and how like. Some of the motives seem conflicting?) Initially i was like "oh its glitchtrap or williams spirit or something." But that doesnt make any sense because glitchtrap gets Trapped and is worked against.

Even tho that was my first thought: i dont think mimic is burntrap, or william, or glitchtrap. But i dont know what it is, because there are no other obvious characters that it could be in mind (tho since its michaels old fnaf 6 restaurant theyre in, and we saw the blob down there, god knows it could be any number of old ass animatronics or spirits)

Another very fuckin obvious thought is: hey where the fuck is vanny. With the whole mask mechanic, the plot revolving around glitchtrap, ect, you THINK we'd see her st least once. And though she has a cameo in the bad ending which is clearly a vision/fantasy/trick, she doesnt actually appear. The INSTANT That we started this game i speculated: is she talking through helpi? The yellow eyes reminded me of an early sb teaser artwork where we see a close up of a vanessas face with striking, yellow eyes, and i was never sure the significance of that... But i dont think its related at all, as mimic seems to be the one speaking when helpi has yellow eyes. Is mimic related to vanny somehow? I wouldnt assume so.

Whats weird about vanny not being there is it makes it seem like shes not carrying out glitchtraps bidding, which is odd. Dont y'all come at me with that "Gregory helped her!" Crap, the burntrap ending is the canon ending so that never happened. It makes sense for her to be against him (shes never really been on her side, shes the RELUCTANT follower. She explicitly does not want to do any of the horrible shit, but shes beinf forved to) but i just. Gahh i cant figure it out

I WILL figure it out just you wait. I will figure out what my interpretation of the lore as so good as soon as I finish the game just you wait

[papermint-airplane]

Music Meme Remix

🎶✨when u get this u have to put 5 songs u actually listen to, and publish. then, send this ask/tag 10 of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool) ✨🎶

I was tagged again by @llamaheart and I love doing memes like this so you know what? I'mma do it again and this time it's the FULL KPOP EDITION!!! 😈😈😈 I'm not gonna tag anyone this time, though. I don't want to spam people who have already done it. So, instead, if you want to do this again, do it, and pretend I tagged you personally. 🤭 Ok, let's go, embeds under the cut.

BEcause - Dreamcatcher

I love this song. I never get tired of listening to it. It's a "love song" from the POV of a dangerously obsessive person who may or may not be out to kill the object of their affection (I told you Dreamcatcher got dark). I think it's insanely cool that the choreography is an homage to the movie "Us". You really see it in the beginning where JiU bows to Gahyeon and Gahyeon responds like her mirror image, only to then reach out and put her hands around JiU's throat. It hearkens back to the iconic funhouse scene in Us. Absolutely fantastic. 10/10, I have no notes, flawless execution (pun fully intended). This is why Dreamcatcher is my ult. For those of you who don't speak Kpop, ult means ultimate bias, or ultimate favorite. Nobody can beat them in my eyes. Nobody even comes close.

2. Zombie - Purple Kiss

Another song I can listen to on repeat for days and never get tired of. Listen at your own risk -- it's so catchy, you'll never get it out of your head for the rest of your life. Not only is it very cute and fun, it sort of helped me get over my irrational fear of zombies. Now whenever someone says the word, all I hear in my head is "ZOM-bie-bie-bie-bie, bie-bie-BIE-bie-biebiebie". 🧟‍♀️💘🧟‍♂️

3. Heartburn - Sunmi

Ignore the stupid title, this song is not about acid reflux. It's a beautiful, catchy, summery song that's 10% tragedy, 90% vibes. This is why Sunmi is the queen.

4. Love Dive - Ive

So right about now, you're noticing a pattern and you're like "hey wait a minute, this is all girl groups/singers!" Yes, I listen predominantly to girl groups. Male groups just really aren't my thing (even though I do still jam to the GOATS like Shinee and BTS occasionally). This song got insanely popular last year and I've had it on my playlist ever since. There's just something so addictive about it. Also, there's a popular interpretation out there that this song is about the myth of Echo and Narcissus. I don't know if that's the real story behind the song, but it fits so well that it's my headcanon, even if it turns out not to be true. 🎶 Narcissistic, my God, I love it. 🎶

5. Catallena - Orange Caramel

And finally, no favorite Kpop songs list of mine would be complete without Orange Caramel. Weaponized cuteness at its finest. This song is about a girl having a crush on another girl, which is an idea that was pretty rare in Kpop at the time. It mixes Korean Trot, Euro dance beats, and even samples a Punjabi wedding song, all the while the girls cosplay as sushi. Nothing about this should work, but it all fits together perfectly in one weird package. This is another one of those "listen at your own risk" situations because I guarantee you, once it's in the wrinkles of your brain, it's never coming out.

[eitelle]

— struggling to eat in front of others

↳ with kenma and tsukishima

ask: Hey I wanted to send in an emergency request (if your requests are open, also I've never done a request so I'm sorry if I do this wrong!) I struggle to eat in front of people, it makes me an insane amount uncomfortable and it takes a lot for me to take a bite. My family get so angry at me for not eating and that just makes it worse. Could you maybe do Lev, Kenma, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi and Tendou comfort? Thank you so much ❤

i do wanna apologize in advance because i have no idea what this feels like or what the conditions of this is, so i did it how i interpreted the ask and i hope thats alright !!

genre: hurt/comfort

warnings: mentions of eating disorder tendencies, not eating, food, slight timeskip manga spoilers, and the title!!

pairings: timeskip! kenma x gn!reader, tsukishima x gn!reader, and tendou x gn!reader

wc: 989

a/n: hello love, with this prompt, i wanted to give u as much comfort for each as possible so i just made it two i hope thats alright (if you would like me to do any other two send in another request i just wont get to it as quick!!)

-> kenma

eating. it was a hard thing, for kenma and for you. he often forgot and skipped meals, whereas you were hyperaware and didnt like eating in front of others. but you two overcame it together and he taught you how to eat in private quickly, make meals small but filling, and you two became each others emotional support system. at least this is how it had been for over a year now. ‘hey babe, my family and i are having a dinner today. would you like to come?’ you text kenma, trying to hint that you needed him there or all hell would break loose. kenma was never very good at reading social cues well. ‘i cant i have a stream ive been teasing for weeks tonight, remember? text me updates tho ill text you as well :DD’ he sends back, oblivious to the stress you are under. at the dinner everything was fine, nobody seemed to notice your “lack of appetite” until someone pointed it out. “how come youre not eating, sweetie?” they said, venom dripping menacingly the undertones of threats haunting their words. “uhh im just not hungry right now sorry,” you respond with a thin lipped smile barely concealing the distress youre under. “i cannot believe youre being so disrespectful to us making food for you to eat. you ungrateful child,” they spit with malice causing you to get up and go into the bathroom with a ‘excuse me’, tears in your eyes. once in the bathroom you text your boyfriend, ‘sorry to bother you, but can you pick me up at [address] they started the comments again.’ meanwhile, on kenmas stream he gets that notification and immediately sends a mass cryptic text to the people playing with him, that ‘my s/o’s in trouble gtg tell my stream im sorry.’ he then shoots a text to you, ‘im omw bub please just hang on. ill be a little late but you’ll see why.’ in about 15 minutes he finally arrives, the time it took feeling more like 15 years as you sat on the toilet, your leg bouncing as you fiddled with your fingers anxiously. “y/n? are you in there?” you hear from a very familiar face. you quickly get out and jump into his arms, him rubbing circles on your back while whispering things like, “im so sorry, next time i’ll come. actually there wont be a next time. youre so strong im sorry this happened again. their words dont mean shit please dont let them set you back. im so proud of you for being so strong. cmon, lets go home i love you.” as you two get in the car he hands you food, and a separator so he can’t see you eat knowing it would make you feel better. “eat up love, you deserve it.”

-> tsukishima

food. tsukishima loved it. loved critiquing it, making it, eating it, he just loved it. he taught you to love it too, leaving you in whatever room you were eating in alone preferring to just be content with the sounds of your chewing. as creepy as that may sound, the two of you never said, ‘how were you? are you ok?’ or any variation of that. instead, it was, ‘did you eat? how was the food?’ in both of your eyes, it being your code language. tsukishima never pried for why eating in front of others made you uncomfy, but one day you told him and he couldve sworn he could murder anyone who ever made that worse. “hey idiot, stamp union opened a new restaurant, do you wanna try it out there. maybe see if me helping you actually helped.” your tsundere of a boyfriend asks you, never one to push your boundaries but wanting you to gradually get more comfortable. in an environment of people in their own world like stamp union, it was ideal for you and him. “i- i’ll try it,” you decide, it being a year since getting help and slowly becoming comfortable eating small snacks in front of a small group, contact with your family members otherwise avoided. as your normally cold boyfriend holds your hand to lead you to stamp union, you could feel his hands get sweaty, nervous for you. worried about you. his own way of showing he cares and letting you know, giving your hand a squeeze to acknowledge it. “ok here it is. they opened a wendys so i’ll order for you, just focus on me and just me ok?” your boyfriend asks, making sure youre ready to follow through. “got it,” you confirm promptly spacing out in order to block the negative thoughts swirling in your head and the small hints of uncomfortableness. “hey y/n. earth to y/n. tch, dumbass,” you hear as you get sucked back into reality, looking at your intertwined hands to keep you sane. as soon as you look up at the people eating there, talking at tables, you feel queasy and let your boyfriend know exactly that. almost immediately, before you can even smell the food, he walks back to your apartment/or dorm and sits you down. “here, i plated this food and im going to hold your hand as we eat together ok? no shame in not eating but im going to try to make it better ok baby?” tsukishima reassures you whispering ‘ok first bite, youre doing so well, good? im so proud of you do you wanna try again?’ and other stuff, uncharacteristically sweet to you, but very appreciated. all the while he is saying this, his hand is alternating between stroking yours and rubbing circles with his palm. “you did it baby im so proud of you. you did so well, now cmon we can save any leftover for tomorrow.” “thank you. i love you.” “theres nothing to thank i mean all of it. and i love you too i guess.”

↳ back to all of haikyuu

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pls like & reblog if you enjoyed!! orders r open btw <33

© kozuelle 2021 all rights reserved— do not steal, edit, modify, claim as your own, or repost my work on other platforms without my consent

[teruthecreator]

sweet surprises

lord forgive me for the cringe i’m about to post. i fully blame this post and this post for planting the seeds of berdley having a crush on kris in my brain. also shouts out to izel for listening to me go insane at 3 AM about this. 

anyways, here’s a thing. 

______________________________________________________________

Excitement is in the air.

Unlike the usual calm monotony of life at school, things recently have been quite...electric. Not because of the portal to the Dark World hidden behind the door of the closet, or the adventures had by a select group of students through the portal in the Librarby a few days ago. No, this isn’t about that.

This is about the Sadie Hawkman’s Dance. The once-a-year phenomenon where the school puts on its best interpretation of a formal dance for the incredibly small number of students who attend class. Students buzz in excitement for the event, preparing their most formal outfits and getting ready to dazzle their friends and fellow classmates with their dramatic entrances into the auditorium.

And, of course, there’s the all important ritual of asking someone to the dance.

There’s already been a few proposals made this week. Jockington rolled into class like a hula hoop and asked Catti to be his “best bro” for the dance, to which she happily agreed. (And by that, I mean she looked up from her phone, smiled, said not a single word, and went back to typing.) Temmie loudly announced to the class that she would be taking her egg, which was somehow...embarrassed that she mentioned it. And, of course, Noelle finally managed to work up enough courage to ask Susie to the dance. It was done in an incredible display of candy canes that spelled out the phrase: “CAN(E) YOU BE MY DATE TO THE DANCE?” Unfortunately, Susie was about halfway through scarfing the display down before she realized what it said. She then began choking on one of the candy canes out of disbelief, which wound her in the nurse for the rest of the day. But, when she could speak again, she very quietly agreed to Noelle’s proposal (and, if you happened to be a fly on the wall in that room, you could hear a tail thump rhythmically against the doctor’s bench as she did so).

Kris was pleased with everything. They were happy to see their friends so happy together. A long time coming, if you asked them. And they’d be just as happy attending the dance solo, since they’ll undoubtedly be dragged along by Susie. They’d never gone to the dance before--never had a reason to, truth be told. But with their newfound friends, they may just enjoy being a wingman for the night.

...Speaking of wingmen, Berdly will probably be going solo as well. Unsurprising, but Kris makes a mental note to ensure the bird will be in attendance. As much as he is kind of a lot sometimes, he’s their friend. And Kris is going to make sure all of their friends are having fun at that dance!

They walk into class thinking of this (surprisingly early, for a change), which is why they almost miss the massive display sitting boldly atop their desk. They freeze the instant it catches their eye and, for a second, they almost believe it isn’t real. Like some leftover thoughts of the Dark World lingering in their vision. But, after wiping their eyes and seeing that it’s still there, they decide to approach and...investigate.

The display is expertly crafted by someone who clearly knows their way around a glue gun. It is a heart-shaped arch that is decorated with a myriad of printed illustrations of Super Smashing Fighters Melee characters, all having cut-outs to hold different bars of chocolate. There are also numerous origami hearts glued around the characters on the arch, in colors spanning across the rainbow. The arch is painted in swirls of blues, pinks, and reds and covered with a border of glitter that sprinkles onto the desk when Kris reaches out to pluck a chocolate bar from its perch. On the desk itself is a big origami heart that says “TO KRIS” in gold calligraphy. It is by far one of the coolest, nicest, cheesiest things Kris has ever seen.

They look up from the display to see if anyone else is seeing this shit, and that’s when it all clicks.

Because sitting at the front of the classroom, fidgeting way more than normal, is Berdly. He keeps interlocking his ankles underneath his desk before unlocking them and kicking the air, turning around every half-second or so to try and catch Kris’s reaction. From the brief moments Kris can see the front of him, they notice he’s not in his usual white collared shirt and black khaki shorts. Instead, his shirt is buttoned all the way up, with a nice blue bowtie tied around his neck. He also traded out his khaki shorts for a pair of dress pants that look to be a tad too long for his legs. He keeps reaching up to smooth out the feathers on his head, which immediately stick back up from stress.

Now, Kris may be a straight B student, but they’re not stupid. Context clues are a very good thing, and all signs point to Berdly as the culprit of this public display of...affection?

Beyond Berdly is Ms. Alphys at her desk, who shoots Kris a look of deep understanding and maybe...guilt? She looks at Berdly for a split second and shrugs her shoulders, indicating he was probably in here long before she was and so she had no way of stopping him from leaving it there.

Kris looks back down at the display and picks up the large origami heart. As they begin to unfold it, they see a sprawling letter written in the same flashy calligraphy. Kris squints at the letters--they’re dyslexic, so everything kind of just looks like spaghetti on paper. Still, they’re able to make out the largely printed question of “WILL YOU GO TO THE DANCE WITH ME?” with no issue.

Huh, guess they won’t be going to the dance alone after all…? It’s a little confusing as to why Berdly would want to go with them, though. Like, they’ve hung out a little bit--usually whenever Berdly wanted a “worthy rival” to play video games with, he would come over and Kris would whoop his ass for a few hours. And, of course, there were the recent events in the Cyber World; but Kris is pretty sure them and Susie had thoroughly convinced Noelle and Berdley that that was all a dream. So, why them?

They’re lost in this train of thought for so long that they don’t even notice the other kids enter the room until they suddenly hear:

“Yo, Kris???????? What the heck is this thing????” Susie’s voice doesn’t startle them, but it is loud enough to get them to look up. Susie is standing next to their desk, looking at the display with genuine amazement thinly masked by disgust. She’s also loud enough to basically stop the whole class (who were all muttering amongst themselves about it anyway), which gives Kris only a second to gaze around the room before--

SLAM!

The door to the classroom slams shut, leaving one seat unoccupied.

Berdley’s.

“This thing’s got chocolate on it????” Susie continues to marvel at the display while Kris looks at the door, frowning. They feel...bad. It isn’t Berdley’s fault for trying to fit in with the other kids' proposals; he admitted to feeling like he needs to do more just to stand out enough for people to acknowledge him back in the Dark World. And this thing is really...thoughtful! The characters are all ones Kris typically mains, or ones they know Berdley mains, which means he remembers things about Kris. And the chocolate is a given, but it is nice to be able to stock their personal snack stash with some fancy stuff. Ultimately, it’s very sweet, and Kris can’t help but feel a little guilty for not saying anything immediately.

They turn and lock eyes with Ms. Alphys, who looks extremely out-of-depth with this situation. She makes a number of gestures from them to the door in a flustered way of saying I have absolutely no idea what the hell is going on please help me Kris I know I’m asking a lot of you but I don’t know how to deal with teenage angst I’m like thirty-five. They sigh, standing up and walking past Susie (but not before giving her a stare that warns her if a single chocolate bar is gone that they will be holding that over her until the day she dies) and following Berdly out the door.

It doesn’t take Kris very long to follow the trail of labored breathing to where Berdley is--in the abandoned classroom, hyperventilating as he teeters on a breakdown. Luckily, when Kris opens the door, it seems to put a halt to his spiralling because he just kind of...freezes. Like a deer caught in headlights. Or a Berdley caught in Kris-lights. Kris takes this moment to let the door shut behind them, trapping the two in here. Together.

“U-Uhhhhh, hi--he--Um. H-Hello, K-Kris…” Berdly attempts to put on his usual bravado, but his voice betrays him brutally by squeaking and cracking on every syllable. Kris can’t help the smile that comes to their face.

“Uh, hey,” they reply with a wave. Berdley continues to stand there and stare (almost like he wasn’t expecting Kris to care enough to follow him) before the present circumstances return to his mind and he begins breathing hard again.

“I-I-I-I, uh...I was. Um. J-Just, uh. G-Getting some fresh air! Y-Yes! The classroom can be s-so stuffy sometimes, I’m sure y-you--you, uh...you agree?” Berdley makes a valiant attempt at hiding his panic, which Kris almost takes pity on. But they don’t think the monster will feel any better if they just pretend what happened back there never happened.

“Yeah. I liked the display.” Kris says simply. Berdley stands stock-straight at that, looking even worse for wear in the “being normal and completely cool” department.

“O-Oh??????? That ol’ thing????? I, um--well I just--y-you see, I--uh. Um,” You can really hear the gears in his head turning as he attempts to come up with an excuse. “I-I-I just thought you w-would appreciate the craftsmanship of!!! A t-true artisan, such as myself!!! So, I!!! M-Made it!!! COMPLETELY PLATONICALLY, OF COURSE!!!! I-I would never imply that my intentions w-were anything other than for bro-sies, i--You didn’t read that whole card, did you?”

“I can’t read,” They mean this as a joke, but they can see Berdley seriously consider this for a second too long. “Dude, I’m dsylexic. I can’t really read cursive…” Berdley freezes up once more, which makes Kris realize they haven’t really projected that as loudly as they might’ve thought.

“Oh! Right! How could I forget! That you’re! Dsylexic!” Berdley’s smile is stapled to his face as he begins to rhythmically knock on his head. “And I! Wrote! That! Entire! Note! In! Cursive! Which! You! Can’t! Read!!!” Kris steps forward in an attempt to keep Berdley from bashing his own skull in, but that only makes Berdley more tense, so they take a step back. “I-I just--The note isn’t important! None of it’s important actually can we forget this interaction ever happened okay? Okay yes that’s great have a wonderful day Kris I will be returning home to sitinmyroomandneverreturntothecorporealrealmalrightgoodbyeforeverKris--” He attempts to sidestep around Kris and out the door, but is very easily intercepted.

“Stop.” Kris grabs him by the shoulders, which seems to shut him up for a second. “Can you just tell me what’s wrong?” Berdley gapes at them as his face steadily grows redder, which makes Kris feel as if there’s something on their face. But he quickly shakes it off, going from completely neurotic to...dejected.

“I just…” He starts, trailing off immediately. “You deserve to have a big proposal, same as everyone else. I-I see you in the back of the class, just...watching. And I, uh, felt it was time to...give you the spotlight! But that was silly of me, wasn’t it?” He looks off to the side at the floor, smiling sadly. “After all, who’d want to go to the dance with me…? I-I’m alone every year, standing in the background. Just kind of...taking it all in...and th-thinking about how it’d be...nice to be a part of it. But that’s...not probable. It was just nice to think about taking you to the dance because you’re--well, you’re nice to me, and you’re funny, and you actually listen to me when I’m talking, an-and you’re a good person and an incredible gaming legend...but I shouldn’t have put it all on you in front of everyone...I’m. I’m sorry, Kris.” He won’t make eye contact with the human, but Kris can still see the tears collecting in his eyes.

“Berdley, that’s stupid.” Kris says, which Berdley cringes at, “Why wouldn’t I wanna go with you?” That part is...not what Berdley was expecting. He looks up at Kris, unsure of where to go from here.

“U-Um…? Because of all the previously stated things? Like me being a complete loser who nobody likes?”

“I like you,” Kris replies immediately, leaving Berdley’s feathers sticking straight up as he flusters. “And I like your display. It’s...really sweet.”

“E-Even if you can’t read the note?” Berdley’s voice cracks.

“I mean, I could read the: WILL YOU GO WITH ME TO THE DANCE part, so, like. Yeah.” Kris shrugs. “Plus, you got me chocolate. Nice chocolate. Nobody...gets me things like that.” They smile, a light dusting of blush across their face. “I’ll go with you.” Berdley’s entire body seizes up for the third time, eyes wide and mouth agape.

“W-W-w-W-w-w-w-w-W-W-W-w-w-w-Wh-Wha-wh-w-w-wha-wha-w-wh-Wh-Wha-wh-Wha-wha-w-w-W-W-W--” Berdley continues to struggle with the word “what” for a solid minute and a half before he’s finally about to manage a: “What?!” Kris can’t help but laugh.

“I said that, Berdley,” at this, they move their grip from his shoulders to his hands, “I will go to the Sadie Hawkman’s dance with you.”

The circuits in Berdley’s brain struggle with this frequency for an extended moment before his face erupts in the giddiest smile Kris has ever seen the bird monster sport. He even begins to jump up and down, taking Kris along with him, as he cackles. It is a surprisingly cute display that Kris finds themselves blushing a bit at. It’s nice to be this...cared about.

“I-I--We have to start thinking of outfits immediately!” Berdley blurts out, returning to their usual demeanor. “I was thinking of some complimentary color schemes on the way to school today which I will be happy to show you at lunchtime. I’m also a master with a sewing machine, so if you are unable to procure an outfit that meets the color requirements, I would be delighted to take your measurements and--w-wait, don’t read into that phrasing, I just m-meant that I could make an outfit for you! B-But I’d need your measurements, and--Oh, goodness, hasn’t class started already, Kris?! We should head back, but--” He looks from the door to Kris and back again a few times before finally settling on something.

“I’lltalktoyouaboutthislaterseeyouinclassKris!!!!!” He says this right before he gives Kris a solitary peck on the cheek before bolting out of the abandoned classroom, leaving Kris blinking at the Berdley-shaped cloud he left behind. Their hand gently grazes the spot on their cheek--luckily not actually pecked by his beak, but more of a quick-kiss kind of peck--and feel their heart skip a beat.

Huh.

That’s...different.

They elect to not dwell on that feeling any longer and head back to class. They have to make sure Susie hasn’t eaten all of the chocolate on that display.

They wouldn’t want to make Berdley go through the trouble of re-proposing  just so they could rightfully claim their other sweet surprise.

[yanderecandystore]

hey sheepy whats up i have a question, could u. maybe. write a darling thats a like Bad Boy. just a Feral Bastard. an Absolute Trash panda. with the twins pls, asking for a friend

I love how it seems that most people here like bad boys, I'm just crying because it's perfect lol

But I feel like I went with a wholesome boi instead of a bad boi. I'm worried this may not be what you were waiting for, but I feel like we need some more kindness in this blog XD

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

Not as bad [ Yandere Twins x Reader x BadBoyThatProbablyIsJack,Idk]:

I can't lie that, while I was writing this, in my mind it kept popping up Jack. And I couldn't decide between this boy being him or not. I'll let it be open for interpretation.

The academy doesn't allow delinquency without any punishments, obviously, but hey! If you don't get caught, it's like you never did anything in the first place!

You didn't really care for this guy at first, you were too busy being pushed around and being the victim of bullying to notice his existence.

But he changed your mind one day.

One day, while the twins had cornered you, he came in, interrupting them.

"- Who the fuck are you? This is none of your business." Adrien asked this imbecile that randomly decided to pick a fight with them.

"- You two should try picking on someone who is on the same level as you. Going for them just proves how both of you are cowards." He told them while helping you get up. You had bruised your ankle and it was pretty hard to stand up on your own.

"- And you should probably grow a spine or something." He scolded you. Damn, hardly the best first impression.

The twins were about to stop him from placing his filthy hands all over you. But conveniently enough, the bell rang and students and teachers started coming out of their classes.

He helped you walk the way towards the nurse's office, but he kept saying that you're too easy to pick on and that you should do something to stop them, with started to get under your skin really fast.

"- You don't think I tried anything at all?!" You yelled at him, getting pissed off by his comments.

"- No." He simply said.

"- If you had done anything at all, they wouldn't be messing with you. They're cowards for picking on someone like you but you're just as bad for letting them for what they want." He completed. He had noticed everyday how they picked on you, and how no one would stop it.

It wasn't any of his business to get involved, he already has so many things to worry about. He should have let things go as they should go, you would eventually do something, or at least, he thought you would.

You seemed so strong in his eyes. You have potential.

"- … And what do you know about it?" You asked him, coldly. This guy helped you out only to taunt you all the way. He is making the worst first impression, and he seems like he can choose if wants to be bitter or nice to you.

"- If you think I'm so weak, then stop helping me. I don't need another bully right now." He is insane if he thinks he can carry you around while being a jerk.

He was going to say that, hell, he helped you! How is he the bully?! What stopped him was seeing how still couldn't stand properly and that you had trouble walking.

He starts to rethink all the things he had told you, he must have given you a awful impression.It was normal for him to be so direct with people. And he was only saying what he thought, not that what he said was really true, after all, you did try a couple of things before, but it looked like you had given up recently.

He shouldn't have been so mean to you on the first time you ever talked with each other, especially since he wanted to help you, but he was so accustomed with acting this way, it was pretty hard to not to.

You think for a couple of seconds, noticing him standing there looking guilty. Well, maybe you went a little overboard with this guy. You don't know him that well, you know he is a troublemaker, but yet he helped you, didn't he? No one else had done that yet.

You pause, feeling the pain growing on your ankle, and having a hard time standing without anything for you to grip on and balance yourself. Seeing your state, he swallows his pride and helps you again, by letting you balance on him.

You two been there waking silently while thinking about you two said to each other. It was a pretty awkward and long walk to the nurse's office.

When you finally reach the door, he started walking away, there wasn't anything left for him to do.. He was starting to regret protecting you, dealing with the twins wasn't hard, but it was a pain in the ass to hear them whining. And besides, he is not the one that should be standing up for you.

"- Hey." You try taking his attention. He turns around to see you smiling. This was probably the first time anyone in the academy got to see you smile.

"- Thanks… for bringing me here and for, talking with me." You didn't want to admit it, but, after hearing him talk with you like that, made you realize that you shouldn't let the twins walk over you. Was he a jerk? Yes, he was, but maybe that was what you were needing to hear?

You wanted to tell him that you were glad he helped you out and everything, but maybe you would come off as really desperate for social interaction, so you don't say all that.

He looks at you, reconsidering what he was about to do, he can see that you just need a little push. You just need someone to show you how confident you can be.

"- Sigh…. Hey, meet me later okay?" He said then started to walk away again.

While you two were starting to know each other better, the twins were fuming with anger.

How dare this Bad Boy wanna be try to take you away from them?! We all know they hate competition.

(And I love to make them deal with competition, lol)

They aren't mad because of jealousy tho. They know you would never fall for a lowlife rat like that guy…. Right?

They're mad he has the audacity to stop their fun. The audacity to help you out when they're the ones that should be helping you.

They break you, they fix you. Simple as that. They know how to take care of what's theirs.

You wait after school ends to meet him in the school's entrance. He didn't bring anyone so… You guess is just the two of you.

He makes a sign for you to follow him and you two leave the school, you don't have know idea what he wants, and he doesn't want to tell you while you're still in near the school.

While you were following him, the twins looking for you inside the school. Getting desperate every passing second. But they shouldn't be so paranoid, you just ditched them went home!

"- Urgh, fine, we'll just have to talk to them later." The funny part is that they were looking for you to see if you were okay. Not only did you hurt yourself pretty bad, that asshole took you away.

What if he starts to bully you? They can't have him hurting you, only they can.

You were walking through the streets with him, making small talk to break the ice, but the question never lived your head:

"- So…. Where are we going again?" You're awfully close to this boy, you don't even know him that well. He is kinda, maybe, a little handsome in your opinion. Maybe is the constant abuse, maybe is the lack of friendly interaction, but you may or may not be falling for this guy.

"- I'm taking you to eat something, I'm hungry and I want to plan out our train." He says looking for his favorite place to eat. He hopes you like ramen, because he isn't buying anything else.

"- Oh… Wait, what?!" Are you two going on a date? Or is he just going to talk about some workout training? Why the hell do you need to train?

"- I want to help you gain more confidence and feel stronger to stand up for yourself." He said that pretty bruntly, still looking for the ramen restaurant.

"- Oh, well, thanks I guess…. But I never said I wanted to this?" You're glad he wants to help, but you don't to do any push ups or whatever.

"- But you want help with the twins right? I know it's not your thing, but I'm sure with can make this work. What do you think?" He stops and looks at you with, a somewhat hopeful expression. Even if you two don't really do any training, he would be glad to just be your friend. After all, you would be doing a lot better if you have someone close to you.

"- … I'll think about it, okay?" You don't know if this is what you want, but you can deny that look of encouragement, especially coming from someone like him.

"- Cool, come on, I'm starving!" He takes your hand and run towards the restaurant. You can barely keep up with his pace.

You were having a wholesome and really sweet moment with this guy, but life is a bitch. While you were holding hands, the twins were inside their family's car, waiting the driver to take them home, the trafficking was a chaos and they were losing their patience and getting bored out of their minds.

One look out the window caused their bad mood to get even worse. You, holding hands, with that son of a bitch. They want to open the door and stop him from taking you away, but they're in the middle of the fucking road, there are dozens of vehicles here, they are not that dumb.

Is so frustrated wanting to call your name, wanting to get out of the car and smash that guy's head in the concrete, but they can't do that now.

They can only see you from a distance, enjoying yourself for the first time in a long time.

I'm sorry if this doesn't have enough of the twins, I'm just going crazy right now, you have no idea.

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

[soobiniebaby]

Angels & Devils Part III: Give Me a Highlight

Tomorrow x Together Fanfiction

~ p a r t s : main post || prologue || part 1 || part 2 || part 3 || part 4 || part 5 || part 6 || part 7 || part 8 || part 9 || part 10 || part 11 || part 12 || part 13 || part 14 || part 15 || part 16 || part 17 ~ p a i r i n g : love triangle involving choi soobin and choi yeonjun ~ g e n r e : high school au | some social media au | some fluff & angst | childhood friends | love triangle ~ l a n g u a g e : English ~ w a r n i n g : contains swearing, alcohol, kissing (?) and may contain mature themes (angst, etc.) ~ a / n : This will be my first fanfic (go easy on me pls) and i’m just writing this as I go along, so bear with me juseyo The setting (place/country) of the story is up to the reader’s interpretation ~ s u m m a r y : What should she choose? Han Baby: the new girl with a troubled past MO Academy: her new high school Choi Soobin: student council president, member of the Ecosave club, volunteer at the Humane Treatment of Animals, member of the Honor Society, a vocalist in the Jazzed club, the school’s all around golden boy Choi Yeonjun: leader of the Dance club, star of the Jazzed club, the school’s it boy with a bad rep 5 best friends, 1 new girl, 1 childhood friendship, 1 epic love triangle? What will this school year bring?

Being a new student on the first day of a new academic year was a bit of an experience for B, especially since she always had at least one member of the student council by her side throughout the day.

After lunch, Beomgyu had walked with her to their French class. She was used to getting looks as she passed by, because even at her old school she knew that people knew who she was, but the looks she was receiving at MOA were different. No one really knew who she was yet, or what her family was like. They weren’t looking at her with cold judgement, they weren’t whispering about her family background, but rather they were staring at her with bright curious eyes, and a bit of, dare she say it, jealousy?

When she was walking with Kai, she didn’t mind the stares too much because 1) she knew that her best friend was popular so it was only natural for people to stare at him and 2) she had enough history with Kai and felt comfortable enough with him to know that no matter what people may think, he was her best friend and no rumor or speculation could change that.

But as she walked alone with Beomgyu and sat beside him in class, the stares felt different. As comfortable enough as she was around Beomgyu, she realized that the level of comfort she felt with Kai was on another level. With Kai by her side, she felt like she had a shield that could block out what other people might say, but being alone with someone like Beomgyu, she felt bare and prone to judgement.

It wasn’t Beomgyu’s fault. He was warm, he was charming, and she felt at ease talking to him and enjoyed his company. He cracked funny jokes and made her feel close to him so effortlessly that if it weren’t for the stares, she would’ve felt like he was a close friend already.

But she was always super conscious of getting stares, so much so that it had a tendency to affect how she acted when she felt them. And Beomgyu seemed to notice this.

“Hey, B, are you alright?” he asks her as they occupy a couple of empty seats in their French class.

B nods. She wasn’t very good at hiding her feelings, so she simply said “Yeah I’m fine, I just don’t like it when I see people staring. It really makes me feel uneasy.”

Beomgyu looks at her with concern then and lays a hand on her wrist. “Hey, don’t mind them, alright? It’s probably just cause you’re the pretty new girl, so everyone’s probably just curious, that’s all.”

“The pretty new girl? Really?” B says looking at him with her brow raised.

Beomgyu holds his hands up defensively. “Well, you are? Pretty sure that’s how everyone sees you. To be honest, I’ve had a couple of guys from my last period ask about you. Looks like someone’s popular.” he says, nudging her arm teasingly.

B laughs, surprised. “You’re joking, right? What did they ask? Were they cute?”

“They wanted to know about you, I just told them you were pretty nice and cool. As for their looks, well, I guess you can say that MOA has a fairly attractive student population. Take me, for example.” Beomgyu says, rubbing his chin and making faces. “I mean, if you ever feel bad about the stares you get, just imagine that they’re all focusing on my handsome face.”

B hits his arm playfully, laughing out loud. “I can’t argue with that! Thanks Beomgyu, that actually made me feel a lot better.”

Beomgyu laughs along. “Don’t sweat it. Call me Gyu, by the way.”

Just then, their teacher for the period walks into the room, and everyone settles into their seats.

“Bonjour, je m’appelle Jackson.” Their teacher begins, addressing the class.

Beomgyu groans quietly. “Aw shit, why did my parents want me to learn French. Do you know any French?” he whispers to B.

B shrugs and says. “Ah Cher Monsieur Gyu, Je parle un petit peu de français.”

Beomgyu’s eyes widen. “Well then, um, mademoiselle B. Uh…Omelette du fromage?”

B whacks his arm and lets out a laugh, then immediately shuts up and sits up straight as their teacher glares at the pair.

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you with French.” B whispers. Beomgyu squeezes her hand under the table and whispers back “Thanks, B.”

•°•

“Is it just me, or are the stares and whispers getting a bit ridiculous?” B asks Soobin as they walk into their English class, the last period for the day. She could feel the stares throughout the day and was starting to get used to them, but as soon as she and Soobin entered the classroom, the stares now came with whispers, which made it so much more uncomfortable.

“Don’t worry about it. As much of a hot topic you are, being the new girl and all that, I think everyone’s whispering about Yeonjun’s absence. It was also like this at my last class. Everyone wants to know why he skipped his first day of class after being suspended last term.” Soobin says, leaning in close and keeping his voice low. “By the way, where do you wanna sit?” he asks politely. The teacher wasn’t in the room yet and a lot of the students weren’t seated yet, so they had a lot of seats to choose from.

“Anywhere’s fine, really.” B says. Soobin nods as he leads her to a couple of seats to the side close to the windows.

“I can’t say I blame them. I mean, I know the reason why but my head’s still spinning with questions about the whole thing.” B whispers to him as they sit down. “You guys weren’t very helpful about it, either.” she huffs as she recalls how their lunchbreak ended.

It was like they had a script prepared for whenever anyone asked them about Yeonjun and his strange disappearances from school.

“It’s complicated.” “It’s not our story to tell.” “He has a lot of family issues.” “He’s a very busy guy.” “It happens a lot.”

Soobin laughs. “I’m sorry, but it’s not our story to tell. If you really want to know, you can just ask Yeonjun himself. I’m sure you’ll appreciate it more coming from him, and I’m sure that he’ll appreciate you talking to him directly rather than asking other people about it as well.”

B pouts, knowing that Soobin was right. “Can’t argue with that. Plus, no matter how much I’ve heard about you guys, I think it would still be different if I got to know you all on my own.”

“Oh? Just how much have you heard about us guys, exactly?” Soobin asks with a raised brow.

B bites her lip as she realizes her slip up. Whoops. She couldn’t take it back now, so she replied honestly. “I promised Kai I’d stay quiet about it because he didn’t want me to weird you guys out by asking questions, but I’ve heard quite a lot about you guys from a couple of girls in my Biology class.”

“Don’t worry about it, I guess it was bound to happen. When you’re a member of the student council, people are bound to talk about you I guess.” he says lightheartedly.

Yeah, and when you’re a group of 5 attractive, tall, and insanely talented nice guys B thought to herself.

“I’m really curious though, what have you heard about me? Good things, I hope?” Soobin asks with a hopeful look on his face.

“Actually, the girls told me all about the other council members, but I didn’t hear much about you.” B says.

Soobin’s face fell as he looked at her with puppy dog eyes. “Is that so? Damn being the council president isn’t as big of a deal as it used to be, I guess.” he said dramatically, feigning hurt as he put a fist over his heart. “Maybe I should stir up some drama to get people talking about me on the first day.”

B laughs at his antics. “No, silly. We didn’t get to talk about you because the bell rang just as your name came up in our conversation.”

He laughed along sheepishly. “Well, I feel silly now.” he says, rubbing the back of his neck. “I mean, not that it’s important to me, but you know, it would be nice to feel included since you’ve heard so much about the other members already.”

“Well, I’m sure I’ll be able to get to know a lot about you soon enough.” B says, just as their teacher walks in and everybody takes their seats. B notices that no one takes the other seat beside Soobin, as if they collectively had an unspoken agreement that it was reserved for the absent blue-haired boy.

The teacher makes a quick scan of the room and looks at his notes before facing the class. “Ah, yes, I’ve been informed that Mr. Choi has been excused from classes this afternoon. Let’s hope no one else will be making any more absences than deemed necessary.”

A few whispers are heard around the room before the teacher proceeds. “I also understand that we have a new student, and she’s a Sophomore too, so I hope that as seniors you will treat her well and welcome her warmly to MO Academy. I’m Sir Kim, your teacher for this term, and I hope you’ll enjoy my class, Ms. Han.” he says directly to B. He smiles when he realizes that Soobin is seated next to her. “And who better than our student council president, Mr. Choi Soobin himself to ensure that you’ll be comfortable and feel right at home here with us.”

Soobin smiles back at Sir Kim sort of shyly, not expecting his name to be mentioned. “I’ll make sure of it, Sir.” he promises.

Sir Kim nods approvingly. “Now, I want to give you a short introduction to our class, which is Creative Writing 101. I think the title speaks for itself, but I’d like to do things a little differently, starting with giving you your first project for the term, which will be worth 25% of your grade.”

B whispers “Damn.” under her breath while other students gasp audibly and some whispers start up again before Sir Kim quiets them down. “I know it’s only your first day of school, but for most of you it’ll be your last year at this school, so I want to maximize the time you have left here. For today, I will simply present the project to you and allow you to discuss and plan the output amongst yourselves so it won’t be too heavy. This project will be done by pairs of your choosing, which we will settle within the day. Those absent today will be given consideration.”

Soobin and B share a look then, and they smile when they realize they looked at each other at the same time.

“Partners?” B asks, knowing he was about to ask her the same thing.

“Sure.” he says, and they shake hands before turning their attention back to Sir Kim.

“For your first project, not only will you be doing creative writing, but you will be forming a narrative. Telling a story in a different way, through a different medium.” he begins, doing his best to make the project sound interesting. “I will be asking you to use social media platforms of your choosing to create a narrative, to tell a story, to develop characters, and to show creative writing in a creative way. You have a month to work on it, and I expect at least one entry, rather one social media update, every week. Each social media update should feature you or your partner. And all pictures or messages have to be taken by and composed by either you or your partner. Now, go into pairs, discuss it amongst yourselves, and if you have any questions feel free to approach me.” Sir Kim finishes, then he starts walking around the room as the class excitedly begins to pair up.

B turns to Soobin, caught up in the excitement along with the rest of the class. “Wow, I haven’t had an assignment like this before. It seems pretty interesting.”

Soobin nods. “Sir Kim is one of the well-known teachers at MOA, they say his classes are always fun, so I’m really excited to be taking it.”

“Well, do you have any ideas on what we should do for our project? It’s worth 25% of our final grade, so I think we should really put effort into it.” B asks.

Soobin looks at her then and he can practically see the gears turning in her head. “I was thinking we should decide on what social media platforms we should use first, and what sort of story we should tell with each post, but it looks like you’re full of ideas.”

“Yeah, my mind’s going a mile a minute.” B admits. “I like stories, but I’m not much of a story-teller. My idea sucks anyway, since we’re a boy and a girl, the first story idea that came to mind was me and Kai, which now that I think about it seems pretty boring considering we’re basically just childhood friends.”

“That doesn’t seem boring, really. A lot of things could happen between childhood friends.” Soobin interjects. “They could grow old together, they could drift apart.”

They could fall in love, he thought, but fortunately he was able to stop himself from saying the sudden idea out loud, not knowing where it came from.

B wrinkles her nose. “I mean yeah, I guess that hadn’t really occurred to me since I was just thinking of what my relationship with Kai is like. I don’t think we’ll be able to show us as childhood friends growing old together though considering we only have a month to do the project, unless we could make ourselves look years older with every post.” she says.

“That’s a fair point.” Soobin agrees. “I like the idea of us being childhood friends though, so our posts can start with us already knowing each other instead of us meeting each other for the first time.”

“Ooh, how about this.” B says, turning to Soobin excitedly. “Okay, we could appear as childhood friends in our project, but in real life we’re just getting to know each other, right? So maybe while we’re getting to know each other, let’s just document each other and create posts around what pictures or information we gather about each other? Basically, we just take pictures of each other every time we hang out or see each other, then we’ll make stories out of them.” she explains, trying to convey her ideas as clearly as possible.

“That would be a win-win, I think. We’d be getting to know each other while creating content for our project at the same time.” Soobin says. “Be ready for a lot of candid pictures though, I’ll be taking pictures of you like I’m paparazzi.” he jokes, pretending to hold a camera in his hands and clicking his fingers together.

“That’s gonna be hard for me since I’m really camera shy. I’ll feel like paparazzi taking pictures of you all the time, too.” she says, laughing.

Soobin scoffs softly. “Psh, you? Camera shy? You don’t seem shy at all.” he says. “I bet I’ll be able to get a lot of good photos of you for this project.”

B raises a brow. “Good luck with that. And yeah, I’m not really a shy person but everytime there’s a camera on me, I have a tendency to hide my face or look away.”

“Oh really? We’re opposite then, since I regard myself as shy but for some reason I’m fine with being on a stage or having my picture taken.” Soobin says.

“You? A shy person?” B says, looking him up and down. She shakes her head as she says, “I don’t believe it. I mean, you’re a giant so you automatically stand out in crowds, plus you’re the president of the student council, which doesn’t sound like something that a shy person would do.”

Soobin laughs at her analysis. “I mean I didn’t ask to grow this tall, and I’m fine with stuff like that, but it’s still a struggle for me sometimes. To talk to people and stuff.” he finishes a bit awkwardly. “If you don’t believe me, just ask Hyuka and the others.”

“Oh, I will.” B says skeptically. “Speaking of Hyuka and the others, I was thinking we could go grab a snack or something later after school? We could get started on our project, plus I’m sure Kai is curious to know how my first day of classes went, so I thought he and the others might want to come too.” B asks him. “I mean, only if you’re up for it.”

“Sure thing, we should start taking pictures as soon as possible so we’ll have a lot to choose from every week. Let me just ask the guys about it real quick.” Soobin says, whipping his phone out.

“Are you sure you’re allowed to be using your phone during class?” B whispers as Soobin puts his phone down.

“Everyone’s doing it, so…” Soobin shrugs. “And it’s settled, we’re going to Taehyun’s café later and the others are coming as well.”

“Oh wow, Taehyun has a café?” B asks, amazed.

Soobin nods. “Actually, it’s his family’s café but he helps around a lot, so we hang out there all the time. He works really hard, not just in school but outside of it as well, so he hates wasting his free time. It’s very admirable.”

“He sounds amazing.” B says, agreeing with Soobin.

Just then, Sir Kim approaches the 2 and says. “Hello Ms. Han, I hope you’re enjoying your time at MO Academy so far.”

B nods. “Yes, it’s an amazing school, I’m glad to be here. Thank you, Sir Kim.” she says, smiling brightly at him.

Sir Kim smiles and nods back before turning to Soobin. “That’s good. Now, Mr. Choi, I’m assuming that you and Ms. Han have been able to come up with a concept for your project? Would you mind giving me a brief outline?”

Soobin shares a look with B before he nods and smiles at Sir Kim. “Alright Sir, this is what we’ve come up with so far…”

•°•

“Okay, when you said we were all heading to the café together, for some reason, I thought we’d be walking.” B says, eyeing the big black vehicle parked close to the front steps of the school entrance.

Soobin scratches the back of his neck. “Well yeah we could walk, but walking there would take 15 minutes and driving there would only take 5, so…” he shrugs, and opens the passenger door for her. “Hop in?”

“But I called shotgun.” Kai whines, pouting. “I always sit shot gun.”

“Hush, let someone else have it, just this once. It’s her first day, after all.” Beomgyu says, dragging Kai with him into the back seat of the car with Taehyun following them.

“But I don’t like sitting at the back. It feels so crowded.” Kai continues to whine.

“It’s not crowded when it’s just Gyu, Yeonjun and I.” Taehyun remarks.

“…are you calling me fat?” Kai asks, while Beomgyu snickers.

“I mean, you can always sit in the back seat, Hyuka. My car can fit at least 7 people.” Soobin offers, shutting the passenger door and making his way over to the driver’s side.

Kai sighs, admitting defeat. “This is fine.”

“I’m actually not surprised that you have a car.” B says as they exit the school’s parking lot and head to the café. “It’s very convenient and I’m sure you’re more than capable of owning one. I should’ve asked my parents if I could have a car, or at least a bike. It would be so much easier than running to school everyday.”

“Did you run to school today, Baba? No offense, but you looked a bit flustered when we saw you this morning.” Kai asks.

“Yeah, I woke up late. I slept through 5 alarms.” B says, groaning. “I hope it doesn’t happen again tomorrow.”

Kai laughs out loud. “Why am I not surprised? You always were hard to wake up. I see you’re still a heavy sleeper. Do you live alone?”

B nods even though Kai probably couldn’t see her from the back seat. “Yeah, I convinced my parents to let me move into an apartment near the school. I’m surprised they actually agreed to it. I mean, you know how my parents are.”

“Ah, auntie and uncle still being overprotective?” Kai says knowingly.

“More like overbearing.” B says. “Thank god they let me transfer schools, too. I feel like for once in my life, I’m finally in charge.”

“I’m happy for you, Baba. You’ll have to fill me in on how you did it later.” Kai says, reaching over to squeeze her shoulder. B puts her hand over his and squeezes back. “Thanks, Ningning.” she says.

“Speaking of which, where do you live? If your plan is to walk to and from school everyday, then it must be pretty close.” Taehyun asks.

“Oh, it’s pretty near. It’s, oh-” B says, surprised when she looks out the window. “It’s actually that building right there, on the second floor.” she says, pointing to a building across the street.

The boys all turn to where she was pointing to while Soobin parks the car in front of the café. The building she was pointing to was right across the café.

“You live in that building right there?” Soobin asks, glancing along with the other boys.

“Yup, the second floor. Apartment 2B.” she says. “I chose it myself, made sure it was at a nice location and everything. Why do you all seem surprised?” she asks when she realizes that they were all staring at the building.

Taehyun laughs a bit shyly. “I actually live there too, with my parents and my older brother and sister. We’re in apartment 1D.”

“Oh wow, we’re neighbors! How do you get to school everyday? Maybe we could go together?” B asks excitedly.

“I usually just walk. And sure, I’d like that. Just make sure you’re out your door by 7 AM though, I’d rather have a relaxing walk than a panicked run on the way to school.” he says, half joking and half serious.

B laughs as she says. “Deal. I promise I’ll wake up on time. I just had a hard time waking up earlier today cause we had to be there earlier for the tour.”

As they step out of the car and head into the café, B looks at the interior. It was simple, spacious, and cozy. Even though there were several seats and different settings all along the interior, a lot of the seats were occupied. There was also a set of double glass doors that led into a small outdoor area with more seats. It was a nice café, and B could tell that it was frequently visited by students and workers alike.

“Hyunie, there you are! Quick, I saved you and your friends a table right here.” A woman says as she approaches the boys and gives Taehyun a quick kiss on the cheek. The boys smile and greet her.

“Thank you so much, auntie Kang.” Soobin says, giving her a quick peck on the cheek as he takes a seat. The other boys line up to follow suit.

“Oh hush now, no need to thank me. You boys are always welcome here. Speaking of, looks like you’re missing one? And you replaced him with a pretty girl!” Mrs. Kang says, opening her arms in B’s direction.

“Mom, this is B. She’s a childhood friend of Hyuka’s, and she just transferred to MOA.” Taehyun says, formally introducing B to his mom.

“Hello, Mrs. Kang. It’s really nice to meet you.” B says brightly.

“It’s nice to meet you too, dear. And it’s auntie Kang, to you.” Mrs. Kang says, pulling her in and giving her a quick peck on the cheek as she did with the boys. “It’s refreshing to see a girl around these boys.  A rose among the thorns. May I ask where Yeonjun is today, though? I’m sure those girls sitting in the corner are crushed to see you walk in here without him.”

B looks confused for a moment before she scans the café and spots the group of girls Mrs. Kang was referring to. There was a group of girls sitting at a table that kept stealing glances towards them. They were wearing a school uniform that looked unfamiliar to B, and when they caught her looking at them, they quickly looked away and started whispering amongst themselves.

“Wow, you boys. Your popularity knows no bounds.” B says, shaking her head as she takes a seat.

“It’s highly understandable dear, you can’t blame them. My Hyunnie and his friends are a handsome bunch.” Mrs. Kang says, ruffling the top of Taehyun’s hair. “I’m guessing you’re all having your usual?”

The boys all nod. “Thanks, Mrs. Kang. Let us know if you need any extra help.” Beomgyu says, smiling at her sweetly.

“You just stay put, sweetheart. I’ve got all the help I need.” Mrs. Kang says. “And what will you have, dear?” she asks, turning to B.

“Oh, I guess I’ll just have what Kai’s having?” she says, not really knowing what was available but trusting that Kai’s regular order would be good.

Mrs. Kang nods as the other boys snicker. “Coming right up! Hyunnie, meet you back there in a few?” she asks. Taehyun nods just as Mrs. Kang disappears behind the counter.

“This place looks amazing, Taehyun. And your mom is lovely.” B says as they all settle in.

“We come here every day for a reason!” Kai says, putting an arm around B’s shoulders. “Plus, their egg tarts are the best. They’re my favourite. I order 5 almost every time I come in here.”

B laughs as she realizes what she just ordered. “Are you telling me I’ve got 5 egg tarts coming up, too?”

The other boys laugh. “You could’ve looked at the menu first.” Soobin says pointedly.

“I know I know, but I trusted you!” B laughs, looking at Kai.

“Trust me when I say that you won’t be disappointed then. You’ll love the egg tarts, I promise.” Kai says reassuringly.

B is about to say something back to Kai just as she notices Soobin has his phone pointed in her direction. She quickly buries her face in Kai’s shoulder as she realizes that Soobin was taking a picture.

“Hey, don’t hide your face!” Soobin says. “That would’ve been such a good shot!” he says, pouting.

“Um, Soobin? What’s with the pictures?” Beomgyu asks.

B and Soobin share a look before Soobin answers. “B and I are partners for this project in our creative writing class.”

“Ooh, tell us more. And tell me, why do you have to take pictures of my dear best friend?” Kai says, squeezing B’s shoulders.

B laughs as she realizes he was being a bit protective. “It’s a bit weird, but okay. Soobin, you tell them.” she says.

And so he does.

•°•

“Thanks for walking me home. You know you didn’t have to.” B says as they climb up the stairs of the building.

“Anything for you, Baba. I want to be able that I was here for you all throughout your first day at MOA. Plus, I missed you and I don’t mind squeezing in a few extra moments of Baba and Ningning time.” Kai says as she leads him up the stairs. “And of course, I want to make sure that you get home safe.”

B laughs. “The café is right across the street, so you didn’t really have to worry about that.”

Kai scoffs. “I know, but still. It’s your first time living on your own, right? Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if auntie and uncle hired private security guards to watch over you from a distance.”

“That does sound like something they would do.” B says, a bit worried. “I mean it sounds creepy and a bit stalker-ish, but at least I know I’d be safe.” she says rationally.

Kai laughs. “That’s true. Letting you live on your own is a big step for them though, and you must feel pretty good about it too.”

B nods. “I feel free.” she says, letting out a sigh. “I still can’t believe they let me do it after everything that happened last year, but I think that’s also partly why they let me do it.”

There’s a moment of silence before Kai says “You know, you never really got to tell me the specifics of what happened. I mean, I know things were bad, but-”

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell you all about it soon. But this is my stop.” B says as they stop in front of a door labeled 2B. “When it’s just us two, and when we have loads of free time, I promise I’ll tell you all about it. I promise.” she says, when Kai looks hesitant to let it go.

Kai lets out a defeated sigh before saying “Fine, but we have to catch up soon. Maybe this weekend? You know my birthday’s coming up, right? Maybe we could do something then?”

B grins and says “How could I forget? And sure, anything you want. Do you wanna come in, by the way? You thirsty? Want anything?” she asks as she unlocks the door and opens it a crack.

Kai shakes his head. “I’m good for now, thanks. You should rest anyway, I’m sure it’s been a long day.”

“Thank you for walking me home, Ningning. And thanks for today. I couldn’t have asked for a better first day with a better best friend.” she says.

Kai smiles. “No problem, Baba. Anything for you. See you tomorrow!” he says, giving her a quick hug before turning around and leaving.

B enters her apartment and locks the door behind her. Just as she makes her way to her bedroom, her phone pings with a few notifications.

She smiles as she sees the messages from the boys. They had exchanged contacts details at the café, but she was surprised to see that even Yeonjun had sent her a message even though he didn’t get to hang out with them.

She and Soobin also set up new Instagram accounts to use for their creative writing project, but she was surprised to see that he posted something so soon. She makes a mental note to herself to check and reply to each boy’s message later, but first she checked the Instagram notification from Soobin.

She laughs when she sees Kai’s comment and wonders how he was able to see the post so fast. She then decides to like the post and leave a comment of her own.

[millennialzadr]

WHY I LOVE ZADR!!!

HEY GUYS WHASSUP? LMAO

So this is a whole ass giant long post of me absolutely spewing my feelings of love for ZADR, it was the very first thing I wrote when I made this blog and I think it’s a nice, positive thing for my fellow shippers to inhale and enjoy 👌👌

it was originally a reply to mitarashiart’s post about why HE loves ZADR (link in replies) but I decided to delete that and make my own post since MY WHOLE ENTIRE TEXT WALL WAS SHOWN IN THE REPLIES and drowned out anyone else who was trying to talk (thanks tumblr mobile u fuckin idiot)

I had also posted a summary of an AU that I’m working on in the original post, but decided to remove it since it just about doubled the length (I’m thinking about posting it separately along with the wips I’ve been putting together, we’ll see 👀)

But ANYWAY, here is about a million reasons why I think ZADR is the fucking best, so if you like reading gushy gay ship feelings, please enjoy ❤️❤️❤️

[Posted June 2019][WARNING, LONG ASS THOUGHT BARF]

SOOO, holy hell y’all my journey back into this fandom has been a wild and unique experience for me, i went from adding invader zim to my bookmarks on kisscartoon, rewatching the series, finding out theres a movie coming out, finding out there was a shitload of content i’d never seen before (commentaries, lost episode scripts and audios, panels, the COMIC, episodes i’d never seen because the dvd i used to watch was scratched!! and a FUCKLOAD of quality modern fan art like oh my GOD) and finally curiously googling ‘zadr’ (which i was way into when i was maybeee 13/14) to see if there was any interesting new art, and holy hell, mita (the artist above) singlehandedly THREW me down the hole into modern zadr hell, first with his absolutely stunning IZ art (all his art is dope tho check him out yo), then reading the above explanation put the final nail in the coffin like, 100%

so i wanted to add onto his post here on why this ship got me so fucked up, both for anyone who might be wondering why on earth i’m shipping two characters from a kid’s show (i’m very aware how weird that is at first glance trust me) and also so i can get some ideas down for possible future reference (will i ever draw them? maybe)

(first of all, a disclaimer, and this is not pleasant to write but it’s important to address for clarity’s sake: I have no interest in romantic or sexual relationships between minors, and do not ship zim and dib as they are presented canonically in the show (as children). what i’m interested in is the conceptualized relationship they may have as modern adults, and i view zadr more as taking the concepts of existing characters and experimenting with them with different interpretations, which i personally think is a constructive and fun creative outlet, especially if these characters hold personal significance for you (childhood faves of course). growing up together is an important facet of their relationship, and certainly they were important to each other even as children (see: mopiness of doom) but as an adult i’m personally curious about what kind of adults they might’ve become, and that’s the focus of my interest. i’ll still be reblogging regular IZ art because it’s dope but if you see shippy looking art of them as tiny lil beans its either friendship or chibis (and i personally headcanon zim as getting taller with dib but some people stick with his canonical height when drawing them as adults, which is super short. it still doesn’t mean he’s a kid). aaand i wish i didnt have to write this and it would just be obvious but we live in a sick sad world and it is sourced from a children’s cartoon so i feel its necessary. end of disclaimer)

NOW THAT THAT’S OUT OF THE WAY

- ok, first reason’s a bit obvious - the nostalgia. holy hell, the feeling of rediscovering a ship that was popular when i was a preteen during the mid 2000s and discovering a totally new perspective on it as an adult comes with an almost totally overwhelming sense of nostalgia and comfort, as well as inspiration!! the kind of art that seems so common for zadr, these sketch pages of scenes and expressions and visual gags where artists would just scribble every idea they had and LOVE doing it, this was exactly the kind of art that made me so passionate about drawing as a kid, and it still sparks such a powerful feeling of love and admiration for me to this day. fan content of iz and zadr is simultaneously achingly familiar and totally new and fascinating, and it just makes me SO damn happy to consume, it is most definitely my new comfort content. and just, GOD. THE ART!! SO GOOD. FUCK

- now for the characters themselves: for some reason i just really love the thought of a mid twenties, modern Dib?? lanky goth dork, disaster bi, depressed as shit, uses bad sweaters and memes to cope?? when i was a kid i didn’t even LIKE Dib, but now i totally sympathize with him! he’s just a hyper obsessive nerd wishing there was more to life than the situation he got stuck with, how wildly relatable. he was a pretty big asshole as a kid (even to people besides zim) but he was also totally isolated and constantly bullied, so there’s a lot of room for growth. i feel there’s a lot of juicy character development potential for that boy, and there’s always been a special place in my heart for characters who are totally sad and screwed and hopeless, but there’s one thing, or person, that means the world to them and could possibly save them…

- aliens. Zim. i love nonhuman characters, i love monsters, i love aliens, i love characters that don’t understand human shit (and thus have much less room for shame or fear bc theyre just totally oblivious the negatives of modern society) and need guidance (bonding!!) from their human. i also love morally grey characters and characters with skewed logic, they’re always really interesting, and Zim himself just has such a unique personality and set of mannerisms, he contradicts himself a lot and you can never quite expect how he’ll behave, and i love that in a character, it makes them super versatile and fun, especially since there’s so many different possibilities for their development. Also, Zim is a gremlin, a little shit, and a disaster. I also love those traits in a character. And don’t even get me started on his character design?? big sparkly eyes? expressive antennae? monster teeth? complimenting colors? he’s adorable.

- mutual obsession. for someone like Dib, who seems almost repulsed by how boring and slow the people around him are, Zim quite literally personifies Dib’s  escapist fantasies, both as an inhuman entity from beyond the stars, and as a person who’s knowledge, charisma and mystery far exceeds that of anyone Dib has met in his entire life. (so basically what i’m saying is that for a shunned, jaded misanthropist, an actual alien is terribly alluring, even if said alien is dangerous, stupid, and possibly insane). not to mention Zim vindicates Dib’s entire life passion, the supernatural! Even when their relationship is totally negative, there is not a single inch of room for Dib to get tired of Zim. as mita explained, they validate each other. for Zim, WHO AGAIN, IS TOTALLY SHUNNED, ISOLATED, AND HATED BY EVERYONE HE KNOWS, Dib is the only person in the universe who gives a single shit about him!! he gives Zim credit as a threat, a capable invader, which if you ask me is the sole thing Zim is after (he’s hellbent on his mission because it would win him the approval of the tallest, all he’s ever wanted is recognition from the people he thinks so highly of). He literally gets depressed when Dib isn’t around to pay attention to him, not even the tallest were enough to motivate him before Dib came back. these two have no one and nothing without each other, and while lifelong nemeses is fine and dandy, i personally prefer friendship, affection and love, cause i’m a softie like that. how could they possibly get there after years of actively trying to kill each other?? well, i think under just the right circumstances it could become a possibility after a long, long time.

- growth. i. love. me. some. good. character growth. especially for characters with trauma/mental illness, bc again, relatable. these boys have issues, and as mita mentioned, their canon stories are actually INCREDIBLY sad! but the happy thought is, they could recover! they could help each other recover, for little reason other than the two are the only source of happiness for each other. now of course this also opens the gate for angst lovers, but at the same time offers potential for comforting, uplifting content of the boys supporting and inspiring each other, maybe even to the point of becoming happy and healthy enough to create the lives they want for themselves (as in appreciating life and doing things that make them actually happy instead of the delusions of grandeur they both sought when they were younger). gimme that positive shit and let the poor beans be happy  щ(ಠ益ಠщ)

- LITTLE THINGS. LITTLE THINGS THAT ONLY COME WITH CHILDHOOD FRIENDS. WITH HUMAN/NONHUMAN. WITH THE SHOW’S WEIRD LOGIC. Zim being the person Dib knows best and vice versa. Zim having an involuntary respect/admiration for Dib because he’s tall. Learning each other’s needs, limits, and communication methods, both emotionally and biologically. Sensitive antennae. Affectionate bickering. Being less insecure bc your partner literally has no idea why you see your flaws as flaws. Laughing at the flaws they do notice because they make no sense. Zim only wanting to eat waffles and chow mein. Dib being forced to overcome his depression lethargy and stay hygienic/keep the apartment clean because Zim has a sharper sense of smell and is afraid of germs. Endless conversation about anything and everything because they’re from literally different worlds, and endless intrigue. TOUCHING. TALKING. DOING EVERYTHING LIKE ITS THE VERY FIRST TIME AND ALWAYS NEEDING THE OTHER TO GUIDE THEM. HOLY HELL THERE IS SO MUCH POSSIBILITY FOR TINY LITTLE MOMENTS THAT MEAN THE WORLD. FUCK. GOT ME FUCKED UP.

so that wraps up the why. fuck man. its just such a good ship. if you read this big ass text post, thank you for indulging me, i hope you enjoyed it! because i enjoy it very much 👀 so stick around if you’d like to for a shit load of IZ and zadr content on this blog, possibly (MAYBE) even from me!! come roll around in alien hell with me why dontcha ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ its a fun time! thanks for reading!!!

-

SO THAT’S MY MANIFESTO Y’ALL, FEEL FREE TO REPLY WITH YOUR OWN REASONS!! I WOULD LOVE FOR THIS POST TO JUST BECOME A BIG GIANT PILE OF LOVE AND YELLING!! GO NUTS! SCREAM ABOUT IT! INFODUMP! DO WHATEVER YOU WANT! I’LL READ EVERY LAST REPLY! Y’ALL DESERVE TO ENJOY YOUR SHIP BC IT’S LITERALLY THE FUCKING BEST!!! LOVE Y’ALL!!!!!!

[jcmorgenstern]

Hey kid wanna cry Remember that kiss between Clary and 'Sebastian' in s2, after Clary says that Jonathan deserves to be saved? How desperate that kiss was. Now knowing the that for years Jonathan was clinging to the idea that somewhere out there theres a person who will save him, who will not hurt and abandon him puts the whole scene in different perspective 😢

you’re very right and you should fucknig say it anon!!

I’m trying to get over my annoyance with how much they’ve fucked Jonathan’s storyline (and my god, the timeline)–the demon clary kills in s1 at the EARLIEST appears at the most 2 months ago, which means Jonathan only learned she existed 2 months ago max. He then, in that time, made a deal with Azazel to get out of hell, walked to Paris, kidnapped Sebastian at a cafe, moved to New York, rented an apartment, knew enough about the goings on at the institute to steal the sword (Genuinely blanking on how he got the Cup to summon Azazel–i knew at one point but rn im anxious and caffeinated), summoned Azazel, infiltrated the Institute….like this is fucking insane on so many levels, and now he can’t even find a sword? ??? ?? ? ? ? like damn need me that kind of motivation on my finals

(also im pre sure aline mentions sebastian dissapeared more than two months ago but lmao what’s consistency)

I actually really liked the prince/princess thing, because it flips the very gendered script by having Jonathan wish for Clary to save him. and Clary IS that figure–she goes to insane lengths to protect and save Jace. I don’t think Clary’s horror at realizing she could have but didn’t save Jonathan is her being like “oh damn im a woman therefore it’s my job,” it’s that being powerless or failing to save a life is one of her worst fears, and she’s upset that yet another family member is “lost” to her. Her entire arc is unified by the theme of finding and wanting to keep her family and loved ones (both family by blood or by familial love) safe. It’s also a callback to the books (a thread that is completely dropped) where she writes a comic about a dark prince that she interprets to be “Sebastian.”

When Jonathan calls “you were supposed to be my princess” after her, he doesn’t mean “I was supposed to carry u away at the altar and we’d make babies in heterosexual union,” he means “you were supposed to be my knight in shining armor and rescue me from the dragon/evil stepmother.” In the context of the story as it’s told–Jonathan as Rapunzel (or Fiona LMAOO) in the tower crying for help, and Clary the knight with the sword only the chosen one can wield riding to his rescue–I feel that meaning is fairly obvious if you understand his character beyond “ew incest lol.”

To put it more academically: in the terms of a feminist reading of the fairytale, Jonathan understands himself not as Clary’s possessor, but the “princess” she as the (traditionally male) knight rescuer is entitled to after the rescue. It may actually deliberately echo the book line where Clary asks Jonathan “who do you belong to.” The script of Jonathan as the hyperagressive, masculine aggressor stalking the (artificially) agency-less woman is complicated by his dual role as the traditionally female victim of abuse waiting to be rescued by the traditional male rescuer. In just a quick few minutes we get a whole different dynamic where we realize Jonathan doesn’t feel he is entitled to her–from his (warped) point of view, he feels she is entitled to him. Jonathan views the act of receiving love in terms of his usefulness or how his identity/abilities/whatever can be exploited by whoever loves him (see: his speech to her about Valentine)–his confusion about why she doesn’t “want” him is because well, she defended him once as anon says, she saved him by giving him hope, she must love him–why won’t she take what’s hers?

This is the dynamic I’m fascinated by–I’ve always read Jonathan as an oddly feminized villain considering his other position as a hyperaggressive rapist–if I were to go full batshit on yall I’d bust out a “queer-coded men presented as often ineffectual rapists” reading but. ill leave that for another time.  or never. I feel the books made that reading very available by sexualizing his abuse by revealing his whip scars in a situation where he takes his shirt off and Clary is uncomfortably thirsty (and the audience is VERY comfortably thirsty). It’s also very surface-level and never really brought up again–something else you’d expect from a presentation of a female character’s abuse.

The show complicates it by presenting the product of Jonathan’s abuse as something to be reviled and horrific, but also kind of pathetically comedic. A male victim of abuse that actually lets the effects show is clearly something to be othered, pathologized, made into something charred and inhuman. The power and agency expected of a male character is restored to him in his rebirth, when the narrative invites you to consider whether he really could change; as that agency is slowly stripped away through imprisonment, a botched matricide attempt, implied (past) sexual assault, it’s paired with his implied descent into irredeemabe villainhood.

I fully realize I’ve jumped so far off the deep end I may as well have started burrowing into the ground of that metaphorical pool, but I think Jonathan’s dual status as feminized victim and masculinized rapist explains why some female fans find Jonathan deeply and fundamentally abhorrent and others find him sympathetic and relatable. Both, I think, are legitimate readings and reactions made available by the text–it’s a question not of whether people think rape is okay or not, but which of his dual gendered positions each person find more salient.

(I’d also argue the same could be said of Jace–do you see him as the typical heterosexual male jock, or the sensitive victim of abuse who struggles with his mental health? Honestly, this model applies to so many other characters–Tony Stark, for example, or Loki). I think it’s important as fans to appreciate, no matter your position or reading of a character, the alternate readings available–I understand why people hate Jonathan and are deeply uncomfortable with him, even if I don’t feel the same way. I don’t take Jonathan hate as a personal attack against my reading specifically, but against the person’s own particular interpretation of him. (I do often get annoyed if people deny the possibility of alternate readings, and probably get pissy in general, but shh).

anyway tldr this was actually just top/bottom discourse in disguise JONATHAN MORGENSTERN IS A BOTTOM thanks for coming to my TED talk haha gotcha

[yiulee999]

Hey! What do you think of OPM season 2? I still love it & am looking forward to next weeks new episode but i just wish Saitama had more screen time ;-(

hey nonny~! 

apologies for the late reply, its a combo of not getting notifications (tumblr u useless trashbucket) and being on surgery rotation (i miss sleeping so much) 

firstly, i am truly glad you still love it and look forward to the new episodes!!! 💖💖💖please dont let anything i say from this point on dissuade you from that enjoyment 

THAT BEING SAID 

///cut for length 

ive only watched up to the second episode, and i am having Such Difficulties convincing myself to keep watching. i know my rxns to ep 1 were overall pretty positive and I stand by it but the more i watch the more the Cringe/Hypercritique starts take over. 

Turns out, the art style had a bigger impact than i thought on the length of which i enjoy shows. personally, i just really like when anime/shows have a happy marriage between writing and artwork. and when show directors know how to interpret writing, how to set up a scene (the angle, the music, the pacing), and then communicate with artists who have the skills to bring that idea to life using the medium they’re given -- that’s when writing becomes storytelling. OPM’s writing is still fantastic since they’re going off ONE (whereas GoT has the opposite problem where the production value is 4K and the writing is early 2000s livejournal/fanfiction lol god why is everyone dropping the ball in 2019??)

As for the art, since opm switched to jc staff and shingo natsume & co. left for other projects ( ;;_____;; im emo ), its inevitable we would see a drop in animation quality and i find myself constantly getting distracted by things i never used to get concerned about in the first season (bc of the high bar of expectations set by s1 artists/directors, like theres just no way jc staff would match up it to all of that and i feel bad for them, they’re trying their best but that doesn’t mean theyre immune to critique on the artistic liberties that they’ve taken that i feel as a viewer, may not have been the best choice?) 

the shading: no, just, unnecessary and distracting and why is it the center of saitamas face, im by far no expert in lighting but a bish can tell something doesnt look right??? 

the shading pt II: color choices. just gonna say i was not expecting sai’s ‘hair shirt’ in ep 1 to be bright-ass neon green, it was a little jarring at first and i miss him in red ;-; i get hes supposed to have poor fashion choices but i dont see him as the type to pick something that stands out so much in the crowd, like he likes to be left alone. NEON doesnt really relay ‘hi dont mind me im just barely existing here lol’ 

the shading pt III: genos arms/neck. okaY so the bby looks good in screenshots. like he’s shiny and nice to look at when nothings moving. bUT this is animation?? movement of objections is different from still life manga so making every single scene almost 99% like murata’s panels translates a little awkwardly to the screen (like staff is lucky bc murata’s a force of nature with his panels playing out like a movie for ref). but when genos moves, the arms are just distracting bc everything around him is drawn simply without shadows so they stand out by themselves and i (visually) forget about the rest of him haha. 

the pacing: it feels scripted, person A says this so we’ll show person A in the shot, then person B is saying something so we have to cut to person B, etc etc like keeping pretty steady to manga lines to the point where i was starting to get bored bc i knew what was coming. it was really intervaled? like someone had to be saying something at a certain effect and i think s1 had more dramatic pauses (lol) but thats how you can place emphasis on scenes to have an emotional impact if the character doesnt say anything and just let the soundtrack do some talking and the cadence of the script will change too (im 10000% talking about the sunset scene in s1 god bless. like it was slow, there was MOOD there wasn’t any rush and really gave the viewer time to think about the relationship between the two characters and what that moment meant to each of them) i feel like there were several scenes that could have been more like in the scene where sai protected fubuki, could have been a little more dramatically emphasized (aka just a pause) so the viewer could get a chance to understand that he purprosefully shielded her or when genos says that strong heroes are drawn to saitama--bUT nope its the same pace, like c l o c k w o r k just like my t eARS--

the fight scenes: how do i even start. the one scene that got me INTO opm (like watching the anime, reading the manga, drawing fanart, writing fanfic, reading fanfics etc) was kickstarted by the fight scene between genos and saitama in s1 that was circulating on tumblr a while back. i thought the characters were interesting and the fight was badass and it just looked SO COOL. (also the forehead flick at the end just kinda sealed my fate). going from that to s2 fight scenes where its mostly cut scenes and freeze scenes?? where theres a cut out behind the characters back?? during a fight scene????? this isn’t a calling card or an anime opening??? i dont understand. when they dont do cut scenes, its interesting but my initial impression is just underwhelmed. i can find good parts but it feels like i have to replay the scene to notice it? theres also an overwhelming amount of graphics/cgi manipulation that overpowers the actual art sometimes. its lacking some of the fluidity that comes from hand drawn fight scenes from first season. OTL

the sound directing: so i thought that the mood just felt off for certain scenes and the sound didn’t seem to support the scene as well (unless it was like the character’s theme or smtg) and i looked it up and the sound director was also replaced (Yoshikazu Iwanami replacing Shoji Hata). i have no idea if the sound director is also in charge of character lines but there were parts were fubuki was monologuing and i had no idea she was inner monologuing, i thought she was talking out loud and that just took extra effort on my part to re-orient myself (im nitpitcking i know but its just how i watch shows lol) 

there are still some parts i like about the animation:

fubuki looks bangin and i love her👌👗

all of this just made me realize how insanely lucky we were to have an amazing s1 and just have it exist and how i really could not care less if they had just waited forever to make s2 as long as we had the same crew come back. but anime is still a business and the quicker they dish out merch/seasons, the more money they can bring in. which they do in the short run but they would bring in more if they spent a little more on quality in the long run and it becomes one of those classics that ppl will rewatch and keep recommending to ppl who want to get into anime and oh my god we’re never gonna have that now, are we. if im gonna rec it to a friend its gonna be ‘read the manga!’ or ‘just watch s1!’ uGH. its just an unfortunate situation, its not one person’s fault either, so many factors go into what made opm s1 so spectacular and seeing s2 just made me appreciate s1 more. i guess im happy to have a s2 regardless? 

i’ll still watch to support (and bc i like suiryuu and wanna see sai in a karate gi and wig lol). maybe i just have to get used to the new style. 

so in summary,

[arcanalogue]

On the subject of accepting uncanny advice (solicited or otherwise) from psychics, friends, Psychic Friends, and the total randos that skid through our lives, I present this handy guide for ranking the credibility of patently incredible sources. Behold, Arcanalogue’s UNCANNY ADVICE CREDIBILITY SCALE!

Here’s how this scale works: when you find yourself presented with input, anecdotes, or interpretations of uncanny phenomena, consider the source. (Note that even fairly credible sources can still lead you astray, and consider the lengths certain people will go to manipulate your perception of their credibility! Even so, this should help.)

Let’s start at the bottom and work our way up:

BRUSH WITH MADNESS

This is a category for those who confound us with the suddenness and randomness of their approach -- the person who shouts bizarre exhortations from across the street, the random lady at the bar who clutches your sleeve and claims to have a message from your grandmother, the grifter who’s not even established enough to have a storefront, handing you a psychic hotline business card through the passenger window of her car after tricking you into putting some gas in her tank. 

This kind of input preys on our superstitions about the relevance of random messages from the universe (”Beware the Ides of March!”) but is honestly at the absolute lowest rung of credibility, regardless of what happened to Julius Caesar.

CHARLATAN AND/OR INSANE

This is your run-of-the-mill storefront psychic who lives by their wits, who cynically offers “authentic” psychic advice with deadpan sincerity. 

It’s also the disordered person whose identity has come to revolve around sharing all their uncanny feelings and unsolicited hunches -- the unconscious “cold reader” who truly believes everything they tell you. 

Sometimes they’re the same person! In either case, they’ll overload you with details in the hopes that some of them touch a nerve, and will usually do everything in their power to hold your attention for as long as possible. 

Credibility-wise, they’re in “even a stopped clock is right twice a day“ territory.

CHARLATAN AND/OR INSANE, WITH GIFT

This is a sub-category for those who really do seem to possess a certain amount of uncanny awareness, but have no real control over it, nor any scruples in terms of administering it usefully. 

Even if they sincerely want to help, they’re still likely to do just as much harm as good, or prove unreliable when you could really use the help. Still, a tad less harmful than someone who is truly using you as a bit player in their own paranormal psychodrama. 

WELL-MEANING AMATEUR

This person has a sincere interest in learning about the uncanny -- and hey, we all have to start somewhere! They are learning how to read tarot cards, studying up on astrology, practicing mindfulness, and probing their sensitivity to “vibrations,” and they need people to practice on. That’s you, patient friend!

They usually prove to be just a dabbler, but what makes this person safe to consult is they don’t take themselves very seriously -- they know they’re green, and still have lots more questions than answers. Whatever input they offer is likely to be colored by the latest book they read, or the last consultation they received from a professional (who hopefully isn’t someone from one of the previous categories). 

The reading you get from them not be terribly illuminating, but it’s still interesting and potentially helpful, especially when you can tell they truly do have your best interests at heart. (Anyone who’s not sincerely well-meaning automatically gets filed under Charlatan and/or Insane.)

INTELLECTUAL THEORIST

These are your philosophers, your academics, your poets and psychology-buffs. They’ve read a lot and experienced a lot, probably experimented with some awareness-enhancing substances, and pride themselves on being open-minded. Conversations about uncanny phenomena will revolve around archetypes, symbolism, anthropology, and how no one really knows the answers to life’s big questions.

These people are usually agnostics or atheists themselves, but unlike your hard-line rationalists, they’ll totally enjoy picking over the details of a bizarre occurrence, asking trenchant questions, offering support and wisdom even if they don’t really believe anything supernatural is at work. They give super-Jungian tarot readings which are honestly pretty satisfying. They want to believe, and may refer you to someone they know on the tier just above them, which is...

WELL-MEANING EXPERT

This person has devoted serious time and attention to subjects that most people consider decidedly unserious, such as divination, religious gnosticism, shamanism, ceremonial magick, you name it. They hold themselves to a high ethical standard, they know their limits and are up front about them, and are well on their way to mastery.

Perhaps they have a teacher or mentor, or perhaps they’re a self-initiated autodidact. Either way, they’re more inherently trustworthy and much better at delicately navigating personal boundaries than anyone below them on this list: they’re able to impart constructive advice with relatively little ego, and have invested enough in their own practice that they don’t need to be shored up by attention from others.

Their input is sought after often. They may do a bit of this professionally, or aspire to, but by no means is it their main gig. 

TOTAL PRO

This is your author, your lecturer, your sought-after expert who has staked their professional reputation on their credibility. They’re harder to book one-on-one time with, but tend to be worth whatever they ask for these services. They’re also good at maintaining a modest emotional distance and a purely professional demeanor, usually as a result of being consulted so often by people who are extremely desperate for their services. 

Usually you will have read or seen samples of this person’s work before you come into contact with them. While everyone makes mistakes -- and certain personality types are obsessed with attaining Total Pro status, regardless of whether they can back up any of their claims -- whatever they tell you is likely worth listening to. 

HOLY MASTER

At the very top of this scale, credibility-wise, sits the Holy Master. This person appears to be plugged into a major power source, transcending matters related to respectability or professionalism. Interacting with the uncanny i second nature to them, like breathing. These are your hermits, your ascetics, your backwoods brujas, your brutally-honest adepts who seem to see right through us. Encounters with them are rare, and often not entirely pleasant, but their ability and raw power are undeniable, and their counsel is generally valuable.

DISCLAIMER: The Holy Master is often indistinguishable from Brush With Madness. To complicate things further, Holy Masters do actually go mad, or end up behaving carelessly and unethically. The overlap between these categories often misleads people into giving credibility to those who cloak their madness in an air of holy mastery -- or even discounting valuable advice given from a true master who seems out of touch with reality. 

So, credibility-wise, aiming for the top of the scale is basically how you end up back at the bottom. Nor are perceptions uniform: One person’s Holy Master is someone else’s Charlatan and/or Insane, and vice versa.

I hope this chart will prove useful the next time you receive input that’s difficult to interpret. Question everything, especially the source! Once you have someone properly pegged, you can decide whether or not they’re worth listening to. Ain’t life grand?

Yours in perpetual uncertainty,

A R C A N A L O G U E

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

The Marvel of Trelsi (Part VI)

I have resorted to the crude methodology of using screenshots as I’ve wasted over an hour trying to find pictures of Troy and Kelsi on Google Images, amongst other such procrastinating habits. Apparently, the Internet does not believe in the power of Trelsi. Google Play and Dropbox are beautiful things, people. :D 

In this instalment, I continue with the following question:

Question: What makes the Trelsi friendship and dynamic so friggin’ special? Why does it make me want to weep and write poetry?

I am using the following website link: 11 Signs of A True Friendship to demonstrate the worth of Troy and Kelsi’s friendship throughout their lamentably short scenes together in the HSM franchise. As I’m coming to the end of that list, I will also discuss the overall disadvantage of having Troy spend so little screentime and off-screen time with Kelsi.

9- “They don’t talk about you behind your back.”

As I have repeatedly demonstrated when answering this question, the Wildcats ostensible displays of friendship are heralded by the franchise script as being emblematic of true friendship.

This includes the notable examples where the Wildcats are implied to have talked about Troy, negatively, behind his back. Returning to my example from yesterday, where Chad owns up to his part in the HSM I Wi-Fi/camera stunt, the lead-up to this rare moment of humility for the Wildcats could only have been possible if the Wildcats had been muttering about Troy behind his back. After Coach Bolton tries to pressure Troy into focusing for the upcoming game, and Troy storms out of the gym in a terrible mood, the rest of the Wildcats (none of them coming to comfort Troy, of course) are headed in a different direction to plan their next move. Which would include, of course, muttering about Troy’s alleged insanity in trying out a new interest so close to the game. 

Their decision to meet with the brainiacs to put their plan into action counts as talking about Troy (and Gabriella) behind his back, for the purpose of destroying a potential relationship based on selfish interest. In HSM II, I have already stated that their decision to shun Troy appears heavily pre-planned and I’m sure that Chad had been muttering about Troy behind his back prior to his personal decision not to speak with the latter. After all, he told Taylor and Gabriella, “there’s a guy out there that looks just like Troy Bolton, but I have no idea who he really is.” Not only is this patently absurd, but the melodramatic glum faces of Taylor and Gabriella give one the implication that their lunchtime was spent slanging Troy. 

Oh, and speaking of HSM II, let’s not forget Taylor’s instigation of Troy-bashing; telling Gabriella that Troy “forgot” his date without waiting to hear his side of the story (to Gabriella’s credit, she defended Troy!), encouraging Gabriella to hold Troy to ridiculous standards in a relationship (”ALL dates are official. Whether the boy knows it or not.”), planting suspicion in Gabriella’s head that Troy might be straying from her to get in good with Sharpay and the Evans despite there being NO evidence for this, implying that Troy’s motivations are completely unethical throughout despite Sharpay blatantly chasing him and harassing him throughout. Taylor is an excellent friend to Gabriella, and a rotten friend to Troy.*

All of the above scenes are supposed to be glossed over, because hey! We’re all in this together! Indeed, when it comes to stabbing Troy in the back, they are all in this together. However, the ONE scene where Kelsi stands by Troy in the silent Lava Springs kitchen and communicates with him UPFRONT the reason for this undeserved silent treatment once again pours scorn on the alleged Wildcat unity and friendship. Once again, one small gesture in a Trelsi scene outshining everything else. This makes me certain that Kelsi was not involved in the mutinous mutterings against Troy that most probably accompanied Chad’s shouting match earlier on, let alone the plan to ignore him. 

10- “They allow you to have other friendships without getting jealous and possessive.”

Consider the value of being friends with Troy Bolton. You have earned instant status points, you’re considered cool, you have direct access to East High’s Primo Boy, you get to hang on his every word and make sacrifices at the altar of eternal worship. Being friends with Troy Bolton is like being elected Cardinal to the Vatican. You have entered an elite circle. It is my firm belief that Troy was Kelsi’s first real friend, at least in high school. She is never shown with anyone else with whom she shares the same level of familiarity, comfort and affection as she does with Troy. This makes their friendship doubly fortunate. Beforehand, she was sitting with the Drama Club students, working on her music. Now, she is well-liked amongst the Wildcat gang and has graduated to sitting at the Cool Girls table, made up of Taylor (who appears to be the head), Gabriella and Martha. People actually notice her now, they know her name and they appreciate her talent as a composer. Mega status points for Kelsi. 

But throughout the entire movie franchise, she never seeks to impose her own presence upon Troy’s life. In fact, I may have noted before that they rarely ever hang out outside of musical-related activities; Troy still spends the vast majority of his time with the Wildcats and with Gabriella. Kelsi is respectful to all of Troy’s other friends, is pleased when the Wildcats display unity and support Troy’s ambitions and goals, and does everything she can to maintain this harmony. In such benevolence, during HSM II, she appeared shocked when Chad and Troy had a row in the Lava Springs kitchen (TINY scene)-- later on, she persuaded Chad to forgive Troy. Now the BASIS upon which Chad was to forgive Troy is completely bogus and nonsensical in my view; Chad agrees to the following comment: [T] “I was a jerk.”, which as I have stated time and time again, is categorically untrue. 

However, Kelsi certainly never considered Troy to be a jerk throughout this film, and clearly saw that Troy (unjustly) renouncing his privileges in a show of solidarity with his team would appease Chad’s anger. So, either before or after finding Ryan, she runs to Chad, the very same person who called her “small person” in HSM I and with whom she has only shared a little dialogue** previous to plead Troy’s case.*** She doesn’t want to see Troy and Chad’s friendship ruined for anything and seems happy when they get along. This is evidenced by yet another TINY scene where Kelsi is smiling as Troy and Chad do that skipping routine in the kitchen. Scenes like that restore my hope in Troy and Chad’s friendship. 

Due the fact that Troy is one of the friendliest, most open and likeable characters in the entire cast, almost everyone is clamouring to be his friend. Those who get there first consider themselves to be the rightful owners. Cue Chad Danforth, whose has turned possessiveness into an art form. Remember, these two have been friends since pre-school, and although Chad was written as the sidekick, he is clearly the more dominant of the two. “For the record? I was a much better superhero than you were.” I know, I know I criticize Chad a lot, but I do REALLY LIKE Troy and Chad’s friendship. It IS a true brotherhood. They have great banter, their friendship is resilient as hell (secretly filming your BEST friend to destroy his relationship? Wow, Troy forgives like there’s no tomorrow), they make great partners in sport, they clearly bonded quite quickly as kids have great complementary qualities. BUT out of the two, it is Chad who feels that his blueprint must be followed. Troy NEVER imposes any idea upon Chad-- not in their professional spheres or in their social spheres. Rather, it is Chad who decides what Troy should think, what he should like, who he should hang out with, what he should decide and what he should do. And that presents a stark difference between how Chad treats Troy and how Kelsi treats him:

(What Troy should think)-- “The music in those shows isn’t hiphop... or rock. Or anything essential to culture. It’s... showtunes. Costumes and makeup. It’s frightening!”

(What Troy should like)-- “You’re a Hoops Dude. Not a musical singer person!”

(Who he should hang out with)-- (This one is indirect) “...the Drama Geeks and the Brainiacs think that they can... talk to us! Suddenly everyone wants to do other stuff, okay: stuff that’s not their stuff!”

(What he should decide)-- (Upon hearing that Troy is undecided about Juilliard) “That’s not what I wanted to hear!”

(What he should do)-- “You and me... we’re goin’ to U of A.”

Now, perhaps it is worth reiterating that despite all this, I still like their friendship! :D But with no such dialogue coming from Kelsi, who rather encourages his decisions and treats his ambitions with respect and is thoroughly devoted to his success, the glaring problem in Troy and Chad’s dynamic becomes clear. And yet they tell me that Troy is the jerk...

I will discuss Gabriella’s controlling tendencies later on, but the Wildcats’ possessiveness of Troy becomes clear when he’s becoming popular with the Redhawks. After all, they invite him to scrimmage within moments of meeting him, give him a jacket and a ride in their (cool!) car. They talk and joke with him like he’s their best buddy, and he gets lunch with them and Mr. Evans. Of course, Troy is cultivating friendships with them for good reasons (and don’t let anyone deceive you otherwise), but to the Wildcats, this appears as though Troy thinks he is too good for his friends. (Their interpretation, not mine). As a result, they shun and insult him. According to Zeke, who has no reason to be so insulting, “...Troy bailed on us, so whatever!” In other words, the Wildcats act like a spurned lover when Troy doesn’t lavish them with the attention they feel entitled to. This gives the impression that they friendship with him is at least partially motivated by the status boost they receive, and if Troy’s attention is on other people, that threatens their own popularity. Interestingly, they do not apply this theory to Kelsi, who is quickly absorbed into their group despite her high uncool points. But maybe this is because Troy likes her, so they see this as a sign of approval.

Long story short: the Trelsi friendship NEVER has these problems. 

11- “You have so many inside jokes and funny memories with them that you’ve lost count.”

I have to use speculation here, since there are no scenes to give an appropriate insight into what Troy and Kelsi hanging out what look like. But there are several canonical points worth remembering: 1)- their friendship is uniquely esoteric, 2)- it is built upon unspoken understanding, 3)- they both have a great sense of humour, and are fond of sarcasm, 4)- they share many great friendship moments together. In light of this, I can see them having inside jokes and funny/great memories were they allowed more scenes together, particularly scenes that didn’t involve preparation for the musicals. Perhaps there are some canonical funny memories though: (Kelsi, from HSM II about the Ladies Luncheon) “Won’t exactly be rocking out!”. My screenshot way up above shows Troy’s amusement and somewhat affectionate indulging in Kelsi’s sarcasm. And Kelsi certainly finds his decision to steal Jimmie’s clothes in HSM III hilarious. (Don’t ask me). In the same film, we get a glimpse of the potential teasing, sarcastic sense of humour that could characterize their off-screen conversations: “Hoops Man! Over here! You look like you’re having the time of your life!” To add to the esoteric nature of their relationship, the use of nicknames seems likely. 

On the topic of nicknames, Troy and Kelsi are the only ones who use nicknames in a reciprocal fashion. Gabriella calls Troy “Wildcat” (in an often patronizing fashion), but Troy just calls her “Gabriella”. Chad calls Troy “Hoops”, but Troy just calls him “Chad”. With his and Kelsi’s friendship, such is the equal nature of it that even the nicknames are shared. He confers on her the status of Playmaker, she calls him Hoops Man. Interestingly, Troy does not mind this coming from Kelsi-- most likely because she has never viewed him entirely through the prism of being a basketball player. Even MORE interestingly, she uses a basketball-related nickname during THEATRE rehearsals. The very side of Troy that he still struggles to reveal thanks to how his basketball career overshadows his past, present and future. Why does Kelsi do this? At first glance, this might appear counter-productive. But consider this in context; they have had a disastrous rehearsal, everyone is pissed with Troy, the energy is down. Kelsi calling him Hoops Man snaps him right back to attention. He’s focused. It’s like the Coach during practice, and Troy knows this like the back of his hand. Instantly, he turns around, his attention drawn away from the disastrous rehearsal. So Kelsi is once again bringing him back from the brink of self-doubt and endless blame. Also, the nickname “Hoops Man” is a definite compliment. Chad calls him “Hoops”, which makes him sound like an inanimate object. Kelsi calls him “Hoops Man”, showing there’s a human being behind the skill. This is coming from someone who doesn’t know what a Game Ball is and wanders around twirling it in her hands, looking extremely awkward, not to mention “basketball class”, and “Playmaker...??” And by referring to Troy’s skill in basketball, she is basically telling him that he can kill it on stage just like he does on the basketball court. The results of this pep talk (minus the odious Gabriella worship!) are to calm Troy considerably so that by the next scene, when he is preparing for prom, he is showing happiness and excitement for the first time in a while. (Of course, this is cruelly crushed just moments later, but... *sigh*) 

I will expand on why Troy and Kelsi NEEDED more scenes together in the next instalment and provide some areas where this might have helped.

TO BE CONTINUED

(*FOOTNOTE-- I like Taylor McKessie. She’s fierce and fun and bubbly and smart. But her prejudice and subsequent behaviour towards Troy is inexcusable. What is interesting is that prior to Gabriella taking an interest in Troy, Taylor was quite happy for the world to hear about her disdain for Primo Boys/Sports Stars. During the detention scene in HSM I, she barely uses a whisper when she mocks Chad, who is sitting right in front of her: “That’ll be tough for Chad since he probably can’t count that high!” And later, she has a derogatory poster of Troy made with no shame whatsoever. (Again, I give Gabriella credit for not finding this amusing or persuasive). It’s hilarious and completely uncalled for. But she’s openly disdainful. By the time we get to HSM II, she’s smiling to Troy’s face and denigrating him behind his back. Why the change? I think it’s because she can’t bring herself to admit that Troy DOESN’T represent any of the stereotypes that she attaches to Primo Boys; her apparent vendetta against him is based on his status more than it is on him. In HSM I, she called him a lunkhead twice. In HSM II and HSM III, she no longer does this. Sadly, based on her behaviour in HSM II, it’s not because she had some moral epiphany, but she’s found another way to criticize him. You can see the rationale in her head: based on HSM I, she now concludes “Troy’s a nice guy”, and then BUT... Cue the new round of criticism. This is astonishing, as out of the two it is CHAD who is more of a douche throughout the movies, but she’s willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because of her feelings towards him. As she has no feelings for Troy, it is easier to maintain her prejudices against Primo Boy status. And Chad, who is supposed to be Troy’s best friend, allows her to talk smack about his buddy in front of him with no comment whatsoever. ([C] “Troy would never do that!”/[T] “You’ve got eyes: use them!”) Insane hypocrisy, but I’ve come to expect this from the Wildcats by now).

(**FOOTNOTE-- Despite Chad’s dismissive way of addressing Kelsi in HSM I, it appears by HSM II that he quite likes her. I am intrigued by what they were discussing prior to the Silent Treatment scene. [K] “It’s okay, Ryan can help!” Help what? By this time, they know that they will not be able to participate in the Lava Springs Talent Show, and yet I am always led to assume that Kelsi meant something dance-related. Maybe I am wrong. And the recipient of this help appears to be Chad, who says, [C] “I don’t know...” But Kelsi remains optimistic: [K] “He’ll get it, eventually!” I have no idea what they are referring to, much less when Chad and Kelsi were on friendly chatting terms over breakfast. Not that I object to this, as Kelsi would no doubt be a good influence on Chad! But the show never shows the transition from calling someone “small person” to discussing something like one might discuss the weather. However, I will draw the viewer’s attention back to early HSM II, where Kelsi babbles on about her beloved Talent Show, claiming “I’ve got ideas for EVERYONE; you guys can sing the lead, and maybe CHAD and ZEKE can do backup and everyone can dance!” (Capital emphasis my own). How did Kelsi come upon the information that Chad was capable of doing backup vocals? Did Chad suddenly show an interest in music in between the Winter Musical and the Summer Holidays? Did Kelsi do a survey? It would have been nice to have these details. Anyway, this apparent knowledge that Kelsi has of Chad’s musical skills further undermine his silly pantomime of braggadocio in that glorious waste of time called “I Don’t Dance”.)

(***FOOTNOTE-- It apparently never occurs to Troy that his “forgiveness” from Chad in HSM II was entirely engineered by Kelsi. Indeed, that’s the first thing that Chad says is “Kelsi told us what went down between you and Sharpay”. It appears not to affect Troy that Kelsi is responsible for this, nor that Chad, who had previously been ignoring him outright, was now making eye contact and walking over to him. Given Troy’s attempt to muster up the courage for his “apology”, I assume he had expected a struggle to get Chad’s attention. (Perhaps one of his pre-prepared speeches). The “apology” scene went off without a hitch, and that’s all due to Kelsi. And yet Troy is never shown to have taken note of this fact, let alone thanked Kelsi for helping him repair his friendships. Neither does Kelsi hang around to take the credit. There are two possible reasons for this: the first, that Troy has been so worn down by the Wildcats’ spitefulness and is desperate to get back into their good books. The fact that Chad is willing to lend him an ear engenders sheer relief. In the resulting friendships that are fixed, he has no time to consider how this was possible. His only objective was to stop the Wildcats giving him dirty looks, avoiding his path and refusing to speak with him. Remember, the beginning of the Silent Treatment was at breakfast time, but Troy appears to speak with Sharpay during the afternoon. That’s six or more hours work-time with no one speaking to him. He leaves his omelette untouched, but what about lunchtime? What about when he crosses someone’s path from the kitchens? After going through the humiliation and upset, the only thing on Troy’s mind is putting an end to it; he cracks like glass. The second reason is that the screenwriters don’t care enough about Troy and Kelsi’s friendship or basic continuity, even though they took the care to demonstrate this friendship as being superior to the main romantic couple in almost every way!) 

[abitterlifethroughcinema]

Three (+1) Movies You Ought to Catch This Week!

                     WOKE! Film Reviews

                                    by

                        Lucas A Cavazos

Widows #### Steve McQueen has really begun to whet his appetite on fare that is directly in tune with things people need or want to see at the time of release. After his last film Twelve Years a Slave swept the Oscar a few years back, the industry sat on its laurels while Trump took office and the British McQueen took to work on this stellar heist film.  In this case, we are going to take a look into the deeper side of inner-city Chicago, fusing ward life, a quatrain of husbands’ deaths, politics and a smidgen of church and family…life, that is to say. What you see and what you get is sure fire suspense and a feeling that the gals behind Ocean’s 8 some months back may have preferred being in this caper. Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki and Carrie Coon make up the ‘widows’ of this film, whose hubbies are knocked off during a heist gone awry in an incredible action sequence which commences the film, truly brilliant. When Veronica Rawlings (Davis) is accosted at home, she discovers her husband’s original plans by searching their private bank vault and, as well as, finding nudie pics of a hotshot politician, she takes it upon herself to contact the ladies of the men who were killed along with her husband, played by Liam Neeson incidentally, if even but for a moment. On the other hand runs a political theme, which finds such skilled hands under the direction of McQueen, whose mastery of highlighting the linear aspects of the characters truly identify the black vs. white drama which ensues even today in the USA. The fact that he uses its most violent city as its backdrop is perfectly poignant. Robert Duvall and Colin Farrell play politicos who want to get the black vote stabilised under their control throughout the wards of Chicago, and though Farrell is slightly annoying, the fact that their surname is Mulligan says it all, frankly. There are some moments of lull and formulaic scenes once the heist plans are laid bare and set in to action, but one can NOT help feel a sense of internal “Hell Yeah, baby!” when the going gets tough towards the film’s end. McQueen has found a perfect recipe to fuse important elements that will attract modern US society and Lawd knows the masses are likely to show up in droves. (Now playing across Catalonia and Spain)

Fantasic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald ###  The last time I critiqued J.K. Rowling’s last big production, I was writing for the local English magazine, and I recall sitting in the screening thinking, “Did I shave my legs for this trite shite?” That said, it is a good thing that director David Yates has returned from his Harry Potter daze to take the reins of this saga…or is that me being too kind? With a running theme that implies the horrid nature of racism, which is at least one positive about the film, and decent performances by Johnny Depp and Eddie Redmayne are quite well done to be sure, the film does not turn into a total snore-fest, but it is still no way near the bravado of Rowling’s original efforts with Harry and his mates. This time around, we find the oddly-named Newt Scamander (I mean, honestly!), played by Redmayne, seeking a way to re-instate his passport availability, and when he is charged with the task of protecting Credence Barebone (again with these bloody names!), the child with an obscurial, which harnesses his rage and can turn it into a ghastly and scary power force, he gets to move on and travel to Paris. All of this is to thwart the malevolent advances of a dark villain known as Gellert Grindelwald (Depp). Ugh…we all still together here? Well then comes the unknown myths and history explained in flashbacks, as well as, the dubious nature of this young Barebone, who is adopted, and this is when Rowling’s famed sociological study comes out referencing bloodlines and the nature of family. I actually started to enjoy the film as this corner was turned….but so long into an already long film also serves to show us what is coming up short. That would be  that when telling such a daunting tale with oh-so-many back stories, there needs to be a stronger semblance of coherence. What we had with the Potter series (which was an aide) was that we could always turn to the books to remember and recall scenes and background. We don’t have that with Fantastic Beasts, and the fact that there could be more of this makes me less than desirous to see what happens with Newt and his admirable cronies-in-good. (Now playing across Catalonia and Spain)

Bad Times at the El Royale ###-1/2   Starring a host of insanely good actors in a mondo bizarro film, Bad Times takes one on a trip fuelled by 90s indie darlings like Tarantino mixed with a dash of Bates Motel depression and a tinge of the crazy claustrophobia of Oliver Stone’s U-Turn, and it is a wild ride, trust; so those attending should be duly noted and not be too sober. The name comes from a Lake Tahoe-based hotel set in kitsch 60s decor, with on e wing of the hotel in California and another in Nevada, therefore permitting casino-style slots and action. Told in notable-titled chapters, director Drew Goddard tells us the story of singer Darlene Sweet (the amazing Cynthia Ervio), who arrives at the hotel with a contract to sing at some Reno dive. Jeff Bridges plays a priest, Jon Hamm a vacuum cleaner salesman, and Dakota Johnson as a sociopathic-leaning hippie. Throw in Chris Hemsworth as a hippie-like action cult leader, and you get some good Hollywood acting fodder. Erivo shines (she also is brilliant in the aforementioned Widows, reviewed above!) as Darlene, and her vocals throughout the film, which itself is infused with 60s soul tunes, make the death scenes and splatter ones all the more so palatable if still creepy and gruesome. The film begins with someone undoing a room in the tacky-ass hotel and burying a case full of money, only to then re-put the room into proper order. Thereby, time apparently passes and the motley crew that assemble at the cursed hotel find that hey are in for the pounding of a lifetime. This film would have been much relished had it come out 20 years ago, and so I’m curious to see how audiences and other critics react to and interpret Goddard and cast’s thrilling kill-fest because nothing is quite what it seems, and the intensity behind what may or may not come is hauntingly spooky yet oddly familiar somehow. (Now playing select theatres in parts of Catalonia and Spain)

Our New President ###-1/2   Premiering in Spain at L’Alternativa a couple of weeks back, this little-seen but oh so well-done documentary focuses on something many of us have not seen or heard…the Russian news outlet view of the Presidential elections of 2016. Director Maxim Pozdorovkin has taken scores of scenes from Russian news, as well as, detailing many of the minds behind the production and presentation of said “news,” thrown it in a blender and then methodically played out all these scenes to us, the stunned and often enraged viewer. What makes this doc so spellbinding is that there are no (virtually none, anyway) inklings to the US and its view of the campaigns. Within 20/25 minutes, we see that everything we presumed about Russian interference and aid to Trump for his election were quite obviously happening. It is a true mind fuck, and I do not use that word-phrase lightly! Some of the newscasts and reports that were so staunchly in favour of The Orange One and hyping Hillary as Killary. What starts off as a rather odd, even unmotivated doc, soon turns into a full assault of the political senses, and I urge everyone reading this to check it out. (Now available VOD)

[royal-despair-threads]

Takuma & Izaya [Prologue]

Looking over at the blonde haired heterochromatic, Takuma couldn't help but feel a slight pity for them. They seemed like they were on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and the arguments that had flooded the room earlier certainly wouldn't have helped that. So, getting to his feet, Takuma snuck up behind the kid, who he'd admittedly forgotten the name of, and placed a hand down on their head, ruffling their hair a bit.

"How're you doing, what'syerface?" He said in an upbeat tone. "You look like you're one comment away from bawling your eyes out."

To be completely honest, they'd looked like that almost the entire time Takuma had known them, but he wouldn't tell them that.

Oh mercy. Izaya didn't even see it coming. Because it all happened behind them really. They felt their hair compress, the feeling of the hand spooked them enough, but hearing a voice from nowhere along with the mysterious hand pushed Izaya right into scream territory.

"AaaaAAAAAAAAAAAA-!!" They yelped and spun around. Their feet got all tangled up and they fell onto their butt. Ow. They winced, looking up at Takuma. Well, at least it wasn't Petra. Didn't stop them being terrified,

"Plea-Please don't hurt me-!!!"

Well, that was certainly loud.

If years of performing and listening to loud music hadn't given him tinnitus, that screech probably did.

"Woah woah woah, calm down buddy. It's just me, your friendly neighbourhood Spiderman." Takuma spoke in a calm tone, a concerned glint to his eye. "I'm not gonna hurt you, everything is fine, relax."

"You're....Sp...Spiderman?" Izaya asked, clearly confused. Not that they knew who the heck Spiderman was anyway. They got to their feet witha  wobbily start, "I....Um.....okay." Izaya tried to fiddle with their sweatbands to calm down with they were still a little startled, "I'm Izaya....hhh.."

Giving the newly dubbed Izaya a more mischievous grin, Takuma reached out a hand to help pull them to their feet.

"I'm Takuma, nice to meet you." A slight chuckle emerged from him when Izaya began to fiddle with his wristbands. "I'm guessing you're not too good with people? No biggie, i'm not much of a people person myself if i'm being honest."

Izaya was thankful for the hand up, it definitely helped ease them a little, "No I....before this. Um. I never left......I didn't go out much...."

"Well that's no good, is it?" Takuma said, his voice taking on a goofy tone, similar to that of a certain purple dinosaur. "I guess Uncle Takuma's going to have to help you out!"

Taking a seat by Izaya, the guitarist crossed his arm, face stretching into an exaggeratedly serious expression. "Now, is there anyone here you want to introduce yourself to? Maybe a boy or girl you find cute?" He releases a gasp. "Do you have a crush on someone?"

Suddenly remembering that Izaya was anxiety in human form, he quickly backpedalled. "I'm only joking about that last bit, don't panic or anything."

"A-a-a-a cru-crush?!!? S-so soon?!?!" Izaya wheezed embarrassedly; oh god, DID they have a crush?! No, surely not?! But if Takuma brought it up there's probably SOMETHING that suggests they do-

"I-I don't think- I really don't think I have one, Takuma-san-!"

"Alright then, forget about the crush thing." Takuma said, attempting to look serious once more. "Is there anyone here you'd like to talk to, but you're too scared to approach?"

Izaya calmed down and tried to think rationally, "W-Well.....I don't really know. My goal....I mean....I want," they paused, trying to find the words, "I just, I really want to get alo-along with everyone..."

He couldn't help but pinch the bridge of his nose, a sigh emerging from behind his hand, not even thinking of how Izaya may interpret the action.

"...Okay, you want to get along with everyone, but you can't really do that if you don't talk to them all first. So, who haven't you talked to yet?" "...Not counting the unconscious guy." He quickly got rid of that loophole.

"U-Um...." They counted on their fingers, "S-Scary red head..." Petra, "The um, sh-shy girl with the braids.." Chiyo, "A-And um...the um, p-person in the g-greenish fancy suit..." Ethel. They tried to remember more, "Um....i d-don't remember the others y-yet, sorry..."

Giving the blonde a relaxed grin, Takuma couldn't help but giggle slightly. "It's fine, you don't need to apologise. Hell, I barely remember half the people I meet, let alone the people in here."

Thinking in his head of the trio of students Izaya had mentioned, a conclusion was quickly reached.

"Alright then, of those three, Chiyo seems the easiest for you to deal with right now." He pointed to the girl, patting the blonde lightly on the shoulder as he did so. "Now, she seems shy too, so you don't have to worry about coming off too nervous. I find that a good way to start a conversation is to make the other person laugh, so maybe try telling her a joke?"

The grin suddenly turned mischievous. "Please note that all this information will be on the test, so you may want to write it down."

Izaya. Tell a joke. Oh my god. They tried to comprehend the idea of just walking up and telling someone a joke, but the mention of the word 'test' made them feel sick to their stomach. They did grab their stomach a little, "Ugh....um, I h-hope not. Tests make me....s-super anxious.."

Giggling once more, Takuma ruffled Izaya's hair. "I was only kidding, you should take most of my random comments with a grain of salt, because they're almost always jokes." Still, looking at the anxiety they were feeling, Takuma couldn't help but pity them more.

"Alright, ixnay of the okejay. Maybe you could just go up to her and introduce yourself? She doesn't seem like the type to ignore you, or anything like that."

The hair ruffling wasn't unpleasent, though it was weirdly the one thing Izaya hadn't expected to get used to. Welp. They piped up, even raising their hand, "Q-Question?"

Pretending to put on a pair of glasses, Takuma tried to look as professional as possible.

"Yes, Izaya? What is it? I'd hate for you to be held back a year." Even his tone of voice was serious.

"U-um, w-what if she thinks I'm w-weird and never wants to t-talk to- to talk to me ever again, because," they stopped for an anxious breath, "B-Because she thinks I'm insa- insane and w-weird or m-maybe c-creepy, and what if she tells everyone else I'm weird and they s- they st-start to hate me anD-!!"

Takuma quickly put his finger to his mouth, hushing Izaya as he ruffled their hair lightly.

"Relax, deep breath in..."

"Deep breath out..."

Giving them a nervous grin, Takuma couldn't help but encourage them.

"Look, the hardest part of any situation is the wait beforehand. Your mind will come up with hundreds of over the top situations, each more ridiculous than the last. I'd know, I felt the same way going back to school for the first time." A strange sadness seemed to fill his eyes for a moment, before returning to normal. "The fact of the matter is, those things will only happen if you let them happen. If you go into the situation expecting a certain outcome, good or bad, you're more likely to get it."

"It's fine to be nervous. Hell, if you didn't get nervous, I don't think you could really be considered human. But letting your nerves control you is the worst thing you can do. You've got to acknowledge your worries, and face them head on, a smile on your face the whole time."

Taking a quick breath, Takuma went to continue, but suddenly decided to remain silent. He'd surely gotten the point across, he didn't need to say anything else.

what a hypocrite

Izaya had to admit, Takuma was makign a ton of sense. They were scared to let the worst happen, but maybe he was right; if they just tried to put aside the worst of the options, maybe only good would come of introducing themselves to the others. .....Unless unforseen circumstances kicked in and-

NO. BAD.

They took a deep breath,

"Takuma-san, um, what.....let's say things do go badly, what would I do to um....to fix it?"

Of course they'd ask that, what with their limitless anxiety.

"If things go badly, laugh it off. There's no reason to let stuff like that linger over you. Again, the worst thing you can do is let your nerves control you. If you don't just move on, it'll just make it harder to do so."

He would know.

"R-right.....Right..." Izaya didn't believe in themselves quite yet, but they began to believe in Takuma. "H-Hey um.....thank you."

"No problem kid. Oh, by the way, I never told you my talent, did I?" He pointed to himself, a cheeky grin on his face. "I'm the SHSL Acoustic Guitarist. I can play other guitars, but my acoustic music tops anything else."

"How about you? I never caught your talent."

"Oh! Th-that's pretty cool." They definitely thought Takuma suited his talent, "I make f-fireworks."

"Then i'm sure she'll be blown away by your charm." He said, the pun quite clearly intended, before hearing the gravedigger talk.