#this was another fun one to colour correct. not a super dramatic difference but I think it helped

[brookbee]

David Bowie performing "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)," 1974

[shadowed-dancer]

My Thoughts on the New MHA Opening and Ending

I have thoughts, and I will share them because oh boy if I don’t get this out I’m gonna explode

Vague Spoilers for the manga (up to chapter 258 and vigilantes) because I discuss the upcoming arcs, but I don’t discuss any major plot points in detail. Still, proceed with caution if you’re anime only

Keep in mind, this OP and ED will cover the Endeavour Agency Arc and the MVA Arc, so I will be judging them accordingly.

First, the OP

This is a good OP... in theory (that’s going to become my catchphrase for this post). It’s nice to look at and flows pretty well, but my biggest problem is that it doesn’t do it’s job. An OP is supposed to be a sort of... summary (?) of the Cour it plays for. That means any cool plot points, emotional beats, and important characters should be featured in some way, shape, or form. We’ll talk about that more later, but first let’s discuss the music.

The song is really good. I have a feeling it will continue to grow on me as I listen to it more often, but yeah my first impression is that the song sounds great. My only complaint about the music itself is that it ends kind of abruptly (I noticed this is the JT opening too). The previous openings used to have a bit of instrumental to “play us out” and lead us to the end card, but this one feels like it ends very suddenly and unnaturally.

As for the visuals...

Yeah alright I’ll admit, the visuals are stunning... in theory. I appreciate the variety in backgrounds and colours, it makes the OP really interesting to look at. This was actually one of my biggest problems with the JT Opening, it all took place on the training grounds, so there was no variety (everything was metal tubes with a blue sky, with only 3 shots set somewhere different). I appreciate the style of this OP.

But like I said, that’s only in theory, as in, through screenshots these are all pleasing to look at. The pacing of this OP is wild, and I truly don’t know who to blame for this.

That sunset shot above? It lasts approximately 12 seconds, zooming in every few to make it seem like something is happening (when in reality it’s still the same poses, angles, etc). While there’s nothing wrong with a nice, drawn out shot, it becomes irritating when compared to the pacing of the rest of this op.

At the 41 second mark, we are given the shot above. It has flowed directly from the previous sunset scene. We still have not moved away from the image of the trio (aside from the opening shot and the title card) yet we’re approaching the halfway mark of the OP.

The next shot is the MLA, which lasts about 5 seconds. Ok, perfect. Not too long, but also not short enough to be confusing. It cuts away a little fast once the dude on the far left appears, but does anyone actually know who that is? No, seriously, I’m asking. I don’t remember his name and he’s not on the wiki, so I can only assume he’s not important. Therefore, it’s not all that bad if the shot cuts away shortly after he comes into frame. The audience is able to take in the scene without having to pause...

... And then the problems start

While this shot is fine in theory, it pans up fast and  cuts away quickly. You know how hard it was for me to get this screenshot? Really hard. You want to know why I struggled so much? Because, due to the timing of the cut and the way it pans upwards, it’s almost impossible to pause on Dabi’s face. I literally had to go frame by frame to get it, because he’s in shot for so little time that naturally pausing is guaranteed to miss him.

When watching this in real time (without pausing) the cut away makes you feel as if you missed something because “something was there, I just couldn’t register what because now it’s gone”. Unlike Compress, who wears a very colourful coat you can recognize the entire time, Dabi’s pants are more blended into the background.

It also doesn’t help that this shot is literally composed to draw your attention away from Dabi until the last possible second. Due to framing, your eye is naturally drawn to the brightly coloured Toga in the foreground, making it super easy to miss Dabi in the back (until, of course, his bright face appears and contrasts against the background, drawing your eye just in time for the scene to change, leaving you to wonder who or what you missed).

I know this sounds like nitpicking, but this shot is the only group shot we get of the League, and is also the start of a seriously weird trend for the villains in this OP getting the short end of the stick.

Anyways, then we get what I’ll call “The Carousel Shot” in which every Class 1A kid shows up and poses dramatically, as if they were on a carousel. It’s a lovely sequence and I really enjoy watching it but... why is it in this OP?

Seriously, this is a genuine question. Class 1A barely shows up in the Endeavour Agency Arc, and NONE of the students are in MVA. This sequence (not counting the three boys at the end) lasts 8 seconds. Why is this much time dedicated to characters who are barely in the arc? (Unless Studio Bones extends their work studies into fuller plot lines which oh my gosh please don’t do that, or if they do, do it quick).

We then get what I call the “Oh God I Blinked And Missed Everything” sequence, which lasts 3 seconds (not including the longer, moving shot of Shigaraki at the end) and features NINE INDIVIDUAL IMAGES, none of which are related to each other. Not only is this 3 images per second, but the fact that they are all unrelated means you can’t even use previous information to fill in the blanks.

What do I mean by that? Well, imagine if I show you 9 images of various pro heroes posing. If I play that in 3 seconds you’ll absolutely miss some of them, but as long as you catch some you’ll still get an idea of what I’m trying to show to you. Your brain is able to fill in the gaps that “I recognized 4 pro heroes, therefore the rest must have also been pros” even if you didn’t register every single frame.

That doesn’t work if every frame features a completely different subject. The shots in this sequence vary so widely that it’s impossible to find a through line. Some feature multiple characters, some feature one, some are closeups, some are super far away, some are character’s we know, others are characters we don’t. It’s impossible to get a solid read on what you’re being shown.

Now, again, there’s nothing wrong with these super quick shots... in theory. The problem comes from the fact that these shots are the only indicators for some of the major themes that will be explored during this Cour (like Twice’s growth and young Shigaraki).

That being said, let’s move away from criticism and talk about speculation, because hidden amongst this sequence are two... interesting images.

This All Might one is very reminiscent of the shot in Chapter 257, where Aizawa and All Might have a conversation while staring up at the stars. However, this is technically the start of the “War Arc” (or the “prologue”, if that’s what you want to call it), so this might indicate that we’re going to get farther into the series than a lot of us guessed.

(Many people suspected we’d get to that cliffhanger at the start of the season (if you read the manga you know the one), but after seeing the pacing for JT a lot of us assumed we’d be lucky to even finish Endeavour Agency. It seems we’re back to the cliffhanger now though lol). 

This is another really interesting shot because it’s indicative of Shirakumo, meaning we might get to see Aizawa and Mic confront him some time this Cour (this also makes sense, since this confrontation technically happens before that All Might scene I mentioned in the previous paragraph).

But the cat specifically is a really strange addition. That cat is named Sushi and, correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think Sushi is ever mentioned in the main series. I think he’s only in Vigilantes.

This might just be a little Easter Egg for Vigilante readers, but I’m personally hoping that they’ll add at least a few Vigilante shots in there to really tug at the heart strings. I’d say I want a whole Vigilante episode but I don’t think they have the time (unless they really cram MVA, which I do NOT want).

I don’t have much to say about the last bit of the OP. The action shot between the 3 boys was nice, and it follows the sort of narrative through line they established from the early shot of them sitting at the sunset. I also like the shot of Endeavour fading in to replace All Might, even if it’s very simple.

But I want to talk about an overarching problem I touched upon earlier in that villain shot: the way the villains are handled in this OP.

This is a good OP... in theory. The problem is, it doesn’t represent half the arcs in the cour! Every shot of the League is so rushed that you can barely register that they were on screen before they’re gone.

I have no idea how many Episodes Endeavour Agency will take, but I’d assume 3 (4 if you count the Christmas episode). 12 episodes for this Cour minus 3 for Endeavour Agency = 9 episodes left. If we truly do get the prologue for the War Arc (and if we assume it’s only 1 episode) that leaves us with 8 villains episodes.

8/12 episodes (aka two thirds of the Cour) will likely be about the villains. And yet they’re pushed to the background so hard in this OP.

I want to dream, and I want to believe that this OP is going to magically change when MVA starts. The song fits super well, and I can imagine like an inversion of the OP but from the Villain side! Wouldn’t that be neat? Imagine right after the “it’s alright” part Shigaraki just freaking decays the title card... oh man that would be so cool. But, alas, I highly doubt they’d do that.

Side rant, but you know what was so fun about MVA in the manga? It’s that, for 21 chapters, we leave the kids behind and the villains become our protagonists. Suddenly Shigaraki is the one we’re rooting for, suddenly we’re learning backstories for everyone, and suddenly we find ourselves just as attached to the villains as we are to the kids. It’s an inversion that’s SO RARE to find, and I think many people (myself included) were hoping it would be reflected in the OP.

A big part of being the protagonist means featuring heavily in the OP, and a lot of us just wanted the villains to get that honour, even if only once. As is, the OP still treats them as the antagonists when... really they aren’t. Not right now, at least.

So yeah, final thoughts on the OP are that it’s good, it’s just not very representative of the arcs it’s supposed to cover. If this was just for Endeavour Agency, I’d say it’s actually really cool, but if we assume that this is what will play for the Villain Arc, then it simply doesn’t do it’s job. And it makes me sad to say that because, again, this OP is really well done.

If I had to rate it? Hmmm

If Studio Bones actually grants my wish and creates a different visual for the Villain Arc (while using the same song) and then this version only plays for the Endeavour Agency Arc and the War Prologue? I’d give it an 8/10. It’s really good, but it could use a few more elements that are clearly derived from the Agency Arc (ahem, Todoroki siblings).

But if this is the OP that will play for the entire Cour? a 6.5/10. It’s nice, but it’s not representative of one of the arcs it’s going to cover. And, unlike other arcs like Pro Hero or Summer Exams, the villain Arc is so important and takes up so much time that it honestly feels like a bit of a disservice.

Now for the Ending

I want to say that I appreciate how soft this ending starts. This cour will likely feature a lot of episodes that end on... heavier themes, and I think the sight of peaceful, falling raindrops is the perfect way to let the audience process their emotions before starting the ending in earnest.

The song itself is very nice, and I like that it’s a bit slower than the more recent endings.

(Side note, but the FUNNIEST moment in the entire series is when Sir Nighteye dies because it’s so emotional and everyone is standing around his bed in his heartwrentching silence, only for the ending to come BLARING IN out of no where. If you forgot how jarringly hilarious it was, go listen to the Eri ending and tell me that’s not the funniest thing this series ever did. Anyways yeah I’m glad that’s not gonna happen this Cour).

This ending is a bit all over the place in terms of it’s visuals, but honestly I think it works. Most endings usually have a theme tying them together (all the Class 1A girls, a fantasy AU, old photographs, planning a party, etc) but this ending’s theme is a bit harder to identify.

That being said, I think it’s just supposed to show everyone going about their day. It’s calm, it’s peaceful, and it’s just very sweet to think about

I like this shot. Actually, scratch that, I like this whole sequence. I enjoy anything that allows Class 1A to chill and have fun.

Hawks is featured quite heavily in this ending which, fair. He’s pretty important in this arc.

I really love the shot where Endeavour immediately switches to Hawks, I thought that was a lot of fun, and very good symbolism on how Hawks wants to be like Endeavour. I also love all the shots of Baby Hawks, because it’s adorable.

Something about this shot is just so cute. It’s the little domestic things like waiting for a bus that make this ending feel... idk the word, real? It shows a side of the characters that we’ll never see in the episodes, but we know have to exist.

Like yes, of course the kids have to wait for the bus. We never see it, but of course there are those moments of quiet. Agh, I love it.

The villains also make an appearance and I’m very happy about that (I’d love to see more of the villains just chilling around, I think they deserve it). I kind of wish they weren’t sitting in a dark room for the sake of being edgy, since I think it would be nice to see the villains just... sort of existing, but honestly it’s still a nice shot. I also like how this shot sort of mirrors the first one with Class 1A (someone coming in while everyone else is sitting and waiting for them).

That being said, as much as I love looking at Dabi and his stupid face (affectionate)... why is Dabi the one getting the closeup?

Mind you, endings don’t need to be connected to their Cours (they can be, like the Eri one, but they don’t have to be). But this ending does seem to be connected to the arcs it intends to cover, given all the Hawks appearances, the boys wearing their work study scarves, etc.

So, I ask again, why Dabi? Out of the six League members, we learn the backstory for four of them in this arc (Shigaraki, Toga, Twice, and we very briefly learn about Spinner). The only two left out are Dabi and Compress.

I can only assume they chose Dabi because he’s constantly in contact with Hawks, and therefore that makes him important? If the OP told us anything, it’s that Bones values the Endeavour Agency Arc over the Villain Arc lol...

... Oh my gosh please tell me that’s not actually the reason Dabi is focused on here BONES WAI-

Anyways, the ending comes to a close with Hawks watching over the kids and Endeavour. The relaxing time is done, it’s time for work studies.

Overall impression? It’s great. It’s hard to screw up an ending, so as long as you have something pretty on screen, it’s wonderful.

I’ll give this a 9/10

[rowaning]

The Complete Fiction of HP Lovecraft rated by me, someone who read them all* but has a terrible memory

The Beast in The Cave: uh a guy goes on a cave tour and finds a creature that was like a human that got lost and adapted to its surroundings. 0/10 just because im pretty sure there was another one with this exact premise and neither of them were memorable at all.

The Alchemist: dude achieves immortality and lives in the narrators basement and has pledged to murder his entire lineage or something. 4/10 the alchemy stuff was actually kind of interesting

The Tomb: im pretty sure this is the one where a guy starts hanging out in a tomb and like travels back in time/becomes one of his ancestors? 5/10 if its the one im thinking of i did enjoy reading it

Dagon: guy lands on a mysterious island with signs of a long dead civilization. 1/10 i do not remember what happened in it

A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson: 0/10 i have no memory of this

Polaris: also 0/10 i forgot all about it

Beyond the Wall of Sleep: could be any of the dream focused ones. if its the one about the dude sailing into the void or whatever than 4/10 not too bad

Memory: ironically, i dont remember it. 0/10

Old Bugs: 1/10 for the title god i wish i remembered this one

The Transition of Juan Romero: i got nothing. 0/10

The White Ship: this might also be the one about the dude sailing into the void? i liked that one he lived in a lighthouse and boarded a dream ship and just fucking left it was fun. 4/10

The Street: uh i think really steep street that didnt actually exist. 3/10

The Doom that Came to Sarnath: i wanna say another one of the dream centered ones where a town discovers some old relics and blatantly disrespects them and gets exactly whats coming to it. 5/10 they deserved what they got

The Statement of Randolph Carter: ok this dude shows up several times. i think this one is about how he returns to his childhood home then travels back in time and creates a time loop paradox thing. 1/10 meh

The Terrible Old Man: uh some thieves harrass a weird old guy and get got. 5/10

The Cats of Ulthar: someone is mean to a cat in a dream city, all of the rest of the cats get revenge and are revered for the rest of time. 2/10 (-3 because lovecraft has a specific name he gives to apparently every fictional and real cat he encounters and wow i wish he hadn't)

The Tree: i feel like this is something to do with a person becoming a tree but i cant actually remember. 0/10

Celephais: yeah no i got nothing 0/10

The Picture in the House: also nothing 0/10

The Temple: nope 0/10

Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and his Family: is this the one where the dude's great grandfather married an ape? i dont think so but im not sure. 0/10, -5/10 if it is that one cause that one was especially shitty

From Beyond: nope 0/10

Nyarlathotep: charismatic dude shows up and is like get in bitches we're going to the void. i love nyarlathotep cause hes the one who directly interacts with humanity and like wears a human suit or whatever so hes just some dude whos like hey im gonna feed you to azathoth 5/0

The Quest of Iranon: got nothing 0/10

The Music of Erich Zann: narrator makes friends with an old musician whos being hunted by supernatural forces. 2/10 because i remember it but it was just ok

Ex Oblivione: 1/10 for the title but i have no clue what it was about

Sweet Ermengarde: lovecraft's sole attempt at comedy. not to my taste like at all 0/10

The Nameless city: nope 0/10

The Outsider: also nope 0/10

The Moon-Bog: sounds cool, dont remember it. 0/10

The Other Gods: dude tries to find the gods of humanity where they live on a big mountain, actually finds them, is immediately smited by the Other Gods who protect the gods of humanity. 3/10 he deserved it

Azathoth: dont recall, 0/10

Herbert West- Reanimator: Arkham man Herbert West and his assistant ressurect the dead with little thought to the consequences, then get murdered by a band of said resurrected dead. 5/10

Hypnos: nope 0/10

What the Moon Brings: also nope 0/10

The Hound: still nope 0/10

The Lurking Fear: again, nope 0/10

The Rats in the Walls: dude returns to his ancestral home, hears rats, excavates the basement and finds out that his ancestors ate human flesh, eats his friend. 1/10 it was an interesting read but can lovecraft please stop calling cats that.

The Unnameable: no clue 0/10

The Festival: nope 0/10

*Under the Pyramids: ok im pretty sure this is the one with houdini which is the only one i could not read. i went into this mentally prepared for lovecraft's bigotry but i was not mentally prepared for him dropping harry houdini, avid skeptic who absolutely would have beat the shit out of him for this, into the middle of his super racist paranormal horror. -1000/10

The Shunned House: nope 0/10

The Horror at Red Hook: also nope 0/10

He: cool title, no memory of the story. 0/10

In the Vault: wow im bad at this. 0/10

Cool Air: still no 0/10

The Call of Cthulhu: kind of all over the place, there was a thing about artists and then a thing about a cop investigating a cult. 3/10 meh but ill give it a bonus for being a staple of horror fiction.

Pickman's Model: uh artist sees some wild shit and draws it and then it eats him. 2/10 i forget the details

The Strange High House in the Mist: if this is the one im thinking of, dude does a dangerous climb to find a mysterious house and meet the inhabitant who is kind of interdimensional and also being hunted by interdimensional things. also maybe the house eats people? 2/10

The Silver Key: another Randolph Carter one, and i think this is actually the one about him travelling back in time so idk what the other one was. 3/10

The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath: randolph carter goes on a quest in the dream world to find the gods of humanity and ask why they wont let him check out this cool city he can see from his window. lots of action and very wordy and went a lot of different places. 4/10 good read but extremely xenophobic

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward: guy investigates his ancestor who looks disturbingly like him, ancestor comes back to life and kills him and takes his place and a bunch of other stuff happens. mostly a dramatized genealogical study. 3/10 not bad, very suspenseful

The Colour Out Of Space: meteor lands on a farm, scientists get weirded out by it, everything in the area gets weird then dead, alien thing gets enough power from draining nearby life-forms to escape earth. fun twist ending. 4/10 bonus for being one of the better ones, detraction for writing out a 'rural accent'

The Descendant: nope, 0/10

The Very Old Folk: nope again, 0/10

History of the Necronomicon: very dry. fake history of lovecraft's fake book thats super important to a lot of the stories. 0/10

The Dunwich Horror: isolated witchy family has a kid who no one likes that grows up real fast. graphic descriptions of renovation. a horror gets unleashed on the area and the local folklore scholars have to deal with it. 1/10 nothing good enough to counter the xenophobia

Ibid: i remember this one. no idea what it's deal was. pseudo-bibliography? it was weird. 0/10

The Whisperer in Darkness: guy has a correspondance with another guy about local folk legends based on evil crab things. other guy gets straight up replaced by an evil crab thing and first guy doesnt even notice. imagine if you followed up on a scam email and didnt realize anything was up until you saw that the face of the dude you were talking to in person was a mask. 4/10 for the comedy this guy would not last in the internet age at all

At The Mountains of Madness: guy whines about penguins and how awful it would be if there were civilizations that predated humanity. also commits grave desecration. i get hit by the realization that if lovecraft was less of a racist coward he wouldve made a great speculative sci fi author. 3/10 i would love to watch that old asshole get absolutely torn to shreds by the monster fucker community

The Shadow over Innsmouth: Fish People! Leave Them Alone! Or Else! 5/10 the protagonist gets to live the dream by escaping human society and becoming an immortal fish person

The Dreams in the Witch House: dude rents an objectively haunted room, doesnt listen to people trying to help him, gets murdered by a weird rat. later they find a shit ton of bones in the attic. 2/10 meh

Through The Gates of the Silver Key: Randolph Carter transcends time and space, then de-transcends time and space and immediately gets stuck on another planet in the distant past, makes a long and difficult journey back to earth to find that his estate is being divided amongst his heirs. the comedy potential of a man stuck in an alien body dealing with a legal system that has declared him dead is not examined. 2/10

The Thing on the Doorstep: narrator's good friend marries a fish person witch who steals his body. thats basically it. 3/10. at this point im like wow these narrators really refuse to believe the heavily foreshadowed supernatural explanations that turn out to be correct huh.

The Evil Clergyman: dude is in a room. some ghosts (?) show up. dude has a UV light for some reason. Gets his face stolen i guess and just has to live with it. 5/10 for being absolutely buck wild and refusing to explain anything

The Book: nope 0/10

The Shadow Out Of Time: dude gets his body stolen by ancient scholar species. agonizes about it for a while. finds archaeological evidence of said species. finds a book he wrote while living with said species. almost gets eaten by something. 3/10 more cool speculative sci fi but lame protagonist

The Haunter of the Dark: you'd think id remember it bc this was the last one and i read it last night. oh wait, nvm i do remember it. dude finds an old box in a run down culty church and unleashes a horror that then comes and fucks him up. 1/10 meh.

[moviestorian]

Im glad the asks helped! I have anxiety and depression and can understand what youre going through. My ask today is what are your thoughts on Bo Rhap as a movie?

Thanks! :) I’m above all extremely happy to see people on this site being so kind and supportive in time of need, it’s a human quality that will never get enough praise! I’m also really sorry to hear about your problems. :( I send you lots of love, I can imagine how difficult it must be for you, but I’m sure you're strong and coping❤️

As for your actual question - that’s some truly excellent and interesting timing, considering that I rewatched BoRhap (with @incblackbird) literally three days ago. :P It was already my third rewatch, and while I enjoyed the movie overall, I liked it quite significantly less than upon the last time I saw it. Of course, there’s been gazillion discourses about BoRhap, whether it’s genius, extremely evil, etc., but since it’s such a broad topic (and I think some of my opinions could potentially outrage certain parts of the fandom), this time I’m going to stick to purely cinematic terms.

Needless to say, the soundtrack is excellent - with music such as Queen’s you don’t really have to do much, but they made a good choice of songs, alternating between their best known hits (We Will Rock You, Somebody to Love, Bohemian Rhapsody) and songs to fit the narrative (Doing All Right, Now I’m Here, Who Wants to Live Forever, Love of my Life). It’s practically impossible to leave the screening of BoRhap without at least one Queen song stuck in your head.

The cast was overall very good, too. My personal favourites in terms of acting were Gwilym Lee (who I liked even more than Rami), Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton and Allen Leech - I think they did a great job with their roles as they were written (whether their characters were well written or not is a subject for a whole another discussion). All the side characters were well acted, too (Mike Myers, Meneka Das and Aaron McCusker, for instance, I found particularly memorable), but I must admit I wasn’t a big fan of Joe Mazzello and Ben Hardy, but even they weren’t bad. So, acting is definitely one of the strongest points of the film.

Moving on, I also think they did a great job when it comes to costumes (Brian lending some of his old clothing definitely helped) and make-up (except for Roger’s wigs, perhaps); the choreography and stage movement for the characters were super well done, too - and it definitely wasn’t an easy task!

Now, let’s discuss cinematography. I will talk about editing in a separate paragraph, so for now I’m gonna stick to other aspects. The composition of shots struck me as rather mediocre, nothing particularly exceptional in either good or bad way, it was pretty basic but rather correct. Of course, there were some shots I really liked, but if I were to start adding screenshots the post would become way too long. XD The colours I really liked, especially in the musical scenes - they were vivid and lovely, and they used a combination of colours that I tend to appreciate in cinema, like various shades of blue and red. Finally, the camerawork - for dialogue scenes it was correct; again, rather average with some use of handheld camera which served no particular dramatic purpose, but it wasn’t nowhere near very bad, also it’s quite a common thing in modern biopics I would say. Handheld camerawork isn’t bad in default, but my comment largely comes from my personal preferences: in most cases I don’t really like it, especially when it’s particularly shaky. Then, there are scenes in BoRhap which display excellent camerawork, namely Live Aid and We Will Rock You scenes. If most scenes were filmed like that, I would give the movie a higher rating.

Before I move to the worst (imo) cinematic aspects of the movie, let’s have a look at writing. It is probably the most divisive thing in the fandom - people seem to either adore or absolutely loathe it; my stance lies somewhere inbetween. The first time I saw the film (I’m gonna remind you that I’ve seen it four times), I had certain objections, but the script didn’t bother me all that much; I was mostly simply having fun in the cinema. With every next watching, the experience was getting gradually worse, but even now I don’t hate the movie. Yes, some of the dialogue is cheesy, trite and makes me cringe a bit - certain parts of the script definitely end on an “overly sentimental” territory, I can’t deny that. Knowing quite a lot about Freddie, Queen and their stories, I generally think they deserve a better script; some characterisation was a bit offputting and chronology was all over the place. Having said that, I understand where some of those narrative choices come from, as scripts for mainstream movies require oversimplification of events, archetypes, and patterns. And quite frankly, I don’t think BoRhap differs any drastically from most modern biopics; it’s not a masterpiece, but - in my opinion - it’s also not bad overall. Regardless the flaws of the script, the movie still managed to emotionally affect a huge, if not major, portion of viewers, entertain and move them, and honestly? I think that was pretty much the point. Btw, there were some lines that I really loved, like “Puritans in public, perverts in private”, and I still think that their decision to cut from Live Aid performance to Ray Foster’s grim face during We Are the Champions was the funniest shit ever. XD Would BoRhap’s script benefit from sticking to historical accuracy? I’m gonna say yes, I think so - the scenes that were the closest to actual events are definitely the strongest - but this approach would require tons of changes, including narrowing down the narrative scope and probably the characters, too. Also, a lot of people keep forgetting that this is not an arthouse, niche film and therefore resorts to narrative and cinematic choice that compromise between satisfying the fans and the newbies; it’s meant to tell a (simple) story and entertain, not educate and provoke existential and philosophical debates. Still, I think the script could have been done a bit better, because some scenes  (the tour “Now I’m Here” montage) feel a bit...random?

Finally, the infamous editing. I totally agree that it was one of the most undeserving Academy Awards that year, because some scenes were simply atrocious, with their unmotivated and overly fast cuts and unreasonably ridiculous face that doesn’t fit the dialogue scenes, and those are honestly the worst when it comes to pacing and editing. I think the editing is the worst aspect of BoRhap; but even here, I could point at some examples of pretty amazing editing (Oscar-worthy? Not necessarily, but definitely very good); again, I’m gonna bring up Live Aid and “We Will Rock You” scenes, especially the latter, because less people talk about it. I already mentioned that it has some really nice camerawork AND colours, but also the editing is actually really cool, because it’s cut to the music! Which makes me think: “what a shame!”, because if they went with different editing choices, the movie would be affected in a positive way. The way we have it, it’s either a hit or miss (sadly, mostly miss), and the badly edited scenes are pretty striking, so the ones that are done nicely are unfortunately a wasted potential.

Okay, this is already waaay too long, so I’m just gonna finish with a few general remarks. Well, despite BoRhap’s flaws, I still like and enjoy it. With every screening slightly less, but enjoy it anyway. I don’t think any amount of discourse will ever take away my positive experiences and memories from seeing it twice in cinema. It sparked my previously dormant love for Queen and united me with some people in the fandom and in real life; making this movie made Brian and Roger happy; as a result, I like this movie. It brings back a lot of positive recollections, which sometimes is more important than critical discussions. And boy, do I adore those - I’m often critical and I adore analysing stuff academically; but I think that not all daily interactions require those and depending on who’s asking and what about, I’m capable of switching between the two options. If somebody asks me in 25 years whether I remember the times of BoRhap’s release, I’ll be far less likely to say “yeah, the editing sucked and writing was cringy, I remember the discourse on tumblr and instagram” than “Yes, I remember that chilly evening in December when I had a really fun time and ended up with 10 Queen songs stuck in my head”, because the latter is the experience I want to remember.

Thank you for this ask! Hope it wasn’t overly exhausting to read, I didn’t proofread this, sorry! xx

[lindsaylouus]

10 Lords a-Leaping 🔟🔟🔟 (NCT - Haechan)

A/N: Emoji game, slightly more literal than yesterday. Enjoy!

‘Bye Miss Y/N!!!’ The little ones called as they filed out the door in a flurry to meet their parents.

‘Bye Kids! Merry Christmas, be good!!’ You waved back at them, waiting until they’d all safely left.

You slumped in your chair, head leaning back and breathed a sigh of relief. You loved those kids, but boy were they a handful. Luckily, it was the last class before the Christmas break, and you needed it. Home, shower, dinner, bed. That sounded about right.

However, looking around the room, all you could see was paint, glitter and glue strewn all over the large table in the centre of the room and all over the floor. There was even mess on the underside of the table. 

How?! How do kids manage to do this?

When the local Church was calling for volunteers to help out with arts classes for children at the Community Centre, you were all for it. It’ll be fun, give a little back, make a difference to kids maybe? That’s what Christmas is about, right?

You’d even talked a couple of your friends into helping too. 

But how wrong you felt. All your Saturday evenings had been filled with since, were scrubbing wax crayon off every available surface, trying desperately to get poster paint out of your clothes (some of the kids were wild with a paintbrush), stopping little ones from attempting to eat PVA glue and making sure they created art on paper and NOT each others faces.

You didn’t mean to moan, but it was super draining and you began to wonder if you were actually getting anything out of this. And if you were making a difference at all for the kids themselves.

Ugh, anyway, the sooner I get this cleaned up, the sooner I can get home.

As you began to collect the supplies off the table, you suddenly heard loud shouting coming from outside the door. Out of pure curiosity, you stopped what you were doing and followed the raucous.

As you walked down the corridor and turned the corner into the assembly hall, you saw two of your friends reenacting, what seemed like, a scene from a medieval drama. They were so deep in character, they didn’t even notice you entering.

‘I now appoint you... LORD HAECHAN!!’ Mark’s voice echoed through the large hall. He was holding a plastic sword, tapping it once on each of Haechan’s shoulders. ‘ARISEEEEE!!’ 

‘Now that I am a Lord.. I CHALLENGE YOU!!’ Haechan pulled another plastic sword from his side and pointed it toward Mark.

‘Dude! I thought we were friends,’ Mark responded with mock shock and disappointment.

‘You thought wrong!!!’ Haechan shouted as he slowly charged at Mark. 

The two of them were now having the slowest dual you think you’ve ever seen. They were slow-mo fighting, knocking the swords together until Haechan plunged his underneath Mark’s arm. 

Mark's fake death was certainly dramatic. He fell backwards onto the floor, reaching a hand out toward Haechan.

'It.. didn't ha..have to e-end like, th..this,' he stuttered as he continued to sink to the floor.

'Of course it did,' Haechan declared, 'you killed my father!' Sword pointed at Mark's face. We're now in Star Wars, it seems.

'No Haechan... I AM YOUR FATHERRRR!!'

'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!' Haechan fell to his knees.

What a sight. Your two friends were now on the floor, shrieking at the top of their lungs.

Haechan staggered to his feet, you felt an epic monologue coming on.

'What have I don.. Ah! My Queen! You have arrived.' Oh no, he's spotted you. ‘Look, you even sparkle!’ Haechan pointed to your hair, and you realised you had rouge bits of glitter stuck to some strands.

You crossed your arms, 'You guys know that you’re knighted with swords, not made into a Lord?’

‘Details, details Y/N,’ Haechan dismissed your grumpy comment with a wave of his hand.

You continued none the less, ‘and aren't you two supposed to be music teachers? What's with the props today?' You looked around the hall, scattered, were all sorts of musical instruments, but the swords were a new edition. 

‘That’s where you’re wrong, Y/N.’ Mark had risen off of the floor and took Haechan’s sword. ‘Where you see Lord’s swords, we see... music.’

‘Music,’ Haechan whispered to you, mimicking Mark’s words.

Whilst Mark was beating the swords against the stage, like he was playing the drums, Haechan was busting moves, b-boying around the hall with Mark’s encouragement.

These clowns, they’d certainly cheered you up this evening.

‘Well, have fun you guys, I’m gonna go and scrape glue off of scissors.’ You turned around and headed back to your messy classroom.

Twenty minutes of tidying later, Haechan came bounding through the door, ‘Ta-daaa!’ He sang as he landed in the room, arms spread, ‘get it, Y/N?.. I leapt.. like a Lord.. a leaping Lord?’ 

‘You were a knight..’ 

‘Details Y/N!!’ Haechan once again dismissed your correction. ‘You’ll make me regret coming to help you.’ He immediately started to organise pens, making sure all of them had the right colour tops. One thing you could always rely on, is Haechan’s ability to tidy. 

‘Well, if that’s the case, thank you. Lord Haechan,’ you smiled, he smiled and everything wasn’t as gloomy as it seemed twenty minutes ago.

Not long after, the room was finally beginning to look the way it had originally. As the last boxes of paint bottles and felt pens were put in their rightful place, Haechan noticed something left on one of the chairs.

‘Y/N, I think this is for you,’ he held out a beautiful picture of a Christmas tree, with your name spelled out in bright red glitter.

Dear Miss Y/N, Merry Christmas! Thank you for being my teacher. Love, Yuna.

Well wasn’t that the cutest thing? Yuna was one of the more shy children in your class, but she was so kind and sweet. She must’ve been a little too timid to give this to you herself, so she’d left it behind for you. 

‘Still think you don’t make a difference?’ Haechan asked in the quiet room.

You’d made it no secret to Haechan that you had been struggling with your classes.

‘I don’t know.. maybe,’ you kept looking at the picture. ‘I mean, I know they’re really good kids. I just wanna be a positive influence you know. I guess, sometimes I don’t feel like they really need me.’

Haechan pulled up a chair, knowing that just by listening to you, he was helping you clear your mind. You mirrored him and sat down.

When you really thought about it, every thank you Miss, every see you next week Miss and every Miss, look at this! meant something to you.

‘They really are awesome, messy, but awesome. Like, today, Gongchan helped Sungjae hold his scissors correctly. And, Dasom helped Umji mix paints together so she could get the perfect shade of pink...’ 

You couldn’t help but smile as you remembered all the times your class had cared for each other. And in turn, all the times you’d cared for them. Like when Yuna needed encouragement when she didn’t think her drawing was very good or when you drew a dot-to-dot to help Sehun write his own name on his work. 

Little things.

‘See?’ Haechan said, almost reading your thoughts.

‘See what?’ You looked at him, confused.

‘You need them, as much as they need you. You shouldn’t doubt yourself Y/N, I’ve seen you with those kids. They love you and you love them, that’s what making a difference is about.’

‘Who are you, and what have you done with my friend?’ You were stunned, but so thankful that you could call him that. ‘You’re proud of that one, aren’t you?’  

‘Naturally,’ he smirked, ‘they don’t call me Lord Haechan for nothing!’ He leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head, feeling smug.

‘No one calls you that,’ you said as you got up and tucked your chair under the table.

‘You did.’ 

‘Touché.’ He had you there.  

As you both got ready to grab your stuff before leaving the Centre, Haechan made an offer that you couldn’t refuse.

‘Wanna come over to my house tonight? Mom’s making Samgyeopsal. Food of the LORDSSSS.’

Oh wow, how many times am I gonna hear that over Christmas?... A lot.

[msawesomegeek]

Avengers Infinity war/end game review

A/N: So quarantine happened, and I finally got around to watching movies again, now including giving the MCU one last chance. And spoiler alert... It didn’t truly deserve it. Also spoiler alert, and also this is two three hour reviews crammed into one, so it is gonna be a little while.

Also also, while I have seen most of the movies in the marvel cinematic universe, I have not seen Dr. strange, guardians 2, into dark world and Captain marvel. 

So let’s start off with Infinity war, it had some genuinely good moments. The only plot and character arc that was outright annoying was Bruce’s. It was good it had real character developments, and a lot of relationships that were great. I thought it was funny to the right extent, and serious when it needed to be. Honestly I could have done without a lot of scenes but I understood the fact that all characters needed some screen time to be fully developed. But like, did we honestly care that much about the romance with Vision and Wanda to need the scene before them being attacked more than just a quick establishment of them kissing?  I enjoyed the emotional scene genuinely, the Peter and Gamora scene was heart wrenching, and showed Thanos devotion to his goal. I had a little hard time believing he loved her enough to it being enough of a sacrifice, but it still worked. 

The big scale battle was kind of annoying but I will get into that later. 

The cinematography was fine, I enjoyed how colourful they allowed space to be, and that the lighting for the most part was not grey and gritty. 

There were a lot of plot holes in this movie, like why did Thanos forget all the crazy powers he had in the Gamora Peter scene and not use it in the battle later?  The problem with this is also that power differences is so weird, and non consistent. Like in the battle with Thanos, strange, Spidey and Tony, how do any of the three heroes have a chance against someone who can manipulate the rules of reality? Like Strange, maybe, but the two others? Not a chance! 

The stones themselves raise a lot of questions. Like if he can control time and space, why not bring Gamora back the second the gets the soul stone? Or go back to a time when the rule that you have to do that does not apply. And in End Game, why not just kill baby Thanos? Why doesn't he go back in time to make sure the avengers do not get in his way in the first place? 

The Loke death in the beginning felt so... Pointless? Seriously? Why has Loke been apart of anything in the MCU up until now? His arc has been pointless, and when he dies it is within the first 10 minutes, so it’s like: Oh, Loke is in this. And he is dead again. But because he has been “Dead” before, it does not resonate!  And that is a general annoyance I have with these two movies, the stakes are non-existent. We know which characters have movies coming up, so we know who is going to survive in the end and who doesn't. So when they die, it doesn't have any impact! 

So the movie is pretty good, it has some real emotional hits and some genuinely funny scenes, but it also leave you confused during some scenes. The thing I enjoyed the most about this movie, is the fact that Thanos won. The fact that the good guys lost, is amazing! Because after seeing them win challenge after challenge over 20 films, it was great to actually see our heroes lose, actually lose. 

Onto End Game, to say that this is the worse of the two is correct. The movie for a two parter movie does hold up as movies on their own, which is great considering how all other movies split into two parts are as stand alone movies.

The colour grading in this movie is just weird, and a lot of times, it is weird looking at and clear that it was shot on a green screen, and usually an unnecessary green screen, for my taste. This combined with lack of playing with colour in this movie, everything just visually seemed gray and boring. No shots were interesting, they never played with the pacing of anything, it was all just regular film making, which is okay, but honestly bland. Even the composition of the everyone avengers assemble shot is so messy it does not evoke the amazing comic book front page style it could have been.

End game has a lot of big problems, and I might go into more of a ranting terrortory than actual reviewing, and for that I am sorry. But it has a lot of problems. The character arcs are so rushed and you never get time to absorb anything emotionally or care about anything that is going on, because then we immediately cut to another character, and we have to be completely invested in them.  Thanos role in this movie was weird, while the first half of it was earned the rest of his part in the movie seemed forced. But what I think both movies got wrong about Thanos, is that they cut out death. Which is a shame, because a big part of his character and motivation is his love affair with mistress death. Hell they even put it in as an easter egg the first time we ever see Thanos! And his philosophy combined with his love and romance with death, would make sense, but they completely missed that opportunity. Which would also give more impact to him killing people more than just morals, and make him a more dimensional character. 

The three biggest problems this movie has is pacing, tone and character arcs. Along the same lines of infinity war, the pacing is a little better in the first movie, but all over the place in End game. And the problem is because the pacing is so quick and everything needs to progress so quickly, everything just seems so rushed, and everything that was supposed to be an obstacle was basically solved in a super easy barely an inconvenience kind of way. The problem with the pacing is also that it rushes the characters. Meaning every time something happens to any character, any tension and character development, hell even emotional impact that could have had is cut short to cut to another characters arc. And even if it is not like that, the harsh editing in the movie ensures that any emotion any scenes hold is immediately undercut by something. Like, wow Hawkeye has lost all sense of morals and Natascha can't talk sense into him, but his surface is beginning to crack, that is interesting, let’s immediately cut from that to Thor opening a beer! 

The only things that were actually given any kind of consideration to the pacing in this movie was when Scott came back, and the funeral scene, and maybe the fight scene in the end. Every thing else in this entire movie is so weirdly paced! Like, oh boy the stakes are high, I wonder if we will ever be able to figure out this time travel thing. 5 minutes later, Iron man comes out of a car and deus ex machina’s the entire thing. Like why? This should be a bigger issue?  Oh no, we lost the one infinity stone, but we don’t have enough Pim particles to travel back anymore times. Simple just travel back to world war two, steal them as you conveniently get into a heavily guarded area while remembering that the love of your life exists while also without much trouble steals and have a cathartic moment with your father who dont know its you, so you can conveniently get back. That whole sequence is pretty cool, but is undermined so many times by being resolved too quickly, making you wonder what the point of it being a conflict at all was?

Which brings me to its second biggest problem, tone. This movie unlike the first one that balanced things pretty amazingly, cannot decide whether it wants to be dramatic action or a comedy, and it ends up being neither. I cannot stress enough how much I hate the jokes in this movie! The jokes are good, hell they are funny (though the Thor got fat jokes needs to leave and never come back. (although that big Labowski reference can stay, but it is on thin f*cking ice.) The other movies had fun moments, this genuinely felt like I was watching a parody movie half of the time. Yes the jokes are funny, I laughed out loud at the america’s ass jokes, but that joke felt like a meme that was somehow left in the final cut.  The problem is, whereas the other movies, usually only used the comedy as a relief in certain scenes, it allowed other scenes to be genuinely emotional. It knew when it was appropriate to joke around. It did actually get it right a few times, the whole “hi peter” introduction between cap marvel and Spidey, was in character and genuinely appropriate to the situation, and funny, that scene worked. Where it did not work, was when Tony got back from space, part of that scene was amazing! It was a broken Tony confronting people he did not agree with about the fact that they lost and that he was traumatised and that he told them something like this could happen but they did not listen to him! And it just cuts in-between him being mad as hell and sad as he should be, to be cracking jokes two seconds later. And I hate that scene! Because it did not understand that it was not the time that it needed to break the tension it could have been an amazing and heartwrenching scene that eventually led to Tony giving up his super hero career and setting Tony and Steve on the path to forgiving each other. But no, it was constantly undercut by comedy. It was like they forgot that scenes were allowed to be emotional and not have any quick wit in it and still be good. The tone was just messy all the way through and seemed like I was watching two movies that had been mashed together into one. 

The last problem this movie has is character arcs. Besides the undercutting of the emotions of its character in order to make jokes. This movie also seemed to forget who these characters were. It has a problem that many films like it has had, which is too many characters in one film. Every character is never given proper time, we like them because we know them, but this movie does nothing to further their relationships or own growth. The time jump, screws a lot of things up. Like I did not mind but why give Hulk the power to control Hulk then? (His arc through the entire MCU) and not right as he grabbed the stones, him through them being given the knowledge that Hulk isn’t the disease but the cure. Why not make his arc matter to the plot?! (like it did in the first avengers which was though a pretty deus ex machina, solution still a development that coincided with the plot!) The whole Natascha, Hawkeye fight was good, it meant something and it reminded me of their fight in the first Avengers that showed how good friends they were. But the quick editing ruins Nats death so much. This plays into pacing as well, but we are never given any kind of time to be sad about Nats death. Yes she was a minor character, but she was a character we cared about. If they could only have spent a few more seconds at Hawkeye realising what is happening, and being sad about Nats sacrifice in the soul world, and then picking up the stone and being like, I will finish this for you Natascha. That was all the writers needed to do, it would take two minutes more, but it would have allowed her death to mean something more. Hell Coulsons death was given more screen time in the first avengers than someone we have spent so many movies seeing and caring about! 

I honestly wished that they had followed the comics version more, and in infinity wars, introduced Thanos, then wrapped up all the original avengers character arcs in that film. Let the snap happen and let Thanos also kill the original Avengers. Then let End Game be about the devastating loss, and the second squad (Black Panther, Scarlett, vision, Captain Marvel, Peter, Strange and part of Guardians & Ant-man) Struggle with their personal grief about losing their friends and mentors, finding the courage to band together and fight to go and defeat Thanos. I would have loved that so much more, mostly because it would give them a chance to lose and have these newer avengers actually mourn them all properly, while also being able to properly process it, and then decide to pick up their torch and finish what the original avengers started. But sadly we got this mess.

Also, I really need to rant about one particular thing in both movies, and honestly it has been a long time coming, but if I have to look at one more giant CGI henceman battle, I will walk out of the movie theatre! This is in both infinity war and End game! I do not care! I hate those big CGI lord of the ring type battles. Why? Because, yes it makes it all look grand, but it also make it look pointless. I don’t care about any of the people they are fighting I care about the villains and the heroes, characters I have spent time with. Why does Thanos send, wizard what's his face and other CGI dude in the first place? I do not care about his henchmen! I do not care about their meaningless fights with their meaningless goons. Why not instead of this giant battle in Wakanda and on the planet in End game ending battle, have all of our previously established villains, such as Loke, Hella, Thanos, that dude from guardians, whoever is the villain in captain marvel and doctor strange. Be the people they fight? Why not make it a few villains that we actually care about be the villains they are fighting, and instead of them punching random fools they could actually fight people who pose an actual challenge to them. Giving everything more meaning and not just, look how many CGI extras we can afford. It is not fun anymore! I have had it! Fight fewer but harder bad guys! That way the fight has some actual stakes and meaning! 

If you have made it this far, wow, impressive. I also imagine that it is very clear that I thought there was a lot of problems with these two movies. I will not say I hated them. They were not flaming piles of garbage like suicide squad, but they are also not anywhere near as good as the first guardians movie.  In the end, they were entertaining. Were they, I am willing to sit through these six hours ever again entertaining? Abso-f*cking-lutely not. 

I have before given up on the cinematic univers and come back to it and this was me actually hoping it would be great movies that everyone said they were, so I could get back into Marvel super hero movies, but sadly, they were visually pretty stale, tonally, pacing and characterly a mess, and not the finale to 22 films I had hoped for.

I give infinity war 8/10 stars

And End game 3/10 stars.

Send me a message if you agree, disagree or just wanna talk about movies (or have any recs for what I should see next) Until then

- Geek out.

[cotton-buds-writing]

Love Letters - Chapter One

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20815151/chapters/49477481

Word count - 2632

The Forbidden Kiss. We knew that it was wrong, that he was betrothed to my sister. But if this wasn't what he wanted, then why did he come to the field of desire? It was fated that we should meet like this.

     “Hey!” A pillow flew across the room, colliding with a face, “Are we hanging out or what?” A small boy, no older than eleven, Leslie Jacobs, stood in the doorway, dressed in a green button up shirt with his hair gelled back, he looked smart, but that seemed to be a running trait in the Jacobs family. He looked at the teenage boy, about seventeen, David Jacobs, who was led flat on his made-up bed with his legs up against the wall, hair messy and a book in hand,     “I just want to finish this chapter,” David replied, not even bothering to look over at his brother,     At the distant sound of clattering pots and pans erupted from downstairs and a loud “Oh!” , he looked up from his book at the younger boy across from him in confusion,     He quickly marked his page and swung his legs around to face his brother, “Should we go down and help him?” David asked him, Les just shrugged but a girl, their sister, Sarah Jacobs, a few years older than David, came from down the hall, stopping at the door frame.     “He wants to do it himself, but please come and help me set the table,” She asked, leaning against the frame, she smiled, almost smug but still gentle and friendly, Les dropped the pillow on the floor, following her downstairs, sighing, “I hate when dad makes food, it always tastes like butt.”     “Regardless, whatever dad puts in front of you, I want you to take a bite and say 'Mm, just like mum's!' okay?”     “I was still eating smudged peas when mum died!” He answered back.

     Finally reaching the empty dining table, just as David and Sarah went to grab an array of cutlery and dishes, there was a knock at the front door, and without a response, whoever was outside opened it, “Hey!” A tall boy walked in, Jack Kelly, sporting a pair of headphones around his neck and his hands and face covered in different coloured paint,     “Hey,” Sarah walked up to him and greeted him with a smile and began walking over to him once she had put the dishes and such down on the table,     “I’m not too late, am I?” He began kicking off his shoes, dropping them just next to the shoe rack lazily, “I was, uh- trying to mediate but I ended up falling asleep,”     David glanced over from where he was at the dining table, just as Sarah bought Jack into a quick peck,     “Smells good, Dr J,” He turned his direction towards the older man, Mayer, in the kitchen, who was currently taking a dish out of the oven,     “Hey, Jack!” Mayer said back quite joyfully as he set down the food on the kitchen counter.     "Davey,” Jack hastily made his way to the table, giving David a nod then a high five with a smile once he was close enough, Jack left David dazed, smiling like an idiot, and went over to talk to Mayer, “So, uh… what's cooking?” he asked.

-- ❀--

     “Usually, if you just rock this thing back and forth-” The man glanced at the lump of burnt meat that lay in the dish, trying to slice it, having little luck,     “It's supposed to fall off the bone.” Les muttered, leaning on the palm of his hand, on the table, earning him a “Shh,” from his sister,     Mayer looked up to Jack, “Hey, Jack, come hang on to this while I saw, would you?”     Sarah began to stand up, pushing Jack back down, “Hey, you know what, the electric knife is in the kitchen,” She hurried around to where the dish was, “And it'll have that thing ready to eat in two seconds, looks great, Dad, I'll be back.” She took it away and disappeared behind  the wall divider and into the kitchen.     Les slumped back into his chair with a huff, “I can't believe we're not going to see her until Thanksgiving.”     “Hanukkah actually, Scotland's too far to come back for Thanksgiving.” Mayer corrected, sounds from the electric knife in the kitchen could be heard, switching between on and off,     “Wait, are you kidding?" David said, shocked, mouth agape, "We're not gonna see her till Hanukkah?!” He looked upwards from where he was previously slouching in his chair and fiddling with the hem of his jumper,     “Look on the bright side, Sarah won't be taking the car every day, you can practice your driving, and you can take Les to school,”     “I forgot I had to drive with David now…” Les complained, rolling his eyes.     David squinted his eyes at Les," Feel free to take the bus.”     “If you ever need it, I can give you a ride. I'm not disappearing, I'm next door.” Offered Jack, making eye contact with the two siblings,     Les cracked a grin, “Or I can drive, and if we get pulled over, we'll switch places real quick!” He suggested, starting to sit up again,     “Top-notch idea, son.” Mayer gave a smile,     “What'd I miss?” Sarah wandered back in, she was carrying a dish containing meat that was noticeably different, less burnt and more edible,     “We were talking about what a bad driver David is,” Les explained, grinning directly at David,     “Yeah, we were, but we were also talking about airplanes, which speaking of… I have a surprise for you…” Jack spoke up, taking a folded up piece of paper, handing it to Sarah once the dish was sat on the table,     “Oh…?” She hummed as she started to dish up the meal, once everyone had their plates she unfolded it and began to read it over,     “You couldn't come home for Thanksgiving, I figured I'd bring home to you. It's a plane ticket, I'm coming to Scotland.”     “Look at Jack stepping up!” Mayer said gleefully, giving Jack a pat on the back,     “You... You already paid for this?”     “Yeah, I had a Google alert set for flights as soon as you decided you wanted to go to school there.” Jack smiled up at her from his chair,     “Why?” Her expression fell, but she tried to keep a smile on her face, even if it was fake, a frown tugged at Jack's lips, he stayed silent, not exactly sure what to say,     Les coughed, “Mm... Just like mum's…" He tried to clear the awkward silence that had just drifted over the table. 

-- ❀ -- 

I guess I should tell you a little bit about Jack. He and Sarah have been together for the past two years, but before Sarah even cared that he existed, he was my first boyfriend. Well, space between the words… boy who was a friend. I could talk to him about anything, we just really understood one another.

“Okay, would you rather only drink water for the rest of your life, or you can drink whatever you want, but it has to have a drop of pee in it?” David asked Jack, they were both sat on the bleachers, probably their first or second year of high school, spots dotting they’re faces and David sporting a pair of square rimmed glasses. “Clear or yellow?” Jack added on, screwing the lid of his water bottle back on, “It has to be a little yellow.” "I mean, pee. Definitely pee. I can't give up Mountain Dew.” “Yeah, definitely. Pee's the only answer.”

We didn't stop being friends when Jack and Sarah got together, it was just... different.

“Water. Definitely water.” Sarah was sat between the two of them, “Yeah, me too, Definitely ” Jack agreed with her, the same question as before, but a different answer, whether it was a change in thought over the year or because of an influence, it was unknown to David, although he had his suspicions.

They didn't want me to feel left out, so they invited me everywhere, even on dates. They tried to make it as normal as possible, but I still felt like a third wheel. It's not that I wanted to steal my sister's boyfriend or anything. I was super happy for Sarah. She deserves a great guy like Jack. And so I wrote him a letter. I wasn't going to send the letter, it was just for me to understand how I was feeling. But really, I guess it was mainly about how sometimes I imagined what it would've been like if I'd realized how I felt about him sooner.

     “…Making me look like the bad guy!” David’s ears pricked up, he was sat at his desk, a plain box sat on the surface, containing five letters, one of which being addressed to Jack, the sound of yelling could be heard from just outside the house, on the pavement in the street, the scene illuminated by the few streetlights that decorated the street,     “Do you know how hard that was?” Jack yelled back, just as loud as Sarah, throwing his arms out in frustration.     “You shouldn't have in front of them!” The girl retaliated, almost immediately storming away and back into the house, leaving Jack alone in the glow of the streetlights.

My letters are my most secret possessions. There are five total: Romeo from camp, Katherine from seventh grade, Racetrack from Homecoming, Specs from Model UN, and Jack.

I write a letter when I have a crush so intense I don't know what else to do. Rereading my letters reminds me of how powerful and how all-consuming my emotions can be, Sarah would say I'm being dramatic, but I think drama can be fun…

     “ What are you doing?” Sarah’s voice pulled David out of the void that was his thoughts.     “Nothing.” He replied, peaking his head out from where he was sat, on the floor beside his bed, David stuffed the letter he was holding back into its envelope, then back into a small cardboard box, it was plain, just a pen-written ‘Davey’ on, and he shoved the box underneath a pile of blankets that were just beside his un-made bed,

Just as long as nobody else knows about it.

     “Your room's a mess.” Sarah strolled in, leaving the door ajar, there wasn’t a smile sporting her face, nor the same glow in her eyes as before, she sat on the bed, bringing a pillow to her chest, hugging it     David moved from the floor to his bed, sitting opposite his sister, cross legged, squinting his eyes a little, “Are you okay?”     “Yeah.” There was something about her tone that didn’t seem quite right to David, her avoided eye-contact and the way she tried to hide half of her face in the plump pillow in her hands,     “Well…?” Davey encouraged, trying to keep direct eye contact with her, she was probably the only person other than Crutchie that he would willingly hold eye contact with.     “I don't know, I just broke up with Jack.”     “You did what? Why?” He leaned back, putting his weight on his hands, not sure whether to be confused or surprised more,     "Before Mum died, she said I should never go to college with a boyfriend.”     “But you love him.”     “I know.”     “So, do you think you might change your mind?”     “No. No, never." She glanced around his room, changing the subject, "When I was packing for college, I had Dad make a box of things to take to Goodwill. I think you should do it too, I made you a box.”     “I don't really think there's anything I can part with at the moment.”     “Davey, I'm leaving tomorrow. That means you're going to be the oldest sibling. You need to set a good example for Leslie, no gorging on chips before dinner and you really need to clean your room…”     “Can we go back to talking about how you're sad?” David sighed, staring up at the ceiling. 

Sarah says when something is no longer useful, you either donate it, recycle it, or throw it away. I always knew she felt that way about objects but… I didn't think she could feel that about a person.

-- ❀ -- 

     “...Will depart from Gate 39.” A voice announced from the speaker, signalling the arrival of Sarah’s plane, David glanced towards her with sympathetic eyes, a few tears welling up,     “Come here.” Sarah opened her arms, embracing him tightly,     “Hey, you need a magazine.” David pulled back, wiping his eyes with his sleeves, sniffling slightly,     “We'll be right back.” Les spoke up, nodding his head, pulling Mayer off with him towards the newsagent in the corner,     “You gonna be okay?” Sarah waited for the pair to leave before turning her focus to David,     “Did you have to pick the furthest college you could think of? Who am I supposed to eat lunch with?” He pulled back completely, trying to lighten the air,     “I think you should look at this as an opportunity to branch out and make new friends.” She suggested,     “No.”     “You never know what could happen.”     “That's what I'm afraid of.”     “If you need me, I'm a Skype call away.”     “Until you start going to pubs and eating haggis with your Scottish friends, and forget about us.”     “I can promise you, I will never... ever eat haggis.”     “We couldn't decide, so we got you all of them.” Les and Mayer appeared again, holding about ten to fifteen magazines, holding them out to Sarah,     “That's Road & Track, it doesn't sound that interesting, but if you stick with it…” Mayer handed her the magazine, another announcement sounded, so he pulled her in for a hug, “Come here.”     “Alright, I gotta go.” She said, trying to hold back tears of her own. Sarah turned to give each one a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek, taking the rest of the magazines, stuffing them in her bag, then began walking towards the gate, dragging a small carry-on suitcase behind her,     “Think she'll turn around?” Les asked hopefully,     “No, that's not Sarah.” David answered truthfully, though secretly wishing that she would,     “Can we have a dog now?” Les asked,     “No, but that's a nice try.” Mayer ruffled the boy's hair a little, nodding his head as if to say that they should get going at this point.

     The journey home was felt off to David, for a reason unknown to him, Sarah’s absence was something that he would have to get used to, but in his mind he couldn’t exactly see anything good happening, of course, fitting in some driving experience would be one thing, but even then, just the thought of having to drive to and from school every day made him anxious, and Les’ insults probably wouldn’t help, though the boy only meant them as a joke, not seriously, and from previous experience, he knew when to stop, he knew where the line was and he never crossed it.     David fiddled with his sleeves, pulling gently at the fraying seams, though, being careful not to fully wreck it, he made a mental note to himself to buy another sweater at some point within the next week seen as messing around with the fraying threads seemed to be a habit of his. He glanced out the window for a moment, noticing how the street lamps and traffic lights reflected off of the wet concrete, creating a mixture of yellow, red, and green, he could hear Mayer and Les bickering, something about whether they bought enough magazines for Sarah, he managed to crack a smile, still sniffing and having to dry his eyes every so often.

Take a deep breath, Dave You'll be just fine.

[tumblunni]

Okay I know that kingdom hearts has a bad reputation for sticking crucial plot information on obscure spinoff games but HOLY SHIT I just finally watched a lets play of the fuckin digimon tcg game and found out it ACTUALLY HAS A GODDAMN CONCLUSION TO ANALOGMAN FROM DIGIMON WORLD 1

like 90% of the damn game has no plot whatsoever let alone indicating its a digimon world sequel! and then suddenly in the last battle without being foreshadowed whatsoever analogman returns and gets possibly the best boss battle ever IN A GODDAMN TCG GAME

holy shit his whole fight is framed as ‘this is literally the same guy from digimon world 1, hacking another game’, the interface wigs out and a bunch of fake command windows pop up with rapidly scrolling code of the game supposedly falling apart. And then his boss battle flips the entire gameplay system on its head by giving him fourth wall breaking special moves that pull overpowered effects by “hacking the engine”, with cool animations to fit. Fuckin badasssss!!

and it also fuckin FINALLY EXPLAINS THE DAMN PLOT LIKE GEEZ

digimon world’s conclusion was so rushed, you never even meet the villain until the final battle and it ends all weird with just “something” going wrong that causes him to get sucked into a portal or something while screaming dramatically in weirdly high resolution terror faces??? the tcg game confirms that this was him attempting to flee back to the human world after you defeated him, but one of the stray attacks from the battle damaged his machine and it caused him to essentially commit accidental suicide when he turned it on.

and HOLY SHIT MY FUCKIN OBSCURE HEADCANON IS TRUE????

the game had some sequel bait hints that maybe analogman is somehow still around and that the portal explosion just turned him into “corrupted data” so he can never return to the human world. and i always thought it would be super ironic if he actually got turned into a digimon aka the thing he hates more than anything

WELL OKAY I GUESS CRITICAL LORE IN A TCG GAME IS OKAY WHEN ITS A BIG YES BUNNI U THEORY BE CORRECT

he appears in this game as a malomyotismon who does a damn good vexen face during the fight, lol. And he’s all “gahh that stupid kid ruined my plans but this accursed body at least improved my hacking abilities!” Tho its implied that his corrupted state is more like a bodyless cloud of data that can possess/copy different digimon, which would be REALLY FUCKIN CRITICAL to explaining the goddamn plot of Digimon World Next Order!

Seriously wtf is up with this series? Digimon World 2 is not the sequel to Digimon World 1, all the numbered games are entirely separate individual stories with wildly different genres from pet sim to roguelike strategy. The real sequel is fucking DIGIMON THE CARD GAME THE GAME and then Digimon World Next Order a bazillion years later for the ps4. In which i am STILL REALLY SALTY that they have a FUCKIN RAD remix of analogman’s boss theme yet he doesn’t appear in the game. The added context of this damn tcg game confirms once and for all that the Ambiguous As Fuck Ending actually WAS him appearing in the game, this unexplained “oh wait the villain was good all along and he was just possessed by an evil virus” was supposed to be corrupted-digi-analogman and seriously WHY DONT THEY JUST FUCKIN EXPLAIN IT!!! this tcg game wasnt even released in europe!! and even american fans probably had no clue it was linked to this entirely separate subseries! You have to friggin piece it together with context clues like the battle music and the fact analogman’s signature mon was machinedramon. I mean vjesus christ Next Order is a litera; sequel with the grown up version of Digimon World’s protagonist as a badass home ec teacher who still defends the digital world in his free time yet you couldnt spare ONE LINE OF DIALOGUE mentioning the name of the villain?? and summarizing the fuckin tcg game everyone missed??? AND CONFIRMING THAT THE VILLAIN IS INDEED MAKING A REAPPEARANCE POSSESSING THIS GUY??? oh god everything makes SENSE, thank you terrible card game adaptation. ehh but i do still love Next Order for making Hiro/Mameo’s canon partner Mamemon, he’s even more badass as this big tough bishie version of himself with a tiny adorable pal that can shoot rocket fists through space and time. (its funny tho cos the DW1 intro movie showed metalmamemon and metalgreymon and the american boxart flipped a coin and decided metalgreymon must have been the one the protagonist was using in that scene. Whoops!)

anyway even with the added context that IT WAS INDEED GODDAMN ANALOGMAN, the final boss fight in Next Order was as terrible as the rest of the plot. So I’m glad trash gramps got a suitably badass boss fight after all, even if it was a CARD GAME VERSION! lets all celebrate the awesomeness of this obscure fuckin spinoff game’s obscure fuckin intercontinuity cameo with the boss fight music that other game wasted

seriously fuckin hell the biggest challenge in that final boss was that i was so distracted by SHEER OFFENDEDNESS at the cool music not matching it that it was hard to keep focused

its not just a great boss theme for a terrible boss, its a really fuckin EMOTIONAL song for anyone whose childhood was fuckin defined by the first game!!!

and look you had a PERFECT FUCKIN EXCUSE for a REALLY GOOD boss battle against MY MAN GRUMPY GRANDPA OF THE COOL DAMN NAME. Seriously guys analogman was THE FIRST digimon villain! digimon world came out before the anime, digimon world was the BETA FOR THE ANIME! this was the first place they had the ideas for file island, so much of the areas in the game are awkwardly mistranslated versions of stuff that would later appear in the anime in a different form. before this digimon had never been anything more than a fuckin 2-bit graphics tamagotchi and this was (after the manga) only the second goddamn time these monsters had an actual full colour character design! all of those charmingly janky 90s gross out show styled tcg illustrations? that was concept art that this game was working from! fuckin hell this game thought up the idea for metalgreymon’s changed design that ended up becoming the iconic partner of tai in the anime. (you can also see beta tai in the manga with a beta veemon as a partner instead! o_O)

SO LIKE...

JUST....

I HAVE FEELINGS ABOUT ANALOGMAN OKAY!!! he’s a badly written guy with only like five sentences across all the videogames but fuckin hell he was such an Iconique part of the development of this series that they named him fucking ANALOGMAN

like dude you could have SO EASILY made me scream at my tv in a more positive way by bringing him out as the surprise villain and showing us wtf his deisgn is even supposed to look like cos god all we have is a blurry faceless early ps1 model buried under the glow filters of Mt Infinity’s funky background effects.

AND FUCKING

IF IT IS CANON

THAT MY FUCKIN

STUPID THEORY

IS CANON

slap a fuckin O on this man and LITERALLY LET ME BEAT HIM UP

like dont even give him a team or anything, just let me fight THE MAN HIMSELF

you canonically fuckin said he’s a digital ghost now and basically the same as a digimon

let me beat the shit out of a regular businessman in a suit and tie while he pulls his badass ‘i’m hacking the game i’m in’ bullshit from the GODDAMN TCG GAME THAT WAS MORE CLIMACTIC THAN YOUR SHITTY CASH GRAB FAKE SEQUEL

man god i didnt expect a fuckin TCG GAME to revive my righteous fury from back when i first played that piece of shit. i hate it cos Next order is so pretty and its gameplay is so good and i really loved my twin digis but there were SO MANY bugs and cut corners and missing content and really bad writing and GOD it made me so sad that the dub team really really tried, they tried so hard that they got fuckin renamon’s original voice actress back even though the renamon in this game has nothing to do with the anime one. THE DUB WAS REALLY GOOD BUT IT COULDNT SALVAGE THAT SCRIPT!! THE MUSIC WAS REALLY GOOD AND THE ART WAS REALLY GOOD AND THE DIGIMON THEMSELVES WERE MY BEST DAMN FRIENDS FOR THAT MONTH OF MY LIFE BUT THE GODDAMN FUCKIN SCRIPT!!! the postgame was MORE FUN because FINALLY everything opened up like the sandbox of the first game and you could just fuckin hug u digis without being distracted by constant cutscenes butchering your childhood nostalgia

man i wanted to write a fic/draw a comic about my headcanons on how to fix it but i never managed to do it cos holy shit it was basically “throw everything out and make a different game geez” I COULD RAMBLE FOR HOURS ABOUT THE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT SEQUEL THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN!! and a fuckin!! tcg game!! was closer to that sequel!!!

and fuckin MY THEORY WAS RIGHT AND MY BETTER GAME IDEA ACTUALLY WOULD WORK IN CANON

fuck it im gonna do draw myself decking business gramps in the face

oh! and the female protagonist design! thats another rare good part of that thing! i loved the pixellization effect on her ponytal, way better than the male equivelant having a very ordinary costume design just with a pixel corner taken out of his jacket. also why did the plot never actually make a thing out of that? like you’d think that ‘unlike every other digimon tamer i’ve got this scar of my digitization’ would be a plot point. like they didnt give everyone else a cool pixel squares mark! they could have at least used it as an excuse why the protagonist is the Only Chosen One who can do all this plot shit. or if it was me i would have made it early foreshadowing for the Return Of Business Gramps, like you were partially infected by the Oooo Mysterious Unexplained Digi Virus (seriously why did they not just have ONE SENTENCE explaining its the fuckin original villain returning????) during the prologue and i dunno somehow that gives you powers to break analogman’s control on the digimon he possesses. or maybe the pixel thing is like a tracking device he put on you? or just give that cool design trait to the protagonist of digimon cyber sleuth instead, whose entire plot is that theyre a digimon human hybrid with literaly the power to pixellize themself into computers.

ALSO!!! actually do something!!! with mameo!!!

they really fuckin hyped up in all the prelease materials that the digimon world 1 protagonist was gonna be in this game and he’s all grown up now. and then he does NOTHING in the plot except babble exposition and stand around your home base. and has one line about how he’s a badass teacher now and his partner is mamemon but hey we made a bullshit excuse for why his digimon is sealed away and he never gets to fight :<

give me an actual cool teamup of new protag girl and her cool teacher dude beating the shit out of business trash with their bare fists and also their digimon’s bare fists while THE BEST DAMN MUSIC GOES UNWASTED

...fuck i sure do Feel Intensely about nostalgic games lol. i wonder if i’ll be so rambley when i play kh3? maybe itd be a really shitty lp, aaagh...

[phoelogeny]

I'm doing a thing I think.... My Connor 3D model part 1

So why I´m so little active? Well life in general but also cause smart me decided “hey let´s do this super realistic character for my assignment when I don´t even know the program” 

And thus my spare time has gone completely into god damn getting this model to look like the reference and let me tell u

It´s been a ride

Zbrush is a damn difficult program to work with and I salut whoever can master it cause that is real life goals right there.

(kinda long post ahead but basically more of my process screenshots and a bit thoughts on how difficult 3D modelling actually is)

Here you can see how I completely messed up on human faces in the beginning and then what 8-10 hours did, though had to, like I usual have to when it comes to 3D models - fucking completely change the face several times and make new body parts (I was late on actually doing the basic forms oof)

I did get the volumes to work at first but there was still something horribly wrong with the face, far too little depth. I´ve learned that human faces have a lot of that. Which is super (not) fun while shaping one. And how one small change can make it seem like a completely different person.

Then we come to the phases we don´t speak of where me being a noob failed at making a body and clothes twice, though after another 15 hours I got there. For now. 

Then more changes in the facial region (aka what I´ve used 80% of my time to do I need help) Followed up by this weird polygon thingy with polygroups...thingy that I´m surprised I even understand. I have to animate this thing too. Oof.

And now we´re getting closer to the current look on this abomination, that´s starting to sorta look like a man at least, even though the god damn balance is still off. And the texture is just horrible. Which is why I changed it soon after, to check how it actually looked. At this stage, I also realized humans have necks and this drastically changed the whole thing. Funny how one little change can do that much - which is the theme for the current version:

-cue dramatic drum roll or something-

After getting feedback from my class, while trying not to cringe at the lack of my skills, I fixed a few important features and key factors: Shoulders and legs. Or well - actually giving him shoes cause I hadn´t gotten there yet. I also gave him proper ears that kinda resembles them I hope, and again - gave him eyelids after about 5 tries where I accidentally forgot I had duplicated the head which is like 2 million points and suddenly had 10 million in the file. Whoops.

He still lacks eyebrows, which is extremely important to how you look, and his iconic hair and blue light, but that´s what I have to do in another 40 ish hours. Ye. I´ve lost track but I think I´ve used 50 hours by now. And I thought a 10hr rendering was time-consuming...

To sum this up before this post, that probably none will fully read but hey I wanted to share my process with yall, here are some things I have to work with tomorrow:

-Getting the volumes in the face correct

-Connecting the sleeves and jacket (long story short I kinda fucked up and my teacher has to show it to me. Again)

-EYEBROWS ON FLEEK BRO - have to use this advanced fibermesh thingy to try and give him hair strands - and eyelashes too

- Those EYES, are quickly painted on and looks too derpy so I´ll hopefully get that added sooner or later

- Folds in his clothes. Oof. One thing is drawing folds but another is modelling it. Have to connect the jacket and pants first though. And fix the collars on his shirt.

- Finishing the nice shoes I made in like an hour that of course symmetry didn´t work on and that can be an issue (a lot of terms difficult to explain sorry)

- Giving him his adorable tie and just - fix his iconic jacket in general. When I´m less of a noob hopefully.

- And of course: colours

I probs won´t do ALL that tomorrow but hopefully the most important ones so he wounds up looking like Connor.

I´ll pop back in here later when I´ve got more to show! uwu

[usuknetwork]

USUK Christmas Countdown 2017: December 20

Title: Of Ugly Sweaters and New Friends Day 8: Baking/Cooking Summary: Arthur has a crush on school poster boy Alfred, and in order to get closer to him, he decides to join the Baking Club, because they share a similar passion for the kitchen. Rating: PG Warning: None

(Written by: @apanphanfanwithaplan and Art by: @kurisutythehero)

High school consisted of three main things is what Arthur always thought. People, parties, and clubs.

He himself was a part of several clubs, such as the Magic Club, Model UN, and Gardening Club. Not very interesting hobbies, people always thought, but they were his.

He had friends, like Lukas Bondevik and Francis Bonnefoy. No matter how annoying the latter was, they were friends, and friends introduced friends to cute new boys in Model UN.

Alfred F. Jones was five feet, six inches tall, had a nest of messy blond hair, and god, was he loud. He carried a somewhat authoritative aura that clashed with his impulsive personality and made Arthur Kirkland fall head over heels. He was the new captain of the football team, America in Model UN, student council President, and part of the Baking Club.

The Baking Club was not for kids like Alfred. Kids like Alfred joined sports teams and played the trumpet. Kids in the Baking Club were like Feliciano Vargas and Feliks Lukasiewicz and Emma Maes, who were sweet and kind and as soft as their desserts. But all desserts had their secret ingredients, and Alfred's was his real personality.

Alfred thought only the Baking Club understood who he really was and how different he was, because he definitely was not like the other ‘jocks'. He helped at his grandmother’s animal shelter on weekends, cheered for his brother at chess matches on Wednesday, went to baking Tuesdays and Thursdays, and did football on Mondays and Fridays. He played flute in band, was in HRC in Model UN, and picked up trash around school as president of his peers during school hours. All in all, he was absolutely perfect, and it gained him a one way ticket to Arthur’s heart.

And now, Francis was teasing Arthur endlessly at lunchtime.

“Get your eyes off Captain America over there and onto your pizza. You haven’t even touched your grapes yet! I swear, Artie, if I wasn’t your bestest friend, I would seriously be supes worried,” the Frenchman complained.

“Okay, one, shut up, and two, who said you’re my bestest friend?”

“Who bailed you out of jail when you had some fun at that amusement park?”

“Okay, yeah, but that was holding. There’s a difference. So shut up.”

“Besides, who else would be your best friend? Lukas? He spends more time with that weird Lego Robotics kid. What about that vampire? You still friends with him?”

“Vladimir isn’t a vampire, he’s just Romanian.”

“Yeah, right. And there’s something in the Kool-Aid making us gay.”

“That’s it, for once, you’re right. I need new friends. I’m joining the Baking Club!”

“Not to interrupt your ‘starting today I’m going to be a host' moment, but last time you ‘baked', you set the kitchen on fire. You were literally heating ramen in the microwave, and you burnt my house down!”

“Is that why you stopped inviting me over for sleepovers? Just because I burnt your house down? I said sorry!”

“We’re getting off topic. So, how are you going to get loverboy to love you back?”

Arthur blushed a deep shade of crimson at that.

“Hopefully my charm will take over if not my obviously amazing cooking skills.”

“Arthur, you’re my best friend, so I’ll say it one more time, just to get it through your thick skull. YOU BURNT MY KITCHEN DOWN MAKING RAMEN, YOU PRICK!”

“Details, details.”

And with that he walked off to sign up for the Baking Club.

Soon enough, Arthur had signed up, the rest of the school day had passed, and he was standing at the door for Baking Club, which was covered in mistletoe and holly in celebration of the Christmas season, it being mid-December.

Definitely not the kind of club he thought he’d ever join, but here he was.

He gently rapped on the door and pondered if it was too late to run away when none other than his reason for joining this stupid club answered the door in a super cheesy Minnie and Mickey ugly sweater.

“Hey! Arthur, man, I didn’t think you were into clubs like this! Come on in, I’ll introduce you to everyone!”

He grabbed Arthur’s ugly-sweatered wrist and dragged him in, and he saw the kindest club in school in all of their ugly-sweatered glory.

“This is Feliciano Vargas, whose specialty is cannoli!”

A young man with dark brown hair and an obnoxious curl in a two person sweater with a blond male waved energetically.

“And this is Emma Maes, and her main dish is waffles with boysenberry syrup and strawberries inside, and she’ll be adding some extra stuff to her usual waffles today for holiday stuffsies!”

A girl with mid-length blonde hair and a kind smile wearing a punk sweater the same colour as the patterned blue and black bow in her hair waved nicely, and then turned back to her measuring cups and holly.

“Here’s Ludwig Beilschmidt, who’s a little grumpy, but really nice when you get to know him, and he loves to make bread pudding, and he’s making a plum one today for the Christmas celebration, which isn’t as terrible as it sounds!”

The tall stoic guy next to Feliciano and in the couple’s sweater with him calmly waved and smiled ever so slightly.

“Feliks Lukasiewicz, my man! He specializes in making this thing, it’s like funnel cake! You know what funnel cake is, right Artie?”

Arthur nodded.

“What’s it called again, bro?”

Feliks, who was wearing a slightly less dramatic sweater than the others, rolled his eyes and sighed, flipping his blond hair from his eyes. “I’ve told you like, at least five times, Al! It’s called skruzdelynas! It’s a Lithuanian dessert, and yes, it is like funnel cake, I suppose.”

“I don’t know how to pronounce that, so Feliks specializes in funnel cake, and he’s making a cherry one with powdered sugar today for Christmas!”

“Ugh, you could, y’know, at least try!” called the Pole to Alfred as he went on to introduce the other members.

“Love you too, bro!”

“Ugh, whatever.”

“Is he actually your brother?” Arthur asked Alfred.

“Who? Feliks? Nah. My brother is Matthew, and he’s at a chess meeting today. He’s got a tournament tomorrow! So proud of him. But his twin is in this club, and my twin is in Swim Team. Which brings me to our next member… Madeline!”

A shy girl with pigtails and a red beret with maple leaf hair clips who greatly resembled her brother Matthew waved a little before looking back down at what she was doing.

“Maddie is the beeessstttt at maple pops!”

“Maple pops?”

“Yeah! And maple donuts! And maple bacon biscuits! Just a lot of maple, I guess. I don’t know where she gets it.”

He lowered his voice.

“But between you and me, I think she has a dealer.”

Arthur had to stifle a laugh.

Only Alfred would think his own sister had a maple drug dealer.

To his surprise, Madeline, in her The Nightmare Before Christmas sweater, laughed at that. “Alfred, mom and dad and Matthew have all told you, there is no dealer! We can talk about this later, I’m making muffins.”

“Fine. Bye sis!”

“She seems nice and calm, at least for being related to you,” Arthur laughed out.

“What’s that supposed to mean, Eyebrows? What if I said your brothers were pretty sober, at least compared to you?”

“Then I'd call you a liar.”

Alfred laughed, and it made Arthur think of home.

“Annnndddd last but not least, in our fabulous baking club, we have our longest here members, Antonio and Matthias! Toni is best at chocolate flan, and Matthias here rocks at making rice pudding with cherry sauce, and he’s even adding sugar plants to it!”

Matthias waved politely in his stoner themed sweater, but then looked back determinedly to his pudding, which he was decorating with edible sugar holly.

“Hey, Arthur! I haven’t seen you since forever man!” Antonio, himself, in an incredibly tacky sweater, waved and spoke cheerfully to him.

“Oh, hello, Antonio. Fancy seeing you here,” Arthur spoke quietly.

“What’s wrong Artie? Did you two have an argument or something?” Alfred asked, puzzled.

“Hmm? Oh no. We’re just old friends. We used to play pirates on playgrounds, but we kinda grew apart, I guess,” Arthur said to him sadly.

“Well now, since you’re in the same club, you can grow back together as friends! Wouldn’t that be awesome?” Alfred asked excitedly.

Arthur smiled at his enthusiasm.

“Totally.”

The tour of everyone in Baking Club was now over and Arthur finally got to sit down and start baking his own something. Scones were always his favourite. And Alfred mentioned something about liking boysenberries, so boysenberry scones it was.

For an hour or two, he sat there in his area making and cooking scones, just for Alfred. These had to be perfect, because he probably wouldn’t get another shot to impress him.

Francis was right, he thought. I can’t cook, and I certainly am not handsome enough for the likes of Alfred, he sighed sadly.

Soon enough, the scones were done, and with only minimal burning!

“Al, Alfred?” he called out.

Alfred was over there in a heartbeat.

“Something wrong, Arthur?” He sounded worried.

“No, no, I just, uh, I made you some scones?” he stuttered out.

“For me? Really?”

“Yeah. I heard you say something about boysenberries, and I kinda suck at anything but scones, so here’s some boysenberry scones, I guess.” He sheepishly handed him the plate of scones.

Alfred cautiously picked one up and took a bite. He first made a slight face of disgust, then corrected himself. “Wow, these are pretty good!”

Arthur frowned. “You hate them. I suck at baking. Sorry.”

Alfred looked upset at Arthur being sad. “No, no! These can get better with just a little bit of improvement! Here, I can help you!”

Alfred went over to Arthur’s cooking area, which was covered in flour and hearts drawn in it.

Alfred laughed. “You like hearts, huh?”

Arthur blushed like mad. “I, uh, I, like the design?”

“It’s fine, I like hearts too!” Alfred replied cheerfully and flashed him a wink.

That did not help Arthur's blushed state in the least bit.

For two hours the duo worked together on new boysenberry scones, and some Christmas cookies as well, and both drew more little hearts on the flour around the area, laughing at shared jokes and throwing berries and sprinkles at each other joyfully.

Soon, they were done.

“Wooo! These look great Artie! Try one!” Alfred exclaimed.

Arthur took one and started nibbling, and was surprised at how good they tasted. “Wow! Al, you’re, well, amazing!” He finished it up.

Now Alfred blushed. “Oh, it’s nothing. You did most of it anyway.”

Arthur grabbed another from the tin.

“Hey Artie, close your eyes, I made you a surprise!”

“Alright…” he agreed suspiciously, closing his eyes.

Within two seconds, he felt a pair of warm lips against his own. They tasted like berries and soft vanilla crumbs.

He opened his eyes and almost gasped. It was Alfred.

Alfred pulled away slowly but kept his hand on Arthur’s back.

“Heh, sorry Arthur. I have been wanting to do that for forever. Plus, mistletoe, y’know?”

Arthur looked up and laughed at the plant hanging above the two and then, without thinking, immediately pulled him back in, and there they stood for a few more seconds before breaking apart again.

“I guess we match my sweater, huh?” Arthur said sheepishly, and Alfred looked down at his KISS sweater and chuckled.

“We should probably go share these scones and cookies anyway. Come on, and today is actually club picture day, in case you forgot. We haven’t taken a Baking Club picture for the year book yet, so it’s good you came here today,” Alfred spoke first.

“Good idea.”

The two shared their scones and when everyone was done, Alfred ran to get Francis, in his own ugly wine themed sweater, from Photography Club to take their group picture.

The group of only but nine huddled together for their picture, Alfred and Arthur side by side, holding hands.

“Everyone say ‘merde'!” exclaimed Francis from behind his camera.

Everyone took French, so they all laughed cheerfully, and said “Merde!” into the camera, the group of mismatched friends smiling ever so brightly, because they had found their home, right here, in this silly high school baking club, with more friendship and adventures to hold.

He originally joined it for the boy toy, but stayed for the friends and fun.

Arthur had changed his mind.

There were actually five things that high school was made of.

Sweets, friendship, clubs, ugly sweaters, and love.

And he couldn’t be happier that he had found all of them here.

[botanistlester]

Sweet Pea (2/?)

Summary: A nickname that goes bitter in your mouth. Cries for help that no one listens to. Gentle hands that make you quake on the ground you’re standing on. When Phil first met Nico, he thought he was a gift from the heavens. But behind the mask lies something daunting, something unnerving, that Phil never foresaw. Through his journey, he finds solace in Dan, the regular at his workplace, who seems to be the only one who sees through Nico’s mask to the darkness underneath. Warnings: Abusive relationship, violence A/N: as always, thank you to @snowbunnylester and @littlelionsloves for editing tips and making me really excited about this fic! the song lyrics at the beginning are from a song called “I Don’t Mind” by Defeater! Masterlist

Read it on AO3 Read it on Wattpad

-

Chapter Two

And I don’t mind if we take our time, ‘Cause I’m all yours if you’re all mine.

-

Work was hard when Phil just wanted to be hanging out with Nico. A couple of days had passed since they had started dating, and Phil couldn’t be happier with his life right now. Nico treated him like an actual prince, and in turn, Phil fell for him more and more every single day. He could already tell that there was a very large chance that he would fall in actual love with the guy. Ah, love. Such a strange thought, especially when he thought about how perfect Nico was. He didn’t really understand how Nico wanted to be with Phil of all people, when he was an ethereal human being himself. Nico, with his American accent and his pretty green eyes and his freckles. It was hardly fair that someone was that beautiful.

And yet, Phil was able to call him his own. What sort of miracle was that? His phone vibrated in his pocket and he clenched his teeth together to stop himself from answering it. His manager, Cleo, was super strict about phones while they were working, claiming it made them look as if they were slacking. Occasionally Phil could sneak a quick text in, but he knew it was risky, especially when Cleo could poke her head around the corner and see him at any given moment.

“Phil, Dan’s here,” Chandler said, rounding the corner. She had a bunch of dirty dishes stacked on her tray, her other hand putting the tray jack on the rack. She gave Phil a smirk and fluttered her eyelashes. “I swear, that boy is totally head over heels for you. Why else would he come by himself every week just to have you as his server?” Phil scowled at her and resisted the urge to smack the dirty dishes from her grip. If they were anywhere other than work, he might have, but he didn’t want to get fired. Yet.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he reprimanded. “First of all, it’s not true. And even if it were, it’d never happen. I have a boyfriend now, remember?”

Chandler snorted. “Boring,” she muttered as she walked away, towards the dish room. He knew that she didn’t mean it, that she was just having a bit of fun with him, but he couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes anyway. She always teased him about Dan, stating that the man fancied Phil, hence the reason he even ate at LaBella’s in the first place. That was just ridiculous, in Phil’s opinion. There were plenty of regulars that showed up every week, ones that even requested Chandler every time. Why was it any different when it was Dan? He shook his head, deciding not to dwell on the topic. He had a job to do, one that he was currently slacking on. Oops. He cracked his fingers, took a sip of his drink to wet his dry mouth, and stepped away from the server station, making his way into the dining room lobby. LaBella’s was a small, family owned business that served copious amounts of “Italian” food. It was known for it’s nice and cozy atmosphere and good fettuccine alfredo, so the restaurant was always buzzing with energy, no matter what time of day it was.

That was why Phil didn’t have to question why Dan came to this place. It was a rather relaxing place to eat after class, the soft piano music and quiet chatter filling the air. Phil often saw him leaning over his textbooks, taking notes in a space themed notebook. When Phil had asked him before what he studied, Dan had looked embarrassed before admitting that he was a theatre student with a focus on directing. Phil had told him it was much cooler than his own English degree.

As Phil approached the familiar table, Dan was leant over the menu. He had his backpack sitting beside him on the booth and his notebook already on the table. A bright pink pen sat atop the notebook, which made Phil smile. No matter how small, it was always nice to see men not care about the implications behind the colour pink.

“Hey, Dan!” Phil exclaimed, and he watched with amusement as Dan’s head shot up to stare at him.

Dan was definitely one of the prettiest customers Phil had ever had. When he first started coming in, Phil could admit that he’d even had a teensy tiny crush on him at one point. Of course, that had all faded over time, which was good considering Phil had Nico now. He was still pretty, though, with his wide brown eyes and his curly brown hair. He had a couple of beauty marks on his cheeks and even dimples which made Phil have trouble telling him no. Dimples were just too damn endearing.

Dan smiled and those dimples appeared, caving deep into his cheeks. “Hey, Phil. Are you having a good day today?”

Phil nodded and played with his pen in his apron pocket. He didn’t need to write down Dan’s order usually, but he always greeted him just in case he decided to change it up. “It’s been pretty steady so I’m staying optimistic so far. How about you? How’s directing going?”

In response, Dan groaned. “It’s going. My aesthetics class is going to kill me.”

“What, are you not aesthetic enough for it?”

Dan glared at him and threw a balled up piece of straw wrapper at Phil. “You know damn well I’m aesthetic enough, excuse you.”

Phil laughed and it sounded too loud in the tiny dining room. It always did, but he never knew how to quiet himself down enough as to not disturb anyone around him. “You’re right. My bad.” And then onto business, “The usual?” Dan always had a three cheese stuffed shells, a salad, and a side of calamari with a strawberry margarita and a water.

Dan nodded. “Yes please.”

And that was that.

There was literally nothing for Chandler to freak out over. Dan and Phil were just customer and server, nothing more and nothing less. Purely business. There was no need for her to freak out every single time Dan looked his way.

“He’s staring at your ass,” Chandler sang when he was out of Dan’s earshot and filling a glass with ice.

He turned his glare onto his friend, hoping there was heat in his gaze. “You are my least favourite kind of person,” he told her without humour in his voice.

She sighed dramatically and leaned against the server station, pouting. Phil wanted to ask her if she had anything better to do, but he didn’t manage to get the words out.

“Come on, Phil. He’s so cute! He looks like a gentle rabbit just waiting for somebody to claim him.”

“That was a horrible metaphor.”

“But you know it’s true.”

Phil groaned and took the glass away from the drink fountain right before it spilled over the edge.

“Look, Chandler,” he deadpanned, frowning. “Dan is cute. I’ll admit that. But i’m not going to leave Nico for him, okay? Nothing’s going to happen. I’m happy with Nico and that isn’t going to change any time soon. Can you just knock it off?”

He unwrapped the bottom of the straw and stuck it into the drink, feeling irritation dwelling in his belly, bubbling up just like the water in his glass.

Chandler sighed and waved her hand, pouting. “Fine, fine. But only because I see how nice Nico is to you. You really hit the jackpot there, Phil. I’m jealous.” She watched with folded arms as Phil made his way over to the terminal, swiping his identification card and inserting Dan’s order on the correct table number. “Maybe I’m just trying to get you out of the way so I can take Nico for myself.”

Phil snorted and swatted his hand at her. “Get your filthy ass out of here. He’s mine.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Chandler said in a spooky voice, wriggling her fingers as if she was performing magic. She looked past Phil’s head then, peering into the dining room, and tsked. “I just got sat. Have fun with your lover boy.”

Don’t get him wrong, Phil absolutely adored Chandler, but she could get to be a bit much at times. Just because Phil was bisexual didn’t mean that he wanted to screw every single person who hung around him.

And yet, even though he was bisexual, Chandler only teased him about other men. It was rather annoying that she didn’t validate the other part of his sexuality, but she never really listened whenever he told her that it bothered him. She only told him that it was easy to tease him about boys. Phil shook his head. These were thoughts for another day, definitely not thoughts he needed to have while he was at work.

He finished typing in Dan’s order and logged out of the terminal before walking back over towards where Dan was sitting. He was already working on his homework, jotting down notes in his notebook. His tongue was sticking out as he worked, and his left leg bounced under the table, making him seem rather jittery. It made Phil smile a little as he set the glass on the table. “Working hard already, I see?” Phil commented, wiping the condensation from the glass on his apron.

Dan glanced up and gave him a toothy grin. “You bet. I’ve got an exam tomorrow that I’ve been procrastinating on so I’m trying to cram.”

“Aesthetics?” Phil asked.

Dan hummed in agreement and tapped his pen on the page of his notebook. It left little pink dots on the paper, but Dan didn’t seem to notice even though it was quite hypnotizing to Phil. “Hopefully I remember enough stuff tomorrow that I’ll at least get a somewhat good grade.”

“I know you can do it,” Phil told him gently, giving him a supportive smile, which Dan returned thankfully.

They chatted for a bit longer about classes and it was easy. Easier than any of Phil’s other customers. Maybe it was just because Dan was a gentle person, or perhaps it was because Phil was used to his presence, but it was always relaxing whenever Dan set foot into the restaurant. He was never demanding, never in a rush. He was always patient and understanding. If there were mistakes, he just gave Phil a bright smile and told him it wasn’t an issue and that he didn’t mind. He always showed up alone, but he never seemed to care about that. That’s why Phil liked having Dan as a customer so much, why he didn’t mind whenever Dan showed up to his work.

Not to mention, he always left really good tips. Phil couldn’t exactly complain about that.

Dan has been coming to LaBella’s since Phil’s second week of working there, about a year ago. Dan had just started university and was going around town trying to figure out the best places to eat. When Phil had first served him, he had been with a girl named Louise, but Phil had only seen her one other time before Dan started coming by himself. Slowly, Dan had become a comforting presence, one that was familiar above all else. He just had this certain… aura about him, one that could calm Phil down no matter how stressed out he was. On top of that, Phil had never seen Dan upset except for once, but that was only because Dan’s dog had died that day. Phil hadn’t exactly been able to blame him for ordering the biggest dessert that day and staying quiet as he scarfed it down like he needed it to breathe.

Work went by a lot more smoothly once Dan arrived. While Phil would usually be upset about someone camping at his table, he couldn’t help but be pleasantly thankful that he had one less table to worry about.

He didn’t have to worry about getting less tips either, because Dan always made sure to tip more than enough. All he had to do was make sure his customers had enough to drink and enough to eat, and the rest of the time he would joke around with Chandler and his other coworkers until he could clock out. When Dan left, he left behind a small note written in pink ink. It sat atop the checkbook, folded three times, and Phil blinked in surprise. Dan had never left a note before. What could he possibly want to tell him that was so important?

He put it in his apron pocket and cleared off the table before reading it, not wanting to get in trouble for slacking off.

Only once he was finished cleaning did he allow himself to open the note. The writing was a messy scrawl and Phil had to squint his eyes to make sense of the words. It took him a few minutes of deciphering to figure out a general idea of what it said, and when he did, he couldn’t keep the grin from spreading across his face.

Phil, thanks again for the awesome service! I’ve been having a stressful week due to exams, but you always know how to cheer me up. You seem happier than usual, and I’m glad to see that. I’ll see you next week!

-Dan

It was a strange note, especially because Dan never was one for talking much, but Phil had no qualms about something like this. In fact, it made cheeks begin to hurt from smiling so hard. Although he sure as hell wouldn’t tell Chandler what Dan had written unless he never wanted to hear the end if it.

Having nice customers like Dan definitely made being a server worth it.

-

Phil drove to Nico’s apartment after work. He didn’t know what type of music he was in the mood for so he just played Lady Gaga on full blast, screaming out the window about how he was born this way to anyone who would listen. He didn’t mind that it was probably annoying. He just couldn’t seem to tamp his excitement down whenever he saw Nico.

The rest of their day was supposed to be rather lazy. Nico had promised to make Phil dinner, saying it was a surprise, and had mentioned something about reading and watching a movie. Even though it was just a relaxed day where nothing special was going on, Phil couldn’t stop himself from being pleasantly excited.

He pulled up to Nico’s apartment not soon after, putting the car into park, grabbing his backpack, and heading to the door. He didn’t knock before he went in, knowing Nico would tell him to just come in anyway.

“Nicky?” Phil called, taking his shoes off at the mat. A confirmation noise came from the kitchen and Phil smiled, making his way towards it. He was greeted by the sight of Nico in a dog apron, cooking something in a skillet that looked vaguely like fajitas. Phil made a scene out of inhaling the scents of the food. “Mm, smells so good!”

“It better be,” Nico commented, shooting a wink from over his shoulder. He set the spatula on the counter and turned around, grinning widely at Phil and opening his arms wide. “C’mere. Gimme a kiss.”

Phil obeyed like a well-trained puppy, sinking appreciatively into Nico’s arms. He was still in his uniform that had alfredo stains on it, but thankfully Nico didn’t comment on his outrageous appearance. He’d change in a moment. They kissed and Phil’s heart soared like it always did, still not used to the feeling.

When they pulled away, Nico went back to cooking and Phil left the room for a moment to change out of his uniform. When he got back, he took a seat at the table, pulling his book out of his backpack so he could start on a little bit of reading. He was planning on beginning Impulse today so he could understand a little bit more about what went on in Nico’s head. He had just opened the first page and started reading when Nico spoke.

“I tried calling you while you were at work today,” he said conversationally.

Phil raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? I saw that.”

Nico stuck his tongue out at him and flicked a sauteed onion at him. “You didn’t answer. I was offended.”

Snorting, Phil rolled his eyes and tossed the cooked onion back. It landed on Nico’s shoulder, who wiped it away in disgust. “My manager is super strict about the no mobile phones policy,” he explained. “If I’d answered, it could have caused me to lose my job.”

“Then at least send a text explaining you can’t talk,” Nico whined. “What if I’d needed something important? You’d never know!”

Phil laughed. “Fine, fine, I’ll risk a single text for you if it’ll get you off my back. If I’d answered today, I wouldn’t have made it to Dan’s table on time. That wouldn’t have been good.”

Nico pursed his lips. “Dan?”

“Yeah. He’s my regular.”

“Is he cuter than me?”

Phil let out a surprised laugh, gaping at him with wide eyes. Was Nico jealous? Or was he just kidding around? Phil shook his head, amused. “You nerd. Of course he’s not. You’re like, top tier.”

Nico smiled at the skillet he was cooking in, looking pleased. It was endearing. “Good.” There was a moment where the vegetables sizzled in the pan, and then, “I got you some flowers because they reminded me of you. They’re on the table.”

It wasn’t hard to find them because Phil was sitting at the table. They were placed in a skinny purple vase, a pretty bundle of purples and pinks and whites. Phil’s eyes widened and he touched their petals, feeling the softness underneath his fingertips. Another guy had never bought him flowers before simply because they’d reminded him of Phil. He felt as though his chest was filled with so much emotion that he could barely breathe. “They’re beautiful,” Phil whispered gingerly.

Nico chuckled. “Almost as pretty as you, yeah? They’re sweet peas,” he murmured in a fond voice, one so raw that Phil felt the words seeping under his skin and into his bones.

“Oh hush,” Phil giggled, his cheeks reddening.

Nico removed the skillet from the stove, and then he was walking over to Phil. He leant down and pressed a kiss to the top of his head, spreading warmth all throughout his body. “I’m serious. Maybe you can be my sweet pea.”

Phil laughed and tilted his head up, grinning at his boyfriend. Nico kissed the smile off his face until Phil was turning red all over again. “That’s so lame,” Phil breathed.

“Good thing we’re lame then, sweet pea,” Nico replied, pressing one more kiss to his lips before returning to the skillet. He hummed as he continued to cook, and Phil smiled at him even though he couldn’t see it. He couldn’t believe he had a man who took him on dates to the library, cooked him dinner, and gave him cute (and cheesy) nicknames. It was the most amazing thing in the world. He turned his attention back to the book in his hands, trying to hide his grin. Being creepy and staring at Nico as he cooked would do nothing but make him look strange. He needed to start reading the book anyway, knowing that favourite books said a lot about a person. The book was written in verse, which was a strange experience because it was not poetry. It was poetic and the author played around with words and sentence structure, which made Phil very pleased. It made the book read easier. Faster, even.

But as he made sense of the words, of the story, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of discomfort rising inside of him. Even from the first few pages, he knew that the story was going to be dark. It was about suicide and pain and recovery. It was about trying to live through the pain, trying to save yourself before it was too late. ‘Wish you could turn off the questions, turn off the voices, turn off all sound,’ Phil read to himself, glancing up at Nico once more. ‘Yearn to close out the ugliness, close out the filthiness, close out all light. Long to cast away yesterday, cast away memory, cast away all jeopardy. Pray you could somehow stop the uncertainty, somehow stop the loathing, somehow stop the pain. Act on your impulse, swallow the bottle, cut a little deeper, put the gun to your chest.’ Dark, full of meaning, possibly even triggering. Why did Nico love this book so much? Did he have to deal with a topic such as this? Did he perhaps go through a time in his life where he found death more appealing than life? Phil didn’t know, but he wanted to learn. He wanted to learn every little thing about Nico, all the way from his favourite foods to the reason behind his favourite books. Phil had made his decision and hopefully they would be in this for the long run now.

About ten minutes passed before Nico made a triumphant noise and presented Phil with a plate full of fajitas and broccoli. “I didn’t know what kind of side to make with fajitas but I figured broccoli was a safe choice,” Nico admitted, making Phil giggle.

“It’s wonderful,” Phil told him genuinely, kissing his boyfriend on the cheek.

“Just like you,” Nico sang. And then, with a wink added, “sweet pea.”

Laughing but also blushing, Phil began to dig in, even though his heart was trying to beat out of his chest. Happiness was welling in his throat and he wanted to scream with the raw emotion. He didn’t, of course, but he did laugh more loudly and became slightly twitchy because of it.

Dinner at Nico’s house with sweet peas on the table and a comfortable aura in the air was definitely something Phil could get used to.

Chapter Three 

[choisgirls]

Easter HC’s

Happy Easter my loves!

(If you don't celebrate Easter then... Happy Sunday!)

((And if you prefer the religious aspect of the holiday then.... um... Amen? IDK IM NOT RELIGIOUS IM SORRY))

I felt that, since we currently aren't accepting requests, I would write a little HC with some Easter themes for you guys!

Okay enough talking, here you go my dudes <3 ~Admin 404

 *YOOSUNG:

               -He wanted to do something a little different for Easter

               -Instead of the standard basket full of goodies, he wanted to have some fun! Play around! Go outside for once!

               -"It's so nice outside... it'd be a shame if we didn't enjoy it.... if we just sat in here.... doing nothing...." "Yoosung are you okay? Are you sick?"

               -He grabbed two spoons, a bucket with some unfilled water balloons, and your hand, dragging them all outside

               -You helped him fill up a bunch of water balloons, laughing when you realized they had little patterns on them like Easter eggs or little bunny faces

               -He announced the two of you were going to have a spoon and egg race, but with water balloons!  

               -But he gets really competitive? But it's always really playful, never hurtful!

               -He's knocked the spoon so the water balloon drops, or he bumps into you on "accident"

               -After his 7th win, he's laughing at you and gloating that "Shooting Star" is the best Water balloon racer there ever was. He stopped laughing when you hit him in the face with a water balloon

               -The rest of the race turned into a water balloon fight. The both of you ended up completely soaked, running, and giggling like children. Once you were out of water balloons though, you two used the spoons as if they were swords and continued to run around like complete dorks

 *ZEN:

               -"BABE WAKE UP I HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOU" "Zen it's 6 in the morning this better be important or I'm killing you"

               -He has you get dressed, hands you a piece of paper, and shoves you out of the house?? This early in the morning?? He won't unlock the door?? YOU'RE GONNA FUCKING KILL HIM

               -The piece of paper had a location on it and a memory he had written down on it- it was the coffee shop the two of you and Jaehee frequent. When you got there, the manager handed you a basket with a single plastic egg in it, and another piece of paper with- surprise- another location and memory associated with it

               -After a while, the scavenger hunt got harder and harder. He'd write down a memory and you'd have to start to figure out where to go next

               -At each place, you found a single plastic egg. Curiosity got the better of you and you opened a few of them

               -Inside were different puzzle pieces? He put together a scavenger hunt for puzzle pieces? What kind of moNSTER

               -The last clue sent you home where he sat at the living room table, waiting for you

               -He helped you put the puzzle pieces together, the pieces revealed the picture you were putting together was your favourite photo of the two of you, with "I love you" scribbled in his handwriting in the corner

               -You absolutely loved it and couldn't stop smiling at how dramatic and over the top he was with it, but it was still super cute! But there was a puzzle piece missing? You turned to ask him about it and you found him holding up a plastic egg covered in glitter. You opened it to find not only the last piece, which was a picture of a heart, but also a ring.

               -He turned a nice shade of pink but had the brightest smile when he saw your eyes light up. The whole day was amazing, fun, and just absolutely beautiful. You loved all of it, and especially him, there was no way you could say no

 *JAEHEE:

               -She woke up that Sunday to find your shared living room covered in hand-made paper decorations, coloured construction paper scattered across the floor, a basket full of goodies she couldn't quite make out, and you standing in the center of the chaos with a large smile on your face

               -"MC, do you care to explain what all of....this... is?" She asked, side-eyeing the large paper rabbit you've hung against the bookshelf

               -"It's all part of a game! It's the Bunny Hop game! We pick these coloured cards, and move to that colour, sort of like Candyland!"

               -You gestured over to the basket sitting at the end of the "board", and gave her the brightest grin you could

               -"Winner gets the basket of goodies!!! Okay okay, come over here!! Hurry, hurry!"

               -She laughed at your enthusiasm and joined you at the start, taking turns moving across the "board" from colour to colour

               -THIS GAME WAS A LOT LARGER THAN SHE ORGINALLY THOUGHT? IT WRAPPED AROUND THE KITCHEN, THE STUDY, EVEN OUTSIDE???? MC HOW EARLY DID YOU WAKE UP TO SET THIS ALL UP?

               -At the end of it all, she finally realized that you had rigged it so she would win. The basket was full of some of her favourite coffee beans, a bunch of caramel chocolates, some rare Zen merchandise, and a gift card for her favourite book store

               -She had no words?? You literally set this game up just for her to win? This is the sweetest thing anyone's done for her in a long time

               -The two of you shared her chocolates throughout the rest of the day as she's cuddled against you. As a thank you for the day, she cooks one of your favourite meals for dinner. she also makes you play the bunny hop game a few more times because?? Its cute and fun and she just wants to enjoy it let her have this

 *JUMIN:

               -On Easter, you wake up to a basket full of goodies, correct?

               -When you live with Jumin, you wake up to like 5 different baskets

               -There's even a basket for Elizabeth omg what a cutie

               -EACH BASKET HAS THEMES!!!

               -A few are full of items pertaining to your favourite interests/hobbies, another is dedicated to candies and chocolate, and the largest was by far the one he was most excited about

               -It held a beautiful outfit, dazzling accessories, and even some shoes??

               -He was grinning from ear to ear when you turned to ask him about it and he held out some tickets towards you

               -A play?? This dude's seriously taking you to a play?? What a NERD but you couldn't help but get just as excited who's the nerd now, mc????

               -IT WAS ACTUALLY THE CUTEST LITTLE PLAY ABOUT AN EASTER BUNNY BRINGING GIFTS AND JOY TO CHILDREN AND YOU CAN'T BELIEVE THIS DORK TOOK YOU TO THIS (it wasnt even a play pertaining to the religious aspect of the holiday?? it was a grown man in a bunny suit?? and he loved every minute of it??)

               -When the two of you got home, you gave him his own Easter basket, full of cat-themed accessories, bottles of his favourite wines, and a hand-made coupon book full of tasks and actions he can cash in on (which he laughed at because?? you both knew you'd do any of these if he just asked)

 *SAEYOUNG:

               -It was too early in the morning and Saeran was pissed at the both of you

               -He had to hide dozens and dozens of plastic eggs around the house for the both of you to find

               -But Saeyoung was COMPETETIVE AS FUCK

               -He loves you, MC, but he's gonna find the most eggs. He's gonna get the most candy. He will reign supreme

               -BUT SAERAN HID THEM REALLY WELL??? THERE WERE A LOT THAT YOU COULDN'T GET TO AND CURSED THE WORLD WHEN SAEYOUNG RAN UP BEHIND YOU AND GOT THEM

               -There was one up like in the door of the attic? You found Saeyoung dangling from the opening

               -"Uuuuh MC, since you're soo nice and sooo amazing..." "I'm not bringing you the ladder" "MC PLEASE"

               -He actually threw a pity party in the corner of the living room when he lost the Easter egg hunt? "YOU'RE BEING A CHILD, MAN UP, CHOI" "LEAVE ME ALONE MC"

               -At the end of the day though, the two of you sat watching cliché Easter movies and eating the pounds of chocolate the two of you collected

               -It's not surprising that the two of you ended up in a sugar induced coma, spread out of the couch. Saeran looked at the two of you in disgust as he stole a handful of his brothers candy, so you'd have more than him when the two of you woke up

 *V:

               -Why is there a large canvas sitting in your living room whERE IS THE FURNITURE

               -V was standing there in an old t-shirt and shorts, smiling at you proudly, which makes you question just what he has planned

               -The entire room is covered in layers of old sheets, painters paper, and cartons upon cartons of eggs scattered about the floor

               -"MC! Look! We can make art with paint instead of photos this time!" "But V, you have your camera set up right here, it's set for rapid fire" "No it's not, ignore that" "IT'S RIGHT HERE" "No it's not"

               -Once you've changed into the appropriate painting attire, you look around for some brushes, and more importantly, some paint

               -You watched as he picked up an egg, smiled at you, and threw it at the canvas. The egg shattered, leaving a large paint splatter across it. That's when it clicked that the eggs are hollowed out and full of different coloured paint

               -The two of you take turns just throwing different colours, laughing, and shoving each other playfully

               -After a while, throwing the eggs at the canvas turned into throwing them at each other. He even smashed a few full of light blue paint over your head

               -"Look, MC, now you've got hair like mine"

               -The fight didn't end until the both of you were covered head to toe in paint, and he had enough pictures of the two of you playing to make a full scrapbook of its own. You even laid on the ground and made a paint angel, and he drew a little halo above you and everything

 *SAERAN:

               -He watched in confusion as you filled a ton of different bowls full of vinegar and food dye

               -You had almost every colour you could think of and he wasn't sure what you were even going to do with it?

               - After an explanation that, you take hard boiled eggs and set them in the liquid so you can colour and decorate them, he was just left with more questions

               -"Why would you do that? Couldn't you just eat it? What's the point?" "Stop asking questions and just dye some eggs"

               -He watched you use a clear crayon to draw some designs on the eggs, dip them in multiple colours, and tried to do the same

               - his first few eggs were literally just black

               -He actually enjoyed drawing little bunny faces on some of them. There were even little egg versions of the two of you!

               -A while later, he realized that the dye sort of...dyes your skin, so he wanted to mess with you

               -He got a paint brush and started to paint little pictures on your arm while you tried to finish dyeing the eggs

               -But it was really relaxing and you couldn't help but let him do it. By the end of the night, the two of you were not only naked, but you guys were covered in adorable little paintings! He loved them a lot and didn't want to wash them off in all honesty. Though the two of you reeked of vinegar and Saeyoung had to exaggerate and wear a clothespin on his nose the whole next day

[daveywankenobie]

It seems a bit odd to me as I type it but somehow almost half a year has passed since I last visited Burton Dassett in February (link). Back then I was beginning to think of inclines and was already mentally leaning towards what I’d eventually need to be capable of when it came to climbing Snowdon (which is not far away now).

At the time I’d just tipped over the 10.5 stone lost mark at Slimming World (I’m almost at my 15 stone award now) and felt pretty chuffed that it took only 16 minutes to get to the top – where I took a selfie.

More of that later.

Today my companion and I parked much further away than my last visit in the rather picturesque Avon Dassett. Looking very similar to Ilmington where I went for some hill practice two weeks ago (link) it’s an absolutely delightful sleepy little sandstone village.

We planned to follow the green dotted line through fields past the parish church and via fields of sheep to the blue flower shaped viewpoint near the landmark beacon. We would then head into Northend and take the walking route to Fenny Compton through the surrounding fields then loop back down on the right along the road to the starting point – around 7 miles away.

The weather today was quite overcast – but occasionally there was a break in the cloud and the sun peeped through. Thankfully however the rain held off (probably just to spite me because I brought my waterproofs just in case) and although it threatened a downpour a few times it never materialised.

Today neither of us were in any rush – and we took our time to explore. If a place of interest popped up then we had a look. If it took a little longer then who cared? We were in it for the pleasure of exploration and wandering through fields today.

Just like the last time I visited we stopped along the way for a mooch around the All Saints Parish church – which I featured in my blog before (link) so I won’t go over again. There’s a lot of history there and as I was with a different person last time I felt myself compelled to let my current one have a look at the stories it contained for herself.

I thought that such an experience would be hard to top.

I know how to show a lady a good time – and pushing her into a dusty church talking about death watch beetles tunnelling through the walls seemed at the time unbeatable on the fun-o-meter. However my friend is the competitive type, and after retreating into the nearby toilets at the beacon viewpoint she returned (almost skipping with glee) with photographic evidence that topped any ecclesiastical structure mentioned in the Doomsday book.

She’d just had the envious pleasure of planting her posterior on and tinkling into a toilet inside the LOO OF THE YEAR 2005.

Those who were involved in and remembered the titanic battle for the this prestigious and coveted award must have felt justifiably proud when their local WC hit the big time. Twelve years on this pride is still burning brightly in the 2005 loo of the year and the poster remains mounted behind protective perspex to ensure that past glories are not lost from the annals (correct spelling) of history.

It’s one of the many times that being a man has worked against me – and I again today fell victim to the blind cruelty of gender bias. In my nearby hilltop urinal there were cobwebs from over a decade ago, and a couple of ancient looking toilet blocks – but no certificates.

I felt crestfallen.

The only thing that would cheer me up was a gratuitous selfie.

Although it’s not a massive change compared to my starting weight photos – I’m still pretty happy with the difference between February and now – which I can definitely see around my cheeks. There’s almost four and a half stone lying in a gutter somewhere and I don’t miss it at all.

Going up hills without it today was noticeably easier.

This by the way is a fantastic place to stop for a bite to eat. You can see for miles and miles around.

I’ve been attempting to be careful with food this week (I want my 15 stone certificate on Saturday) and have been trying out rice as an alternative to some of the meals I’d normally have while I’m out and about.

Although I’m not interested in going vegetarian I’ve been consciously trying to reduce (but not cut out) red meat in my diet so that I focus more on oily fish rather than harder to digest lumps of protein.

Basmati rice, prawns, mackerel and gherkins may sound like the devil’s work but I assure you (unless you count my endless capacity for churning out farts after eating anything these days) that it isn’t and that it’s totally delicious (plus not too filling during a walk.)

After a bite to eat we continued exploring and nearby noticed a lovely little coppice called Fox Covert -which was a small 1/4 mile wooded circular wooded walk near to the monument. We decided to have a look around its totally deserted paths – and it was like stepping into a cocoon.

Once inside the noise and wind of the outside world instantly disappeared – and all we could hear was birdsong above us in the leafy green canopy.

After a short while wandering around here we continued on to Fenny Compton, leaving the loo of the year 2005 behind and making our way through some fields of cows – where my companion learned the hard way that it’s best to look at the floor rather than the view while walking through long grass with bovine neighbours.

Thankfully the cow-mined no man’s land soon opened out into a wonderful whispering sea of wheat – and the path began to wind along the tractor lines left by the farmer.

Although often people want blue skies as opposed to grey there was something about the skyline today that looked dramatic and had a continued ‘presence’. It wasn’t too hot, we were never short of a breeze and there were even occasional splashes of colour with flowers popping up in the hedgerows an hilltops.

However – when we got back to Avon Dassett there was another treat. This small village houses not one but two churches. One of which (at the start of our walk was locked up tight – but the second (Church of St John The Baptist) was open.

It also looked smashing from the outside. Easily better than the Loo of the year 2005.

However, upon stepping inside we realised that the church seemed completely unused. There was a thick layer of dust on almost every surface and stacks of roof tiles and bricks in the corner.

It looked like there hadn’t been a service there in a long time – but oddly it was in infinitely better condition (built in 1868-89) than the nearby All Saints (first recorded in the 1087 census) and according to the signs had recently been refurbished.

Although I have an affinity with buildings like this I’m not entirely sure about the wisdom of repairing (at great cost) something that people no longer use or appear to love. The cobwebs and dust layering Bibles, red velvet prayer cushions and images of the crucifixion seemed profoundly at odds with the (clearly amazing) work that had been undertaken to repair the ceiling and stonework.

I left feeling conflicted – and wondering whether such buildings should just be listed and allowed to be re-purposed into homes or business premises like they have been so successfully elsewhere.

I still remain undecided. If it had been I wouldn’t be able to pop my head around the door and have a mooch – but then if it had someone wouldn’t have wasted millions on something that no-one seems to want anymore.

Either way – I enjoyed my walk and look around.

Finally – whilst indulging in a post walk coffee I asked my friend to take a final photo for the day for my ‘about’ page. It’s of me, sitting in my natural habitat (Starbucks) and to provide a contrast to a super heavyweight photo (taken in the same chair and almost the same place) that I’ve been using for ages now to show just how bad things got for me.

The new one shows me in the same seat 16 months later and almost fifteen stone smaller.

You can see it here internet.

Enjoy.

Davey

Avon Dassett to Loo of the year 2005 It seems a bit odd to me as I type it but somehow almost half a year…