#yeah I know Maes is the obvious choice

[usaigi]

I love a Royai baby. Love them all, it’s one of my favorite fic genres.

HOWEVER

The names are always too normal.

Please I can’t be the only one who thinks Riza would give her kid a unique celebrity baby name. Something like Sabre or Hurricane or Starfire or Scorpio

[justsomeoneintoomanyfandoms]

Please may I have a Fullmetal alchemist brotherhood scenario of when you (Maes Hughes sister *same age as Roy and she is Roy's wife and everything and she is currently pregnant with his son and she is a skilled sniper and yeah..she is the wife of a flame alchemist*) were insistent on Roy taking a break when the poor man was on the verge of collapse. You received a call from your worried brother when you were at the hospital having your pregnancy bump checked and you saw for yourself when Edward told you that Roy wasn't feeling all sunshine and rainbows..it was obvious that your poor husband had taken ill and you were absolutely stern when you told him to go home and sleep in a tone that meant "do it or else"..Roy was insistent when he said he was fine but he was not fine and it was clear to everyone else too..when they all told him to listen to his wife (you)..the Elric brothers had to help him home considering that you wouldn't be able to help him not in your condition. You called Roy a numpty for going to work despite he was ill today once he was in bed..

Hi! Thank you for your request! Sorry it took so long. I hope you like the scenario!

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist

Character: Roy Mustang x afab! pregnant! Hughes! Reader (the reader is referred to as Roy's wife but gender neutral pronouns are used otherwise)

Word Count: 1.0k (1,097 words)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Colonel Roy Mustang is overworking himself to the point of collapse, his coworkers have no choice but to call you, his wife, in for backup.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Uh huh. Yeah. No, I know what he’s like. Yep. I’ll be there soon, don’t let him out of your sight. Bye.”

With every word you spoke into the phone the nurse standing near you grew paler and backed away. You could only guess at the expression on your face.

That damned husband of yours.

“I’m sorry. I’ve got to go. Is that all we need to do for today or do I need to book another appointment?”

The nurse recovered from her stunned state and shook her head. “Everything’s okay. Both you and the baby are doing well. We’ll see you again next month for your next check up.”

You gathered your belongings and stood up from your chair. “Thank you. I’ll see you then.”

As you left the building all you could think about was the conversation you had just had over the phone.

It had been your brother, Maes. And of course, knowing your brother, you expected him to be calling just to rant about his lovely Elicia.

So when you had answered the phone, it had come as a surprise.

~

“Hey sis! How’d the appointment go? All good?”

You smiled tiredly. Your brother was always so energetic. “Yes, Maes, all good. But I’m still in the appointment so unless it’s urgent, I’ll have to go.”

“Well actually…” he paused, “it is a bit urgent.”

You frowned. That was a more serious tone than you’d heard your brother use in quite a while. Maybe this wasn’t your average “my beautiful Elicia counted to ten today, she’s so smart” call.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s Roy. He’s overworking himself again.”

You sighed. “That’s my husband. I’m guessing he’s not listening to anyone there?”

“You know him. Figured it was best if you came here to drag him home yourself.”

Another sigh on your part. “I’ll be there in a bit. Keep an eye on him and don’t let him out of your sight.”

“Right on. See you soon sis.”

~

As you strode through the halls of the base, you felt a presence fall into step beside you.

“Hello ma’am. Are you Mustang’s wife?”

You turned to look at the figure next to you. It was Edward Elric. Looking behind you, you saw his younger brother Alphonse. It was surprising how quietly he was able to move despite the large metal suit of armour.

You mostly knew the boy through Roy since, whether your husband wanted to admit it or not, he had basically adopted the Elric brothers following the incident that had taken place at their home a few years ago. Roy had been sparse on details but you’d heard rumours of human transmutation. You didn’t pry any further after that.

You’d see the Elrics around the base a few times and had certainly heard Ed and Roy yelling at each other on occasion. But beyond a few quick greetings in the halls, you hadn’t really had a lot to do with them.

“Yes, that’s me. And you’re the Fullmetal Alchemist aren’t you? To what do I owe the pleasure? Everything alright?”

The boy seemed to be fighting with himself, unsure of what to say. “It’s Mustang. He’s overworking himself and normally, I wouldn’t give a-” he paused and cleared his throat, “I mean, normally I wouldn’t be worried but he’s going to make himself sick if he doesn’t have a break.”

You sighed. “That’s my husband. My brother - you know him, Maes Hughes - called me earlier. I’m here to take him home to rest.” You frowned, “Is he that bad?”

“He’s certainly not feeling sunshine and rainbows at the moment. I think if he keeps working much longer he’s going to get sick.”

Of course he would work himself to the point of collapse when you weren’t around.

“Thank you for letting me know. I’ll be sure to give him a piece of my mind.”

For the first time, Edward grinned. “This, I’ve got to see.”

You had both reached the door to your husband’s office. You didn’t bother with the courtesy of knocking. Instead, you swung the door open, shifting your face into a firm look of fury and subtle disappointment.

“Roy.”

The man looked up from his desk, scrambling to make himself look presentable. But nothing count hide the dark circles under his eyes and the invisible weight on his shoulders.

“Hey sis! How are you and the little one doing?”

You turned to your brother, your face morphing into a smile. “Doing well.”

You looked around at the others in the room. Havoc, Hawkeye, Fuery, Falman, Breda. All people you knew well. All people who were completely loyal to your husband. All people he was ignoring at present.

“The baby’s as strong as ever. But I hear it’s father…” you turned your gaze back to Roy, “isn’t the same.”

Roy shook his head despite the resounding responses to the positive from around the room. “I’m fine dear. Really. No need to worry.”

“Oh don’t give me that. I can see it from a mile away. You, mister, need to go home and rest. Maes told me you’re overworking yourself. Even Edward told me he’s concerned about your wellbeing.”

Spluttering from behind you. “Now hang on, I never said-”

“Brother, don’t deny it. You were worried.”

You walked over to Roy’s desk. “We’re going home.”

“I’m fine hones-”

“Sir. With all due respect. Listen to your wife. Go home and rest. We can handle things here.” You gazed gratefully at Hawkeye who smiled back.

Roy opened his mouth as if to protest again but you interrupted before he had the chance. “Roy. Don’t be a numpty. Let’s go.”

He closed his mouth and exhaled through his nose. “Alright. You win. Let’s go.”

He raised himself from his chair and swayed dramatically. Edward and Alphonse rushed over. “Come on Colonel. We’ll help.” From the teasing glint in Edward’s eyes, you guessed his offer of help was in part due to genuine concern but mostly due to the fact that he could use the situation to tease your husband in the future.

As the Elrics helped Roy out the door, you waved a farewell to the others. “Thank you for looking after him until I got here. He’ll be back once he’s feeling better.”

Assorted farewells followed you out the door.

“When we get home, you’re going to bed and resting, alright?” Your tone brooked no argument and, despite everything, Roy smiled teasingly.

“Yes ma’am. You got it.”

His smile grew softer and a warm look filled his gaze.

“You’re going to be a great parent.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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[oh-three]

The Acolyte S1E8:

Yeah, nobody expected that to happen. Osha was in so much distress she tapped into the powers of her people and accidentally took a go at Qimir's mind.

Sol still trying to prove the vergence.

Damnnnn, Pip really packs a punch. I actually did want to know what Sol was gonna say though.

And……there she goes.

Bazil, what the fuck??

Looks like Mae gets to actually go back to Brendok. What a glorious landing.

Rayencourt over here foreshadowing every fallen Jedi ever. I mean…he's not wrong. But, oof, he was not being helpful at all.

There's something kinda neat about Qimir giving Osha the choice to be trained or not. Like, most Sith are kinda just apprehended or get manipulated, but Osha's over here taking the middle path and that's actually really neat of her. And the fact that Qimir's letting her.

HOLY SHIT, DARTH PLAGUEIS.

Damnn, he's gonna kill Qimir, isn't he? 'Cause I'm pretty sure that despite the rule of two, the master doesn't encourage the apprentice to find their own to kill them.

Something, something, the way Sol's reliving that night whilst walking through the ruins of the base 😭

She was right there!!!

The only one there who's not gonna be sentimental about it is Qimir, and that is not good for anybody else because he's not gonna wanna fail twice.

Qimir vs Sol rematch 👀 👀 👀

WHAT A MOVE.

The way Mae telling Osha what Sol did is the thing that made her snap 😭

[Vernestra has joined the fight.]

I���..didn't know that lightsabers could make that noise.

Wonder if Qimir knew Mae was coming or if he was actually about to surrender.

Mae wanting to Sol to pay for what he did via Jedi Council and Senate is actually very mature of her all things considered.

Watching Osha Force-choke Sol is actually so heartbreaking 😭

I know what I said earlier, but that kyber crystal is fucking red now. Also, she just passed Qimir's test…

Omg, she actually killed him 😭

The blade being two different colors, watching the red corrupt it, was actually really crazy, what the fuck.

Ahhh, so the theory about Vernestra knowing Qimir's true!

Wait, Sol's eyes aren't open anymore. Maybe he's alive after all. Or he just wasn't dead yet.

Question is- is Qimir going after Vernestra and her team, or after the not-twins? Would be funny if he just ran, though.

Omg, the Force echoes are strong enough that Vernestra can sense what happened the first time.

Vernestra leaving herself along out in the open as bait for Qimir to attack >>>

Watching this whole troop of Jedi waltzing through the forest behind Bazil is actually hysterical.

Osha and Mae making up after all that's happened is actually everything.

Mae stopping to genuinely ask Osha what she wants 😭

Qimir really wasn't gonna let them go without taking one of them as his apprentice, was he? I love how he's helping them, though. Instead of just killing them and running.

Dude, this show could totally have a season two.

"…What did I do?" She said it so softly 😭

Mae being so lost and alone that she tells the story of what happened on Brendok to Vernestra 😭

Yeah, no, Sol's dead.

Vernestra's voice when she told Mae the truth as she's gathered, and then as she tells the Senate commitee. You can tell that she still loves Sol, but is not denying that he made a terrible mistake 😭

There has to be a second season. I mean, obvious Osha and Qimir both die or something if Plagueis ends up with Palpatine, but.

Osha/Qimir shippers going crazy right now.

Ayyy, they ended it off with a Yoda cameo, nice. Wish we'd been a bit more involved since he's Grnadmaster, but, y'know, it is what it is.

[another-dr-another]

get a drink! the others can handle the projector, you just make sure you don’t faint again. -iris

Maeda, narrating - …Yeah, actually, isn’t it hard to tell when you’re dehydrated?

Maeda - Like… hikers found dead of dehydration with water right by their sides, because they thought they needed to preserve it?

Maeda - …

//Maeda grabs a water bottle from the cooler and twists the cap off with his teeth.

Maeda - Yay, hydration.

Maeda - …

Maeda - …Uhm, anyways…

~*~ 

//The couches are moved against the wall opposite of the door. They don’t fit perfectly, and are both at a bit of an angle, neither able to sit perfectly flush, but the class has given up on perfection. Tomori drags the large table over, moving it to be in front of the couches, with Maki helping her to even out its placement.

The projector hasn’t been set-up yet, with Ōtori and Iranami still struggling to get it to work, and Taira joining in on their efforts. While they fidget, Tsurugi works on moving all the blankets in the room over to the couches. Kobashikawa goes to pick up the blankets which Tsurugi wasn’t able to grab while Uehara sits down and begins to get comfortable under one of the blankets. Kobashikawa passes the blankets to Tsurugi, who drops them onto the table with the rest of the blankets- while he handles that, Kobashikawa crosses over to Maeda.

Kobashikawa - Maeda, do you want to go look at the movies with me?

Maeda - Oh! Yeah, sure, Kobashikawa.

Maeda - Do you have an idea of what you want to watch?

Kobashikawa - Not really… I’m kinda hoping that if I take initiative in picking something out, I won’t get stuck with a choice that’s dumb…

Kobashikawa - I don’t want to come across as commandeering though- so, whatever I pick out, just say you agree, and back me up, 

Kobashikawa - Even if you don’t like it, that way the others don’t know it’s all about me and what I want, okay?

Maeda - …

Kobashikawa - I’m joking.

Kobashikawa - …Mostly. 

Kobashikawa - You get a say, of course, and so does everyone else- but I do want to try and rule out things that I’d be miserable watching. 

Maeda - I mean, I support you. Movies are long as hell, you don’t want to be stuck there wanting to die for two hours.

Kobashikawa - Yeah, exactly…

Kobashikawa - Maeda, what genres of movie do you like?

Maeda - Uhm… I don’t know, I don’t watch a lot of movies. 

Maeda - Oh, I’m not a huge fan of psychological horrors- ones that are all about the mind, the uh…

Maeda - “The true villain was his insanity, and everything took place inside his twisted mind!” type of films.

Maeda - Psychological horrors is a bad way of categorizing it, because I’m fine with movies that are meant to get you to question things, movies where the characters are all tripped out and confused…

Maeda - It’s just, like…

Kobashikawa - …The trashy, overdone type things?

Maeda - Yeah, you get it.

Maeda - What about you, though?

Kobashikawa - I’m also pretty open to whatever, I don’t really care about the genre…

Kobashikawa - …I don’t know, I just don’t like movies I think are stupid? Which sounds really dumb, I know…

Kobashikawa - Like, I can handle a protagonist that makes bad decisions, but if the plot doesn’t make sense, and there’s stupid reasons for what happens, I just get fed up with it all.

Kobashikawa - …Which is of no help when trying to pick out a movie, but…

Maeda - …Speaking of, have you… looked at the selection?

Kobashikawa - …

Kobashikawa - It’s… a bit uniform, isn’t it?

//Looking at the DVD’s which have been brought to the Rec Room, it’s fairly obvious to see what the two mean. They all seem to be comedies, fantasies, rom-coms, coming of age films, and the occasional drama or mystery- but bar the odd sci-fi, they’re largely immensely lighthearted movies. Not necessarily childish, but certainly far from the horror films Maeda had brought up.

Maeda - …

Kobashikawa - …

Maeda - Not… the most adventurous…

Kobashikawa - …But, likely a good selection given the environment we’re in.

Maeda - Yeah, definitely.

Maeda - Not really… sure that it’d be a good idea to put on a movie that’ll get people thinking about how the villain could’ve gotten away with the crime, or whatever…

Kobashikawa - …I mean, I can lean into a bit of stupidity, go for a slapstick, something like that…

Maeda - Immediately have to eat your words, huh?

Kobashikawa - If it’s self aware stupidity, then that’s fine! I can survive it…

//Maeda laughs at Kobashikawa while Kobashikawa grabs a few selections.

Kobashikawa - I narrowed it down, you make the final selection.

//Kobashikawa sets down his whiteboard, and holds up six films.

Maeda - Oh! Uh…

//Maeda glances over the options- and, ignoring the idiom “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, selects the movie he’s visually drawn to.

Maeda, pointing - That one.

//Kobashikawa nods, and holds the movie out to Maeda, who grabs it while Kobashikawa sets the other movies down.

Ōtori - …Is it… working?

Iranami - …The light isn’t flashing red anymore, it’s solid green.

Ōtori - Then, it should be working.

Taira - We won’t know for sure until we test it out- have we decided on a movie yet?

Maeda - Kobashikawa and I are nominating, uh…

Maeda - This one.

Maki - … “This one”?

Kobashikawa - Maeda still doesn’t know how to read.

Higa - …Oh, I think I’ve seen that before, it’s good.

Tomori - …

Iranami - …

Kobashikawa - …

Tsurugi - …Pass it here, lemme read what it’s about.

//Maeda passes the DVD to Uehara, who passes it to Tsurugi.

Tsurugi - Oh!

Tsurugi - Yeah, I think I’ve heard about this-

Tsurugi - …Does anyone need, like…

Tsurugi - I can get fucked up by loud noises in shows sometimes- 

Tsurugi - I’m totally fine, but I do need to be conscious of how I’m doing beforehand, and what the show contains, y’know?

Tsurugi - Does anyone have any content they need, or want to avoid?

//The class is quiet.

Tomori - …So, we’re all good?

Tomori - …Alright, then.

Ōtori - You all can go ahead and sit down, I’ll… work this thing out.

//Tsurugi tosses the DVD to Ōtori, who manages to catch things successfully this time. The class dissipates and starts to find seating- Tsurugi has been sitting next to Uehara, and leans back now, before grabbing at Uehara’s blanket to lay it out over himself. Iranami gets up from the floor, and sits on one end of the smaller couch- once she’s walked by, Kobashikawa goes to sit down-

Maeda - !

//His fingers hook the end of Maedas sleeve as he walks by, gently tugging Maeda after him- but Kobashikawa lets go, and goes to sit down next to Tsurugi.

Maeda - …

Maeda - I mean, no reason not to…

Maeda - I definitely get along with Kobashikawa, I don’t mind the thought of sitting by him.

//Maeda follows, and sits by Kobashikawa- it’s a bit squished, there’s no space between any of the four who are now on the couch, but no one seems to be uncomfortable. 

Taira - …Ōtori, let me- let me help, let me see the…

Ōtori - I- I just don’t get this, how fucking difficult can it be to put a DVD in a stupid projector…

Taira - …Come to find out we need a laptop to hook up to the projector, which we don’t have because we aren’t allowed anything in this damn school…

Ōtori - Movie’s canceled guys, go home-

Ōtori - Go back to your stupid dorms…

Taira - Oh!

Ōtori - Got it?

Taira - That, or I broke it.

Taira - One of the two…

Taira - How do we turn it on?

Ōtori - …Uh…

Iranami - …

Iranami - There’s a switch, it’s on your side, Taira.

Iranami - To your left, at the bottom of the projector.

Taira - …Got it- wasn’t it already on, though?

Ōtori - …Oh, the cover is still over the lens-

//Ōtori removes the cover from the projector- and the projectors menu comes to live.

Hatano - Let’s go!

//Maeda glances up, and sees Maki standing by the couch, at his side.

Maeda - …

Maeda - Hey, is there any way we could…

//Kobashikawa glances at Maeda, then at Maki, then turns, and waves his hand at Tsurugi and Uehara.

Tsurugi - Oh, hm…

Tsurugi - How could we…

//Uehara quietly starts to shift, and after a moment of maneuvering, Tsurugi slides over a bit, enabling Kobashikawa to move…

Kobashikawa - …All good?

Tsurugi - …Yeah, wait just a sec…

Maeda - I could maybe move back over a bit?

Uehara - Nah… think we’ve got it, just need to adjust positions.

//…And eventually, there’s enough room next to Maeda for one person to squeeze in.

Maki - …

Maki - …Thanks, guys…

Tsurugi - We got ‘chu! 

Uehara - Go go girlie…

//Kobashikawa leans over and smiles at Maki- though she’s a bit distracted trying to make sure both she and Maeda are comfortable.

Maeda - …All good? 

Maki - Mhm, should be.

Maeda - Cool.

Maeda - …

Maeda - Want a blanket?

Maki - I think I’m good, thanks though. 

Maeda - Yeah, ‘course…

//The rest of the students start to settle in to watch the movie. Taira tells Ōtori to go sit while she navigates through setting up the movie, so he goes to join Iranami on the smaller couch. There’s room between the two- should someone sit there, they’d certainly have more space than the five on the larger couch currently have, yet…

Tomori, laughing - …It’s like a pack of sardines…

Maki - You don’t want to join us?

Tomori - I’m good~

//…Tomori sits on the floor, in front of Maki, Hatano sits on the floor, in-between Ōtori and Iranami, and-

Tsurugi - Higa!

//Tsurugi points at the floor in front of him. 

Tsurugi - Want to sit here? There’s tons of blankets, it shouldn’t be too uncomfortable.

Higa - …Sure, yeah.

//And Tsurugi directs Higa to sit by him.

Maeda - …

//Maeda leans forward, and gives Tsurugi a look. He glances at Kobashikawa, and looks at Tsurugi again. Tsurugi seems… almost distressed, for a moment, before he works out what to do.

Tsurugi, whispering - Later! 

//Maeda looks at him.

Maeda, uncertain - ?

Tsurugi, inaudibly - It’s fine!

//Maeda manages to lip read, and gives Tsurugi one more look- he’s met with Tsurugi dismissively waving a hand at him, and gives up.

Taira - Hey, is this a good angle for the projector?

//Taira has set the projector on the small table, making it easier to see the movie.

Uehara - …Seems good to me.

Uehara - Uh, people on the floor, can you all see?

Tomori - Mhm, it’s good!

Taira - Alright, then…

//Taira pushes play on the projector, and moves back- sitting a distance away from the class.

Tomori - Do you want to come sit over here, Taira? There’s room.

Taira - …The amount of heat that ten people seated together, completely stationary, will generate…

Tomori - …

Tomori - Painfully fair point. 

//The movie starts to play out- Maeda watches the opening scene roll, and tries to guess what parts of what he’s seeing will be relevant later on.

Taira - …

Taira - I’m going to turn the lights off, okay?

Ōtori - Go for it.

//Taira darts over to the light switch, and plunges the room into darkness, bar the movie.

Iranami - …Hatano, can you grab me a blanket, please?

Hatano - Uh, sure…

//Higa is between Hatano and the blankets. Silently, he passes a blanket to Hatano.

Hatano - …Thanks.

//She gives the blanket to Iranami, who thanks her. Maeda goes back to the movie. A little girl with long, dark hair is perched on a railing. She appears upset, and flips off a wiry man who was present at the beginning of the movie.

Actress - Asshole!

Maeda - …Kinda reminded of… what’s the film, Léon?

//Time goes by- Tsurugi gets a drink for Kobashikawa, Higa begins to snack on something or other, and Maeda continues to watch the movie. Around an hour in, his attention is caught as he notices movement in the bottom of his vision. Tomori has her hands raised, and seems to be… flicking them? 

Maeda - ?

//She’s shifted, and is looking to Maeda’s right. He follows her line of sight, and sees Tsurugi, also with his hands raised. 

Maeda - …They’re playing chopsticks.

Maeda - Good for them. 

Maeda - Anyways, I don’t know I really like this movie.

Maeda - It’s a fun watch, for sure, but it isn’t an artistic masterpiece, the way it’s written kinda sucks.

Maeda - And like… the fact the director could make something so shitty and make so much money…

Maeda - Like, people profited off this, and that sucks to think about-

Maeda - Not like, the actors, but someone thought this was a good idea, and made millions of yen.

Maeda - Damn-

//Tomori shuffles a deck of cards- Maeda looks over, a bit startled, and realizes it’s a set of Uno cards. She deals three hands out onto the table, before grabbing one for herself. To Maeda’s surprise, Kobashikawa leans forward and grabs the other two stacks, passing on to Tsurugi, and keeping the other for himself. 

Maeda - When did they negotiate this?!

//Maeda tilts his head, catching Tomoris attention, and mouths at her- “Deal me in.” She does as such, counting off seven cards, which she places in a stack, and hands to Maeda.

Maeda - …

Maeda - “SHSL Lucky Student,” bullshit title…

Maeda - I guess there’s worse hands, though…

//Tomori flips a card over from the stack sitting on the table- a yellow 3. After a moment, Kobashikawa adds a yellow 8, presumably from Tsurugi, as after another moment, he places down a yellow 11. 

Maeda - My turn, now…

//He places a green 11, and remains leaned forward, taking care to shield his hand from Kobashikawa.

//Time passes by. Maeda continues playing, occasionally glancing at the movie. He’s down to one card, but can’t play it, and is drawing cards when Kobashikawa shifts forward.

Maeda - ?

//Kobashikawa tries to reach his drink, but despite the fact he’s the one who set it where it is, he can’t seem to reach it. Frustrated, he throws his head down in defeat, before returning to his struggle.

Maeda - I… don’t know that I’ll be of any help here… I may be able to reach it, but- 

//Higa leans forward, grabs Kobashikawas drink, and without looking, passes it to him.

Kobashikawa - !…

//Kobashikawa pauses, then grabs his drink from Higa. He sips at it, and waits for his turn to come around- at some point, the order reversed, and he’s now playing after Maeda.

Maeda - …

Maeda - No clue what’s going on there…

Maeda - …

Maeda - !

Maeda - God, I managed to forget about everything that happened earlier, somehow…

Maeda - Still though, I wonder what Higa’s thinking right now.

//Time passes by. 

Monokuma - Good Evening, Students.

Hatano - Gah!

Monokuma - It Is 10 p.m.-

Maki, overlapping - …Every time…

Monokuma - -Marking The Beginning Of Nighttime. 

Monokuma - Nighttime Shall End At 8 a.m. 

Monokuma - Goodnight, Students. 

Ōtori - …Should we go?

Tsurugi - I mean, no reason to…

Tsurugi - People can start leaving whenever- buddy system, but still.

Tsurugi - But, I don’t think we should go just because it’s nighttime-

Tsurugi - The only thing that really changes is that the dining hall locks, and the door should be propped open,

Maeda - .

Maeda - Huh.

Tsurugi - In case anyone’s hungry, and so we can throw out the things we used tonight.

Tsurugi - So, we shouldn’t get up and go right now, just because Monokuma says it’s nighttime.

Ōtori - …Are you playing Uno?

Tsurugi - Yes.

Ōtori - …

Tsurugi - …

//Ōtori leans back, and returns to watching the movie. Tsurugi focuses back on playing Uno, but after he’s played all his cards, he taps out for the night. One round after Tsurugi quits, Maeda drops out as well, and after playing a game against each other, Kobashikawa and Tomori stop, and put the cards away.

Maeda - And, I lost track of what’s happening…

Maeda - …

//Maeda watches.

Maeda - It’s better than I expected-

Maeda - Am I too cynical?

Maeda - Hm.

Maeda - I don’t know, isn’t it good to think critically about things? 

Maeda - Whatever, I’m having fun bitching about the director and how I totally know better than them, so it’s fine.

//Time passes by, and the movie comes to an end. 

~*~

Maeda - …Well, it was a good watch- I’d watch it again, it’s good to just have fun with things, whatever that means, right?

Maeda - …

Maeda - Four people died here. They’re… just dead. They could be here, being stupid and enjoying a dumb movie, but they’re dead.

Maeda - Their bodies are decomposing, and even if they weren’t, it’s not like they have functional brains to process sensory input anymore.

Maeda - There’s just… nothing.

Maeda- …

Maeda - I didn’t even know them well, it’s just… I’m sitting here, a few days after I watched Mekaru choke on her blood and die, and then saw Yamaguchi get dragged off to execution,

Maeda - And everyone around me saw just the same thing- Kobashikawa and Ōtori saw Mekaru die, and we all debated back and forth before we realized Yamaguchi was the one who stabbed Mekaru,

Maeda - And Tsurugi was stabbed by Inori before she killed Kurokawa, and just before she died, Kurokawa had been shopping with me, Kobashikawa, and Uehara, 

Maeda - …It’s just odd. I don’t even want to say I’m grieving- it’s horrible what happened, but this isn’t me mourning lives lost, right now…

Maeda - It’s just strange to think about what happened. It feels weird, thinking about cause adn effect, and how we got here.

//Maeda is (very gently) whacked on the forehead.

Maeda - Ah! What the fuck?!

Tsurugi - Hiya Maeda, welcome baaaack.

Kobashikawa - We’ve been talking about what we’re going to do now-

//Maeda was effectively on a different plane of existence- he’s tuned back into reality now, and is trying to gather what’s been happening. 

Hatano - Jeez Iranami, you’re so gloomy…

Iranami - …Do I come across as upset? 

Iranami - I’m just tired…

Hatano - Oh, me too!

Hatano - We should really just head to bed.

Ōtori - But there’s so much to clean up.

Hatano - We can just get it tomorrow…

//Tomori yawns.

Tomori - I agree with Ōtori- it’s better to just get it cleaned up now, while we’re all here- it’ll go pretty quickly if we all get it done together.

Kobashikawa - But we’ve been so consistently going to bed after the nighttime announcement- at least, I’d imagine so…

Kobashikawa - It’s inevitable for us to be too tired to really get things done, yeah?

Higa - …

Higa - I’m pretty certain I’m about to fall asleep…

Maki - I think… that if we don’t clean up now, the whole mess is going to fall to just a few people to pick up, which isn’t really fair-

Hatano - Aren’t you too tired to move furniture, and do whatever else needs to get done?!

Maki - …We can be grown-ups and clean up after ourselves, right, Hatano?

Hatano - …

//Hatano groans, and leans her head on Iranami’s leg, which is dangling off the couch.

Uehara - Christ…

Tsurugi - Mmm… no point in making a fuss over this all-

Tsurugi - Let’s just clean up things like the food, drinks, and all that-

Tsurugi - We can leave the blankets and furniture for tomorrow.

Tsurugi - We have to walk down to the dorms no matter what, and the dining hall is on the way there.

Tsurugi - The people who aren’t tired can put things away in the dining hall, and those who are tired can go sleep. 

Tsurugi - Okay?

//No one speaks up to disagree.

Tsurugi - Great!

Ōtori - I’ll help pick things up, I’m not tired.

Kobashikawa - …

Taira - I’d have thought you were, what with the nighttime announcement conversation earlier-

Taira - That’s good though, it’s nice to have extra hands.

Taira - I’ll help as well, of course.

Tsurugi - Oh!

Tsurugi - Taira, you don’t have to do anything extra if you’re tired, I’m sure we’ll manage…

Taira - I’m not tired yet-

Taira - I don’t usually get much sleep? I’m awake for a solid duration of nighttime.

Tsurugi - …How much sleep are you getting all in all, would you say?

Taira - …Oh, I sleep outside of nighttime-

Taira - I nap at some point in the day more often than not.

Tsurugi - Ah, that’s good then…

Tsurugi - So, I’ll help clean, and so will Taira and Ōtori… anyone else feeling up to it?

Kobashikawa - …I’ll take care of my drink, but I’m ready to sleep…

Maki - …

Maki - I’ll come up here after breakfast and help move the furniture back…

//The rest of the class is quiet.

Tsurugi - Okay~...

Tsurugi - I can get the drinks, they’re fairly heavy, so…

//Ōtori, Taira, and Tsurugi start to divvy up what needs to be carried down- around them, the rest of the class slowly comes back to life, stretching and sighing as they start to collect whatever they snacked on, before making their way to the door of the rec room.

~*~

Maeda, narrating - …

Maeda - I could probably help put things away…

Maeda - I’m ready to go lie down for the night-

Maeda - But I’m not that tired…

Maeda - I’m pretty sure most of the people who are heading to bed would fall asleep the second they stopped moving, and I’m sure Taira, Ōtori, and Tsurugi would appreciate a bit of help.

Maeda - …But, also, there’s kinda a limit to how many people it really takes to put away some bags of chips, so…

{Go to the Dining Hall}

{Go to Your Dorm}

[n7viper]

HEY i was creeping in maeves tag can you tell me about her too if you want??? Like fave songs for her or fave weapons or just whats on your mind about her rn!

Ooh, thank you for asking! :3 This got away from me and is rambly, so strap in. But first, I’ve got a playlist for her here:

A lot of it is angsty because that’s just the kind of music I listen to lol. It’s a bit of a mix - the first part is sad angsty music, then it goes into a handful of Mae/Crow songs, and then finally into some sort of “happy” songs. I update this every so often, so there will be more OTP and happy songs in the future. I’ve just been a little depressed in the first half of the year, and her playlist has suffered for it 😅

A bonus fact before we get into my rambling is that her tag (Maezi) is a nickname that I imagine Saint giving her. I don’t think I ever said that here, now that I think about it? It really just came about because I was thinking of her normal nickname combined with her last initial, Mae Z. It sounded like Maisy when I said it aloud, and it also sounds like a funny name someone would give her, Saint being an obvious first choice. I spell it like that because her last name is Zin.

Mae is my main guardian, one half of my Young Wolf pair. I only recently started playing D1, so I don’t have a ton of info about that time. For D2, I’ve mentioned in a few random places (so forgive me if you’ve seen this) that I started playing a few months before Forsaken came out and then left sometime around Season of the Drifter, I believe. I didn’t come back until last year, about halfway through Season of Plunder. So there are a lot of gaps in Mae’s story and things that I haven’t really thought about because of having to rely on going back to watch videos on Youtube to absorb the story. So as a general disclaimer, things change in her development A LOT. I know this is normal for OC creation, but I always feel really insecure about it. There are already some things from just a few months ago that I've retconned. So yeah lol

Mae is a jack-of-all-trades hunter who is primarily an arcstrider, sometimes nightstalker (spectral blades). She is capable of using solar light but chooses not to, and doesn’t often rely on either of the Darkness subclasses. For long-range combat, she prefers bows; Wish-Ender and Le Monarque most often (no, I’m not projecting that at all). Melee and close-quarters combat is more of her jam, though. She most often uses hand cannons and SMGs, swords and glaives for actual melee. For armour exotics, it’s a little complicated. In an ideal world, she would wear Liar’s Handshake and have some leg armour that looks like ST0MP-EE5 but don’t necessarily function as they do in game. She wears (fake) stompies because of their bracing; she has a persistent stasis-induced injury to her right ankle that is not easily healed. (Things might have changed on this since BL was quite some time ago, but Ghost repeatedly says in that campaign that there isn’t much he can do to fight stasis. Seems like if you got a shard of that embedded in your skin or in a joint, it would be difficult for a Ghost to heal, even if the shard was removed. That’s my thought process on this little aside.)

This is her canon armour, as long as you pretend that those hardened basilisk vambraces are Liar's Handshake :P

High level overview of what I currently have in mind for her general story — the other half of my little YW pair (Phaeston) dies between Curse of Osiris and Warmind. She handles this pretty poorly. Phaeston had been with Mae since she was revived, and they’re sort of a platonic bonded pair. She feels a little lost without him, feels like it was her fault (WIP), and becomes a bit reclusive. She has a pretty significant shift in personality as a trauma response, going from being a playful hunter to a quiet and solitary lone wolf. Cayde tries to help in his own way, feeling like she may be feeling like he did after Andal died (not that he would ever admit that to her). It only sort of helps and mostly just makes things worse after he dies too. She feels a little skeptical of the Vanguard after she kills Uldren and takes an extended assignment to the Dreaming City to help Petra try to contain the curse cycle. Anything between the end of the Forsaken campaign and Season of the Lost is mostly just a WIP.

Mae is also a Crow-mance because I am weak lol. Loosely, Crow is the one who takes the lead in their relationship and initiates it in the first place. Mae originally takes him under her wing as a sort of protégé, remembering what it was like for her when she was trying to find her footing as a guardian. She also feels mildly guilty for his early life, whether she necessarily should or not. He’s a good catalyst for getting her back to her old self and getting her to reconnect with her friends, but I do want to stress that it’s the early mentor/mentee relationship that does this, not the romantic one.

These days, she’s doing about as well as most guardians can be, I suppose. I haven’t even started thinking about her mental state this season with [potential spoiler] bringing up past regrets for several of the main seasonal cast. I’m still stuck in past seasons 😂 I could ramble on for an eternity about Forsaken and Season of the Haunted if you let me.

God uhhhhh idk if this really answered much of anything, but it’s been 2 hours since I started typing some of this out, so I should just call it here. I’m trying to get better about engaging with ask games again, so hopefully I can answer some specific things in the future.

[shiningwonderland]

Tokiya Ichinose (Repeat) Memorial

A day that felt like a dream

Translator: Koto (Twitter: kotowari16)

Proofreader: Mimi (Twitter: _mimisaurora), Raz (Twitter: agnadance)

Editor: Pam (Twitter: skywyld), Sasteria (Tumblr: forestofsecret), Terry (Twitter: turtlemudge), Mae (Twitter: itoshikimaegirl)

Things have gotten complicated.

To think that I’d be co-starring with HAYATO….

Saotome-san’s choices have me perplexed.

It was precisely because I wanted to avoid getting too involved with HAYATO that I went through the trouble of choosing and enrolling in Saotome Academy....

And yet….

"Wah, oh my gosh… HAYATO-sama is coming… HAYATO-sama is…."

The sparkle in Nanami-san’s eyes was….

I know you’re getting the opportunity to see your favorite idol in real life, but aren’t you getting a little too carried away?

Today was the first time in a week that we had a lesson in the recording room….

But Nanami-san had been acting like this ever since we received the news about Ohayaho~News earlier this morning.

She took her lessons seriously, but seemed to have her head in the clouds during recess and lunch breaks.

Even now, during the preparation for our lesson, her thoughts were completely occupied by HAYATO.

"Nanami-san… Aren’t you a bit too happy to be able to meet your favorite idol?"

"Eh?! Ah, aaaaaaaaaah, meeting him, that’s ridiculous. If I could catch a glimpse from afar, if only for a second… that would be more than enough to make me happy!"

What’s she going on about…?

If she’s his fan, wouldn’t it be obvious to want to talk to him?

"You can at least talk to him in some situations, can't you?"

"Eh… ah… no… that—I don’t want to intrude on him... and I wouldn’t want to end up bothering him either…."

She became extremely wary and made herself even smaller than she already was.

"In the meantime, since I’m going to be talking to HAYATO tomorrow, is there anything you want me to bring up?"

Suspecting she might ask for an autograph, I asked the question spitefully.

"Please do your best!"

She clenched her fists tightly and sounded as joyful as possible.

That wasn't what I was asking, but….

It looked like we weren’t quite on the same page.

"It’s his job. So, of course, he’ll do it perfectly. But you are HAYATO’s fan, right?"

"Yeah! I love him!"

An immediate answer….

And with a big smile, even….

She's quite remarkable.

"If you are a fan, then wouldn’t you want to talk to him personally?"

"Of course! But now isn’t the time. HAYATO-sama is my favorite idol, my inspiration, and… my dream…. Someday, when I’ve become a great composer, my dream is for him to sing my song. That’s why, until then, it’s enough for me to just be a fan who cheers him on from afar!"

Her eyes were shining even more than before as she talked about her dream.

The sight itself was beautiful, but for some reason it only irritated me.

"I see…. But the song you should be writing right now is mine. If you fail to debut, that dream won’t come true."

"I know! I’ll do my best! First is the recording test, right? Time to study, time to study ♪"

She prepared herself for the lesson in a good mood.

HAYATO’s impending arrival didn't distract me or interfere with my classes and lessons.

However….

Those sparkling eyes, in addition to her being so excited….

There was nothing I could do about it, was there?

"Are you ready? I’m going to sing."

She was doing precisely what she needed to do. And yet, why, why was this so frustrating…?

And so, the next day.

HAYATO came to our school.

There was still something small that needed to be done, so I asked Nanami-san to take care of it and came to school early.

Ohayaho~News filming started early in the morning.

In spite of having arrived at the academy much earlier than on a normal school day, Nanami-san had already made it to our meeting place.

"So this place is going to be featured on Ohayaho~News today. How lovely."

You’re looking quite chipper this morning.

She had been like this during yesterday’s lesson, and the excitement had still been there on the way back home. Had she sustained it all this time? If that was the case, that was some tremendous energy she had.

What was it about HAYATO that animated her so much?

What was it about HAYATO that was so charming…?

HAYATO and me….

Why was it that HAYATO was the only one who provided her energy when we looked almost exactly the same…?

It had been puzzling me ever since yesterday.

I have to focus and stop worrying about unnecessary problems… because… I have work to do.

"Ah. Ichinose-san! Good morning. I hope you have a good day at work today."

"Yeah, likewise, have a good day."

I wondered what exactly she thought of me.

HAYATO or me, whose existence would have the greatest meaning to her…?

I believed I had put in some of my own effort as her partner, but….

I'd been pretty strict and unrelenting with her ever since school started, so she might not think too highly of me.

I thought of something else and hurriedly denied it: the idea that maybe she was enduring it just because my face resembled Hayato's, but was actually suffering.

Let's forget about it for now.

Because this is an important job that has been given to me, Ichinose Tokiya….

[slasherfilth]

You Are What You Eat – Chapter 4 (Thomas Hewitt x Reader)

You would be lying to yourself if you said you hadn’t rushed through your afternoon cleaning schedule to get home sooner. You had sped through the dishes, and half wiped down the countertops. Making sure to turn off of the ovens and coffee maker before darting out of your shop. The other things could wait till tomorrow. You would just wake up earlier to deal with it. You were slightly fidgety as you stood in front of the mirror in your room. You donned a somewhat nicer looking dress, light blue that come down to your knees. Slender at the top but flared out at the hips, over your legs. It had pretty lace to cover your shoulders, and you almost felt too dressed up. But as you bit your lip and pondered the other choices you decided that the others weren’t good enough either. And you really didn’t have the time to change… again. Was it ridiculous that you were trying to look nice for a guy you had only met once before? Absolutely. Could you help yourself? Absolutely not.

Deciding this was as good as you would get, you made your way to the kitchen. The place you always felt more relaxed. Your eyes zeroed in on the small plate of pies you had grabbed from work. You decided you would use the opportunity to give the pies back to the Hewitts to try. And maybe Thomas would tell you what he thought… well not tell you but…

Actually, how was he going to say anything to you? You bit your lip again. You would be the first to tell you didn’t know ASL well, but you weren’t sure he did either. Maybe writing would be the way to go? You began to look for a small notepad and pen. Once it was found, you placed it on the table. And then frowned because it was far too obvious. What if he could speak and simply choose not to the other day? Luda had mentioned something about it, but you weren’t positive. You bit your lip once more and moved it to sit beside the fruit bowl next to your car keys and other miscellaneous items you threw down anywhere. There. It wouldn’t be super obvious, but it was there if needed… You were a lost cause. But you didn’t have time to ponder how ridiculous you were before you heard your doorbell. In all, it’s terribly unrhythmic and scratchy glory. You cringed. Yes, the house may be beautiful, but it absolutely needed some more work before it was as practical as it was beautiful.

You made your way to the door and opened it slowly, nerves running through you in a way you hadn’t really experienced since being an anxious teenager. You took a deep breath. Enough, you were being silly. You’re an adult. And so is he. Coming into your house. To help you. That’s all. You cleared your throat and finally looked up at the visitor. Against your better judgement, he wasn’t even looking at you. Instead, he looked at your doorbell with slightly furrowed brows. You could help the giggle that immediately left you, your tense shoulders relaxing as you enjoyed the feeling.

“It’s terrible, isn’t it?” You laugh and look to him again. Your voice must have caught him off guard as he looked back to you, his face once again surprised as he nodded hesitantly. Wondering if he should be agreeing or just pretend it was all fine. You giggled once more.

“Well, I wasn’t lying to Luda Mae when I said the house was a bit in disrepair. The doorbell is the least of my worries at the moment… you should see my sink.” You sigh slightly as you opened the door wider and motioned for him to enter. He followed. You felt some of the last nerves crawl back up your spine, but you tried to keep them at bay, making your way to the kitchen once more. You felt him follow behind, careful not to brush up against anything. You frown slightly, realising you’re not the only one who is nervous about this arrangement. You decided to try and break the ice. Once you came to your kitchen, you turned around to face him with a confidence you didn’t really feel. You stuck out your hand.

“I’m (y/n), I’m sorry I didn’t really get to introduce myself properly the other day. I want to say I’m really thankful for you coming over and helping me. A lot of the stuff I just can’t do on my own. These muscles can knead the dough, but bolts and furniture are a whole different ballpark.” You smiled and tried to make a joke. He lifted a brow, but you could see the barest of smirks from beneath the mask. You had heard all of the rumours. People thought it was made of human flesh. How ridiculous. It looked like nothing but cowhide. You more felt sorry that he felt the need to wear it. It couldn’t be easy to deal with, especially in this heat. You watched as his mouth opened but shut almost immediately. While in the midst of your own mind, he had reached out and gently took your extended hand. Clearly cautious of how much strength he used as he gently shook it, seeming almost concerned he wasn’t doing it right. Surely people shook his hand… right? But you only wondered for a moment before you felt the sheer heat of his hand course through your arm, sending small shivers of delight through you. Gosh, you really were a sucker of muscle and heat.

“Oh, I meant to ask, would you like a pen and paper to write with? It might be a bit more difficult if you can’t ask me questions about things.” You gushed pathetically. Your eyes darting towards the notepad you had placed beforehand. So much for being casual. You watched as he nodded slowly. You beamed a smile at him, maybe moving a bit too quickly for the paper and pen. You brought it back to him and began to sit at your table, motioning for him to follow. However, as soon as he rested his arms on the table to write, you felt it shift ever so slightly, to which he paused and looked beneath. You winced as you saw the small piece of cardboard crumble beneath the weight. Sending your table into its lopsided glory once more.

“Like I said, the doorbell is the least of my worries.” You huffed sadly, but you saw shoulder shift slightly. In a way, you almost thought of as laughter if you could hear it. You turned back to him, but he was already writing.

I’m Thomas, and by the looks of it I won’t be able to fix everything tonight

You flushed bright red but chuckled a bit at his words.

“Yeah, it's feeling like a bit of a lost cause. The main issues are this table and the dining, the sink in the kitchen and bathroom and the doorbell. And a part of the roof in my room that seems to be caving in somehow.” You smile sheepishly as he gives you a look. And you realised although he may not be able to talk, he was very expressive none-the-less. It made you feel better. Maybe this communicating thing wouldn’t be so difficult.

I can start with the sinks tonight if you would like? And have a look at the others, so I know what to bring next time.

You flush at the realisation that this would mean more visits and you’re not sure your poor cheeks can handle it. You nod, however, and stand once more making your way to the sink. You turn on the water and without a plug in sight, the water began to pool in the basin quickly. You turned off the faucet.

“I’ve tried everything short of pulling it all apart. And that’s only because I physically couldn’t unscrew the bolts.” You sighed as he took a quick look. You moved toward the loungeroom, quickly grabbing your tool kit you had kept inside to help fix everything up. You held a wrench and walked back. You walking in on Thomas already removing bottles of cleaning products and turning so he could see beneath. And oh god, if his size hadn’t hit you before, seeing him barely fit into your cabinet to look at the pipes absolutely cemented the idea in your head. You cleared your throat as to not startle him and handed him the tool. Receiving a small huff in return which you decided to take as a thank you. You felt something tingle in you as you watch him unscrew the bolts with little to no effort at all. God, you really were a lost cause.  

Maybe seeing nothing but pretty boys in your city really had made you weak to any man doing physical labour but hot damn where you completely happy to just watch him work. Until you realised you were probably being creepy and decided to heat up one of the pies for him while he worked. Deciding on making some sweet tea for the both of you as well. Anything to keep your mind preoccupied.

You absentmindedly began to hum as you began to work. A habit you had picked up a long time ago. It helped to soothe you as well as focus. Great for baking. You nodded your head in confirmation before making your way to the fridge and grabbing some items. You worked quickly, sweet tea being something you made often, reminded you of home while you were away. While working diligently, you could hear all sorts of sounds of metal on metal as he worked, every once in awhile hearing something drop to the ground before you heard water gushing out and a slight disgruntled noise come from the mysterious man. You stopped yourself from giggling. You began to stir the ingredients together and didn’t realise how much time had passed, your head in the clouds as you listened to the sound of not being alone and cooking. It made you smile. If mama could see me now… She’d wonder why I wasn’t his bride yet. You scoffed to yourself and turned, only to realise he was no longer behind you. Instead, everything had been packed away like nothing had happened, and you looked down the sink to see no remaining water. Gingerly you turned on the tap slightly to water if the water would catch.

Nothing.

You smiled and turned the faucet on harder and watched in happiness as it run down the drain and into the abyss. Thank goodness. You were getting very sick of using the outside hose. Standing you decided to heat up the pie and begin pondering different ways to spice them up for your customers. You decided to take a notepad and sit down on the sofa. Thomas would find you if he needed anything you were sure. You hadn’t realised how much time had passed as you wrote ingredient after ingredient and recipe after recipe down in your notebook. Outside was now pitch black, and you heard loud footsteps echo from somewhere behind you. Smiling, you stood up and turned around coming face to face with the man you told yourself you hadn’t been daydreaming over for the last couple hours he had been here.

“Oh Thomas, did you manage to fix it? I saw the kitchen, thank you so much! You have no idea how relieved I am to have a working sink again. I don’t really know how to thank you properly, but I made some sweet tea, and I’d like you to try one of the pies I made out of the meat you gifted me. Oh! Speaking of. Thank you very much for that too! You have no idea how much I’ve been wanting to find some good cuts, and yours were fantastic! Luda mentioned you were a butcher but still, they were outstanding!” You knew you were rambling. He knew you were rambling. Everyone knew. And yet you couldn’t shut up. Your eyes darted to the kitchen as you realised you needed to set up the food still. Perfect. Distraction. But as you made your way over, you couldn’t help but notice Thomas actively looking away from you. You weren’t sure if you had said something wrong. Oh, you hope you hadn’t. You and your big mouth.

However, much to your relief, he continued to follow you to the kitchen, and as you grabbed the jug, you went to motion for him to sit at the kitchen table. The world apparently had other plans. And you wished you weren’t such a clutz. You whirled around and come face to chest with the much taller man. Unfortunately, the glass jug you had been holding didn’t quite bounce off as much as you did. Instead, it shattered around you both, sending sweet tea pouring over you and him equally. You froze. And stared. Not entirely sure what to do at this moment. Was it real? Were you dreaming? Despite feeling like you were in some kind of hallucination, your mouth apparently hadn’t taken the hint.

“I… am so sorry.” And with that, your mind seemed to catch up with you. You looked up at his face to find him staring rather intently at you. You figured he was probably mad and trying to keep it in. Oh god, you had to fix this. You rushed over to the bench and quickly grabbed some paper towel before patting him down repeatedly. Muttering multiple apologise as you tried to remove as much liquid as possible. You bit your lip and dared not look at his face again. Everything seemed so quiet and still. The dull light illuminating both of you in the otherwise dark house as you stood in your kitchen, trying to pat this man dry in a useless attempt. You slowly looked up at him. His eyes were still fixated on you. And you thought maybe you weren’t the only one who short-circuited when this occurred. But you were the only one to reboot afterwards.

“Y-You can have a shower if you’d like. It’ll get really sticky… I can wash your shirt for you and give it back next time you come over… if you still want to…” You felt like you were in some kind of clique sitcom. God, you were so clumsy sometimes. You went to step back from him, however as you did, you realise that you hadn’t cleaned up the glass jug at all. Hissing loudly, you lifted your foot and before you could think you were hoisted into the air and placed on the kitchen table with seemingly no effort. You gasped at the feeling of warm hands encircling your waist before they were just as quickly taken away.

Before you could react, you watched as the giant man knelt in front of you, your cheeks reddening drastically he did. Was it suddenly really warm in here? You thought so. He gently took your foot and inspected it, his fingers grazing slightly against the blood that dripped from it. You whimpered gently.

“It’s fine, just a little cut. It’ll stop bleeding in no time.” However, as you spoke, you began to notice the spots of blood on his hands. You were sure they weren’t from you. They seemed too dry. Your eyes trailed up as you seen small specs of blood cover his arms too, and lightly coat his shirt. It was well hidden beneath the dirt from his day at work, but it was still noticeable. You wondered how you hadn’t noticed earlier. But he was a butcher. You figured he probably did get it everywhere. And maybe Luda had rushed him out of the house before he had time to really clean everything off. You wouldn’t judge him either way.

Watching beneath you, you see dark locks shake, as Thomas stood and grabbed more paper towel. He pressed it to your cut with a little pressure and sat there for a moment. Kneeling before you, holding your foot in his hand and you couldn’t help but think of him in a different situation, kneeling before you. You flushed bright red once more and turned away from him—your turn to be shy. Quick, think of something else! Your eyes darted around and landed on the pies once more. Pies!

“O-Oh. Did you want to try the pie still?” You grinned awkwardly from your place above him. He looked up at you, raising an eyebrow. But you thought you would see amusement in his eyes and a small smirk on his lips. It made you relax slightly when he nodded his head, pull away from you, but not before checking if you foot at stopped bleeding. You quickly set up his food with a glass of water instead before sweeping up your mess. Being extra careful not to step on anymore. Although being swept off my feet again isn’t a terrible idea… You shook your head. Not the time! You quickly put all of it away and made your way back to the kitchen. Hesitantly, you pressed your hands together and walked up shyly to him. Eager to know what he thought as he slowly broke apart the pie and slipped it through his mask. You wanted to tell him it was okay to take it off. That you wouldn’t be offended but you figured if he was comfortable doing that, he would have done it anyway.

“How is it?” You asked shyly, threading a lock of hair behind your ear. You watch him look up at you and ideally look around. You stare confused for a moment before you remember he couldn’t just tell you. You wanted to slap yourself. You quickly grabbed the paper you had written recipes on earlier and gave it to him. His eyebrow lifting at the sight of the recipes. You bit your lip.

“I… actually wanted to ask you how you liked it because I want to sell them at my bakery… And meat is tough to come by… especially as good as the stuff you gave me! …I was wondering if you would mind selling me some from time to time. I wouldn’t have to be all the time! And I don’t need very much. And of course, I would be willing to pay you for it!” You bit your lip once more and winced. You’d been doing that far too much this afternoon. You waited patiently as he began to hesitantly write.

I’d love to give you more… but I have to ask Charlie and Luda. Thank you for the food, it’s good

You almost squealed and clapped. It wasn’t much, but you figured any compliment from Thomas was something to be excited over. And as for the meat, you were sure you could talk Luda around. Maybe this just meant you and Thomas wouldn’t see the last of each other just yet. You were more than a little okay with that. Even though you didn’t squeal, in your excitement, you had launched forward and enveloped the large male in a hug. Pressing your form against his side as he remained seated. However, you quickly realised what you were doing and stood up immediately. Thomas did too. His head once again turning away from you and you knew you really shouldn’t be so forward with him. You were never usually like this anyways. You didn’t know what would come over you, every time he was around. You blushed bright red and quickly made your way to the front door. Offering him an easy out without appearing rude. You assumed he needed time to himself just as much as you did. If not more, and he was needed at home.

“Thank you so much, Thomas. For everything. You’re really a lovely man, and you feel free to come over whenever you may like.” You tried to smile in a friendly way, but he seemed to scurry off into the night like a man on a mission. And you were left hoping it wasn’t the last time you saw him, hoping his odd mood wasn’t because he didn’t like being around you.

You sighed and closed the door, slumping up against it as your head fell to your chest. Eyes closed as you breathed in deeply, trying to calm down. Once you opened your eyes once more, you almost felt your face burn off as you realised why the poor boy wouldn’t look at you. In your haste to dry him off, you had forgotten that the sweet tea had also poured on you. And suddenly your earlier haste to get changed into something nice and appealing backfired completely because your dress clung to your chest like a second skin and you cursed the fact you had decided to go au natural. Fearing the risk of bra straps showing on your cute off the shoulder dress. I really am a lost cause.

 __________________________________________________________

Here it is! I hope you enjoyed a little more Thomas time. I tried to make it cutesy and close but not too close cause you guys have only met once but hey. What did you think? Tell me! Ask me! I love hearing your thoughts and feelings! Tell me your theories!

[srhlsx]

masterlist | chapter 1 | CHAPTER 2 | chapter 3

warnings: none?

“Is the weather in Kanto much different from here, your highness?”

“Honestly Mae, I’ve never set foot in Kanto.” You turned away from the racks of hanging clothing in your closet to hand over another dress to the girl standing near you. She was only a few years younger than you, having just started her job as one of your maids a few weeks ago. She grabbed the dress from you and neatly packed it away with the other clothes you had picked out. “I think I’ll pack a little bit of everything, just to be sure.”

“A wise choice,” She nodded. You had to roll your eyes at her formality. No matter how many times you told her she didn’t have to talk to you so stiffly, she couldn’t get past it. “Your mother mentioned we’d be sending the rest of your things later.”

“Mhmm, what should I wear for my arrival?” You stepped back to get a better look across the clothing you hadn’t yet packed. Your hands rested at your hips as you mulled over the possibilities, the young maid stepping up to stand next to you and look around as well.

“Your new king’s colors are red and black, maybe something of those colors.”

You jumped, slightly startled at the new voice that came from the doorway separating your bedroom from your closet. Both you and Mae turned around quickly to see the bright eyes and sharp expression of Hoshiumi watching you.

“Doesn’t really match my aesthetic though,” You smirked at him before turning back to the array of light colored clothes you owned, “Maybe I’ll just wear white to scare the poor boy who has to marry me.”

Looking over at Mae, who had significantly shrunken in on herself with the arrival of Hoshiumi in his full soldier uniform, you nodded towards the door to signal to her that it was okay for her to leave. She scurried away, grabbing the bag of clothing that was finished packing and bowing quickly at both of you before disappearing.

“She’s quite meek,” Hoshiumi observed, turning to look at you after watching your maid leave.

“She’ll grow into it,” You mumbled. You distracted yourself with folding another piece of clothing into the open bag that was left. A thick air hung in the space you stood in, a sadness that had consumed you since news of your departure had been made known.

Your wedding was in one week and you were departing for Kanto and its capital city of Tokyo that evening. Things between you and your guard had been tense ever since you told him what your father’s plan for you was. He was quiet about it, silently stewing over the fact that you were being forced into the whole thing. You reminded him it was your duty and you could handle yourself, but he still had a sharp look in his eyes whenever it was brought up.

“Keep looking at me like that and I might start thinking you’re going to miss me, Kōrai.” You smiled up at him, quirking your eyebrow in a teasing manner.

He let out a bitter sounding chuckle, shaking his head and stepping into the room towards you. “Hardly,” he started. “The kitchen workers and I are throwing a celebration the minute you’re gone.”

You snorted a breath of air through your nose, turning back to your folding although now you weren’t doing a very neat job of it. “Yeah well…” You mumbled, the sad thought that you were actually leaving your home starting to hit you. You turned to Hoshiumi and gave him a thin, closed-lip smile, the action not meeting your eyes as you leaned against the table your bag rested on. “I’m sorry you won’t get to become a king.”

“(Y/n),” He stepped closer to you, reaching a hand up to caress your cheek gently. “You know that is never what it’s been about.”

“I-” Your voice was cut off when his hand that had been on your cheek drifted to the back of your head and pulled you forward towards him. Your eyes closed as Hoshiumi’s lips pressed to yours in a deep kiss. He didn’t try anything else, content with keeping you pressed against him for as long as you would allow. It wasn’t the first time the two of you had kissed by any means, but the way he held onto you made it clear he wanted the last time to be memorable. After a few moments you lifted your hands to push on his chest and create a little bit of distance between the two of you. “Kōrai, I-”

“You will always be my queen, (Y/n).” He said, his eyes held a sad but hard expression as they shifted their gaze to something over your head - anything to not look directly at you. “I’m leaving tomorrow, for Chugoku.”

“Leaving?” You questioned, finally snapping out of the haze that had gathered in your head. “I thought you were going to be here in charge of the guard? Who will-”

“Your brother has called for me, he offered me a position in his King’s Guard when he is crowned next year.” Hoshiumi stepped away from you, fixing pieces of his uniform that didn’t need fixing but served as a good distraction. Your silence made him look up at you after a few seconds, “Gao will take over here and you’ll be provided a new guard when you get to Tokyo. His majesty’s guard is known to be above and beyond in skill, I find comfort in knowing you’ll be taken care of.”

You nodded along with his words, turning back to folding your clothes. You had accepted your fate, but the sadness was still there and you let it show when you threw a piece of clothing into the bag a little more aggressively than what was needed. “This fuckin’ blows,” You said, Hoshiumi chuckling at your choice of vulgar words.

“If anyone can survive this, it’s you princess.” Hoshiumi laughed at the over-dramatic pout that had adorned your features, pulling you into a comforting hug and resting his chin on top of your head. “Just watch your temper.”

Wrapping your arms around your old friend you squeezed him extra tight, allowing yourself a little bit more time for sadness before you had to leave your home.

-

As the car pulled onto the road that led to your future home, you had to admit you were impressed. Even being in the middle of a large city, Castle Nekoma was on a plot of land that stretched far and wide with a lush lawn of green grass and scattered trees. A river snaked its way parallel to the road and eventually curved to surround the castle on two sides.

The castle itself was built entirely of gray stones, the tall towers and smooth arches that made up the structure of it were beautifully crafted and reminded you much of your own home. You’d been to many castles around Japan and even within your own kingdom, but having never set foot in Kanto you weren’t sure what you’d find for the king’s living arrangements. The royal family was known for their power and wealth so it was no surprise their castle was a sight to behold.

“Your highness?” You were pulled out of your thoughts with the stopping of the SUV, the driver looking at you through the rear-view mirror and his darkly tinted sunglasses. “We’ve arrived.”

You nodded your head and sat up a little straighter as the door next to you was opened by a middle aged man in a black suit. Taking the hand he held out for you, you stepped out onto the stone pathway leading up to the castle before you. Waiting a few feet away at the top of a set of steps was an older couple you instantly recognized as the current King, Yasufumi Nekomata, and his wife. They stood with modest smiles on their faces as you climbed the steps, your heels clacking against the stones the only sound while servants and soldiers watched. 

“Your majesty,” You put on your best smile and bowed deeply towards the old man, lifting up after a moment and repeating the greeting towards his wife. “Thank you for receiving me.”

“We are glad to have you Princess,” Nekomata said, his narrow eyes crinkling even smaller as he smiled at you. “I do apologize our son will not be joining us.”

“I understand the prince has his priorities,” You nodded politely, the smile on your face did not reach your eyes and you didn’t mean for it to. You had your suspicions that the prince would not greet you, not out of disrespect but because he had not had the mind for it. He prioritized his training, royal duties, over greeting some foreign princess he was going to marry regardless. 

You would not let this small bump impact you, but you would hold it against him. 

“Come,” Nekomata waved a hand at the servants unloading your things behind you from the car and then turned to walk into the castle, holding out an arm for his wife to grab. “Let’s give you a brief tour and then show you to your living space, I’m sure you’re wary from traveling.”

You didn’t get the full tour, really only getting shown around the wing of the castle where the living quarters were located, but it didn’t matter much as your feet were hurting and the sun signaled it was getting close to time for dinner to be served. 

A servant opened the door to a large and ornate living space, and you had to stop yourself from actually gawking at the arrangements. You knew the royal family of Tokyo was wealthy, but this was extravagant.

You took a few steps in, turning around to take it all in as the queen followed after you with a pretty girl with long blonde hair wearing a dark uniform trailing after her. “This will be your living space, I do hope it’s comparable to what you are used to.”

“Yes, your majesty.” You breathed out, taking a closer look at some of the more personal details around the room - like small trinkets on the nightstands, a tossed shirt, or a casual spear resting in the corner. Confused, you turned to her to complete your thoughts. “Um, this is very satisfactory.”

“Ah, I see Tetsurō didn’t quite clean up everything like I asked.” She chuckled, motioning towards the items you had been pointedly looking at. At your confused look she continued to explain, “These are the prince’s living quarters. Since you will be married soon we assumed it would be easiest to have you move in here now - to make the transition easier and not have you move too often.”

Pursing your lips together, you tried not to be too obvious in your hesitation over the arrangements. The queen was smiling at you, eyes closed although you got the sense she was waiting for you to protest, to challenge her. You nodded in understanding, “I appreciate you accommodating so much for me.”

“Well, dear, you will be family in a few days. We take care of each other here.” She placed a delicate, manicured hand on your cheek - her touch was light, but you felt the weight of power off it anyways. “Alisa will be your attendant, let her know if there is anything you need.”

You smiled at the girl who was waiting by the door, she bowed and smiled brightly back at you. “It is lovely to meet you, your highness.” She greeted, hands clasped in front of her tightly. “I look forward to serving you.”

As the queen said her goodbyes, you let Alisa know that you’d like to take your dinner in your room for that night, citing fatigue as your reasoning. Nodding fervently, she excused herself and went to gather up the meal for you.

Now alone, you took the opportunity to explore the living space you found yourself in. Unlike yours back home, this space was one large room. The head of the bed was against the far wall, the surrounding curtains pulled back and tied against the four posts at each corner, and an overwhelming number of dark colored pillows decorating the surface. The more you looked around you noted how seriously they took their royal colors here, everything was a dark shade of red, accented in gold, or completely black.

A closed door led to what you assumed was the bathroom and closet, but you’d explore that later. What was calling out to you most was a set of double doors, already open and leading to a balcony that looked over the large courtyard of the castle. You made your way outside, the air already starting to cool off with the setting of the sun. Walking to the ledge and leaning your weight on your elbows with your arms crossed over each other casually you could see the expanse of the courtyard.

More importantly, you saw a group of what looked like soldiers sparring with each other. You were getting married in a few days, but you were also a woman in her early twenties - it wouldn’t hurt anyone to admire what was in front of you. Leaning forward a little more comfortably, you watched the men who looked around your age, grunting and tousling against each other.

“What’s wrong, Bokuto? Giving up so easily?” Kuroo stood up from his fighting stance, leaning his weight against the blunt training staff he was holding. He shot a smirk at his friend, the teasing glint in his eyes brighter than ever in the light of the setting sun.

“Your bride has arrived,” Bokuto nodded behind Kuroo in the direction that had caught his attention. 

Kuroo stood straight and turned around, lazily following Bokuto’s gaze up to the third floor balcony that was attached to his own living quarters. Bokuto had been right, leaning against the ledge stood a beautiful creature, hair carried by the wind, gaze most definitely on the group of sparring men - on him. Wearing a pale pink dress immediately told the group you were not from around there, although yours was a face not easily forgotten anyways.

“Damn,” Bokuto chuckled. “They sure make ‘em right in Chubu. I heard she’s a real piece of work.”

“Yes, she is King Hirugami’s only daughter.” Kuroo said, sweeping his staff towards Bokuto and catching him off guard, making him stumble when his legs were nearly taken out from beneath him. “Now stop staring and fight me.”

“Yes, your highness.” Bokuto sneered at the prince, walking back into the training space they had previously been in.

Your eyes watched as the two who had been staring at you moved back to practice together some more, and you kept watching as they began moving against one another with calculated and deliberate strikes.

-

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Tags are open if you’d like to be added As always, thank you for the love on this!!!!

[fancytrinkets]

Sparkler (Gossip)

Note: Don't mind me, I'm just repurposing snippets of things I've already written for 30 Days of Dorian...

Just before Varric leaves the newly-appointed Inquisitor's fancy new quarters in Skyhold, he stops at the top of the stairs and turns back towards Trevelyan, who sits at the desk.

"One more thing, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Of course," Trevelyan says. "Ask away."

"What's the deal with you and Sparkler?"

"Ah," Trevelyan says, pausing to look up from gathering his letters. "I'm sorry, I don't know what that is–"

Varric chuckles. "Not a what, a whom. You know, that other mage you're always talking to. From Tevinter? His former mentor tried to kill us all? What's the deal with you and him?"

"You don't trust Dorian?"

It makes sense that he wouldn't, and Varric isn't the first. Cassandra often makes comments to the tune of I don't like that he's here.

But Varric surprises him.

"Considering that my late cousin Thorold's wife Mae is one of the people who vouched for him to the Inquisition — yeah, that's a long story — that's not actually why I'm asking," Varric says. "I just like digging for gossip."

Trevelyan sighs.

Of course people are talking. He should have known, but with so much work to do, it simply hasn't occurred to him how closely his actions are being watched. It's got to be terribly obvious to everyone how fond he is of Dorian.

He opts for the truth.

"There's not really anything to gossip about yet."

"Yet, huh?" Varric says as he turns away and takes a few steps down the stairs. "Interesting word choice."

Trevelyan shrugs. It wasn't a slip of the tongue. He's pretty sure something will happen soon on that front. And, Maker only knows, the gossip is sure to intensify.

"Intentional word choice," he says.

But by now he's talking only to himself. His guest is already down the stairs and gone.

"See you later, Varric," Trevelyan says to the empty room around him as he picks up his quill and gets back to his paperwork.

[ninnodesu]

The New Matriarch, ch 6

AN: Okay, this chapter is A LOT better than chapter 5 in my opinion, hahah. I'm just churning out chapters right now during christmas break, it's great!

Again; Thank you sooo much for reading! It's so much fun seeing the statistics and see that people like my little story. <3 Oh! Regarding the name "Kit": This is mostly just a placeholder name, do not fear! It is still You/Reader friendly ;)

TW: None, really. Maybe some light mentions of bullying!

Thomas B. Hewitt.

Thomas was grumpier than usual today at work. When he’d arrived, his work station had been vandalized.  There were snickers and giggles behind his back as he had to clean up his little corner of the slaughterhouse almost all morning. It was covered in trash. People had literally dumped at least one trash can all over his station, might’ve been two, even. Rotten food all over his bench, some stuck to his cleaver. Everyone thought it was hilarious to mess with the residence retard. It was one of those days. One of those days where he was - apparently - only at work as some kind of comical relief to lighten the mood of the otherwise gloomy workers, at least that’s what they had decided.

At one point the ones responsible for the mess he had to clean had even pushed one of the shy girls right into Thomas’ chest, making cat calls and whistling towards them as a way to mock both at the same time.

The girl because she was shy and cried easily, and Thomas because… well… he looked like he did.

He wasn’t able to properly start butchering until maybe an hour before lunch, his boss yelling at him a handful of times before that.

What did I ever do to any of you assholes… Not only did he have to clean up the entire morning, there wasn’t enough food at home so he couldn’t bring lunch… and his cleaver was getting dull. A mental note to bring it home the next day to sharpen it.

This. Was not. His. Day.

I just want to go ho- , his inner sentence was interrupted by a hard dunk on his back, knocking a bit of air out of him.

“Hewiiiitt!”, one of the several bullies he’s had comes up with two of his friends holding his arms out wide, they’re smirking.

So you did this.

“Did ya’ like our present, Hewitt?”, he nods towards the trash can and starts laughing, “We got it specially for you.”, he chuckles before continuing, “Oh, and, I hope you don’t mind I take Laurie for myself, since you uh… wouldn’t know what to do with’er even.” A barking laughter erupts from the three of them at the end of his jab against Thomas, making everything personal. The end of his sentence makes Thomas turn towards them and glare down through his dark curls. The men take a step back, they can probably literally feel how Thomas’ anger starts boiling as he straightens up and flexes his biceps towards them. A clear sign they’re starting to royally piss him off.

He would never use his strength to physically hurt people, but he does know how to make them leave him alone, at least for a short period of time, they know he could crush their skulls if he wanted to. And they never go into fist fights with the giant. All they do is emotionally drain him, they make him know he’s different, not like everyone else, and that he never will be. He’s the village dumb animal and that’s his only purpose in life.

They laugh nervously as he stares them down. “Haha, you really are an animal, Hewitt.”, they just laugh as they turn and leave him alone in the now empty slaughterhouse. He plants his hands flat on his table and glances over at all the parts he has left to cut up before he can leave without getting reprimanded by his boss the following day and sighs heavily.

I fucking hate all of you.

It’s dark out when he’s finally done with his work, thankfully, his dull cleaver made it so he could snag more pieces of rejected meat with him home. At least something good came out of this shitty day at work. More food for his - now - bigger family and he tried looking at that like a consolation prize as he lumbered home in the dark, letting his mind wander.

I want a name for her.

Even if he didn’t want to speak to her, he still wanted to give her a name until she could remember her own, she couldn’t walk around with no name in the house.

Sure, I’m not going to openly talk to her…

He cleared his throat at that as a reminder for himself that he still had vocal cords. He made a conscious choice not to speak several years ago. But on lonely nights, or when he was alone - and knew no one could hear him - in general, he hummed, or spoke to himself, thinking aloud or mumbled reminders for only him to hear, to make sure his vocal cords were still there. The two words he had spoken in the barn a few days back the most he had actually spoken in… months, maybe years. His family had gotten used to his body language and mannerisms when they talked to him.

I can alwa-, again, interrupted. But this time by a family of foxes running across the dirt road. He stopped and just stared at the bigger one as it stopped in the high grass in the ditch on the other side, looking over at a small collection of babies that sprinted across it after looking over at the giant in the distance.

He smiled as he figured out what to call her.

Kit.

He hummed slightly, picturing her in his mind. Her face, the kind eyes that always crinkled when she smiled at him or his family, trying out the new name to see if it would fit her face.

Yeah. Yeah, I like Kit.

He readjusted the bag he had thrown over his shoulder and kept trudging home through the night, a tired sigh leaving him as he started to see the outline of the big house in the distance.

The house was silent, obvious evidence that everyone else was asleep, so he made sure to walk as quietly as he could on his way to the stairs leading to the basement, snagging a few pieces of the leftovers and shoving them into his mouth on the way down to the damp and musty basement where the coolers were loudly brumming and vibrating. Alone, he seized the moment to talk to himself.

“Let’s see… ”. His voice was raspy, but deep, and vibrated throughout his body. He rummaged and rearranged in the freezer box to take out the packages whose date seemed to run out to put it on top of the ones he had brought today. “Pen… penpenpen… ”, almost having to turn the entire basement over to find the one he usually uses - and mentally punishing himself for never putting it in one specific place - he scribbles down today’s date before putting them in the bottom of the box. As he stands and stretches he’s greeted with a series of tired pops in his spine. “Getting old, Thomas. ”, he mumbles before lumbering over to his basement corner. Not having the energy to climb the stairs.

He just wanted to sleep. Unbuckling his mask he rubs his hands all over his dried cheeks to ease the blasted itching all over him before kicking off his boots and laying down on the creaky bed. A yawn that transcends into a small, deep moan escapes him as he tucks one arm under his pillow and the other reaches under his shirt to scratch a spot on his stomach. “Kit. ”, he says out loud to try it on his tongue. “Mmmh. Kit is good. ”, is the last sound that leaves the basement before his snoring takes over.

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

You

You woke up in your bed, not really remembering when you went to sleep, but you decided to cuddle up a bit under your blanket before the morning heat reached your body and you had to force yourself up out of bed.

As usual, it was quiet in the house. “It’s really starting to get lonely here…”, you muttered to yourself as you descended the stairs. You were greeted by a few piglets running around in the kitchen as you entered.

A yellow paper struck you in the otherwise white and gray kitchen.

A note.

“Mornin’, dear. Breakfast is on the table.

Love

- Luda Mae.”

You looked up from the note and towards the table, and sure enough. There it was. A plate with a few sausages, a fried egg and a small piece of bread. You mentally thanked Luda Mae as you sat down, tucking a leg under yourself and started munching on your - now cold - breakfast while watching a few piglets running around. Occasionally you threw a piece of sausage at them which they happily ate. “I wonder why you live in here, piggies.”, you said to them as you downed the last of the meal. You hummed a bit at a thought before heading over to clean your plate and fork.

After drying your hands and putting the dishes away to dry on their own you turned on your heels and leaned back at the sink just looking around. “Now what…”, you giggled as you poked a pig with your feet and watched it twitch. “What should we do now, little guy?”

You sauntered away from the kitchen, into the dining room and just looked around. Taking in the homely - but not the cleanest - house you were in. You’ve never seen this before, never seen these people. But then again, maybe you weren’t even from around here… Everything before meeting Thomas in the barn was a blur, a darkness you really couldn’t remember. And right now, at this moment? You were happy you couldn’t remember anything. All you knew at this point was that you were relaxed.

You knew you’d been on the run, you remember the Box, but no details. Not your name, not where you came from, you knew an estimated age of yourself, but still no details.

You came from the darkness, yes, and Thomas was your light. Your beacon of hope.

Your venture took you into a room with a piano and a couch. You approached the piano and started tinkling on the keys, it was really out of tune and you couldn’t help but to laugh at how bad it sounded. But you shrugged and sat down in front of it and started poking the keys. Thinking you knew any kind of melody you could play, but it was fun nonetheless. After your solo concert you found yourself sitting in the grass outside, legs sprawled in front of you under a tree, the shirt you’d borrowed tickling slightly as a breeze caressed your skin and you closed your eyes. “This is nice.”, sure it was quiet, and sure you were lonely… and bored . But it was a relaxing kind of silence where you could lay in the grass if you wanted, take a nap on the porch if you felt like it. No stress and no need to live up to any expectations.

It isn’t until late afternoon that you finally notice the family starting to drop in. You’re on the couch in front of the TV lazily watching, not even paying attention to what is on when someone suddenly kicks the sofa. “Fuck you think you doin’?”, you jerk and look up at the grumpy man, Charlie, standing there with his hands on his hips shooting daggers at you. “Been home all day and not done anything ‘round the house.”, you don’t even get the chance to reply to him so you resort to shrinking in on yourself. “I uh…”, he interrupts you before you get any chance to defend yourself. “Listen here, girlie.”, he gets down low and right up in your face and grab it harshly to make sure you’re looking at him, “Mama might be treatin’ you good n'all, hell, she won’t stop talking ‘bout ya’”, he sneers and looks annoyed, “But you’re in my house, so you listen’ to my rules.”

His grip starts to loosen on you.

“So, ya’ see, honey. If you want to stay here, livin’ a good ass life, ya’ better do ya part, understand?” All you can do is nod weakly, after you do, he pats your cheek a little harder than he had to and gave you a tobacco smelling kiss on your forehead before he left. You mind starts hurting slightly, the treatment making something you can’t fully decipher before your eyes

You didn’t dare move off the couch after your meeting with Charlie. You kept your place on the couch until dinner was served. The other older man, Monty, had joined you, but you didn’t care. He didn’t care and acted like you weren’t even there. Dinner was just as uneventful, you all ate, but without Thomas. A knot started growing in your stomach when he wasn’t present, Charlie scared you already. And you had only been there for about three to four days. Barely talking to him, the few times you did meet him he shot you nasty glances. Eyes that traveled uncomfortably over your body.

After dinner was over and done with, Luda Mae invited you to have evening tea with her on the porch, and you, happy to accept, almost sprinted out to get away from mainly Charlie. He didn’t seem to dare say or do anything against you when Luda Mae was in ear shot.

Your house my ass... , you thought when you’d notice that small detail.

So, here you were having a cozy evening with at least one you enjoyed spending time with.

“You seem tense, darlin’”, she spoke up from her crocheting and glanced at you. “Is everything alright?” You looked over at her and gave a crooked smile. “I’m… I’m alright. It’s just…”, you shook your head and proceeded to rest your chin on your hand. “Can I ask you something, miss Mae?”, you tilted your head. “Mmhm.”, she hummed as she went back to her crocheting, the tone of her voice seemingly knowing what you were about to ask about.

Thomas.

The two of you ended up talking about Thomas for several hours. Luda Mae told you she found him in a dumpster outside the very slaughterhouse he works in, how he from an early age suffered from a skin disease they couldn’t afford to treat due to her and her family already living on the verge of poverty. She told you he was heavily bullied in school, and when he was around twelve left it altogether. Charlie helped him get a job at the slaughterhouse and that’s where he’s been since. He’s a gentle giant to the ones he considers family, he’s strong but never abuses his power.

“So, uhm… is there any specific reason he doesn’t speak?” She folded her hands in her lap and sighed heavily at that question, she had been teary eyed all through Thomas’ story, but now it seemed they started falling. “Due to him takin’ a knife to his face it hurt him too much to speak, and even eat. He stopped eating for a long time. He utters a word sometimes, but… that’s it.”, her voice trembled and she took a deep breath to continue, “My poor boy stopped talking completely when he was around… fifteen. And I haven’t talked to him since then.” You did the numbers in silence before gasping slightly “He hasn’t talked for nineteen years?”, she shook her head slightly. “I do miss talkin’ to him. He always did have the best laugh I’ve ever heard.”, she smiled to you. “Ya’ know the deep, rumbling kind, I remember him always laughing until he folded over.” You giggled slightly at that, picturing Thomas folded over in a deep laugh with his arms clutching his stomach.

It was a lovely image.

[partyinthemysterymachine]

2, 7 and 8 for Harry and 6, 9 and 12 for James

HARRY

What are they like on social media? (What’s their username, profile pic, etc.)

he has a twitter and an instagram he sort of remembers he has (and will use it consistently for two weeks, then drop off again). 

his instagram is .@harrymasontypes (aw isn’t that cute) and profile pic there is a half-eaten doughnut with sunglasses. pictures of heather are most common, then photos of his desk, in/around his house, out and about - y’know, as one does with the instant-grammards. he varies giving one word descriptions or an ominous tag, to saying a lot, to dad jokes, to reluctant promoting (but he does it HIS way, which means he’s at least having a good time)

one of his most popular photos is a picture of his (then-)latest book and he’s stabbed it with a large kitchen knife to the kitchen table. the lighting is impeccable and the mood is fine art and his caption reads:

“#FilicideSeries out. I realize now, after taking out my frustrations on my book like this, it appears it foretold its own demise. I’m a social media sensation. Thank you for supporting me, and supporting my support of the act of filicide against my own work. Committing filicide against my daughter is my own business, and I’ve already written my obituary. Thank you for your supportive understanding, understanding, and support in supporting understanding and support.”

his twitter profile avatar is the picture he took of Heather’s father’s day card one year that simply reads, “<3 HI DAD <3 <3 I HATE YOU <3 <3 <3″ and it was done with such obvious joking and love that he put it up there and was going to remove it eventually, maybe with a picture of hte cover his latest book (, begged his editor/agent,) but he has no time for that

Harry follows a lot of other famous and renowned authors and is followed by fewer, and mutuals with even fewer. his own fame and renown is actually pretty damn good; he’s landed on some bestsellers, done interviews, had a couple TV interviews (then had to shut down all future ones after the massive panic attack he at least kept together until he was out of the building). of course, you see a picture of the dude and you’d never know who the fuck you’re looking at if you don’t know to care what he looks like.

his twitter is cheeky, relaxed, sometimes serious, and sometimes sounds like an actual professional person. (Harry likes to blame those kinds of tweets on Maggie (his editor/agent) hacking into his account.) he interacts with fans, answers questions, posts pictures, posts The Far Side comics he likes, no context.

he’ll joke about a lot and only gets political if he really feels it necessary. 

(in most incarnations, Harry will also be mutuals/best friends with Lane Morgans, who’s an OC, and who writes tongue-in-cheek romance novels. they will also interact on twitter and frequently be seen in each other’s pictures.)

How’s their cooking?

not too shabby! Harry took up cooking right after he and Jodi got their own place/got married and made Julia Childs real proud by the way he did it in the beginning LOL but luckily, he had Jodi and her family to help him get his sea legs in the kitchen. (Harry loved his mom and dad and their cooking was great, really, but they were standoffish people, and were uncomfortable teaching Harry his way around a kitchen.)

as he was raising Heather, he struggled to get back into cooking (or doing much of anything) and ended up binge watching old Emeril! and Julia Childs episodes and he was like fine, fine you know what, fine, and got back into cooking (and baking). now he and Heather have tons of options, stuff in the freezer that can be dethawed for later, etc. Harry does good work, he’s a good few ticks above average adn done with love (and stress, so much goddamn stress) so it tastes pretty good :3

he also really loves the Instant Pot and Heather would like to beat up the person who recommended it to him :) stop talking about the Instant Pot, dad, or just marry it already

Harry thinks his best dish is pork enchiladas, best dessert is rum cake (with custard!). Heather thinks his best dish is ‘macaroni and aw hell what the fuck do we have in the fridge’ and his best dessert is flan (or peanut butter cookies, if she must.) oddly, the flan started as a birthday treat and got a candle in it, and for whatever reason since then, whenever Harry makes flan for her, he puts a candle in for her when he serves it. he’s even included it in a baggie if he’d packed it for her.

It’s movie night, what movie do they pick?

The Thing

Aliens/2

Singin’ In The Rain

The Shining

It

White Alligator

Four Rooms

Inglourious Basterds

does it have Mae West? then yes

does it have Clark Gable? then yes

among many others.. he has a wide range of tastes..

JAMES

Favorite music?

old rock bands; The Who; The Doors; Rolling Stones; Motley Crue; some other artists like Fiona Apple, Janis Joplin, The Four Seasons; it’s hard for him to really remember, though. there could be more to it. those names just sound familiar.. but maybe he just doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

How would they hold up in a pillow war?

depends on his opponent. he’d have to give it another go; he was cheating the last time.

would he be willing to? not unless he had any other choice.. but it also depends on who’s involved..

Something small that they enjoy?

.. actually, yeah. it’s

[mae-gi-writes]

Deobi Playlist (EP 6) | The Boyz Imagine

Ep 6: in which Hyunjae’s mom sets him up.

he Boyz x Hospital Playlist inspired drabble series.

Main Characters: Hyunjae, Juyeon, Kevin and OC (Mae)

Sides: the rest of The Boyz.

Genre: fluff, slice of life, comedy, BROMANCE BRUH

EP 1 | EP 2 | EP 3 | EP 4 | EP 5 | EP 6 | EP 7 | EP 8 | EP 9 | EP 10 | EP 11

---------

“Tonight at six. Don’t be late.” 

“Ma,” Hyunjae lets out a tired sigh, ruffling his locks in the process, “I’m really not interested and I--”

“You’re almost thirty! You should be getting married by now!” 

“Ma, blind dates don’t help people get together. It’s just a lousy way for singles to mingle.” 

“Exactly why you should go.” 

“Ma.” 

“Please, Hyunjae? She’s such a good girl. I met her and her mother for tea yesterday and her mother seems so keen to get her daughter married off to an honourable man! Now, I don’t know about honourable, but you’re funny. Surely, you can charm her socks off?” 

“Ma look, I--” Hyunjae frowns upon realizing what his mother is saying, “hey, excuse me? I am so honorable! But anyway, that’s besides the point. I’m not interested--I said I’m not--Hello? HELLO?!” 

Pulling the phone away, he is faced with a blank screen. 

“OH MY GOD!” his nostrils flare, “she just hung up! ON ME!” 

“I can hear you just fine,” comes Juyeon’s mumble from his respective desk. 

Hyunjae swivels around with a look of growing horror at the fact that this time, there’s no getting out of the mess that his mother has just put him in, “I’m almost thirty, and my mother decides that it’s the greatest idea to set me up like I can’t get my life together. Can you believe that?! The outrage?!”

“You don’t have your life together,” Juyeon is quick to point out.

“Juyeon, I really don’t need your sass right now.” 

“So are you? Going to that blind date?” Juyeon asks, a smirk curving his lips upwards as Hyunjae lets out a loud, insufferable sigh like the world has collapsed onto his shoulders, “Do I have a choice?” 

“I guess you don’t.” 

“I guess I don’t.” 

-------

Shit. Shit. Shit. 

It’s only the first date and Hyunjae is already late. Not that he cares, not really. Except that this girl will probably go tattle to her mother about his tardiness, which will then prompt his own mother to give him another earful about not being the perfect gentleman that she has raised him to be. 

It is with that particular train of thought that he practically bursts through the cafe called ‘Yours Truly’. Truly boring, in his personal opinion. Trying his best to swallow mouthfuls of air, scanning the room and walking in until he notices a lone woman, seemingly bored and looking out of the window as though there are other things preoccupying her mind. 

He approaches reluctantly, “Er--Are you Do Sarang?” 

The woman’s face swivels to face him. He has to admit, right there and then, that she’s not all bad looking.

“Yes,” she says slowly, as if she’s gauging his personality, “you’re Lee Jaehyun?” 

He extends a hand, “call me Hyujae. That’s the name I go by, most of the time.” 

She nods, and he barely has time to settle himself into his seat when she tells him, “so what excuse do you want to tell your mother?”

He blinks at her, ‘huh?” 

“You can say I’m boring. I only read books as a hobby and I love baking in my spare time, except I burn the kitchen. You think that’s bad enough? Or maybe tell her I have bad breath or something,” she keeps up the stream of babble with so much gusto that he can barely keep up. His mind churns the words inside his head, before reality suddenly kicks in.

“Wait--” he raises a hand to stop her, “you mean, you’re trying to find ways to sabotage this?” 

“Of course I am. Why? Were you actually--” cupping her hand over her mouth then, her eyes widen in shock, “Oh no, were you actually genuinely interested? Oh my gosh, I am--”

“NO!” He hollers a little too loudly that causes a few glances to glare daggers in his direction. Flashing a guilty smile while scrunching his shoulders up, he lowers his voice and continues, “no, I mean of course I’m not interested in blind dating. I just--I wasn’t sure.” 

“Okay great. Just so that we’re on the same page.” 

“Er--Sure.” 

“Cool. What shall I say about you? That you sweat a lot? Or you have AIDS? Or--” 

“I do not have AIDS,” Hyunjae quickly rectifies. 

Sarang laughs. She does have a nice laugh, he thinks to himself as she says, “you don’t seem like the type to have AIDS.” “Just tell your mom that I’m too noisy and talk too much. Or that I--er-- that I’m just too quiet. Too bland. Boring. You don’t like that.” 

“Okay, deal.” 

“Deal,” it’s at this particular moment that his stomach growls, causing Sarang’s lips to curl up in amusement. Hyunjae bites the inside of his cheek as he tries to restrain his own grin. He looks down for a moment, before finally meeting her eyes once more. 

“So...since we’re already here. Do you want to grab lunch?” 

-------

“So how did your date go?” Mae asks. 

A few days have gone by since Hyunjae’s supposed blind date, much to Mae’s excitement. Considering that she had been one of the potential candidates that the former’s mother had already listed down, she was glad that Mrs. Lee is finally opening up her horizons and allowing more women to enter Hyunjae’s life. Not that he needs any help at all, considering that he’s always been a charmer with the ladies. 

To celebrate, she had all asked them to gather at the local snack they usually frequent -- a habit from their earlier college days that seemed to have stuck -- and had ordered an array of pork belly, raw beef and chicken strips for the occasion. Radishes and Kimchi plates littered their entire table and servings of raw pieces of lettuce were left still untouched as they waited impatiently for the meat to cook through. 

Hyunjae has also noticed how she tries her best to stay as far away as it’s physically possible from Kevin, and while it might not appear that the latter is ruffled by her actions, Hyunjae has known the said man for too long not to notice the flash of hurt flickering across his face.

“She’s actually really cool,” Hyunjae says upon realizing that he still hasn’t answered her question, “she isn’t interested in blind dating either. So we’re both just finding excuses to please the mothers.” 

“Wait, but--” Juyeon frowns, “you just said she’s cool. Why not just hang out with her?” “Because that would just mean that my mother was right, and I’m not giving her the satisfaction.” 

“What an idiot,” Juyeon mutters behind his glass of soju and Hyunjae scowls at him, “piss off, lover boy.” 

“Alright alright, everybody calm down. I have meat,” Mae interrupts them by placing the grilled pieces onto their plates. As she does so, her arm brushes against Kevin’s shoulder, and she jumps back as though she just got burnt. 

“S-Sorry,” she mumbles out. It doesn’t take an expert to notice the fact that she’s blushing. 

Hyunjae clears his throat as a way to distract them from the sudden atmosphere, sending Kevin a pointed look across the table while a mindless Juyeon digs in without hesitation.

“How’s your relationship going, Juyeon?” Mae says a little too loudly, an obvious attempt to divert the attention. 

“It’s going great. We--We really understand each other,” Juyeon says with a small, hesitant smile like he’s trying to hide his happiness. 

“You are so whipped,” Hyunjae singsongs.

“At least my mother doesn’t have to set me up,” Juyeon shoots back.

“OOOH,” echo Mae and Kevin, who accidentally catch each other’s eyes before looking away. Though they’re not fast enough, causing Juyeon to blurt out, “What is going on between you two?” 

“NOTHING!” Both screech at the same time before shooting each other weird looks. 

“Sure doesn’t seem like it though,” Juyeon mutters loud enough for them to hear, while Hyunjae grabs the meat off his plate and stuffs it in his mouth. 

“Speaking of relationships,” Hyunjae continues when Mae hands over the tongs. He puts some fresh meat on the grill, passes some condiments down to Kevin and Juyeon, “Mae, does Changmin not know what boundaries are?” 

“What?” Kevin’s head snapped to attention at the same time that Juyeon said, “what happened with Changmin?” 

“Nothing happened with Changmin,” Mae shoots Hyunjae a look, “stop hyping them up like that.” 

“Oh yeah? Cause you guys were getting pretty friendly when I spotted you in the elevator.” 

“He was trying to untangle my staff card, you dumbass,” she replies through a mouthful of lettuce and pork. Gulping it down, she continues, “stop making the situation something that it’s not. Also, what the fudge were you doing in the Cancer Ward?”

“He was practically breathing the same air as you! How am I supposed to interpret that?!” 

“What? In the elevator? When?” Kevin’s eyes snap right to left in confusion.

“It’s nothing!” Mae answers with flushed cheeks and unable to meet his eyes, “it’s really nothing! And Hyunjae, stop inventing stuff!” 

“I am not! He was so close to you I would have socked him one if I--”

He gets cut off by Juyeon stuffing a roll of lettuce-wrapped meat into his mouth, his words finishing in a gargle as he scowls at Mae with his cheeks still puffed like a sullen child. Mae leans back in her seat, wishing that the ground would swallow her up just so that she does not have to look at Kevin’s face ever again. 

It’s bad enough that she knows he has a crush on her, bad enough that she secretly harbours the same feelings and isn’t sure how to express them. Adding Changmin to the mix will only provoke him and create a havoc of misunderstandings that she really does not wish to get into right now, and Hyunjae’s big ass mouth is not helping.

She waits until Kevin and Juyeon go off their separate ways with an excuse that she’s riding with Hyunjae this time, for he’s going back for his night shift at the hospital. As soon as she gets into his car and slams the door closed, Mae proceeds to whack him across the back of his head.

“Ouch, Jesus woman,” Hyunjae rubs at the sore spot with a grimace, “what was that for?”

“You idiot,” Mae hisses, “why in the world are you talking about Changmin in front of Kevin? You know how insecure he gets!” 

“Relax Mae. I was doing that to rile him up for you.” “Well don’t. I don’t like it.” 

“Hey, I have good intentions okay? Next thing you know, he’s probably going to get off his lazy ass and confess,“ he stops at a red light and cups his face with his hands in a dramatic pout, “and who are you going to thank when that happens?” 

“You’re not getting any credit for that.” 

“You’re so mean.” 

They finally pull up to the Hospital main entrance, before the man nods at her, “go on. I’ll go find a parking spot.” 

“Do I have to say thank you even though I’m pissed at you?” Mae asks, grudgingly picking up her bag. 

“Do you want me to tell my mother how mannerless you are?” he pauses, “actually, maybe that’ll stop her from marrying us off.” 

Despite their earlier argument, a smile creeps up her lips before exploding into a full-out grin. She salutes him, “see you on the other side.” 

“You’re talking as if we’re going to die.” 

“We might as well die, if we don’t save our patients.” 

“Wise words Mae,” he calls out as she walks away, and then chuckles when she sticks her arm out in a back-handed wave.

--------

I gotta say that Mae and Hyunjae’s interactions make me go AHDFH sometimes cause they fight like siblings and it’s the cutest thing. Who agrees with me? 

NEXT EP WILL BE OUT ON MONDAY! 

Tagging: @juyeonzz​ because she is the sweetest thing :,) 

Let me know if you wanna be added to the tagging list! Otherwise, don’t forget to turn on notifications for my Tumblr so that you don’t miss out on Deobi Playlist! ^^ 

[smokeybrandreviews]

Smokey brand Movie Reviews: Under Pressure

I’m a huge fan of Samara Weaving. Chick has the range on her. She is, apparently, pretty accomplished in the film game, getting her first run in the states as Heather in Ash vs. The Evil Dead. While i did check out Ash, it was long after the show was canceled so my very first introduction to Samara was with Netflix’s The Babysitter. I loved this movie and she was excellent in it. It wasn’t the best but it was fun enough for me to recommend it to anyone listening. Towards the end of last year, i heard rumors of a sequel and then nothing for a long ass time. Today, however, that f*cker dropped and i just HAD to check it out. Will The Babysitter: Killer Queen hold up against it’s surprisingly entertaining predecessor? We ask the big questions here, on this blog.

The Good

It’s super dope seeing where these kids ended up after the first flick. I really enjoyed the characters the first time around so double-dipping into to this world was a real pleasure.

I’m not a huge fan of McG’s directing style but dude has his own flavor. You definitely know this is a McG flick, for sure. Sh*t is like watching a comic book in real life. It’s kind of chaotic and a little ADD, but for this story? It works perfectly.

I really like the dialogue in this flick. It feels Diablo Cody-esque but not all pretentious. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s organic but it’s palatable. McG has a knack for infusing his films with a decent amount of humor and it really shows in this script.

The kills in this thing were exquisite, much better than the first. The CG blood was a little much but i absolutely enjoyed the gore. I’m not usually a fan of the sloppy but, in a film like this, that’s the biggest draw.

My mans still has no shirt. Continuity!

The cast is still amazing. Bella Thorne, King Bach, Hana Mae Lee, Samara Weaving, and Robbie Amell are still as hilarious as ever but i really like the new additions. I was a little surprised where characters ended up and the inexplicable resurrection of others was a little much, but it’s all in service to a rather forced narrative so it’s cool.

Judah Lewis as Cole Johnson is as spry and hilarious as ever. Dude was the best thing about the first flick, he and Samara, but i adored this kid, specifically. He had some... Interesting character development but his bad-assery is still intact when the pressure is on. Always a pleasure seeing my guys get their shine.

Emily Alyn Lind as Melanie was also as awesome as ever. She made a pretty aggressive heel turn for this entry but chick pulled it off. She’s not as playful or adorably wicked as Bee, like, not even close. Melanie is a straight up psychopath in this and i was real surprised. It’s like she’s channeling Snakebite Andi and it totally works.

Jenna Ortega as Phoebe is an absolutely welcome edition to this cast. She’s amazing and cute and absolutely brutal. This chick is as capable as Cole and it really shows. If they make this a trifecta, i hope she comes back. Ma was the best thing about this movie, just like Cole was in the first.

The pacing of this movie is on straight up meth, man. It definitely has someplace it wants you to be and it’s running full steam ahead, not stops. This is also a thing in McG movies; Dude has next to no subtlety or nuance but, sometimes, that’s fine. For this movie? It’s perfect.

But that Apache dance break, tho!

The Bad

All of the heartfelt, emotional, scenes in this thing feel out of place. It’s crazy tonal whiplash when placed next to the over-the-top violence, spastic editing, and weird ass interludes that have nothing o do with anything.

I had to adjust the settings on my TV because McG’s penchant for over-saturated color grading is on full display. I don’t know if it was just me or whatever, but these daytime shots feel bleached the f*ck out.

This thing feels like one big ass music video. Like, I'm not mad, but it’s very obvious the soundtrack to this flick has been weaponized to distract. You barely get more than a few seconds of any one song and it kind of gives you lyrical whiplash.

I don’t really like where Cole ended up, especially after his actualization after the first. It feels... forced? Yeah, forced is good. I think Cole needed to be nerfed in order for this entire narrative to be a thing. I don’t agree with it, but i understand it.

There are several plot holes that just go unaddressed. It’s kind of a problem, especially at the end where certain events occur that directly contradict things that were

The Verdict

I loved this movie, man. I was already a massive fan of the first but this one is pretty fun, too. I said fun, not good. As a film, objectively, it’s all over the place. There are several choices made that just boggles the mind. McG feels like the store brand version of Edgar Wright and that is no more apparent than how he decided to present this narrative. I’m not mad at it, i rather enjoyed my time with it, but, i mean, Scott Pilgrim is a thing and it does what this movie tries to do, infinitely better. Still, for what it is, this film is fun watch. Great performances, incredible energy, dope music, hilarious dialogue, legit gore; It’s just a bloody grand old time!

[pinetasticapple]

What if we had known each other first and fallen in love second: The Evillustrator

Also on ao3 and ffnet !

"I can't believe you dragged me into watching the entire thing, twice!" Marinette bumped Adrien's shoulder right as they entered the school building "do you enjoy playing with my feelings Agreste? Do you?"

"To be fair, I did warn you."

"One cannot take the death of Maes Hughes twice!" she pinched his arm, grinning at his yelp "you are a monster who enjoy that pain."

"But his death was a vital point for the plot and the exploration of Mustang!" he shielded himself with his bag "and you loved it!"

"Hmm perhaps" Marinette crossed her arms "and I can see you doing puppy eyes at me to make you that Edward cosplay."

"Hey I am willing to pay every cent necessary if it means I can have that amazing cloak."

Marinette rolled her eyes but kept smiling as they walked to the science classroom.

Summer had come and gone way too fast for her pleasure but it had been fun to spend more nights of patrol and movie nights with Adrien.

It had been a stretch to hang with Alya and Nino out of the mask, given Adrien's impossibly tight schedule, but they had managed a few outings, so long Adrien's bodyguard was around. It didn't matter much as they had had fun at the park just chatting and playing around.

But the new school year had arrived and even if Marinette was somewhat disappointed she still had to deal with Chloe, who had become more obnoxious to deal with, at least she still had her friends around.

"Are you two rambling about another cartoon?" Alya raised her eyebrow at them once they reached the classroom, Marinette taking the seat next to her "you condone him way too much."

"He has a few good choices from time to time" Marinette smiled, ignoring Adrien's fake gasp of horror.

Their smiles quieted down once the teacher arrived, the entire classroom going silent as she started her lesson. Ms. Mendeleiev was strict and stern, and her class was quiet unless there were topic related questions, but Adrien happened to like them.

Even if sometimes they were interrupted by Ms. Mendeleiv ruthlessness at distracted students.

"Nathaniel!" they all heard the slam on the desk at the end of the classroom "what are you drawing?"

Oh, Marinette winced, trying to keep her vision ahead instead of giving into the curiosity of looking back. She had been there once, never tried again. But now that Nathaniel was the victim she couldn't help but to feel sorry for him and Ms. Mendeleiv's wrath.

Suddenly there was a gasp and Nathaniel tripped and fell in between the tables, his sketchbook flying out of his bag, only for it to be picked up by the least considerate person in the classroom.

"Ooh! Look Sabrina! It's him as a superhero" Chloe sneered while holding the sketchbook "and look who is saving, Marinette! He's so totally crushing on you."

Marinette felt her cheeks flush, from embarrassment or annoyance at Chloe she couldn't tell, but this was getting out of hand.

"Back to class then," Ms. Mendeleiv walked to the front of the classroom to continue on the physics lecture, the class going back to paying attention and taking notes.

"Alright, presentation groups," she turned around to face them and Marinette wanted so bad to protest against the idea. Why did teachers like to do group projects so much?

She listened as the teacher named groups of three, frowning when Alya got paired with Adrien and Nino.

"So lucky," she mumbled.

"And then, Sabrina, Chloe and Marinette."

Marinette felt the universe piling against her just for this.

"So unlucky," Alya patted her back.

"Miss? Can't you add her to another group?" Chloe asked "Sabrina and I work much better on our own."

'Sure you do' Marinette gritted her teeth.

"This is a group presentation not pairs, deal with it."

Marinette felt that message also thrown at her as the bell rang for free period. That would have been a good opportunity to work on said presentation but Marinette was so not dealing with it.

"It'll be ok" Adrien threw her a reassuring smile "Chloe is a handful but I know you got this."

"Then why don't you switch with me?" Marinette pouted "or you Alya?"

"Oh no, do not make me go through that," Alya patted her shoulder again "but hey we can have comfort pizza after it's done."

"Oh that would be good," she sighed "but go on, I'll go find…them."

Adrien gave her a reassuring squeeze and left the classroom, leaving Marinette to sigh and drag herself to the lockers where she would probably find those two.

And oh she was right as she stumbled on them talking, or more like Sabrina saying she and Marinette would do all the work.

Say what?

"Is everything ok?"

The next minutes were a test of patience for Marinette. Not only did she find out that Sabrina did all the work and Chloe did nothing, but that it was normal? What in the world was that kind of friendship?

"Sabrina," Marinette turned to her "Chloe is totally taking advantage of you, you don't have to do what she says, that's not how a real best friend acts!"

"And what would you know about best friends if you hadn't had one before? Or even worse, stealing them."

Marinette gritted her teeth.

"Friends are not objects Chloe,"

"Whatever," Chloe tossed her ponytail to a side "but Sabrina knows I'm her only friend, so she better does as I say because without me? She's nothing."

Marinette felt her blood boil, even as Chloe left them to get her hair done.

The nerve of that girl, she huffed as she grabbed her bag. She would get to work at home thank you very much.

"Marinette!"

Or not, she thought as she turned around to find Sabrina catching up to her.

"I can't believe you stood up to Chloe like that!" Sabrina hugged Marinette "it was so amazing!"

Marinette was at loss for words. She tried to smile back at Sabrina, only to end up roped into going to work to the library.

"This…is not how I imagined this day going at all," she sighed as she dragged her feet back to the library, noticing Tikki's small pats on her leg.

The next minutes weren't so bad on the other hand. Marinette found out that Sabrina was quite organized and had already started on dividing the project information for them to do equal parts of research.

Marinette grabbed a few books to get started, hoping this was not going to go downhill, only for her to eat up her words as she saw a fuming Chloe stomping her way towards their table. Well that was the shortest hair treatment ever.

And now she was a literal sandwich in between Chloe and Sabrina arguing. And hey she had never said the word slave, had she? And when had Chloe found time to go buy a new hat?

"You are trying to steal my friend from me, again, this time with homework."

Marinette actually blinked. Again? What did she mean again?

Her face must have been obvious to Chloe because she could tell the blonde's cheeks flushing as she crossed her arms and sneered, only to be attacked by hats falling on top of her.

Oh Marinette was glad an akuma was around to spare her the headache. The rest of the students flew the library as soon as a big hair dryer showed up to chase after Chloe, giving Marinette the chance to sneak behind a shelf to transform.

She jumped to the dryer that had cornered Chloe and yelled at her to run. The dryer was fighting against her, trying to throw her away like one of those mechanical bulls she had seen on tv.

"I got wind that you're being blown away by a hairy situation" she heard Chat's voice from one of the shelves.

On any other day she'd have been surprised by the three puns in one single sentence but today was not her day.

"Fewer puns, more action!" she yelled as she kept trying to reign in the dryer.

It took work and a few tumbled shelves but they managed to destroy it, only to find the akuma from above them running away after summoning a crystal wall to smack them both.

"Where did he go?"

"I don't know but he sure has a way of illustrating his point."

Ladybug groaned and stood up.

"Wow, was that one really bad or…?"

"Sorry Chat" she stood up "today is not my day."

"Ok so tone it down with the puns" he said "I guess we should go find Chloe…"

"Great" Ladybug frowned "more time with her, just what I need."

"Hey, she's not so bad- "Chat flinched at her stare "well, she didn't use to be this bad."

Ladybug pointed at the window for them to make their way to Chloe's hotel. It was also a good way to keep up the conversation without anyone else listening and piecing together the information.

"Look, I get it" Ladybug said once they reached the building in front of the hotel, her hands on her waist as she tried to calm down "she is your childhood friend and that is something special."

"Well she was my only friend back then," Chat added.

"But you have seen her at school now," she said "you have seen how she treats others and me, especially me, especially now that I think she hates me because we're friends."

"That's a little farfetched," Chat raised an eyebrow "I'm allowed to have more friends and she doesn't hate Nino either."

Ladybug deadpanned stared at him.

"She accused me of wanting to steal Sabrina from her," she pointed out "and said 'again' and now that I think about it, she probably meant you."

"Ah…" he rubbed his neck "yeah, Chloe can be a little possessive about it."

Ladybug sighed, this was not the time to have this type of conversation.

"I'll talk to her, as Adrien of course," he offered with a smile "I mean I might know a little of why she's like this now but it's not my place to say."

"Why are you such a noble guy" she gave him a small smile "but I believe you, now let's find out what has she done to be target of an akuma" she threw her yo-yo "again."

The interrogation was really going nowhere, Chat could tell from the lack of attention Chloe was giving them and Ladybug's rising annoyance.

He couldn't exactly blame her for that, he knew Chloe was well, a lot to handle but also that it wasn't a fair excuse to the situation. Chat sighed, feeling really stuck between the two girls. He couldn't help but smile at the sight of Chloe totally fangirling over Ladybug and how would she react if she knew it was Marinette behind the mask. Of course he was never going to say that but it did make him ponder on what he had heard ever since he started school.

And while he was a little afraid of what would happen, he knew deep inside he had to. He knew why Chloe was like that, but he also knew she didn't have to be.

"Ugh seriously? I'm over this!" Ladybug said, snapping his attention back to her "let's go!"

"Wow," he went after her "are you kidding? And what if the Evillustrator attacks her again?"

"Fine, you stay," she grumbled "but I just can't right now."

"Bug," he held her hand "maybe you need to chill a little first."

"Yeah," she groaned "I'll be back in a while, I promise."

"I know" he squeezed her hand "just, take some deep breaths,"

"Hm" she stood on the balcony and threw her yo-yo "later!"

Ladybug made her way back home, detransforming as soon as she landed on her bed.

"Argh!" she groaned and threw her bag, wincing when she heard Tikki's complaint.

"Hey!"

"Sorry Tikki it's just, Chloe she just agh!"

"Well simmer down" Tikki frowned "a hot head isn't going to get you anywhere,"

"It's hard to keep my cool" Marinette sighed "especially at school…oh no! Sabrina!"

Ah damn it, Marinette launched for her phone, wincing at the many missed calls she had from the red haired girl.

Ok, she could fix this. She could send a text, tell she ran because of the akuma –that was still on the loose- and figure out the next part from there, until she saw Tikki hiding under a cushion and her window disappearing like it had been erased from existence.

Marinette's day couldn't get any better as she was face to face with the Evillustrator who started to flatter her? Ok, that was something new to her. But it was until she got a card that the pieces clicked in her mind. Nathaniel was the Evillustrator. Oh, oh probably from the embarrassment of class.

"Ok," she sat back on her chaise "I think I know how to solve this out."

Chat looked out of the window, vigilant in case the akuma showed up and also thinking about the situation at hand. He couldn't of course talk to Chloe as Chat, what reason would he have to know what had happened?

"Oh Chat Noir?" he blinked as Chloe attached herself to him "are you any good at particle physics?"

"Oh this cat's got particle physics in the bag" Chat smiled. He could totally show off his strength for science beneath the mask. Next thing he knew he had Chloe's work on his lap for her to relax instead.

Ok, he was so going to talk to her after all of this is done.

It was lucky that Ladybug decided to call him and give him an opening to excuse himself out to the balcony.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, thanks Chat, sorry for leaving you stranded,"

"No sweat bug" he smiled "so are you coming back?"

"Actually no, found out about our victim, turns out he is sort of in love with me,"

Something felt funny in Chat's stomach. Huh, maybe he needed to eat something.

"So I kind of make him promise not to hurt Chloe unless I go to his birthday party."

"Ah, I see your master weaving of plans," he ignored Chloe's shoving of her papers at him "I'll meet you there then."

He waved a salute to Chloe and vaulted himself towards the bakery, just in time to see an upset Sabrina walking away.

"Do I need to save you from her claws as well?"

"Very funny" she flicked his bell "I should be working on the physics project instead but a promise is a promise so if we want to help Nathaniel I have to go to this date."

"Right," Chat twitched at the odd sensation in his stomach "say, before that, can I please have a pastry? My stomach is feeling empty I think."

Marinette sighed with a smile and went back inside to the bakery, appearing moments later with a chocolate filled croissant for him.

"Thanks b— Marinette," he stuffed the croissant in his mouth before he called her by a usual nickname "so you work on taking away his pencil and I'll do the rest."

"Sure thing Chat."

Chat went on his way to the rooftops close to the river, staking out as he saw the Evillustrator working on a quite romantic date setting.

His stomach felt iffy again. Ugh, maybe he needed to eat something better than just a pastry. But he would have to wait until after this was done. He watched closely as the purple silhouette showed up on the akuma's face.

'Huh, bet Hawkmoth is getting impatient' Chat thought as he watched what seemed to be a struggle of one person, only for it to stop as Marinette arrived.

Chat trusted her with his life, but whenever it involved risking their civilian selves well, Chat was a little dubious about it all. Not that he didn't trust her protecting herself but there was always something unexpected.

He jumped across rooftops when the boat started to move, making sure he was low enough to be hidden from sight until he got a chance to sneak to the back of the boat.

"I actually draw a little too, I'm not as good as you are of course," he heard Marinette say, as part of their plan to retrieve the pencil. He took a small step back, but the wood creaked enough for the akuma to notice his presence.

"Marinette, give me my pencil back, I need to draw something, now!" his tone was cold and Chat was close to just jumping on him to stop him from hurting Marinette.

"No, I'm keeping it, Chat Noir now!"

He launched his baton as Marinette jumped out of the way, pencil in her hand.

"I thought you liked me!" he sneered "but you really are just like Chloe, teasing me, mocking me, leading me on!"

'Wow, first of all when had that happened?' Chat thought as Marinette huffed offended at his words, only for both to get trapped by a crystal cube falling on top of them.

"Well that went well," Chat poked at the cube's end, blinking away the light from Marinette's transformation "you have another plan?"

"Yeah" Ladybug pointed at the ceiling and held on to him "now extend your stick vertically,"

"Oh, brilliant!" he held her close and did just that, both landing on the bridge as the boat sank on the river "so I think we should probably go save Chloe…"

"Hm," Ladybug sighed "am I really like her?"

"Well if I have to compare" Chat took a step away from her "you both sure are stubborn when you put your mind into something."

"Should I take that as a compliment?"

"Hey I did say I was going to talk with her after all of this is over" he waved his hands in self-defense "but now I gotta ask, did Nathaniel and Chloe ever…?"

Ladybug threw out her yo-yo to start moving towards the hotel, knowing Chat would be right by her side "yeah, before you arrived, they didn't date if that's what you think but let's just say the rejection lacked a lot of touch."

"Yeoch"

"Yeah, but let's go save her" she said once they reached the hotel room, just in time to see a giant high heel shoe chasing after her.

Ladybug swiped in first, breaking the heel of the drawing and spinning her yo-yo as a shield.

"Oops, broke your heel" she smiled "better watch your ankles."

"Don't want to get instep with us now, do you?" Chat twirled his baton, casting a glance at Ladybug who smiled at his joke.

The fight that ensued was a little higher in stakes with Evillustrator able to draw practically anything, soon having Chat hanging off a chunk of missing floor with a weigh pulling him down and his ring beeping the alert of detransformation.

"Lucky charm!" she yelled out as a small bouncy ball fell on her hand.

"Just try and stop me with that little lady!" the Evillustrator sneered, making his way towards Chat. Ladybug looked at her surroundings and smiled, her plan formulating as she threw it directly at one light, causing a chain reaction that destroyed all illumination sources from the room and allowing her to easily snap away the pencil that had the akuma.

She smiled as the magic washed all over the room, leaving it as if nothing had happened, and fist bumped with Chat.

"Well that's one thing solved" Ladybug said after they had left Nathaniel near his home "now I have to go fix my part of the project before Sabrina thinks I'm an evil person."

"Good luck" Chat smiled "see you tomorrow bug."

He waved at her and vaulted his way back to the hotel, detransforming before going in and up towards Chloe's room.

"Adrikins!" she jumped at him the moment she opened "oh it was a nightmare! A disaster I say!"

"What happened?" he feigned ignorance, as if he hadn't been few minutes ago in the room. He listened how Chloe overreacted and exaggerated the fight, trying his best not to pull a face at it until she was done. If he was going to do this, he had to do this right.

"Say Chloe," he said once she slumped herself on a chaise "you didn't have to call out Nathaniel like that at school."

Chloe raised an eyebrow at him.

"I mean; imagine how you would feel if someone were to do that to you."

"Adrikins please" she looked at her nails "no one would even dare to try and embarrass me."

"Then why do you?" he crossed his arms "why do you do it?"

Chloe remained silent, looking at her nails and deliberately ignoring him. That was fine, Adrien was patient, he could wait.

"Ugh!" she stomped a foot down "say something already!"

"I'm waiting for your answer Chloe" he merely said "why do you enjoy hurting them?"

"I don't enjoy ugh" she pushed her hair to a side "if I want to keep my place as the Queen, they have to know to respect me."

"Chloe" he sighed "we aren't a monarchy, and you and I both know this is not going to work for the real reason."

"Don't you mention her,"

"I am not" Adrien stood up and sat next to her "but Chloe, I know you since we were little kids, I was there when your first baby tooth fell" he ignored Chloe's frown "and you were there when I had mine fall off as well, you weren't this way back then nor when we are alone, so why act so different at school?"

"You don't get it Adrien," she huffed.

"Then help me get it" he tried again "I want to still be your friend Chloe, I really do, but just as you have Sabrina I have new friends too."

Chloe rolled her eyes "yeah, I am well aware of that."

"You still are my first friend; no one can take that away from us," he smiled "and I want my friends to get to know the real you, not the Chloe Bourgeois that wants to fill shoes she shouldn't."

Chloe looked to a side and Adrien knew he had got to her, at least a little. There were things both knew weren't good, what with his father's distancing and Chloe's own shadows to fight, but Adrien had hope. Faith was the last thing to fade and he still believed in Chloe.

"I have to go now" he stood up "I kind of sneaked my way here but, can I trust you to not throw my words away?"

"You are way too good Adrien" she looked at him "but I will…ugh, try a little."

"Thanks Chloe" he gave her a hug and left the room, transforming as soon as he was in an alley to rush back home.

The next day was proof that some of his words did resonate in Chloe, as he arrived to the locker room to find her discussing something with Marinette. He couldn't help but to sneak a little behind her locker to catch some of that conversation.

"This is my part of the presentation" she said "and Sabrina told me you sent yours late night,"

"Yeah I was held up helping but-"

"What matters" Chloe interrupted her "is that you did your part and I did mine, Sabrina,"

"Yes Chloe?"

"Make sure it is top notch for later so we can get a good grade, and you better not stutter during the presentation Marinette or you'll be sorry."

"Of course Chloe," Sabrina followed after her, Adrien noticing the small smile in Chloe's face as they walked to the classroom.

Marinette sighed and closed the door, only to yelp as she saw Adrien leaning against it.

"Don't do that!" she held her hand to her chest.

"Sorry, couldn't help it" he smiled "but hey, how did things work out?"

"Way better than I thought" Marinette yawned "at least there wasn't any screaming."

"Told you so" Adrien nudged her "think it'll last the day?"

"At least until Alya stops pestering her for an interview of what happened yesterday" Marinette smiled "shall we?"

Adrien smiled and walked with her to the classroom. He had a feeling things were going to change from now on.

[crampdown]

Cramp’s Comic Recommendations For Fans Of Classic Rock And Co.

Allright here we go. This is my current list of comics/manga/graphic novels you might enjoy if you’re into classic rock. Before we get started I’d just like to let you all know:

- This list is far from being complete. I’m sure there are many more groovy comics out there that I’m simply not aware of yet so if you have any suggestions feel free to add them :)

- I know I said “Classic Rock” but some of my choices may drift into other musical directions

- Needless to say I do not own any of the following images. They all belong to their rightfull owners and I’ll use them as visual reference material only.

- Sorry for eventual misspelling

Let’s go ^^

1. Bob Dylan Revisited 

Let’s start with an obvious choice. This is a collection of 13 well-known Dylan Songs, each of them graphically interpreted by a different artist. The most striking feature therefore is the high variety of different art styles. Some of them are cartoony, some are very abstract while others are almost photo realistic.

Dylan’s mesmerizing lyrics have always been inspirational and these beautiful depictions truly are a sight to see. 

Including works of Thierry Murat, Lorenzo Mattotti, Nicolas Nemiri, François Avril, Jean-Claude Götting, Christopher,  Bézian, Dave McKean, Alfred, Raphaëlle Le Rio, Maël Le Mae, and Henri Meunier, Gradimir Smudju, Benjamin Flao, Jean-Phillippe Bramanti and Zep.

Zep’s take on “Not Dark Yet”

Jean-Phillippe Bramanti’s interpretation of “Knocking On Heaven’s Door”

Definitely worth checking out not only for Bob Dylan Fans.

2. Baby’s In Black” by Arne Bellstorf

I’ve seen several people in the Beatles fandom complain about the lack of Stuart Sutcliffe material when it comes to early Beatles history. 

Well, here it is: a graphic novel that focuses on the relationship between Stuart Sutcliffe and fotographer Astrid Kirchherr who took the very first professional photos of the Beatles during their time in Hamburg (1960-61).

Told mostly from Astrid’s point of view this comic presents itself in a grey and melancholic tone that fits the rather sad story. Bellstorf’s drawings are simplified and charming (they remind me of early sixties children book illustrations which suits the setting’s time period)

If you’re interested in early Beatles history (especially their Hamburg days) you should give this one a try.

3. Blue Monday by Chynna Clugston Flores

I really wish I had known about this amazing comic series a few years earlier, not only because this is a slice of life/coming of age story with teenage characters who are actually likeable and relateable but also because “Blue Monday” is an overall highly entertaining depiction of early nineties teen culture/rebellion in an American suburb that comes with a lot of references to Britpop, mod culture, Buster Keaton movies and Adam Ant (to name only a few).

To quote the author herself: “It’s like Archie on crack, with cursing and smokes”.

The art style of Chynna Clugston Flores is very vivid and expressive and has a certain stylistic touch of anime/manga (like a lot of comics from the early 2000s). I also really enjoy all of the graphic fashion details in this one. Plus, this is the first comic with it’s own soundtrack and that’s always a nice bonus.

I’d recommend “Blue Monday” for fans of Britpop, Punk, New Wave and early 1990′s culture.

4. Punk Rock And Trailer Parks by Derf Backderf

Another story about growing up in American small town madness, this time set in 1980s gritty Punk subculture of the former rubber city of Akron, Ohio. Protagonist Otto who likes to refer to himself as “The Baron” becomes fascinated with Punk after attending a Ramones concert. He meets several Pubk icons (thus as The Clash, The Plasmatics, rock journalist Lester Bangs and many more) and becomes someting of a local punk star himself.

Derf Backderf (who is best known for his highly acclaimed graphic novel “My Friend Dahmer” and his Eisner award winning comic “Trashed”) created a comic that is as “raw and dirty as punk itself”. His art style is an unique combination of expressionism, underground cartoons and punk magazines.

“Punk Rock And Trailer Parks” is a must-have for punk fans (especially if you’re into The Ramones and The Clash. It made me a huge fan of both of them).

5. “CASH - I See A Darkness” and “Nick Cave - Mercy On Me” by Reinhard Kleist

Two biographical graphic novels by Reinhard Kleist, both of them tell the story of a fascinating personality in rock history and both of them are incredibly well drawn. Kleist’s art is full of life and movement and very atmospheric due to his impressive use of stark contrasts. 

I personally love his semirealistic way of drawing people and I’d highly suggest you to check out his other works too. He made a lot of biographical comics that really amazed me.

CASH

Cave

Definetly worth reading. Not only for Johnny Cash and Nick Cave fans.

6. Nowhere Men by Eric Stephenson, Nate Bellegarde, Jordie Bellaire and Fonografiks

I talked about this one a while ago but I’ll gladly do it again since it’s just too cool. “Nowhere Men” is set in an alternative past/present and future where scientists became as popular as pop stars (catchphrase “Science is the new Rock n` Roll”) but somewhere along the way something definetly went wrong. 

The hype of science shares obvious similarities with the beatlemania of the 60s and the founding of Apple back then. Furthermore, the characters are partly inspired by well-known personalities of Rock history. There are many more or less hidden nods and references to musical popculture wich is why I put it on this list.

Nowhere Men is a thrilling sci-fi dystopian that requires an observant reader because there is a lot of jumping back and forth i time and inbetween information. The art style is realistic and full of very vibrant colours.

I found myself reading this multiple times to get all of the details in the world building. A thoughtful and brilliant writing indeed. 

7. P.I.L. by Mari Yamazaki

Japan 1983: 17-year-old Nanami couldn’t be more frustrated. Her grandfather loves to spend all of their household money on useless luxury junk and her strict school criticizes her messy hairstyle. Caught between teenage rebellion and responsibility as she tries different side jobs to earn at least a little bit of money, Nanami also has a thing for punk music and overall everything originated from England.

P.I.L. tells the story of conflict between two generations who aren’t as different as they might seem. Sometimes funny and heartwarming, sometimes with a bit of drama this is a charming slice of life/ coming of age josei with a more simplistic but aesthetical pleasing art style.

as the title might suggest, Nanami is a big fan of P.I.L. and other bands of the punk, neo punk and new wave movement such as The Stranglers and The Killing Joke

8. Yellow Submarine by Bill Morrison

A comic adaptation of an animated film such as Yellow Submarine? Yeah, I was skeptical at first too but hear me out: This is really great. Morrison did an amazing job at capturing the trippy and psychedelic feeling of the legendary Beatles film. As the 1968 film used the medium of animation as an actual form of art to accomplish things only animation can do, Morrison did the same thing and used the advantages of the comic medium to accomplish things only comics can do. And it works. It really works.

Every single page of this colourful book has a different panel layout. Some of them are so beautiful and creative that I’d love to have a full-size poster version of them :’D

If you liked the film, if you love the psychedelic age, you’ll probably like the comic too. 

9. In The Pines by Erik Kriek

“In the pines, in the pines, where the sun never shines...”

5 Murder Ballads, some might call them dark Country Music, each of them beautifully illustrated by Erik Kriek. Atmospheric, dark and gritty and always on point to match the spine-chilling western-like storytelling of these ballads, great for fans of horror literature a la E.A.Poe.

10. Andy - A Factual Fairy Tale by Typex

Allright folks this is it:

Typex’s “Andy” is by far one of the best comics/graphic novels I’ve ever red. It defenitely is my personal favourite reading of 2019 (and tbh I kinda doubt anything will top this anytime soon)

This is more than just a biographical take on of the most enigmatic pop-art artists of 20th centuary’s America, this is a portrait of the 20th centuary itself. There are so many references to art, history, literature, music and more that I could fill a book counting them all. And of course this is a monument for the medium of comic itself. Typex really managed to show what comic’s are capable of (At this point I’m really sorry I can’t explain it better I’m not good in writing stuff like this yet...)

Visually one of the most appealing things are the different art styles Typex manages to pull off so well for every chapter in Warhol’s life because each of them are a mirror of their zeitgeist. The introduction of Warhol’s childhood during the 30s is drawn in a cartoony style of old news paper comic strips. The chapter of 1967 has a psychedelic edge. The chapter of the early 60s shows similarities with the works of Roy Liechtenstein

So many icons from the 1930s-1980s have a cameo in this graphic novel it’s just amazing. If you’re even remotely interested in anything of this time period you’d definitely should read this. (seriously, READ THIS). But at this point I’d also like to mention that this comic does not shy away from showing very explicit content and sensetive topics (please keep in mind this has a mature rating for a reason)

Yeah so I couldn’t give this piece of art enough praise. It is absolutely brilliant, a masterpiece in every sense and word.I wasn’t too aware of Typex before but appearentely he also did a graphic novel on Rembrandt. I’m gonna read this too.

Some honorable mentions:

California Dreamin` by Penelope Bagieu

I haven’t red this one yet so I can’t say anything more about it. But I wanted to let you know that a graphic novel about the life of Cass Elliot exists.

Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre by Darwyn Cooke and Amanda Conner

One of the prequels of the legendary “Watchmen” by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. It’ “only” an honorable mention because you’ll have to be familiar with the Watchmen universe to fully get all of the story. This prequel focuses on Laurie Jupeczyk, the second Silk Spectre and her own adventures during 1967, the summer of love in San Francisco.

Hip Hop Family Tree by Ed Piskor

Another one I haven’t fully red yet, but so far I’m loving it. It basically tells the history of Rap and Hip Hop from the early 70s to the mid 80s. The art style is intentionally old-school wich really fits it’s tone and setting.

Fritz The Cat by Robert Crumb

I suppose I can’t make a list like this without at least mentioning an absolut icon of the underground comix movement. Crumb created the adventures of this nasty junky cat during the 60s. Fritz can be seen as a satirical mirror of counter-culture’s zeitgeist.

and speaking of Crumb, his “Heroes of Blues, Jazz and Country” trading cards are neat too...

allright that’s it for now. like I said, if you have anymore suggestions, feel free to add ^^

[doubleddenden]

Can I just say as someone who is regularly made self conscious about his writing because of bullshit tumblr posts who criticize every little choice made for stories:

If you aren't making an uwu coffee shop AU, it's fine to have conflict, and especially death of characters. Like I know tumblr is on this kick like IF YOU KILL YOUR CHARACTERS YOU ARE PROBLEMATIC but like. No you're not?

Like sure, sometimes it's very tasteless. This is in no way defending meaningless deaths (we don't support "bury your gays" in this house, thank you), but there's something you have to remember:

None of this is real

The character is not you or someone you know personally

Characters in a sense are more or less literal plot devices

What this means is that you can't get worked up every time a character you like dies.

When a mentor dies, it's meant to be a passing of the torch and a moment for the mc to overcome emotionally and show they will carry their spirit. Case in point: Peter Parker in Into the Spiderverse, Jiraiya in Naruto, etc

When a parent dies, it's meant to be a moment that forces the character to grow up, overcome adversity, meant to test their resolve, meant to show their love for their child and just how far they are willing to go for them. Minato and Kushina, James and Lilly Potter, etc

When a friend or rival dies, its supposed to test their resolve. Do they give into despair? Or do they avenge their friend's honor or do what needs to be done? Caesar Zeppeli and Joseph Joestar, Naruto and Neji, Maes Hughs, etc

Sometimes it's just to show how terrifying or fucked up the villain is. Seriously, Maes Hughs is a huge example of this.

Sometimes its redemption for a character that has done terrible things. Darth Vader remembering the light side to save Luke is a powerful moment, because in his final moments of clarity he decides to try and atone for some of his sins. Vegeta sacrificing himself to save Gohan from Cell or to obliterate Majin Buu (and fail) is HUGE finally starts a path of redemption for him.

I think it has to be said that especially for stories involving fictional war or survival, there has to be adversity to overcome, sadness or anger to drive the plot forward. There has to be danger, and gonna be real? If everyone lives, there's no sense of danger or a threat. When a character dies, especially a beloved one, it means shit is getting real, people can actually die, this isn't an UWU COFFEE SHOP EVERYONE LIVES au. It means holy shit, if this guy is dead, shit is real.

And yes. Its supposed to hurt. You cannot say it's bad writing just because it's a character you got too attached to or because you missed obvious death flags. That character was most likely always planned to die as a means of helping drive the plot forward. If it hurts, then that's good! That means they weren't a shallow character and something was done to make them stand out!

If a character sacrifices themself, that's not a middle finger to you specifically. It's an act of love for the people the character cares for. If they revive, then great, it was a close call, but if they don't, there's finality to their act of love. In their final moment, they chose their friend, child, lover, pupil, comrade, whatever, and it's a sad but noble decision.

Now sure, senseless death doesn't make sense. Attack on Titan is boring as shit because it's always randos that get destroyed to bloody bits. When there's no death flags at all to warn you, then yes, that's bullshit and done for dramatic effect, often times just to incite reaction from the audience because the writers or producers are bored. And yeah, I'm not going to say I'm particularly happy seeing pets die.

But honestly there's good uses of death, and to just outright label it all as bad is childish if not boring. Risk, adversity, sadness- its sometimes necessary to drive home the sweet reward of a happy ending. Like if you prefer happy shows with little to no risk, that's perfectly fine and I'm not faulting you for it, but at a certain point some of y'all have to stop taking the writing so personally.

Its important to keep it for multiple reasons tbh. Like it or not, the people we love and care for will not be around forever. A lot of people especially need to see the surviving character associated with the dead character grieve and find the strength to move on. It isn't just a senseless act when there's a lesson that can be taught to the viewer, and sometimes it's a hard damn pill to swallow. However it is necessary because it's an unavoidable fact of life. Not only does it give the viewer sort of a reference for how to deal with the grief (often times the best thing is to see the character stand back up and move on), but it really reminds you to treasure those you love. There's a reason it's so prevalent in storytelling since... well, caveman times. Shakespeare used it, Homer used it, Stan Lee used it- it's not something that needs to be banned, regardless of how you feel about it.

Again, if it happens to characters that happen to represent a minority or group, yeah, that's bad, feel free to criticize that choice when it's been done time and time before and especially if it seems like those particular writers target very specific people.

But other than that, y'all seriously gotta just let people write what they want. You can have your Everyone Lives tm AU's or your comfy shows where nothing bad ever happens, that is perfectly fine and valid, but something like FMA wouldn't have NEARLY the depth it does without the deaths or chances of death of particular characters to drive plot or motivate the characters. Peter Parker or Batman wouldn't be half the heroes they were without the stinging reminder of Uncle Ben or Bruce's Parents to remind them what they fight for. Naruto becoming Hokage wouldn't be possible without Jiraiya's death to push him and force him to surpass the legendary Sanin. Trunks wouldn't have gone super saiyan without Gohan dying- permanently mind you- which would lead to him surpassing THAT Gohan, his own father Vegeta, and come back to the future to stop the androids, his version of Buu, and eventually Zamasu. Fuckin Luke Skywalker couldn't have become a Jedi Master without the deaths of Obi Wan or Yoda to really force him to man up into his destiny.

That's my piece.