#he’s derailed so many of the trials for me and my friends

[bugfayce]

Some screenies of my babygirl that I took a few months back 💕💕💕💕💕 I love him sm I don’t care if his side profile is atrocious that is MY MAN‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️🙏🙏🙏

#outlast #night hunter #outlast trials #my wonderfully hideous husband who I throw bricks and bottles at for sport #he’s derailed so many of the trials for me and my friends #we’re in the middle of a program X trial trying to take things seriously until this fuck comes along #then we spend like 20 minutes bullying him before remembering we’re supposed to be doing a trial lol

[izartn]

So, about how I see Link Click's Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi relationship:

As it stands in canon? Queerplatonic partners. And it's convenient for the plot that they're like this.

Because of Chinese censorship it can't be explicitly romantic, yes I know it. Let me tell why it's queerplatonic for me. The way these two have intertwined their lives and futures together?!

Owning a business and living together, that hint in ep2 (comparing them to the subtextually older lesbian couple who also came across as queerplatonic bc censure) where Xiaoshi wonders/fears if years down the line he and Lu Guang will separate/break up implying their partnership is for life as far as he's concerned (the parallel can be taken as a subtext romance too but follow me we're talking text), the way they were already going also on vacancies together three years prev in canon, etc...

Without entering on their complimentary powers and the way the dives need both of them if they want security in not screwing the past, and the inmense trust and vulnerability the dives themselves require?

They're not simply best friends either.

Those aren't the actions of normal, totally not queer friends. Cheng Xiaoshi checks out women on the dives, sure, (and men too when the host is feeling it which I love bc they can't address it directly bc censorship and then it comes across as Xiaoshi being super confident in his own relationship to sexuality/gender) but I don't think he would ever date bc Lu Guang is already there, filling that place in his life minus sex and romance but all that same companionship and intensity of feeling.

These two meet in what, the last year/s of High School and then proceeded to latch onto each other with a commitment reserved for romantic partners.

And I know you want to say, "it's the censorship! they'd be romantic and canon if not for the censorship!"

Are you sure? Are you sure the story would work if there were explicit romance in it? (I mean, if they could I'm pretty sure they would have nailed it anyways but allow me my a-spec delusions) Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang feel so much like an already established pair, they work like one, and Link Click is not about them coming together like many other stories. Are you sure this would work as BL?

There's a distinct difference on the way they start the show already like six years at least since they're best friends and three or two since they live together. That's not usually how it goes. I'm talking not just romances but every buddy or nakama anime/show, where the protag has to learn to work with who will be his best friend or rival. These stories usually have the same kind of plot progression as a romance which is why they work so well when you make the subtext text.

But a story where the main romance is already established and we're following a plot that has nothing to do with it? Much more rare, even stranger to find them well done although there are some very good ones and with the friendships instead of romo they're more common. For example, Soul Eater, which is all about the trials of it and how they hace to truly come to understand each other. That's Link Click a bit, but not even then.

Link Click juggling a budding romance between Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi with all the other stuff is going on?? Messier for sure. I don't know if people would have liked it as much or if the donghua would have been as well done.

As it is, Link Click has the exact level of emotional connection between our protags it needs to have incredibly high stakes emotionally and at the same time not need a detour by romantic scenes/fanservice that would derail the plot or the other charas importance. That it happens to be pretty queer anyways in a platonic way?

Nice for the aroace-spec folks watching the show xD

Btw, I'm pretty sure in season 3 we're going to get more of Lu Guang's PoV, the origins of their powers and the past between him and Xiaoshi. It'll probably dig more into the aspect of "testing their bond and coming stronger bc of it" which is were the romantic subtext usually comes through...

—unless you're very very good at writing like Arakawa in FMA, who nailed the brotherly relationship without tipping into incest subtext which I've seen more than a few writers fumble. or the latest D&D film for the platonic childrearing and partnership for a no familial example between a man and a woman also very very difficult to get right for writers dunno why—

... but until then, for now I'm incredibly satisfied by the canon.

The other read of course it that they're already a couple since well before the start of season 1, and to mentally edit what we saw in canon with that lens (it wouldn't be very difficult honestly) but reading only the text? Queerplatonic partners!

There also how Xiaoshi and Lu Guang don't have that anxiety/insecurity of their bond that makes it so easy to read the want for something, like a romance for shipping purposes. Despite the disagreements on the Dives or the trials of season 2 or Lu Guang keeping secret Cheng Xiaoshi future/past death they read very steady which is fun. I love some good established relationship, you can go to deeper places when the base is already secure and the risk is higher for the characters. Plus I love domesticity! Yes, I do my angsty/Gothic leanings notwithstanding. Don't you know you need a home for the Gothic to be effective?

#link click #meta #link click meta #lu guang #cheng xiaoshi #shiguang #my thoughts #all of this to say that I don't exactly ship them #Although I've been tagging fanart and meta with their shipname #bc I dont not ship them #honestly? #it's because despite it all I'm very much a canon girl so I can't help but see shiguang on that same romo-not romo limbo #canon present us with #loving the fics though #and Lu Guang is so tragic timetraveler for love coded is not funny #which is the reason I'm sure season 3 will give me that shift towards a more romantic lense to their relationship #also the way they made sure to sibling-fy qiao ling and cheng xiaoshi was fun XD #in conclusion: I think Link Click being a danmei wouldn't have worked #precisely bc it wasnt created as danmei the story as it is works almost perfectly #and right now Im not sure if I would want the romance at the expense of everything else the plot is doing #....qiang jin jiu did it well on the second half though #but it had the first part to go from a enemies-to-lovers and establishing the romance #I don't think I've seen a danmei start with a established romantic relationship bc the genre being a romance tells you that's #what's going to be centered #link click would had to be a just a time travel thriller with queer elements (which it is) #and I don't know #I'd love it but I bet we'll have lots of people annoyed/annoying bc they're here for the romance #Instead of taking the story for what it is #but then romance (queer romance) doesn't devalue the storytelling #ah the conflict of wanting a-spec queer stories VS censorship

[dasha-aibo]

Same Chris chan anon, I’m back. I saw your reply, and yeah, I agree on some parts. Good people can turn bad.

What I meant was that if you’re a person with strong values, you would’ve never done that stuff. It was plain sexism. A person with strong values wouldn’t do that because their actions dictate what kind of person they are.

And while I understand that you don’t SUPPORT chris chan, you can’t be like “well! Actually, women, stfu about his sexism!!! He did it because he was bullied online!!! And shut up about how he sexually harassed his female friends beforehand!!!”

Like. Think critically. This was an actual crime. With actual victims. And now he’s out of jail??? Male privilege at its finest. He should’ve NEVER gotten out of jail.

Also, rape is like, in my opinion, the only crime that can NEVER be excused. Because nobody forced you to do it??? Nobody can use it as self defense. Nobody recovers from it like a wound. It’s not simple. It’s a complex hate crime against women.

On another note, I don’t like bullying. I’ve been a bullying victim for many years. And even worse, IN REAL LIFE. But I never would’ve done that. Because plainly, I’m not sexist.

Chris Chan was porn sick. That’s it. He harassed women, did something unforgivable to his mother, and became “trans” to intimidate lesbians into dating him. That’s a straight white man if I’ve ever seen it. The internet is cruel, but it doesn’t turn men into rapists. That’s their own doing. We need to hold men accountable for what they do. We can’t coddle them or they’ll just keep doing shit. It’s never justified!!! Never!! Even the nastiest woman doesn’t deserve it because it’s a hate crime against women as a whole!

Have empathy towards the victims. We never know what they went through, and their suffering was much worse than what a brain rotted straight white man went through. Because let’s bffr, if a man I knew told me he’s a woman because he wants to bang a lesbian, draws porn of me, and then rapes his mom AND PEOPLE ONLINE DEMAND HES CALLED A WOMAN AND THAT HE DESERVES PITY??? That would be my breaking point.

He’s a whole ass villain 😭😭 why can’t y’all see that

I don't believe in perfect villains or perfect victims.

We don't need to villianize Chris to have empathy for Barbara. We don't need to gloss over Barbara being a horrible person to feel horrible for what happened to her.

It's not a black-and-white world, no matter how much Ayn Rand wanted it to be.

Chris was severely abused and neglected by his parents. Barbara specifically fostered unhealthy attachment, which absolutely did not help in this situation.

I don't think we need to state over and over again that FUCKING YOUR DEMENTIA-RIDDEN MOTHER IS WRONG. I think that's pretty obvious by itself.

But just taking a step back and looking at the whole situation in context is important.

And it's important to realize that the collective internet didn't just "bully" Chris. They manipulated and gaslighted this person for over a decade. They derailed Chris's life and any middling chance they had at becoming a normal person. They egged on their every worst instinct and broke this person's brain and will. That goes beyond regular bullying.

I think, overall, it's the internet looking at a monster we created and then refusing to accept that harassing, bullying, gaslighting and obsessively documenting a living, breathing human being for over a decade because they're "cringe" is a bad thing. So Chris has to have been a monster from the start.

Chris is out of jail, because the judges don't know WTF to do with them. You can't hold a person in jail with no trial for more than a year, rape is really hard to prove with dementia patients, who might not even remember it, incest penalties are their own can of legal worms and trying a person as severely autistic as Chris is borderline-impossible.

The best outcome for everyone would be to put Chris in an assisted living facility. But I doubt that's gonna happen.

Also, I refuse to comment on Chris's trans status. It's between them and their psychologist. I simply don't care, because it changes very little.

Yeah, I do think Chris deserves pity. Condemnation AND pity. We shouldn't just forgive their horrible actions. But we should at least have the humility to realize that we would be capable of some monstrous shit if we were ever treated like that.

YOU don't think you would've done something horrible in that situation, but you HAVE NOT been in the same situation. And thank your lucky stars for that.

[slasherz]

what do you like about keiji?

short answer: lots and lots and lots and lots

long answer: oh god after typing this all out i think i need a read more

also some spoilers ig

1. i think he is very cute and very silly!! i love his kinda goofy laid-back demeanor and i love how he uses it to make himself seem more trustworthy with the rest of the characters. thinking about him during introductions saying kinda lightheartedly how he wished he knew someone in the game but this happens right after his first trial where he killed someone he knew via his inaction. in my opinion he can be very subtly manipulative!

i also love when he acts flirty just to try and get out of being questioned >ω<

2. his little tragic backstory also gets to me alot! many times i've cried during his panic attack in 3-1a especially when he tries and fails to shoot midori and ends up vomiting 😋 ( <- cried so so hard in a call with a friend when she saw that for the first time)

he is just a little guy he doesn't deserve all this torture the blond man some more please

3. i love his bizarre relationship to sara

(eg. "are you going to be our goddess of victory or our angel of death? doesn't sound too bad to bet my life on that.") WEIRD THING TO SAY MAN

cant speak more about this topic without getting shot by the snipers trained on me outside my window

lots hasn't been explained as to why he seems so trusting towards her because to me at least, it just feels a bit suspicious and i'm hoping that gets explored in the final chapter!!

4. i'm very invested in his story!! i don't know how well this death game will turn out for him and i don't particularly think it will end well for him but i really wanna see if he's actually as suspicious as he seems or if he's just a freak that acts like that normally

no matter how much i love him there are just certain parts that i cannot seem to fully trust i guess? i just wanna know what is intentions and motivations are!!

i wanna know what his wish was when he signed the asunaro contract so so bad!!!!!!! it drives me crazy!!!!!!!!!

5. i love so much that he was seemingly just some normal guy who had an extremely traumatizing event, manufactured to fuck him up that completely derailed his life. won't go into this part too much bc i may end up taking about headcannon stuff and i am far too embarrassed to speak on that

6. he has so many good character moments in my opinion!! everything with the role cards in the second main game makes me go crazy!! the fight with midori at the end of 3-1a and everything with him, q-taro, and mai in 3-1b!!!! it all makes me go so so insane and wanna play the game again just so i can see it all again!!!!!!

7. CUTIE!!! he is so so so cute to me!!!!!!

um have some random keiji stuff that i love about him or think is cute ^^

dogie time :3

cutie cutie cutie

being weird probably because he's freaked out about holding bullets again ^^

more freak behavior

2nd picture he's talking about the all the tools at the workbench.. freak

#adrian speaks #asks #keijiposting #thank you for asking!!!! i love gushing about him!! #i'm not great at putting my thoughts into words so sorry if this just sounds like insane rambling you hear from outside my containment cell

[ifanfictiondreamerworld]

The Ultimate Story the Beginnings Chapter 5-The Quest to Save Rayman's World

The journey begins in the Marshes of Awakening. As they journeyed on, they came across a very scary creature with one eye. As the creature spoke to Rayman and the girls, they all looked at him with terrified looks on their faces, except for Buttercup, Blossom, Maggie and Lisa. After it was done speaking, some of them gleefully ran out. Misty: "What was that horrible looking thing saying to us?" Lisa: "It's telling us that we can't enter some realm unless we know what the name of it is." Misty: "Well thank goodness we got out of there. I don't want to face that thing again." Rayman: ["I don't want to face him, either, Misty. Come on, let's keep looking around."]

As they looked around, they broke out and met Rayman's friend, SSSSSAM. SSSSSAM and Rayman exchanged a few works and then SSSSSAM offered to help guide them through the marshes. Thanks to SSSSSAM, they were able to reach the other end of the marshes safely. SSSSSAM left and so did Rayman and the girls and they headed towards the Bayou.

Meanwhile, one of Razorbeard's men informed them of Rayman and Co’s current location, which aggravated Razorbeard to the greatest extent. His informant then tells him of a tall girl with bright, orange hair. She was from a far distant planet called Earth and she only received a portion of her powers. Razorbeard became very interested and insisted that he must have her before she receives all of her powers. He then ate one of the Lums, reducing Rayman and Co’s Lum collecting count from 1000 to 999.

By the time they reached the Bayou, Razorbeard has sent down a small ship to stop Rayman and his friends. Misty: "Oh, no, it's one of those horrible ships!" Peach: "Those terrible pirates are on to us!" Rayman: ["You don't have to tell me twice. Come on, let's keep moving."]

The ship did very little to derail their efforts. Along the way, they got lost. Rayman: ["Um…OK, which way do we go?"] They looked around. Blossom: "I don't know, there's a lot here that I'm not too familiar with." Buttercup: "No kidding, this place is like Misty's taste in style, messy and badly arranged." Misty: "Hey! What exactly is wrong with my style!?" Buttercup: "Uh, the real question should be what isn't wrong with it." Misty: "Why you, listen here, you scrawny little, bad-mannered pest! I awe to…" Buttercup: "Scrawny? Bad-mannered? PEST? Why you…!"

Everyone else watched as the 2 of them got into a fierce argument. Bubbles then flew in and intervened. Bubbles: "Stop! Stop it please! I hate it when my friends fight." Rayman: ["I agree with Bubbles on this one, we're supposed to be fighting our enemies, not each other."] Lisa: "Let's save these squabbles for after this incident is over, OK?" Misty: "OK, Lisa." Buttercup: "Whatever." Misty: "I'm still not finished with you!"

Buttercup smiled in a self-satisfying manner. They were eventually able to find their way out of the Bayou.

They soon arrived at the Sanctuary of Water and Ice. Before they could enter the realm, they were faced with the one of the Teenzies wearing the crown. Misty: "I see that you've managed to figure out who the real king is." Teenzie: ["Uh…well…not exactly…"]

They looked behind the first Teenzie and saw that the others lined up behind it. Buttercup: "You've got to be kidding me, you're actually taking turns?" Blossom: "Apparently they're still indecisive."

One by one, they told Rayman and the girls that entering a new world require a lot of energy and that they have enough Lums to enter the next world. And so, the Teenzie guardians opened the door and Rayman and the girls entered it. They arrived at a beach area. They solved a puzzle here and there and they soon entered a large chamber. There, they faced the many trials and the realm's guardian. It was a tough challenge. Lisa, Misty, Maggie and the Powerpuff Girls worked together to divert the guardian while Rayman and Peach tried to make it to the very end of the realm. They all succeeded in working together to bring down the guardian. They soon came across at large pedestal as Rayman slowly approaches it. He then stops in front of it and with that, the power the lies within Rayman opens the pedestal, revealing the first Mask. Rayman jumps up, grabs it and holds it up. Misty: "Is that…one of the Masks?" Buttercup: "Duh! What do you think it is?" Misty: "Hey! Be quiet, Buttercup!" Bubbles: "Alright! We found one of the Masks!"

After collecting the mask, they disappeared.

They then reappeared in a strange realm. Misty: "Where are we?"

Lisa pondered for a moment. Bubbles then looked over towards some strange creature with long arms standing on another pedestal. Bubbles: "Hey! Who's that?"

They looked over. Blossom: "I don't know, Bubbles. Let's try to find out."

They ran over. The strange creature looked over towards them. Peach: "Are you…Polokus…?" Polokus: ["Yes, I am Polokus, the creator of this world."]

He looked over and saw Rayman holding the first Mask. Polokus: ["Ah! I see that you have found the first of my masks."] Lisa: "Yes, this is…one of your Masks…I guess…" Buttercup: "You won't believe in what we had to go through just to get it, so you had better be grateful to us!" Peach: "Buttercup!"

Rayman then gave Polokus the Mask. It placed in on 1 side of his pedestal. The Mask fixated itself and its eyes glowed. He sent them on their way. Polokus: ["Be strong. Our world is in your hands."]

The next place they went to was the Menhir Hills. Murfy came in and warned Rayman of the walking shells, then informed him that they can be tamed. Rayman thanked him for the info and Murfy was on his way. Just then, they heard large explosions. Misty: "What was that!?"

They looked up and saw the mountains between them toppled over. The girls flew out to catch them before they fell over. Misty: "Rayman! Do something! We don't know how long we can hold these things!"

Rayman looked around. Suddenly, he spotted the walking shell again. Rayman: ["Peach, we have to use the walking shell, it's our only hope!"]

Rayman then lured out the walking shell, he then calmed it down. He and Peach got on it and rode it out. The girls soon dropped the toppling mountains. Bubble: "Phew! That was close."

Buttercup then punched through the rocks in fits of rage. Buttercup: "ALRIGHT, PIRATE JERKS! COME GET SOME!" Blossom: "Easy, Buttercup, don't wake the entire valley." Lisa: "Let's catch up with Peach and Rayman."

And so they continued on.

Later on, they entered a room full of dismantled robots. Rayman looked over and saw a big, burly guy with and incredibly, huge chin sitting on the floor. Rayman: "Clark!"

He ran over to him. Rayman: ["Was it you that finished off all of these robots?"]

The 2 of them began exchanging words. The girls listened in. Misty: "What are they saying?" Lisa: "Hm…apparently, Clark, that's the big guy in the corner, ate something bad for him and needs some kind of potion." Peach: "Oh, dear, how terrible." Misty: "Where can we find this potion?" Lisa: "Hm…he's saying that we can find it in this place called the Cave of Bad Dreams." Misty: "The Cave of Bad Dreams? Sounds horrible." Bubbles: "I don't want to go there!" Peach: "Where is this place located?"

Lisa listened in some more. Lisa: "Do you remember that thing we came across in the Marshes of Awakening?" Misty: "I hope you don't mean that thing with 1 eye. Oh, man, I was hoping we wouldn't have to run into him again." Bubbles: "I volunteer to stay here and looking after that burly guy." Buttercup: "His name is Clark and don't be such a baby, Bubbles. How bad can this place be?" Blossom: "I'm with Bubbles on this one; I'm not looking forward to this at all." Rayman: ["Come on, guys. Let's head back to the Marshes of Awakening. We have to get that elixir for Clark."]

Rayman ran off. Bubbles: "Oh…I don't want to go." Lisa: "Come on, girls, we have to go. Rayman may need our help." Misty: "Do we have to?" Lisa: "Yes! Now let's go!" Misty: "Oh…alright."

They made their way back to the Marshes of Awakening and went back to the very scary creature they ran into earlier. The creature was pleased that they each remember the name of the place and sent them to the Cave of Bad Dreams. When they arrived, the girls were horrified at everything that they saw. Misty: "Oh…what a horrible place." Peach: "I don't like it here one bit." Buttercup: "OK, I have to admit, this place is terrifying." Bubbles: "No wonder this place is called the Cave of Bad Dreams." Rayman: ["Come on, we have to find that elixir."]

Rayman ran off. The girls went off after Rayman. Rayman confronted many of his worst nightmares as he faced the trials of the cave. Along the way, he along with Peach and Misty lost sight of the others. Misty: "Hey! Where's Lisa? Or Maggie? Or the Powerpuff Girls?" Peach: "Oh, dear, I hope they didn't get lost in this horrible place." Rayman: ["I hope not either. Come on, maybe we'll be able to find them along the way."] Misty: "Oh…I knew this was a bad idea."

As they were nearing the end of the cave, they ran into the creature again, only much larger than before. Rayman, Peach and Misty, terrified out of their minds, tried to escape as it chased them. After the chase, Rayman looked around and noticed that Misty and Peach were nowhere to be found. Rayman: ["Misty? Peach? Where are you guys?"]

Loud screams were heard. He turned around and saw that the creature has captured both Misty and Peach. He trapped inside floating containment fields. Rayman: ["Hey! You! Let my friends go! Now!"]

The creature refuses to let them go and a fierce battle commenced between them. Just as Rayman was about to reach the end, the creature pulls a fast one on him and he fell. Peach: "RAYMAN! NO!"

Just then, he was rescued by Bubbles and Lisa came in, taking down the creature with the use of her psychic powers while Buttercup came in and delivered her famous knuckle sandwiches. Maggie then freed Misty and Peach with the use of her psychic powers. Peach was immediately caught by Blossom. All the girls regrouped. Lisa: "Is everyone OK?" Misty: "I sure am, thanks to you guys." Bubbles: "Don't mention it." Rayman: ["What happened to you guys? We lost you on the way through the cave!"] Bubbles: "We don't know, one minute we're together, the next minute, we're separated." Blossom: "Well, we're back together again and that's all that matters." Rayman: ["Come on, let's keep moving."]

As they reached the very end, they saw large piles of gold. They all became amazed at what they all saw. Misty: "Whoa! Just look at all of this gold." Rayman: ["Yesssss. It is gold, Misty."] Buttercup: "No way…we're rich! Rich! Rich beyond our wildest dreams! (Laugh)" Lisa: "Hold on, Buttercup, there may be a catch." Blossom: "I'm with Lisa on this one; I don't trust this place one bit."

Buttercup folded her arms. Buttercup: "Oh…you spoilsports always ruin everything."

The creature then tossed 1 gold coin towards Rayman. He picked it up and looked at it. He then looked at the creature, who spoke to Rayman. Misty: "What did that thing just say?" Lisa: "You have defeated me. My treasure is yours. Take what you want."

Rayman looked at the coin again then looked back at the girls. Rayman: ["What do you think? Should I take it?"] Lisa: "I highly doubt that's a wise decision, Rayman." Misty: "I'm with Lisa on this one! I hate this place! I don't trust anything that's here, not even this gold!" Peach: "Rayman, please make the right decision. Don't give in to greed." Maggie: "Hm…me thinks this all is an illusion."

He looked over to the Powerpuff Girls. Rayman: ["I want all of your opinions. What do you girls think?"] Blossom: "I think Lisa and Misty are right, I don't trust this place at all and I also think that it's very unwise to accept any of this." Bubbles: "Well, I think the greatest treasure of all lies inside each and every single one of us." Buttercup: "Oh, brother, do you even listen to yourselves? Rayman, accept this treasure! We may never have another moment like this again!"

Rayman then looked at Buttercup with an angry look on his face. Rayman: ["You want the gold so bad? Take it!"]

He tossed the coin right in between Buttercup's eyes. Buttercup: "OW!"

He then looked towards the creature with the same look on his face. Rayman: ["I'm not interested in any of your gold!"]

The creature sent Rayman and the girls out of the cave. He then bestowed to Rayman the medicine for Clark. Rayman: ["Thanks!"] Misty: "Come on, let's get away from this horrible place. I never want to come back here again!" Rayman: ["I'm with Misty on this. Let's go."]

They ran off. Buttercup then flew back toward the creature. Buttercup: "Is there any way you can get me back to that place? Please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please!"

Lisa, Maggie, Blossom and Bubbles flew back and grabbed onto Buttercup. Blossom: "Come on, Buttercup, let's go!"

They then pulled her away. Buttercup: "NO! I WANT THAT GOLD!" Rayman, Peach and Misty looked back at Buttercup in a hopeless manner. Rayman: ["Oh, brother. Poor, diluted girl."] Peach: "I can't help but feel bad for her." Misty: "I can." They soon left the marshes.

Later on, they went back to Clark to give him the medicine. Rayman: ["Here, Clark. This is the elixir."]

Clark took the elixir and drank it. He immediately began to feel much better. All the girls celebrated except Buttercup, who was still pouting. He then smashed through a wall and helped to guide them through the rest of the area. Rayman, Clark and all of the girls worked together to make it out of the area. They bid a farewell to Clark and they were on their way.

#The Ultimate Story #Lisa Simpson #Maggie Simpson #The Powerpuff Girls #Blossom #Bubbles #Buttercup #Misty #Princess Peach #Rayman

[truckreincarnation]

Mayhem | Nao | Trial 3.2 | Re: Theophania, Shin, Avery, Bian <3

The accusation from Bian is unexpected, yes, but the blush on Nao's face makes it clear it's rather welcome right now.

It's not as though Nao was lying when she had said she wanted to try to patch things up with Harriet. That being said... Well, it was still very satisfying to see Harriet in the position she tried to force Nao into last time. Who was hiding in a room now, invisible and near a corpse? Who waited for the others to rejoin?

It scratches a small, bruising itch that had been tormenting Nao, not bothering to hide a small smile as her eyes move to Harriet.

(And yet, a new one opens. So suddenly it was okay to use character testimony and not just evidence? Now it was simply acceptable to say "well they wouldn't do that", and have things wrapped up nicely with a little bow? Where was that last time, huh?)

And yet, Theophania's words trigger an instant switch, eyes glued to her and her alone. Nao doesn't bother to hide her rage - a polite smile instead of the genuine one, a dead look to her eyes. Her head tilts, as though trying to scan Theophania for any little fault.

“... Ms. Theophania, please tell me you’re trying to tell the world’s worst joke.”

There’s a hint of genuine anger, genuine judgment, that sinks through the usual dead tone.

“Mr. Shin reported that the first time Frank was hurt was at 10:14 PM. I do believe that was during the time when Bian was with me, something you’ve clearly acknowledged as being true.”

The smile on Nao’s face grows. Anger has to go somewhere - and Nao’s opinion of Theophania isn’t solid enough that she’s an exception towards that cold, cruel wrath.

“We can walk through your whole theory though, since I’d rather like my girlfriend to not be suspected. Since we’ve all generously decided to accept character testimony this trial, I have to ask: can you really see Bian going to target Frank of all people? I can’t, and since you’ve all testified to Harriet’s character, knocking her off the list… Well, I should do the same.”

Nao lets out a small, bitter laugh, but she refuses to go too off-track right now. Some pettiness is fine, but derailing the trial over it? That’d be less than ideal.

“The Bian at the Smithy cannot be a mimic. We have a solid way to prove this, outside of mimics' general erratic behavior. Recall who brought up the alibi first: Bian. If Bian didn’t have an opportunity to talk to Mr. Shin beforehand, which I believe she did not, then Bian could only claim she saw him if she was the one present. After all, I believe we’ve established that mimics do not transfer sensory information to the caster.”

Nao shrugs.

“I suppose we could assume she ran to the Smithy after… but she’d still need to go to the storage room for this to work for you. Additionally, if you’ll recall Mr. Shin’s testimony, Mr. Shin stopped getting alerts after he saw Bian - meaning Frank was still being hurt or being registered as in pain while Mr. Shin saw Bian. I believe Bian testified that it was around 10:25 PM, if I remember right. I fail to see how that indicates Bian’s guilt.”

There’s a slight pause, then a somewhat amused chuckle as Nao remembers something else.

“Also, Mr. Shin testified he told Bian about the bond, if I’m not mistaken. So I believe that should settle it, unless you'd like to spout more theories I can debunk.”

Those eyes still don’t leave, more interested in settling a score than they were seeking the truth...

Except Avery, somebody they'd consider a friend, requests their help. The anger remains - and her mind already races ahead - but she figures she can comply.

"The answer is rather simple: I still am thinking of the last trial. Really, it's so easy to simply claim magic can do something, isn't it? With so many abilities. And I had no way of knowing that was the real Manami - I wanted to make sure it wasn't a mimic."

The pettiness from last trial remains strong, Nao clearly still not over what had happened.

"I wanted Manami to be able to claim she saw me first, that's all. She did. It's rather nice having somebody so simply and cleanly backing me and my alibi. Charming, really. I saw Manami behind me on the stairs, and arrived at the dorm hall at 10:25 PM.

There's a pause, and then Nao chuckles again.

"Ah, but I didn't hear her speak, did I? I suppose there's always the possibility she was a mimic."

...Very petty.

#Nao #ch3 #trial3 #submission

[mtnkat3]

11.18pm

You/Alll know what...DPOne....this is what it comes down to.

I love You DPOne. I love You DOne. & I love You/Alll.

But I'm NOT a swinger, poly, open, bi, nor a switch. I will NOT share.

Any other touching... even ...here.

my primal queen Tijgeress takes over. Period.

It is the blending of the alpha beast within, & the submissive woman.

I am Your/Alll's mate.

MfM/M+? Committed. Lifetime. Closed. Not sharing. Marriage. A family.

Not contradictory either.

[Remember my ebooks.]

Why... because whether the comments have an "@" or not matters not. That is bad itself. But it's the fact it's on romance/ erotic/sexually charged posts.

I know that enjoying someone else's writing is good. Even supportive.

But You/Alll would require me to be careful, open & honest about it.

As I tooo do You/Alll.

Heck, I have ended friendships over it.

Because I love, adore, value, & respect You/Alll.

The only few friends I have left are aware & respectful. They have shown me friendship when others showed their intents.

But now...

I can no longer trust myself.

I cannot help but think there's more going on.

Whether this is another adversary tricks.

Or whether You DPOne do in fact want others...

Needs clarification.

Or did You wish to bury me in the dirt...

....

Just for me to clarify then.

When I spoke of vine & the fruit.

You & I DPOne, & DOne &Alll.

NOT ANY OTHERS.

Here's a question... how would You...Alll feel???

Remember, you disappeared. Then... 3.4.21... I don't know then either. But when I did find You DPOne again...

Did it make You happy...???

Because I thought I was being given the sun, moon, stars & the keys to Heavens Gates!!!

Back end of February. When I felt compelled by You/Alll's posts . That You/Alll were about to give up.

But was I tooo late...

I don't have any screws loose either.

Just... very confused. Frustrated. Attacked by the adversary on so many fronts I am being stabbed more than I'm slicing right now. [This... wh...health... don't even. Yeah I'm afraid that I'm gonna die before I am free. I'm not afraid of death. I know my soul. And I've known A LOT of deaths since the year I was born. No,...

I'm petrified of losing my soul's Mate/s.

You DPOne. DOne. & Alll.

You DPOne wanting to get rid of me & frustrated that You haven't...???

Or... are You frustrated by the trials & the attacks on me...

as my Mate/s would be.

I wonder because....

Your motivations

& every time I think I've gotten back on track with You/Alll I run over a rock & I derail.

I'm sick to death of it!!!

And also were those private posts...

or was that the adversary tooo.

You DPOne alone have the answers to aaaaallllll the angst that I'm feeling. And yes, DOne tooo. And yes, I am EXTREMELY concerned about DOne.

His pain is also a part of this. AND him waging the war alone... IT'S WRONG. HE NEEDS ME TOOO!!!! AND I'M NOT THERE & ITS KILLING ME!!!!

It's why I wondered about the post of veteran yesterday. Cause to me, it's every man & woman for that.

War is littered with the souls of the Warriors unable to fight back against the demons because they are not getting the support they need to do so.

I am a queen warrior sub. I am enough. For alll of You/Alll.

But I have not waged a war like this & I am floundering. Badly.

I need clues. That You/Alll have.

The other parts are wh, & health that I'm praying on.

I also do not want to hurt souls that have suffered enough. Mainly innocent souls. But I haven't the needed info for that determination have I. It seems that others are being used by the adversary. So I am trying to think about that.

And pray His hands, Plans, & Aill.

But also keep my soul's Mate/s. Because.

I will fight. For You/Alll. Forever.

Unless You/Alll tell me otherwise...

And remember that I am more stubborn than a mule, a bully goat. Or a bull... COMBINED.

How do I know....

I am alive.

If I find that the others are being used as the serpent...

I will eviscerate. Annihilate.

Tijgeress will be unleashed.

And my beast... she is Queen.

Remember... I am alive.

I have survived a tyrant.

And my mother. Spawn of one.

I have been attacked physically, emotionally, verbally, mentally & spiritually my entire life.

I probably still have bad luck attached from the full mirror & other things she thru at me as teen.

Why am I able to pull myself back together & have a modicum of thoughts on trying to solve this riddle of the sphinx?

I am alive.

This is the way God Created me.

Tijgeress is just as upset as I, but will sometimes slip the reins & speak our combined pain before I have collected myself up off the floor.

At this point... I don't know what to do.

You/Alll want me...???

Then I beg You/Alll show it.

You wanna still make me beg Bear???

Welll... I am.

And...I will.

That's for the knees.

Which I will rarely do.

You/Alll have me on my knees... You/Alll can dang sure believe in my sincerity.

It's not something that I can do easily. I will not do it easily. It will be incredibly difficult challenge to me. You/Alll get Tijgeress & kay to acquiesce...

Start up the band...do hi fives .... because You/Alll will have won a major victory.

It has been wh & mom's disappointment they didn't destroy me.

So think... how easy will it be for me to submit.

I submit to You/Alll because I have felt thr mate bond.

But You/Alll wanna tame me...rein me...

You/Alll got Your/Alll's work cut out for You/Alll.

Geeish.

I'm not a doormat nor a yes dear. Inwill question You/Alll. I will want answers. I will not give up. I want the how & why.

I don't just blindly ♡ Your/Alll's posts DPOne & DOne & Alll. I look at them first.

And go based on prior things if we are conversing.

Heck as frustrating as doing this is, at least I am talking to You/Alll!!!

I just miss personal interactions.

I want Your/Alll's voices on the phone! I want video chats, & then face to face!!!

I'm tried of mistakes & misunderstandings on social media!!!

I am ABSOLUTELY freaking sick of social media between us, & miles!!!

I WANT YOU/ALLL NOW!!!!

Sigh.

Drooping tail.

But...

Do You/Alll want me.......

You/Alll hold the keys.

To the answers, & to me.

I am trying to trust & give You/Alll respect.

But am I being a fool.

Only You/Alll know.

It's 12.38am

I probably better close.

Dejected. Sad. Lost. Confused. Hurt.

I love You DPOne. I love You DOne. I love You/Alll.

Please...

Stop the pain & the adversary tricks.???

Please... please... please...???

I am.

Your's/s' .

DPOne. DOne. & Alll.

But do You/Alll want me to be...

🔱💝🗝♾⚓🙏🙇‍♀️🌂🔗🧭🌠🕯😖😥😳💔😔

⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯

M.7.18.2022 12.45am

[seijorhi]

To the Wolves

my (first) entry for the Deal With the Devil collab, because i couldn’t resist writing for Yakuza Getou <33

Getou Suguru x Female Reader

TW Extremely dubious consent, coercion, manipulation, threats, implied murder, smut, nsfw

“No. I- I won’t.”

Sitting comfortably on the old, worn couch in your cramped little apartment, Getou raises a single eyebrow, “Oh? Is that so?”

His voice is perfectly pleasant, the smile on his face a touch amused, but you’re not so naive as to believe that the question is anything but a generous offer for you to rethink your reply. A smart person would take it – since the day you’d first arrived home to find him waiting for you, Getou hadn’t so much as laid a finger on you. He had no need for guns or knives, never shouted or bullied you, his reputation more than enough to cow you into submission before he’d even opened his mouth.

Of course, once he had, the simple threats to your friends and family’s lives had made certain that you were more than amenable to his request.

A mutually beneficial arrangement, he’d called it, as if there hadn’t been tears silently streaming down your face, your whole body stiff with fear. 

But that was the world he came from. Violence and ruthlessness, cruelty masquerading as kindness.

By all accounts, someone like you – a lowly admin assistant living a very boring, mundane life – should never have crossed paths with a man like Getou. The irony, of course, being that it was precisely because of your job that he’d been drawn to you in the first place. 

“I-I said no,” you stammer. “I’m not doing it.”

Getou sighs, long, pale fingers idly fixing the cuff of his left sleeve. “I had no idea the lives of your loved ones meant so little to you.”  

“Please, I-” you break off, biting your lip as your hands curl into useless fists at your side, “I can’t. Anything else, I’ll do anything, I swear it, just… please.”

Men like Getou aren’t the type to be swayed by pretty words or tearful pleas, but there’s an unmistakable glimmer of interest that flickers in his eyes at the offer. Casually, he leans forward, resting his chin on the palm of his hand and regarding you with a smirk. “So you’ll bring me the list of witnesses then?”

The barely audible hitch in your breath is enough to make him chuckle.

“No? How about those surveillance tapes, hm?” Smoothly, he rises to his feet and makes his way towards you. “Careful, little one, first rule of negotiation is knowing when you have something to bargain with. Don’t promise me what you can’t give.”

“Getou–”

He raises a hand and you quickly fall silent. There’s only inches between you two now, Getou’s taller, broader frame looming over yours. He could kill you like this, you realise with panic – reach out and wrap his hands around your throat and snap your pretty little neck before you could so much as scream. The tailored line of his jacket hides the gun he has holstered at his side, but Getou knows you're aware of its presence, have been since the very first time he’d broken into your home and threatened you. 

It’d take him only moments to draw the sidearm, even less for him to pull the trigger.

The walls of your apartment are thin, would your neighbours come if they heard gunfire? Would you, for that matter, if your roles were reversed?

Yet Getou makes no move for his gun, instead reaching for your chin, tilting it up with two curled fingers until you meet his gaze, “You understand, don’t you, that I make one phone call and that charming sister of yours and her fiance meet a very tragic, very untimely end?”

He pauses, waiting until you jerk a quick nod of assent before continuing. “You love them. There’s nothing wrong with that, nothing wrong with prioritising the ones you love over everybody else.” His voice is gentle, but the words make you shake, dread rising from the pit of your stomach as the pad of his thumb grazes over your bottom lip. 

You don’t know if you’re supposed to say something to that, but even as you try, you can’t summon the words. The by now familiar scent of his cologne tickles your nose and invades your throat, the warmth of his touch burning through your veins. Your own heart hammers like a drumbeat in your chest, every cell in your body screaming danger, but you don’t run, you don’t even flinch.

Getou smiles kindly, and perhaps if you hadn’t seen first hand the aftermath of his handiwork you might be tempted to believe it. His spare hand reaches into his jacket, but instead of the gun you’re expecting, he pulls out his phone, the screen flickering to life with a swipe of his finger. “So tell me, before I make a call you and I both know you don’t want me to make, why you’ve suddenly decided that their lives aren’t worth your compliance?”

Nanami. Your boss’s face flashes to your mind, the odd, fleeting glances he’d sent your way over the past few weeks when he’d thought you weren’t paying attention. Your stomach erupts with butterflies, your cheeks unwittingly warming, but you just shake your head, “If I give you those files, you’ll kill them. You’ll hurt them.”

“Maybe,” he hums, “maybe not. It’s no less than those monkeys deserve, don’t you think?” He spits the word like it’s venom, the twitch in his jaw the only chink in his otherwise effortless composure. “You’re protecting them, even now.”

You make no attempt to defend yourself, terrified of saying the wrong thing and setting him off, but Getou seems entirely unfazed, laughing coldly at your stricken expression.

“Your boss, the one with the perpetual stick up his ass; Nanami,” potent disdain drips from his tone at the name, “Always so morally righteous, sitting up on his high horse. You think he cares for you, that he’ll protect you when all of this comes out? And it will come out eventually,” he says, his smirk widening at the sudden pallor in your face. “At some point there’ll be one too many unfortunate coincidences, and the higher ups will realise that they have a mole in their ranks. Fingers will be pointed of course, but eventually even those idiots will figure it out.”

A knot tightens inside of your chest at his words, constricting until it feels like you can’t breathe. You’re shaking your head, eyes filling with tears, “N-no–”

“Oh, little one,” Getou murmurs, dark eyes drinking in every ounce of your distress. “Surely you realised that they have security cameras covering every inch of your floor? There was no reason to look before, but once they do…” he trails off, letting go of your chin in favour of brushing the back of his knuckles along your cheek. “They’ll throw you to the wolves.”

His voice is soft and cruel, belied by the gentleness of his touch, but it does nothing to quell the rising sense of dread inside of you. You want to believe it’s a lie, another threat meant to scare you into submission, but some deeper part of you recognises the truth in his words. 

Nanami, who’d told you once that there was innocence and there was guilt and very little in between. Nanami, whose office you’d bugged, whose trial only weeks ago you’d all but derailed with a few misplaced documents. You think back to the late nights shared in his office, bowls of ramen and case files scattered across the desk between you. You think of the rare smiles, his oddly dry sense of humour, the pleasant fluttering in your heart–

“You’ll rot in prison long before I do, and there is not a soul among that insipid bunch that would lift a finger to stop that from happening to you.” 

A soft, strangled noise leaves your lips as you fight not to sob, and Getou sighs, the corners of his lips twitching downwards in contrived sympathy. “Say the word and I’ll walk away tonight. I’ll still have to kill your sister – I am a man of my word, you understand – but I promise it’ll be the last you see of me.”

He slides his phone back into the breast pocket of his jacket, taking your face in both of his hands as tears spill down long lashes. “And when they come for you, you can tell them I threatened you, show them what little proof you have – if you have any at all. Maybe it’ll even make a difference,” he says. “But I doubt it.”

Every word is like a knife, slicing away at the raw, bleeding, vulnerable parts of you.

“Please…” It’s weak and desperate, your voice cracked and broken. You don’t even know what you’re begging for anymore; your sister’s life, for Getou’s mercy, or maybe just for him to stop saying such awful things. He must take pity on you though, because he sighs once more, his right thumb sweeping across your wet cheek to brush away silvery tear tracks. 

“I’m not a complete monster, you know. I protect what’s mine.”

And in one breath, everything screeches to a standstill and a trickle of very real fear creeps down your spine. There’s no mistaking his implication, not when he’s holding your face like that, his eyes dark and simmering with an intensity that makes your stomach flip.

“W-what?”

Getou closes the gap between you two, a startled noise leaving your lips as his hips press flush up against you. “Don’t play stupid, sweet thing,” he murmurs, and it sounds like a warning, “It doesn’t suit you.”

One hand slips to your neck, the other curling almost possessively around your waist. There’s no room for you to move, to back away or free yourself. For a moment, neither of you speak, the heavy silence deafening between you.

Does he notice the way your pulse races under his fingertips as they circle your throat, how you’re shaking like a leaf beneath him? Does he want you afraid? A scared little bunny rabbit cowering from the gaping maw of the big, bad wolf? 

Judging from the bulge of his semi-hard cock pressing into the soft flesh of your belly, he’s not entirely unaffected, and for the first time it’s not Getou’s gun or his threats that you’re most afraid of. 

It’s the selfish, twisted want that glitters and glints in those pitiless depths. You’ve never felt so entirely at somebody else’s mercy as you do with Getou now, staring you down like he wants to lay you bare, claim you again and again for all the world to see. And you don’t understand. There’s a thousand and one questions running through your mind, your insides twisted up into knots. 

You know what it is he’s asking of you – though asking feels like a generous word when he can so easily just take – but none of this makes sense, not when he was threatening your family’s lives only minutes ago. 

As if he can sense the turmoil and confusion raging through you, he leans down, his lips ghosting over the outer shell of your ear. “Tell me to stop, and I’ll walk away right now.”

I am a man of my word. 

His earlier statement rings through your head as you search his face for any sign of deception – you find none. But walking away means your sister dies. It means you’re left on your own to fend off the wolves when they find out what you’ve done.

Nanami might believe you. He might even defend you, but you’ve worked in the Prosecutor’s office long enough to know that duress isn’t the bulletproof defence people think it is, and for tangling with the likes of him…

You were screwed the moment he showed up in your living room, this- this is just the coup de grâce. The final damnation.

“Why me?” 

Getou doesn’t answer, but when he draws you into a kiss, his lips moving torturously slow against yours, there’s an edge of… something there, lying hidden just beneath the surface. And it terrifies you, more than his words and his promises ever could.

But when your back’s to the wall, what choice do you really have?

It feels like defeat when he takes you by the hand and leads you into your bedroom, ignoring the uncertain glance you cast over your shoulder towards the living room. You don’t want any of this, but you can pretend that it’s just… business if he fucks you out there.

Not in the bed you sleep in.

It’d be easier, you think, if it was cold and impersonal. If you cried and it stung and the only sounds in the room were flesh hitting flesh, ragged breathing and an occasional rough grunt.

There’s nothing impersonal about the way he watches you strip out of your clothes at his command. His own join yours on the floor without much ceremony – his gun pointedly set just within reach atop your nightstand.

The first time you’d laid eyes on Getou Suguru, it was two months into your new job; a photograph pinned to a thick, heavy file Nanami had dropped on your desk. A surveillance picture, you’d gathered, snapped as the man was exiting some neon lit club downtown. And you remembered the smug smirk he’d had, staring directly down the lens of the camera like it was a challenge, but that wasn’t what had struck you most.

It was the flutter of interest that’d shot through your veins the moment before common sense kicked in. Tall and fit, with long, dark hair swept up in the wind, a sharp jaw and a handsome face, you remember thinking he was probably the most attractive man you’d ever seen.

Now, standing naked before you, bright, colourful tattoos inked across his torso, accentuating the muscles that rise and fall with every measured breath, you can’t bear to look. It’s easier just to stare at the wooden floorboards, the corner of the shagged rug you’d bought at a thrift store when you first moved in. Easier to pretend Getou isn’t pulling you closer once more, pressing searing, open mouthed kisses along your neck, murmuring words that are lost to you entirely as his hands wander. You can feel it now, the heat of his body as he cages you in, his cock, thick and heavy and flushed nudging insistently up against your stomach.

You expect him to shove you to your knees, to force his cock down your throat in some archaic show of dominance before he claims your cunt, but he doesn’t. 

“I want you to touch yourself for me,” he whispers into your ear, teeth catching lightly on the sensitive lobe as you shiver. “Like you do when I’m not here, those pretty legs spread, fucking yourself on your fingers…”

The comment feels too familiar to be entirely offhanded, striking a chord of panic somewhere deep inside of you–

But it doesn’t make a difference. It doesn’t matter now.

You allow him to kiss you again before climbing onto the mattress. Like a good girl, you fall back onto the pillows, let your legs ease apart, wrapping your lips around two fingers and sucking for a brief moment before gliding your hand down between your thighs. 

His breath hitches, a soft curse sounding when saliva slicked digits spread your folds, the tip of your middle finger brushing lightly against your clit as you stroke your pussy. Your nipples harden and peak under the cool night air and you use your free hand to palm at your breast, pinching and teasing at the sensitive bud while one finger slips into the warmth of your cunt. 

The mattress dips, Getou climbing onto the bed, settling himself back on his knees, your spread legs either side of him.

“Beautiful,” he breathes. 

Your heart stutters, movements jerking as you brace for him to interfere, to touch you, but aside from nudging your thighs further apart to get a better view of your glistening cunt, he seems content simply to sit back and watch, his own hand lazily stroking at his cock.

Trying in vain to block him out, you squeeze your eyes shut and focus on the way your fingers feel between your legs, the pleasure–

 (Not the shame, don’t think about that, don’t think about Getou watching you debase yourself for his enjoyment)

–that pools in your core as you rub the shining pearl of your clit. It’s a familiar dance, a routine you’d normally help along with a glass of wine and a few faithful toys, but you don’t exactly have that luxury here.

And even with the rigid tension in your shoulders, the unwanted presence of a man you’re terrified of impossible to ignore, you can’t help the quiet moan that slips past your lips, the way your hips stutter, grinding against the heel of your palm as your fingers hit that sweet, delightful spot inside of you. 

Getou tenses at the sound, the last, fragile thread of his composure snapping–

He strikes fast. One moment you’re biting down on your bottom lip, your index and middle fingers knuckle deep in your dripping pussy, the next he’s braced atop you, one hand locked around your wrist, the other propping himself up. And as your eyes fly open with a startled cry, his lips crash against your once more – desperate and ravenous, his tongue forcing its way into your mouth to taste you.

And you don’t fight it when he pulls your hand from your pussy and drags it to his crotch, his fingers entwining with yours as he wraps them around his heavy, throbbing cock and moans. It’s humiliating, the way he thrusts into your hand, tightening his grip so you’re forced to feel every shivery twitch of his dick while he sucks eagerly on your tongue.

This is the choice you’d made, the deal you struck. It’s too late to back out now, and even if you tried to… 

“I want you,” he pants, his lips glistening with saliva, an almost manic look in those dark, pretty eyes, “to ride me.”

… you’re not so sure Getou would let you.

So you allow yourself to be manhandled, lifted and situated across his lap like a doll. Hands braced on his tattooed chest, you lift your hips just enough for him to guide his cock to your slick entrance before slowly sinking down onto his length.

Every inch hurts. 

It doesn’t make it any less painful, the way Getou soothes you, his thumbs stroking gently at your waist as you whine and mewl, feeling every ridge and vein of his cock as he stuffs you full.

“Fuck– good girl, taking me so well,” he purrs.

You’re not sure if it’s shame, pleasure, or some sense of twisted pride at the praise that has your pussy clenching, fire racing through your veins when Getou experimentally rocks his hips upwards. And if your cheeks weren’t already burning, the lewd moan that escapes you when the head of his cock hits your g-spot would certainly do the trick. 

Ever observant, he wastes no time capitalising on your slip, lifting you up just to drive you back down onto his length at the perfect angle. You shudder around him, keening out a cry that has him groaning in pleasure.

There’s no illusion of control here between you two.

You might be the one on top, but Getou’s grip’s too tight, guiding every roll of your hips against his, his own rising in time to fuck his cock deeper into your warm, velvety cunt. And somewhere distantly you recognise that this could be a thousand times worse. How easily he could change the narrative in a heartbeat, flip you over, force your face into the pillows and fuck you like a dog until you’re gasping for air. He could use you, hurt you, probably kill you without ever needing to touch the gun he’d left on your nightstand – and you wouldn’t have a hope in hell of stopping him.

But he doesn’t. Lying back against your pillows, dark hair falling from his half up-do, cheeks flushed from exertion, Getou’s attention is wholly fixed on you - on your face, eyes screwed shut, bottom lip caught between your teeth as he hits somewhere deep inside of you that has you seeing stars, on your tits, the way they bounce every time you sink back down onto his cock.

His eyes are hooded, dark and intense, searching for every hint of pleasure he’s drawn from you. You gasp his name, fingers digging into his chest, your cunt fluttering so deliciously around him – and he loses that last little bit of his self control. 

He jerks upright, one arm wrapping around your waist to anchor you to him as he braces himself with the other, and before you can so much as gasp his mouth is at your tits, hot tongue laving at soft, supple skin there.

“Suguru,” he growls, hips snapping feverishly against yours. 

“Suguru,” you parrot, head lolling back as heat coils tighter in your core. 

You’ll worry about the consequences later, when he pulls you boneless and sated into his arms and you feel his heart thumping at your back as he kisses you and tells you to sleep. When tomorrow you arrive at work and Nanami stares a beat too long as the love bites scattered across your throat, no doubt wondering why you won’t so much as look at him.

For now, you settle for pulling him closer, gasping as you chase that quaking, blissful end.

#yandere jujutsu kaisen #yandere getou suguru #yandere getou #yandere getou suguru x reader #yandere getou x reader #yandere jjk #tw: dubcon #tw: coercion #tw: threats #tw: implied murder #yandere #deal with the devil collab

[sleepymccoy]

I call this one Monsieur and Difficult Topics

It's really very quiet at work and I have that writing bug

2000-ish words

-

The waiter droned on, chin up and eyes down, the perfect example of French snootiness. Aziraphale could detect the slight Birmingham twang that betrayed the posh man's un-Frenchness.

The waiter, whose name tag simply read Monsieur, brandished the drinks menu like he'd magicked flowers from a pen. "And if you and your friend would like to see-"

Crowley looked up, the movement of it a sudden change from his up-to-now exasperation. "We're not friends," he grunted.

A thread of panic ran up Aziraphale's spine, but he clamped down on it with a practiced technique before it squeezed his heart.

"Pardon me," Monsieur said, affecting his voice to make his lack of care almost tangible. "Your associ-"

"What?" Aziraphale breathed, staring at Crowley closely. 

Crowley had been craning his neck slightly to try and read the wine list Monsieur was holding, but at Aziraphale's word he stopped and looked at him closely. He was smiling, unbothered, with his eyebrows raised in question. 

Aziraphale's heart thudded. Were they not friends? Crowley seemed so comfortable with it.

Monsieur sighed. "The drinks menu," he snapped and dropped the menu on the table without even the slightest flourish.

Aziraphale ignored his departure, instead watching Crowley for clues. Crowley picked up the drinks menu and settled back, scanning over the list.

"Crowley," Aziraphale entreated. 

Crowley's eyes snapped to him, eyebrows furrowing in. "What?"

Aziraphale ran his thumb over his pants leg, focusing on the texture in the hopes that the small distraction might calm him. "What do you mean we're not-"

Crowley made a noise, a disrespectful, vowel heavy sound. "Ach, nothing, just." He stopped and frowned, leaning his elbows on the table to catch Aziraphale's eyes over his glasses. He wielded those like a shield, tipping them open to make himself vulnerable or to deliver a stunning blow. Or, many times, both. "Well, you said, didn't you?"

It settled sickly in Aziraphale. "Oh, Lord, I did, didn't I?"

Crowley smiled and his glasses slid back up his nose with barely a shift from him. "All good." He sat back, waving a hand casually as he picked the drinks menu up again. "You go back and forth, we can be not-friends for a bit."

Aziraphale felt a certainty in him that there was no fixing this, no way he could undo his words without going too far the other way and putting them both at risk. He hated his confines sometimes, this inability to be kind how he wanted to.

He sat, slightly shocked at himself for thinking his hate so openly. Then he realised he likely had been quite open about his hate and it bore no real threat anymore. And who knows how blatant Crowley had been at his trial, Aziraphale had chosen a very holier-than-thou approach in Crowley's.

"I'm thinking Pepperjack," Crowley mused.

"Sounds ace," Aziraphale said absently, still lost in thought. 

As he saw the freedom in his emotions, he also found a freedom in his words that logically followed. There was no reason left to be quiet. He could offend Crowley, of course, but that was more a reason to be honest and careful than it was to remain secretive.

He could start, at least. Begin a conversation with truth that may not be fully explored yet, but at least wasn't unreachable. 

It was a very freeing decision, in the kind of way an untethered fall from a tall height was freeing.

"I want to be your friend, Crowley." 

"Oh," Crowley said. Aziraphale was feeling very fond at the moment, but even so Crowley came across as quite dumb. "Well, that's, ah, quicker than I-"

"Your closest friend," Aziraphale interrupted, realising that Crowley wasn't going to say anything useful and could derail his whole train of thought if he was allowed to continue. "I want to be someone you trust, someone you come to when you need or want anything."

Crowley was staring now, still quite dumbly but at least taking him seriously.

"I don't say this and expect you to- to obey or anything," Aziraphale continued. He found now that Crowley was focusing on him that he couldn't look, and so instead watched his hands as they nervously fiddled without his effort. "But more that, well, I've said an awful lot of conflicting things and I hope you hear the truth in this confession." 

Crowley drew in a sharp breath at that, but still Aziraphale didn't look up.

"And at least this may clear up any confusion," Aziraphale said all in a rush.

"Well," Crowley said after a few moments of silence. "That's new."

He'd gone too far, he'd meant to be gentler about it. Come around to more sincere truths later. "I can see many reasons for you not to trust me, though," Aziraphale said, not backtracking exactly, but giving Crowley an easy out. 

Aziraphale chuckled, forcing the less serious sound and sighing as it sounded false even to him. He looked up at Crowley, whose glasses were wedged so tightly on his face his skin was going slightly white where they pressed. 

 "I realise I may be looking ahead a little," Aziraphale mumbled.

"I trust you," Crowley whispered. The words felt lost or unwilling. "I know you too well to mistrust you."

There was a meaning in that that Aziraphale caught. He was trusted on his past behaviour, trusted to be as he always was. His moments of cruelty and disregard would not be a shock, they were simply par for the course, another thing he could be relied upon to be. He may also be kind and happy and easy to tempt, but he would also be horrible.

Aziraphale didn't want to be trusted like that, although he knew it was fair. Crowley had no reason to assume a change, and he wouldn't demand a trust he hadn't earned. But still. A first step couldn't hurt.

"Do you know I won't hurt you again?" Aziraphale said softly. 

"Oh," Crowley said, his tone betraying nothing.

But Aziraphale knew a rejection when he heard it. He'd been refused so few times by Crowley, the dynamic was so foreign to him as to be unmistakable. "That's okay," Aziraphale said quickly. He looked up and saw his suspicions confirmed. Crowley sat back in his chair, looking uncomfortably to the side, his hand flexed on the table in stress.

Crowley cleared his throat, still looking off at the window. He tilted his head and Aziraphale saw his eyes were wide. "I'm sorry I said we weren't friends-" Crowley said slowly.

Aziraphale stood.

Crowley skittered back reflexively, sitting straight in his chair. "Oh shit," he hissed.

"I'm sorry, Crowley," Aziraphale said forcibly. "We've been friends for thousands of years, and we will be for many more." 

"I said the wrong thing, huh?" Crowley asked weakly.

"No, dear," Aziraphale sighed. He rested on his hands leaning across the small table. Crowley met his gaze, his eyes visible behind his shades from this nearness. His pupils were closer to round than slitted. 

"I know- I know why I said it," Aziraphale continued with no real plan for what he was to say, "and I'd rather not give the moment any more time but be assured I was lying-"

The absurd waiter sidled into Aziraphale's vision, standing behind Crowley. He had a finger raised and was beginning to speak. Aziraphale felt an onslaught of offence at being so interrupted.

"We will need another moment, thank you," Aziraphale snapped. Monsieur withered, his finger curling in pitifully. He backed off.

"My dear," Aziraphale said. He stepped around the table, edging closer to Crowley, careful to not hem him in. There would be no trapping. Crowley's amused smile from watching the waiter scurry off faded as Aziraphale drew towards him.

"My friend," Aziraphale tried gently. Crowley didn't react, so it seemed friend was allowed, but not welcome. Aziraphale sighed and accepted. He ought to wrap this conversation up else it fall entirely out of his control. "I have been cruel to you because my honesty would have done us both too much harm, but now we're-" He opened his arms and smiled. "We're loose in the world, dear. Thanks to you."

Crowley crossed his legs, facing Aziraphale but somehow more closed off from him. "You did your fair share," he mumbled.

"I had it pretty easy."

Crowley's foot tapped in the air, his discomfort was palpable. "Sit down would you, you're spooking the staff," he admonished.

Aziraphale sat. Crowley's foot continued to jump around, shaking his whole body nervously. 

"You like spooky," Aziraphale said, trying all too hard to break the mood. 

Crowley flashed a smile at him, but it soon dropped. He returned to frowning at his empty plate and biting his lip. 

The lip biting was new. Not new in terms of their lives together, Crowley had certainly bitten his lip before, often before saying something slightly risky, but new in terms of this conversation. 

Things clearly weren't over yet, spooky jokes aside. Crowley was gearing up to speak.

So Aziraphale sat and waited.

"Ach, while it's all tense like this-" Crowley said suddenly, then stopped and swallowed.

"Yes?" Aziraphale asked 

"I've been-" His legs went still, his hand flexed once, then he frowned like he was furious, glaring down at his lap as Aziraphale had earlier. "I've manipulated you and ignored your refusals these years, you should know I won't anymore."

Aziraphale was rather saddened by that. Crowley had attempted to manipulate him, yes, but Aziraphale’s refusals had always been lies. It was a complicated past, very little truth but a good deal of kindness behind the lies.

"You can doubt me-" Crowley snapped. Then he winced and shook his head tightly. "You should. You should."

"Oh, it is messy, isn't it?" Aziraphale sighed. For he did doubt Crowley, but he didn't want to. 

"We've not been very good to each other," Crowley said through gritted teeth. 

"We've not had the opportunity. Would you like to try?"

"Try how?"

"Well," Aziraphale said carefully. It occurred to him that it was important to have choice here. He must offer Crowley an escape, all too often Crowley did as he was asked and Aziraphale didn't want to risk that. "If you want to leave, I'll understand. But if not, then-"

"Back up, angel," Crowley interrupted,"why the fuck would I leave?"

Aziraphale's lip quivered, but he cut that out pretty fast. He could still control hi external appearance forcibly, if not his internal emotions. He thought of his point as he spoke it, unprepared to speak like this but doing so because Crowley wanted it. 

"You've been aloof, and, yes, on occasion rude, Crowley. But I have been downright mean. I have taken your love and turned it against you so many times. I would understand if the thought of further effort exhausts you."

Crowley put his hands flat on the table, leaning forwards with bent elbows to glare up at Aziraphale from over his glasses. "I have done so much for you-"

"I know, and I'm grateful-"

"You think there's an end in sight for me? I'm here forever, angel, and I'm happy for it."

Aziraphale froze, the misery in him relaxing for just long enough for Crowley's words to make it through to him. And those words sounded a lot like a profession of love, a vow of some kind. A real thing. 

Aziraphale's chest tightened, his face burned, and he felt dizzy. He smiled, hope filling him, completely sure he was blushing but not willing to spend a miracle stopping it. He put his face in his hands, half-heartedly hiding his doubtlessly red cheeks, and avoided meeting Crowley's eyes. 

There was love between them. Beautiful and tentative. Unspoken but for Aziraphale's reference to it a minute ago.

"When I said love before I meant metaphorically," Aziraphale mumbled into his hands. 

"No you didn't," Crowley said.

Aziraphale's insides lurched like he might be sick, but inside of writhing they fluttered. Butterflies, he thought ridiculously, that old adage withstands a test. "No, I didn't," he admitted.

"Good," Crowley said sharply. Aziraphale looked up and found Crowley resting on folded arms, plate pushed aside to allow him to lean close. They were still a good few feet apart, but it felt near. "I think I understand the trust thing you were banging on about."

Aziraphale lowered his hands. "Oh yes?"

Crowley knocked his head to the side casually. Aziraphale recognised the movement, it was one of his more practiced casual ticks. And on further inspection his keen posture was tense, his mouth set in a tight, uncomfortable line. 

"Old trust out of date. New trust coming," Crowley said.

"That sounds right. Are you okay? You seem-"

"I can hear my fucking pulse," Crowley snarled. 

Ah. Perhaps a bit too much. Aziraphale didn't feel entirely solid himself, it was all a bit overwhelming. And difficult.

"I think- yes, time for lunch," Aziraphale agreed, turning and waving Monsieur over. 

#sleepy speaks #its a nice conversation #i like this #its a little bit exactly how aziraphale would expect it to ho really #but thats ok #sleepy writes #i really gotta get better about remembering that writes tag #good omens #good omens ficlet #ineffable husbands #crowley #aziraphale

[richincolor]

Book Review: Forest of Souls (Shamanborn #1)

Author: Lori M. Lee Publisher: Page Street Kids Pages: 385 Review copy: Purchased Availability: On shelves now in hardcover/paperback

Summary: Sirscha Ashwyn comes from nothing, but she’s intent on becoming something. After years of training to become the queen’s next royal spy, her plans are derailed when shamans attack and kill her best friend Saengo.

And then Sirscha, somehow, restores Saengo to life.

Unveiled as the first soulguide in living memory, Sirscha is summoned to the domain of the Spider King. For centuries, he has used his influence over the Dead Wood—an ancient forest possessed by souls—to enforce peace between the kingdoms. Now, with the trees growing wild and untamed, only a soulguide can restrain them. As war looms, Sirscha must master her newly awakened abilities before the trees shatter the brittle peace, or worse, claim Saengo, the friend she would die for.

My review: First off, though you aren’t supposed to judge a book by it’s cover, go ahead and do that in this case. It’s a work of art. You can see the shadows of tree branches lightly across Sirscha’s face and her glowing eyes are fabulous. The spiders and branches within the title font are also lovely touches. Sirscha looks intense and gives off vibes that she’s not anyone to mess with if you enjoy being alive. Aside from the beautiful illustration and design, the Hmong representation is significant. There haven’t been many books to give to Hmong teens that would allow them to see themselves on the page so I’m excited to have this one out in the world. For those unfamiliar with Hmong culture, she will likely be seen as Asian in general, but for other readers, she’ll be distinctly Hmong. Laura Benton [book design] and Charlie Bowater [illustration] did a phenomenal job capturing the essence of the story and presenting Sirscha in such a powerful way. Fortunately, the cover doesn’t deceive–the story is also impressive.

Forest of Souls features a young woman who has been trained physically and mentally to face many kinds of dangers. This is not her only strength though. The friendship between Sirscha and Saengo sustains her through many difficulties and hardships. The two have a love that doesn’t waver. So many fantasies lean hard into romantic love, but here, the love between two childhood friends glows brightly in the dark and oppressive times they’re facing. It’s the true heart of the story.

Beyond their love and Sirscha’s well disguised tendency toward compassion, there is plenty of hate and evil threatening to destroy the world as they know it. It’s definitely a story with action, adventure, and many trials. The forest is particularly terrifying and though spiders generally aren’t particularly horrifying for me, anyone with the name Spider King is a little off-putting. Without giving too much away, I’d say, just let your imagination run with that name for a bit and see if it takes you anyplace cheerful and sunny. Likely not.

There are other creatures and beings in the book that are intriguing and the author has a pretty extensive glossary at the beginning of the book to help with understanding the world that readers are visiting. It was less annoying than large information dumps within a narrative. It’s nice so readers who want to understand everything from the start have it available right away, but others could skip or skim it and just refer back to it as needed,

There are quite a few Hmong people in the community where I live, so the story had a few familiar aspects to it. Lee used some specific Hmong names, words, food, and of course had shaman’s as one of the major races in the world. It’s still very much a fantasy though with a significant amount of imaginative world building that is more in the style of western epic fantasy. The book never mentions the Hmong culture by name, but Hmong elements are most definitely in evidence for readers who are looking for them and will likely be a very welcome discovery.

Societal distinctions between races are a significant issue within the story. Throughout her journey as a hero, Sirscha is dealing with how she is seen by others and how she views herself. Many readers will be able to relate with her inner conflict. Lee’s dedication is, “For everyone who’s ever wondered if they were enough.”

My recommendation: Get it now–especially if you are looking for a friendship story within a fantasy narrative. The sequel, Broken Web, just came out recently, so readers can get that one  immediately also.

Extras: Video Interview with Author [Meet the Pros with Eva Lee]

#lori m lee #forest of souls #YA fantasy #ya literature

[bullshittierlists]

Spoilers for DR1, obviously. I decided to remake this list because my opinions on all of the characters have changed significantly since the last time. I’m honestly not even super happy about this one.

I see no god up here other than me:

Kiyotaka Ishimaru - Oh my lord, he’s perfect in every way (except for the thing, which I’ll get to). He’s funny, he doesn’t feel entirely insignificant, and he’s got a cool, sad backstory to dive into if you like him enough, but it isn’t required to do so throughout the main game. Everything about his genius/hard-working motif is brilliant. I think it’s incredible how he’s actually the opposing force to Komaeda rather than Junko, even though no one talks about it and the game doesn’t really use it that much. His whole backstory with his grandfather and father is so sad and I’m so proud of him for getting to be where he is today, even if it didn’t quite happen how he wanted it to. The one exception to this practically perfect prefect is, of course, the elephant in the room, Kiyondo Ishida. Here’s the thing: I think Kiyondo could’ve worked really well. However, as far as I know, Taka was swapped out last minute with Hiro and had to die in chapter 3. I honestly think this was the worst decision the franchise made after making Mikan... the way that she was. The only reason people hate Hiro is that he survived the first game. I’ll get to this more later, but I honestly really enjoyed his character for the first three chapters. After that, though, he got a little stale and even a bit annoying, especially the Kyoko being a ghost bit. I feel like Hiro really overstayed his welcome and his presence could’ve been more than made up for by the comedic duo of Hina and Taka. I understand that choosing the survivors of each game is difficult and a very meticulous process, but let’s just consider the interactions with other characters for now. To start with, Hiro hardly had any positive interactions with any of the other characters in the back half of the game outside of Hina calling him out for being an idiot. If we put Taka in his place, he could’ve had serious moments with Kyoko and Makoto, helping them to solve some of the mysteries. He also could’ve played off of Byakuya and Toko’s relationship in telling them that PDA is “not welcome in a school environment.” And the crowning jewel of missed opportunities, his interactions with Hina. They’ve both lost their best friends in the whole world and have no one to rely on. In canon, Hina had to do a character 180 just to keep up with Hiro’s idiocy and not break down about losing Sakura. However, if we had Taka, he could’ve helped her to get through it because he would’ve already gotten over Mondo with the help of Ishida. See? I brought it back around. If Taka had been able to resolve his issues with Ishida in chapter 3, he would’ve been able to help Hina to develop her character through the loss of Sakura in chapter 4. I think this would’ve been so much better for both of their characters and I weep for what could’ve been. But for some reason, Hiro just had to stick around.

Mondo Owada - I’m honestly surprised I talked about Taka for that long without mentioning Mondo. I don’t actually have a lot to say about Mondo that I won’t get to with Chihiro, but this is basically your warning to be ready for another rant and it also serves as a break from the last one. Mondo and Taka are perfect for each other, Mondo is the most sympathetic killer, bar none, and even though I’m not a huge fan of dogs, Chuck is so precious.

You’re the best:

Celestia Ludenberg - Pretty goth lady. That’s about it. She could’ve been better in chapter 3, but I honestly still really liked her plan and her breakdown was phenomenal. My favorite thing about her though is her execution. Her execution fits into the thin category of executions that include the element of specific despair, basically meaning that Monokuma made it specifically to make her sad apart from the fact that she was dying. She was ready and honestly excited to be burned at the stake because it would guarantee her an interesting death and therefore an interesting life. But then, she ends up just dying in another boring old car accident, many of which happen every day. It’s fun to watch her expression and demeanor change throughout her execution, it’s one of my favorites.

Chihiro Fujisaki - Oh boy, it’s the one I expect to get hate for. Buckle up, lovely people, it’s time to get personal. I personally headcanon Chihiro to be a cisgender male; however, I also believe that you can headcanon anyone to be anything you want. There is an exception and it’s when that headcanon specifically derails something the character was trying to present. In this case, it’s toxic masculinity and the importance of appearances in society. I’ll preface this whole section with a statement: I’m not trying to be transphobic. I could see Chihiro being a trans male, but cis or trans female just feels counterproductive to me. Let me explain. Chihiro’s entire existence is used to parallel Mondo’s. Chihiro has a strong will with a weak body, while Mondo has a strong body with a weak will. Mondo is seen, in canon, as a super manly character who is strong in both heart and body, but he doesn’t believe himself to be this way. The only strength he’s ever seen is through aggressive violence, and that’s how he shows his strength. This is proven in the fact that when he felt weak against Chihiro’s strong will, he killed him out of fear, which he had grown to believe was strength. However, since Chihiro had a weak body, people treated him as unmanly, even though he was strong-willed, so he believed that everything about him was weak and learned to be submissive to everyone else’s desires. This is proven in the fact that he dressed and acted the way he did specifically to please others, not himself. It’s shown in multiple free time events that he hates the way that he looks and that he hates dressing to appease other people. It’s not even necessary to turn to the FTEs to gain this information, it’s obvious from the fact that he goes to Mondo specifically to get stronger in what he thinks is both mind and body, as he’s been known to think that the two are connected. It can also be understood from his dialogue that he wasn’t trying to get physically stronger for himself, he was perfectly comfortable with his body, he wanted to get physically stronger so that other people would leave him alone. These are the effects that bullying had on him. Maybe I’m misunderstanding, but whenever I see Chihiro as female, trans or otherwise, it feels as though those people want Chihiro to subject to the bullying because it more closely fits their ideal. It just feels like evidence of toxic masculinity because since Chihiro is feminine, he must be female, even if he says otherwise. The difference to me between this and say, trans Gundham headcanons is that with Gundham, there’s nothing in his character that goes either way, so it’s fine to headcanon him however you want. But when Chihiro explicitly states that he wants to be seen as male, he’s ignored and pushed aside as “another missed opportunity for trans representation.” But he’s not a missed opportunity for representation, he’s just representing something else, toxic masculinity. It’s obvious that it goes over people’s heads because they don’t seem to understand this at all. I’m not trying to be rude, I just want people to understand that just because the representation isn’t specifically for the group you want, doesn’t mean that it isn’t good representation. I can talk about this more if anyone wants me to, but it’s almost 1 AM and I’m not sure how much longer and I can form cohesive sentences and I’m not sure this is the best argument to test that on.

Genocide Jack - Idk, she’s funny. I’ve already gotten past most of the characters I have strong opinions on. Whereas in the second game, I have strong feelings about my favorites *and* my least favorites, I really only have favorites in this game and everyone else is pretty neutral.

Byakuya Togami - He was actually originally my second favorite character, but I realized a good way into the series that I didn’t actually like him that much. He’s not as smart as he claims to be and he isn’t as well written as Komaeda or Kokichi. However, he does have one truly fantastic moment in the first game and that is during chapter 4. When it’s revealed that Sakura killed herself, he shuts down. It’s impossible for something to have happened that he didn’t predict and he truly believes that. It’s incredible to see his complete shift in character (at least for this trial) and I absolutely adore that moment. Everything else with him is still kinda meh.

Hey, I think you’re really cool, I like you a lot:

Sakura Ogami - There’s literally nothing about her that I can say that hasn’t been said already. She’s perfect and I love her for it.

Aoi Asahina - Like I said during my Taka rant, I think she would’ve been much better if she didn’t have to accommodate Hiro. The first game had a much darker tone than the second and Toko/Genocide Jack already had the comedic relief role covered. She and Taka could’ve still had their fair share of funny moments together, but I feel like she could’ve gone through Akane’s arc during the second game, but better because she would’ve been able to build off of Taka, who already went through the same thing. Either way, she’s cute and I adore her and Sakura’s friendship.

Sayaka Maizono - So I actually made this list back in January (it’s currently the middle of April) and just never got around to making it and since then, I’ve fallen in love with Sayaka. It may or may not have to do with me being cast as her in a secret project that I’ll announce later, but she has my heart regardless. Now, I’d probably put her behind Chihiro and ahead of Genocide Jack. She’s just such an interesting character and while it’s a shame that she died so early, I still think she wouldn’t have been as good if she didn’t die so soon. For the record, I think both Sayaka and Leon were morally in the wrong. However, Sayaka was doing it for her friends, while Leon could’ve stopped at any time and really only went back for himself. Sayaka is not a snake. Thank you, goodnight.

Mukuro Ikusaba - She’s definitely my neutral point. I have one of these in every DR game, even if I don’t realize it. I just don’t really have any opinions on her and it’s not even because she wasn’t in the game for very long. I just don’t know how to feel about her. I just finished Danganronpa: Zero and that boosted Junko way up in my book, but it didn’t really change my opinion on Mukuro at all.

Kyoko Kirigiri - I get the hype, I really do, but I just can’t get into her. For starters, I don’t like Naegi all that much, so of course I’m not going to like the people that hang around him all the time. The most I’ve ever liked her is while watching videos of her along with “Not So Bad A Dad” from Phineas and Ferb. Other than that, she’s extremely neutral for me.

Toko Fukawa - I’m including her appearance in Ultra Despair Girls, but it didn’t really help her much. I liked her in the first game, but it was only because I was going through a weird phase of obsessing over people and now I just think it’s weird because it is. I went into Ultra Despair Girls knowing that she got character development and then completely forgot to pay attention to it because I was so enraptured by the Warriors of Hope. So, I don’t know, she’s just kinda creepy and I didn’t really notice her (or Komaru, for that matter) in UDG.

I remember you:

Junko Enoshima - Like I mentioned during Mukuro’s segment, I just finished Danganronpa: Zero and it was a wild ride. I made this list before I had even started the book and I was mostly just confused by Junko. I didn’t understand her motivations or any of her plans, much less how she was able to achieve anything she was. But once I finished DR0, it all made sense. I won’t spoil it here, but she was incredible in that book and I wish I had caught on to everything earlier.

Makoto Naegi - I feel bad, but I have to compare him to the other protagonists. He’s just so boring, and I know that that’s the point of a protagonist, but Hajime proves that it doesn’t have to be that way. Makoto’s just kinda there all of the time. For example, in DR0, he shows up for one scene, but he literally doesn’t even do anything. He stands there, talks to Ryoko, is scared during a fight scene, and is never seen again. It’s really frustrating to know that he’s only there because he was the protagonist of the first game and it’s like “Wow, you know this character!”

Yasuhiro Hagakure - My only opinion on him is that he should’ve died in chapter 3. My only explanation for why he was so high on the original list is because I watched this one hysterical panel for DR1 and Hiro was by far the best character there. In the game itself, I liked him until he overstayed his welcome and cost Taka his shot to be memorable.

Leon Kuwata - I honestly can’t explain why I dislike him so much, I just really, genuinely do. He’s just kind of annoying, but that’s about it. Like I said before, I don’t really hate many of the characters from this game, they’re mostly all loved or neutral and he’s just the most negative neutral.

You are literally the worst. Actual scum. Leave this planet and never return:

Monokuma - You know the drill by now if you’ve seen my other DR tier lists, it’s kind of an obligation at this point.

Hifumi Yamada - Why. Why is he like this? Why is he this way? Honestly, he’s not nearly as bad as Teruteru or Kazuichi in the perv department, but I just hate him so much. I don’t understand why he is the way that he is, but I do understand that I’m happy he died in chapter 3. Honestly, I could’ve done with him dying earlier, but it is what it is.

It’s 1:15 AM and I am done writing. I’ve been putting this off for months and I figured it was finally time to get it over with and it definitely didn’t have anything to do with the fact that I can’t sleep. I hope you enjoy all of this and if you would like me to elaborate on anything, just drop me an ask and let me know. I’m always happy to explain any of my opinions and want to make sure I’m as clear as possible. Please do not spread hate about me until you’ve made sure you understand my point. Then go to town.

#danganronpa #trigger happy havoc #dr1 #drthh #tier lists #bullshit tier lists #danganronpa zero #Super Danganronpa 2 #sdr2 #dr0 #ryoko otonashi #kiyotaka ishimaru #mondo owada #celestia ludenberg #chihiro fujisaki #genocide jack #danganronpa 1 spoilers #dr1 spoilers #byakuya togami #sakura ogami #aoi asahina #sayaka maizono #mukuro ikusaba #kyoko kirigiri #toko fukawa #junko enoshima #makoto naegi #yasuhiro hagakure #leon kuwata #monokuma

[things2mustdo]

When I ask myself what films in recent years have been my favorites, I find that the answers all seem to have a few things in common.  One, the movie must tell a compelling story; two, it must rise above its genre to make a larger statement about life or some universal idea; and three, it must be technically well made.  All great art—including film—can serve as a vehicle for the presentation of ideas, and the promotion of a certain virtue.  Although the mainstream American film industry has become more and more a sad repository of feminist cant and lowest-common-denominator commercial pandering, the foreign film world has undergone something of a renaissance in the past fifteen years.

The best films of France, Germany, Spain, and the UK are edgier, more intelligent, and more masculine than anything found in the US.  It was not always so.  But the work of great European directors like Jacques Audiard, Gaspar Noe, Nicolas Winding Refn, and Shane Meadows leaves little room for doubt that the true cutting-edge work is being done in Europe.  (Argentina deserves honorable mention here as having an excellent film industry).  The mainstream, corporate-driven US film industry has effectively smothered independent voices under an avalanche of political correctness, girl-power horseshit, chick-flickism, and mind-numbing CGI escapist dreck.

Movies that deal with masculine themes in a compelling way are not easy to come by these days.  Honest explorations of masculine virtues are repressed, marginalized, or trivialized.  One needs to scour the globe to cherry-pick the best here and there, and in some cases you have to go back decades in time.  Luckily, the availability of Netflix and other subscription services has made this task much easier than it used to be.  Access to the best cinema of Europe, South America, and Asia can be a great way for us to catch as glimpse at a foreign culture, as well as reflect on serious ideas.

I want to offer my recommendations on some films that I believe are an important part of the modern masculine experience, in all its wide variety and expression.  Out of the scores of possible choices, I decided to pick the handful of films that are perhaps not as well known to readers.  My opinions will not be shared by all.  I encourage readers to draw up their own lists of films dealing with masculine themes, and hope they will reflect on the reasons behind their choices.  Below are mine, in no particular order.  In italics is a brief plot synopsis, followed by my own comments.

1. Straw Dogs (1971).

A mild-mannered American academic (Dustin Hoffman) living in rural Cornwall with his beautiful wife becomes the target of harassment by the local toughs.  Things escalate to a sexual assault on his wife, and eventually to a brutal and protracted fight to the death when a local man takes refuge on their property.

Dustin Hoffman reaches his breaking point in “Straw Dogs”

This is a classic example of the type of movie that could never be made today.  Arguably Sam Peckinpah’s most daring film, it contains a controversial rape scene that seems to leave open the question whether Hoffman’s wife (played by Susan George) was a victim or a willing participant.  Faced with his wife’s betrayal, and continuing harassment from local miscreants, Hoffman’s character finds himself completely isolated and must learn to stand his ground and fight.

A chance incident later in the film sets the stage for a blood-soaked confrontation which is as inevitable as it is necessary. Peckinpah presents a compelling case for the cathartic power of violence, and the achievement of masculine identity through man-on-man combat.  It is a theme I find myself strongly drawn to. Controversial, powerful, and unforgettable, Peckinpah proves himself an unapologetic and strident advocate of old-school martial virtue.  We would do well to listen.  His voice is sorely missed today.  (Note:  avoid the pathetic recent remake of this movie).  Honorable mention:  Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch (1969) and Bring Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974).

2. Sorcerer (1977).

A group of international renegades find themselves down and out in Nicaragua, and volunteer for a job transporting unstable dynamite across the country to quell an oil rig fire.

Due to inept marketing when this movie was first released, it never achieved the credit it so fully deserved.  A motley group of international riff-raff (including the always appealing Roy Scheider) seeks redemption through a harrowing trial.  But will they get it?  Is it even desirable to escape one’s dark past?  The answers are complex, and director William Friedkin refuses to supply easy ones.  The characters in this film are doomed, and they know it, but they still hold true to their own code.  Which is itself honorable.  Consequences must be paid for everything we do in life, and often the price comes in a way never expect.  Dark, brooding, and humming with a pulse-pounding electronic score by Tangerine Dream, this film has deservedly become a cult classic.  The ending is a shocker you’ll never see coming.

Roy Scheider undertakes the most perilous journey of his life in William Friedkin’s 1977 masterpiece “Sorcerer”

3.  The Lives of Others (2006).

A coldly efficient Stasi (East German security service) officer (Ulrich Muhe) is enlisted by a Communist party hack in a surveillance program against a supposed subversive writer and his girlfriend.  But monitoring the writer’s life awakens sparks of nascent humanity in the Stasi man, and he eventually must decide whether to follow orders and destroy the writer, or to sacrifice himself to save him.

This German masterpiece was made with great fidelity to the look and feel of 1980s East Germany, and the results are evident in every frame.  It belongs on any list of the greatest films ever made.  The masculine virtue here is of a different type than viewers may be used to:  it is a quiet, understated heroism, the type of heroism that probably happens every day but is hardly noticed.  There is no bragging here, no chest-beating, no big-mouthed bravado.  (In short, none of the wooden-headed caricatures that pass for masculinity in the US).  The ethic here is about love and self-sacrifice, the noblest and greatest virtues of all.

The ethos of self-sacrifice is now considered old-fashioned and almost a punch-line, but historically it was valued very highly.  It features in nearly all the old literary epics and dramas of Europe and Asia.  Actor Ulrich Muhe pulls off a minor miracle of characterization here with his portrayal of a Stasi man named Weisler, whose special wiretapping assignment against a playwright transforms him from heartless automaton into awe-inspiring hero.  The movie made me wonder just how many quiet, unassuming men there must be out there, whose toil, heroism, and sacrifice has never been, and never will be, acknowledged.  The ending is transcendently beautiful, and moving beyond words.

4.  Homicide  (1991).

A police detective (Joe Mantegna) is assigned to investigate a murder case.  The case awakens in him stirrings of his long-suppressed ethnic identity.  Unfortunately, he will eventually be forced to choose between conflicting loyalties.  And the consequences will be devastating.

No modern American director has probed the meaning of masculine identity more than David Mamet, and all of his films are meditations on themes related to illusion, reality, masculinity, and struggle.  Homicide, a nearly unknown gem from the early 1990s, is perhaps his profoundest.  Mamet knows that a man must make choices in his life, and for those choices, consequences must be paid.  And very often, we find ourselves derailed by the mental edifices we construct for ourselves.  The Mantegna character is led through a complex and increasingly ambiguous chain of events, only to find that at the heart of one mystery lies an even more inscrutable one.  Beware the things you seek.  You may not like what you find.

Joe Mantegna deals with the fatal consequences of his decisions in David Mamet’s “Homicide”

5.  A Prophet (2009).

An Algerian Arab is incarcerated in a French jail, and is drawn into the savage world of Corsican gangsters.  Forced to kill or be killed, he is drawn into a pitiless world that recognizes only cunning and brutality.  He finds himself straddling two realities:  the world of his own nationality, and that of the Corsicans.  And to survive and emerge triumphant, he must learn to play all sides against each other.

This film must be counted among the greatest crime dramas ever made.  You simply can’t take your eyes off the screen.  The lesson here is that a man must learn to survive on his wits, and do whatever is necessary to stay alive.  The Corsican boss whom Al Djebena (Tahar Rahim) works for is just about the most malevolent presence in recent screen memory.  Part of France’s continuing internal dialogue about its immigrant population, A Prophet is not to be missed.

Tahar Rahim learns a thing or two about Corsica in “A Prophet”

6.  The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005).

An intense young man (Romain Duris) works for his father as a real estate shark in urban Paris.  His “job” consists of intimidating deadbeat immigrant tenants, vandalizing apartments, and forcibly collecting loans.  He also plays the piano.  Eventually, he is forced to decide which life he wants:  the path laid out by his shady father, or the idealistic path of his own choosing.  He’s seeking redemption, but will he find it?  And at what cost?

Again, we have here the themes of redemption and moral choice.  Romain Duris has a screen presence and intensity that rivals anything done by Pacino in his prime, and some of the scenes here are fantastic.  (His seduction of his friend’s wife, Aure Atika, is one of many great scenes).  All men will be confronted and tested by crises and situations beyond their control.  How they respond to those situations will define who they are as men.  Duris’s character proves that redemption can be achieved, if wanted badly enough.

Romain Duris embodying screen intensity

7.  Red Belt (2008).

Martial arts instructor Mike Terry is forced, against his principles, to consider entering a prize bout.  He is abandoned and betrayed by his wife and friends, and must confront his challenges alone with only his code and his pride.

Another great meditation on masculine virtue and individualism by David Mamet.  In his own unique dialogue style, Mamet showcases his belief that, in the end, all men stand alone.  At the moment of truth, it is you, and only you, who will be staring into the abyss.  Our trials by fire will not come in the time and at the place of our own choosing.  But when they do come, a man must be prepared to hold his ground and fight his corner.  Watch for Brazilian actress Alice Braga in a supporting role here.  We hope to see more of her on American screens in the future.

8.  Fear X  (2003).

A repressed security guard (John Turturro) is searching for answers to who killed his wife.  His strange behavior and ticking time-bomb manner begin to alarm friends and co-workers.  One day he finds some information that may be a lead to solving the mystery.  This discovery sets him on the path to realization. Or does it?

I am a big fan of the films of Nicolas Winding Refn (The Pusher trilogy, and Valhalla Rising), and this one is perhaps his most penetrating examination of a wounded psyche.  It failed commercially when it first appeared, as many viewers were put off by his artistic flourishes and opaque ending.  For me, this film is the deepest study of grief and repressed rage ever committed to film.  All men will be confronted by tragedy, grief, and inexplicable loss during their lives.  How we handle it will define who we are.  The greatness of this film is that it explores Turturro’s claustrophobic, neurotic world in a deeply personal way, and at the same time suggests that he may actually be on to something.  This film covers the same philosophical ground as Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation, in that it hints at the ultimate ambiguity of all things.

John Turturro confronts the unrelenting darkness of his own psyche in “Fear X”

If you are a Netflix subscriber and watch movies frequently, as I do, you may find it useful to keep a notebook near your television and jot down the titles of movies you see, and a few notes about what you liked or didn’t like.  You’d be surprised how much you can learn from movies.  There are just so many good and bad ones out there that having some system for keeping track of them will be time well spent.

#movies #films

[infinitycircuit]

marriage story (2019) | hellraiser | re: results

Wait.

No. 

Uncross her right this instant.

This didn’t have to happen. That’s always been Tomie’s argument toward people who derail trials, who hit betray every time, who pick fights. This was all avoidable. You did it, but you didn’t have to. You never had to.

So how could this have been prevented from happening? It wouldn’t have happened if—

If a group of Kurozu-cho drunks had not broken into the Katsukawa home in 1873 and the story of Tosa Katsukawa biting off three of a man’s fingers in self-defense had not become family folklore, a story about getting hit by the outside world and hitting back so hard no one ever thinks about touching you again.

If Tomie were not fundamentally an egotist, neither good nor evil but viciously defensive of the self she’d worked so hard to create after being hurt for so long.

If Hideaki Sato, her dad, had loved cheesy American musicals instead of horror movies and gifted her a set of candy-colored plastic horses for her twelfth birthday instead of a Rubik’s cube painted to look like the Lament Configuration. She could have grown up a perfectly respectable horse girl. 

If Alice had worn black lipstick or bleached their hair in high school, if Tomie’s thoughts of kissing them on the mouth had ever been more serious than a wouldn’t-it-be-funny-if during a late study session and they’d fallen for each other in that way, in a way that would seal them even tighter than best friends and leave no room for anything to get in between.

If those emails had been returned. If she’d taken an extra few days in America to see Alice when Cradle screened at Sundance.

If Emma de Lacey had perhaps been kicked in the head by a horse at a formative age.

If Jinki and Ume had not solved puzzles and chatted with Tomie during their first week here, when it seemed like this might all be a joke, kindling a sense in her heart that they were a team, sort of. They were her friends, sort of. They had so much in common with her, right?

If Jinki had not sidled up to her casually at the bar the following week and asked her which secret she’d gotten, then revealed that he’d gotten hers and he intended to hurt her with it. She upended a bottle of whiskey over his head. You fucking bitch, he’d sputtered at her. You dim-witted, cowardly rat, she’d returned. 

If Ume Karasu had said anything but I will be sure to congratulate him on failing when Tomie told her she didn’t want to solve puzzles with the pair of them anymore because of what Jinki had done.

If Alice had reacted even a little to the news, if they had gotten angry at Jinki instead of clinging to Ume’s side and chasing Jinki into the hall when he huffed out of the talent show. 

If Tomie hadn’t, in that moment, begun to register that a web was being spun between three people she’d once considered her friends and her wounded pride was entirely irrelevant to all three of them.

If she had not begun to believe the only thing she could do to keep even one hand on Alice was placate, placate, placate, since Alice did not appear to care in a way she recognized. 

If Ume hadn’t tampered with the crime scene and then explained to Tomie it amused her to do so, tried to make Tomie guess the answers to her own questions instead of providing them, permanently convinced Tomie that — exactly the opposite of the uncomplicated, honest person Alice and Keiji knew — there were no constants in her behavior except choosing to be a problem.

If Tomie had been able to say You hurt me, you are hurting me, I am in pain, instead of saying You made me angry or trying to pave it over with shrimp tacos and stupid movies, hoping she could invite other people into the halls of her heart through the door that was fucking House of 1,000 Corpses.

If her attempt to get things straightened with Ume did not end with Ume saying what the wrong people had always said, which is that she loved Tomie, that she did this all out of love, that Tomie was wrong for not seeing it.

If Tomie did not love Keiji Tsutsumi so fiercely and promise him over a meal in a facsimile of her fathers’ kitchen she would take care of Kazuya Sato until Kazu could take care of himself again. 

If Kazuya Sato had not been the victim that Alice — indirectly, through Larcei Magnolia — relieved of his life as though it were a favor.

If Tomie had not gently brushed up against Alice’s mind midway through her own interrogation of Jinki and Kakeru, asked You want me to take a look so I can vouch for you?, sent her an image of Ara and Katashi and Mugen stanced up around them like 

to protect Alice’s privacy.

If Alice had not refused and then gone silent and then answered: No one is allowed to look or come closer other than you. I will turn around, and use my coat to hide us. When you look, your expression will betray nothing. Clear my name. Please. People will trust you.

Alice.

If Tomie had not realized in that moment that Alice killed Cloudspotter, and someone else killed Kazu with at least Alice’s express knowledge and help. 

Tomie. I am putting my life in your hands. If we can get through this, then I'll explain.

If Jinki had not been rude and fidgety and in denial, if he had not called her a bitch again, giving her another sign that every effort to bond with these people was like swallowing glass.

If there were anything Tomie wanted, anything that did not absolutely repulse her, on the side of Jinki Noguchi and Ume Karasu.

So I burn everybody else. For you. I burn Kei and Akaji and Lindsay and Mugen so you can do what, exactly?

If Tomie had not come to believe, the thought screaming through her mind, that this was it, that Alice had walked into this room ready to kill her for the sake of Jinki fucking Noguchi. Ready to apologize afterward, maybe. Ready to kiss it better with lips that could not get enough of the people who treated Tomie like the vacuum of space treats a beating heart, maybe. But ready to kill her until she asked the right question.

If Alice had not been wrong: Love is not Tomie’s only desire. It’s one of two. The other is to hunt down and kill everything that has ever hurt her. 

And she has never, ever believed there is such a thing as enough suffering for someone who has hurt her heart or loved her wrong or —

until now.

The waves of hate she has been funneling toward Alice crest and break. And all she is left with is love, love, love, a crater where love smashed into love like an extinction event. 

“If you’d just told me the whole truth,” she manages, choked and quiet, to Alice, after the votes and the memories come in. "Or if you'd told me ahead of time, I could've helped you pick."

No one else gets to hear it. The doctor would probably be unable to hear the words, only the consonants clicking in the back of Tomie’s throat, if they were not threaded with emotion that reaches whatever of them is left to reach. 

The doctor is dead.

But Tomie can speak to the dead now. They all can.

“We could’ve rolled on it. If you'd told us everything right away, I would’ve fought for you, I would’ve argued it was worth taking a chance on —“ 

Is this true? Tomie doesn’t know. Would one thing have changed it?

There are so many other ifs piled up on both of their backs.

And the pain down her spine, splintering her bones as she attempts to carry them all, is love, love, love.

#ch 4 #trial #hellraiser #submission

[nothingnothingaaa]

‘We all have Hoop Dreams’: Bittersweet tale of first 'reality TV show'

By Motez Bishara, May 4 2019 (CNN)

When Dwyane Wade was a 12-year-old shooting jumpers on the playgrounds of Chicago, a movie came out that would help navigate him through his future Hall of Fame career.

Released in 1994, "Hoop Dreams" shadowed the bumpy fortunes of Arthur Agee and William Gates, two inner-city Chicago youths dreaming of NBA stardom.

Wade's path to the Final Four with Marquette and championships with the Miami Heat would be lined with the same challenges faced by Agee and Gates, including the pressures of injury and young parenting, and the avoidance of drugs and gun violence.

Twenty-five years since its premier, "Hoop Dreams" still impacts Wade. "I watched it many times, and it resonated with me because we all have hoop dreams," the recently retired three-time NBA champion tells CNN.

"Growing up in Chicago you struggle," he adds, "I look at "Hoop Dreams" and I can see myself in those individuals at the time."

Film critics like the late Roger Ebert lauded the three-hour documentary for exposing a side of America rarely depicted at the time: A class system stacked against the poor, coinciding with rising corruption in youth basketball.

Filmmakers Steve James (left), Peter Gilbert (centre) and Fred Marx worked on a very thin budget until three years into "Hoop Dreams," when they were able to secure enough funding for the project.

So what has changed since then?

College basketball is coming off a thrilling season, but faces intense scrutiny as a second corruption trial involving shady figures and illicit payments around the sport unravels in court. Meanwhile, Agee and Gates remain close -- bonded not just by their fame from "Hoop Dreams," but two devastating murders in their families.

"You can't script this stuff," says Gates, 47, a youth basketball coach in San Antonio, Texas, to CNN. "Our stories continue to (overlap) like that, because he lost Bo and we lost Curtis."

Gates' brother Curtis, a former high school star who flamed out, and Agee's father Bo were both featured on screen. Curtis was shot in 2001, reportedly in a dispute over a woman, while Bo - whose redemption from crack addiction and jail time was a seminal part of the film - was killed in a robbery three years later.

"It was very heartbreaking," adds Agee, who still lives in the West Side of Chicago, not far from where he grew up. "It's so eerie that me and William always say "Hoop Dreams" was a gift and a curse, and we both lost people that played a big part of our lives.

"And then for both of us not to make the NBA, you know, that eeriness, that gift and a curse is there."

Though neither athlete played in the NBA, both received college scholarships -- no small feat coming from the dire housing projects they grew up in.

Agee, 46, who attended Arkansas State, went on to play professionally in the now-defunct USBL and had a stint with the Harlem Globetrotters. He then turned to acting, with small parts in a film and commercials.

Agee remains tied to "Hoop Dreams," which provides his motivational speaking platform in schools, and still inspires viewers to send warm messages from places as far off as Australia and China. He also sells apparel inspired by the film, including a throwback jersey from his school days.

Gates was the more heralded of the two, receiving interest from top college basketball programs and a grant to attend the prestigious St. Joseph's high school -- the same school that is shown releasing Agee, seemingly for not playing well enough as a freshman.

But Gates blew out his knee at 16, then rushed back to the court after surgery and re-injured it. Though he played at Marquette University, the injury crippled his pro potential.

"For me, it's bittersweet on many levels," says Gates about the film which he has not watched in over 16 years. "It was a constant reminder of what could have been and what didn't happen, and also a reminder that Curtis is no longer here to hear his voice."

Nevertheless, he looks back on "Hoop Dreams" as a "life turning situation," one that led to an allegiance with Michael Jordan, who invited him to pickup games before his comeback with the Washington Wizards. (An injury derailed Gates' own tryout with the Wizards, however.)

"It has opened doors," he says. "It has done things that I never thought would happen in my life."

Dwyane Wade is pictured dunking the ball.

THE FIRST REALITY SHOW

What began as a short film idea from director Steve James and producer Frederick Marx to shoot Chicago playground basketball in 1987 with a budget of $2,000 quickly took on greater ambitions.

The pair hired Peter Gilbert as a cinematographer (later added as a producer), and the trio followed Gates and Agee on and off for nearly five years. With 250 hours of footage to edit, the production took seven years in total, eventually raising the $750,000 necessary for completion.

When it was finally released in 1994, "Hoop Dreams" went viral, though the term had not yet been coined. It was nominated for best film editing at the Oscars, but snubbed for best documentary and picture, which had critics like Ebert up in arms.

"I've actually gotten way more mileage personally as a filmmaker out of not being nominated than I ever would have by getting nominated," says James, who stays in contact with Agee and Gates. "Over the years a lot more people seem to be upset on our behalf than I was personally."

By the time it ended its theatrical run, "Hoop Dreams" became the then-highest grossing documentary of all time, paving the way for hundreds of sports documentaries and streaming series currently on air.

"I call it the first reality show," says Gates. "I think it was groundbreaking."

Gates' enrollment in Marquette was mirrored exactly 10 years later by Wade, who also struggled to qualify academically for an NCAA scholarship and sat out his first year for academic reasons, the university confirmed.

Wade shared other similarities with both Agee and Gates, including feeling the pressure to rush back to action after knee injury which required surgery at Marquette. Though the operation was successful, Wade later said it led to complications as a pro.

"I watched it when I was at Marquette from a different (angle), knowing that (Gates) was staying in the same dorm that I was standing in," says Wade, who -- also like Gates -- was caring for a child (son Zaire) while in college.

Wade was separated from his mother Jolinda at a young age when she succumbed to drugs, leading to spells in jail. Like Agee's father Bo, she turned to religion after getting clean, now serving as a church minister.

"Obviously, I was able to make it," but there are challenges, he adds. "What I learned at the time is you learn a lot about other people sharing their story."

William Gates was a 17-year-old high school junior when his daughter Alicia was born.

CONTROLLED CORRUPTION

Rewatching "Hoop Dreams" 25 years later lends perspective to how fast top college recruits are forced to grow up, and how much is at stake early on.

Gates' daughter was born when he was 17, during his junior year of high school. Trying to be a father and student while rehabilitating from two knee surgeries to make it as the next Isiah Thomas -- the former St Joe's and NBA star who makes a cameo in the movie -- became too much to bear.

By the movie's final scene, with his passion for the game already waning, Gates remarks, "When somebody says, 'When you get to the NBA, don't forget about me,' I should say to them, 'Well if I don't make it, you don't forget about me."

It's no wonder he needed a break from the sport by his third year at Marquette.

"I didn't feel like a 19 or 20 year-old-kid, I felt like a kid who had been working 10 to 12 years at a job," Gates says, estimating that basketball practice and travel would take up to 60 hours a week in college. "I had a lot on my plate."

Agee had his own growing up to do, with his academics thrown into disarray after his brief spell at St Joe's, followed by Bo walking out and his mother Sheila losing her job.

In one scene, Sheila cannot pay her electricity bill and the family is left without power, while a clearly humiliated Agee broods at the camera.

(The filmmakers pitched in to get the power back on, leaving that detail out of the film. "We didn't want to look self-serving, but we felt an obligation to do that much for them," says James.)

Agee transferred to Marshall High, leading the team on an improbable city championship and state semifinal run.

In recent years the public high school has been rocked by gun violence, leaving seven former basketball players dead and two paralysed, including Agee's ex-teammate Shawn Harrington.

"I didn't let St. Joe's defeat me; I didn't let my neighbourhood and my environment pull me in to gain drugs, carrying the guns -- that whole lifestyle," Agee reflects.

It helped that the teenagers had the right people on their sides. Gates and Agee admit they were given cash during their basketball ascent by the likes of so-called street agents, drug dealers and university affiliates who often helped promising players.

In "Hoop Dreams" Agee pays for Air Jordan gear at a store with money received from drug pushers. While at Arkansas State, he says a "big street pharmacist" whose team he played for in a high school summer league bought him a car.

"That was part of the deal," says Gates of being offered gifts from universities as a highly touted recruit, before committing to Marquette. "It was like, 'Hey, you need anything let us know.' And you let them know and they took care of stuff.

"Hey I need transportation, hey I need clothes, I need shoes. They figured out how to get it to you," he says. "They did it through a friend of the program that you didn't even know was a friend of the program. That's the way it was."

In response, Marquette said it "is committed to the highest ethical standards for the recruitment and retention of our student-athletes," while Arkansas State said it had no knowledge of Agee's car purchase and that "there are too many unknown variables to comment further about a relationship from approximately 25 years ago."

Arthur Agee was recruited to play at St Joseph Arthur Agee was recruited to play at St Joseph's prep school as an eighth grader. A year later he was asked to leave, and his parents were billed for tuition they struggled to pay for.

Arthur Agee was recruited to play at St Joseph's prep school as an eighth grader. A year later he was asked to leave, and his parents were billed for tuition they struggled to pay for.

Somewhat fittingly, Gates is now a full-time coach in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), the collection of summer leagues that insiders say has replaced high school basketball as the launching pad for college prospects.

Among the players that have passed through Team Hoop Dreams are all three of Gates' sons, William Jr., a recent graduate of Houston Baptist University, Jalon, a junior guard at Houston Baptist, and Marques, currently in high school.

AAU has come under fire by an ongoing FBI investigation involving sneaker companies funnelling money towards recruits to land at big university programs. The AAU told CNN it does not fund its teams, calling the situation an "apparel company scandal, not an AAU scandal."

"People are buying and selling players; it's a human trafficking market." says Michael Sokolove, author of "The Last Temptation of Rick Pitino," which sheds light on college basketball corruption.

Multiple federal investigations have led to guilty pleas from four college assistants on bribery charges, the conviction of an Adidas executive, and the firing of Pitino from Louisville.

Pitino maintains he had "no knowledge" of infractions during his tenure as Louisville's head coach. James Gatto, Adidas' former head of global sports marketing, is appealing his nine-month prison sentence for wire fraud and conspiracy charges in connection with a $100,000 offer to the father of a Louisville recruit.

With athletic wear companies paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to support top AAU programs, the potential to use them as a means to distribute money to the families of top players or an influential coach is high, says Sokolove.

"Some of this is laundered money. These teams can be used as pass through," he says, adding that the ultimate goal is to breed loyalty with players who become walking advertisements for the shoe companies on the court.

The stakes have become much higher to land top recruits like Gates was in the days of "Hoop Dreams," notes Sokolove. "There are more people with their hands in the cookie jar and the kids are largely pawns in this whole endeavour."

In 2017 the NCAA surpassed $1 billion in revenue, mostly through TV rights, while top players like Zion Williamson of Duke are limited to a compensation of tuition, room and board with a modest stipend.

Like many around the sport, Gates thinks college players need to get paid. He suggests universities contribute $100,000 towards a "graduation fund" for the player if he stays in school four years "to get prepared to live life."

Gates sees the current NBA age requirement of 19 as an obstacle towards paying black athletes, calling it a "controlled corruption" not seen in mostly white sports like baseball, tennis, golf or soccer.

"The two sports that are heavily dominated by African-Americans, it seems like there is always an issue when it comes to money," he says. (The NFL enforces a three-year rule before most college football players can turn pro.)

NCAA president Mark Emmert told the Associated Press this month that the organisation has "serious issues which require serious change," but paying players will remain unlikely.

William Gates (centre) is now an AAU coach in Texas. His sons William Jr. (left) and Jalon played together at Houston Baptist University.

PART OF A BIGGER STORY

Coinciding with the movie's anniversary, Gates and his wife Catherine just celebrated their 25th year of marriage. The eldest of their four children Alicia, who was born during filming, is 30 and works as a dental hygienist.

For years Gates would not allow his sons to watch all of "Hoop Dreams," fearing the scenes of his injuries would spook them. He finally relented, though Will Jr underwent four knee procedures of his own in college.

Agee has fathered five children, with his youngest Devin a budding youth basketball player in his own right. Devin's mother Jennifer Genovesi stood by Agee in the wake of a 2017 arrest after a woman accused him of battery.

Agee was quick to call James -- who he refers to as an uncle -- to assure him of his innocence. The charges were dropped shortly afterward.

"I'm part of a bigger story in this film. I never want to bring any despair or negativity into the story," Agee says. "He was like, 'We'll get through it together,' and that was good as that."

"I feel like they know that I'm here for them," says James, the film's director.

The special bond between the parties involved in the film was reflected once "Hoop Dreams," which was never expected to be a commercial success, caught fire. In a highly unusual step, Agee and Gates were made equal partners by the producers.

"They weren't just filmmakers," says Agee. "They came in over a period of time and got to know me and my family, and then stayed in touch."

Arthur Agee bought his mother Sheila a house with royalties earned from "Hoop Dreams." He now uses the film as material for his job in motivational speaking.

Gates and Agee first received nearly $200,000 each, and Agee promptly brought his parents a four-bedroom house in a suburb.

His mother, Sheila Agee, who was seen at the end of the movie graduating tops in her nursing class, relocated to Alabama in the wake of Bo's death.

After Curtis' murder, Gates was given an unlikely last shot at the NBA at age 29 with a tryout with the Chicago Bulls. But bad luck struck again when he caught the flu on the day of the workout.

"I said maybe God doesn't want me to play basketball," he reflects. "That's when my ministry life began to open up."

Gates received his master's in biblical studies and worked as a pastor at the Cabrini Green housing project he grew up in before settling in Texas.

He is thankful that Curtis got to meet Jordan before he was killed -- another imprint tied to his fame from the film.

"What came along with that was the responsibility to teach, educate, be a friend, have some compassion and show some understanding," Gates says.

"I've been very honoured, privileged and grateful to be part of "Hoop Dreams," he reflects. "It's been super amazing to be a part of something that has withstood the test of time."

#Hoop Dreams #basketball #documentary #film

[mystery-salad]

12 for all your commanders (how do you handle so many?!)

GW2 Commander Asks

Coming right up~! And my secret to handling so many is all of their plots are truly unique! They rarely if ever react to events the same and the numerous commanders allows me to really explore different options with character development! I’m actually adding a new commander to the list soon on my NA account, Fiorasc just needs a little more development before I show her to everyone~ as you’ll see below, they’ve all got their own styles which makes it easier for me to keep track of them!

12. How does your commander feel about Braham?

Laighe: she mourned his mother with him in the jungle and due to a coworker handling the run-in in the cave, didn’t actually interact with Braham at his worst point. She was merely informed that he would not be joining Dragons Watch. When he finally showed back up and yelled at her for endangering Taimi she got pissed but also was already blaming herself for dragging another child into this mess, and begrudgingly worked alongside him until his apology and joining with Dragons Watch. Her opinion of him is someone who’s lost too much while too young just as she had. She sees another lost soul looking for validation in quests that could kill him in exchange for the world, and the people who ridicule him for running from that at first. She sees a very lost boy who needs support. And she’s going to back him through this trial and ensure that when it comes down to his life or winning, he won’t die from a fate he wasn’t ready for.

Taomesin: taomesin’s opinions of Braham are as neutral as they come! They felt for him when his mother died in the jungle, though couldn’t possibly understand the depths of that sorrow themself. Throughout plot Tao has been through such abuse and conditioning and grooming that by the time Braham returned they weren’t too focused on him, just on getting their job done and moving to the next job. Any insults or apologies equally fell on uninterested ears. It’s only a few years after icebrood saga that Tao finally finds it in them to start exploring their emotions safely, and eventually they will become good friends with Braham. They both got essentially the opposite end of the trauma stick and they might find comfort in figuring that out together.

Tojoll: that’s her son!!!!! Eir is still alive here, Braham never had a very tragic mourning phase. On his own destiny he has both her and Eir’s support and is overall doing a lot better. Toj is immensely proud of her friend who’s grown so much since joining the Save The World adventures!

Vuisce: N/A they never meet Braham! Vuisce’s plot is a beast in itself in exactly how far I took a “What if” situation that completely derailed the canon plot. Aside from the large overall events, this plot just doesn’t match up at all and the usual crew never unites. They’re all off living their own lives excelling in things they love. Vuisce’s team is very different, and they and Braham have never met so have no opinion of each other.

Matthias: he thinks Braham could’ve handled everything better, but out of the two commanders he’s not the one Braham was pissed at. With the friendly facade he keeps up, Braham and everyone else assume he’s perfectly close to Braham after everything, just as he is with the rest of the team. Internally on his end, he trusts Braham as little as he trusts everyone else. And he’s got an extra eye on the guy to make sure he doesn’t run off on more impulsive ventures that could have backlash on the team.

Kai: oooooho man, Kai was so fucking pissed when he had the fucking gall to show up after everyone hounded her to find him again, and he just insulted her to her face! If Rox hadn’t noticed her expression and practically dragged Braham along cutting off his words often, he wouldn’t have left that frozen cave. Meeting him again later in the desert started poorly and she refused to work alongside him. She only relented when the team convinced her everyone needed the extra fire power and buffs from him as a guardian that she let him stick around “For now.” And everyone was immensely lucky in this also being right around the time that she was starting to mentally heal on her end. She was growing as a person, reflecting on a lot of shit after experiencing her life again through memories. Braham in the end was allowed to stay though Kai still refused to directly interact with him for a very long time. She’s still harsh now with him, but she is to everyone. She sees a lot of her own past actions in what Braham did and while she’s still pissed about it, she gets it well enough. This is just something he needs to set right himself before she can really forgive him, and she’ll give him the backup he needs to go through with it.

#dasozelotvonnebenan #laighe #taomesin #nyokkai #tojoll #matthias #vuisce #thanks for the ask~!

[omfgtrump]

Hollywood Does What Senate Won’t: Gives Don The Boot!

With his impeachment trial beginning and the possibility of conviction a near impossibility, we turn to the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Sag-AFTRA, for inspiration and a moral compass.

The union voted “overwhelmingly” to find probable cause that Trump had violated SAG-AFTRA’s constitution in inciting the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and “sustaining a reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists, many of whom are SAG-AFTRA members.” 

On the other hand, the Republican party, who gave a standing ovation to Q lady, Marjorie Taylor Greene, has already decided that inciting an attack on the U.S. Capitol and to quote Sag-AFTRA, “sustaining a reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists” as well as the Capitol police, members of Congress and the vice president, does not rise to the level of a conviction and being barred from running for public office again.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/juliareinstein/marjorie-taylor-greene-qanon-gun-facebook-squad

In fact, with such overwhelming evidence against him, The Don’s lawyers won’t even try to argue the facts: their defense will be to claim the proceeding itself is constitutionally illegitimate. A defense ready made by the 45 Republican senators who voted to derail the trial before it started.

It will come down to what I call the Sargent Schultz (of Hogan’s Heroes fame) defense: “I see nothing, I know nothing” and for good measure, I am not even here. In other words, regardless of what you witnessed, it doesn’t matter, because there is no basis for a trial. Since the trial shouldn’t exist, you can’t vote to convict because that would be an acknowledgement of the fact that there was a right to have a trial. Feels a bit Kafkaesque.

Once again, we are confronted with the stark reality that the Republican party is willing to risk the very democracy it is charged to defend and abandon all its principles, to pledge its allegiance to The Don.

But not SAG-AFTRA

The Don, true to form, seeing the handwriting on the wall, beat them to the chase. Resigning before they call to say: “You’re fired,”

 Below is his resignation later. I reprinted it in full because it such classic Don.

Ms. Carteris:

 I write to you today regarding the so-called Disciplinary Committee hearing aimed at revoking my union membership. Who cares! While I’m not familiar with your work, I’m very proud of my work on movies such as Home Alone 2, Zoolander and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps; and television shows including The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Saturday Night Live, and of course, one of the most successful shows in television history, The Apprentice – to name just a few!

 I’ve also greatly helped the cable news television business (said to be a dying platform with not much time left until I got involved in politics) and created thousands of jobs at networks such as MSDNC and Fake News CNN, among many others.

Which brings me to your blatant attempt at free media attention to distract from your dismal record as a union. Your organization has done little for its members, and nothing for me – besides collecting dues and promoting dangerous un-American policies and ideas – as evident by your massive unemployment rates and lawsuits from celebrated actors,

Who even recorded a video asking, “Why isn’t the union fighting for me?”

These, however, are policy failures. Your disciplinary failures are even more egregious. I no longer wish to be associated with your union.

 As such, this letter is to inform you of my immediate resignation from SAG-AFTRA. You have done nothing for me. Regards, President Donald J. Trump

SAG-AFTRA’s response was a simple “Thank you.” 

I appreciate the elegance, the high mindedness and the desire not to engage and breath oxygen into the situation.

But here would be my response.

Dear Mr. Trump,

First let’s set the record straight on a few things. What you did in those movies is not called work: It is called a cameo. And even though you are no longer a member, we feel it is our patriotic duty to due justice to your presidency. At present, there are numerous projects being explored. Too bad we won’t be able to consult you or even cast you, but we promise that we will create compelling, dramatic and riveting entertainment. Exactly what you would want.

Here are a just a few that are being considered by two new production companies: Orange Rot Productions and Golden Showers Productions.

Vlad and Me: A buddy picture for the ages. The plot revolves around a president of the U.S. sharing secret information for love. For any old movie fans, there is one scene of Vlad and a certain orange haired president that equals the steaminess of Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr on the beach in “From Here to Eternity.” Purportedly, its climax has a golden shower.

The Insurrectionist: a deep dive into the coordinated attempt between White Supremacy Groups and people in government to overturn an election. The opening scene is one of the scariest things ever produced. Take a seat Chucky. The scene opens with a mob storming the Capitol. The camera zooms in on crazed man taking a fire hydrant and smashing it over a police officer’s head. The camera then zooms in on an orange haired man in the oval office watching TV yelling: “Did you see that shit? That’s better than any WWF thing I’ve ever seen. Do these people love me or what?” The phone is ringing. Aides are trying to get the president’s attention to no avail. “Tell them I’m not in. Look at this shit, isn’t it just amazing.”

From Riches To Rags: This film follows the ruinous descent of a president of the United States as he loses all his friends, money, the debtors who want their due and ultimately is imprisoned. Rumor has it that some of the jail scenes at the end are quite chilling.

Let’s hope that with the current president doing the work of the president and not just making cameos, we will emerge from this nightmare and once again be able to say: “How about we go to a movie?”

Regards,

Disciplinary Board of SAG-AFTRA

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