#i hear your voice ost | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

impactedfates · 4 months

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Hello there!! Can I request some headcanons / mini-scenarios for: Dan Heng, March, Welt, Himeko, Yanqing and Jing Yuan; with a normally soft-spoken Reader who has a wide vocal range (from contralto to hitting those high notes) and occasionally does song covers? Doesn't matter the genre, so long as Reader likes it.

So they might hear Reader singing something like a lullaby or a traditional Xianzhou song one day, to something that's still soft and sweet like a mainstream pop song on another day; to belting out something like "Kakusei" or "NEXUS" from the Promare OST. :D

★ A/N: I understood the request, I just hope I wrote it in a way you wanted! People with such a large vocal range are so talented istg, they gotta teach me. (I say as if I have ANY confidence to sing anyways)

☆ Genre/Trope: Platonic

★ Format: Bullet Pointed Head Cannons (And small scenario at the end :>)

☆ Warnings: None

★ Extra: Reader is a Nameless // Readers age is undisclosed so imagine them at whatever age you wish // Reader can play instruments! // Characters might be OOC I feel // Proof Read but I did it when it was 4am lmao

When you sing more soft songs, Dan Heng tends to enjoy listening. It helps him feel more relax and sometimes rids his mind of nightmares.

He's more used to hearing that kind of voice from you. So when one day, he walks in on you singing a song that's the exact opposite of how you usually sing, he's a bit surprised.

He never doubted you could have a big vocal range, however hearing you sing a song that's different to how he normally hears you sing is what surprised him.

He still enjoys listening, but more so when you sing in a softer voice, don't get him wrong. He still enjoys your singing voice and will support you. But he isn't one for a more loud song.

"[Name]...if you're going to sing more...on the loud side, could I request you do it else where?" Dan Heng sighs softly, being awoken up once again due to you. Despite his words hinting at annoyance, his facial expression was soft and kind. A soft sorry came from your voice as you quickly turned off the music you were using, switching to a more softer song. An old Xianzhou lullaby. "Here, I'll make it up to you. Sit on the couch and I'll sing a softer song" You smiled, Dan Heng chuckled as he obliged. He can't deny that your more softer voice doesn't help him fall asleep. He silently hums along to your voice, and in a sleepy voice he speaks to you before drifting to bed. "If you enjoy music like that so much, we can pay a visit to Serval okay?"

March 7th LOVES your singing voice. She would sing along to whatever song you were singing. She praises you every time she hears you and likely took photos of you singing.

She so supports you if you ever make a YouTube (StarTube?) account and posted covers, literally your number 1 fan.

When you post a cover of a song, she's always the first one to like, comment and listen!

When you post a cover of a song that's VERY different. (Let's say, Usseewa) and you hit ALL those high notes and, everything omg. She was surprised but immediately hyped you up.

She doesn't mind if you sing songs like that at all, your singing is amazing. Like I said, number 1 fan...she doesn't hid it either.

"I love you [Name]!" "Uh, the one with the blue camera and pink hair?" "OH. MY GOD. [NAME] YOU NOTICED ME, YOU NOTICED ME. I.LOVE.YOU" Serval laughed out loud seeing Marchs outburst, as if you two don't live with each other. You could only look away with a small smile, seeing March jump up and down and shaking whoever was beside her. Much to Welts "delight"

Welts very impressed with your vocal range. But he's also worried, he knows that if you were able too have a large vocal range, you likely know how to manage it.

Still, anytime he hears you singing songs like NEXUS or Kakusei he can't help but slide over a bottle of water for your throat.

If you ever join a concert with Serval then he IS buying tickets, though not everyone may go (Dan Heng) he and the rest of the Express will.

He also tends to buy any merch you may come out with if there is any. (Mainly for March but he does keep one or two for himself to support you)

He doesn't really have a preference when it comes too what songs you sing, just as long as your happy and it isn't really disturbing anyone.

If you ever start a StarTube channel, he might animate a few of your covers! Under a pen name though, he's not embarrassed, but I think he'd like it if you thought it was a different fan and not just him who's already liked your singing from the start. (If that makes sense)

"WELT! Weltweltwelt" You ran up to him, quickly showing him an animation someone did of one of your new songs. "ArahatosNumber1Fan animated one of my covers again" You said excitedly, bringing the phone screen back to your view as you scrolled through the comments. Many complimenting the animation but many also asking who sang the cover to which they were directed to your account. "This the guy that you said was helping boost your channel subs?" You nod happily, tapping your chin you thought for a bit. "Do you think they'd still animate my covers even if I sing a different genre? I want to go with something softer this time instead of a louder peice" "I'm sure they'll animate any song you wish to sing" He chuckles. And sure enough, a week after you posted a cover of Lost Umbrella, ArahatosNumber1Fan posted an animation to go along with it.

Himeko compliments you a lot for your vocal range. In fact, she got you a karaoke machine for your birthday! Of course, though. She doesn't let you use it during night time. She doesn't want to wake up because you decided to start singing Churira Churira Dadada at 3 in the morning.

I do think she prefers you to sing outside the train. While she does enjoying your singing and she has no problem if you were to sing in the train. However she also understands it may disturb many people so she does ask for you to sing in an area where you aren't disturbing anyone.

I feel like she also asks you to teach her how to sing or have a wider vocal range. She enjoys singing herself and would love to join in when you're out singing to keep you company!

Perhaps you two can make money by singing on the streets :> (Only if you're okay with it though!)

You strummed you guitar as the two of you reached the last note, Himeko took a small bow and looked up at the audience that had gathered around. All of them clapping and complimenting your voice. She laughed softly and gently packed up your things so the two of you could get going, checking to see if you were uncomfortable with the attention before she directs you back to the train. As you two entered, Himeko was quick to sit and count the amount of credits that were left in your guitar case, looking up to you she said with a smile. "A success, well done. They loved you" "It wasn't just me singing..." "Perhaps but...I'd say they have their favourites"

When Yanqing overhears you singing Xianzhou lullabys, he's quick to shower you with compliments. Your voice is so soothing! He could listen it for so long and it's effective too. You had to usher him out as he could wake the kids you just put to bed.

When he hears you singing a song like (man I'm running out of songs I know/hj) Noels Lament. He's impressed, how can you sing a song so softly and quietly and then sing something like this which needs a stronger voice??

He might skip a few of his training to find you and see what song you're singing, he makes it a guessing game! Will you be singing something so sweet and kind? Or something that might will make head turn??

"...Yanqing?" "Ha! I guessed right this time" "...Guessed...right?" Ah, you weren't meant to know the guessing game he had in his own head, quickly, he shuffled away. Scratching the back of his head. "Of where you were!" "I always walk in this area" "...I meant...what outfit you'd be wearing?" "I usually wear similar clothes?" ...Yeah, he's running off quickly, hopefully Jing Yuan won't scold him for skipping his training again right? Surely the general can understand he just has to see if his guess was right or not.

Surprisingly (or not surprisingly) Jing Yuan enjoys when you sing your heart out with songs like Candy Store or Mount Rageous. That's the type of sing he first heard you sing when he tried to find Yanqing when he skipped yet another training sessions.

Usually he would just sleep till Yanqing returned or just go on with his day if he never did. In either case, now he joins Yanqing to see what song you're singing before returning back to train.

When he hears you singing a less upbeat song like Sweet Dreams. He's slightly surprised but listens intently, it's different to what he often hears you sing but he enjoys it none the less, he sees your happy so he's fine.

He might even request to hear certain songs just to see how well you voice range can handle it. From the loudest song that could break glass, to a soothing song that can put even the mara struck to bed. And if you successfully sing them all, he congratulates you.

Overall, he's impressed as well as many others, likely talks to you and how well you sing to his friends.

You panted a bit as you finished a particularly long high note, Jing Yuan chuckles and slides over a cup of water which you accept quickly. Taking a drink to sooth your throat. "You voice really can do wonders, I'm more then impressed" He speaks, you nodded in response as he then offers a small treat for agreeing to sing a song for him. A song that made you go from high to low, soft to loud and all in all, tested how wide your voice range can be in a singular song. "I must apologies, I just wished to see how far your voice can go. I should've considered how tired your throat must be from singing that particular song" "No worries, it was fun to read and practice that song. I'm a bit surprised you know it though" "Oh? Are you now?" "Yeah...I mean...the song was released like a month ago and you're kinda a grandp-" "Alright I get it" He chuckled lightly, gently flicking your forehead.

I'm so smart writing Yanqings and JY sleep deprived right?/j Yeah uh they might be OOC, hopefully not thoughejfpgt.

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storm-driver · 7 days

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hi, i have feelings about cartoon nostalgia and the audience perception of them 20 years on

this is gonna read hyper-specific, but bear with me

i refuse to credit butch hartman for the way danny phantom came out during it's first two seasons, at least outside of the initial pitch and the idea of the protagonist having white hair. i know the majority of enthusiasts for this show are more than aware of hartman's antics at this point. these anctics, i won't get into. other people are far more suited to explain that stuff vs me, a random guy on the internet. but there's very specific topics that i don't often see get brought up in detail, like the production and staff behind this show.

i'll get into it below the cut so as not to clutter your dashboard. but if you're not familiar with the actual production history of danny phantom, this might be interesting to read.

it's common knowledge these days that stephen silver is the one who developed the design for danny based on hartman's original rough sketches. the similarity between each drawing is apparent, but you can see clear as day which design was gonna be more apt for animation and overall audience allure back in 2003.

he also did character designs for hartman's other poster child, Fairly Oddparents. the trend is similar, though far from a huge concern. character design overhauls happen all the time in media production. designs might be too complicated for animation, so they get stripped down. or maybe things aren't complex enough and more nuance needs to be added. that's normal stuff, and i am not dunking on hartman for not nailing danny's design right out the gate. i'm pointing this out in case you've ever looked at butch hartman's recent work and wondered "how are these done by the same artist?"

the answer is they weren't. hartman had to adapt to stephen silver's conceptual designs in order to work on the storyboards. take from that what you will.

onto the actual writing.

butch barely wrote a single episode for this show's first two seasons.

steve marmel helped write at least 28 episodes of the original two seasons, with writers like sib ventress and marty isenberg bringing a good amount of episodes to the table, as well.

butch hartman is credited primarily for directing and storyboarding this show. the episode pitch and writing was by other people almost entirely. the ONLY episodes in the first two seasons that hartman is credited with having written are mystery meat, one of a kind and splitting images. and he's credited with co-writing these episodes alongside steve marmel and mark banker. ie, he did not write these episodes on his own. and allegedly, butch hartman had a tendency to be credited as a writer for an episode, even if he only wrote a few lines of dialogue. again, take from that what you will.

past that in season 3, he wrote infinite realms, torrent of terror, forever phantom, urban jungle, and ofc, phantom planet. which a lot of people know, these episodes in particular weren't the most enjoyable, nor was the overall direction of them very good.

a director's job is to make sure that the overall tone, feel, and message of the show is being kept consistent with intent. that means meeting with producers, who are the ones managing the, y'know, producing part of the whole project. it may sound like the director is the one heading the project if it's their job to keep things in check. which, i will not deny, hartman must've put in a good deal of work to make the show come out as well as it did.

but pile that with some of the off things per episode. the mean-spirited way that characters tend to be taught lessons, the voice direction getting a drastic change in season 3 (you can hear it explicitly with david kaufman suddenly going for higher pitches instead of the usual one he's done so far). there's really only one consistent motif in the entire show's OST. which isn't a bash against the music producer. it's a concern that the director of the show never asked him to change things up, and ONLY stuck to this one motif.

to briefly touch on the mean-spirited thing. there's multiple instances in the show where danny or someone else is seen fighting back against whatever has given them trouble, or they're taking matters into their own hands to ensure they won't be hurt ahead of time. and repeatedly, the show likes to kick these characters back down for trying to stand up. it's a trend in all of butch hartman's shows, and it's treated more like comedy than anything else. it's up to audience perception on how to view it. but for me personally, it starts to feel like an overused gag and turns into something more malevolent after seeing it overused almost every single episode.

okay besides that, i actually wanna look at specific examples of episodes that steve marmel wrote for. again, this is the guy who's more or less responsible for the show's serialization.

the complete list of episodes is as follows:

Mystery Meat, Parental Bonding, One of a Kind, Attack of the Killer Garage Sale, Splitting Images, What You Want, Bitter Reunions, Prisoners of Love, My Brother's Keeper, Shades of Gray, Fanning the Flames, Teacher of the Year, Fright Night, 13(Thirteen), Public Enemies, Memory Blank, Reign Storm, The Ultimate Enemy, The Fright Before Christmas, Secret Weapons, Flirting with Disaster, Micro Management , Kindred Spirits, and Reality Trip.

multiple episodes listed here are from the first season, which a lot of people consider the show's best. and of the handful listed for season 2, he wrote all of the hour-long specials.

i would be here for hours talking about how steve marmel tackles all of these characters and concepts significantly better than hartman does in season 3. but that's a topic best praised elsewhere. point is, if you watched any of these episodes and thought to yourself "wow, that was actually kinda clever," steve marmel is more or less the guy responsible.

butch hartman was in charge of direction, but that does not give him exclusive credit for every single line of dialogue or plot beat. there could be a LOT we just don't know because people on production staff don't want to comment. but the writing consistency taking a dive off the board by season 3, which is the same season that steve marmel departed from the project due to conflicting direction in the story? you might deduce that butch hartman was not the prized writer and artist behind this otherwise beloved cartoon.

to dredge up an easier-to-tackle target, season 3.

my criticisms are 18-year old echoes at this point, you've heard them all. from otherwise pointless episodes that don't develop the characters or world, to completely out-of-touch writing (looking at you, phantom planet) that juxtaposes the characters with everything we've been told about them so far. it became a slog of a season that didn't have any build-up to it's finale. the occasional gem of an episode like frightmare helped in some aspects. or the promise for something later with d-stabilized. but it all gets swept under the rug thanks to a rushed finale with poor build-up, bad writing direction for the characters, and most importantly, an unlasting effect on the viewer. (or a negative lasting effect, which is arguably worse)

for a season that knew it was on its last leg before inevitably needing to give up, there's seldom few episodes dedicated to advancing an overall narrative, and thus give a slimmer of hope for a satisfying conclusion. instead, the show goes all in with villain-of-the-week stories, and even the returning villains are hardly taken seriously or given more to do besides just being there.

of course, we know the reason steve marmel had left the project was because hartman wanted the show not to taken a more story-focused drive. it almost starts to feel like spite that kept the show so horribly grounded, letting it become stagnant before eventually being forgettable.

all this is in service of letting people know, it really wasn't butch hartman that made the show, not alone. death of the author and all that nonsense aside, he pitched the concept. and it takes a lot of love and dedication to make a concept something you can physically see and adore. don't let him swath in all the credit. recognize the others who made the work you can still enjoy.

#stormy weather #danny phantom #hey guess what i found in my drafts!!!#this is an INCREDIBLY old post #this is dating back to like almost 2016!!!#anyways i rewrote most of it because the og was a lil rough lol #but all of these feelings remain the same to this day #it's kinda wack #a younger me knew what he was feeling #and an older me knows how to say it

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raevior · 8 months

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jungjin city lights / somun x fem!reader

a/n: hi everyone! this is my first ff I've written in a while. I hope you all enjoy it, please leave any requests or tips you have! enjoy :) warnings: mention of blood, knifes, violence, choking, drinking alcohol genre/type: fluff, semi slow burn, Y/N, angst, happy ending wc: 6.2k title track: once again - Kim Sejeong (Uncanny Counter OST season 2)

*BEEP BEEP BEEP* The sound of your blaring alarm wakes you up from your deep slumber. You tiredly roll over and hit the obnoxiously loud alarm. You look at the time with blurry eyes and roll around to go back to sleep until you realize; you’re late.. again. You shoot up out of your comfortable warm bed and rush to the bathroom. You quickly brush your teeth, not even bothering with your hair. You throw on the first pair of clothes you find on the floor and grab your backpack and run out the door.

You’re 20 years old living in Jungjin, South Korea as a full time university student; so being on time is pretty important. You rush to your 9AM class, but you’re 3 minutes late. You close your eyes and take a deep breath to calm yourself before entering your class. Professor HaJoon has never been the lenient type. Always yelling at you and your classmates about the dumbest things. You dread this class. You open your eyes, ready to be confronted by your strict professor, except you are met with a sign hanging on the door. “CLASS CANCELED.” You whine and say out loud, “It’s 2023, don’t people communicate through email nowadays?” You hang your head low while standing in your spot. You hear someone next to you let out a breathy laugh. You snap your head and see a girl with curly hair standing next to you. She has cuts on her hands and a healing scar just above her right eyebrow. “Did I scare you?” the mysterious woman asks you. You stare at her for a second then nod ‘no’ quickly, without saying a word. She laughs, “I’m Do Ha-na. Nice to meet you.” You smile and introduce yourself. “I’m Y/N. Nice to meet you too, Ha-na.” She bows and walks away with both hands in her pockets. “Ahh, she’s cool.” you think to yourself.

Now that class is canceled, you finally have a day to yourself since you don’t have any other classes today. You let out a sigh of relief and head towards the elevator. *DING* the large silver doors open and you are about to step inside. Suddenly, a hand grabs your arm and pulls you back. You let out a scream, but it is quickly silenced when a hand is placed over your mouth. You try your best to fight the attacker, but he is far too strong. You kick and scream, but he’s not budging. Suddenly, after what felt like hours of fighting back, the heavy weight of the man disappears. You gasp for air and run into the elevator, pressing the buttons in a hurry to get away. You look up out of fear. But there stands the same woman from earlier. Your eyes widen, “Ha-na?” you ask quietly. She smirks and walks towards you. You back up out of fear. She brings a hand to your head, and now you are sitting in your bed again, not remembering anything after Ha-na placed her touch on you.

—----------------------------------------------

“Goodmorning, Y/N! Ah, afternoon.. Are you feeling any better?” Eun-Jeong says to you. Choi EunJeong has been your best friend since 2nd grade. You two are inseparable. Despite her intimidating appearance, she is the kindest and most loving person you have ever met. You nod and Eunjeong hugs you and gives you a friendly kiss on the forehead. You smile and playfully push her off. “Are you hungry? I’ve been craving noodles recently.” she says to you with a smile and genuine eyes. “I could definitely go for some noodles.” you say in a raspy voice. She cheers and you two begin getting ready for brunch.

While walking the streets of Jungjin, you find a corner shop called “Eonni’s noodles”. You step inside and are greeted by an older woman. “Welcome in!” she says with an energizing tone. You and Eunjeong smile and make your way to a table. While you sit down, you make eye contact with a man. He has black curly hair, dark brown eyes, and a soft smile. You stare at him like a deer in headlights. He does the same back. Eunjeong looks over her shoulder and sees the man. She waves her hand in your face with furrowed eyebrows. You snap your attention back to your friend. “Y/N.. are you okay?” Your face slowly rises into a light pink. Your friend laughs and whispers. “He’s cute, don’t you think?” You look back over at him and he is still staring at you, until a middle aged man comes up and hits the boy's head with a rolled up newspaper. “Ah! Mo-tak!” the boy yells. “He is cute.” you reply through slight laughter. The older woman then comes to your table and introduces herself. “Sorry about the wait! I’m Chu Mae-ok. What can I get for you two?”

As you and Eunjeong finish slurping your noodles, you both sit back and process the delicious meal you just had. In the corner of your eye, you see the middle aged man pushing the young man out of the curtains. He comes stumbling out and fixes his clothes. He clears his throat and walks up to the table. “Hi.” he says. You and Eunjeong look at each other and you reply. “Hi.” The boy breaks eye contact for a second then takes your bowls without asking and scurries back behind the curtain. You and your friend shoot each other another look. “We didn’t even pay..” Eunjeong whispers. 10 minutes pass by with no one coming out from the curtains. You smack 25,000 won on the table and you two make your way out of the restaurant.

While walking back to your dormitory, you get a call from your father. “I’m on the way.” you say with a shaky voice. She looks at you with concern. “I have to go.” you say. Nothing more nothing less. Your best friend has always been the understanding type. She nods and gives you a hug. You turn to leave your friend and begin jogging towards your childhood home which is just a few blocks away. As you’re running in a panic, you forgot to look before you crossed the street. All you remember is headlights and a loud horn blaring at you.

—----------------------------------------------

White. White is all you see. You sit up from your lying position and are met with a young woman. “Where am I?” you say in a panic. The woman doesn’t answer you. “Am I dead?...” you yell. The woman scoffs in a playful tone. “Not exactly. You are in a coma. Right now, you are residing in Yung. A place between heaven and earth.” she explains. You smack both sides of your face and rub your eyes, hoping this is some sort of dream. You open your eyes and once again, you are met with the woman. She holds out her hand. You hesitate at first, but then take the woman's hand. She helps you up and motions for you to walk with her. Suddenly the white scene turns into an empty field. “I’m Ha-neul. Take a walk with me Y/N.” You don’t even question how she knows your name. You look around the field in confusion, slowly following behind Haneul.

After a while of walking, she presents an option to you. “You can sign the contract and become a counter, or you will stay in your coma.” You look down, feeling defeated between the two difficult choices. The silence is louder than loud. The only voice you hear is your conscience. After a few seconds pass, which feels like hours, you blurt, “I’ll become a counter.”

You shake Haneul’s hand and start to notice your hair curling up. You look at your hair with shock while Haneul laughs. “All counters have curly hair.” you look up at her and let out an awkward, nervous laugh. She smiles and leans in for a hug.

-----------------—-----------------------------

Standing in the center of a noodle shop, staring at your feet, a loud voice announces “This is Y/N! Your new team member!” Chairman Choi says with excitement. You nod while keeping your head down from embarrassment. “God, this red jumpsuit is atrocious.” you think to yourself. You stay silent, zoning out at this point. The chairman gives you a hard slap on your back, making you jump and look up. Immediately you know where you are. Eonni’s noodles. After realizing everyone is wearing the same bright red jumpsuit, you lock eyes with the same young man you saw that day you went out to eat with Eunjeong. You stare at each other with wide eyes. “Do you two know each other?” Mae-ok says in a shocked stutter. You and the man say nothing. Chairman Choi breaks the loud and thick silence by introducing everyone. “This is Mae-ok, you can call her Miss Chu.” She smiles and bows. “This is Ga Mo-tak.” you recognise him. He’s the guy who hit the young boy on the head when he was staring at you. A smile appears on his face and he waves with one hand. “This is Do H-” “We met.” she says in a monotone voice. Your eyes widen once again. “Hana?” you say. She smirks and bows. “So it seems you know everyone already.” the chairman says laughing. “And this is our So-Mun.” “Finally. The handsome boy has a name afterall.” you think to yourself. You both smile at each other and then quickly look away. You bow and introduce yourself. “Hello everyone. I’m Y/N.” Everyone smiles, but the one who shines the brightest is Somun. “Let’s eat! Shall we?” Miss Chu says hurrying to the kitchen.

Hours pass by of you and the other counters talking over noodles and soju. It’s a lot easier for you to open up when you’re intoxicated. After everyone has finally finished up their beer and noodles, Motak speaks up, “Okay, I’m gonna head to bed.” with a painfully obvious wink. The chairman and Miss Chu stand up quickly. She looks at her fake watch “Wow! Would you look at the time? You know, when you’re old you have to sleep earlier!” she says through a forced laugh, while pushing Chairman Choi out of the shop. Hana smirks and gets up without saying anything. Somun shoots them all a death stare before they can all go to their rooms. This leaves you and him alone.

------------------—---next morning-----------------------

A loud yawn from Motak startles you awake. “Goodmorn-“ he says. Suddenly it’s silent again, nothing but the birds chirping and cars passing by on the busy street. You raise your head from the wooden table that you apparently fell asleep on and see Somun sleeping across from you. Your heart races. “Did we stay up that late last night that we couldn’t even walk to our beds?” you thought silently. You turn around and see Motak and Miss Chu standing there staring at you with their mouths open. Your eyes widen and you quickly turn around to avoid the embarrassment. Hana comes up and flicks Somun on the head. “Goodmorning, you two.” Somun looks behind his shoulder and looks at Hana in confusion. “You two?” he asks in a tired voice. She cocks her head towards you. Somun turns and is met with you, right across the table from him. He slams his head back down on the table, pretending to still be asleep, which obviously didn’t work. You laugh at his cuteness and get up to go shower. While walking away, you hear the counters footsteps scurry to the table, asking Somun a million questions.

After your shower, you get dressed and make your way to the restaurant lobby. There sits a very scary and determined Somun. Last night, he was so cute and cheerful. But now, he looks… almost dangerous. You look around the room and see everyone zipping up their jumpsuits. Somun stands up and starts yelling, “As a way to welcome our new teammate, we are training today!” you almost laugh seeing how serious he looks but the tone in his voice is so unserious. You all get ready and make your way to the training garage.

It’s your first day on the job and you also don’t know your power yet. On top of that, you still have to attend school while being a counter. You walk behind the rest of the group, feeling nervous about your first day of training. Miss Chu seems to notice this and she slows down to walk at your pace, rubbing your right shoulder. “Y/N, we were all nervous when we first started. It’s okay to feel scared or even worried.” she says to reassure you. “It’s normal if you’re not the best on day one. As long as you continue to train and practice, you can do anything.” You smile and thank her for her kind and encouraging words.

Once you all reach the training garage. Motak looks at the wall then looks at you, “You see those handprints?” he says, raising an eyebrow at you. You nod, “That blue one at the top, the one you can barely see? That’s Somuns.” You look at the hand print in shock. There’s no way anyone could reach that far up… it’s not humanly possible you think to yourself. You gulp and gather up the courage to test yourself on your first day as a counter. You look at your hands and see 5 black dots. You can feel your adrenaline pumping through your body. You’re gonna do this, and show them that they won’t regret having you as a part of their team. Motak covers your right hand in a dark purple paint. Motak, Hana, Somun and Miss Chu all watch from the sidelines as you prepare for your jump. You take a few steps back, and boom, you’re running towards the wall. You let out a loud scream and jump with all of your might. You feel like you’re flying. You have never jumped this high in your whole life, is this even possible? You land on the ground softly, and before you can even look to see how far up you made it, everyone is cheering for you. You look confused as your confidence was low, thinking you’d get maybe 5 feet off the ground if you were lucky. You tilt your head up, blocking the sun with your hand, to see your handprint just a few inches below Somuns. You stand there in awe, taking in what just happened. Everyone comes up to you and starts hugging you; Somun being the first to hug you. As soon as he touched you, you felt a spark. Not a romantic kind of spark, more like a jolt of energy. You have butterflies in your stomach and a bright smile on your face while the rest of the team joins in on the hug.

-----——- time skip: 5 months -------———

You and Somun have gotten really close recently. You two do everything together. And sometimes, you two repeat the cycle of having a little too much to drink while getting lost in conversation and crashing on the wooden table. While being with Somun and the team so often, you learn that they never stop training and never let their guard down. Through all of this training for the past 5 months, you have discovered your counter power. Psychokinesis and speed. Sure, you’re not as good as Somun, but you’re a lot better than Motak. Hana and Somun were the ones who really helped you discover your talent. At first, you constantly strained yourself. Nose bleed after nose bleed. But after a while, you started to get the hang of things. You have your limits as everyone does. You still have loads of training to do, but none of this would be possible without your new family.

As you and Hana are cleaning up for the night, her neck twitches. You’ve been a part of the team long enough to know what this means. An evil spirit has step foot. She lets everyone know, and you all drop what you’re doing. You all run into the car, Mo tak being the driver. “What level is it?” you ask. “Level three.” she replies. You have a moment of internal panic as you have only encountered level 1 and level 2 spirits. Somun notices that you’re feeling scared and nervous. He shyly intertwined his fingers with yours and gives you that reassuring smile that always makes you feel better. You take a deep breath and smile. What Somun doesn’t know is that he makes you 10x more nervous. His soft hand interlocked with yours gives you a sense of relief, but the dozens of butterflies dancing in your stomach say otherwise. He looks at you, “You can do this. We’ll all be by your side.” he says. You stare into his eyes, then accidentally take a glance at his lips. He seems to notice this and he lets out a light laugh and throws his head back. You have had many moments like this with him, but something about tonight is different. Maybe it’s the adrenaline rushing through your veins, or maybe it’s the fact that you’ve fallen hard for Somun. You mirror his behavior and lay your head back and try to muster up the confidence for this mission. Somun softly squeezes your hand and you reply to his action in the same manner. You stay like this until you arrive at the Jungjin Metro Station, where the level three evil spirit is.

You all step out of the car, making your way to the ground floor of the station. There lay a woman and a child. You and Miss Chu make your way to the pair to make sure they are safe. Somun, Hana, and Motak split up to look for the spirit while you and Miss Chu take care of the pair. While carrying the mother and child, you walk up the stairs and see a man standing there. He is emitting such strong energy. An aura you have never felt in your life. You press your earpiece, “Found him.” you say. You and Miss Chu nod, knowing what to do in this situation. You run towards the spirit, attempting to lay a punch on him while Miss Chu runs out and brings the pair to safety.

You miss your punch, as well as your balance. The spirit kicks you in the stomach, making you tumble down 2 flights of stairs. You grunt in pain and look up to see the spirit walking towards you. You didn’t know it was possible to be this strong. You are scared, and just want to lie there, but you were taught to never give up. You muster up the strength to sit up and push him away with the motion of your hand. He didn’t budge. Your eyes widen in fear as you try one more time to push him away with your psychokinetic possessed hand. This time, he flies back, but only by 2 feet. The spirit reaches out his hand and drags you. Your throat is now in the hands of a level 3 spirit. You are struggling for air, you are completely helpless as the spirit is holding you up in the air. You hang there, trying to fight him off for what felt like hours. You are about to die. You cough up blood and tears run down your face. The grip on your throat grows tighter and you close your eyes, letting out through a cracked voice “I’m sorry.” Suddenly, you can breathe. You collapse to the ground, gasping for air. You look up and see Miss Chu with a steel bar in her hand. She rushes to you to heal your throat. Just then, the spirit stands up to laugh while winding up his hand to punch the back of Miss Chu's head. You pull Miss Chu into your shoulder in an attempt to shield her from the hit. Just then, you hear footsteps. Is there another spirit? You think to yourself. You look up and in the speed of light, the spirit is hit by a force so powerful, it scares you. You and Miss Chu gasp, you look to your left, and through blurry tears, you see Somuns silhouette. Motak and Hana follow behind him. “Sorry to keep you waiting” Somun says in a cocky, but determined tone. You smile and try to speak, but your voice is completely gone. You look at Miss Chu and she hovers her hands above your throat, not having enough time to heal your stomach. You stand up and thank her. Now that your team is here, you can show your full potential with confidence.

With speed being your strongest suit, you pounce at the spirit and land a direct kick on the side of his head. You go to strike a punch, but the spirit grabs your leg, penetrating it with a sharp butterfly knife. You scream in pain and collapse to the ground, blood pooling around your leg. Just in time, Hana quickly slides across the ground and grabs your head so it doesn’t hit the hard concrete. On the other hand, Somun is admitting such a strong and powerful energy. He drags the spirit to him, stepping on his chest. The spirit pushes Somun away with a motion of his hand. He stands up, beginning to limp away in an attempt to flee. You and Somun are the only ones who are able to stop him with psychokinesis. Somun is quick to stand back on his feet, but not quick enough; the spirit is getting away.

You notice this, and let out a loud yell, reaching out your hand. You will stop this spirit today, no matter what it takes. The spirit stops in his tracks. Your nose starts to bleed, but Motak strikes the spirit with the same metal bar. You sigh out, Hana catching you in her arms. The spirit falls to the floor. Before he can begin to laugh, Somun strikes punch after punch on the spirit. It’s bloody. You’ve seen a handful of bloody scenes, but there was so much more this time around. Somun pants, face bloody and eyebrows furrowed. You hate to admit this, but when he’s this serious and determined, you only fall harder for him. Somun gets off on top of the spirit, motioning his hand for Motak to summon it. The spirit lets out a loud scream and then collapses. You slump down, still in Hanas arms, wiping the blood from your nose. You smirk, feeling proud that you’ve defeated your first level three spirit, alongside your team.

—------------- next morning —-------------

You wake up the next morning at around 10AM and grunt in pain, slowly sitting up while holding your stomach to look at your leg. “Feeling better?” Somun asks. You flinch and dart your eyes to him. There he is sitting next to you, holding an open book. You don’t even ask how he got in your room, you are just happy he’s there by your side. His hair is messy from not being brushed, and he’s still in his pajamas. You nod in response to his question and look curiously over at what he’s reading. “It’s called ‘The Melody of a Bird Whistle’.” He’s reading your favorite book. “I remember you saying that you enjoy when someone reads to you, and that it relaxes you. So I thought I would read a story to you to help you feel better.” he says shyly. Your heart melts at his sweetness. “Now that you mention it, the wound on my leg is closed. Was this your doing?” you ask. Somun laughs, “That’s Miss Chu’s doing.” You let out a silent ‘Ohh’ and laugh. While laughing, you grab your stomach and wince in pain. Somun places his hand on top of your free hand in a hurry, “Are you okay? You shouldn’t be laughing too much” he says. Your face lights up with a shade of red. “Yes, I’m okay. Thank you Somun. I can ask Miss Chu to heal my stomach.” After you assure him that you are okay, you expect him to move his hand away from yours out of relief, but instead he keeps in there, looking into your eyes. You look at him with a slight turn of your neck and furrowed eyebrows. “What?” you ask him. Somun looks away shyly. “You…” you tilt your head further “You look beautiful.” Your heart skips a beat at his words. This is so odd coming from him. Somun has always been kind towards you, but you’ve never seen him this sentimental or even affectionate. Maybe seeing you last night worried him. You are always worrying about him since he’s the strongest on the team. You smile, but before you can say anything, Somun slightly leans in while looking at your lips. You take a moment, but you lean in as well. The atmosphere is thick, but you feel so comfortable and safe with him by your side. “This is it! He’s going to kiss me!” you think silently. Just after you close your eyes, the door bursts open.

“Goodmorning, sleepy heads!” Chairman Choi walks in interrupting your moment. You two pull away, before your lips can even touch. Choi yells and slams the door. He’s apologizing outside of the door. Miss Chu and Motak rush out, thinking something serious has happened. You hear the muffled voices of the adults outside the door. “They-They we’re about to kiss!” the Chairman yells out. Miss Chu and Motak yell in unison. “WHAT?” you can hear them scurrying around in a panic. You and Somun stare blankly at each other, then let out a silent laugh. You two take a moment to collect yourselves. He then helps you out of bed to have Miss Chu heal your stomach. Stepping out, Miss Chu starts apologizing over and over again. “Ah! I’m so sorry Y/N! I totally forgot about your stomach, I’ll-” you cut her off. “It’s okay Miss Chu. Thank you for everything.” Miss Chu smiles, then places her hands over your stomach. You whine as you can feel the bones in your ribcage mending back together. About 20 seconds pass by and you are back to normal. “Thank you Miss Chu! What would I do without you?” you say through a smile. She then gives you a hug and pats your head, “Let’s eat breakfast now that you’re awake!”

Chairman Choi sits the final plate on the table and then takes a seat. The air is insanely thick. Hana is out this morning on a 10 mile run, so this leaves you, Somun and the adults. You all eat in silence, contradictory to the loud and energetic meals you all normally have. “Kids.” Motak speaks up after about 15 minutes of silence. You and Somun both look up from your bowls. Even though you two are both 20 years old, to Motak, you two are babies. You for sure thought you were gonna be in trouble. “You two go out and spend the day together. If any spirits come, we will take care of them.” he says. You won’t reject this offer. Usually Motak is very serious about everyone being at the noodle shop, ready to fight whenever. You and Somun nod slowly, in slight confusion, but stand up to walk to your rooms to begin getting ready for your first official date.

You walk inside and immediately head to your vanity desk. While picking up your brushes you realize that Somun has never seen you with makeup, let alone any of the counters. You turn on your favorite song and begin your makeup. “Perfect!” you say while applying the last swipe of lip gloss. You smile at yourself in the mirror and play with your hair to make sure you have no flyaways. You want to impress him, and make sure you two have a good night. You give yourself one final smile in the mirror and head towards your closet. It’s early spring, so you choose to wear a black skirt, a black and white striped sweater, and knee high boots. It’ll keep you warm but not too warm. You walk over and spray your favorite perfume and throw on some minimal jewelry to compliment the outfit. You take one final glance in the mirror. You haven’t felt beautiful ever since you started this job. Usually you are all cut up and worn out. But today, you finally have the chance to treat and care for yourself. You take a deep breath in, and as soon as you exhale there’s a knock on your door. You didn’t feel nervous until you heard the knock. You take one more breath and reach for the handle. You open it up and see Somun standing, waiting for you. You two stare at each other then smile. Miss Chu and Motak are not-so-secretly watching behind the kitchen curtains. “You look nice.” you speak up. Somun smiles and throws his head down. “You look beautiful.” he says to you with glistening eyes. “Way to one up me!” you say jokingly. He laughs and motions for you to follow him. “Motak and Miss Chu, we see you staring at us!” you yell across the lobby. They quickly shut the curtains, pretending like nothing happened. “Okay okay, we’ll see you later!” Somun shouts. “Have fun and be safe!” Miss Chu says through the curtains. You and Somun nod and make your way out onto the busy streets of Jungjin.

----------—-----------------------------------

You and Somun find yourself walking around a modern art museum, admiring the art. You recommended this, knowing how much he loves to draw. After walking and talking for hours at the art gallery, listening to Somun explain every painting in immense detail, you are starting to feel tired. You have the idea to go to a cafe and sit down for a bit over coffee. He nods in agreement and you walk to the nearest coffee shop you see.

Time flies by when you’re with Somun. The 3 hours at the art gallery and the 3 hours you’ve spent talking with each other has felt like 5 minutes. You notice the sun starting to set. “Somun, should we head home? It’s starting to get late.” you suggest. “I have one more place I want to go.” You nod your head and follow him out of the cafe doors.

“Where are we going? We’ve been walking for 30 minutes, and these shoes are really uncomfortable” you whine. Somun laughs, “Don’t worry, we are almost there. Cover your eyes.” You are confused, “Why do I have to cover my eyes? It’s already dark out.” you complain. “Shh, just trust me.” Somun says putting both of his hands over your eyes. You sigh and continue walking for about another 2 minutes until Somun stops. “We’re here.” he whispers. You feel hesitant to open your eyes, you have no clue where you could be. He notices this. “Don’t worry, Y/N. Just open your eyes.”

You open your eyes and are met with the beautiful shining skyline of Jungjin. You gasp and turn towards Somun smiling. You turn your attention back towards the city, admiring its beauty. Somun is admiring you and how happy you look. He suddenly grabs your hand and leads you to the top of a rock. Where did this sudden confidence come from? You ask yourself. But hey, you won’t complain. You two sit down on the ledge of the rock, admiring your hometown. You have never seen something this beautiful before. Tears start to fill your eyes. “Thank you, Somun.” you say turning to him. Somun smiles, looking into your eyes. You two lock eye contact, and you both start to gravitate towards each other. Somun cups your cheek with his hand and presses his lips against yours. You cup his hand with your own and kiss him back. He pulls away and looks into your eyes. “Y/N, I need to talk to you about something.” he says in a raspy whisper. You tilt your head replying, “What is it?” Somun looks away at the city for a few seconds and back at you, grabbing your hands in his. “I like you… a lot.” he says. Your heart skips a beat and you look at him with wide eyes. You quickly grab his face and lean in, smashing your lips against his. His hand is under your ear as you two share this passionate experience. You pull away this time, “Somun. I’ve liked you since day 1. When me and Eunjeong came into the shop. I was head over heels for you at first glance.” you confess. Somun blushes and tilts his head back. “I did too. Motak and Hana wouldn’t stop teasing me for the rest of the day.” he says. You laugh and playfully hit his shoulder. “I like you so much.” he confesses again. He kisses your forehead, then stands up, reaching out his hand. You accept his hand and you two begin walking home, fingers intertwined.

---—————- next morning —------———-

You wake up the next morning with Somun cuddled against you. You turn your head and admire him. You smile and place a soft kiss on his lips before getting up to head to the kitchen. When you open the door, Miss Chu, Motak and Hana all come falling in. You stare at them laying by your feet. “Woah! How did we end up here?” Motak asks in an attempt to save themselves from their stalker-ish tendencies. You are surprised to see Hana there as well. “Good Morning guys.” you say in a flat voice. “Ah, Ah! Good Morning!” Miss Chu says while getting to her feet. “We didn’t hear you come in last night, we just wanted to check up and make sure you and Somun were okay!” You laugh and roll your eyes. “Yes Miss Chu, the date went well.” you say. She looks at you awkwardly as they all scurry away. You laugh as you follow them into the kitchen for breakfast. Miss Chu has prepared Gyeran bap, one of your favorite dishes. You all sit down and begin eating when you all hear a door creak open. There stands Somun with squinted eyes and messy hair. You can’t help but laugh at his cuteness. But you look around and notice everyone also staring at him. You furrow your eyebrows in confusion until you glance at him one more time. Red lipstick is smeared all over his face. Motak and Hana bust out laughing and you cover your face out of embarrassment. “I guess the date did go well!” Motak exclaims while giving Miss Chu a high five. Somun tilts his head then turns to the mirror beside him. His eyes widen and his face immediately turns red. He runs back into your room and slams the door. Through laughter, Motak raises your hand and yells, “Congrats to our new couple!” you shove your face into the table to avoid the embarrassment once again.

Somun walks out again, lip stick free, “Are you guys bothering my girlfriend?” he asks. You two didn’t have the official “boyfriend and girlfriend” talk but it’s pretty obvious what you two are after last night's confession. The table swoons “Ooooo” and you keep your face hidden. Somun walks up to you and places a kiss on the hands that are covering your red face. “Yes everyone, the date went well. Y/N is my girlfriend.” he speaks up. You love Somuns confidence, but at times like this, you hate it. You eventually remove your hands from your face and look at everyone. You expected them to be laughing in your face saying things like “You’re dating THAT?” but instead you find them smiling and supporting you two. “You guys are cute.” Hana speaks up. Hana is not the type to express emotion, so when she does, you know that it’s genuine. Motak pats Somuns back with a little too much force and laughs. You stand up and motion for Somun to take a seat. He sits down and you walk to the kitchen to get him some breakfast. You sit the bowl down on the table and rub his shoulder and kiss him on the cheek, in hopes of embarrassing him. “Here you go, my love.” you say. The table swoons again and Somun whines out in embarrassment. You laugh and sit down, joining everyone for breakfast.

You feel safe and supported when with your team. You are beyond lucky to have met such wonderful people. But, you are particularly grateful to have met Somun, your boyfriend. They welcomed you in with open arms and stuck to their word to protect you. They have saved your life countless times, but you wouldn’t trade the world for it. You save others and this is what makes you happy. But you’re glad that you have a loving and supporting family beside you.

And you wouldn’t want it any other way.

#my writing #fanfiction #fanfic #kdrama #uncanny counter #so mun #so mun x reader #netflix #jo byeong gyu #ga mo tak #do hana #kim sejeong #x reader #fluff #slow burn #angst #happy ending #romance #action

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comicaurora · 5 months

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Hiya Red! ♥️

This is in regards to something you mentioned about the OST of Last Unicorn.

I love that film and have watched it many, *many* times! And - like you - I always found the duet distinctly... off. I never could pin down why, I just knew it made me uncomfortable and didn't seem to fit. With the movie or even just the rest of the soundtrack. But when you discribed it as 'out of the singers' range' I had something of an epiphany and I couldn't help but wonder what you'd think of it, so here I am. 😆

What *if* that is actually sneaky characterisation/commentary on the romantic subplot? I mean, this whole soundtrack is so well put together I feel like it has to be intentional, right?

The way I see it both singers are straining just like the characters are, for something that is just out of their reach. And also isn't really right for them. And I feel like on some level they know it. That, I think, is why the climax of the song is particularly discordant. It's to signify that them coming together, as they are doing in the scene, is wrong. For them as people and for the story at large.

Dunno. Just my two cents.

I would love to hear your thoughts on it. IF you have the time and energy to spare! No stress! Most of all I just wanted to let you know about a possible (maybe?) reason for this weird thing, just in case it kept bothering you. (As a fellow ADHD brain I know it be like that sometimes. 😄)

Thank you so much for all your hard work! Love your channel so much! You guys are the best!! And can't wait to see your next stream! (You gotta save my giiiirl!!! 😭🐉)

💖💖💖

Tbh I kinda doubt they'd intentionally make music that sounds bad to do that, when there are many musically pleasing ways to signal that a romantic duet is between characters that are actually incompatible - even things like Love is an Open Door, where "we finish each other's-" "sandwiches!" "That's what I was gonna say!" helpfully hints that Hans is fluidly saying whatever he needs to in order to appeal to Anna without making the audience's ears hurt. One of the more impactful bits of the Death Note musical is that Misa keeps trying to have a romantic duet with Light and Light is much too busy having homoerotic duets with L instead, so Misa ends up basically belting a solo over the much more synced-up music of the dynamic duo. It's a musically pleasing way to signal which characters are in sync and which ones aren't. Several songs in Wicked do this too, like in Dancing Through Life where the romantic duo declare that since they're both perfect they must be perfect together, or the song that basically says "I must be happy, because happy is what happens when all your dreams come true."

I think the main thing that makes that duet not work is that it's one of the only parts of the OST that's sung by the main voice cast rather than a professional singer. The composition is solid, but it kinda sounded like it wasn't composed with their personal ranges in mind - possibly composed before they were cast. They could've done what disney was doing - cast a singer for the character songs and a separate voice actor for the dialogue - which they apparently did in the theatrical release, having Kate Irving sing instead of Mia Farrow, but they didn't for the video release, so the voice actors have to just try their best, possibly with only one or two takes to do it in, and the end result is a bit of a mess.

#asks #not aurora

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berryhobii · 7 months

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I love your masterlist! I definitely can see myself visiting it frequently lol. Your work has so much return value I feel! If you don’t mind I would like to request something :) I feel that most writers like to do the “Yoongi and studio sex” scenario and I would love to see how you go about writing it. Like adding your own style and taste. It could be like Producer Yoongi x Producer/Artist Reader or even as simple as an established relationship but either way I just want see how you would write it 😩. No rush and if you don’t feel like doing it I completely understand lol I know you have a few other things you are working on. 🫶🏽

Thanks so much for request! I actually had 2 ideas for this but I went with this one. I’ll probably post the other as well once I make a few changes to it . If you haven’t already read Reconnect, please do! It’s another studio sex fic I wrote about Yoongi. Please enjoy and leave feedback if you want!🩵🩵🩵

“That’s good, y/n. We got that in one take. Good work.”

You gave them a a thumbs up. “Thank you.” Removing your headphones, you placed them on the microphone before stepping out of the recording booth.

You met your manager on the other side of the door who handed you a water bottle.

“Let’s take a lunch break. We’ll start on your new OST after.” She said. You nodded, giving a bow to the producers working with you and thanking them for their hard work.

Once alone in the studio, you went over to your purse to retrieve your phone, finding a text message on your screen from 10 minutes ago from your fiancé.

Sweets💕

Wanna have lunch?

Did he even have to ask?

You grabbed your purse, exiting the studio and starting your walk down the hall. As you traveled, you admired the multiple records that line the walls, smiling when you caught a few of yours. It’s been a long journey from where you started to where you were now.

Starting as a street performer barely making ends meet, your dreams seemed impossible to reach. You worked multiple part time jobs just to keep your teeny tiny apartment. Your parents had tried tirelessly to convince you to go to school and maybe marry into a stable family that could support you but that’s not what you wanted. Singing was your passion. It was what you were meant to do.

So when you were scouted during one of your performances by a major label, you could have jumped for joy(you did alone in your room later). Your luck was finally turning around! Trainee days came and went and you were ready for debut. You climbed to the top quickly with your angelic vocals, dominating the charts and becoming the jeweled voice of your company. You were most known for your multiple OST’s for dramas and television. You even had some producer credits on a few tracks. The career you lived was very fulfilling and joyous for you. You wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Luckily, fame and fortune wasn’t the only thing you got out of your career.

Stopping in front of a familiar door, you punched the code on the pin pad in, waiting for the beep before it opened.

“Knock knock.” You called once you peeked your head inside.

In a huge rolling chair, there your fiancé sat. He had his headphones on so he didn’t hear your voice.

Closing the door softly behind you, you creeped up to his desk. He seemed to be mixing some beats together, pale hands working over his keyboard. On a regular day, you’d scare the hell out of him but you were feeling incredibly good today so you just waved your hand in his peripheral.

He didn’t startle, simply turning his head to look up at you. His smile was sweet as he moved his headphones to around his neck.

“Hey. Ready for lunch?”

You leaned your butt against his desk. “Yup. What ‘cha working on?”

He leaned back in his chair, gaze running up and down your body. With the weather getting hotter, you’ve been wearing more skirts and dresses. He didn’t get a chance to see your full outfit this morning since you left before him. Under the haziness of sleep, he felt you press a kiss to his forehead and promised you’d see him later.

A part of him is a little happy he didn’t see you because he wouldn’t have let you leave the house without getting a taste of that sweet little pussy, especially if he were to see you in that tiny denim skirt.

His eyes traveled up the thickness of your ebony thighs up to the simple tank top you wore. With your jacket shoot for your new album already done, you were trying out new braid styles. This time were French curl braids in a light brown color. He honestly loved them, the full curls towards the ends made you look all fluffy and cute.

He patted his lap, beckoning you forward and how could you deny some intimate cuddles with your fiancé?

You pushed yourself off his desk, moving to sit on his lap. His chair was big enough for you to comfortably rest your knees on each side of his thighs. His hands immediately gravitated towards your ass, pulling you closer and your arms wrapped around his neck.

“Just some beats for my mixtape but I’m not feeling super inspired. I might go see if Namjoon needs any help. What about you? Are you done for the day?”

“I finished the last song for my album.” You informed. His eyebrows raised in acknowledgment.

“One take?”

You grinned. “You know it.” He lifted his hand to give you a high five, eyes staring at you with pride and adoration.

“That’s my girl.”

“Hmm. I like the sound of that.” You pressed a light kiss to his lips and he tried to chase you.

A light spank to your ass cheek. “Yeah?” His soft lips kissed at your collarbone, hands feeling up your ass and running up your back. His hands pushed your skirt up, letting out a groan as he gripped your full globes in his palms.

“Fuck. This ass is amazing.” He grunted, making a noise when he met bare cheeks. “Were you walking around with just panties under this?”

You shrugged one shoulder. “I was only recording today.“

“So you walk around with your bare ass out?” Not that he didn’t love it. Just meant easier access for him.

You jumped a little when you felt his fingers graze over your clothed heat. You also felt something poking you….

“Min Yoongi.” You sighed out his name with feigned annoyance, running your fingers through his hair. You couldn’t deny the rush that went down your body. It’s been a little while since you two have had some alone time. Your busy schedules often conflicted and when you did get home, you’d shower and pass out before anything could really start.

“Come on, baby. Just let me eat it. I’ll be quick. I swear.”

You rolled your eyes. “Yeah right. You only say you swear when you know you aren’t gonna take it seriously. If you were serious, you’d promise.” You knew him way too well. You learned the hard way about Yoongi’s secret meanings. Does he know how many meetings you’ve been late to because he swore he’d finish quick? You almost missed that opportunity with Cartier because he wouldn’t budge from between your thighs.

While sex with your fiancé was amazing, he liked to prolong your love making which meant quickies practically didn’t exist between you two. His stamina was unmatched, a sharp contrast to his sluggish and slightly indifferent personality. If he got started, there was no way you’d be done by the time lunch was over. And you were incredibly weak to his charms so you knew you’d fold and let him continue.

“Come on.” He urged, pressing a kiss to your weak spot on your throat making you sigh. Your nails scratched at his undercut. He recently got it done and you were obsessed. Although, you did miss his longer hair but this was a wonderful alternative. “I’ll do anything.”

“Welllllll, I guess we can miss lunch if….”

“If?”

“If you make dinner tonight.”

He leaned back a little to stare into your mischievous eyes, that adorable smile on your face. He couldn’t say no to you. Well, sometimes.

“I’ll make you whatever you want. So please?” You loved hearing him be all needy. It stroked your ego a little to know just how desperate he was for you. It was hard to resist.

“Fine. Hurry. These panties are uncomfortable.”

A deep groan rumbled in his throat and before you knew it, you were being hauled up on his desk. Your hands fumbled to stabilize yourself, a laugh bubbling in your throat.

“Someone’s horny.” You bit your lip.

His dark eyes stared up at your from between your legs making a tingle go down your body. He looked ready to devour you and something told you he was about to.

“Always for you.” He mumbled, running his hands up the insides of your thighs, placing some soft kisses and bites to the skin.

Your panties were off in the next minute, your bare cunt on display for him, already glistening and wet. Truthfully, you’ve been horny since you started walking to his studio. Thank goodness he was just as desperate for you as you were for him.

Yoongi wasted no time in diving between your thighs, licking a stripe up your slit to your sensitive little pearl. You sighed, finally getting a little relief.

His tongue danced on your clit, flicking the tip of the muscle against you.

Your hand buried in his hair, holding his bangs back so you get a good view. His eyes were closed, savoring the sweetness of your cunt. Yoongi doesn’t think he’s ever been more obsessed with pussy until he met you. You were always ready for him, ready to spread your legs whenever he wanted you.

“Ahhhh, Yoongi.” You hissed when he delivered a harsh suck to your clit.

He moved to grip your thighs, pulling your dripping cunt closer to his mouth before going absolutely crazy.

He rapidly shook his head back and forth against your pussy, slurping and sucking like a man starved.

Your moan was loud, the heels of your wedges digging into his upper back but you were careful of his shoulder. The fingers you tangled in his hair kept him buried in your core.

“Yoongi! Fuck!”

He pulled back from your cunt, lips and cheeks glistening with your arousal. “I love this juicy fucking cunt.” He growled before diving back in, sucking your clit between his pink lips. The sound of his gruff voice propelled you right to edge of that pleasurable cliff.

“I’m gonna cum, I’m gonna cum. Oh my god!”

He didn’t relent, focusing all of his attention on your bud and that was enough to hurtle you into orgasm. His eyes lifted to stare at you, his own cock hardening at your pleasured face—mouth dropped open, cat like eyes misty. You were stunning.

His movements slowed, licking you through your orgasm until you shuddered as overstimulation prickled at you.

Pulling away, he waited for you to come down, massaging your shaking thighs until you were ready.

“Damn.” You panted. “You do that too well. It feels….illegal almost.”

He grinned. “Why thank you. Now could you please sit on my cock before I explode.”

“Gladly.”

Pants around his ankles and you facing away from him in his lap, you rode his cock like a seasoned professional. Your hands were braced against his desk, feet held together and head dropped forward as his cock stretched you open.

Yoongi gritted his teeth as your slick walls slid up and down his cock. He couldn’t take his eyes away from your plump ass and creamy cunt, the wet slap and squelch of your movements sending him into a frenzy.

His palm came down on your ass, a gasp coming from your throat at the sting. “Y-yoon….”

Both of his hands gripped your waist, pulling you down harder onto him. “That’s it, baby.”

You were already close again, his cock rubbing up against every sensitive spot inside of you. Every inch of your skin was covered in sweat, your legs quivering from exertion. Thank goodness for all that Pilates and yoga or your knees would have given out a long time ago.

Yoongi thrusted his hips up to meet yours, a loud moan passing your lips as his cock hit deeper.

You felt him move and you were hauled to your feet, one of his hands pressing your chest into his desk. Your stiletto nails clawed at the wood, leaving slight indents as he began plowing into your squishy cunt. Drool leaked down the side of your mouth leaving a puddle against his desk.

You bit your lip hard enough to bleed, knees shaking as your orgasm neared. His balls smacked against your throbbing clit with each thrust, sending little tingles through you.

Yoongi tossed his head back, hips clapping against your ass, his spine tingling and balls drawing up as he felt ready to cum.

Your hands reached back to spread both of your ass cheeks, giving him a better view of his cock penetrating your walls. He could have cried from how perfect you were.

“Shit….cumming baby.”

“I want it, Yoon. I’m gonna cum.”

A few more thrusts and both of you were hurtling off the edge. Yoongi held you hard enough to bruise, pushing his entire cock into your convulsing walls. You scrambled to grab something on his desk, his keyboard and a few pens clattering and falling to the ground but you’d worry about that later.

Hot spurts of cum filled splashed against your walls, your cunt milking him for everything he had. He huffed as he gave you a few more weak strokes before pulling out and flopping down to his chair. You remained bent over on his desk, trying to catch your breath.

“Are you okay?” He asked as he reached out for you. You sighed at the feeling of his warm hands gently rubbing at your skin.

“I’m fine. I’m starving though.” You lifted yourself up on shaky legs, mentally cursing yourself for keeping your shoes on. It’s like you wanted to fall over.

He watched you carefully, gulping as milky white streams began to leak out of you, running down your legs and he felt his cock twitch again.

You did say you two could skip lunch if he made dinner…..and there was still 10 minutes of lunch time…

A hand on your back pushed you down to your previous position, a squeak a surprise coming from you followed by a moan as you felt his lips back on your clit.

“Min Yoongi! I have to go back to recording!”

Using his hands to spread your cunt open, he licked his lips at the sight of your pink opening winking at him and pushing more of his cum out.

“I’ll be quick. I swear.”

#bts #bts smut #bts x black reader #yoongi smut #bts fic #bts imagines #askberryhobii

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jedimandalorian · 9 months

Text

Ahsoka- Notes on Episode 2 and Kiner’s musical score made by a Sabezra shipper. (You’ve been warned.)

Ahsoka hears voices. She seems to be hearing Sabine’s dream. Sabine is dreaming of Ezra once again. A fragmented rendition of Ezra’s theme can be heard very briefly along with the voices in the dream, but the music is mostly mysterious and unrelated to any other character’s theme.

Baylan & Shin at the stone circle. The end of this track reminds me of purrgil song. I didn’t see them until someone pointed them out in this screenshot.

Lothal tower. Ahsoka hears voices from the past (Sabine vs. Shin fight). Ahsoka’s theme (fragment). Flute plays during loth-cat’s appearance.

Ahsoka inside the tower scene: Music from the Clone Wars is heard. [Edit: It’s from Rebels.] A quiet quotation of Ezra’s Theme is played by the cello when his hologram is activated. Ahsoka destroys assassin droid.

Hospital scene with Sabine trying to recover the droid’s memory. “It’s now or never” is a line that Sabine says that was spoken by both Ezra and Sabine in Rebels. Hera’s Theme can be heard when she tells Sabine “You did good.”

Morgan arrives at the stone circle. Morgan opens the star map for Baylan & Shin. Mostly new musical material here. Thrawn’s theme is heard when Morgan mentions him. There is purrgil imagery in this scene and the first mention of the Eye of Sion. Sinister and mysterious music is used here with a big crescendo to end the scene.

Ahsoka arrives on Corellia. Incidental music here does not use familiar themes until Hera asks Ahsoka to teach Sabine again. The music here is based on Ahsoka’s Theme until Hera asks that question.

Sabine & Huyang and the lightsaber. Sabine says it is “Ezra’s lightsaber.” Huyang says it is hers now. No music during most of the conversation. Sabine says she does not have the talent “like Ezra.” We finally hear Sabine’s Theme when Huyang says “The only time you are wasting is your own.”

Hera & Ahsoka on Corellia. Incidental music doesn’t make use of familiar themes until we hear the first three notes of Ahsoka’s Theme when she leaps out of the window. Fight with Inquisitor and droid. Hera & Chopper in pursuit of stolen SSD hyperdrive. Action sequences have new incidental music.

Sabine returns to the tower. Sabine’s Theme is heard as she lays out her armor. After she cuts her hair the first two notes of Ezra’s Theme crescendo as the scene changes.

Hera, Chopper, & Ahsoka on Corellia. Ahsoka gets a holo from Sabine saying that she’s ready. This is new incidental music until Hera’s theme is heard as she watches Ahsoka’s ship leaving at the end of the scene.

Sabine at the mural. This is new music until Sabine walks toward Ahsoka. A subtle rendition of Ezra’s theme is heard here. From NLB’s acting and the music we know she’s going on this quest because of Ezra. ❤️

Ahsoka & Sabine depart. Segue to the Eye of Sion under construction. Morgan mentions Thrawn and his theme is quoted briefly under her dialogue. The other music used is new.

End credits music: Intro, Sabine’s Theme, Ahsoka’s Theme, Hera’s Theme, and a reprise of Ahsoka’s Theme.

When they find Ezra and Thrawn I hope we hear more of their themes used with the end credits. I loved how Kiner sometimes changed the end credits Music for Rebels to fit with the mood of the episode. I hope he will do that in this series too.

Bonus: a new arrangement of the End Titles Music.

#sabine wren #ezra bridger #star wars #ahsoka series #sabezra #ahsoka tano #star wars rebels #ezrabine #hera syndulla #kevin kiner #chopper #morgan elsbeth #baylan skoll #shin hati #thrawn

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beautifulpersonpeach · 5 months

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Random question for you bpp just for fun, if you could have each member do a cover of another members solo song what would you choose? You can include their bts solos and previous mixtapes etc since we haven't got a lot to work with for all members during chapter 2 yet.

***

Hmmm.

Namjoon -> STOP by j-hope.

Joon would absolutely body that boom bap Fugees beat. He likes to channel Biggie sometimes so I'd love to get his take on it.

Seokjin -> Joke by RM

I'm kinda convinced Jin secretly knows how to rap. He's not excellent at it, but I think he's not far behind Jungkook in skill and for k-pop rap that's pretty decent. I also want to see Jin attempt to rap Joke, for the jokes. :)

Yoongi -> Your Eyes Tell by BTS (composed/written by JK)

I want to hear Yoongi's take on this OST made by Jungkook, so a remix and/or cover that includes more rap verses by Yoongi.

Hoseok -> Filter by Jimin

If he were to rejig the beat I imagine he'd add more bass and stronger percussion to give the song an added oomph. Hobi, like Jimin, really shines on Latin beats so I want to hear his take.

Jimin -> Amygdala by Agust D

This was the hardest selection because although I knew I wanted a Yoongi track for Jimin, there were too many options still. I'm going with Amygdala but I want to hear Jimin's take on it in one particular format only - I want a stripped back, acoustic type cover with only a guitar, a loop station, some reverb, and Jimin.

Taehyung -> Somebody by Jungkook

This is the sort of song I expected on KTH1 or what eventually became Layover. Taehyung shines on pop R&B tracks and I think the first verse that starts with Jungkook's voice pitched all the way down will sound really good in Taehyung's voice.

Jung Kook -> Face-off by Jimin

I want to hear this song in his 'main pop boy' voice. That's it.

#bts #namjoon #seokjin #yoongi #hoseok #jimin #taehyung #jungkook

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pookacangetit · 2 years

Text

A Series of Sumeru Mishaps [Double Trouble SAGAU]

A body double takes on the land of wisdom and dreams. Meanwhile, the ordinary and extraordinary folk alike are swept into the maelstorm of chaos that is their Creator's 'international ambassador'.

Aka the -Sumeru 3.0 update consumed me like fungi so here we are- special edition. Also known as -Tighnari didn't come home and threw a Jean at me so I'm venting- edition.

MASTERLIST

Sumeru was brimming with both life and death, which you came to learn when you stumbled onto a patch of land reeking of absolute corruption. It was a horrifying yet heartbreaking sight, where the vitality of nature was poisoned by the strange red plants, the air itself suffocated your lungs with the stench of death.

"This looks really terrifying realistically..." You murmured, about to bolt the other way when you noticed something peculiar and green dogging your footsteps, "Huh?"

Patches of fresh grass trailed behind you, like you had purified the very land you stepped on. It was quickly overtaken by the withering again but you had enough time to process what you just saw.

"... can I simply stomp out those withering tumors?"

✾~✾~✾

"Someone already dealt with the withering zone in the southeast?" Tighnari questioned, ears standing rigid in his confusion as he stared at the forest ranger.

"Huh, how strange... whoever our little helper is they are either unfortunate enough to stumble into the withering zone or foolish enough to deal with it on their own." Tighnari didn't mince his words.

In the back of Tighnari's mind, he wondered if this had any connection to the appearance of the Creator's sibling before he shook his head. While the sibling has proven themselves to be highly troublesome- the sibling's tendency to tackle and cuddle the wildlife instantly came to mind- they wouldn't be that reckless, right?

Right???

Somewhere, a sneeze sounded from amongst a cuddle pile consisting of Rishboland tigers and a tired body double.

The customers of Lambad's tavern have grown used to the sight of the Creator's international ambassador lounging around like a sun-tanning cat. What they haven't grown used to, however, was the utter strangeness of their actions.

Every evening, the ambassador would walk into the tavern and take the empty table in the far corner. Ordering only a drink and dessert, they would blankly stare at the wall for hours before they leave.

One day, Lambad decided to finally ask about his strange customer's behaviour- it wasn't because several concerned customers gave him an exorcist’s phone number, of course not-.

The answer Lambad received only unnerved him even further.

"Oh, the music for your tavern is quite soothing to listen to." The ambassador replied nonchalantly.

Somehow, Lambad felt cold amidst the warm atmosphere of his own tavern.

The tavern owner stumbled, confused and a little terrified, "But- the tavern doesn't play music?"

A cryptid smile was his final answer, and Lambad ran away under the guise of getting more food. The ambassador's humming haunted his retreating figure.

The gossip rushing through Sumeru that evening only strengthened the rumours of a 'mad foreigner' or 'the Creator hears the music of the winds, serenaded by the adoring Anemo Archon'.

Surprisingly enough, those two rumours never got connected to one another.

✾~✾~✾

"As the Creator's ambassador and body double you must be aware of the dangers the rainforest presents, correct?" Tighnari's ears twitched in irritation as you guiltily knelt dogeza-style before him.

"So why would you fool-hardily run to a ruin drake and let it attack you? Have you lost your sense of awareness? Did you perhaps eat one of those mushrooms I specifically told you not to?"

The forest ranger's calm voice took an underlining growl, stifling his instincts to lock you in his room and prevent you from running headfirst into danger.

Perhaps you won't notice if your injuries took you a little longer to heal?

"... OST."

Tighnari snapped out of his thoughts, "Pardon?"

You sheepishly avoided his stern gaze, "The battle OST was so good that I have the habit of... finding new enemies just to listen to it?"

"... so you did eat those hallucinogenic mushrooms."

✾~✾~✾

Port Ormos was no stranger to eccentric individuals, especially since it readily welcomes and houses Akademiya students who had to trade their genius minds for something- if you'd questioned the older folk around the docks, they would tell you of a strange Akademiya student who used to come around the evening to throw bags into the river while cackling. It was only after that student's expulsion did people realised those bags he threw were his failed experiments: dead mice, dead fungi, missing people, etc.-

It was quite normal to see a student from the Akademiya having an existential crisis or being arrested in public. But the person wildly dancing in the middle of the street was not from the Akademiya.

In fact, the madman strangely resembled the tiny memorial statues of the Creator.

"Mom, is that person alright?" A young boy innocently pointed at the twirling figure.

His mother quickly ushered him away, "Ignore them, sweetie, and pray to the Creator that their troubled soul is laid to rest."

"If fungi bad, why cute?" Arapaha had no idea how to deal with the Rainbow Not-Nara. The trees had welcomed the Not-Nara with wealthy growth, the winds joyously sang and the waters have turned a pure blue for the return of the Rainbow Not-Nara.

And yet-

"Release the bad shroom-kin, Rainbow Not-Nara! Shroom-kin bad, and not cute!" Aragana, their youngest, fumed, bouncing as they angrily waved their stick at the Rainbow Not-Nara.

This particular group of Aranara had stumbled upon their Rainbow Not-Nara by accident, having followed the sound of someone singing Arana's music off-key.

They expected to find the Golden Nara and Paimon, though the Golden Nara's singing was more harmonious and deeper than this particular voice.

The Rainbow Not-Nara choking cuddling a group of fungi in the middle of a cave was certainly not what they expected to find.

The Rainbow Not-Nara's aura turned gloomy, like blackened skies and red cubes descending, as their grasp around the unusually still fungi tightened, "Fungi is cute!"

"That's not true!" Aragana blustered, "Aragana is way more good than that bad shroom-kin! A-And way more cuter!"

Silence descended upon the clearing.

"Aragana, if you wanted me to hold you too you could've just say so..." Rainbow Not-Nara spoke gently, like dewdrops upon the fragile leaves in the midst of a rainstorm, loosening their grip to make room for the stuttering Aranara.

The fungus made its move at that very moment.

"AHHH BAD SHROOM-KIN!! RELEASE THE RAINBOW NOT-NARA'S FACE BAD SHROOM-"

You: it's an onion

Doppelgänger: for the last time it's a tree-

You: *waves at the Tree of Dreams* it's just a gigantic space onion, you can't change my mind

Doppelgänger: You- Traveler, tell them!

Traveler: ... Paimon thought it was a giant onion when we found it too

Paimon: You traitor! You asked that Aranara if the tree was edible!

#genshin impact #genshin scenarios #genshin imposter au #genshin sagau #double trouble sagau #genshin sumeru #local shroom man refuses to come home and I have geo grandpa's weapon but no geo grandpa #update geo grandpa's last living child gets the weapon

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temporarilyunstable · 9 months

Text

it's a monster of a ppp essay

Finally writing about this film I’ve pretty much obsessed over for months! Hopefully I can put some order into this but in case I ramble you have been warned lol. Spoilers will be discussed.

I first saw this film in Japan on opening day— prior to that I tried to gather as much information as I could via JP tweets and impressions, especially those of the pre-golden week screening on April 29, then adding more info as soon as spoilers were lifted to increase my understanding. And now a couple of months later, I finally have full context, but really happy that most of the information I got was accurate, and the only details that I had to clear up were related to the more complex elements of the plot, plus the ever-important talk-no-jutsus (tnj) in the film.

If I were to give this film a score, it’s a 9/10. Prior to this, my fave iteration was case 3, being the ever-economic-just-over-an-hour-but-does-everything-right entry to the series. Maybe it’s my Akane bias but PPP just knocked that one right out of the park. The animation was great (I am not well-versed in this so you won’t hear me talk about it much), even if wonky Arata took me out despite the emotion in the scene. Voice acting, no one does it better than the JP actors, I will not be convinced otherwise. It’s my preference and frankly if you’ve never watched this in sub I do think you missed out. The music was TOP-TIER. I’ve not stopped listening to this OST ever since it came out, blessdt Ennio-Morricone-esque Is this your choice, Akane Tsunemori? track #27 CD2?!!?!??! *INHALE*

I can’t actually use technical film critic jargon here so in short, I LOVE this film so much.

A bit of background info from the recent interviews Director Shiotani participated during the roundtables/live stages in JP - the “switching” of the timelines were at the behest of the producers (Fuji TV), including the introduction of new characters, in order to continue the story indefinitely from a TV perspective (link). It was a ballsy move, and in hindsight it paid off, but not without its pitfalls which I will touch on later. PP3/FI was developed during PPSS, and PPP was developed during PP3/FI, so you can imagine the difficulty of making sure the creative team have crossed their t’s and dotted their i’s. That being said, apart from telling the story it wishes to tell, the purpose of this film was to tie the past to the present, and I think that they did it very well.

My thoughts are still evolving, but interestingly enough, most of my impressions haven’t changed. So I’ll talk about some elements of the plot that interest me, then I’ll go to specific characters, and ofc I’ll talk about the ship (not the Grootslang 😉).

There’s a clear three-parts to this film: up to Saiga’s death, up to Atsushi’s death, and Akane’s career death (if it is to be said, so it is lol). Each part had their pros and cons, but it’s quite a feat managing to squeeze all the information in. There was no dull moment for me.

I think the deaths here (especially of the characters we were supposed to care about)— the manner and speed in which they perished, and at a certain point in the film, all for nothing— were part of the point.

Before I watched this with subs I actually thought that it would be more difficult to understand, but I have to say that the nolan-esque expositions were well executed and nicely placed, for example the talk about possession between Kogami and Shion was a good prep for the audience for when we actually get to hear about how it works from Akira. Also a great way to show both Kogami’s detective skills that have not dulled the slightest, and his and Shion’s closeness(?/familiarity? Call it what you want). Another example is the Mika-team essentially telling the audience what’s about to happen prior to us seeing Sugo get things done in the sky (also I forgot he was just flying a drone and was out of harm’s way ehehe). I would say that the hardest parts to piece together have to do with the elements related to PP3, including the involvement of Bifrost. I’ll touch on this later.

I’ve talked about Saiga’s death to my friends way before the first trailer ever released. Him not being present in PP3 was the biggest clue, and not that I wanted it to happen, but it was necessary to raise the stakes and make it personal. As a fic writer, admittedly I’ve never been happier to be right 😅. His scenes with Akane and Kogami at the beginning of the film were standouts. I particularly love how Saiga and Akane are so at ease with having a simple conversation— they’re talking about work but he could so easily talk about his doubts regarding Atsushi, for example. I love how he’s the same with Kogami, how he clearly states his allegiance to Akane, and ofc reminding Kogami to apologize (and something else I picked up that I will discuss later).

I can say that despite the initial ridiculousness of the Divider/possession, the way it was explained was quite convincing to me compared to how they brushed over how Arata’s mentalist skills worked in PP3. Also, there’s kind soul from the JP fandom who attempted to explain how it could probably work irl (link). It’s creepy, if you think about it, and well-documented too. Have a read if you’re interested.

Action scenes, definitely a strong suit of this film - you just know they can’t help themselves sometimes LOL. Kogami v Akira is definitely the best one (RIP Kogami’s balls hihi), and I’ve said this before but they definitely have perfected Kogami’s animation when it comes to fighting, and he is always the most flawlessly animated, however I think they did Gino really well here too. There’s this other really wonky one where Sugo falls down the escalator and it just looks like he’s a solid object and not a human body asdlfkjaskldfj. Honestly I finally understood the critique that the Sugo drone scenes were definitely way too long (I didn’t notice this bec it was hella entertaining when you don’t have subs plus it was super fun if you watch it in 4dx/mx4d).

Really dropped the ball on the Stronskaya Papers imo. I think, for something that was meant to be so important, the exposition regarding its use was really a lazy excuse. “SEAUn essentially proved its value” ain’t gonna cut it. If this is something so important people choose to kill/die for, then the implications of it should have been shown to the audience, not told.

I only noticed after the third subbed rewatch, but to me, everyone is being measured against Akane in this film. I will elaborate later.

Sibyl as an AI

Finally, the little complication about using the term "AI" when describing the Sibyl System. When the first impressions of this came out, there were a LOT of dissatisfied JP fans. Until it was described as such in the film, since the system constitutes actual human brains, then the interpretation is that it is human. I’m not sure if this was a general interpretation btw, but since this is the first time the term “AI” was used to describe Sibyl, ofc it rubbed people the wrong way, especially bec it feels like the whole concept of Sibyl was retconned.

I somewhat agreed with this interpretation— I had always considered the Sibyl System as an independent character in this series, who was meant to be impartial but somehow acts/reacts as a human would— and it's not hard to think so, when you look at the way the system has acted and evolved throughout the show. At times, the system is shown to be curious, greedy, and even cruel. I am ofc talking about them as a whole and not their androids (Kasei, Misako, Chuan Han, Hosorogi, even the dude in Case 2, etc)— individual brains act as human with a CA constitution (so still slightly different from a normal human), that’s clearly shown in the series.

When I read about this through interviews of Director Shiotani, I didn’t quite get the full context as it was used in the film. My initial interpretation was that the system was human, but the mechanisms that make it work (the claws swapping brains supposedly without human intervention, the city/country-wide whole network/surveillance system, the immediate reaction to process a Dominator’s request, etc) were powered by AI. I thought that they used the term AI to update the terminology, since this technology is quickly becoming commonplace irl. Now I've seen PPP with subs and thought a bit more about it, I still somehow think this is the case but also, all things considered, the term AI also makes sense.

Bear with me as I try to break it down. The Sibyl System is a system that is bound by its raison d'être: the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people (very important: not all). To achieve this, it has taken over control of the lives of its citizens via the Psycho- Pass, a quantified measure of mental states/psychological tendencies and aptitudes— a supposedly objective measure. This includes law enforcement, as the system is able to predict an individual’s tendency to commit crime. We also know that the Sibyl system has auxiliary functions, like planning citizens’ lives or recommending the best option for the individual’s happiness, matchmaking, art/cultural/historical/religious control. Its role is very simple: assign the best possible job that one is most capable of (essentially eliminating non-productivity as a society), and through psycho-pass measurements, maintain/execute (criminal) law and order under the PSB. It can be implied that other non-criminal laws can’t be divorced from Sibyl, since its functions make all these possible within the confines of what Sibyl constitutes as “right” (and is implied,) based on the rule of law. Sorta like a chicken and egg situation, but the law, being at the base of it all. Sibyl came into legal force - it is, first and foremost, lawful.

Applying that to the definition of AI, we could say that at its inception, the law would be Sibyl’s code/algorithm, prior research (be it criminal/non-criminal data/aptitude/psychology/physio etc etc) and eventually its actual application is its data set, and the use of human brains as its processing mechanism. If we review how the system has "acted" so far, it's all consistent with the fulfillment of their purpose, EVEN if exceptions, limitations and anomalies exist.

A key concept that has been repeated in the show’s run is Sibyl’s “evolution”, which coincides with the same concept of AI “developing/learning automatically”. If I still have your attention, you will probably know that the main driver of Sibyl’s evolution has always been Akane, be it directly (S1, PP movie, PPP), or indirectly (PP2, PP3). This has been introduced from the start, with Sibyl itself acknowledging its imperfection, but insisting on the need to maintain its perceived perception in the interests of a peaceful society.

What makes it a bit contentious is the fact that the individual brains ARE very obviously still human - so I think that the “the Sibyl System is an AI” really feels off somehow, or at least conceptually feels like it should have been carefully defined rather than left up for interpretation, given what we’ve seen in the series thus far. In any case, here are some references to help you think about it and make your own interpretation.

World Affairs (OffiPro)

Genesis 1-2

Genesis 3-4

Characters - I’m just gonna put this disclaimer, basically if I quote something from the film please just understand that it’s mostly paraphrased.

Akira

Definitely one of my favorite additions to this massive cast. Not the first one to say it but what a shame (he’s so sexy UwU). He’s probably less complex of a character than Atsushi (oh we’ll get to him), since his motivations are not “heavy” enough for me to believe such a sacrifice. He volunteered to be a double agent, burned his face to prevent identification, took on the mental (physical, actually) load of the chips in his brain and for what? For the greater good? Where did we see that anywhere? It is implied that as an immigrant he’s had his fair share of exposure to wars/conflict - we all know this was the same case with characters like Kei and Maiko, for example, but if we’re simply relying on the context of this film, I got the impression that he was merely doing it for his brother.

Things I love:

Dropping the machine gun post shootout with Kogami, signaling that he has no intention to go that far (gonna talk about the other side of this coin in a bit)

RECITING THE GREAT ASO on top of that holo cliff *chills*

In the JP version, his very VERY noticeable voice change when he surrendered to Kogami and Gino

His “please take care of Kei” never fails to make my heart ache T-T AKIRAAAAAAAAAAA

Atsushi (& a bit of Yabuki)

One of the best characters in this film (who no one will invite in their wedding— oh the irony lol). I think that a good baseline from watching PP3/FI really helps appreciate him, though I didn’t actually care much if not for Niki making me notice in PP3 that there are conflicting accounts about him (a malicious one c/ o Obata in her testimony, vs Arata’s POV of him as a good and loving father), plus the more I learned about the complexities of Bifrost the more I got interested in him, too. Atsushi is clearly a morally grey character, and in this film it both comes out of his mouth (as a form of admittance in his speech), and shows in his actions. His speech: "The right choice can be wrong in a different time, that’s because righteousness is relative, but the truth is absolute. What we need is the truth, the means to accept that truth and choose the path where no one gets hurt." is clearly directed at only four people in that room. The speech also served as an admission of his guilt— and once again, the theme “he did what he had to/someone had to do it”.

There’s a line during his interview with Akane where she says “you don’t make mistakes. Everything you do puts you a step further in your career, as if you’re following a path laid out before you.” When she seems to have hit the right line of questioning, he was clearly about to confess, but alas, it was not to be. I remember reading an interview where Director Shiotani said “he doesn’t get to have it easy” and you know what, ok fine.

Atsushi and Yabuki’s approach is, in a nutshell, big picture thinking, the end justifies the means. They make difficult decisions, get things done and can’t avoid people from getting hurt. This is also driven home by Yabuki’s words to Frede “ideals are not enough to bring about change”. (He also said something good about needing that kind of power to exact justice and being prepared for the infamy that would result - help me if you remember this was my takeaway from it). To me, they both represent the kind of people who are about to become obsolete in Sibyl society IF it is heading towards the path people like Akane and eventually, Arata, are aiming for (put a pin on that).

We know that he was a Bifrost Inspector, and interestingly enough, it seems that Yabuki is too since they’re communicating via the terminal we saw Kei use. As is on trend for anything related to Bifrost, you do not see the hands of these guys getting dirty despite all the dirty work they actually do. That said, Akira, Milcia and most likely Saiga, are probably foxes.

Things I love:

I think that he and Tonami, while they must have believed there was no other way at the time, acknowledged that there was no excuse, and as a result are inspired (or in Tonami’s case, persuaded though begrudgingly) to trust the newer generation to do it better than they could. I feel like Atsushi already knew his time was coming the moment the deaths of those he had personal ties with started piling at his door.

His conversation with Kasei/Sibyl: “we’ve been watching you for a while”, implying Sibyl being complicit in all the dirty work he’s had to do. “Do you believe in the potential of humans?” and the response “of course. this is the reason why we exist” — really rubs the god/religious themes here, handing him the gun that will take his life as their parting gift, as if to say “this is your judgment”. I’m gonna touch on this again with Akane.

I’m not the first person to say this but with the exception of Yabuki, who was killed, at the end, Milcia, Akira and Atsushi’s acts were extreme, and I’m just not gonna gloss over this, cowardly. Choosing to die instead of living. Choosing to be absent instead of being present (in his brother’s life, in her daughter’s life). Atsushi preached it to his son (“do not dive without a lifeline”) but not only failed to act on his teachings but continued his approach. You could say it was the only choice at the moment, but all their previous choices led them there, and it’s even worse that they got someone else involved and killed, even if that wasn’t their intention.

HOWEVER, and this is going to be brought up again: someone has to do it, and therein lies the nuance in the other main character in PPP we’ll talk about later.

Saiga

I don’t really have much to add except they made him especially handsome in this film… 😳 And ofc I love that he picked up the lack of people in the building, he really said you can’t hide anything from my keen observation skillz. I loved that he was pretty chill about it too, maybe he was trying to cool down his favorite student 🤗

Things I love:

Akane visited him at 23:41 in the evening, I am assuming on that same day (it’s the time stamp on his laptop, also confirmed by Director Shiotani). I guess the concept of after office hours does not exist bec it looks like they left for Dejima immediately after.

“People aspire for comfort and find themselves unable to escape it, like me” and Akane immediately saying that’s not the case 🥹

Coffee on the lips. Leaning back on the couch. The toast and the chuckle RIP

“She’s not a saint/bodhisattva”: I’ve understood this to mean that she WILL enforce Kogami if it comes down to, hence he better apologize to her while he can.

His very meme-able criticism of Kogami before they got on the elevator

“Well, that was crazy!”

HIM BEING PEAK HANDSOME WHEN HE HAD A KNIFE ON HIS THROAT LIKE?!?!

The desperation and VERY obvious there is no other way here when Akane’s whole body is about to fall just trying to hang onto him

That they muted Akane’s scream when he fell

That she went straight down to him without so much as looking back at the fighting still happening

That she fixed his body 😭

I’m really gonna miss him. I always used to hc that Akane and Kogami would have a moment with him at some point in the future, calling back to their visit to his house in s1 but alas… we can’t have everything we want, huh?

Tonami

AHHHH old man, old man.

My favorite part about Tonami is that they clearly improved on making sure they don’t paint him as an evil guy. They tried to do this with Garcia, but frankly the novel did a better job at making him look more nuanced than the movie did— and that’s saying a lot since like I said, I love case 3. This is probably because they had the benefit of time, of course, and we’re gonna touch on this again later, they spend less time making Kogami look good (i mean, not physically) in this film.

They were very economic with how they portrayed his character, too. With just that one scene of him and the kid, you immediately empathize and are forced to listen to what he’s actually saying. My favorite scenes of any iteration is the “reckoning”/tnj that Akane has towards the end, basically summarizing the thesis of the story, and the questions it poses to the audience. This film is probably the best at presenting the most nuanced argument of the series so far between two sides. Very simple, very straightforward, and the movie’s prior scenes have done the legwork for the viewer to connect the points each is trying to make, like neat little puzzle pieces that make you go oh.

Things I love:

“Don’t forget you were the ones who made me this way.” (mic drop).

Akio Otsuka’s voice acting, especially when Akane was crawling to grab the Dominator. THE FRUSTRATION IS REAL.

This was pretty much confirmed and I’ll touch on it again later: he was not going to kill Akane (link) . I thought this was up for debate at first, but actually after seeing the subbed version I am convinced this was actually not up for debate due to the following:

It was him talking to Kai when he killed Milcia, he asked “You killed her?” and said “You messed up, Kai”

We do not actually see him kill unless there is a purpose. Killing the SAD guys to get to Milcia, killing the SAD guys to get to Saiga. He revived Bokamoso because he needed to get the papers (wasn’t convinced that Saiga really didn’t have it, as already established by Saiga a few scenes prior), and was biding their time when he engaged with Frede & Gino after Kai confirmed the papers were not there, probably waiting for Kai to finish with Kogami (“time is up”). Decided the ops team (Ko, Gino, Frede) needed to die after they were exposed and the safety of the General and Raphael were put in jeopardy.

He shot Akane in the same place he shot Kogami a few scenes prior— this is also why I do not believe this is random, but rather just a means to incapacitate them while he needed to do what he needed to do: possess Kai bec he now knows where the General is and needed him out of there, (unclear whether he knew at the time that Kai had the papers but likely he did since he referred to the memory chip during his first meeting with Akane), and have Akane not bother him while he possesses the peacebreakers in battle).

Shooting Akane again, not fatally wounding her.

Akane’s line “why don’t you just kill me?”. Like, really, why didn’t he? The link above sheds some light on the creator’s vision on this and it’s delicious, lol. IMO, if he had wanted her dead they’d not have even talked. Very simple.

This is not to justify his actions btw, in fact, Akane even called him out “the same wars you helped perpetrate”, and her lichrally saying “I promise to expose the truth about the peacebreakers, but this doesn’t excuse what you’ve done”. Madame Justice said YOU WILL BE JUDGED BY THE POWER VESTED IN ME AS AN INSPECTOR OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY BUREAU ETC ETC

He cares about Kai/Akira (the line to Atsushi “so Kai is your pawn, too?” at the helipad, and his concern about the divider overloading and his reaction that Kai is choosing to die). He clearly cares about the peacebreakers, too. Nuance, man. Delicious.

“You can’t stop what you started here” CHILLS. Definitely reminds me of Kamui’s tnj in S2.

Frede

I have a soft spot for her. She’s clearly more loyal to Yabuki & the MFA than to Saiga, and, judging by her character we’ve seen so far, she’s taking after Yabuki as well 😉

The reason why? #21 in Director Shiotani’s Q&A space last June 15 (link).

So pretty when she was conflicted about not telling Saiga/Kogami about le grand ̶f̶a̶i̶l̶ plan

I like how she calls Yabuki “boss” 🥹

Fave scene when Kogami calls her out for lying to Saiga LOL, I just love that he can just do that and that she doesn’t even bat an eye, I like that about them.

Gino

He’s not my fave, but I’ve grown a bit soft on him here I have to admit. Love that they gave his devotion to Akane more context, and that this whole system of trust between them (and the rest of Div 1) is shown.

He is right, it’s his ego talking (the boat convo). Akane didn’t and isn’t staying/tied to the CID bec of them (Ko & Gino) jeez man. It’s not about YOU. LMFAOOoOOOOooo

Little Ginomika moment, I loved that. Speaking of…

Mika

“This is no time to be playing politician” sis— did anyone ever tell you that you have an aptitude for it? The whole plan about selling them out if they all die so she could save their asses, then actually coming to their aid when it truly mattered? Does your fave ever?!?!?!

While she’s probably the one who has one of the best charadevs in the show, I fear a little that she’s starting to become a gag character, ALTHOUGH i’m arguing that she’s clearly still a writer’s fave with the way they give her critical hero moments when it counts (the whole rock star raid at heaven’s leap in PP3, then this “I got it covered” in PPP). I think Mika best displays the balance required to stay (sane) in this job. She’s able to take on what she needs to, and accomplish the role she’s set out to play, and at the end of the day she probably goes home and has a boba, binges netflix and has a good night’s sleep.

I dunno where I read this - but there are main characters, and there are main side characters. This is Gino and Mika’s fate in the grander story, with their arcs pretty much over since Case 1.

Finally, the good stuff. If this ain’t much of an overly long essay already.

Kogami

Before I go off, my experience is as follows:

When the first trailer of PPP came out, his words “I have no regrets” were so jarring to me. I didn’t quite understand how that was supposed to add up to the Kogami in my head, the hopeful man who was ready to come home at the end of Case 3, and the guy who said sorry at the end of PPFI. This led me to find some answers by machine translating the PP3/FI novels, and the case 3 novel.

In a nutshell, I had thought that the ending of case 3 meant that he was going to turn a new leaf and fight for the same justice Akane was (in short, no killing). Guess what? I forgot that he did kill Jackdaw in PPFI, and the novel pretty much confirmed his actions and thoughts around it (aka, he was really going to kill the guy— I mean, he came into the scene guns blazing, you know? AND I FORGOT ABOUT IT (I call this my akane-tinted glasses 😉).

Another line in Akane’s monologue that cemented my reinterpretation of Kogami, and I was immediately reminded of this passage when Akane sadly spoke to him right after he shot Tonami:

“Believing in the meaning of the stars was something only she herself held, and it was as if she was being told that the stars were just stars by the others she believed to be her comrades. When she began to consider that perhaps it was not the incomprehensible others who were truly isolated, but rather herself, true loneliness arrived. The moment of being cast into the sea of true loneliness, without even the stars or the sound of waves.” (the stars here was implied to be either law, or justice)

It’s been confirmed by Ryo Yoshigami that Akane’s monologues in the PP3/FI novels were written with the plot of PPP in mind— so you all know, this was intentional. The novels really helped me take a step back and assess what I was really looking at as a character, and Kogami’s role in the overall story. I thought he was someone who was on his way to change, I was wrong. I thought that his values have aligned with Akane, again, wrong. Now I know what some of yall are gonna say, that you didn’t misinterpret him. Sure, this statement isn’t for you then. BUT don’t lie to me, those who DID. 🤪

As for the rest, go read and form your own opinion (PP3 Novels)

Kogami’s sense of justice

As a main character of the series, Kogami’s journey has been up and down, but one thing that’s consistent about him, in the simplest terms: his justice is personal. Whether it’s one of revenge, which he had closed the door on post case 3, his inability to turn away from injustice, and in PPP, his acceptance and taking responsibility of what he stands for, and what he can do.

In the beginning of Case 3, he was making an effort to avoid killing— even using it as a condition for cooperating with Kinrei on the raid in the train station. This was during a time when he was clearly at a loss of what to do, still swimming in his regrets and just letting himself go in whichever direction life takes him. Come the end of Case 3, we see his hopeful decision to return, and, in PPP, clearly stated during his convo on the boat, his reasons. He did not come back to die, but to help people. This is essentially an explanation of his choice and lack of regret that he failed to explain properly to Akane, but if it wasn’t clear yet, this is also where the lines have been drawn between the two protagonists, interestingly enough, since the beginning of the series. Akane’s sense of justice is directly tied to the law, whereas Kogami’s does not (and, I think a moot point to argue now, will never).

He does what he does because it’s what he can do. The difference between Kogami S1 and Kogami PPP/PP3 is that he’s found a purpose/place that aligns with his sense of justice. He owns it, and takes full responsibility for it. It’s a facet of growth, though probably not in a direction that would bode well for him if he fails to look from above, as was Saiga's last words to Akane. I can take this apart in a few ways, firstly, and especially towards his “belief” in Akane, he’s a hypocrite (LOL). Says one thing, does another. Wanting to be judged after the fact is like, are you kidding me, man? Right in front of the blood of someone she just tnj’d “you will be judged according to the law”?!?!?!!

Let's take a break, I’ll throw him a bone.

He simply cannot turn away from injustice and would rather get his hands dirty than allow others to get away with their crimes

This is a great callback to his time with Garcia “you hesitated, and now someone’s dead.” See? Charadev. (I’m being sarcastic). It must suck for him that though he didn’t hesitate, Saiga is still dead.

To me, he’s started walking forwards post case 3, and while he still regrets everything he did before that, he’s left that behind to fulfill a new purpose in his life

In this scene specifically, he would rather kill than have Akane be killed.

Very personal, very short-sighted, very impulsive, reactive sense of justice. That he agreed with what Tonami had said, for all that talk of his belief in Akane, he’s a funny ̶l̶i̶t̶t̶l̶e̶ guy, isn’t he?

I’ve always argued that if his aim was that good (and again, Tenzing commented on this, he CAN shoot to disarm someone), then why didn’t he? Kogami in PPP, in every scene, operates on a shoot to kill. I’m no longer here to apologize for the guy, even if he did, three years too late. I think that it helped me come to terms with their differences, and this is fundamental. Don’t get me wrong, I still like his character, maybe even more now that we’ve learned quite a few things about his… shortcomings (lol), but I’m not gonna make excuses for him in the same way he doesn’t make excuses for himself. He chose. He still chooses to. Cool motive, still murder.

Where this will lead him, it’s been alluded to in the film. Tonami is what a misguided Kogami could become, and even Saiga clearly reminded him of it. That’s a matter for his future, but know that this movie is sowing seeds the creators may decide to reap someday.

Things I love :

He got his balls kicked!!! Love that for him 🤣

Used to complain about how lousy his shirt looked is in pp3 and whoooaa he took the jacket off and I'm sweating

WET HAIR

TACTICAL GEAR

The PP OST and the dominator UI, before he takes his first shot *chills*

Despite all my beef about him, I still really do love the guy. Now I just dunk on him every chance I get, it's fun. And ofc, I still have a tiny bit of hope about his future, and I’ll be holding him to that standard, otherwise yeah, he can die in a ditch (or if we’re going there, he can die whilst leading an uprising to destroy Sibyl) 😉

Akane

So when I said earlier that everyone is being measured against Akane, I really meant it. She had taken a back seat since the PPSS films, and in PP3/FI the whole mystery surrounding her imprisonment was an invisible hand driving many elements of the show. PPP is HER film, and as a character, her continued relevance to the series' thesis cannot be discounted.

“The law doesn’t protect people. People protect the law.”

If Kogami was consistent about his sense of justice, she is even more so. What makes her leagues above him is that she’s driving change, and change DOES happen in the manner that does not allow her to break her principles… that is, until the end of PPP 😉. I’m not going to elaborate on her sense of justice, it’s pretty straightforward even if the series likes to throw stones at it as if following it is the hardest thing in the world. What makes Akane stand out is that it's actually not hard. Look, ask yourself whether it’s easier to kill another human being or not— I’m not talking about exceptional circumstances, but even then, I think you know the answer— there’s a moral and ethical basis here that she shares with a great number of people. Killing is wrong, it’s against the law to take another life. To me, the point of each iteration is to keep stacking odds against her through characters, each with their own complexities and nuance that the audience is made to empathize with and contrasted to her sense of justice, resulting in making it look like her principles are ideal and impossible to achieve, when actually, they're not.

One of my favorite lines of the film, when Tonami says to Akane, “these are the facts that lie in the shadow of the peace that you enjoy”. Let’s be real. Akane is privileged. She’s not had to fire a gun to defend herself in a war torn land— but the argument against this is the same argument for it— it’s because she doesn’t have to. Kogami is back in Japan, it stands to reason that he must adhere to its laws, because despite his experiences abroad, he is not and will never be above the law.

I’m gonna touch on something I already discussed on twitter, because there’s a difference between the way Kogami has killed, versus the way Gino and Sugo have.

As far as the series has shown, the following are Sibyl-sanctioned “killing”, the last one specifically relates to PPP:

As judged by the Dominator (LE/DD)

In cases of national defense/during the execution of duties as members of the NDF

In cases of self-defense in the course of an official operation

It stands to reason that just because they are sanctioned does not save the person from their hue deteriorating, because that part is directly related to a person’s view of guilt. Throughout the show, the audience is constantly reminded that the act of (indirectly) killing does not necessarily impact one's hue (e.g. the PP of the person who manufactured the gun is not the same as the person who fired it, the whole premise of the foxes in PP3, etc), hence the "guilt" associated with the act falls on the person who does it, which may result in a higher cc. A person is able to absolve themselves precisely bec they know they're doing it within the confines of the law, but this doesn’t always follow (e.g. Sugo’s hue deteriorating in Case 2). There's a good example of this in action during Akane's operation in PPP, when Tonami issues the order to kill, and the team, who had been disarming/arresting everyone a few minutes before, was left with no choice but to defend themselves, often resulting in a kill.

While the Peacebreakers were able to hand over this guilt to Tonami via the Divider, Gino and Sugo could not. At the start of the film, they only used the guns when the Dominator was not functioning. The difference with their actions in the last third of the film is they participated in an unsanctioned operation with Akane, have killed as a result and are now likely above regulation. Had no idea the words “once the hounds have thrown away their collars, public safety will never tame them again” also served as foreshadowing as this is probably why Sugo and Gino were requested for transfer to the SAD. And if you’ve been paying attention, you’ll notice that Gino actually gets the job done with fewer bullets than Kogami does. Kogami, from the start, comes into the scene, kills all his enemies on sight without hesitation. This is a huge difference, and this is what Akane is trying to keep him from defaulting to. Violence to fight violence was not the answer, but they clearly do not align on this. It’s a perspective thing. 😉

So why did she do what she did?

In principle, she made herself an anomaly, directly challenging the decision to repeal the law, by committing a crime in public while not having her PP deteriorate. In short, she pretty much broke the law to protect the law. So how did she objectively know that her plan would work?

I had a few discussions on twitter surrounding this, and frankly the “she knows she’s doing the right thing, not for herself but for the greater good” doesn’t cut it for me, nor does the premise of “leap of faith”. To do this, she HAD to have known with certainty that her hue would not deteriorate because if the dominator suddenly activates for her, then it was a pointless act, and more importantly, she was fully aware (as stated in the PP3 novels) that she was committing a crime.

There are cases to be made of course, the first being she knew that Kasei is merely an android and that Akane avoided shooting the brain (effectively keeping Kasei alive), but that still doesn’t establish the fact that Akane does not absolve herself of the act, and again, that she needed to objectively know this would work. This is theory time, but the only thing I can think about are two specific things, one in the film, one not.

Defying Sibyl orders to enact her own operation in the Kuril Islands - this is directly disobeying Sibyl, using her Chief Inspector authority to assign temporary roles to Kogami and Frede so they could participate, loading the Stronskaya Docs to her Dominator and giving it to the General, all these, unsanctioned and should have at least raised her PP. My guess is, in the aftermath, she noticed that it had not, despite the scale and the effort and potential losses had things gone wrong, and decided that was enough to go ahead with the “answer” she found for herself.

She had to have procured a gun. This was not in the film - but procuring the gun establishes her intent/motive, and should have also raised her PP - my guess is it did not. This would have been sufficient, but you can imagine, until the point of carrying the gun to the venue (probably hidden inside her hat), the fact that she wasn’t flagged basically made it certain her plan would not fail.

In the June 25 roundtable (link) , Director Shiotani wished that if he had 3 more minutes to add, he would have added a scene right after Atsushi’s death where the men in the roundtable ultimately decided to proceed with the abolition of the law. In hindsight, I think adding this scene would have been better, because it takes away room for interpretation that Akane was actually in a desperate situation, and not just frustrated at the close of the case. In the movie, this was supplemented by Kogami’s line “what Tonami said is probably going to come true, the law will likely be abolished.” Not as desperate, if you ask me.

Deviants

The difference between Akane and Atsushi is that, Atsushi, in his capacity as a double agent and methodology as a Bifrost inspector, is like a puppet master holding the strings, indirectly enabling change and leaving mere traces of his impact while others either take full credit (or fall) from it, whereas Akane pushes change by directly challenging Sibyl head-on. We have yet to clarify Atsushi’s motivations in rising the ranks of Bifrost (he was alluded to be on the way to being a congressman or that he had the talents for it), and the fact that he’s played double agent for so long with his methods steadily growing shady over time just goes to show that there was clearly a better way (and he ofc acknowledges it).

In the same way a CA can only be recognized by Sibyl by committing crimes OR if a Dominator was wrongly pointed at them, Sibyl becomes aware of these deviants (I’m gonna call them that) the moment they start defying Sibyl while being able to keep their hues clear. Perhaps Atsushi would be an imperfect version of a deviant, Akane the better one, and Arata probably the ideal despite being CA, sort of like Genesis 3-4’s Makami Sou. It would be interesting if Akane becomes APA, let’s see (read the Genesis links above 🙂).

“Do you believe in the potential of humans?”

Post-op Akane was forcibly promoted to Atsushi’s role (iirc, a Department Head of Statistics in the Ministry of Welfare c/ o Steohsama's translation). I think it can be read two ways: one, in the context of the recently closed case, to get her fully out of the way and busy with other, bigger stuff that she was already dipping her toes in prior to Atsushi’s death (referred to during their convo, about her not “making a fuss”). Two, that she really did have the aptitude to be someone like Atsushi— only that her methods would clearly be different. Now that she’s back in the CID, there’s obviously a question of Akane’s future as a statutory enforcer (fun fact, the creators pretty much confirmed that it’s just a name for someone judged according to the law but whose PP did not deteriorate / someone who was appointed as an enforcer whose PP is below regulation ( link / link ). If Hinakawa will be promoted to an Analyst, then there’s a spot open for her in Division 1, assuming she’ll be playing detective. While I think this is likely to happen, I think it’s a boring outcome for her. Like Atsushi, I want her to move up in the world, especially if the world is gearing towards Sibyl going public. It’s going to be interesting what role she’ll play in the future, especially because, as Niki had so nicely put, “she can’t do this alone”.

Oh, Koaka.

Objectively, I no longer think the ship is romantic in canon. I’m gonna copy-paste some thoughts I already shared at length in discord and edit parts of it, but if you’ve seen me the last few months, this isn’t new.

This is nitpicking, because I'm a writer and facts like they don't know each other, not really (they spent not more than 100 days in s1, maybe a few days in PPP) are things that are at the back of my mind always. I have yet to see Kogami and Akane treat each other more than the pedestals they put each other on (arguable for Akane but I think this is also why she keeps getting disappointed that their sense of justice doesn't align).

This divide between their sense of justice is their biggest flaw as a potential couple, and one that is too fundamental. I do not see compromise here, especially after the events of PPP. If Kogami were to gear towards a positive change, then there’s hope, but I leave very little room for that now. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing, either. I see it as a potential stance that the show is trying to make. “You murdered someone, you can’t go back.” If he had been heading towards change it should have been on the way for a while, not a “possibility” that he keeps failing to live up to. Getting over this hopeful assumption took me a while, but I think that it also helped me appreciate the wider story being told.

That being said, I think that romance in stories is important and I would like to see the writing team go there, not just from a shipping perspective but from a storytelling/amping up stakes perspective. In PPP I felt how Gino was much, much closer to Akane, and I didn't see this previously. In the past he was more like a controlling dad esp in s2, undermining Akane's POV, improved a bit in the pp movie though he still felt a bit on the overprotective i know better than you side (nicely resolved in ppp where we see a piece of his mind btw)— there's a whole lot of trust there. With Kogami and Akane, while they cleared the air after the infirmary scene, once again I saw that trust shaken when he shot Tonami.

These characters are depicted as human beings, and I think that entails grounding. While meaningful connections can be made through short moments (destiny, if you will), relationships built over time like literally and not let's have a nice moment in a film i'll see you next movie kind of thing, is something that, to me, means more. That said, Kogami was separated for a long time and it's lichrally impossible, but they're in the same place now. Where does that lead them? This is where part of my hope lies, small as it may be. Granted, this is not that kind of show and I'm fully aware of that, which is also why I'm happy to get what we get and that artists/fic writers are there to fill those gaps.

I still ship them but a lot less— I find it funny because even before PPP, I was always looking for more (I'm greedy haha!). I always saw the PPFI scene as just the beginning of their relationship— I wasn't convinced that scene was enough, despite the romantic undertones. And let me tell you the betrayal I felt when I found out the reason why they did the whole back to back thing in PP0308 was because... IT WAS AWKWARD FOR HIM TO CROUCH DOWN THE LITTLE WINDOW OF HER CELL and not the little romantic shit I had going on in my head— I just ( ╯°□°)╯ ┻━━┻

I went through the five stages of grief but at the same time it's not as bad since it's not like I didn't think that way from the start (it's just me being anal about it all, really. Because I would end up writing whatever I wanted anyway and canon didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things).

I do like their dynamic now given the recent developments, Kogami especially being particularly unskilled in the romance department just makes it all the more funny (I'm not capable of writing him that way though so I guess all my fics are ooc now 🤣). If they don't develop past the Arguably Platonic™️ way they treat each other then I won't be surprised if I stop creating for the ship, likely bec it will no longer satisfy my enjoyment of it.

Final Thoughts

I think it’s pretty much confirmed we’re getting more, it’s just a matter of when (can’t believe I’m staying here forever, huh?). Director Shiotani wishes that he will be making PP in the next 30 years, gotta love him for that.

As the series progresses, there was a clear tonal shift and hopeful direction it seems to be heading towards. To me this is partially because in a practical sense, this benefits the prolonging of the show (which we already know is true), but in a thematic sense, destroying Sibyl means the end of the series overall. No Psycho Pass without the Psycho Pass. And to this I give credit where it’s due. This is not the kind of progress you’ll see if Urobuchi is still in the writer’s room, and frankly, the complexity and depth of the show ever since he left has pretty much taken off in great strides. I had wished they were heading towards a natural conclusion (Sibyl going public) and leave it alone for a decade before they pick it up again, but I guess the producers have other plans. After all, they don’t have any other IP that has withstood the test of time, is ahead of its time and continued to remain relevant as time went on. While not perfect, this is an amazing feat of a series, and this movie is a stellar addition to it.

They’ve got a dilemma of course, because until now it seems they went with a serialized format (with a definite ending) versus an episodic one (criminal of the week). By choosing to expand the world and explore other facets of society, all the while connecting the threads in an overarching plot, they have to complete the “passing of the torch" before going back to an episodic format, which means they MUST give the new kids their time of day,̶ a̶n̶d̶ ̶e̶x̶c̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶a̶s̶s̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶e̶c̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶p̶l̶e̶t̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶i̶n̶k̶s̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶l̶a̶i̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶e̶l̶l̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶e̶a̶l̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶S̶h̶i̶z̶u̶k̶a̶. Shifting the timelines allowed them to usher in the new cast, but now they’re marketing the legacy cast and have to contend with their obvious popularity compared to the new, fully knowing that the legacy cast is returning to the back seat once we kick things off again. This is a problem that can be solved if a spinoff is decided for SAD, because at least a chunky (huehue) part of the cast will be cordoned off doing their business in Dejima, while the CID with its usual players can stay where they are. I think if you’ve been following Director Shiotani though, this is not happening without him in the driver’s seat, so it’s like… if they’re smart he will delegate this task to someone he trusts and we’ll get both a main and a spinoff, then a converging point somewhere in the form of a movie. 🎶Psycho-pass forever!🎶 (to the tune of Emilia Clarke "best season ever" GOT S8 interview, iykyk).

Finally, I’m just gonna say that I love Akane so much, I’m glad she got the spotlight on her in this film. To be able to experience this film is unforgettable, I’m so grateful that it was possible for me. I’m training myself to expect she’ll take a step back next time I see her, but more than anything, I hope to see her happiness fulfilled, no matter what that entails. Once more, I just can’t thank these creators enough. They’ve made a series and a world I’m obsessed with, makes me think and makes me evaluate its implications in real life, makes me create!!!!! I’m so happy that they continue to believe in the stories they want to tell. I hope they are all healthy and resting now (until the next one, eheh!)

I’ve talked way too much and it’s really just because I want this out of my plate so I can start writing my fics now lololol. If you made it this far, thanks for reading! Always happy to discuss!

#psycho pass #psycho pass providence #pp #akane tsunemori #kogami shinya #ginoza nobuchika

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lostfirefly · 2 months

Text

Life Must Have It's Mysteries (Ch.6)

This is my gift to the world for International Women's Day :) The world didn't ask me to, but I don't care :) Pain continues leading me to art :)

English is not my native language, errors may occur. As always, feel free to share your thoughts :) Masterlist is here.

Description: Buggy and Catherine continue searching for parts of the scepter.

Warnings: Fun, fluff, adventure, Buggy's inappropriate jokes, swearing (as always). Shitty shit again:)

Words: 5728 (sorry, this chapter is long again)

Buggy x OC from my “You’ve Got the Same Dream as Me” series.

Taglist: @gingernut1314, @operationroots, @hey-august, @rorywritesjunk, @yujo-nishimura (I hope you still like it!)

The title is taken from “Life Must Have It's Mysteries” by Hans Zimmer (OST Inferno).

✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5

✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

“Jesus Christ, Buggy, fuck off.” Catherine ran out of the bath, holding a towel in her hands and pulling on her underwear.

“Why are you angry? It was so-o-o good, baby! I'm glad your Buggy Bear can make you moan his name out loud. Geez, it's like music to my ears!” He followed her out, smiling happily.

“Screw you!” She threw the towel at him. “Hate you! Do you even know how to control yourself?” She stood next to the bed and put on a fresh t-shirt and sweatpants.

“Of course I know, I'm not an animal. Don’t be mad and come to me.” Buggy separated his hands, grabbed Catherine with them, and pulled her towards him.

“Fuck you and your chop chop shit! Let me go!!” She tried to pry his hands off.

“Nope.” He hugged her from behind.

“What you did to me is unforgivable.” She was blushing.

“Calm down, cotton candy, no one heard us.” He kissed her temple.

“Actually, I heard you!” A male voice came from behind the wall.

“Oh, my god!” Catherine covered her face with her hands.

“Sorry! But that was hot! I was hap..” The voice wanted to continue the conversation.

“Shut up, or I'll cut your throat!” Buggy barked at the man. “Do you want me to go and kill him, my little pie?” He whispered quietly in her ear and buried his face in her hair.

“No-o! Let him live.” Catherine removed her hands from her face, placed them on his hands and started chortling.

“What's so funny?”

“God, I never thought I'd start a relationship with a clown with whom I'd have hot sex in a shower in a motel in the middle of the desert. And there will be a man lying in the next room who'd hear how you are fucking me.” She shook with laughter. “My mom and sister would be shocked. How did their little decent Catherine come to this?”

“I don’t even know if I should be offended now or not. I’ll never ever force you to do anything against your will.” She heard the sadness in his voice. He was clearly upset.

“Oh, come on, my silly clown.” Catherine turned to Buggy, wrapped her arm around his neck, and ran her other hand through his loose wet hair. “I know that. Don't worry about it, okay?”

“I’ll never hurt you.” Buggy looked at her with a frightened stare.

“I know!” Catherine stroked his chest.

“So, you're not angry at me, right? Because I…”

“Shush!” She put her finger to his lips. “Everything is fine. But do me a favor.”

“Anything you want, Cathie-pie.” Buggy took her hand and kissed it.

“Please get dressed. You've been naked since the moment you ran out of the bath after me, and our curtains are open.” She pointed with her gaze to the window behind which stood a family with a small child with their jaws dropped.

Catherine turned to the window and went to close the curtains, not knowing whether to be ashamed of the whole situation or proud.

She smiled, waved to the people outside, closed the curtains and turned to Buggy, who was sitting on the bed. “My blue-haired love, please. Underpants. I see your... well…Buggy Balls.” She flushed.

He detached his hand, grabbed Catherine's wrist and pulled her sharply towards him, sitting her on his lap. “So? We can do something more interesting while I'm like this.” Buggy hugged her, clucked his tongue and smashed his lips into hers. His kiss was a little sloppy at first, but became deeper.

Catherine instantly cupped his face and pressed herself against him. She began to moan through the kiss, feeling his hand slide up her thigh.

“No, no!” She struggled but broke the kiss. “Get away from me, fucking clown!” Catherine slapped his hands. “That’s it. I'm getting up now and gonna make us breakfast. You get dressed and come to me, okay?”

Buggy pouted and sighed heavily. “Okay.”

Catherine smiled and pecked him on his nose. “I love you.”

She got up from his lap and quickly ran to the kitchen. She made his favorite breakfast and brewed coffee.

“Are you coming? Everything's ready.” Catherine was putting the plates on the table when Buggy came to the table and plopped into a chair.

“You know, when I told you to get dressed, I didn't mean to go out in just a pair of very short underpants. You could at least wear boxers, otherwise you look like a stripper.” She poured him coffee, put it on the table and kissed him on the cheek.

“You like what you see, don't you?” He smiled slyly.

“Oh my god.” Catherine rolled her eyes. “Eat up. Your favorite fried eggs with lots of bacon and five sausages.”

Buggy happily stuck his fork into the sausage and took a big bite. “Yummy! Thank you!” He mumbled with his mouth full.

“Buggy, chew first, then talk. We've discussed this more than once.”

Catherine checked the drawers in the kitchen. “Sugar. There's no sugar in here. Oh, wait, I grabbed some at the diner. Otherwise, I will be visited by a whining Buggy who will begin suffering because he cannot drink coffee without sugar. And then I’ll definitely kill you.”

Catherine went to her bag and pulled out a couple of packets. “I think we'll eat and cont-- Why are you wearing just one sock?” She looked at him, pointing her fingers at his feet.

Buggy shrugged and bit the sausage. “I couldn't find the other one.”

“Jesus Christ! If you couldn't find the second one, take the pair that has two socks. I can't believe it, Buggy. You drove me crazy today.”

“Just today? I thought I could do this almost every night. And twice this morning. If you know what I mean.” He chuckled idiotically and started imitating her voice. “Hate you, Buggy, Oh, fuck me, Buggy. Please, Buggy, don't stop, yes, more. Geez, I love hearing that.” He took a bite of the sausage.

“Shut up! You're pissing me off!!” She hit him on the head, threw the sugar packets on the table, and went back to the bags. “Honestly, you're like a big baby sometimes. Although why sometimes. You're always like a big baby.” Catherine found a clean pair of socks in her bag and walked back to him. “How did you even live before me? I wouldn't be surprised if, before you met me, you could have been lying drunk in an alley somewhere.”

Buggy looked at her, chewing the bacon, and smiled strangely.

“Oh, my God! You were lying drunk in an alley somewhere?” She threw socks at him.

“So what?” He asked, stuffing three pieces of bacon into his mouth.

“So what? Well, I don’t know. You could have been hurt. You could have been beaten or robbed.”

“Meh..”

Catherine poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down on the chair. She sipped her coffee, watched Buggy happily spooning bacon onto a sausage, and started laughing.

“What are you laughing at?” He asked, dipping the sausage in the yolk.

“God, I went to a good university. My parents would be shocked at who their daughter fell in love with.” Catherine brought the mug up to her nose and squinted her eyes.

Buggy raised one eyebrow in the silent question.

She giggled. “Eat your breakfast, idiot!”

⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭

“I'm telling you, you read the map wrong!”

“Stop grumbling, Buggy! I couldn't read it wrong. See, in the copies it was written to go on the Long Ring Long Land highway. Shit. Another stupid name.” Catherine mumbled.

They were standing in the middle of a part of the desert that was covered with few plants. The place seemed lifeless.

“I'm telling you, we're lost!”

“Jesus, will you stop whining?” She lightly punched the navigator in the car a few times. “The damn thing sometimes malfunctions from the heat.”

“We're standing in the middle of nowhere, and we don't know where to go.” Buggy picked up a bottle of water and took a small sip.

“Don’t be nervous.” Catherine put her hand on his wrist and gently ran her fingers over it. He immediately fell silent. “Hm. I think I've found my way to calm you down.” She said quietly.

“What?”

“Nothing, nothing.” She ran her hand over his ponytail. “Oh, look! There's some kind of caravan out there. Wait a second!” Catherine got out of the car and ran forward.

“Catherine, wait!” Buggy quickly looked out the side window and slapped his hands on the steering wheel. “Fuck!” And quickly went after her.

Catherine ran across the sand towards the caravan. It was a big group of people, some of whom were sitting on camels, some of them walked on the ground, carrying the bags. Almost all were wrapped in clothes of fine rose-colored silk.

“Sir, sir!” Catherine ran up to the man sitting on the first camel. “Excuse me!”

The man made a motion with his hand and the caravan stopped. He jumped off the camel and approached Catherine.

“What can I do for you?” The man asked with a low voice.

“Another one without a t-shirt.” She thought in her head.

It was a very tall, light blond-haired, very lean and muscular man with tan skin. He was dressed in a green belt, and orange pants with white stripes, his light pink feather coat and wore thin white sunglasses with red lenses. He walked with an odd, bow-legged waddle.

Catherine looked at him, blinking rapidly, and all she could say was, “Aren't you hot in your pink coat?”

“Did you stop me asking that question?” Asked the man. Catherine looked at him more closely.

“What? Oh, no! I'm sorry! Would you mind...” Catherine felt Buggy's hand on her arm.

“I've told you a million times not to do that!” He hissed through gritted teeth and glared at the man in the pink coat. Buggy instinctively pulled Catherine a little closer to him.

She pulled her hand from his arm and took two steps forward, walking over to the man in the fur coat, and showed him the notebook. “Look, we’re looking for this place.” Catherine pointed her finger somewhere on the sheet. “We were on the right road, but either we got lost or something else.”

“Why would such a beautiful girl go to those godforsaken lands?” The man asked. “I'm Doflamingo, by the way.”

“Your parents were cruel to name you that.” She shook her head. “Never mind. We're just tourists from Loguetown. My boyfriend and I came to Egypt to see the ancient beauties. So here we are, traveling back and forth, seeing all sorts of ancient stuff.”

Catherine noticed Doflamingo shift his gaze to the clown as soon as she said the word “boyfriend”.

“Weird.” He took two steps toward Catherine, stood behind her back, and put his finger in his notebook, slinging his arm over her shoulder. “You see this road right here.”

“Uh-huh.” She took a small step forward.

“So he can go that way.” He whispered in her ear, glancing at the clown. “And you, you can join my caravan.”

Catherine turned her head and looked at him questioningly. Doflamingo winked at her.

“Why do men in Egypt talk to me like that?” She threw his arm off of her. “Listen, DogDingo or whatever your name is.”

“Doflamingo, actually.”

“Whatever. I can break your back if you don’t tell me where to go.” Catherine looked at him angrily.

“Okay. This is where you need to go. Now you're going to take this road right here.” He put his elbow on her shoulder and pointed in the direction with his finger. You'll see a foxy-shaped cactus and turn right. Drive about another hour or so, and you'll get to the right place.”

Catherine slammed the notebook shut, threw Doflamingo's arm off again, and replied “thank you” sharply.

She took two steps towards Buggy, who was already getting redder than his nose from either heat or anger, took his hand and ran her fingers over his palm.

“My little bear, get me away from this strange man.” Buggy hugged her around her shoulder and led Catherine toward the car. She got in, took another easy swipe at the navigator and punched in the coordinates from her notepad.

Buggy was silent the whole way and clearly not in the mood as Catherine stroked his back.

“You know, when that man said fox-shaped cactus, I didn't think it would be a man-shaped cactus with his hair split into two spikes. There's even a sign here. Foxy City - 500 kilometers from here.” Catherine staring at the plant with interest.

“Yeah. For all I know, he organized his community and now lives somewhere in the desert.” Buggy replied rather dryly, stepping closer to her.

“Are you alright? You've been so quiet the whole way. And that's very unusual for my clown.” She ran her hand over his arm.

“What? Yeah. I'm fine.”

Catherine walked over to him, wrapped her arms around his waist, and rested her head on his chest.

“What are you doing?” He asked surprised.

“I love you and want to give you a hug. I thought you seemed upset after seeing that flamingo-man.”

“I'm not upset. Big deal that every man on our journey considers it a right to flirt with you.” Buggy placed his hands on her back.

“Hah, I knew you were jealous!” She squeezed him in her arms.

“I’m not! Better tell me where do we go from here?”

Catherine, without removing her head from his chest, simply pointed her finger in the right direction.

They walked along the very light and very faintly saturated reddish-yellow colored sand for about half an hour. Catherine kept looking at her notepad, orienting herself to the notes on the coordinates, while Buggy was silent the entire time. Catherine looked ahead, then at her notes, then ahead again.

“Oh my God! Fuck me!! It can’t be!” She started squealing, kicking her legs and threw herself at Buggy with a hug.

“Geez! What’s wrong, cotton candy?” He stopped pouting and laughed.

“Do you know what a pyramid is?!” She waved him from side to side and pointed a finger in its direction.

“I have no idea!”

Catherine flopped to the ground and grabbed her head. She looked at a smooth-sided pyramid made of limestone. She lay down on the ground and started kicking her legs again. Catherine rolled from her back to her buttocks and looked at Buggy. She smiled broadly, joyfully clenched her hands into fists and jumped up to him with a squeal again.

“Love.” Smack. “Love.” Smack. Smack. “Love, love, love you.” Smack. Smack. Smack.

“I’m certainly delighted by your reaction, but maybe you can enlighten me?” Buggy flicked her on the nose.

“Ouch!” She scratched her nose. “This’s Nefer Asut Unas. The pyramid of Unas!”

“First of all, I didn't understand the first three words. And U.. Who?”

“The pyramid of Unas, he’s the last ruler of the Fifth Dynasty. All walls in this pyramid are covered with texts. These texts are prayers, spells, and incantations to help the deceased king ascend to his place among the gods in the sky and to resurrect. They are considered to be one of the oldest religious texts in the history of Ancient Egypt.”

“Cathie-pie, I love it when you share your knowledge, but seriously, I didn’t understand half of what you said. So. This’s… This's... What?”

“This’s the ancient necropolis. Let me see my notes. Not this one, not this one. No, no, no.” Catherine ran her fingers over the sheets and felt Buggy rest his chin on her shoulder. She reached out and scratched his head with her fingers. “Here! Look. The entrance to the pyramid is located on its north side, and from there, a descending passage leads to a series of chambers and passages. We need to find this room.” She pointed her finger at the drawing. “This’s our goal on the southern side. The largest chamber is the burial chamber, where the pharaoh's sarcophagus is placed. So I suggest not to lose time. We pack our things and set out on a search.”

While Catherine was checking the flashlights, she looked at Buggy, who was changing his t-shirt. She glanced at his naked torso and blue hair on his chest.

“I hate you.”

Buggy looked at her in confusion. “This is your fourth “I hate you” in the last two hours, Cathie-pie. Could you please tell me what did I do?”

“Screw you!” She wrinkled her nose, took extra batteries and a hatchet with her, just in case.

They approached the main entrance to the complex. The whole complex was made of the main pyramid, a valley temple, a mortuary temple, a causeway, and the main pyramid which are all enclosed by a perimeter wall. They got to the entrance to the pyramid. Catherine examined the wall and stairs. Some of the casing on the lowest steps of it has remained intact.

“Now where do we go?” Asked Buggy, flopping down on the sand.

“Okay, look. Firstly, we have to be careful again. This pyramid is also on the tourist route. It's not as popular as the others, of course. But there are some people hanging around there.” Catherine glanced at a small group of tourists. She shifted her gaze to Buggy, put her hand to his face, and pulled a bottle of water out of her bag. “Here, you need some water.”

He looked at her with confusion, but took the bottle from her hands and took a sip. “Thanks.”

She put the bottle back down, ruffled his hair and pulled out the map again. “Now there will be some kind of corridor, and then we'll enter a spacious hallway that we'll follow to the tomb we need.”

He picked up the ground, took the flashlight from her, and shined it down the path. “Well, this looks good. Let’s go?”

They looked at another group of tourists at the same time and walked into the entrance. Descending an easy passage that drops about five meters, they entered a narrow horizontal tunnel that was well-illuminated, leading to the main hall.

“So beautiful!” Catherine could barely contain her squeals as they entered the central hall. “Some of the best hieroglyphs I've seen. Look! They’re very clear and some still have a bit of color.” She approached one of the walls and slightly ran her fingers over the drawings.

Buggy walked up to her, put his hand on her back and looked carefully at her satisfied face.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” Catherine noticed him staring at her.

“Me? I'm not looking.” He cleared his throat. “So. Where do we go next?”

“Oh, yes. We're straight ahead and to the east and then to the west.”

“Then let's go. If those people from the street follow us, it will be difficult for us to find anything.”

They walked through the long horizontal passage following a level path to the antechamber, which was guarded by three granite slab portcullises in succession. The passage ended at a room located under the center axis of the pyramid. All the walls and the ceiling were covered with hieroglyphs, drawings and various signs.

“Amazing!!” Catherine whispered, moving her flashlight along the walls. “Okay! Now to the east. Wow! Buggy! You see those letters?” She pointed with her hand at the wall.

“Yeah.”

“These are ancient texts which are said to mark the beginning of the afterlife.” Catherine didn’t notice how she took Buggy's hand. “Wow! It’s like a voyage through time, right? You know, my dad and I once dreamed of going to Egypt and seeing the pyramids. He would have loved it.” She felt Buggy stroke her arm with his fingers. “I'm sorry, a little flashback came over me.”

“Hey! Don't be sorry, my cotton candy.” Buggy hugged Catherine’s shoulders and kissed the top of her head.

“I wish he could... “ She felt how Buggy hugged her tightly. “You know. Nevermind. We’re losing our time. Let's go.” Catherine dragged Buggy to the next room.

They turned in the right direction to the east and saw a small room with 3 recesses.

“This’s the antechamber! Now to the west!”

They turned to the west and reached the Burial chamber. The ceiling of the room was painted with golden stars in a dark blue sky. The decoration in every spare inch of the part of the walls consisted of vertical columns of meticulously carved hieroglyphs painted in blue. The saw basalt sarcophagus, surrounded by white alabaster walls.

“What’s this?” Buggy asked, shining his flashlight at the ceiling, which had starfish and hieroglyphics painted on it.

“Oh! These drawings represent Unas aspiring to become a star in order to ascend to the heavens. “We are now in the land of Osiris, the first resurrected king, where Unas was expected to spend time before he could go up to the sky.”

“Where are we?” Buggy rounded his eyes. “It seems to me that we encountered this in the past... that one.. Okiris.”

“He’s Osiris, Buggy. Osiris and Anubis are the central characters of Egyptian mythology. No wonder they are everywhere. ”

She ran the flashlight along the wall and carefully traced the hieroglyphs with her hands. She started reading quietly.

“Wow. Listen.

May you cross the sky united in dark. May you rise in light land, the place in which you shine. Set, Nephthys, go proclaim to Upper Egypt's gods and their spirits. This Unas comes, a spirit indestructible. If he wishes you to die, you will die. If he wishes you to live, you will live.

And these writings on the walls are a kind of Book of the Dead.”

“And these things are probably expensive. Let’s take one?”

Catherine heard Buggy’s voice and shifted her gaze at him. She saw the canopic chest standing in the wall and Buggy, who had almost taken one of the figurines in his hands.

“Don't touch! How did you... How did you find them?”

“I don't know. I just did what you usually do. Slid my hand along the wall and the thing opened. Cool stuff, yeah? Let's take it?” Buggy pointed to the vessels with his eyes and extended his hand.

“I said no!” She slapped his hands. “I already told you, don’t touch anything!”

“But why?”

“Do you know who it is?” Catherine pointed her finger at the four vessels.

“I don't know.” Buggy shrugged. “A dog, a baboon, a bird, and a guy with hair.” He pointed the flashlight at each thing.

“It's not the dog, the baboon, the bird, and the guy. It's the four sons of Horus. They assist the king in his ascent to heaven with the help of ladders. I told you about Horus, remember?”

“If you were naked then..” Buggy got lost in thoughts. “Then no.”

“No, idiot!! When we were on our first adventure.”

“No, either. Then I imagined you naked.” He giggled idiotically.

“Oh god!” Catherine rolled her eyes.

“So why can't I take them? Are you afraid that these nice guys can somehow harm me?” He stared at the vessels, hoping that Catherine would allow him to take one.

“I don't want to check, to be honest. We're in foreign territory. And we don't need to steal things from the Egyptian pyramids. God knows what curses are on them.”

“You're too late for curses, cotton candy. We stole part of the scepter from the last pyramid.” Buggy ran the flashlight over the heads of the creatures and squinted one eye.

“Stealing a scepter from the wall or a thing that's meant to hold the entrails is different. Please, Buggy, don't touch it.” She glanced at him with sad eyes.

He scowled, looking at her worried face, sighed sadly and stepped aside. Catherine approached the sarcophagus and began to examine it.

“You know, Cathie-pie, I wouldn't have gotten this far without you and your knowledge of all Egyptian things.” He said, scratching his head.

“What? What happened to you? You've been acting strange these last few days. You look at me all the time and say nice things.”

“I always say nice things to you! Just.. I don't know. Sometimes I think what would I do without you?” Buggy said quietly.

“Oh, you'd probably be drinking beer, sitting in bars or on the couch, and taking girls home to do to them what you're doing to me, little pervert.” Catherine let out a little blush and felt him come closer.

“Oh, believe me, I've never done that to anyone.” He chuckled, rested his chin on her shoulder and pinched her ass.

“I hate you! Don't you dare grab my ass in front of dead pharaohs.”

“You just called me a pervert in front of that pharaoh.” Buggy squeezed her buttocks.

“You like pissing me off, right?” Catherine narrowed her eyes and glanced at him.

“Ugh, my cotton candy gets angry, and we have sexual tension right next to the dead dude lying in the sarcophagus. How did you come to this, baby?” He wrapped his hands around her waist.

“You're disg.. Hush!” Catherine covered his mouth with her hand. “There's someone walking around out there.” She carefully removed her hand.

“Maybe it's a mummy that's risen and come to take you with it?” Buggy pinched her side slightly.

“Are you an idiot? No. It's probably those people we saw outside. Hell, why did everyone go to Egypt?” Catherine rolled her eyes and slapped his hands. “Get your clingy arms off!”

They heard voices and footsteps begin to move away.

“Okay, we need to find the clues and get out of here.” Catherine started snapping her fingers. “The clues. The clues.”

She sat down on her knees and scrutinized the walls. “I don't understand. I don't get it. What's the connection?”

“Maybe it has something to do with that man in the coffin?” Buggy asked, pointing the flashlights at the sarcophagus. “You said we're in the realm of this one. What's-his-name...”

“Osiris!” Catherine ran her fingers over her temple. “That's right! You're right!” She huffed and raised her hands above her.

“I'm right?!” There was surprise on his face.

“Yes! If we're in the realm of Osiris, and there's something like the book of the dead on the wall, do you know where we are?” Catherine stared with a pleased face.

“Are you expecting an answer from me?” Buggy bulged his eyes.

“We're on trial!”

“Yeah, that made it clearer.” He answered sarcastically.

“Shh, clown! Look for scales or a drawing of scales. Something like that.” Catherine started running from wall to wall.

“I didn't get anything, but okay.” Buggy started shining the flashlight on the wall. “Cotton candy, isn't that it?” He looked at the drawing behind the sarcophagus.

“Where? Where?” Catherine ran up to the sarcophagus and pushed Buggy away.

“For God's sake, woman!”

“Yes!! You're doing great!” She ran to him and pecked him on the cheek. “It is the Judgment of Osiris!”

“What?”

“Oh my god, Buggy! It's one of the most famous myths! The soul would embark on a dangerous journey through the afterlife to reach paradise. Once the journey through the underworld is complete, the deceased reach the Hall of Final Judgment. Do you know what the most important trial was according to Egyptian mythology? The Judgment of Osiris. Let me check.” Catherine climbed onto the sarcophagus.

“Cotton candy, what are you doing? You're trampling on a dead man.”

“Look! There’s a door behind the sarcophagus under the drawing with scales. Come here. Help me.” Catherine called Buggy with her hand.

He walked up to her and stood between the sarcophagus and the massive stone door.

“Try to move it!” She lightly spanked his back.

“Fuck, calm down, woman!” Buggy put his hand on the door and tried to move it. “Shit! It's heavy!”

“Quiet!” Catherine gently slapped his hands. “Do you hear that? Someone's coming.”

Buggy plopped down behind the sarcophagus and pulled Catherine's hand. She collapsed onto him and sat right on his lap, so that his legs were between hers.

“I should mention that I like the position you're sitting in, cotton candy.” He winked at her and growled slightly.

“Holy Gosh!!” Catherine looked out from behind the sarcophagus. “Quiet. They’re close!”

A small group of tourists entered the room.

Catherine peeked out from behind the sarcophagus and hid again. She pressed her face to Buggy's face.

“Ooh, too much, Cathie-pie, you're so sexy right now.” Buggy whispered and reached his hand towards her ass.

“You're nuts?” She grabbed his hand and covered his month with her other hand. “Quiet!”

They heard the group walking around the hall and after a while the sounds of footsteps began to drift away.

Catherine looked out and saw an empty room. “Finally! They’re gone.”

She stood up from Buggy and helped him up. “Let’s try to open this door.”

Buggy tried again to move the door. “It doesn’t work out. Fuck!”

“Wait! You see? The drawing! The scarab on the wall!” Catherine pressed her hands on the drawing. “Oh! I know! I know! We need to open the sarcophagus.” Catherine whispered and started hitting Buggy's hand.

“Excuse me?” He stared at her.

“There should be a decoration in the shape of a scarab inside. According to myth, the scarab came out of the eyes of Osiris, and was also a kind of guide to the afterlife. Help me!” Catherine slapped her hand over the sarcophagus.

“I’m really sorry. Weren't you the one who told me not to take any weird stuff?” Buggy indignantly whispered.

“Don't be a baby! Do you want the second part of the scepter or not? Help me!”

“Fine! Geez!”

They leaned on the lid of the sarcophagus and tried to push it aside. Catherine remembered about the hatchet in her bag. She took it out and gave it to Buggy. He struck the hatchet several times between the lid and the base of the sarcophagus, and they managed to open it.

“Shit. There are the remains of mummies and bandages!” Catherine squealed. “Where is the scarab? Where are you... There it is! Buggy! Under his hand. More precisely, what is left of it. Get it, please.”

Buggy reached into the sarcophagus and suddenly fell into it.

“Oh my god! Are you okay?!” Catherine whispered with worry in her voice.

“Yeah. Shit, this thing stinks. Is that what you asked for?” He showed the scarab in his hand.

“Yeah!” She squealed. “Wait. Why didn't you use your chop chop thing?”

Buggy looked at her, not knowing what to answer.

“Idiot and hero! But you smell like mummy now.” Catherine quickly kissed him on the cheek and helped him out. “Oh my God, I'm robbing graves.” She shook her head.

“You’ll have mental suffering later. What's next?” Buggy dusted his hands off.

Catherine placed the scarab on the drawing and quickly took out her notebook. “Okay. Now you just have to swipe it right three times and left four times and then press it.”

Buggy put his hands on the scarab and, at Catherine's command, rotated it in the right directions.

“And now what?” He asked at glanced at her.

The scarab's wings glowed a light turquoise color, and a narrow passage opened into a small corridor.

“Baby, if we find the second part of the scepter there now, I will buy the most expensive bottle of wine for you today.” Buggy rubbed his hands.

They entered the corridor and looked around.

“Look!!” She pointed to the drawing. “This is an allusion to the scales of Osiris. The transition to another world consisted of two parts. During the first part was when the soul stood between 42 judges. Here they are!” She patted Buggy on the shoulder and pointed to the drawings. “The second part was weighing the heart. Here is the drawing!” Catherine started jumping and kicking her legs. “The heart was weighed against the feather. If the heart was found to be heavier than the feather, it was fed to Ammut, a beast associated with the time of judgment. If the scales were balanced, the deceased had passed the test and was taken before Osiris, who welcomed them into the afterlife.”

“Cathie-pie, I love your lectures about Ancient Egypt, but how will this help us find the scepter?”

“Look! There are stones in the shape of a feather and a heart. And here is something similar to a scale. Buggy! I need your help again. Take the heart-shaped stone and put it on the left bowl, and the feather-shaped stone on the right.”

Buggy took the stones and put them where Catherine pointed.

“So, what is next?” He looked at her questioningly.

“I don’t know.. Oh, wait, there’s an inscription here! Wait… King.. Die.. Setting sun. Wait! Listen!

The king did not die, He became the one who rises like the morning sun on the horizon. He rests from life like the setting sun in the west, but he will rise again in the east. O, king, you did not leave dead, you left alive! Did you say he would die? No, he won't die. This king lives forever. He escaped the day of his death. O, high among the eternal stars! You will never die.”

As soon as Catherine finished reading the poem, the scales tipped towards the heart-shaped stone.

“Fuck!” Catherine sat down on the floor and buried her face in her knees.

“What happened?” Buggy asked with incomprehension in his voice.

“I don't know. If it's like a myth, I think...” Catherine mumbled in her knees.

“Um, cotton candy. Look!” Buggy lightly tapped her head with his finger. “Is it supposed to happen like this?”

Catherine raised her head. They saw the scales swung in the opposite direction and the heart appeared on the same level with the feather.

“It can't be! If this is all for real this means that Unis's soul had passed the test!” Catherine grabbed her head.

At that moment, the stones in the wall moved. Catherine jumped up and ran towards them. She reached into the opened space.

“Fuck, you see that?” She felt Buggy looking over her shoulder.

“Cotton candy, I think, we're having a party tonight!”

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