#why is this a controversial statement. why is giving a shit about people killing each other (often for like 10 ppl's financial gain) wrong

[redrobin-detective]

Ok, I’ve tried and tried and tried to write this fic because I see it so clearly in my mind but it’s just not going no matter what I do. But I don’t want the idea to die with me. The closest this came to being written was exile which was an attempt to bleed out some of the energy of this au.

Anyway, so it starts off vaguely similar to canon only more aggressive. There had been underlying tension between ghosts and humans for a while, the dead jealous/angry at the living for disrespecting them. The successful creation of the Fenton ghost portal (and another halfa) was considered an act of war and so the ghosts responded in kind. So basically all of S1 occurs fairly close to canon except ghost attacks are more violent and have increasingly more consequences as time passes. Also the attacks aren’t just in Amity Park with ghosts becoming a worldwide issue but Amity is a focal point. Regular people know the ghosts hate them though they don’t know why. Phantom is very much a controversial figure as he is a ghost but also clearly is fighting off the more violent ghosts. 

One day, not long after the events of Control Freaks, Amity Park wakes up to find three of their own are gone. Danny Fenton, Sam Manson and Tucker Foley are nowhere to be found. There’s a massive manhunt, the parents go on TV and beg for information but they cannot be found. Curiously enough, town hero Phantom was also missing. There’s some evidence they left of their own volition so the Mansons and Foleys eventually relent that the kids fled on their own. The Fentons are 100% certain the kids were stolen/killed by ghosts as a statement. And the fact that Phantom went missing around the same time means he was the one who killed them. Jazz knows Danny was Phantom but had no idea what was going on and knew her parents wouldn’t listen she just, kept quiet and privately tried to piece together what happened. 

Three years pass and finally it looks like the Ecto War is coming to a close. Young, naive ghosts attempted to raise Pariah Dark in a bid to win. It went disastrously but Phantom (who was periodically spotted around the world, deep in the worst battles of the war) and group of loyal allies subdued the king. By the law of ghosts, Phantom was named heir apparent and he declared that the fighting would stop. Humans and ghosts would have to negotiate and co-exist in peace. But he’s not king yet, no he needs to be crowned at the place where it began, Amity Park’s Fenton portal (”where it all began” has a double meaning of the beginning of the war but also symbolically where Phantom began as Kings assume the crown where their living life ended to show their abandonment of their first life and the commitment to their second). Amity is NOT happy to hear that their former hero is coming home.

Amity has been through the wringer, ghost attacks got pretty bad. The Fenton’s throw themselves into their work to cancel out the grief, they create a group of ghost hunters nicknamed the Reds (for their red blood, ghosts are nicknamed Greens) to control the threat. Valerie heads the young adult division and is considered one of the best, she drops out of school to devote herself to it full time. Oh also her dad is now the Mayor as most have died or didn’t want the job. There are still people who like Phantom and see him as a hero (a lot of Casper Kids) but it’s generally an unpopular opinion in town. Maddie and Jack are ready to obliterate the ghost that took their son’s life the moment he’s within city limits. It’s a powder keg ready to blow. It all comes to a head when Phantom and his entourage arrive.

First off, Phantom looks very different, much less human looking than when he left. He’s clearly aged like a normal teen but his eyes look much, much older.  His skin is dead white with a blue tinge to it from his ice core and his aura is super cold. His hair is longer and is very misty that kind of swirls around him and his has fangs and claws. When he’s deep in battle or his obsession, his sclera turn black and he looks scary af. His entourage is ghosts who have sworn loyalty to him, who he picked up along the way after battling beside them for 3 years. Fright Knight, Skulker and Frostbite are recognizable allies. They are not happy that their future King is back in Amity (secretly fearing they’ll lose him once more to his human life). J&M have a shot and are going for the kill when they see something that shocks them; Sam and Tucker are in Phantom’s entourage.

There had been whispers that Phantom interacted with humans, that humans were in his inner circle but this is something else together. And so are Sam and Tucker. Sam is Phantom’s General, she is talented and collected and half feral. She used to be a pacifist but the trials of war and understanding that peace sometimes needs to be fought for made her compromise. She’s covered in scars and an extremely talented fighter. She’s missing her right hand up to her forearm, she can form a ‘phantom limb’ (basically borrowing ectoplasm from her future ghost) to do some things with some powers. Tucker is the support, he uses human and ghost tech to organize, weaponize and generally keep things running. He’s covered in homemade tech (shields and weapons and computers) and he rarely removes. Both he and Sam have kinda forgotten how to interact with and really BE human after so long among the dead. They had attempted to conceal themselves but they had forgotten how strong parental love and recognition is. J&M want to know about Danny, the teens don’t know how to respond but assure them he’s alive. Phantom can’t bring himself to look at them.

This is where I start to lose track of things but there will be parallels of Valerie/Maddie vs Sam as female warriors on opposite sides who are willing to go behind, possibly compromising the things important to them, for victory. Tucker will be contrasted against Jack/Jazz as the one making weapons but also generally keeping the human parts of the team mentally/physically afloat. *Severe* PTSD for all three of them. They’re also unnaturally codependent on each other, get super anxious when one of the trio is out of sight and sleep in a big cuddle pile. They will fucking Kill You if you look at one of them wrong. Vlad will be involved, he had been jailed for war crimes but convinced Walker to stage a coup to overthrow Danny and take the crown before he’s actually declared King and is too powerful. Vlad is more unhinged here, more ghost than human (a hint on what could happen to Danny if he’s not careful). He is eventually defeated but he sacrifices his life for ghost power which, in the end, is what makes him able to be beaten.

 There’s lots of ideas on what it means to be live or dead and where the divide really is, is it a heartbeat or it is how you choose to use your existence. On how duty shouldn’t mean you need to give up everything. Because Jack and Maddie believe that Phantom killed their son and, in a way, they’re right. Before they left, the ghost war had gotten so bad and the rumors of Dark being resurrected were going around. Amity attacks were at an all time high, people in their school were being killed just because Danny went there. He realized he had to choose between Fenton or Phantom and he chose to protect the world. He abandoned his human identity and went off to fight in war. Tried to convince Sam and Tucker to stay but they followed him through hell and back. Because Danny spends so much time as Phantom, Fenton is severely neglected. His long hair is cool and floaty as Phantom but is unkempt and stringy, hanging in his face as Fenton. He’s wan and underweight and looks like a walking corpse. He knows his human half will give out soon if he doesn’t give it more attention but he just can’t there’s too much to do, too many people to save.

It would end with Danny being outed to the town, not the world, just the town. Jack and Maddie need to recon with the fact that their boy DID leave of his own choice but only because their failure to protect him (from both the portal and ghosts) made him feel he had to take all this responsibility on his shoulders. Danny also has to recognize that he (and Sam/Tuck) can’t do all this on their own and they can trust and rely on the people around him. Phantom is crowned King but he decides Amity will be his base. The trio eat more, sleep some, catches up on school all the while continuing their duties as King and court. The ghosts also see that Phantom’s humanity isn’t a weakness but a strength and will bring peace to the Earth/Zone so they also take some of the burdens off his shoulder. 

Basically I load up heavily with angst at the beginning and end with all the love and comfort imaginable. I just can’t fucking figure out the middle and my motivation will not let me write this shit out. But I can’t let this AU die bc it fucking keeps me up at night.

#behind me dips eternity #god I want to write this but its just not going #Ive been trying for over a month #I cant finish the outline #I've only gotten a paragraph into actually typing #but there are so many vivid images from this fic that live rent free in my head #was lowkey thinking of comissioning an artist to depict Danny bc I've tried and its not coming out right and it drives me INSANE #bc this world is very vivid to me #i love it even if it hurts me #anyway here's wonderwall

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

The Voyage So Far: Whole Cake Island

east blue (1 | 2) || alabasta (1 | 2) || skypiea || water 7 || enies lobby || thriller bark || paramount war (1 | 2) || fishman island || punk hazard || dressrosa (1 | 2) || whole cake island || wano

sanji is such a self-sacrificial idiot. and i know that’s not exactly a ground-breaking statement, but it does define the entire first half of whole cake island, so it may as well be reiterated here: sanji does not value his own life as much as he should, and fails to grasp that other people care about him outside of what he can offer them, which is why he’s so surprised when luffy later comes charging headlong into big mom’s territory.

zou is a really good little arc, and it also mirrors the themes of whole cake island in miniature. the minks collectively make a massive sacrifice and risk absolutely everything to protect raizou, and wci is essentially all about loyalty and sacrifice, whether its sanji giving himself up to protect the strawhats and zeff or luffy and the strawhats facing impossible odds to rescue him to pedro giving up his life to get them all out of there safe.

huge fan of this panel partly just because it’s cute and partly because it’s a great visualization of just how dysfunctional the heights are in one piece.

zou is one of my favorite settings in one piece just for the sheer creativity of it. zunesha is so massive and so mysterious and so strange. and she really looks unspeakably old just from how she’s drawn, looming over everyone and everything, eyes hollow and empty, an entire forest and an entire people growing on her back that have been there for thousands of years. it’s just so neat and so wildly inventive.

this applies to zou as a whole, but i think it’s really cool how all the little threads that will become important during wano are set up so effectively even before whole cake island starts. we get this shot here of kidd beat to shit and then forget it because so much happens between here and when he shows up again in wano, but then oda punks us into caring about him and killer so much and this retroactively becomes very important.

ever since his introduction sanji’s always been a character basically defined by his adherence to his principles: always feeding the hungry, never wasting food, never hurting women, never using his hands in combat. he’s probably the most firmly principled person on the crew, and that’s more obvious in whole cake island than in any other arc except maybe baratie.

sanji is very stubbornly good, which puts him in acute contrast to his siblings and their general cruel apathy. it’s something i really like about him.

i’m a huge fan of big mom’s introduction, which is also our introduction to tottoland in general. it’s cutesy and colorful and musical while simultaneously being deeply creepy, with lyrics about killing people for ingredients and making jam out of blood, which is a great summary of the core of big mom’s character. she’s an old lady all in pink who lives in a cartoon fairy-tale land- but she’s also a deranged cannibal, and all those singing trees and flowers are animated by the life she steals from her citizens as tax.

whole cake island draws on a lot of fairy tale motifs (especially with brulee), and the contrast that saccharine appearance creates with how fucked up the actual content is is super effective and memorable, i think.

honestly i find most of the content of sanji with the vinsmokes just plain upsetting, which i’m sure is intentional, so i’m not going to go into it a lot here, but i am including this panel of him kicking niji in the face.

sad as this scene turns out, luffy’s absolute thrill at finding sanji and the corresponding bafflement of the vinsmokes as to how the fuck he even got there always kinda makes me grin.

i always love seeing people’s underestimations about luffy get thrown right the hell out the window- because let’s be honest, he’s easy to underestimate, he’s like a five and a half foot tall rubber teenager and not very physically intimidating and all, and then he goes and pulls off the impossible without blinking.

the thing that makes luffy unique as a captain has always been his willingness to rely on his crew, and his willingness to openly admit that reliance, like he did all the way back in arlong park. most of the other contenders for the pirate king’s crown we’ve seen- big mom, kaidou, crocodile once upon a time- have been stubbornly individualistic people who explicitly shown not to care for their crew and allies, generally seeing them as disposable.

luffy is the opposite of all of them, because his crew are everything to him, to the point of being willing to sacrifice his dream for them. and the loyalty he wins from them in return is unmatched, as opposed to big mom and kaidou, who both get cheerfully betrayed not just by their own crewmates but by their own children.

brook is really cool in whole cake island, and honestly it comes at just the right time for him as a character. ever since his introductory arc in thriller bark until this point he hasn’t gotten a ton of focus, so it’s great that he gets to be the mvp here and demonstrate exactly why he’s a strawhat pirate and how much he’s grown over the timeskip.

oda is generally really good at introducing and handling characters contained to a single arc/saga, but i do think he absolutely knocked it out of the park with pedro. he has an interesting backstory, compelling motivations, and basically an entire sub-arc ending in his death that never distracts from the main plot, but only ever adds to it.

pedro really feels like a fully realized character who’s had a whole life offscreen, who we just happened to catch at the very end of his story. i think that’s super impressive.

i really love this moment, because for me, this is the moment where whole cake island becomes a tremendous arc, and where the tides begin to turn and the dominoes begin to fall, one after the other. this is sanji hitting absolute rock bottom. the one ray of light he pinned all his hopes on was a lie, and he can’t even light a fucking cigarette.

but one piece is, very often, a story about picking yourself up even when you feel like you can’t.

i think there’s something lovely about how much one piece emphasizes the value of honestly asking for help. luffy waits for nami to ask for help, and for robin to say she wants to live, and for sanji to admit he just wants to go home, and then says, “okay, i’ll make that happen.”

it just makes me so happy how happy the stawhats are to know sanji’s back with them. it reminds me a lot of how they all brush off robin’s thanks after enies lobby. sure, they’re going to have to crash the wedding and confront big mom directly and might all die, but who cares? they’ve got sanji back. i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, i love how much they love each other.

i think the gangster outfits are super fun, and i love that oda is committed enough to his aesthetics to come up with an excuse to put them all in formalwear. it pays off, they all look extremely snappy.

i know i just said it in the dressrosa posts but i’m reiterating it here because this is my favorite example of it by far: i love when oda does this split-screen thing with his panels. the contrast between the two halves of pudding is so severe and yet they’re so clearly the same person i honestly just find this pair of panels fascinating to look at.

this panel also kind of gets at my favorite thing about pudding as a character, really. i know she’s a little controversial in fandom, but i’ve always found her entertaining (at least post-reveal), especially in the contrast between her unhinged evil side and her genuinely sweet romantic side and her post-wedding tendency to randomly ping-pong between the two.

i just always like reminding people that sanji is fast enough and his observation haki good enough to dodge a surprise attack, while thoroughly distracted, from katakuri.

sanji in this arc tends to get shit from a certain side of fandom for being ‘useless’ since he doesn’t have a big climactic fight despite being the focus of the arc, which i think is thoroughly missing the point. sanji is still plenty capable in combat, as demonstrated both here and later, with chiffon and oven. it just happens that his strength isn’t what saves the day ultimately, because combat ability isn’t everything, which is the entire point of the vinsmoke backstory/subplot. sanji saves the day just by being kind.

i’ll admit big mom’s flashback isn’t one of my favorites, taken in isolation- there are some parts of it that kind of unresolved (at least as of now- i still suspect they’ll be followed up eventually), and in general, although there is a tragedy to it, it doesn’t quite hit the way many of the other more effective flashbacks do. that said, i do think it does a really good job of succinctly explaining why big mom is the way she is in the present: she’s a child who was never told no, who never grew or matured past the disappearance of her adopted mother. that’s it, and that’s enough.

i’ve always been a little bit in love with how seriously and consistently one piece handles its themes of found family, and sanji outright disowning judge in whole cake island is maybe the most outright they ever get: family is found, not made. you owe nothing to your blood and are never beholden to your abusers.

and i just like that a whole lot.

i do think the tamatebako is one of the best uses of chekov’s gun i’ve ever seen. we’re first shown it at the end of fishman island, it’s revealed it got sent off to big mom rigged with explosives which is a minor “oh fuck” moment, and then it gets forgotten about, because the entirety of punk hazard and dressrosa happens in between! which is a lot!

i remember when i reached the moment in whole cake island where we’re reminded that that bomb still exists and is still waiting to explode, i just started laughing hysterically out loud, because i’d completely forgotten, and now that i remembered i was just delighted to know it was going to definitely go off at some point, almost certainly in a very satisfying way.

pedro is, if i remember right, the first time the imagery of the coming dawn that will become quite important in wano really has attention drawn to it in-text- the recurring motif is there before this, of course, dating all the way back to the names of the first chapter (romance dawn) and first island (dawn island), but this is the first time it’s actively addressed in-story.

in doing so, oda essentially presents a fresh mystery for us, but one that has been set up so consistently ever since chapter one that it feels like it fits perfectly into the world and story.

luffy’s been punching way above his weight class ever since crocodile all the way back in alabasta, fighting enemies who clearly outmatch him but always managing to win anyways, but his fight with katakuri is maybe the clearest the sheer differential in strength ever gets, because katakuri’s powers are similar enough to luffy’s that he can pull off pretty much all of luffy’s techniques, but better. so luffy has to fall back on the two things that have always been his greatest strengths, again all the way back to crocodile in alabasta: innovation and sheer fucking stubbornness.

one thing i love about one piece is how no character is immune to being clowned on. absolutely nobody. everybody looks like an idiot sometimes, and it makes everything so much more fun than if the series took itself more seriously. katakuri basically actively tries to avert this by building up a fearsome, flawless, and utterly no-nonsense persona, but it winds up failing hard because it actually only makes the contrast and surprise of his actual personality and vices that much funnier.

i’ve always loved this one panel of carrot going sulong, because she just looks so monstrous, like a true werewolf. the same goes for the shift in big mom’s design when she starts going truly mad with starvation and gets even more threatening-looking (below). i just think oda should let women be monstrously scary more often.

i do really love that the entire climax of whole cake island hinges on the degree of trust and faith the strawhats, and sanji and luffy specifically, have in each other. they’re all facing massive challenges that would seem insurmountable to an outsider- luffy facing down a yonkou’s commander with a bounty of over a billion and sanji remaking a massive cake that took months to plan and make in just a few hours, the others evading big mom’s full forces and big mom herself for a full night- but none of them have even a shred of doubt that the others can manage it.

i wrote a meta post awhile back about one piece’s concept of ‘honor in a pirates’ fight, and what it came down to is this: honor can never be expected between pirates, but the best of them will show it anyways, and it can be a very telling judge of character. nobody would expect katakuri to do this, and luffy even calls him an idiot for it, but he has enough respect for luffy as a strong opponent to do it anyways, and that’s how we know for absolute certain that even though he’s an antagonist, he’s also a good, honorable person.

i really like the gesture of luffy leaving his hat over katakuri’s mouth, especially because until this point, we’re never even given any indication that he’s really noticed it, let alone that katakuri is insecure about it. he never reacts to or comments on it (which is in itself kind of unusual from someone who tends to nickname opponents by their appearances as often as luffy does) one way or another.

and then he does this, confirming all at once that he did fully notice and understand, he just doesn’t care. which i think sums up one of the more under-appreciated aspects of luffy’s character- he’s generally way more observant than people give him credit for, especially when it comes to people, it’s just that he has a very different sense of what’s important and what’s not than your average person.

i love the sheer contrast between big mom’s delighted, rapturous singing as she devours the wedding cake against the violence taking place on screen as her army rains fire and hell down on the thousand sunny. it parallels her initial introduction at the start of the arc perfectly, and is just an excellent way to close out the arc with a bang.

i said it earlier but it bears repeating here, for a different reason: luffy is not very physically intimidating. he’s shorter than most of the other main characters, he’s a lanky teenager, he dresses casually and his most identifiable accessory is a farm hat.

but then there are times when he looks like a captain, like a future pirate king, and it just looks so natural on him. i can never get over it.

i really like that, after spending a whole arc demonstrating just how different (and how much better) sanji is than the vinsmokes, it ends like this- showing us just how similar he’s grown up to the man he’s chosen as his real family, and just how proud zeff would be of him.

#the voyage so far #one piece #opmeta #arc: whole cake island #arc: zou #long post #not japanese

[harley-sunday]

Encore [epilogue]

Summary: The new Disney+ show ‘Encore’ brings together former castmates of a high school musical, tasking them with re-creating their original performance in a high school reunion like no other. Emotions run high as you face faded friendships, long-forgotten controversies, killer choreography, and an ex-boyfriend you haven’t seen in eighteen years.

Pairing: Chris Evans x reader [unnamed OFC, nicknamed ‘Ace’)

Warnings: Language. NSFW

Word count: 3.1k

AN: This is it... The epilogue of Encore’s Encore. What a ride, huh? I had so much fun writing this, diving into this backstory, and making sure these two knuckleheads found their way to each other in the end :) Hope you’ll enjoy the last part, but please let me know what you think! ♥

eL, I owe you something chocolate for all the hours you’ve spend in this daydream world with me. Thank you so, SO much, sweets! 

Masterlist

“Nic,” you answer with a smile, putting your phone on speaker, “we’re almost there.” 

“Ok, good,” she says, “cause these potatoes are done.” 

Chris chuckles beside you, “Two minutes, Nicole.”

“Step on it, Evans,” Nicole groans, “I’ve got two very impatient kids here who, I’m sure, aren’t above killing their mother if we don’t start eating soon.”

“Nicole,” you laugh.

“What? I’m serious,” she protests. “Please tell me you remembered to bring the-”

“It’s in the trunk, Nicole,” Chris reassures her with a smile. “We’re pulling up now, so you’re good.” 

“Oh thank God,” Nicole says as she hangs up.

“I’ll leave the door open for you,” you tell him, before you give a kiss. “See you soon.” 

He winks and sits back, trying to hide from view as you make your way to the front door.

The door opens before you even have a chance to ring the doorbell and you are greeted by two very excited boys who both run up to you and throw their arms around your waist. You run your hands through their hair, “Hi guys,” 

“We’re gonna watch you and mommy on TV!” Robby exclaims, while he takes your hand and leads you inside. Leo’s still wrapped around your waist, his feet on yours, and so you penguin walk through the hall and into the kitchen, where you find Nicole and Keith.

“Hi,” Nicole says with a smile, planting a kiss on your cheek, “you had a good flight?”

“Not too bad,” you tell her as you give Keith a hug.

“How’s the apartment?” She tells Leo to let go of you then, and when he doesn’t listen right away she throws him one of those mom-looks that makes him do exactly what she wants.

“It’s fine,” you tell her, taking the glass of wine she’s offered you, “I’m not sure all my stuff’s gonna fit, but-” 

“I still don’t understand why you don’t just move in with him, I mean-”

“Nicole,” you berate her, one eyebrow raised. “Have you met me and my commitment issues?”

“Yes, I know, taking it slow, blah blah blah,” she says while she pulls a face. “You know you’re just gonna be at his place all the time, right?”

“I know,” you agree with a nod, “but it’s nice to have, like, my own place, at least until he gets back from filming Knives Out, you know? I don’t- It would be weird to stay at his house when we’re not technically back-”

“Oh, come on!” She throws her hands in the air then, “You know what, I give up. Just let me know if you need help decorating the new place or whatever.”

“I love you,” you tell her, making a kissing face.

“Uhu,” she says, trying to keep a straight face but failing. She pulls you in for a hug, “It’s good to have you back, babe.” 

“MOM!” 

“Oh shit,” Nicole curses quietly and lets go of you. “Here we go.”

You pulls up your texting app and hit <send> on the draft you typed earlier, which simply says:

Now.

“Mom, Leo hit me!” 

You follow Nicole into the dining room where you find Robby, a red spot on his cheek that confirms his story, and a very guilty-looking Leo. Before Nicole has a chance to say anything there’s a knock on the front door and you see the confusion on Leo and Robby’s faces when they quickly realize an unexpected guest has shown up.

It’s then the door to the dining room opens and you see the boys’ eyes widen in shock when they see who has just stepped into their house. You throw Nicole a wink and step back, letting your back rest against the wall as you watch the scene in front of you unfold with a smile.

“Hi boys,” Chris says, using the deeper voice Steve Rogers is known for. Holding Captain America’s shield in front of him he salutes them, before he sets the shield down and walks over to where they’re seated, kneeling in between them. 

Leo finally seems to have found his voice again and looks from Chris to Nicole, “Momma! Cap’ain America is here!”

“He sure is, baby,” Nicole says with a smile. 

As if on cue, both boys jump out of their seats and throw their arms around Chris’ neck, giggling when he stands up, carrying them to the living room with ease. 

“Come on,” you nudge Nicole before you set your glass down, “Chris can handle those two, I’ll help you get everything on the table.”

She tells Keith to go take some pictures, maybe even a video so that, when necessary, they can help Leo and Robby remember about the deal they made with Captain America about being kind to each other. Once you’re in the kitchen she lets out a staggered breath, “I really hope this will help with all the fighting.”

“It will,” you assure her, gently patting her arm. “Captain America shows up, you listen, right? Those kids, oh Nic,” you let out a laugh, “they’ll be on their best behaviour from now on, because Captain America will find out if they’re not.” 

After a dinner filled with stories from Leo and Robby, trying to impress Captain America with whatever they can think of, you settle down in the living room, your episode of ‘Encore’ just minutes from airing. 

You and Chris sit down on the couch, Robby on his lap, while Leo snuggles up on yours, but only after both boys agree that Leo gets to sit on Cap’s lap after the second commercial break. Keith and Nicole are snuggled up on the love seat and you watch them out of the corner of your eye, smiling when you see Keith tickle Nicole which earns him a gentle slap on the wrist, followed by a kiss.

The episode starts then, the boys clapping and cheering loudly whenever they catch a glimpse of their mom. You can’t help but cringe when you see the footage of that first day, the awkward hug you gave Chris of course shown in its entirety. That’s the only time there’s any focus on you and Chris, which you’re thankful for, glad that whatever was going between you two didn’t transpire in rehearsals enough to make it into the final cut.

You smile when you see parts of the performance on screen and look away in embarrassment when they show the scene between you and Chris, making out in Kenickie’s car. Keith wolf whistles and Nicole winks at you, while the boys look up at you and Chris, confusion written all over their faces.

Robby, now in your lap, takes the lead, “You kissed Captain America.” It’s not so much a question as it is a statement and you’re not sure how to reply.

Chris steps in, “She did, but it’s super secret, so you can’t tell anyone that you know, ok?”

Robby and Leo nod fervently, excited to share another secret with Captain America.

“So, am I dropping you off at your place, or-” he says with a grin.

You shake your head and laugh, “You can, but then you’d have to drop yourself off there as well and I don’t think Dodger would be too excited to spend the night alone.” 

“That’s what I thought,” he says as he drives past your apartment, speeding up a little to make his point, a cheeky grin playing on his lips. 

You turn towards him in your seat and stare at him for a few seconds, memories starting to flood your mind now that you’re driving through Sudbury again together for the first time in eighteen years. You let your bottom lip roll between your teeth while an idea starts to form.

He looks over at you, “What?” 

You shrug, “Remember that time you took me for a drive and we ended up at Great Meadows?”

“Yeah-”

“Yeah.” You reach out your hand and let it rest on the top of his thigh, “Wanna take me there again?”

He swallows hard, the double entendre not lost on him, and he just nods, gripping the steering wheel just a little tighter. 

You let your hand travel further up his thigh and cup him through his jeans, drawing a sharp breath from him when you squeeze ever so slightly. It’s about five more minutes to the parking you were referring to and you keep your hand in place for every second of them, your thumb rubbing back and forth in languid strokes.

His breathing picks up and you can tell he’s trying to keep his cool, but the way he grows harder under your touch betrays his efforts. He curses quietly, “Fuck, Ace.”

“Uhu,” you reply with a sly smile and another squeeze. 

He pulls up to the parking then, and you’re relieved to find it empty, not sure what you would have done if there’d been other people around. Before you have time to say anything he’s unbuckled his seatbelt and puts his hand over yours, keeping you in place, grinding against your hand.

You take your hand out from underneath his and unbuckle your seatbelt, while you tell him to slide his seat back. He does and watches you intently, no doubt curious to see what you’ll do next. You throw him a wink and move around in your seat, your ass now hitting the dashboard. Planting one feet firmly on the ground, you throw the other over his leg and slide onto his lap. It takes some effort, but finally you find yourself straddling his thigh.  

Your skirt has ridden up and you can feel your soaked panties press against his jeans, a shiver running through you when you feel him flex his muscles. You cup his face and pull him in for a kiss and as you do you buck your hips, sliding over his leg, a moan escaping you from the friction it creates.

“Ace,” he breathes against your lips, his hands on your hips to keep you in place.

You give him another kiss and let your hands fall to his jeans then, your fingers unbuckling his belt with ease before you undo his button and zipper. One hand finds its way into his boxers and takes him out, and you press yourself against his leg when you see he’s completely hard. 

Your thumb runs over the tip, coating it in precum. Pulling back you look at him and you feel the heat rise to your cheeks when you let a bit of spit fall onto your hand, your eyes never leaving his. Both hands are on his cock then, working in tandem, while he grabs onto your hips and helps you ride his thigh in earnest.

It isn’t long before his head falls back against the headrest, his breathing more ragged now, and you can tell he’s getting close from the way he thrusts into your hands. 

“I’m right there with you,” you whisper, feeling your orgasm starting to build. 

He flexes the muscles in leg again and pushes you down harder as he slides you from his knee to his hip and back. 

You keep running your hands up and down his shaft, faster than before, and then you lean forward and put your mouth to his ear, “Come for me, Chris.”

He shakes his head while he tightens his grip on your hips, lifting you up, and you whimper at the loss of contact. He kisses you, hard, and then puts one hand on your lower back, pushing you against him, while the other takes his cock from your hands. “Wanna come inside of you,” he growls, his voice low and dangerous, and you almost come right then and there.

You put your hands on his shoulders and slowly lower yourself onto him, a moan escaping your when he fills you up effortlessly. His hands are back on your hips then, helping you ride him, setting a pace that you know will get both of you there quickly. 

Burying your face in his neck, closer now than you were before, you sneak one hand in between you to play with your clit. You want to tell him you’re about to come, but then he bucks his hips at the same time he pushes you down and the words get stuck in your throat because your orgasm washes over you instantly. 

You feel him come inside of you not much later and he wraps his arms around you, cradling you against his chest and whispering sweet nothings in your ear as you both come down from your high. 

When you wake up the next morning Chris’ side of the bed is already empty and you figure he must have gone out for an early morning run. That is until you hear Dodger bark somewhere on the other end of the house, which is weird, because Chris told you he usually takes his dog along on his runs. You decide you might as well get up, feeling well-rested after your early night yesterday, but still longing for some coffee. 

You start to make your way to the kitchen, but halfway there you are greeted by an excited Dodger, who you give some well-deserved scratches before continuing your mission to get some coffee. Your brows knit together when you see a bouquet of red tulips on the kitchen counter, which you are sure weren’t there yesterday. 

“I was just gonna get you,” Chris says as hands you a plate with two Danish, and a cup of coffee while he pulls a face, “I hate to rush you, but we have an hour before we need to leave, so you kind need to haul-”

“What?” You look at him, shaking your head, “What are you talking about?”

“I can’t- It’s a surprise,” he says with a wicked grin. “So just- Eat your breakfast, and I’ll go take a shower, ok?”

“Ok,” you draw out, even more confused. You watch him walk out of the kitchen and turn towards Dodger, who’s at your feet hoping you’ll drop a bit of Danish, or maybe just both. “You in on this?”

Dodger barks quietly, which doesn’t really help. Still, you sneak him a bit of your Danish before you sit down at the breakfast bar and try to figure out what the hell is going on.

You’re in the car about an hour later and Chris still won’t tell you where you’re headed, but when he turns onto the I90 after twenty minutes or so, you are fairly certain you’ll end up in Boston, even though that leaves about a thousand places he could take you to. 

He’s unusually quiet and so you figure it must be something important but there’s just no way of telling what is happening right now. When he pulls up on Salem Street about thirty minutes later you’re even more confused, almost certain that you’ve never been here before.

When you round the car to join him on the sidewalk, he takes your hand and leads the way down the street until you get to what looks like a barber shop. It confuses you even more, because are you here to watch him get a haircut, or? 

You follow him inside and you’re surprised when the guy behind the counter greets him as if they’re old friends, telling him Dave will be with you guys in a second.

“Chris,” you whisper, gently tugging on his hand.

Before he has the chance to respond a guy walks through the curtains behind the counter and walks up to you and it takes everything you have not to stare at him, because he’s almost twice the size of Chris. This must be Dave, you figure, and you watch as he gives Chris a hug.

“How you doin’, kid?”

“Good,” Chris smiles. He nods towards you then, “This is Ace.” 

You throw him a look because why would he use your nickname, but it’s then Dave gives you a hug and you find yourself a little stunned at how gentle he is for such a big guy. Before you have the chance to ask any questions, Dave beckons you and Chris to follow him through the curtains and it’s there things get even more confusing.

There’s a chair set up, but it isn’t a barber’s chair, and you glance at Chris, hoping to finally get some answers.

“I’ll just eh-,” Dave says then, “I’ll just go grab something from the back,” and disappears through another curtain, leaving you and Chris alone.

Chris takes your hands in his and gives them a gentle squeeze, “Remember when I told you that I got that ace of hearts tattooed on what was supposed to be our ten-year anniversary?”

You nod, slowly starting to maybe connect the dots, but it isn’t until you realize what today’s date is that you let out a gasp, “Oh.”

“Yeah,” he nods and smiles, “Happy twenty-year anniversary, Ace.” He tugs on your hands, pulling you close before he wraps his arms around you, his mouth close to your ear when he says, “It’s time to start fixing things.” 

Dave reappears then and asks Chris if he’s ready. Chris nods and takes his sweater off, before he sits down in the chair and Dave starts prepping his skin. Chris holds out his hand to you and you’re quick to take it, standing next to him and watching in awe as Dave starts to fill in the broken line of Chris’ tattoo, the colour red he’s using matching that of the existing heart perfectly. You give his hand a gentle squeeze to let him know that Dave’s done not much later and let go then, so Chris can get up out of the chair and admire his tattoo in the mirror that’s hanging on the wall.

Dave throws you a wink, “Everything as it should be.” 

“Yeah,” you agree with a smile, for some reason feeling the heat rise to your cheeks, as if the enormity of what Chris has just done only now hits you. You watch as Dave places what looks like saran wrap on Chris’ chest before he hands him a tube of cream and some instructions on how to take care of it the next couple of days.

Walking out of the shop not much later Chris looks at you, a tender look in his eyes, “You ok?”

“Yeah,” you nod, a moment of clarity suddenly hitting you. 

“So,” Chris asks, hesitating a little, “am I dropping you off at your place or-?”

“No,” you say as you let go of his hand and turn towards him. You cup his face ih your hands and push yourself up so your lips ghost against his, “You’re taking me home.”

#chris evans x reader #Chris Evans fanfic #Harley Sunday x Chris Evans #chris evans #Encore

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 271: My Hero Tokodemia

Previously on BnHA: Mic was all “goodbye X-Less don’t do anything I wouldn’t do” and just LEFT him with Tomura, like. ???! X-Less was all “I’m gonna sit here and do nothing and wait to die.” Ujiko was all “this has nothing to do with ANYTHING but I just want you to know that I conspired to murder your husband 15 years ago and ended up killing his best friend instead!” Tomura was all “what up bitches I’m in this chapter too” and had trippy dreams about hands and buildings and his family was there and also All for One (the dude)! Because guess what, Tomura has All For One (the quirk) now! Because AFO gave it to him! So yeah! And now he’s waking up, and Deku can apparently feel it happening because he’s a horcrux probably, and so basically everything is FINALLY GOING TO SHIT AND IT’S ABOUT TIME BUT ALSO AHHHHH.

Today on BnHA: SHIGARAKI WHO TOMURA WHAT. Back to Gunga Mountain! So Dabi is all “you do know your beloved mentor just killed a guy right?” and Toko is all “!!” and Dabi is all “SO THAT MAKES HIM THE WORST CRIMINAL OF ALL!” and, WITHOUT THE SLIGHTEST HINT OF IRONY, IMMEDIATELY follows up this bold statement by TRYING TO BURN A CHILD ALIVE. Anyway so this is why Dabi wasn’t the keynote speaker at the “murder is bad” convention though. So most of the chapter is like this, with Dabi (albeit somewhat halfheartedly) trying to set Toko on fire while Toko desperately tries to keep between him and Hawks. Eventually though, Dabi is confusingly thwarted by Otter Pops, making his triumphant return and spraying a bunch of ice just every which way because things weren’t chaotic enough I guess! And then the chapter ends with everyone’s favorite Guy They Hoped Wouldn’t Be Waking Up In This Arc, Gigantomachia, waking up!! :’) :’) :’) etc you get it.

okay so I am please to clarify that the spoilers I received were not actually all that big of a deal, and that pretty much all I know is that we’re cutting back to Dabi and Tokoyami probably, and there’s a good chance we might not even see Tomura at all this chapter in spite of last week’s cliffhanger. so even if I’d have preferred not to know that up front, it’s all good! though I will say Horikoshi has a real knack for cutting away from things right when you’re at your most invested though. reminds me of what it was like reading Lord of the Rings for the first time. “nooo I don’t want to cut back to Frodo -- WAIT WHAT’S GOING ON -- NO I DON’T WANT TO CUT BACK TO MERRY AND PIPPIN DAMMIT -- WAIT WHAT”

anyways! lol guys guess what

so then! those spoilers did indeed have the ring of truth! well this should be interesting

lmao he’s forcibly clawing his way out of Fat’s belly via aggressive use of Dark Shadow oh damn

oh man you guys. time to catalog some feels

Fatgum you do realize you were in the running for #2 hero but have now bled serious points by letting a child run back into danger and doing absolutely nothing to stop him! although to be fair you do have other children to protect, and this one child also should not have been able to do what he just did! and also Child Endangerment is U.A.’s unofficial motto and you didn’t even go to U.A. but you would fit right in though let me tell you. but anyway so the point is this isn’t really anything new, but still

HIS BODY JUST MOVED BEFORE HE COULD THINK ahhhh Toko. THIS IS YOUR MOMENT!! THE MY HERO TOKODEMIA ARC BEGINS NOW

I hope we get a followup panel of Kaminari freaking out and trying to go after his pal (but not actually succeeding though, because I swear to god Fatgum, if you fuck this up again all of my remaining goodwill is just gonna fly right out the window. and it’s a lot of goodwill too! but we don’t screw around when it comes to children’s safety!!). just would be a nice touch! ah well if they don’t show it I’ll just headcanon it

last but not least, it’s also worth noting that while I love how brave and selfless and concerned for his mentor’s wellbeing Tokoyami is here, this was still an incredibly stupid move on his part! least of all because he actually had no idea that Hawks truly was in danger. is it weird to say he lucked out? “you’re so fortunate your teacher actually was being burned alive you reckless little goose!” but like, you know what I mean though right

anyway

-- oh they are showing it!!

YAY HE IS A GOOD BOY. THAT IS ALL. CARRY ON

Toko’s shouting over his shoulder that Hawks is “probably” in trouble. for fuck’s

I mean yeah, it’s probably just some gut instinct which funnily enough happens to be absolutely right. but I’m sorry you guys, there’s just this small part of me that just can’t get over the fact that he briefly saw Hawks flying for all of .2 seconds, and saw some flames, and just IMMEDIATELY leapt to the worst-case-scenario conclusion. you know what this is? it’s the decision-making process of a kid who is actually WAY more powerful than we’ve been giving him credit for. enough so that his self-preservation instincts don’t even kick in at all because it doesn’t even occur to him how dangerous of a move this is. goddammit Tokoyami. you kids think you’re all grown up now and ffff just please be safe

and okay, I’ll give Fatgum some benefit of the doubt for just letting that happen because apparently this is literally the first and only time

seems he didn’t even think it was possible up until now. so that’s fair

OKAY YOU KNOW WHAT FATGUM YOU ARE REDEEMED

THAT’S RIGHT!! YOU DON’T JUST UP AND LEAVE THE FATAXI WHENEVER YOU FUCKING FEEL LIKE IT. FARE DODGERS WILL BE PROSECUTED TO THE FULL EXTENT OF THE LAW!!

so he’s immediately following after him, but is smart enough not to put the other kids in danger! good split-second decision-making there. certain other people in this chapter could take notes! and of course my one fear now though is that the other three children will not listen to him at all, but you know what, let’s deal with one thing at a time

hmmm

dammit Horikoshi, what...?? you really like to toe the lines of what is and isn’t problematic huh? literally if you wanted to go for a cool barbarian look all you had to do was stick with the same kind of costume scheme you had going in the second and fourth popularity polls. but no, you had to go and give him a fucking war bonnet. was that one guy back in the Hero Killer arc not enough. at least this is only a cover page, sigh

also I see that Tokoyami was asked to name his own feature chapter. I’m just happy that he’s happy

would you fucking look at this

first of all, why is Dabi suddenly twenty feet away from them. and second, would you just look at how ridiculously intact Hawks fucking is. Dabi really was microwaving him on the defrost setting only huh

so now everyone’s just looking at each other. sizin’ each other up and stuff

yeah no shit it’s bad. you rushed in thinking you could somehow handle a situation which had even the second strongest guy on the ropes. and handle it alone, no less. lord help me why are the bravest ones also always the most stupid

EEP

HIS WINGS??? also his fucking BACK jesus christ. meaning he’s completely immobile for now at best, and probably soon to be in critical condition and going into shock if he isn’t already. okay so maybe it wasn’t just the defrost setting, fuck. Hawkssss 8|

oh???????

holy shit. an opportunity to actually find out how much of a bastard Dabi actually is?? we of course know he had no problem whatsoever with kidnapping a kid back in the day. but would he go so far as to seriously fight and/or try to kill one? a kid who’s no older than your little brother?? oh gosh oh golly oh intrigue

I literally have not made up my mind on Dabi redemption one way or the other, just to be clear (he’s just been too mysterious up till now and I feel like I don’t know enough), so I am super curious to see how this plays out so I can finally form an opinion!

OH SNAP

SCORE ONE FOR “HE MAY BE AN A-HOLE, BUT HE’S NOT, AND I QUOTE, 100% A DICK”? MAYBE?? but on the other hand he’s definitely not just gonna let Hawks go either so ahhhh???

(ETA: so it seems we’ve arrived at a solid “mildly bastardish!” idk. it definitely seems to me like he’s trying not to murder this teenager for no good reason. ironically he’s in much the same position here that Hawks was less than a dozen chapters ago; facing against someone who’s just trying to protect his friend, and trying to talk him down at first, but then attacking once it’s clear that he’s not going to back off. ah well. still as morally gray as ever.)

ah I see, we’re gonna start by shattering his naive illusions!

(ETA: fucking christ, the scan is so dark I didn’t even notice Twice’s charred corpse just LYING THERE IN THE BACKGROUND the first time I read this. and now that I have noticed it, I would just like to say, sincerely, what the fuck.)

welp, there it is. finally the kids are getting properly involved in this arc, and AS EXPECTED, they are promptly being traumatized. oh Toko ;_;

Dabi this speech you’re making would feel more original if literal scores of tumblrs hadn’t spent the last two months exhaustively analyzing every single last possible angle of this debate lol. everyone has already made up their minds on the “is Hawks worth saving” controversy one way or the other but okay sure, go ahead and throw your hat into the ring too

lmao whaaaaaaat. “as a last resort, after his attempts to take him peacefully were thwarted, Hawks killed a man so as to prevent that man from killing countless others during our coup to take over the country because our boss wants to destroy everything. clearly, Hawks is the worst out of everyone else involved in this equation!” now that! is a take! lol

OH NO OH GOD

“PEW PEW PEW ENJOY THOSE FEELS” HORIKOSHI WHOOPS WHILE SHOOTING LASER GUN FINGERS AT ME, AND HEY, NOW

HEY, I SAID!!!

WHAT THE FUCK -- WHAT EVEN IS THE FUCKING SCREENPLAY FOR THIS THING?? “A BARELY-CONSCIOUS HAWKS MURMURS HIS STUDENT’S NAME WITH AN ACHINGLY WEARY LOOK OF SHAME AND REGRET! AS DABI LOOKS ON, TOKOYAMI GENTLY LIFTS HIS FALLEN MASTER AND WRAPS HIS CAPE AROUND HIS BACK, LOOKING OVERWHELMED, BUT DETERMINED. TOKOYAMI: I’M JUST... CONCERNED FOR MY TEACHER.” who the fuck wrote this shit and how much pleasure were they taking in ripping my heart out and violently slamming it against the wall

sob, and unfortunately Dabi doesn’t look particularly moved himself by any of this

DAMMIT DABI PLEASE RESPECT THEIR PRIVACY DURING THIS DIFFICULT TIME. GO AWAY AND HAVE YOUR REVENGE SOME OTHER DAY GODDAMMIT

DABI!!

Dabi I swear to god!! if you seriously try and burn my gothbird son I will...

DABI WHAT DID I JUST FUCKING SAY. LEAVE THE KID ALONE

Tokoyami... sweetie...

IF ONLY YOU COULD JUST. fly back out?? the exact same way you came??? if only that was a thing you could do??? or can he not fly while he’s carrying another person, maybe? dammit I forget

?!

wait what?? is he implying that Dabi isn’t seriously trying to kill them yet? is that what this is? I should just read on since this is clearly only the first part of something longer that he’s saying and I have to stop this bad habit of trying to analyze half a sentence before I go on and read the rest of the sentence

well whatever it is, he’s absolutely right; Dabi as it turns out is still standing there 25 feet away like a social distance champ, monologuing from afar

this panel gets more hilarious to me the longer I stare at it you guys. someone please make a comic where Hawks is all “he’s still talking...” and Toko looks to see Dabi RAMBLING ON and slowly inches further and further away while Dabi completely fails to take any notice lmao

so Tokoyami is just staring back, and then suddenly he’s all “orders from Hawks!” which I think is just him asking Hawks what to do now??

and fucking look at this lol

“just slowly inch away while he’s monologuing. I just found out he’s secretly a Todoroki so now I know his weakness: he will literally drop dead before he ever stops being dramatic”

OH MY GOD

ARE YOU TELLING ME THIS ISN’T A JOKE AND THAT’S HIS ACTUAL WEAKNESS LMAO. HAVE WE CROSSED PLANES INTO SOME KIND OF SATIRICAL REALITY. WHAT IS HAPPENING

LMAO OKAY NO HAWKS IS SAYING THAT DABI IS JUST BULLSHITTING THEM BECAUSE HE’S USED UP ALL HIS FLAMES OR SOME SHIT. LOL OKAY THEN. ALL I HEARD WAS “HE WASN’T ABLE TO FUCKING KILL ME BECAUSE HE NEVER SHUTS THE FUCK UP.” WHERE IS THE LIE

OH SNAP THERE HE GOES

he is running away in the background, right?? Dark Shadow is just a distraction? you better not be seriously trying to fight him oh god please be smart about this

okay yes good!!

bringing back some unpleasant memories of the last guy who took a tumble off this balcony, but whatever! I’m sure he’s got some kind of plan in mind here

yep okay so he’s using Dark Shadow as a bungee cord

Hawks is so fucking short he somehow looks the same size as this little bird hobbit who’s carrying him. this is just a battle of tiny, tiny people

OH MY GOD FUCKING OUCH OH GEEZ

I FELT THAT OH MY GOD

AND OF FUCKING COURSE THAT KO’D HAWKS FOR GOOD, BECAUSE HE NO LONGER HAS A FUCKING BACK, AND HE JUST TARZANED OFF A BALCONY AND TOKOYAMI LANDED RIGHT ON TOP OF HIM JESUS CHRIST. R.I.P.

TOKO IS ALL “HE MUST HAVE BLACKED OUT FROM THE IMPACT JUST NOW” AND YEAH, YOU THINK?? WOULDN’T YOU?? FUCK

OH MY GOD HE’S PICKING HIM UP AND HE’S SO FUCKING TINY OH GOD OH JESUS

STOP BEING DRAMATIC AND JUST CARRY HIM OUT OF THERE ALREADY CAN WE GET A MOVE ON PLEASE? YOU’RE DOING SO GOOD BUDDY AND I’M SO PROUD, BUT ALSO THE REST OF THE LEAGUE IS STILL OUT THERE AND NOTHING IS SAFE AND AHHHH

-- AND ALSO THIS GUY STILL!!

no doubt. no doubt whatsoever the blood that runs through those veins. the theatrics are more of a dna marker than the flame quirk could ever be

also!! ARE WE SURE HAWKS IS ACTUALLY TWENTY-THREE?? COULDN’T THE HPSC HAVE FORGED HIS BIRTH CERTIFICATE?? THIS IS A BABY PROVE ME WRONG??

anyway so since Dabi is now saying “joke’s on you, I can still use my flames whenever the fuck I want,” I’m going to take this as confirmation that he really was keeping his distance just so he could utilize forced perspective. I’m going to make a post about this as soon as I’m done reading lol

HORIKOSHI WILL YOU PLEASE STOP WITH THE ENDLESS CLOSE-UPS OF A FRIGHTENED TOKOYAMI CLINGING TO HIS UNCONSCIOUS MENTOR SCARED BUT READY TO PROTECT HIM WITH HIS LIFE I REALLY CAN’T???

DABI’S REALLY OUT HERE TRYING TO BURN THESE LITTLE BABY CHICKS ALIVE. WHERE THE FUCK IS YOUR FUCKING CHILL MY DUDE

OH MY GOD

SOME KIND OF CAVALRY HAS ARRIVED AHHHH WHO

AHHH MT. LADY?!

(ETA: ngl, I’m still not sure how I feel about this sequence of panels but I did laugh good and hard though.)

-- holy shit that was ice??! oh lord don’t tell me

yeppp, looks like it’s our old buddy Dairy Queen back at it again

look... Geten?? is it?? nothing against you personally. but I have a deep-seeded and enduring dislike of everyone from the Meta Liberation Army still and that includes you pal

that being said, did you inadvertently save Tokoyami’s life, though? I originally thought those were just ~anime shockwaves~ from some off-screen attack, but if that was all actually ice, it looks like you might have cut Dabi off. which I approve of! but also that’s some serious friendly fire you tomfool

so he’s yelling that he’s disrupted the heroes’ siege, which it looks like he has! very sloppily, but still

and also, way to have both of your fire users currently 80km away, hero team! you knew Geten was here, no?? who even planned this

now this Bleach-looking dude is sneaking up on Gang Orca with what looks to be a hole-punching quirk which is freaking me out a bit ngl

Gang please take him out with your famous yeet as soon as possible, I don’t know if I can handle a prolonged fight against this particular quirk

YES TOKO GET THE FUCK OUT!!!

there is no fucking way this kid is anywhere near his twenties incidentally I might add. none at all. we’ve been had

NO STOP FEELS

HE’S CRYING JESUS CHRIST HE THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO DIE AND HIS TEACHER IS HURT AND DYING MAYBE AND THE VILLAIN SAID HE KILLED SOMEONE AND HE DOESN’T EVEN KNOW BUT IT DOESN’T MATTER, HE STILL WANTS TO PROTECT HIM AND HE’S JUST A BABY TOO?! IT’S TOO MUCH??

AND I DON’T KNOW WHY I’M SURPRISED OR SHOCKED BY ANY OF THIS AT ALL?? LISTEN UP EVERYONE, YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT I FOUND INSIDE OF THIS BAG IN THE FRIDGE WHICH WAS LABELED “CHILD SOLDIERS LIFE-OR-DEATH BATTLE ARC.” THE CONTENTS OF THIS BAG... MAY SHOCK YOU

lmao yeah but GUESS WHAT! I’M STILL GONNA GET ALL WORKED UP OVER IT AND I’M EVEN GONNA LIKE IT! but also. my babiesss

oh for fuck’s sake this guy still??

okay so I’ve already scrolled down enough to see the very top of the last page after this, and I’m pretty sure that’s Gigantomachia’s hair lol. please don’t tell me the radio is still on and he heard Tomura’s voice oh fiddlefucks

YEP

:’)

welp. strap yourselves in, chums. 19 chapters in, and this arc is only just beginning

#bnha 271 #tokoyami fumikage #dabi #hawks (bnha) #fatgum #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #god this took forever to edit #and it's still a mess #long story short TOKOYAMI AND HAWKS #PROTECT THEM

[hitsuackerman]

Locked Out (Shinso x Reader)

Just a drabble I had in my head about Shinso because he deserves love and attention. 

Scenario: 

-You got locked out of your house and you ended up talking with your crush… who turns out to live across the street

The skies were dark and gloomy. Such an opposite to what the morning weather had to offer. Drops of rain started to mark the street you were walking in. You had only gone out for 30 minutes to buy some snacks, but nature had her ways you supposed.

Walking up the steps to your front door, you rummaged through your bag. You rummaged and rummaged and rummaged till you stomped your foot rather harshly.

“Shit.” That’s all you could say. You, who succumbed to your hunger, managed to lock yourself out of your house. Glancing at your watch, it would probably take a few more hours before your parents would arrive home.

Taking a seat on the step, you decided to take out your (favorite/snack) and munched on it. Might as well eat it now than to wait for later. Taking your phone out, you clicked open PortraitBook and scanned the posts of your friends.

Nothing new, as far as you could tell. It was the weekend so all you could see were posts of your fellow 1-A classmates. Denki was posting controversial history posts once more. Mina shared a video of one of her favorite dancers. Kiri went on a long rant on a particular post that had bad mouthed his idol.

Scrolling a little further, you stumbled upon Deku’s Portrait profile. A smile tugged the corner of your lips. He was gushing his thoughts out on a particular post that praised All Might. Though, he’s no stranger to that by now. His profile was practically All Might this and that.

Suddenly, your eyes darted to a list of people the app suggested you add. The familiar pop of purple caught your eye causing your heart rate to fluctuate. Below his profile picture, your mind read his name.

Hitoshi Shinso.

Ever since the UA Sports Festival, this purple boy has caught your attention. So much to the point where you were practically cheering for him. That action caught the attention of your classmates and a few snickers on the side when they caught on.

The match was short lived but you were indeed mesmerized at his quirk. For you, it was silent but deadly. The moment the match was over, your mind went full Deku mode as to why he was in the General Studies department.

Yaomomo, your best friend, giggled at how a single fight from this boy caused you to gawk over him

“He’s in 1-C. Not too far from our classroom.” You recalled her telling you that. “Weren’t you there when he popped up outside our classroom?”

You did hear about that. How he went to your classroom and wanted to get a glimpse of who the 1-A people were. But, oh how timingly, you were busy reading a book and you barely gave a damn as to what ruckus happened. From where you were sitting, you couldn’t see the crowd. It was only the noise that gave them away and Bakugo’s rant.

Your thumb hovered over his profile. It is a public domain so a little peep at his profile wouldn't be too bad right? Clicking it, you saw the header of his profile. It was a cute cat. He likes cats. Perfect. You lingered on his profile picture. This was as close as you could ever get to him. A picture.

Scrolling downwards, you came to the conclusion that he barely used social media. Aside from the occasional cat videos or Pro-Hero videos, there were no pictures you could feast your internet FBI eyes on. Closing the app, you stood up to throw your garbage.

Right after you closed the lid on the bin, your eyes widened.

Your crush. Sitting on the gutter, ruffling his hair. Your mind went haywire trying to figure out if you should approach him or not. Or how he had been your neighbor and you didn’t even realize it. To make things even worse, the moment he lifted his head, his purple eyes met yours. Confusion and shock written on them as well.

Giving him a small wave he waved back and stood up.

Your eyes following his ever move as he crossed the street.

Sweet lords he was right in front of you.

“Hi.” Your voice was barely audible but you were sure he heard it when he greeted you back.

“You live here?” Shinso asks. “You’re (L/N), right?”

“Yeah. But I got locked out so I guess that makes me a stranger to my own house.” You gave an embarrassed laugh. The purple haired boy seemed to chuckle at your remark. He scratched the back of his neck.

“I got locked out too, actually.”

That itself caused you to giggle.

“I would offer you snacks but I finished all my snacks.”

“It’s fine.”

“You wanna kill some time together?” You offered while pointing to the steps towards your house. When he agreed, you couldn’t help but smile since he accepted your invitation. Ushering you to go first, you lead him towards your house.

Taking a seat beside each other, you decided to initiate the conversation.

“You’re quirk is Brainwashing, right?” You began fidgeting with your fingers.

“Yeah. Hard to forget?”

“In a way. It’s pretty awesome~ It would really surprise the villains knowing they don’t know what’s in store for them!” The enthusiasm in your voice caused his pale cheeks to turn a little pink.

“It’s not as flashy as yours, though.” He commented. “I still remember how you put up a match with Tokoyami. You were pretty awesome yourself.”

“Not as awesome as your hair. Does it always stand like that?” You pointed to his hair. Now that he was closer, you saw just how it was a chaotic mess. The strands were everywhere but almost as if they were meant to be like that.

“Yeah. Dunno why though.” Shinso answered while tugging on some of his strands. A small smile graced his lips at your question. “A-are your eyes always that pretty?”

Slightly taken aback by his statement, you felt your cheeks heat up. Biting your lip, all you could do was to suppress the butterflies in your tummy. Two can definitely play that game.

“Only when you're in front of me.” Seeing Shinso chuckle was enough to get you through the week.

His attention was cut when he looked over at his house and found his parents car now being parked. Turning back to you, he saw how there was a tad bit of disappointment showing in your eyes.

"Looks like your parents are home…" Trying your best to sound normal. "It was nice talking to you, Shinso."

The boy was silent for a while. Almost as if he were weighing his options.

"I can stay a little longer, if you want."

Once again, Shinso's stomach felt all ticklish when he saw your happiness. If he were to be honest, ever since the Sports Festival, he too had been stealing glances at you. When he saw you right across the street, his mind began to process that things would be easier now.

A little more conversation happened. Mostly about random topics. The time came when you got a message from your parents saying they would be home in 5 minutes.

"I guess it's safe to say you can go home now, Shinso. The key to my house is approaching."

Both of you stood up ready to bid each other farewell.

"Would it be… bad if I asked for your number?"

His purple eyes widened with shock for a fraction of a second. Rubbing the back of his neck once more, he took his phone from his pocket and gave it to you. His eyes focused on your pretty features while you sent yourself a message.

Giving him his phone back, he thanked you and gave his farewell. Waving before he turned around and made his way back to his house.

Not a moment too soon, your parents finally arrived and unlocked the doors. A few jokes were exchanged at just how clumsy you were.

Just as you closed the door, you felt a vibration in your pocket. You had a feeling you knew who it was but you didn't want to expect anything. Taking your phone out, it was the same unknown number you had sent yourself a message with.

"Walk to school with me tomorrow? -Shinso"

With red cheeks and a fluttering heart, you immediately typed in your response.

"Gladly! :) "

#shinso hitoshi #mha shinsou #mha shinso hitoshi #shinso #shinsou hitoshi #shinsou imagine #shinsou fluff #bnha hitoshi #hitoshi #bnha shinso hitoshi #hitoshi shinso imagine #shinso x reader #hitoshi shinso x reader #bnha x reader

[briek58454521]

Let’s rant about bigotry in media and fake allies.

.Look. I get it. You want to believe that your cartoons, media and celebs are completely perfect darlings that can do no wrong, but let me be frank. I don’t care how much you don’t want to talk about it. I care about the creators who keep inviting the discourse their way through their idiocy. Whenever a creator gets in trouble for doing shit like making jokes about slave hats on a live stream, or including a blackface caricature in an art book, or killing off their gays the very episode they come out or are introduced, there’s always a subset of people who say shit like, “it was a mistake, they didn’t mean it. It kinda gives us as a leftist community a bad name when we keep attacking each other like this”.

Let’s dismantle that. And let’s break this down in three basic points I’ll use throughout. 1. It is not your place to accept an apology that was not for you, especially when in regards to racism, sexism, anti-LGBTA+ bigotry, and anti-semitism. 2. We need to stop lumping in actual criticism with alt-right idiots being shitty about marginalized groups existing, because ultimately, infighting is not the end of the world, and disagreements are not inherently bad. They are a fact of life. 3.  Most importantly of all, just because these people claim to be allies, that does not mean that they are. Because make no mistake. CARTOONS ARE NOT ANY LESS EFFECTED BY THE BIASES OF THE ENVIRONMENTS WHICH PRODUCED THEM THAN ANY OTHER WORK OF ART.

Now. Let’s break down that shit completely.

1. I used those examples as a jumping-off point, but in general, this shit always happens. A creator fucks up, they get criticism which was unquestionably earned, they get rightfully dragged, and the creator uses the backlash to garner sympathy from their audiences and paint their critics in a bad light and whine about Cancel Culture. NOW, I already talked about that in another post, but basically, it doesn’t exist, and is used as a weaponized shield from criticism. 

Thing about all of that as well is when the creators keep bringing up how they didn’t mean it like that. Most people would answer this with, “doesn’t matter, what matters is what you did”, but there’s something else that people don’t talk about. This is usually a bunch of white people excusing this shit. Or otherwise, a bunch of people who weren’t actually affected by the latest controversy. And therein lies the rub. Allies, let me put it this way. WHEN THE SUBJECT OF THE CRITICISM IS ABOUT THE PORTRAYAL OF MINORITIES IN MEDIA, YOU ARE IN NO POSITION TO EXPECT SAID MINORITIES TO FORGIVE THOSE CREATORS WHEN YOU WERE NOT AFFECTED BY IT.

Remember the Lana Del Rey controversy, where her dumbass ended up getting shit for her statement filled with venom towards other artists? Could have been cleared up if she had just accepted that she messed up and didn’t word her statement correctly, but no. She lashed out at the people who told her it was kinda racist to lump a bunch of black female artists into a conglomerate of artists who just, “twerk, cheat, have sex, and get money”, and dismissing feminism as needing to accommodate women “like her, who were more delicate”, perpetuating inadvertently to the idea that black women are less delicate, white women are petite, demure, and need to have a place above the others. AND LOOK, it’s how she responded that sealed it. Accusing her critics of being the actual racists, who hate women, and conflating the criticism with.....ugh....a FUCKING RACE WAR. Do I EVEN need to explain the problem with that?

The point is that it was idiotic of her to assume that she didn’t deserve the criticism because she “technically didn’t mean it”, when ultimately, she wasn’t the victim, she wasn’t the one who ACTUALLY got hurt by all of this, and that most of the criticism WAS NOT ANYWHERE NEAR as vitriolic as Lana accused it of being. And people do this to minorities all the fucking time. Where the praise for the work is what matters, but then they’re just upset and looking to be upset about things when they....sorry, when WE have shit to say about the fuckups. Constantly, minorities are expected to praise bare minimum bullshit lest we have self proclaimed “””””allies””””” get pissy that we aren’t playing along. Well, sorry, but, I think it be time to stop with that shit. It doesn’t matter how pure you think that person is. If the people who are the actual part of the controversy have shit to say about it, MAYBE LISTEN TO THEM instead of trying to force people to accept the apology that wasn’t even yours to accept, nor was it for you to shove in our faces to shut us up. And if you dislike that I’m saying that, just know. That’s exactly what you’re doing when you pull that shit.

2. As simply as I can put it, complaining about how a trans person is portrayed badly is not the same as complaining ABOUT the presence of a trans person, and to lump that shit onto the other pile is dishonest and willfully ignorant. When we keep getting upset about the tone, or upset about, “WAAAH, they said a me-no-like”, and lump that in with the actual facists looking to erase us from the history books, we are doing half of their job for them, and normalizing shit like what I saw the other day, where on Twitter, some asshole complained, “Anime is supposed to be an escape from reality. Adding black people to it kinda ruins the point.”

I’m gonna talk about it in the next point, but for now, understand this. NO ONE says shit like that just out of the blue without having it come from somewhere, and that attitude is all too prevalent.

In cartoons especially, criticism of the NB lizard from She-Ra is not being bigoted towards non-binary people, because the use of a fucking lizard to portray them is the ACTUALLY bigoted thing. And to lump in criticism of that with the criticism of She-Ra not being conventionally attractive enough for men to masturbate to the fucking minor is only going to long-term HARM any discourse. Because having these conversations as well as discussing these issues and educating each other about them is how we AVOID THEM. Criticism is not just a vector for asshole conservatives to be pissy about your existence. It’s also a veritable TREASURE TROVE for how not to fuck your shit up. And when we all get it, we learn. I get it, you don’t want to do shit wrong, but when you do, as everyone will, the backlash will burn itself out, and once you’ve fixed it, people will be very forgiving. Because, and it’s gonna sound mean....THAT’S HOW AUDIENCES WORK. THEY WANT TO FORGIVE YOU FOR WHEN YOU DO SHIT WRONG. So just...fix it. And listen. Yeah, you’ll get called stupid, you’ll get called “moron”, but you will have saved yourself from getting that shit ten times worse later on down the line. BEAR IN MIND, THOUGH, any of you already typing about how that’s enabling cyberbullying under the guise of critique, IT’S NOT. There’s a wealth of difference between the two, and trying to distract from the point with that is just a red herring. So stop with that.

And now....for the biggest one of all.

3. See...here’s the thing. About that anime douche. That doesn’t happen in JUST anime. It’s been around for decades, and has been a thing to this day. The WoW community got upset about womz being in power for the past 15 years, and have gotten on their high horse about black people being in the game, stating that if they were around sooner, maybe it wouldn’t, “SEEM TOO POLITICAL”, with that Asmongold jackass trying to start a second wave of GamerGate because one of the people at Blizzard said, “Black Lives Matter”. Fantasy as a genre has been so rooted in racism, that the inclusion of goblins for the most part is synonymous with anti-semitism towards Jewish people. Captain Marvel was pilloried for the past two years because the mean lady said that shit needs to change and wasn’t too nice, and also, me don’t like her too much. Basically, tone policing over a personality that we still give Howard Stern a platform for. In cartoons, the inclusion of black people is seen as an inherently political opinion. The rumors of Gen 6 Apple Jack possibly having a black voice actress prompted comments such as:

“The thiing with AJ is clearly anti-white/conservatist as a response to Trump America. What is opposite of country redneck female? Of course, and urban black woman.”

“It’s the fact that she’s black that bothers me.”

“Killing a blonde freckled Southern character for some political agenda is the last thing I want to see.”

The news of Velma Dinkley being gay was immediately pounced upon with shit about a homosexual agenda, and constant bullshit about how it was so forced, or whatever. This shit always happens, and is gonna keep happening. You know why?

Because the entertainment industry is not ready to accept minorities. The games industry is not ready to accept minorities. Cartoons are still not ready to accept minorities. They accept them for a moment, until those minorities challenge someone’s ego. Fans embrace a character until they’re a woman, or a POC, or on the spectrum, or LGBTA+. The existence of us is denigrating to these idiots’ escape, not from reality, but from us. It’s bad enough that they have to put up with us in the real world, but even worse that they have to see us in fictional shows that aren’t real.’ Us merely BEING AROUND is a bad thing, and to ask for some improvements is met with bemoaning about agendas.

Supposed allies begin and end their support with how much money we put in their wallets and how much we stroke their egos about how woke they are, and actual allies are lumped in with actual offenders. If we get upset that a show they’ve posited as so enlightening is actually the utter pits and not in any way healthy, they get upset. Tell a Reylo they’re shipping something toxic and dangerous, they’ll get upset and yell racial slurs at John Boyega for sitting next to Daisy Ridley. Say, “Fuck Arthas”, people get upset jump down your throat about how you hate forgiveness. Tell people that the Grinch ought not to be forgiven, people get upset you’re strawmaned about how you hate forgiveness.

They just don’t understand, or care about the essential fact about all of this. As I said earlier. The environments which produce the worst of offenders in these fields, and the problems we hate seeing so much are in no way less affected by the biases that they were cultivated by. And media has never been any more ready to accept minorities as people and as worthy of being portrayed as people than literally anywhere else right now. And speaking up about that is what gets these fake allies mad, especially when they LIKE the media. What makes these people so mad is not the troubling portrayal of POC, or women, or minorities. Not that we are routinely ostracized for existing in cartoons, not that this shit happens at all. They don’t give a flying fuck about any of that. It’s the thing that they have to put up with as a result of that that makes them the most upset.

Criticism. And they don’t like that.

And no matter whether or not these cartoons are made by bootlickers, or this movie was made by a TERF,  or if this creator has a history of blackface, racism, or has made garbage statements about women, if you aren’t nice and considerate enough towards their feelings, you’ll make them, and us, the allies, feel uncomfortable. NO DWAMA, just not too divisive feedback that’s ultimately worthless as it was made purely to try to appease idiots and the people most affected by these issues at the same time, meaning it had to be watered down past the point of no return in order for us to factor it in with our jaded mindsets and worldviews that are the direct cause of the problems we complain about, yet keep exacerbating through our ignorance and unwillingness to change.

If you aren’t like that, and don’t believe you should be lumped in with that, don’t behave as if you are that sort of person. But, even then, if you aren’t...listen to the actual experts. Stop listening to some white guy’s idiotic hot takes about black rep, and actually listen to black people. Listen to trans people instead of some cis white chick with no understanding of trans issues. Stop platforming the worst of offenders within these communities as the bestest ever. And most importantly....

remember that horses don’t exist.

#media #racism #sexism #cartoons #world of warcraft #reylo shippers #fake allies #anti lgbt idiocy #horses don't exist

[chibivesicle]

Golden Kamuy chapter 210: holy shit, this is a chapter that we’ve all been dying for.

Ah yes, chapter 210, you are already a chapter that I’m completely in love with and it shows many of Noda’s strengths as an artist and a storyteller.

The chapter is called “sweet lies” and this is clearly a reference to what Tsurumi has told many people but the focus is on Koito and Tsukishima in particular.  The title page makes it very clear that Koito will be a major focus of this chapter.  I have been waiting for these events ever since Ogata called Koito a bon-bon in Russian and kicked him in the face before escaping.

Koito’s right hand holds his photo of Tsurumi and Tsukishima that he had acquired from Tsukishima back in chapter 101. 

Recall that he was upset that Shiraishi had escaped and he had also encountered Ogata on the airship who helped in the escape.  Tsukishima is in part trying to get Koito to calm down by giving him this very photo.

Looking back at this panel for the first time in awhile, it shows that Koito has a little light in his eyes and he wishes he were born earlier to serve at Tsurumi’s side in the war.  Koito immediately has a pre-cut photo of his own head that he wants to glue on over Tsukishima’s and he tells him to make him some rice glue.

Tsukishima says, no, but based on the title page for 210 he definitely found some glue somehow.

When they were heading to Abashiri, recall that Koito had more doctored photos including this one here:

At some point, he got another photo with Tsurumi in it as well as other commanding officers and he added his own head to all of the men in the photo, longing to have had a chance to serve with Tsurumi.  Koito pre-photoshop - he was pretty dedicated to making his photo collages! 

Now, also recall that this photo has been used for the cover of chapter 147 - Igogusa, where Tsukishima’s backstory and loyalty to Tsurumi was solidified.

Really, all of this is indicating that Tsukishima and Koito are tied to Tsurumi and this photo shows how closely they are tied.  I’ll come back to this in a bit.  Like some of the other dense and intense chapters, I’m going to jump to the part between Asirpa and Sugimoto, that creates a pause and adds to the tension between Koito and Tsukishima.

The quick and dirty about Sugimoto and Asirpa’s separate paths:

The chapter continues to keep us in the dark about the end of Sugimoto and Asirpa’s conversation after the movies.  It is now the night before Tsurumi will arrive in Odomari.  Asirpa reminds us that she’s never actually met Tsurumi, she only knows about him through her interactions with everyone else.  This really does two things for me as a reader - it seems to speak to unresolved issues between the two and she’s musing what type of man Tsurumi is.  Hasn’t she gotten enough information to in part figure this out from what others have said and done?  I’m a little surprised by this statement, she saw what Tsurumi did to Sugimoto’s face with those dango skewers.

Either way, just like before her encounter with Wilk at Abashiri she’s expressing her concerns about what will happen.  She wants to know what Sugimoto will do in the gold hunt?  What will Tsurumi do with the gold?  Most importantly, what will happen to the Ainu, her community in all of this.  Sadly, Sugimoto can’t see the forest through the trees.  His current vision on all of this is “Asirpa vision”.  As long as Asirpa is removed from the hunt for the gold, it will be alright - she’ll be clean and she can go back home to Huci.  As the lovely Merdopseudo has written, Sugimoto is back to his usual habit of “Sugisplaining”, that Asirpa doesn’t need to think about things.  Just be good, give up the code and walk away from the gold, the Ainu and just go back home, safe, clean and pure.  Kiro told Ogata that Asirpa’s time on Karafuto was to mature her - and it has.  I still miss Kiro’s character greatly but he really helped Asirpa see the bigger picture than just her kotan in Hokkaido.

These entire two pages almost fade to the background compared to the rest of the chapter.  Their relationship dynamic has changed.  Both are holding back now thinking about their own concerns and their goals which have shifted or the fact that Asirpa is gaining a new and different goal.  Her new focus is scary for Sugimoto.  I don’t think they are being as honest to each other as they should be.  They aren’t good at conflict - both are dancing around the major issues involved in this entire gold hunt. 

In a way, I like how fucking awkward these two pages are - it really highlights that their reunion wasn’t what either of them expected it to be and that they are currently on different paths.  I love this tension - I’m waiting for it to explode.

Now onto the meat of the chapter.

Koito has put the pieces together and his world view is shattering:

The chapter has a lovely two page spread of the harbor at Odomari as Koito asks Tsukishima a question before Tsurumi’s arrival.  We first see Koito looking at his photo of Tsurumi and Tsukishima that his face has slid off of.  Koito’s brow is very furrowed and he’s really intense looking.  I love how the picture of a steamship is followed by his face shaded and more focus in his eyes.  Tsukishima makes a comment that Koito isn’t at excited and cheerful as he would normally be about Tsurumi’s arrival.  Remember that Koito was in tears as they left for Karafuto as he longingly looked at his Tsurumi bromide!

As Koito speaks to Tsukishima not looking at him, he tells him that Ogata told him something at the hospital in Akou before he escaped.  He first mentions the Russian term for bon-bon.  Tsukishima’s eyes narrow a bit before he continues on.  He goes on to tell him that Ogata (with his face completely shaded in black) tells him that “the next time he meets Lt. Tsurumi . . .”  and then he turns to him and looks at him directly (please get some chapstick Ogata!) to “ask him about the Manchurian railway.”

Tsukshima’s reaction is both one of surprise (as indicated by the light burst) and also one of annoyance and stress.  Tsukishima has stress lines under his eyes, his cap covers part of his eyes and his face is shaded as he’s only able to reply with “. . . .”

Koito then begins to describe the Manchuria Railway as a concession from the Treaty of Portsmouth, meaning it went from Russian control to Japanese control.  This then solidified the Japanese presence in Manchuria under the guise of the expansion of the influence of Imperial Japan and its increasingly aggressive colonial role in the region.

If you have any knowledge of the history of this in the region leading up to the second world war than this doesn’t come as a surprise to you as a reader per se.  The important part is what Koito then adds in.

Koito has additional information due to his background; he knows that one member of the army was quite vocal about the whole Manchuria Railway, Hanazawa.  He is still a shitty father in my mind, but hey, it looks like as a member of the military and Satsuma elite he did think about things from a strategic perspective.  Therefore, Hanazawa was the lone critic about the whole railway situation.

Koito then goes on further to explain that b/c his father was friends with Hanazawa, he also knew about the controversy surrounding the railway and that Koito heard about it in his household.  Koito also knows that Tsurumi connects the bodies of their comrades from the Russo-Japanese war will be at rest on Japanese soil and that it should include Manchuria.  This was mentioned in the flashback that Tsurumi and Tsukishima had in chapter 150 when both were wounded at Mukden.

Tsukishima still doesn’t have a response to Koito’s inquiries as he continues to connect Tsurumi’s goals with what happened with Hanazawa’s death.  Tsukishima’s eyes are barely visible, his eyes are almost completely obscured by his cap and its shadow.  This does NOT LOOK GOOD AT ALL. This looks very concerning and that Tsukishima is thinking about likely bad things.  Koito continues forward and very emotionally asks Tsukishima is there is a direct connection between Hanazawa’s death and Tsurumi.

By the time he’s blurted it out, Koito is nervously sweating, his hair is a bit loose and his stress lines under his eyes are intense.  He’s almost pleading with Tsukishima for him to not confirm what he’s thinking.  Tsukishima looks anything but pleased, his face is deadpan and his eyes are pretty much obscured completely and his face is half shaded.

Koito still doesn’t get an answer from Tsukishima,  so he becomes even more emotional, still sweating and gesturing with his left hand for emphasis.  He throws out the theory that Ogata wasn’t happy with the fact that central put the blame on the 7th and Hanazawa which resulted in his suicide, so he joined with Tsurumi’s plan for the coup.  But since Hanazawa was in the way of the Manchurian Railway, Tsurumi had him eliminated and Ogata found out and defected against him.  The then asks why Ogata would tell him that and we still can’t see Tsukishima’s facial expression well!

When Tsukishima finally looks up and replies to Koito his looks are so robotic.  His eyes seem cold and even though he’s got stress lines his face is deadpan.  He replies that Ogata will say anything to foil their plans and then he turns the conversation around to ask him why he trusts Ogata’s words now.  Koito was ready to shoot the wildcat to kill previously - this is a 180 for Koito’s opinion on Ogata for sure.

With great emotion and intensity Koito then says “Barchonok” the Russian term for bon-bon.  He flat out states that Ogata was one of the kidnappers at Hakodate.  He knows it.  Koito is correct and on the money - he’s not backing down and he needs answers now.

The chapter then transitions to the two pages with Sugimoto and Asirpa to build the tension between them.  Technically they don’t even get a full 2 pages as Koito and Tsukishima are on the bottom here:

Koito looks shocked when Tsukishima deadpan asks what is clearly a rhetorical question. That the bodies were Russian.  Koito was there - he’d know what he saw right?  Eh? Eeeeehhhh? Koito looks so shocked at his reply - this can’t be Tsukishima’s answer to him?  He knows Tsukishima!

He then asks Tsukishima to confirm that he was one of the masked kidnappers too!  Koito is at his limit of patience.  He’s so many emotions at once; upset, hurt, confused, sad, angry . . . a man whom he has trusted hurt him in the past all for Tsurumi’s own personal gain.

Tsukishima’s reply is still dead pan though now he’s lifted his hands in defense of Koito’s aggressive questioning.  He falls back on the idea that Koito, is falling prey to Ogata’s manipulations, while Koito recognizes that Tsurumi made sure he and his father are in debt to Tsurumi.  I love the fact that Koito sees that he and father were set up to be used by Tsurumi and so were Hanazawa and Ogata.

With Tsukishima’s reply that it is delusional, Koito forges ahead in his accusations of Tsurumi’s manipulations. Koito then realizes, he’s getting no where with Tsukishima and he’ll just make sure he and his father ask Tsurumi directly.  I love this facial expression from Koito!  He looks so determined as he’s physically turned away from Tsukishima in a sense giving up on him and moving forward on his own.

Finally, Tsukishima strikes back stopping Koito dead in his tracks. With an absolutely creepy facial expression, not even looking at Koito directly he asks about the fact that the two of them were saved during the kidnapping.  This is such a loaded statement, since it implies that there was a possibility where they weren’t saved!

Yes, if Koito and his father didn’t play along to Tsurumi’s tune during the kidnapping, well it implies that the 27th didn’t need to spare them.  They could have killed Koito and his father during the process!

This stops Koito.  He turns back to Tsukishima with a very uncomfortable “what?” . . . that his brain is trying to process exactly what Tsukishima just said.

Tsukishima then goes on to state that he didn’t realize that Ogata knew of the connection between Hanazawa and the railway.  He thought Ogata’s goal has always been to expose Tsurumi and turn him over to Central Command.  This is a reference all the way back to his shoot out with Ogata in Yubari here.

This confirms that what Tsukishima told Ogata was his own personal theory behind Ogata’s motivations.  I was always curious about it, since I had always though this was something that Tsukishima thought, but I was never sure if this was something Tsurumi told Tsukishima or something that Tsukishima came up with.  With the way that Tsukishima describes it to Koito, I will read that this is a Tsukishima theory - not one from Tsurumi.  I think this makes sense, Tsukishima worked with Ogata long enough that he thought he had a decent read on him - but as we’ve come to expect - most characters never have a good read on him - they still place their own ideas on him to explain his actions.

This continues with his statement that he can’t figure out what Ogata was unhappy with - that Tsurumi gave him the opportunity to kill his father wasn’t enough to please him?

Koito looks like he’s in a state of shock as he asks for confirmation that Ogata killed Hanazawa as a part of Tsurumi’s plans.  His face is covered in sweat drops, his face is shaded he doesn’t really know what to say or do. . . . When Koito was first introduced, he wanted to know why Ogata would betray Tsurumi with his father’s death under the pressure of central command.

Tsukishima doesn’t even stop to confirm or deny this, he just keeps talking deadpan in expression.  He simply states that he was tricked as well and by a very elaborate ruse.  Tsukishima is just short of saying that Tsurumi must have manipulated Ogata into killing Hanazawa or making him believe that this is something that he would want to do . . . .  He can’t outright say that Tsurumi manipulated Ogata to do the actions he’s done - instead, he goes on to state that he was deceived as well.

This seems to indicate that there must have been something between Ogata and Tsukishima - he’s done many terrible things for Tsurumi, but he’s still almost judging Ogata actions as different than his. 

Anyways, back to Tsukishima’s poor explanation for Koito - he leaves out a lot of information that we will remember from chapter 149-150 and instead jumps into state that he met another man from Niigata, Sado in particular in the field hospital during the battle of Mukden, when he angrily then approached Tsurumi but still protected him when they both were injured.  Only much later did Tsukishima realize that there was no way for him to bump into a member of the 2nd, the division that he and Tsurumi were in during the Sino-Japanese war.

Therefore, that man was a plant by Tsurumi to test his loyalty to Tsurumi and his future plans to go after the Ainu gold.  Tsukishima freely expresses to Koito that Tsurumi molded him into the perfect right hand man for him.  He went to a great length to shape Tsukishima and that Tsukishima would do whatever he asked.

The scariest part is how Tsukishima has accepted this.  And it all makes sense how despite working hard and being a dependable individual, that he never seemed to break away from Tsurumi’s influence on Karafuto.

This entire panel haunts me. Tsukishima is stating that he sees no value in his own life.  He’s accepted the fact that he is totally fine with what Tsurumi has done to him.  He won’t even bother getting upset in the first place b/c his life has had little value to begin with.  Therefore, he will follow Tsurumi’s plans to help the 7th.

Most importantly, when a completely wrecked Koito is finally able to ask him if that is all of Tsurumi’s goals - Tsukishima can’t look him in the eyes to reply.  Just that Tsurumi’s specialty is “saving people with “sweet lies”.” and that he has no idea with his final goal is. 

This implies that Tsukishima sees himself as “saved” by Tsurumi and therefore he owes him for his life.  If the reader still takes Tsukishima’s Igogusa flashback at face value and he killed his father and it was of Tsukishima’s own free will that it happened - it returns to the idea that Tsukishima sees himself as a dead man walking and that he’s using his borrowed time to serve Tsurumi. 

I can’t help (along with many other readers) wonder if Tsurumi manipulated Tsukishima into attacking his father so that he could “rescue” him from prison and created loyalty by killing his father.  I mean it is clear that is the method he used with Ogata in 103.

Koito tries to get an answer from Tsukishima on why he’d continue along with this, but Tsukishima simply states it is better to align oneself with an individual with grandiose plans.  In the most detached way possible with a blank face, he states his true desire is to watch Tsurumi’s manipulations all the way to the end.  He seals his fate of going down with Tsurumi like the loyal right hand man that he was molded to become.  Free will isn’t a Tsukishima thing.

He then finally states that Koito must keep all of this information to himself as Koito is sweating, breathing heavily and literally on the verge of a panic attack as he warns him that Tsurumi will kill him and that Tsukishima will be the one to do it.

And keep in mind.  Despite how respectable Tsukishima may look, he’s the man who shot Captain Wada in the head at point blank range!  Wada commands Tsukishima to fire at will, to which he replies yes and shoots Wada instead of Tsurumi.

Tsurumi then mentions Manchuria to the rest of the men of the 27th present when this happens.

Okay, back to the current chapter.

It zooms out to Koito leaning forward, panting as his knees are beginning to give out.  To me it looks like he’s about to have a full blown panic attack.  Readers are used to Koito as being overly dramatic, and he drops to his knees declaring that Tsurumi is amazing.  His fingers are contorted and he looks stiff when he’s on his knees as his eyes almost roll up into his head.

He’s sweating and blushing all over his nose and face, something that we haven’t seen on him before.  He can’t help but scream out that he’s pleased that Tsurumi wanted him to join him so badly.

He does his usual overly dramatic prostration but then spins on the dirt as he declares how impressed he is as being a part of Tsurumi’s plans.

Tsukishima just watches him from afar as this happens. 

Thankfully, Sei Kobiyama on twitter was able to point out a key point during this scene.  Usually, when Koito had a meltdown, he would end up expressing himself in his local Satsuma accent - thus making his screams unclear to the reader and those around him. 

This time, when Koito becomes distraught, his understandable accent is maintained, as mentioned here:

This is a linguistic change that Koito no longer sees Tsurumi as his saviour and someone to look up to - instead, he’s a man who will go to great lengths to get men to serve him loyally. 

The chapter then ends with Tsurumi and the 27th arriving in Karafuto.  Both Usami and Warrant Officer Kikuta are with him.  Usami’s face is obscured so we can’t see his eyes and he’s likely pleased while Kikuta looks a bit sad. He’s likely torn between the recent events in Noboribetsu with Ariko and serving Tsurumi.

This was one hell of a chapter!

What are the major take home points from this:

Koito’s innocence is lost.

With Ogata’s hints, Koito has realized how much of his life has been influenced and manipulated by Tsurumi.  Encountering Tsurumi in Kagoshima when he ws visiting his brother’s grave.  Spllling out his feelings to Tsurumi a nice and pleasant man in 1900.  How the entire kidnapping was to make sure Koito and his father would fall into line with Tsurumi.  He gained access to the navy (necessary for defending Hokkaido from the main island in the event of a coup) and also gained a talented but unwavering subordinate in Koito. 

Koito was raised to be an ideal 2nd lt. for Tsurumi - much better than the very annoying and rule following Yuusaku.  With how elaborate Tsurumi’s scheme was to get Koito to worship him, it makes it even more clear that Yuusaku would have be the largest impediment to Tsurumi’s goals with the 27th.  In this chapter, Koito tells Tsukishima that he’ll call Tsurumi out in front of his father - I am not 100% certain that Yuusaku would have done the same thing - we know he was a rule follower to the end and I wonder if Yuusaku may have said something to a similar effect.  Or the idea that Yuusaku if left alive would also run to his father to expose Tsurumi’s plans.  Whatever the background with Yuusaku - it was clear that he was a non-manipulable individual.

Some people may have thought he faked things or was spazzing out at the end of the chapter - I read it that he’s in part now aware of what he should say but at the same time his own viewpoint is so shattered that it comes out as a bizarre mix of drama, comedy and horror.  The best way I can approach it is from personal experience.  Where something happens and you just don’t know how to react so in part you are almost laughing but crying at the same time but you are a total mess of emotions and it becomes overwhelming.

If we stop and think about it - Koito was manipulated since he was 14!  14!  This is horrible and he’s digesting this in his early 20s now.  Not like this woudln’t upset him at all?  Furthermore, this is all from Tsukishima, a man who he looked up to and felt like he knew and trusted.  Sure, Koito could be rude with him, but this is the man who carried him to a dog sled, who placed him on the sled gently and protected him from Kiro’s explosives.  All of Tsukishima’s actions benefited and protected Koito.  To have that same person threaten to kill you.  Well, that would be a total emotional mindfuck.

This is setting up an interesting dyanmic between Ogata and Koito.  With the flaskback to the kidnapping, it was Ogata who patted Koito on the back while Tsukishima held back.  Ogata didn’t need to be nice to him but he was.  Both men were ignored by their fathers for a “favored” brother.  Once was legitimate despite being younger while the other was older and was supposed to carry on the family honor.  At one point in time, Koito and Ogata were not seen as useful by their fathers.  Tsurumi’s actions got Koito’s father to notice him, while nothing Tsurumi did, could get Ogata’s father to notice him.

I am comfortable enough to throw out the idea that Ogata is acting like an older brother to Koito.  Not an amazingly great older brother, but at least as one who is giving him enough information to see what is happening and maybe change things. Koito’s older brother was kind and had very pale skin tone as shown here from young Koito vision.

We see a sparkle of light in his older brother and the old idea is that he was a very good older brother to Koito.

Ogata is canonically referred to as being usually pale - most obviously here by Shiraishi.

Ogata does not like involving innocent individuals in schemes - when Koito was younger he was still innocent - enough that kidnapper Ogata would be kind to him.

You could try to write this off as Ogata being an agent of chaos - but agents of chaos don’t have a soft spot for innocents.  We know that Ogata has a whole hang up on innocence and purity in the context of those who commit atrocities and who can wipe their hands clean of them.  But, since Koito is a military man who has dirtied his hands, he’s already someone that Ogata can relate to much better than Yuusaku. 

The bonus of this, is that Ogata can deal a blow to Tsurumi’s plans by releasing Koito from his control.  Ogata in addition to his obsession with finding a blessed path, is one of exercising free will.  This may explain why he was upset at Wilk’s role to set Asirpa up as an idol for the Ainu - she does not have her own free will to decide and she was too similar to Yuusaku. 

Thankfully, their showdown in the ice floe really helped to shift some of her thinking in addition to Kiro’s death.

Can the tiger’s curse be Koito having to face his own actions and choose a free will in the 27th?  Realizing that he is tied to the lynx, Ogata and that the two men have much more in common than Koito already knows in regards to their fathers’ friendship?  I think Ogata even respects the fact that Koito is an intelligent man, just that he didn’t apply himself.  He was able to easily catch up to his peers to pass the military exams so Ogata was likely banking on his intelligence to connect the few bits of information that he left Koito with before escaping.  I personally really want Koito to break away from Tsurumi and team up with Ogata.  I think Ogata is working with the partisans and if Ogata re-appears, Sofia will be with him and Koito can talk to Sofia (still banking on both of them bonding by talking in French).

Is there any “hope” for Tsukishima?

Oh man.  This is a hard summary for me here - I love Tsukishima.  When the action moved to Karafuto, I really fell in love with his character more.  I have a meta about how upstanding and respectful he is as a character to others.  He did what was expected of him, made sure Svetlana told her parents what happened, helped up a Russian guy he knocked down in the stenka and kept having all of these “soft” nice guy moments. 

But what began to worry me was his lack of doubt at things.  Koito seemed to be more open to questioning what was happening.  He told himself to shoot a thieving cat on sight - that he had to tell himself facts about Ogata to make sure he’d capture and kill him.  Meanwhile, Tsukishima remained silent. He relayed facts to Sugimoto about the wildcat nickname but he never said anything to get Sugimoto more riled up or less upset by Ogata.  He just did what was required of him. 

He only became pushy once they reached Toyohara where they were to wait until meeting up with Tsurumi in Odomari (next chapter?).  It is almost as though Tsukishima is a example of the trope that one should be worried about the “normal” ones.   He has done his job always with benefiting Tsurumi in the end.  He’ll now follow him to the end even if it means he dies alongside with him.

Noda called him the conscience of the 7th back when he made the character guides at the beginning of the tankobans.  I am beginning to wonder if his conscience is more of the fact that Tsukishima will express a moral doubt or concern only to still follow orders?

I can’t help but look at these eyes here, here he blankly tells Koito he’s fine with his situation in 210.

Are similar to Ogata’s in chapter 103 to Hanazawa.

Both express the emotions - or lack thereof of men who are doing horrible things that are clearly harming them but following through on those actions b/c Tsurumi is leading them to that.

For volume 15 Noda expanded chapter 150 to include how Tsukishima let go of the lie that kept him tied to Tsurumi from the end of the Sino-Japanese war until the Battle of Mukden.

Special thanks to @goldenkamuyhunting for these edited images of the volume version.

While in Otaru, Tsukishima goes out alone in the evening.  He reveals that he’s held onto Igogusa’s hair all these years.  He is a dark figure against the lighter buildings in the harbor.

He pulls the hair the Tsurumi had given him that was folded between some well worn paper, that may even have some of his blood stains on it, indicating he kept it close to his chest when he was in battle.

He stands on the edge of the harbor and holds the open paper in his left hand, the hair in his right as his eyes are completely covered with his hat.  There is a slow motion opening of the right hand as it releases the hair so that it almost slides out.  Not throwing or anything active.  A passive release of the hair back into the ocean, depicted as a black abyss.

We get his own view as the hair falls out of his hand and into the water to dark to see any details of.

As the hair falls into darkness on the next page we see Tsukishima walk back to the 27th barracks and he enters the back of a room full of men.  The two page spread shows Tsurumi removing his bandages in front of his men and the introduction of his face shield.

Tsukishima watches all of this from the back of the room deadpan.  He has let go of his ties to his past and his love of Igogusa.  All that remains is his loyalty and devotion to Tsurumi. 

This is it.  This is the point when Tsukishima dedicated himself full to serving Tsurumi.  He’ll follow him straight to hell if that is how things go down.

In some ways, I’m having a hindsight is 20/20 moment in regards to Tsukishima.  The entire time on Karafuto, Tsukishima has been relatively quiet.  He’s done what he was supposed to do and other than his emotional outburst with Svetlana, he’s been very tight lipped and silent.  This is a parallel with Ogata who was keeping quiet to not reveal his skills in Russian.  Tsukishima hides his devotion to Tsurumi through his banal and normal actions.  He doesn’t give us much to go on, it is easier for him to show nothing - by showing nothing or slight annoyance, others can’t get a read on him.

I would argue that Ogata is much more emotional and it shows on Ogata’s face much more than Tsukishima’s.  His default is to have a blank face when wants to cover, Ogata’s eyes frequently betray his emotions.  They are subtle but his are more obvious that Tsukishima’s.

What all does this mean for the future?

I am still under the indication that Koito will break away from the rest of the group.

I’m still hung up on this image from the end of 180.  We now know that Tsukishima will follow Tsurumi to the end.  Tanigaki has no problem following him as long as he doesn’t have to return home.  Sugimoto sold out Asirpa for 200 yen to Tsurumi.

Cikapasi and Ryu stayed behind with Enonoka and her grandfather.  Koito stands separately.  I thought maybe he’d end up with Enonoka and her grandfather after he found out about Tsurumi.  That could still happen but what if Enonoka and her grandfather are a stand in for Asirpa and Huci and maybe Retar?

He would still be aligning himself with the Ainu, just Hokkaido Ainu versus the Karafuto Ainu.

I want to know what makes Tsukishima different from Ogata?  Both men were involved in the kidnapping of Koito.  Tsukishima continues to come back to Tsurumi despite that he’s in an abusive relationship.  Ogata snapped at something and couldn’t do it anymore?

We know he doubted Tsurumi when he had him kill Hanazawa.  What was it that pushed him over the edge?  Why has Ogata escaped while the rest remain loyal to him.  Granted some of the men are less intelligent than Tsukishima, Koito and Ogata, but the smart ones see what his happening.  Is Kikuta also in this group of the more intelligent Tsurumi inner circle.  So far he’s proven himself to ge a quick witted and smart guy.

What happens if things begin to unravel?  How does Sugimoto think he can get out of this one?  The only reason he was able to escape Tsurumi the first time was with Asirpa and Shiraishi’s help and Tsurumi letting him go.  Now, he’s handing both Asirpa and Shiraishi into Tsurumi’s control - he won’t be able to rely on them being on the “outside” to help him.

Furthermore, Ogata demonstrated that if one escapes (as with Tanigaki in Kushiro) you escape before your watchers get close to the deadline.  The earlier you escape the better since they will become more attentive.  I’m sure Ogata learned this from Tsurumi and Tsukishima will know this.

Sorry I don’t have much more for you guys.  I’m still mulling things over and I’m re-adjusting to my work schedule so that will throw me off for a bit more.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta #koito otonoshin #koito heiji #tsukishima hajime #tsurumi tokushirou #asirpa #sugimoto saichi #ogata hyakunosuke #kiroranke #hanazawakoujiro #hanazawayuusaku #Igogusa

[starksinthenorth]

...

I’ve been pretty absent from Tumblr and AO3 over the last month or so. In that time I: moved back to the city my school is in from where my parents live, started a new job, dealt with my city’s race riots/protests happening right outside my building (the stores on the first floor got broken into two nights in a row and a neighbor got maced by a cop while watching from their balcony, a friend got arrested for violating curfew - and that’s just a few things that happened), and started a new job. I live alone with a cat and dealing with the emotional isolation from friends and family has been more draining than I anticipated. My apologies for not responding, but with all the personal shit I just did not have the emotional energy to deal with ship wars and people’s adamant defenses of their faves.

This post is an address to a series of comments on my fic, Brave, Gentle, Strong, on AO3 by someone who has (generally) been respectful until recently, when the comments got somewhat more demanding and entitled. In fairness, I did promise to answer but just did not have the emotional space to deal with this. There’s a lot in those comments, so I’ll be addressing them in chunks. Here goes.

Request to tag fic “Sansa-centric”: I’m not going to be doing this. This fic is not Sansa-centric, I have fans of J, S, and D who have all enjoyed it and are sticking around despite controversial decisions I’ve made. While it’s mostly a romantic angst fic, the political plot thus far has been wholly dedicated to Dany finding a way to get her throne. The ending will be successful in that endeavor. If you do a “find” search on the “entire work” option, Dany appears 569 times, Daenerys 153 (total = 722); Sansa 837; and Jon 732. I have a horrible habit of using epithets, and “queen” appears an additional 197 times, most of which are “the queen” or “his queen” in reference to Dany.

Advocating for Dany is encouraged, not discouraged: I never said I don’t want people to advocate for their faves. Especially since I’m still not as familiar with Dany, I don’t mind people calling out areas I’ve miswritten her. Someone mentioned that I only have Sansa and Jon reflect on Dany’s beauty and not her strength and accomplishments. That’s not entirely true, but a reread did show me I have ways to go on making that more evident. Part of the difference with her and Sansa being appreciated by the other/Jon was two-fold: 1) Sansa was coming into the already established relationship of Jonerys, and 2) Sansa gets trashed a lot more in fanfic that I’ve read. When I was mostly into Jonsa it was a few years back and writers were still kind to Dany. When I got into Jonerys fic, it was during/after S8 and the writers were absolutely TERRIBLE to Sansa. I had my reasons for making Sansa appeared loved by the other two; but it’s on my list of things to add in on edits to show ways that J and S appreciate her more than just being pretty.

The reason that comment was made was some threatening and uncomfortable comments made by Dany stans.: I got some pretty awful comments from other Dany stans and it made me very adverse to reading any comments about her because of it.

I am a fan of Dany.: I really hate having to defend myself to people just because Sansa is my fave. I wrote this fic in anticipation of the horrible things to come after 804: Who Would Ever Want to be Queen?, a decent amount of fics with D/S as the premier couple in a happy way, and even some J/S fics where she’s featured positively. I’ve also written plenty of meta, rants, and defenses of her on tumblr: book!Dany and saving Missandei; how Dany could have been pro-slavery out of bitterness and wasn’t; Jon won’t kill Dany; GRRM Does Not Want Us to Think Negatively of Daenerys in ADWD; How Dany + Sansa will meet; Way D&D Fucked Up Daenerys Targaryen #32423423; and more. Like, just because bad things are happening to a character doesn’t mean the author hates them.

 This OT3 is made of characters I deeply care for. I just also really like angst. This fic is tagged heavy angst and we’re only 2/3 of the way through part 1 of 2.  

OT3’s future together:

1) Dany’s first child. I’m confused why you think Dany is “unhappy” when she leaves them at King’s Landing. She’s concerned to realize she’s pregnant – she stutters through her excuses to go away before puking; Missandei describes Dany as thus: “The look on Dany’s face nearly breaks her Hand’s heart. The joy and worry mixed with so much pain. She’s already lost two children. Must she lose a third?” Dany is severely worried that this child will die and explicitly doesn’t “want to pain [Jon and Sansa] with the news” that they could lose a child. Dany is an incredibly giving, loving character, but she also has an aloofness to her. This isn’t necessarily a negative thing, but it’s something she’s dealt with in canon: “Do all gods feel so lonely? Some must, surely.” (ASOS, Dany VI). And while they’re happy, she’s still dealing with that and learning to trust her partners. That’s why she goes to Dragonstone to give birth.

2) Writing Health poly relationships: You point out “Poly relationships that are healthy, have three or more people who love and respect each other. Equally.” And that’s what I’m working towards. The problem between how we each view this is in that exact statement: I am working towards a healthy relationship. They aren’t in one yet. Everyone has some personal and plot issues to work through before they can get together. And for that to happen, various plot devices needed to occur. It is not the purposeful “destruction and misery of one [partner]” in this fic from the other partners’ POVs. It’s an authorial decision to make everyone pretty miserable before they can be triumphant. I’ve written a fair amount of angst and fics that are literally just characters suffering. It’s a dynamic I like to explore and this has been labeled Heavy Angst since the first chapter was posted, back when it was just Dany taking a nap and chatting with Sansa. If angst isn’t your thing, this isn’t the story for you. I’ve said it since the beginning. I’ve been doing reading in on this and how to write it better, but at the end of the day they aren’t a couple yet. They’re each individual parties thinking as individuals about their individual interests. They still need to realize they’re better together, and they aren’t there yet. If you want to know how that looks, checkout The Price of a Princess, a newer fic about their future as parents and rulers together.

3) Authorial plot devices do not equate abuse character behaviors. You said it was “abuse” that I had a plot device (the miscarriage) that is going to cause character and romantic development. That’s not abusive behavior. The characters are unaware of the events as they occur. A living human cannot abuse fictional characters. You might disagree with the choices I made about this plot, but it’s not abusive because only one of us is actually a person.

#/ #// #/// #//// #///// #bgs

[rexinferorum]

Bodyguard AU / aidy

          being  a  bodyguard,  historically,  hasn’t  been  the  most  glamorous  job.   he  has  experience;  special  forces,  black  ops,  personal  security,  but  the  work  has  put  him  in  more  than  his  fair  share  of  scraps  that  leave  his  body  scarred  and  weary.  he  doesn’t  look  like  much,  has  always  been  lanky  and  slender  despite  his  physique,  so  he’s  often  underestimated  because  of  it.   fitting,  really,  given  his  chameleon  like  ability  to  blend  in  wherever  he’s  needed.  it’s  probably  why  he’s  made  the  short  list  for  a  high  profile  job  guarding  members  of  avalon’s  royal  family.   he’s  a  pain  in  the  ass  as  a  person  but  he’s  damn  good  at  his  job.  no  one’s  been  killed  under  his  protection  in  the  last  decade  of  his  career  in  the  private  sector.   

          baird  and  daphne  silvermist  moved  into  the  white  house  about  2  years  earlier.  while  the  first  family  don’t  seem  like  much  on  paper,  their  time  in  power  has  been  littered  with  scandal  and  opposition.   when  they  were  outed  as  fairies,  outcries  for  impeachment  and  supernatural  registries  were  demanded  by  the  public. most  people  didn’t  care,  supernatural  beings  were  known  even  if  it  wasn’t  widely  discussed,  but  that  the  issue  was  never  brought  up  at  election  time  was  highly  controversial.   there’s  been  two  assassination  attempts  on  president  baird  since  he  took  office,  the  last  of  which  killed  their  head  of  security ...  the  job  v  is  now  applying  for.   oddly  enough,  there’s  still  high  demand  despite  the  risk.   given  he’s  a  demon,  housed  in  the  body  of  a  fairy,  he  feels  he’s  pretty  qualified  to  do  the  job.  

        when  he  walks  into  the  interview,  he’s  surprised  to  see  that  it  isn’t  a  team  of  suits  holding  the  interview.  it’s  daphne  silvermist  herself,  poised  and  regal  looking  with  her  daughter  sat  beside  her.  there’s  suits  too,  secret  service  and  what  looks  to  be  a lawyer,  and  they  have  him  sign  NDA’s  before  he  even  opens  his  mouth.   “  thank  you  for  coming  in,  mr...  ”    daphne  trails  off,  squinting  at  the  paperwork.  “  oh.  we  don’t  seem  to  have  your  last  name.  ”

              “  nope.  i  don’t  have  one.  ”   he  smirks.  “  like  cher.  ”

       daphne  blinks,  but  it’s  the  daughter  that  speaks  up.  “  cute.  ”    she  says  it  like  it  isn’t,  like  his  mere  presence  annoys  her.  maybe  it  does.  

   of  the  silvermist  children,  aidy  silvermist  is  the  one  he’ll  have  to  work  to  win  over.  she’s  the  first  publicly  out  kid  in  the  white  house  and,  as  such,  has  attracted  her  fair  share  of  haters.  there’s  also  pressure  to  keep  her  exploits  out  of  the  press,  which  seems  to  be  a  full  time  job  in  itself.  his  friend  harlow,  the  one  that  put  him  up  for  the  job  in  the  first  place,  has  been  doing  PR  for  the  family  for  years.  from  the  stories  v’s  heard  about  aidy’s  extracurriculars,   it’s  a  surprise  their  whole  team  hadn’t  quit  100  times  over.   but  they’re  a  loyal  bunch;   once  you’re  in,  the  only  way  out  seems  to  be  death.   it’s  an  interesting  concept  to  the  demon,  who’s  never  had  much  allegiance  to  anything  beyond  his  own  interests,  

          “  you  come  highly  recommended.  ”   daphne  clears  her  throat,  flipping  through  the  stack  of  papers  in  her  hands.  “  letters  of  recommendation,  commendations,  quite  the  history  in  the  private  sector  too.  ”   she  glances  up.   “  the  dates  don’t  quite  add up  though.  it  says  here  you’ve  been  working  in  the  private  sector  for  10  years,  but  your  age  combined  with  your  military  service  doesn’t  add up.  ”   she peers  up  at  him  from  over  the  stacks.  “  so  either  you’ve  lied,  or  there’s  more  we  need  to  know  about  you.  ”   she  waits,  expectantly.   v  can  feel  aidy’s  eyes  on  him;  hot,  and  judgy.  

         “  well  i’m  not  human.  ”   he  says  it  casually,  as  if  they’re  talking  about  the  weather.  “  this  vessel  isn’t  even  human.  ”     his  smirk  stretches.  “  this  body  is  fae,  and  i’m  something  else.  ”   his  eyes  shift,  reflect  the  red  demonic  ones.   “  no  one  really  makes  deals  anymore.  it’s  a  dying  industry. ”   he  shrugs.  “  i  found  other  ways  to  supplement  my  income.  ”   it’s  insane.  he  knows  it  is.   a  crossroads  demon,  as  a  bodyguard  ?     “  i’m  near  indestructible.  ”   he  reminds  them.   “  if  someone  shoots  me  in  the  head,  it  might  just  give  me  a  headache.  ”    he  smirks.  “...and  while  i’m  attached  to  this  vessel,  if  it’s  destroyed ...  i’ll  simply  find  another  one.   you’ll  never  have  to  go   through  this  excruciating  process  again.  ”    he  winks.  

           daphne  seems  impressed.  aidy,  however,  isn’t  budging.  she  looks  down  at  him  from  behind  reading  glasses,  straightens  up  as  she  glances  around  the  room.  “  i  want  a  minute  alone  with  him.  could  you  all  step  outside.  ”    she  doesn’t  ask  the  question;  it’s  a  statement.   her  mother  and the  suits  all  step outside,  leaving  just  aidy  and  v  staring  at  each  other  from  across  the  table.      “  so.  ”    she  leans  forward,  elbows  on  the  table.   “  you’re  some  kind  of  psycho,  aren’t  you.  ”    again,  not  a  question.   not   one  he  expected  either.   he’s  pleasantly  surprised.  it  takes  a  lot  to  catch  him  off  guard.

              “  a  good  applicant  would  say  no,  wouldn’t  they.  ”    he  hums,  leans  back  in  his  chair  and  tucks  arms  behind  his  head.  “  your  last  bodyguard  died  because  he  took  a  bullet  that  was  meant  for  your  father.   the  shooter  got  away  and  killed  two  more  secret  service  men  because  they  were  too  busy  shitting  themselves.  ”   he  snorts.  “  if  it’s  me,  my  telekinesis  redirects  the  bullet  and  gets  him  between  the  eyes.  or  maybe  in  the  shoulder,  if  you  want  to  get  something  out  of  him.   information,  motive,  your  jollies,  whatever.  ”   he  lists  them  off  on  his  fingers.   “  so  no,  i’m  not  a  psycho  ...  i’m  just  more ...  violently  inclined   than   your  average  person.  ”   he  shrugs.  “  some  people  have  limits,  have  morals  ...  but  i  don’t.   you  can  see  it  as  a  weakness  or  a  strength.  ”

               aidy  sits  back,  silent.   her  eyes  never  leave  him  as  she  takes  a  few  more  notes  and  thanks  him  for  coming  in.   as  he  leaves,  he’s  sure  he  sees  something  akin  to  amusement  in  her  features. 

                    he’s  offered  the  job  less  than  an  hour later.     he  accepts.  

#( meme ) #( answered ask ) #( aidy ) #( baird ) #( daphne ) #( aster ) #willdoitforher

[medea10]

Medea Rambles...It’s Reality

I would really love to put up a review today. Really, I would. And I would love to talk about the latest Pokemon episode, really I would...But, I'm not in the mood. Because of certain events, I'm not in any mood for my usual Sunday shenanigans.

Whenever I pick up my phone and see that damned CNN Alert message, I think one of three things has happened.

1. Trump said or did something incredibly stupid, illegal, or dickheadishly stupid.

2. A celebrity from my childhood died.

3. A massacre has occurred and was caused by gun violence.

And in the past seven days, that third option has come up more often than not. Now, by no means am I fully against guns. It's not my thing, if you like hunting, by all means. If you feel you need it for protection, I don't give a flying fig. However, there are certain guns that really shouldn't be in the hands of anyone. Period! And each time I hear about what a gunman uses, it's usually an AK or an AR-15 or some other monstrosity that really shouldn't be in the hands of (what it seems like) very unstable men. And in a lot of these massacres including the last three prominent tragedies, these very unstable men are under the age of 25.

That is fucking frightening.

Why would anyone want to go to an open place like a school, a Walmart, a gay nightclub, a concert on the Vegas strip, a church, a mosque, a synagogue, a local pub, a college campus, or a garlic festival to shoot up innocent people?

Oh yeah, all of these places have been shot up in the last couple of years. And again I need to say, THREE OF THESE HAPPENED JUST THIS WEEK ALONE!

I remember being in middle school when the Columbine shooting happened and in shock over what I was witnessing. Now it’s by no means the first gun massacre in our country and sure as fuck wasn’t the last. But the mere fact that this was a high school and these were students being slaughtered raised a lot of eyebrows. Now not much action was taken at the time, but there were plenty of back-and-forths over who was to blame for this. Being in middle school, they pretty much blamed all the things I liked including video games, South Park, and Marilyn Manson. Seriously, just because Dylan and Eric listened to Manson, all Manson listeners were going to go on a killing rampage? Fuck you then and fuck you now!

Then I remember 12 years ago with Virginia Tech and freaking out because, hey, I’m a college student. Who’s to say UNM wouldn’t end up on the national news one day because of a tragedy involving gun violence? Then again, I’m just a paranoid, autistic person and I worry over everything.

But then it wouldn’t just be at a school...it would be in places you wouldn’t expect. A strip mall in Arizona. A theater in Aurora, Colorado. And even an elementary school in Connecticut.

Yes, I have to talk about Sandy Hook! Twenty 1st graders and their educators were gunned down. That should have been the final straw in taking some freakin’ action! These were six and seven year olds going to school. AND RIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS FOR CORN SAKE! Because of this, my cousin has a quiet room in his home where his daughter used to play and sleep.

Yeah, not-so fun fact about Medea. I have a relation to one of the victims in Sandy Hook.

So imagine my disgust with pukes like Alex Jones attacking these families, calling them out for faking their children deaths. Alex Jones can just drop from the face of the earth and I’ll sleep like a baby at night. But like with Columbine, not much action was done. Even though President Obama tried, he couldn’t get Congress and Senate to pass any kind of gun regulation laws.

I would like to blame it on the fact that both the house and senate were Republican-led at the time and whatever the black president wanted to happen, they told him to sit and spin because fuck your needs! Yeah, I want to say that they’re all a bunch of racist crackers, but most of them are still kinda lobbyed by the NRA. And when I say kinda, I mean, these guys are willing to lick boots for the NRA and screw the safety of the people.

So, no gun regulations happen and more tragedies continue happening. It wasn’t really until the San Bernadino tragedy that lawmakers wanted to do something. But not about gun regulation! No, because in that particular tragedy, the people causing the mayhem were part of ISIS (or so they claim). If the shooter is someone from a different place other than the U.S., they hate us for our freedom and this is terrorism. But if a white guy from Ohio does it, it’s just a sad day in America.

Now there are many of factors to these killers. Mental health is a big factor played in many of these tragedies. Yes, that is a biggie in general. Because people suffering from mental illness are statistically more likely to be a victim of gun violence than to commit one. People only bring up mental illness if the shooter is a white, American-born boy and soon enough, they’ll drop the subject of helping folks with this problem. How about we talk about gun regulation?! Have weapons of war off the streets and out of our homes! No one needs guns that can turn a body into swiss cheese in a matter of seconds given to a regular joe. Oh and once again, nothing happens. Even after we get some of the worst shootings after Sandy Hook! Because while 20 1st graders being gunned down in a classroom was pretty fucked up, we ended up with more obscene tragedies.

Just to name a few, the Pulse Night Club shooting in Orlando, FL where 49 people lost their lives (during Pride Month no less), an outdoor concert on the Las Vegas strip where 58 people died, and another high school shooting in Parkland, FL where 17 students lost their lives. At least with the last shooting I mentioned, the surviving students had ENOUGH and demanded action. In some ways, change did happen. We have a new generation ask the questions my generation didn’t and the generations before ignored it all.

With the swearing-in of a new Congress in January (the first time it was Democratic majority since 2010), the first issue they took up was on gun regulation. And it passed the house! The only problem is that the leader of the senate has refused to let ANY of these bills pass. He just let’s it die. And then you have that same sonuvabitch send out thoughts and prayers? The Congress is trying to do something so we wouldn’t have to go through these horrible tragedies time and time again! Fuck you Mitch! No seriously, fuck you and shove those thoughts and prayers up your ass because we know what you’re all about! We saw you during the days of Sandy Hook!

And so we continue with this wave of gun tragedies! Only now, a lot of these recent shootings seem to have a certain, controversial thing in common. All of them either liked Donald Trump or praised his rhetoric. I know I shouldn’t tie any tragedy to any serving president. I didn’t blame Clinton for Columbine. I didn’t blame Bush for Virginia Tech. And I never blamed Obama for Aurora, Phoenix, or Sandy Hook. But Donald Trump is a whole ‘nother level of blame.

It’s safe to say we’ve NEVER had a president quite like this. Someone who would rile up his supporters in some frightening ways. I don’t want to repeat ANYTHING of what this fool says. He carefully words his statements to his base and watch these fringey people go off the deep-end. When you have a president blaming Mexicans, banning Muslims, and criticizing African-Americans, there’s a lot of toxicity to absorb. And I am sick of it!

A lot tragedies in the past two years have had the essence of Trump lingering around it. The man who sent bombs to Trump’s enemies last fall was a staunch Trump supporter. The man who shot up a Jewish synagogue last year, also believed in Trump’s words. As did the Parkland shooter! Oh, let’s not forget the man who shot up the mosque in New Zealand earlier this year, he believed in Trump too. And same with the two of the three shootings that has happened in the last 7 days. People trying to enjoy themselves as they eat garlic-flavored foodstuffs in Gilroy and families buying things they need for the upcoming school year in a Walmart in El Paso...all of them taken out by white supremacists guided by words of a lunatic leader who believes black and brown people are the enemy.

His words are not helping. His words are damaging.

I know gun violence has been a major issue way before Donald Trump became president. But this recent onslaught of violence is too much to bear. If he was a decent person, he would put an end to his disturbing rhetoric. No more of these “Go back to where you came from” tweets. That means calling out white supremacy when you see it! And cut the shit about good guys on both sides! When you have one side marching and shouting, “Jews Will Not Replace Us” and the other side finding offense to those words, this shouldn’t be a fucking debate!

This country needs to fucking change and change now. Whether it’s through legislation, replacing political representatives with people willing to give a damn, or overthrowing a dictator. Do it and do it now!

Sorry for this rant, but...I’m just tired of this happening over and over again. I’m almost to the point of being numb by these tragedies. And that shouldn’t happen.

[dailythranduilproject]

DTP Interview #6 Elbenherzart

Hello to all our friends and followers of Daily Thranduil Project!

Today it’s @elbenherzart‘s turn for our fandom interviews. She is a really talented professional illustrator, who has produced many beautiful artworks inspired by the world of Tolkien. She works with traditional media as well as with digital ones and has a lot of other creative talents, like sewing awesome cosplays. I hope you are curious to find out more about her, so without any further delay, I present you here with her answers to the questions we had asked her:

General Questions: 


Username(s) we can find you under: 



Either ElbenherzArt or my real name, Christina Kraus. :)




What Media do you create? 



For digital paintings I use Photoshop and for my traditional stuff mostly inks or ballpoint pens. I almost never use pencils, because I find myself erasing all the time. 

Are you self-taught or did you go to art school? 



I am mostly self-taught. Tho I have a bachelor degree in Intermedia Design. This gave me a few design and composition fundamentals I can apply to my images, but didn't teach me to draw or to paint. Also I have a lot of other professionals as friends who help me with critiques and reflection of my art. I always wanted to go to Art School but the programs in Germany are pretty shitty for it. All you learn is like drawing with a pencil bound to a stick, drawing with your not-drawing hand or drawing with a blind fold. It's complete garbage and I envy people who can afford programs such as the Swedish Academy of realistic Art where you actually learn useful drawing and painting fundamentals instead of fooling around. 




Which artists have influenced your style?



That is a tough question. I admire a lot of artists but I guess my digital work is mostly influenced by Magic-the Gathering or Dungeons & Dragons artists, since this is the direction my work is heading too. 



Which are your favourite artists? 



I'd say Peter Mohrbacher, Jana Schirmer, Cynthia Sheppard, Jason Rainville...but hell, there are a lot. I can't pick a favourite.



Where can we find your work? 



On my website, Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Deviantart, Artstation and on Behance. 



What would you say you are best known for in the fandom? 



I'm not even sure I'm known for anything in this fandom. XD But the work I did based on the Silmarillion so far sells the best on Conventions and I get the most comments on it.  




Do you have a favourite pairing? 



Yes of course, but it's kind of controversial I'd say. ;)



Do you have a favourite creation of yours you are especially proud of? 



I'm kind of proud of my latest piece, Celebrimbor's Smithy. It was a tough one, since interior scenes are very hard in general for me. The work on this piece took a whole month with a few breaks of course. 



Do you have a favourite fictional character, besides Thranduil of course?



That would be Kylo Ren/Ben Solo from the Star Wars Universe. 



What other fandoms are you part of?

 

The Star Wars Fandom, tho I'm barely active there. I have a Tumblr blog dedicated to it, but I mostly just reblog stuff and did only one Star Wars related painting so far. The fandom is kind of toxic with its stupid ship wars and anti culture going on.



Do you do commissions?

 Yes. :)

Any advice/words for others in the fandom? 



That is such a general answer, but stay true to yourself, do what you love and don't give others shit over characters/pairings you don't like. Treat people the way you want to be treated. Be kind and respectful, you don't know what people are going through.
If you are an artist, or want to be one; only self reflection, critiques and hard work will get you moving forward. You need to be able to see your own flaws.  For that you need to seek out people who can give you an honest opinion about your art. (Not your friends or family.)
Vanity is the downfall of every professional artist. You can be proud of your work, but never vain. 
(You can always ask me for porfolio reviews or advice if you want by way. :))



Personal Questions: 


Favourite Book? 

The Silmarillion. 



Favourite movie? 

Currently Star Wars-The last Jedi.




Do you have a pet peeve? 



Littering. When I see people throwing their trash onto the walkways or streets I get furious. Take it to the next trash bin or home! It's not difficult.



What country are you from? 

Germany! 



Who do you think you might have been in a past life? 



Probably a cat. Sleeping and eating is all I want to do. :)



What do you like to do in your spare time other than create the media you work on?



When I'm not drawing or painting I'm either binge watching series on Netflix (currently Outlander <3)  or I'm with my friends/boyfriend. Sometimes I write Fanfiction, but mostly I'm reading it. I also try to travel as often as possible and sew my own costumes when time allows it.

 

When did you join the fandom?



I think back in 2007. Not really sure actually.  Definitely more than 10 years ago.

Follower Questions:

@floranocturna asked: 

You are a very versatile artist and I have been admiring your very cool cosplays already for a while, especially your Celebrian and Celeborn are amazing! Do you sew all the cosplays yourself?

 

Thank you and yes, I sew them usually by myself :).

What inspires you to cosplay a specific character? 



Honestly it's mostly the robes. If I like the aesthetic of a character, I want to cosplay him/her. XD Of course I also have an eye on the character and need to like him/her.



You are very ardent about being vegan. Will you tell us a little bit about your reasons and why is it important to you and should we maybe all think about how can we help to preserve nature instead of destroying it? 



This is a loaded question and I'm unable to answer it with just a few words. Feel free to ignore this text if you are not interested. 
As I learned that raising livestock for meat, eggs and milk generates 14,5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the second highest source of emissions and greater than all transportation combined and that it's the leading cause of deforestation, biodiversity loss and water pollution, I knew that I had to act and change my diet, because I simply couldn't live with that knowledge and not doing something about it. And of course the killing of millions of sentinent animals every single day. The meat industry is the most powerful industry in the world and they try literally everything to make us continue to buy meat, to make it cheaper and to leave people in the dark about the consequences for our planet and our health. Here the Pharmaindustry comes in. The meat industry is their biggest customer (80% of their money is made from antibiotics they sell to farmers and animal factories) and sponsor, feeding billions of pills to animals each to day to alter their flesh. It's all about money, control and very fucked up. Like always.
 If the grain that is used to feed our first world country livestock would be given to people in Africa or other third world countries where children starve to death, no one on this planet would need to suffer from hunger anymore. It's all pretty messed up and a paradox. 
The only way of preserving nature in the long run is going vegan actually. I know that a lot of people don't like this thought, but that's mostly because they are misinformed (I was too, everyone is in the beginning) and fear either deficiencies or they think they can only eat vegetables and fruits. But that's not true. There are so many vegan dishes and sweets out there people are not even aware of. Oreos for example are completely vegan. A lot of junk food is. Cake, Ice cream and chocolat can be vegan too. It's all just a matter of replacing the eggs and there are plenty of alternatives. When people think about going vegan, they think about all the things they can't have anymore. Instead, think of the things you gain from it. You support the environment, save lifes and it's beneficial for your health. You are less likely to get cancer or diabetes. You don't have to give up your beloved sweets or junk food. I mostly eat the same things I ate before, just with egg replacement and almond or oat milk instead of cows milk. The only thing you have to keep in mind is B12. I take a pill everyday for it and you should too if your are vegan. If you do that you are completely safe and won't suffer any deficiencies if you live on a wholesome diet. 
This wall of text may imply that I try to preach or what ever, but I simply state facts. It's up to everyone if they choose to act or not. I don't judge people for not going vegan. It takes a bit of effort, research and people will judge you for it. If you want to have more information I recommend the Netflix documentaries „What the health.“ and „Cowspiracy“. They are all based on researchable facts and explain a few statements I've given here. Also you might want to take a look at „Why we love dogs, eat pigs and wear cows“.




@beelovesbutterfly asked: First of all, thank you for sharing your lovely artwork. What is your favourite art medium?

@themirkyking asked: Which method of creating do you prefer? Digital or traditional, and why?

For my personal taste and fun I prefer traditional mediums. It's much more relaxing than digital art where I have to stare at a screen all day. Also I love the smell of paint and texture of paper. But for client work I definitely prefer digital since it's easier to change mistakes and I'm able to finish something faster. What makes the pay a lot better. 

Thank you so much Christina for taking the time to participate in our series of fandom interviews for @dailythranduilproject. It was a pleasure having you!  

Please check out Christina’s blog and her page at DeviantArt for all her awesome artwork! And if you happen to be in Cologne on May 12/13th 2018 you can go and visit her booth at the RPC Germany!

@floranocturna ^^

#daily thranduil project #interviews #fandom interviews #thranduil #elbenherzart

[cwnerd12]

6. The Worst Thing That Can Happen Early morning in Daniel’s nursery, Jack wakes Daniel up. Daniel fusses, Jack replies with "Good morning." Out in the kitchen, Jack puts Daniel in a swing seat while Nuggets meows and rubs at his ankles. Jack, “Hold on, hold on.” He takes a bottle out of the fridge, sets it in the bottle warmer, and presses the start button. Nuggets jumps on the counter and meows at her dish. Jack gets a can of cat food out of the cabinet and cracks it open. Nuggets chows down. Daniel fusses, and Jack goes over and picks him up, “Breakfast is almost ready.” Daniel continues to fuss. Jack, softly, “I know, I know. Sucks when you can’t talk. I been there. Can’t talk, can’t walk. Can’t even hold your head up.” He gently kisses Daniel’s forehead. David enters, still groggy Captain following at his heels. David, “Morning.” Jack, “Morning.” David, “You okay?” Jack, “Yeah, just feeding Daniel.” David gets the box of dog show out from under the cabinet and feeds Captain. The bottle warmer timer goes off. Jack gets the bottle out. He goes and sits down out in the living room and feeds Daniel. David sticks his head out, “Hey, you want eggs?” Jack, “Yeah, sounds good.” David pauses for a moment to appreciate the scene: his family, the two people he loves the most in the world. He goes over and sits on the arm of the sofa beside Jack. He puts his arm on Jack’s shoulder, and Jack smiles lovingly up at him.

In their bedroom, David and Jack get ready for an event. The TV is on. A news anchor reads, “The fallout continues from King Wayne’s controversial taking of a second wife. Yesterday, the king’s cabinet issued a unanimously-signed statement condemning the marriage as un-Biblical. Today, Princess Grace released a statement claiming that Queen Mercy was coerced into the marriage with the threat of war between Ammon and Gilboa. King Wayne has yet to respond to the allegations…” David, “You ready for this?” Jack, “Yeah. Big deal. I’m excited.” David, “I’m really excited for you. You nervous?” Jack, “Nah. I’ve made speeches.” David, “Yeah, just not since… you know.” Jack, “I’ll be fine.” David, “I know you will.” David stares at the TV. Pictures form Wayne and Mercy's wedding show on the screen Jack, “You okay?” David, “Yeah, I just…” Jack looks at him. David sighs and goes on, “I just feel horrible about what happened with Mercy.” Jack, “It was her decision.” David, “It’s not a decision when the other option is lots of people die! There has to be some kind of way to stop all this from happening… There has to be some kind of deal. Some kind of union that stops us from going to war just because we fucking want to.” Jack, “You serious?” David, “I… yeah.” Jack, “You have to get rid of Wayne. Laura will agree. John, probably. Michael, maybe. Lawrence and Anthony… I dunno. Wayne will fight.” David sighs, “I haven’t even got a plan in place. I have no idea how that sort of thing would even work. Even if I figured it out perfectly, what do I do, call Council, only for Wayne to refuse? I’m being too much of an idealist here.” Jack, “Never stopped you before.” On the TV, “In other royal news, Prince Quentin of Edom was spotted cavorting around the Bahamas with boyfriend, Frankie Hatch…” David turns the TV off.

In Wayne’s council chamber, his cabinet, all older men ho were appointed by Warner, stands up as Wayne enters. Wayne gives them all a quick glance over, and without even sitting down, he says, “You’re all fucking fired.” The councillors all look at each other awkwardly as Wayne sit down. Wayne, “You all signed a declaration condemning my marriage, and I’m not going to tolerate it!” One councillor speaks up, “The king of a Christian nation cannot be a polygamist-” Wayne, “I’m not having this argument again! Unless there’s a new chapter of the Bible explicitly forbidding multiple wives, everything I’m doing is perfectly biblical!” One councilor tries to say something, but Wayne cuts him off, “And don’t bring up the New Covenant, I’ve already heard it! You’re all old men who served my father, and I need young men who are willing to serve me!” Gen. Dale McClintock, Commander General of the Ammonian army, speaks up, “Wayne, firing all of use would be reckless in a way that I know Warner never raised you to be. You have every right to be angry, but don’t go putting the country in at risk because of it.” Wayne rolls his eyes and thinks for a moment, "I still want to replace most of you. If you want to keep your job, you need to prove that you can be more useful to me than someone who's younger and more in-step with my ideals. McClintock, “Can I speak with you alone?”

Wayne and McClintock walk down a palace corridor. McClintock, “I know you admired me when you were a boy. I hope that you still look up to me.” Wayne, somewhat sheepishly, “I do.” McClintock, “I know that deep down you must understand why so many of us are unhappy with your decision.” Wayne, “It’s perfectly biblical!” McClintock, “Yes, I know! The kings of the Bible all had many wives, but it always sowed discord and distress in their families. Life during the times of the Old Testament was short and brutal. Men were called up to serve in the army, and so many of them were killed, it created a gender imbalance, and polygamy was a necessity to care for the extra women. By the time of Christ, society had settled and civilized, and the standard of monogamy was set. The nuclear family with one husband and one wife has lasted through the ages because it is the most stable and harmonious family unit.” Wayne, “I love Hattie and Mercy, and now that I’m married, I’m not going to divorce either of them!” McClintock, “I know that. But what about the rest of us? Is polygamy going to be the standard in Ammon now?” Wayne, “David got to re-define marriage!” McClintock, “But you’re not David!” Wayne, “A husband must provide for his wife. As long as a husband can provide, he should be able to have as many wives as he wants.” McClintock, “So wealthy men start hoarding women, they could have dozens of wives. That creates an imbalance and young men who would otherwise make excellent fathers and husbands are forced to go without. Women get bought like trophies. It de-stabilizes society.” Wayne makes a face and then mutters, “Well, if only the king does it, it can’t be that bad. Besides, I don’t want to marry anyone else. I’m satisfied with my two wives.” McClintock, “Will you still be saying that ten years from now?” Wayne, “I’m not a pervert!”

In a beautiful sun-filled garden, Mercy lays reading in a hammock. She wears a sun dress with spaghetti straps. Hattie, in her typical modest Chanel, bursts out of the door, “Good God, you don’t have to go showing it off!” Mercy lowers her book, “Pardon?” Hattie fumes at her, “We all know why Wayne married you, you don't have to dress like that!” Mercy sits up, “Wayne got me this dress.” Hattie, “Look, I know that I’m just going to have to put up with you now, but you have to understand, I’m still the one he married first! My son is his heir! I’m the queen of Ammon that everyone loves!” Mercy, “I’m not trying to compete with you. I only married Wayne so he wouldn’t go to war with Gilboa.” Hattie, sarcastically, “Oh, you’re so noble!”

Back inside, McClintock and Wayne continue to talk as they go down the corridor. McClintock, “I know you’re eager to prove yourself, but that takes time…” Wayne sees Mercy and Hattie tasing through a door, and stops walking. McClintock stops, “What?” Wayne opens the door and heads out.

Outside, Wayne says, “What is going on here?” Hattie, “I was just having a little talk with Mercy here. That dress is too immodest.” Wayne, “I picked it out for her. As long as she wears it here where no one else can see her, it's fine.” Hattie sneers. Wayne puts his arm around her and kisses her on the cheek, “You know, you and Mercy are sisters now, and I love the both of you dearly. I want you two to love each other like sisters, because my job is already hard enough without having to settle a catfight every day. Right now, I have to go face a room full of old men who are just furious at me for doing what is well within my right as king and perfectly acceptable in the Bible. I don’t want my beautiful wives being angry, too. Now, I have a meeting to go to. You two be good to each other.” Hattie lowers her gaze humbly, "I will." Mercy rolls her eyes and keeps reading. Back in the hallway, McClintock watches it all with disapproval.

Ribbon-cutting at the Prince Seth Benjamin Hospital for Children. David works the rope-line with Jack and Michelle, Daniel in his arms. Daniel has clearly inherited his father's charm and charisma: he smiles and laughs at all the strangers, delighting absolutely everyone who sees him. Helen chats happily with the hospital’s chief of surgery, Dr. Pooran Singh. Tears fill her eyes as she gazes up at Seth’s name on the hospital. As Jack, Helen, and Michelle prepare to give their speech, Abby leans in to show David something on her phone, “Can you believe this shit?” On the screen: OMGossip: One King, Two Beautiful Love Stories. David looks at it and makes a face, “Hm. I guess Andrew is trying to suck up to Wayne.” Abby, “Son of a bitch. What the fuck is he trying to do?” David, “I thought we agreed no swearing around Daniel.” Abby gives him a filthy look, “Jack and Michelle were raised around Silas. They turned out fine.” David, “Yeah, I know, but I still don’t like it!” Cut to: Jack and Michelle make a speech before the ribbon-cutting. Jack, “There’s no better way to honor our little brother than with this hospital. Here, children with life-threatening illnesses can receive the finest medical care available at no cost.” Michelle, “I know from experience how scary and lonely long hospital stays can be for kids. Here, kids will be cared for in a warm and friendly environment. Families will be given free nearby housing while their child receives treatment.” Jack, “On top of all this, The Prince Seth Hospital will be home to cutting-edge research-” He’s cut off by the sound of a gun firing. Immediately, everything erupts into chaos. Security guys dive. David turns around to protect Daniel, who starts crying. A couple more gun shots, a security guy falls, shot in the stomach. Everyone gets herded inside. At the entrance of the hospital is a large portrait of Seth, smiling innocently. Michelle tends to the wounded security guy, fully back in medic mode. David tries to soothe Daniel as they both get checked for injuries. Abby comes rushing up, “Daniel! Daniel!” She reaches him and takes him from David’s arms, “Shh, shh, mommy’s here, I’m right here, shhh, it’s okay.” David looks over at Jack, also being checked for injuries. Jack looks back at him, “You okay?” David, “Yeah.” When they’re done being checked, they embrace in a tight hug. Jack goes over to where Abby is trying to console Daniel, “Is he okay?” Abby, “Yeah, just scared.” Jack strokes Daniel’s hair and tries to soothe him. Aside, Helen cries into Dr. Singh’s arms, “Today was for Seth…”

Back in the residence, David and Joel sit and watch Liam make a speech on TV, “King David and all members of the royal family are safe and back at the palace. The only injury was that of a security agent, who was shot in the abdomen and is in surgery now. In the background, Jessie serves Helen and Michelle tea. Through a slightly open door, Jack yells into his cell phone, “The hospital has to open tomorrow!” a beat, “Kids! Sick kids! N-need treatment now!” Abby enters from her half of the residence, where she and Michelle live. Michelle looks up at her, “How is he?” Abby, “Fine. I think all the crying wore him out. He’s asleep.” She sits down next to Joel, and asks uneasily, “Is there anything I should know?” Joel shrugs, “Still no idea who did it. We’re looking through security cameras, social media posts, everything we can, but that takes time. Abby, “I mean, is it someone foreign? Is this something the ministry of state is going to have to deal with? I wouldn’t put this sort of thing past Wayne.” Joel, “We don’t know anything yet. Be prepared.” David, “It could also just be some crazy acting on his own.” Joel, “Or the beginning of something we haven’t even thought of yet.”

Mercy sits in her new room, painting her toenails and talking on the phone. She wears a comfortable tank top and boxer shorts as pajamas. The self-harm scars on her thighs and shoulders that she usually keeps covered with clothes and makeup are visible. Mercy, “I’m actually doing okay, all things considered. I’m living in a palace, so things could be a lot worse. Tomorrow I’m gonna try asking about finding some charities to work with. How are you holding up?” She listens. The door opens and Wayne appears on the other side. Mercy glances back at him. Wayne, “Are you finished?” Mercy talks into the phone, “Uno momento. Él está aquí.” She puts the phone down and turns to Wayne, “I’m talking to Gabriel. You told me I’d be allowed to talk to my family.” Wayne, “Why aren’t you wearing one of the nightgowns I got you?” Mercy smiles coyly, “They aren’t the most comfortable things in the world.” She gets up and goes over to him. She touches his arm and leans in close, smiling flirtily, “Besides, you’re with Hattie tonight. I prefer to save being beautiful for when I’m with you.” She kisses his cheek and goes back to the phone, “Sorry, what were you saying?” Wayne stays where he is, staring at Mercy. She laughs at something over the phone.

Dressed in a sexy retro-style nightgown, Hattie is waiting for Wayne when he enters the bedroom, looking tired. She sits up straight as he gets into bed. Hattie, “You know, I missed you terribly last week." She cuddles up to him. Wayne grabs a remote off of his side table and turns a TV on. Wayne, "I've had a good day today. David got shot at.” The news shows images of the shooting. Hattie lets out a low, happy, “Mmmm,” and rubs Wayne’s chest. Slowly, she lowers her hand towards the waist band of his boxers. Wayne, "What are you doing?!" Hattie, "I haven’t seen you in a week! I missed you!” Wayne, “Give me a chance to rest!” Hattie pulls away and settles into her place, apart from Wayne. After a moment, she says, “Do I still mean anything to you?" Wayne looks at her, “What?” Hattie, “I can't compete with her, so I’m not going to.” She gets out of the bed. Wayne, “Where are you going?” Hattie, “I’m going back to my room! I have no business being here!" Wayne, “You’re still my wife!” Hattie turns around, “You have another wife. I’ll be your queen. I’ll keep going out in public and putting a pretty face on this monarchy. I’ll raise your son to be your heir. But I can't be your wife if you’re in love with her." Wayne, "Hattie, don't embarrass yourself.” Hattie, brimming with anger, “You know nothing about humiliation!” She turns around and storms out of the room. Wayne sits there, stunned. He looks around awkwardly for a few moments, and then realizes he's alone, “Fuck.”

Hattie stumbles out into a hallway, sobbing and wiping at her eyes. She runs into a wall with a loud THUMP, and then sinks to her knees, sobbing loudly. A door opens, and Mae steps out, wearing a dressing gown, “Oh, what's wrong, dear?” Hattie sits up, wipes her eyes, and tries to re-gain some dignity. Mae kneels to sit down beside her. Hattie, “When I married Wayne, I thought I was living this fairy tale. There aren’t any fairy tales where the king marries a second wife.” Mae reaches out and puts a hand on Hattie’s arm, “This is just what being a woman is- pain and hardship. We bleed once a month and go through the pain of childbirth, but we bear it, because it’s what God wants from us.” Hattie, “I still don’t understand why God would want this! She- she didn’t even want to marry him! I know you know that this isn’t what God wants!” Mae, “God put men in charge, and it’s not up to us to question that. There were so many nights that I doubted Warner’s decision to fight King Allen. There were so many nights when I was so angry at him for drawing me and the kids into the war, but I held on, and prayed. Look at how gloriously God has rewarded us. You’re still Wayne’s wife. You have to find a way to love him through the pain.” Hattie, “How am I supposed to love him when he’s in love with someone else?” Mae, “You have to find contentment. Choose to be happy. You still have many blessings in your life. Think of Ryder and McKeighlynn.” Hattie, “He’s gonna have children with her. What’s gonna happen when she delivers a son? Is Ryder still gonna be the heir?” Mae, “That’s between Wayne and God, darlin’.” Hattie shakes her head, “So I’m completely useless. What do I do now?” Mae, “Dry your eyes, and go back in to sleep in the bed you share with your husband.” Hattie gives her a look, wrestling in her mind with what to do. Finally, she says, “Fine.” and gets up. She goes back over to the bedroom door, and opens it. In the bedroom, Wayne has called Mercy to join him. He has his arm around her shoulders, and she’s cuddled up to him. They both look up at Hattie, surprised. Mercy awkwardly scoots away from Wayne. Wayne, “You’re free to join us. Plenty of room.” He pats the empty space beside him. Hattie stares, all the voices in her head telling her to leave. She sucks up all her pride and gets into the bed. Wayne grins, “See? This ain’t so bad.” Mercy looks away. Hattie cuddles up at Wayne. He tries to pull Mercy in. Mercy glances over awkwardly at Hattie, and the two make eye contact. For a moment Hattie appreciates the irony of the situation: Mercy doesn't even love Wayne.

In David and Jack's dining room, David cleans up after dinner. Michelle and Abby are there. Daniel fusses in his swing. Abby goes over to him, "I think he's ready for bed." David, "I'll get him. You and Michelle go relax.” Abby, "You sure?” David, “Yeah, I don’t mind.” Abby picks Daniel up. Michelle goes over and kisses the top of Daniel's head, “Good night, puppy.” Cut to, David in the nursery. He gently places Daniel in his crib, “Night, Daniel." He pauses and gazes at him for a moment. Daniel peacefully settles into sleep. David gently strokes Daniel's hair.

In their bedroom, David passionately fucks Jack from behind, both of them on their knees. He’s much more forceful and dominant than usual, and Jack is loving it. He moans with helpless pleasure as David kisses and bites at his neck. David pushes him down onto his hands and knees. For a very brief moment, Jack glances back, surprised by the roughness, but then goes back to enjoying the ride. David brings Jack to climax, and then climaxes himself. They both collapse onto their pillows. Jack happily rolls onto his back, “That was…. intense…” he smiles over at David, “But I liked it.” David, “Yeah. Good.” He shifts and rolls onto his back. Jack knits his eyebrows in slight concern, “You okay?” David, “It's been a long day." He reaches out an arm and pulls Jack in closer. Jack cuddles up to him. Gently he caresses David's cheek, and then murmurs, "You sure you're okay?" David doesn't say anything. Finally, after a long moment, he says, "I thought we were past the point of getting shot at." Jack, “Seven. I was seven, first time I got shot at." David, “I don't want that. That's not the sort of life I want for Daniel." Jack, "Crazies, they happen. It- we have security." David, "Do you really think it was just some crazy?" Jack, "Could be.” They lay in silence for a long moment. David sniffs loudly, his emotion starting to get to him. He wipes at his eyes, “Shit! I’m sorry.” Jack rolls off of David’s shoulder, and then brings David in closer to him. David buries his face into Jack’s shoulder and cries.

David talks to Dr. Othman, “It used to be, I knew what the worst thing that could happen was. Something happens to Jack. It used to be that the worst thing that could happen would be Jack dies, and if that happened, I’d kill myself. It was sort of comforting- I’ve been there, faced it. It can’t possibly get any worse than that, and if it does- that’s it. I don’t have to care about anything else. That’s what’s kept me sane through this whole thing. But now…. I have Daniel. I have to be his dad. I think about him losing me like I lost my dad, and… now that’s the worst thing that can happen. It’s thrown everything out of balance and I don’t really know how to cope with it.” Dr. Othman smiles gently, “I know the feeling. When people told me that being a father would change everything, I believed them, I just wasn’t prepared for what everything meant.” David, “So how am I supposed to live with it?” Othman, “By living, first of all. You’re still new at being a father. It's supposed to be scary and overwhelming. That’s how you find what works and what doesn't. You can't walk a tight rope on your first try. You have to practice before you can go fifty feet in the air with no net.”

In the council chamber, everyone is seated. Joel talks to David, “The MI is following some leads but there’s no confirmations yet.  David talks to everyone, “It’s time to get serious with the North American Union thing. I want to see drafts of what the charter could look like.” Abby starts to say something but David cuts her off, “I know it seems impossible, but we’ve done the impossible before. I want to know what possible paths we can take to getting everyone to agree to it.” Abby, “I don’t know what you’re expecting, David.” David, “We have to at least try.” He looks around the table, “What else have I got going on today?” Monique speaks up, “You’re meeting with the documentary director at 1. Her name’s Annie Lin, and she’s good, and you are not cancelling this meeting. I’ve been trying to get it set up for weeks.” David, “Am I doing all that interview stuff today?” Monique, “We’re getting that all set up. You won’t have to answer any questions today, but be thinking about what you’re going to say.” David, “Yeah, okay, whatever.” Monique looks around at everyone, “You should all be thinking about what you want to say. Nows the time to get your shit together and your stories straight.”

At the OMGossip offices, Andrew is in a meeting with his editors & publishers, “What do you mean there’s no pictures of the shooter yet? It was a big fucking crowd and everyone had cameras!” An editor, “It’s possible that the Ministry of Investigation has blocked any social media posts, but it’s more likely that the shooter was trying to blend in.” Andrew, “How do you blend in with a fucking gun?!” A publisher, “We need to be careful. If we prematurely identify the wrong person as the shooter, it can have very serious consequences.” Andrew rolls his eyes, “Ugh!” Publisher, “We could get sued. It’s best to wait until there’s an official announcement from the MI.” Andrew, “Fine!” A secretary enters, “Mr. Cross? There’s a phone call for you.” Andrew, “I’m busy!” Secretary, “It’s from King Wayne.”

In his office, Andrew answers the phone, “Hello, your majesty!” Wayne, “I saw your article the other day, and I know what you’re doing.” Andrew, “Doing?” Wayne, “I know you want some kind of job off of me, since David won’t give you one.” Andrew, “I’m just interested in telling the truth.” Wayne, “I need a new press secretary. You’re already good at making David look bad, and that’s half the job.” Andrew, “I’d be absolutely honored.” Wayne, “Don’t think this is going to lead to anything bigger. I already have plenty of faithful Ammonians in the weapons industry here, and I’m not putting someone I don’t trust in that kind of position.” Andrew, “You can absolutely trust me, your majesty.” Wayne, “Prove it.”

David sits in a meeting room with Monique and Annie Lin, the director of the documentary. David, “If Monique says you're good, then I fully believe that you're good. I agree with her, I think this is something that needs to happen, and I trust you to make sure that the end product is going to be good." Annie, “I‘m not interested in making a piece of propaganda for you. I was in Shiloh during most of the war, when the Amalekites were active. That’s the story that needs to be defined. You just happen to be a character in it." David, “Hey, I get that! Frankly, I’m happy to just be a small part of it. Honestly, I- I don't like digging around in the past that much." Annie, "That's good for me to hear. Frankly, I'd planned to do a documentary whether you cooperated or not. I’ve already done a number of interviews." David, "Oh, really? With who?" Annie, “Former officials, AFG veterans. Minor players with interesting stories.” David, “Anyone I know?” Annie, “Adam Solano.” David, genuinely surprised, “Huh, really? I- I haven’t heard form him since he left the palace. What did he say?” Annie, “I’m not revealing that unless I’m under oath. Like I said, I’m trying to tell as much of the truth as I can.” David, “Okay. Guess I’ll have to wait for the documentary to come out, then.”

At the palace day care, Daniel plays with a teacher and some other babies. David talks to another teacher, “Is it okay if I pick him up for the afternoon?” Teacher, “Of course it is, you’re the king!” David, “Great!” He goes over and picks Daniel up. Up in the residence, David plays with Daniel, lying on the floor. Daniel reaches for a toy that David holds, but grabs David’s tie instead, and pulls on it. David laughs, and Daniel’s face lights up with a smile. The door opens, and Jack walks in, “David!” David sits up, “Yeah, what?” Jack, “You turned your phone off!” David, “After yesterday, I just need some time with Daniel, okay?” Jack, “They ID’d the shooter.” David looks up at him, “Who?” Jack hesitates to answer.

In David’s office, Joel and some security officials show David an image on a computer. Joel, “This is the best image we got of the shooter. Can’t see his face, but there’s a clear shot of what he’s wearing. Using the other security cameras in the city, we were able to trace his route to a car parked several blocks away. The tags were all stolen, it looks like he managed to get out of the city. We’re still looking for him.” David, “So who is the guy?” Joel, “Before he got into the car, a camera caught one clear image of his face. It can’t be 100% percent confirmed yet, but I think you’ll be able to identify who it is.” The image on the computer screen changes. David stares at it for a moment, and then says, “Adam?” Joel, “Yeah.”

[lagroupie]

Interview: Consensus

Consensus at L’Ecurie in Geneva with Dr Koul, through my good old Canon.

Two years after his last visit in Switzerland - opening for Mos Def aka Yasiin Bey at Les Docks with C.O.T.I. - I met Consensus again, in Geneva this time. Back when I met him, he had released an album called ConCERNed, in which he rapped about CERN’s research about particle physics! Since then, he has released many new records. During this interview, we catch up before his show at l’Ecurie. Consensus tells me more about his life these past two years, his influences, his latest projects Controversé and SubContext, and touring in the United States and Canada to perform and give talks at universities.

Consensus’ show was so much fun, full of good vibes. The concert ended in an epic freestyle where Consensus was joined by Imagine, Dr Koul and Hip Hop Taoists.

Many thanks to Consensus, C.O.T.I. and the great staff at l’Ecurie for their kindness!

What is your life like in London?

My life now is crazy! Last year in January I was contracting and working part-time, but I stopped and became full-time music. That allowed me to go and travel. But also, my grandma was sick and I would go look after her every week. It was just very different because this was the only thing that was regular every week, while everything else was constantly changing– sometimes I went away for two weeks or something. I also went to Ethiopia and Colombia. At the beginning of this year, my grandma died so I had to deal with the process and writing a lot. So I was writing with Bikuta, who sent me lots of beats. We’re playing near where he lives tomorrow, so I think he’s going to come to the show. I was also writing for another project, so I released two records: Controversé and SubContext.

Then I was doing all of these shows abroad. So it was very random, there was not a lot of structure. It was a lot of me just creating opportunities and stuff. I don’t really regret quitting my job, because if I didn’t do that, then I wouldn’t have done a tour in America and gone to Canada twice. I enjoyed it! I got paid more, which was good! (laughs) I was giving talks at universities and performing. When you go there as an artist, they make a massive deal- they give you good hotels and all this stuff. This year was quite difficult, but I am good at self-motivating!

Let’s talk about SubContext – the lyrics are very personal compared to what you have done before.

Yes, it was like my personal view on things. Because I always do themes, like I did with educational projects. Before I did the next educational project, I wanted to express myself. So SubContext in particular was very much the things I don’t say, or the undertone. It was focused on mood. Each track is a mood, and it’s quite energetic. I wanted to have a lot of performance tracks as well. I feel like people appreciate them better, the tempo is faster.

I also think that the beats sound really cold, and the cover really matches with the music. You look like a futuristic sci-fi character!

It’s like this character, Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat! He works with ice. That’s also a play on words, SubContext/Sub-Zero. I co-produced this with a producer called Subkinetik. He focuses a lot on drum’n’bass, grime and electronic style. We went back and forth, I would send him tracks and he would edit them, send them back and I would structure them and create the songs. I had a lot of input in the structures of the songs, and I was free to say what I wanted. Sometimes you work with producers and you’re limited – they expect you to do a certain track.

Could you also tell me more about In the End? The lyrics are so fast, and it’s difficult to understand everything for a non-native speaker like me! (laughs)

I think I started with the first or the second verse. I did a collaboration before and that verse never got used, so I just adapted it. I wanted to do a chorus with very fast rapping because you never really hear that anymore. I had the beat for ages, from a few years before, but then Subkinetik added the 808 and made it even better. The chorus is about racism in a way: “You don’t really want it/We’ve got knowledge to the coffin/that’s why we’re covered in black”. It’s like a metaphor, because I am thinking about black skin, but you dress in black at a funeral. You don’t want black people to be smart. It’s a social commentary on the image of black people, “I’m like them in the end, you’re like them in the end.” So it’s a really deep thing, but because it’s really fast, most people don’t need to get what it is to get the feeling! Actually, I want to do a video for this track that’s not only about color. For example, the color of anarchists is black. It’s about anti-establishment, not just about race. If I do the visuals, I’ll probably experiment with the idea of wearing black as well as being black.

I also wanted to talk about Controversé, your project with Bikuta.

It was really important for me to have some kind of French word in the title, because Bikuta speaks French! This project has more to do with the lyrics. The beats are slower, so you can take your time. Again, I am saying controversial things. The first song for example, Average Guy. “The will of the average guy kills” is a profound statement. If you don’t strive for more, that can end up killing you. In the verse, I talk about this metaphor of the slow-boiling frog- if you put the frog in the pot and then turn up the water, it will boil slowly, but if you put it in the bowl when it’s already hot, it will jump out. It’s quite edgy, some people might disagree.

Yeah- I mean, there’s nothing wrong with having a 9-5 job that doesn’t really excite you and pays well, but if you can you should find what makes you truly happy.

Exactly! In the last verse, I say that I’ll just keep going until I am happy – until I have done all I wanted to do.

I also really like the song Feel No Way. Could you tell me more about it?

I did a song called Human Race in 2015, and people really liked it. It has a similar feel, it’s about feeling good. I often write very energetic songs about fighting the system. But this time I thought, “I want to do another song that makes you feel good”. I am making the same social commentary, but I am basically saying “it’s okay to feel like that”. Because ultimately, you can move past it. The song is quite open and understandable.

I also like how open you are regarding production – you can rap over very different styles.

I started as a Grime MC, it was only when I was older that I began to rap over hip-hop. I have always been listening to hip-hop though. It’s crazy, but hip-hop was my inspiration for my grime. I would listen to conscious rappers, I was like a conscious grime artist! When I changed to the name ConSensus is when I decided to rap more than do grime stuff. It’s very easy to get into beef in the grime scene, fighting with people. That kind of stuff can happen, I experienced it. I thought “I just want to do music, I want to be an artist”. So I didn’t limit myself to grime. I’d love to do some live music stuff as well, but the organization of bands is a nightmare (laughs). I really respect these guys like C.O.T.I. and people who have instruments and shit, because the more people you deal with, the more ego you have to deal with. My experience of working with other artists is not too bad, but generally the best things I’ve had happening is when the producer has been as enthusiastic as me.

Consensus with Dr Koul and Imagine from C.O.T.I. after the show.

What can we expect from Consensus in the future?

I think I’m gonna do a track with Dr Koul soon. I am also looking to try and get funding for my next projects, so I have two things: one is a project about law and human rights, and it will be with jazz artists, some reggae singers and stuff. I will basically study law, put it into lyrics and make it consumable for school. The second one will be a sequel to the ConCERNed album, so I think I am going to do a project on the origins of the universe. When I went to tour in America, I visited the Kennedy Space Center. I met scientists who are interested in working and collaborating together, and the scientists at CERN at interested in collaborating again. In the meantime, I will just be releasing singles.

https://consensus.avr-music.com/

#ConSensus #Bikuta #worldwideconnects

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 260: GOD IS A WOMAN

Previously on BnHA: Virtually all of the known pro heroes in existence split into two big groups (each with its own weenie hut junior subgroup) to launch a massive surprise attack on the League of Pliff. Endeavor’s group, in Jakku, stormed the hospital where Ujiko works, which amazingly seemed to catch him completely off guard, so I guess we’ll see how that goes. Meanwhile off in the woods somewhere, Midnight’s group (ostensibly this is Edgeshot’s group, but I call it like I see it guys) prepared to attack the villains’ main HQ at the Overlook Hotel, while my infant son Kaminari Denki complained too loudly about being stuck on the front lines. Meanwhile the rest of 1-A (sans Tokoyami) is either tucked away safe in the woods, or perched just outside of Jakku ready to begin the citizen evacuation. I suggest that everyone enjoy this brief period where the good guys appear to be safe and victorious while it lasts.

Today on BnHA: MIRUKO!!! Okay lol. A lot happens in this chapter. Aizawa uses his quirk on Ujiko, who immediately starts melting away into a crispy-fried old man because apparently this motherfucker had the immortality quirk all along. And then Mic and Aizawa yell at him, and the other doctors are all “pardon us but what the fuck” and the heroes are all “NO TIME TO TALK, HE’S EVIL” and then we find out that Ujiko is a fucking Twice clone, so that’s just great. And the real Ujiko is of course down in the basement, along with LORD EVEN KNOWS HOW MANY HIGH END NOUMUS, and for a moment it honest to god looks like we’re screwed. But then MIRUKO, YOUR NEW FAVORITE CHARACTER, KICKS DOWN ALL THE FREAKING DOORS AND FLATTENS POOR JOHN-KUN AND IS ALL “BOOM, YOU LOOKING FOR THIS?”, and let me tell you guys, FOR A MOMENT I SAW TRUTH. Anyway so next chapter she’s probably going to have to fight zombie Jeanist or something, but for now? Life is good. REMEMBER THIS DAY.

so just like last week, before I get started I’m gonna do a quick follow-up on chapter 259. really, Viz’s version wasn’t all that different from the fan scanlation this time around, so this will mostly just be reactions to things I didn’t notice and that other people pointed out

first off, a couple people mentioned that the thing Mic is holding up appears to be some kind of throat spray. which seems to track, so I’ll just say again that I have a very morbid curiosity about whether or not Mic could actually kill someone with his quirk. and this curiosity has only intensified since my google search

so yeah. will we ever get to see something like this?? STAY TUNED

also, I got a couple of conflicting answers about Naomasa’s quirk. someone said his quirk was lie-detecting, but another person said that’s actually his sister’s (LOL I HAD NO IDEA THERE WAS A NAOSIS, I REALLY SHOULD JUST READ VIGILANTES) quirk. and I never actually followed up on that lol sooooo. let me just do that real quick

okay so he doesn’t have a quirk listed on the wiki, but it says that his codename (??) is “True Man.” so that does seem to imply that his quirk is similar if not identical to his sister’s quirk, which is indeed a truth quirk (Polygraph). although the “she can’t detect a lie if the person is relaxed” seems to call this ability into doubt a bit. still pretty powerful though I guess

moving on now, last but not least let’s discuss the most relevant and controversial thing that happened this past week. (incidentally, I added an ETA about this to the previous chapter recap a couple hours after I first posted it, so in case you don’t what the asks below are referring to, it’s that.)

so... I have mixed feelings about this. thing is, after reading up on it, it seems like the fans who were most upset were those from China, Korea, etc., which is actually completely understandable given the historical context. Japan doesn’t exactly have a great track record with being sensitive about all of the horrific shit their military got up to during WWII, so while I still believe that Horikoshi wasn’t intending to be disrespectful, I can understand them not being inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt

that being said, I keep thinking about this tweet by aitaikimochi:

and despite what Horikoshi said in his apology tweets (about how he didn’t intend for the name to be associated with that particular historical connection), I still can’t help but think that he absolutely did intend to reference Unit 731, with the intent of (a) linking it to this vile, disgusting piece of shit character as a commentary, and (b) perhaps subtly pushing some of his Japanese readers who have never heard about this particular part of history to learn more about it. like, I know he offered up some dubious explanation about it being a reference to Ujiko’s rotund nature, but that seems really iffy to me tbh. that’s one hell of a coincidence if that’s really the case. idk

and you know what else -- and here’s where I’m really whipping out the conspiracy goggles -- I also can’t help but suspect that the decision to go back and change the name in the volume release is coming more from Shueisha (who I half-suspect weren’t themselves aware of the “maruta” name association until this blew up) than from him. because unfortunately this seems to be the standard Japanese PR response any time this subject comes up -- offer a vague statement of regret, and immediately proceed to wipe any mention of the subject from existence. because god forbid people actually talk about this or acknowledge that it happened

and so ultimately, while I do empathize with those who were upset by the name, I think it’s unfortunate that this is just getting swept back under the rug so quickly and will no doubt be forgotten about within a couple of months, because my gut feeling is that Shueisha was ultimately more concerned about what their Japanese readership might think about the controversy than what the Chinese and Korean fans thought. I could be wrong about that, and maybe also giving Horikoshi too much benefit of the doubt, but meh :/

anyway! so now that we’ve gotten that topic out of the way, let’s see how many pages it will take before the heroes finally realize just how much of an “oh fuck” situation they’ve gotten themselves into!

so the cover page is Hawks and Endeavor, but more importantly (to me), it establishes that this is indeed a hotel/resort and not a mansion, as the readheroaca team randomly translated it as last week. like does that look like any mansion you’ve ever seen. come on now

anyway so now my question is what happens if someone actually tries to stay at this hotel. do they just book that shit on trivago and enjoy a week up in the mountains surrounded by very strange but seemingly nice people, and just never suspect a thing? like, Gigantomachia lives in the basement here. I’m just saying. how dense can these hypothetical travelers be

also the hotel is apparently 80km from the hospital, or about 50 miles for us troglodytes who still use the imperial system. so pretty safe to say neither team will be able to provide backup to the other in this case. I will try not to think about this

so now Ujiko, the man without a name, is screaming while Endeavor and his group just STAND THERE LIKE TWENTY FEET AWAY. what the fuck

I swear to god he looked so much closer in the previous chapter. WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING. HE’S GOT NOUMUS IN THE BASEMENT!! CAN YOU FUCKING ARREST HIS ASS ALREADY

YESSSS AIZAWA

what are the odds that the next panel features Aizawa Shouta looking more pissed off than we’ve ever seen him. oh my god. it’s probably going to be hot af. I’m not sure I’m ready

booooooo

that is more or less the opposite of hot af. Horikoshi why you gotta do me like that

well well WELL!

you mean to say Mr. Innocent Quirkless Philanthropist isn’t actually quirkless?? even though he wasn’t actually innocent?? and he wasn’t actually a philanthropist either?? well I am just SHOCKED. who saw this coming. how could this happen

also for real this is creeping me the fuck out though

it does make sense though. I just can’t picture AFO entrusting so much of his operation to this dude if he actually was quirkless. because he’d view someone without a quirk as being lesser/inferior. so Ujiko almost had to have something up his sleeve. although it’s possible he could have been granted a quirk, rather than being born with one I suppose

!!!!

DO NOT TELL ME THIS MOTHERFUCKER HAS THE FUCKING IMMORTALITY QUIRK. WHAT THE FUCK. IS HE JUST GOING TO SHRIVEL UP INTO NOTHING. NO FUCKING WAY HE GOES DOWN THAT EASY WHAT THE HELL

(ETA: and does this mean that if Aizawa ever visits AFO and uses his quirk on him, AFO will also instantly age like 200 fucking years? could that actually kill him?)

duuuuude. Nao’s speculating about whether the Noumus’ regeneration ability actually stems from this quirk. ...but that can’t be the case, can it? otherwise AFO would have been able to heal his injuries from the battle with All Might. we know for a fact he’s known Ujiko for at least 15 years. but still, either way it’s still one hell of a powerful quirk

which now seems to be unraveling before our very eyes. uh...

anyone else getting Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade vibes? “he chose... poorly”

oh MY GOD!!

do it Mic do it do it do it

oh my god. well he’s not killing him with his voice, but instead this is happening

nooo Mic. I need you to be less anguished and more murdery. I don’t want feels yet!! goddammit

I mean it’s not asking for too much, is it? I just want a teensy little bit of satisfaction before the shit hits the fan. just torture him a little bit. just a little!

oh hey some doctors are intervening because the heroes look like psychopaths right now

s2g if one of these fuckers gets in between Ujiko and Aizawa’s line of sight and he fucking gets away -- !! oh my god. I can’t fucking take this. ffdffjjjk I’m so anxious you guys, I could never be a hero the stress is too much

so instead of explaining it to these rightfully concerned people, the heroes are just pushing them aside and telling them to stand back. and like, on the one hand I get it. they’re on the clock, they have to eliminate John-kun before the hotel villains get wind of the attack, and they don’t have time to explain an entire series’s worth of backstory to everyone who asks about it. but on the other hand, I also just want them to shout “HE EXPERIMENTED ON CHILDREN AND CORPSES AND CREATED THE NOUMUS!” or something. just so they know. I need them to know goddammit

but at least the patients seem to all be pretty chill about it lmao

-- holy shit. okay, three things

that panel with them moving the beds is my favorite

the panel with Tora holding this one guy who’s suddenly IN LOVE is also my favorite. oh man. Tora you are the manliest

combat with the WHAT DID YOU SAY NOW

so they knew?? well that sure fucking explains why Endeavor made the executive decision to keep his son and the other kids as far away as possible. but also, what? so like they must not realize that there are more high ends, then. right? or else they surely would not be so casual about this

holy shit?!

just how thorough was this investigation?? I really need to stop underestimating the heroes huh. should have learned my lesson after Kamino. these guys do their homework. it’s just that there’s always some one last thing that they failed to account for

so what is it going to be then in this case? Tomura is the one controlling them now? shitttttt

oh god. yeah, Miruko’s just casually kicking down the mortuary door and she’s all “we know who’s controlling them!” so I assume they believe that it’s Ujiko. which is honestly what I myself assumed up until about ten seconds ago, so fair enough

SDKFJLSKHGLK THERE IT IS

hot. a. f. just like I said. excuse me sir but there are laws against smoking in a hospital. because you’re smoking. get it. ...it’s because you’re hot. ...yes sir I’m sorry sir I will stop now

so Ujiko is sobbing and screaming “let me go!!” and okay but where is Present Mic? do you see, Mic. this is what I wanted, okay. but it’s all right, I understand that you were upset

ohhhhhhhhhh ffffuuuu

Endeavor with a worried look and lots of dots followed by an exclamation point, and then a closeup of Ujiko’s mouth looking surprisingly sinister as he reiterates for them to let him go. I’M SURE THIS IS ALL FINE. WE’RE ALL FINE. THAT’S OKAY HORIKOSHI, YOU CAN END THE CHAPTER HERE, IT’S GOOD. WE GOT LIKE WHAT, EIGHT PAGES? THAT’S PLENTY, REALLY

FUFFFFFFF NO MIRUKO DON’T GO FLYING INTO THE VOID! THE VOID IS BAD

HOLY SHIT

jesus christ. Miruko does the exact same thing as Katsuki where she sees a wall and she’s all “FUCK YEAH.” goddamn. it honest to god gave me a boost of confidence even as I watched her announce that THE NOUMU ARE DOING THE EXACT FUCKING THING SHE JUST SAID THAT THEY WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO DO

and also that is 100% a black Noumu there on the right side. so confirmed, the big guns are here too

HOLY SHIT TIMES TWO

THIS FUCKING HOSPITAL REALLY HAD THE FUCKING ASTEROID WORM FROM EMPIRE STRIKES BACK IN THE FREAKING BASEMENT, AND YOU ALL COULDN’T FUCKING DETECT THAT?? GET BETTER DETECTING TECHNOLOGY YOU DUMB HEROES

but nice save, Aizawa!! I personally would not have had such quick reflexes upon being confronted by a giant monster lunging out of the floor to stick out its multipronged DRILL TONGUE WHICH IS ALSO ITS BRAIN, haha. can someone please check on Horikoshi to make sure he is doing all right. I have some concerns about the mind that drew this

holy shit the drill tongue Noumu is actually drilling into Ujiko. like there’s blood and stuff

-- SHIT

THIS IS WHY YOU HAVE THE DAMN GOGGLES YOU ASSHOLE!! “BUT MAKESTE YOU WERE THE ONE WHO WANTED ME TO TAKE THEM OFF SO THAT I COULD LOOK HOT.” WELL JUST LOOK AT HOW WELL THAT TURNED OUT! THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER LISTEN TO ME

(ETA: well it turned out not to matter BUT STILL.)

lmao Endeavor looks so fucking mad

“THIS IS WHY YOU HAVE THE DAMN GOGGLES YOU ASSHOLE.” I know, right?!

...aaaaaand this is happening

lol. good job @blessedgirthma​ you called it. it’s a clone! hahaha, fuck

and so the bad man lives to see another day. bets on who will eventually be the one to take him out? just remember how long that list is. lots of enemies, Ujiko. you’ll get yours

but right now I guess we have some other things to worry about

by the way we best pray to god that it was Twice who made that clone and not Ujiko himself, because if Ujiko has managed to replicate that ability on top of everything else, we can truly kiss the world goodbye

but anyway! so that’s Noumu!Tomura confirmed then, in my book. and there are the 11! does this mean they’re not at the hospital?? all I know is they had better not be out on the outskirts of the city where my babies are

also is Ujiko talking to himself here. it almost seems like his words are coming out of the clone’s mouth. but Twice doesn’t have that kind of clone puppeteering ability. so then who is this guy bragging to. -- oh my god can he see us

lmao he’s plopping into his science chair and zooming halfway across the room

don’t misunderstand me though, one panel of being super relatable does not make up for a lifetime of horrific and nauseating crimes

-- THERE ARE MORE VATS!!! HOLY SHIT

THERE ARE MORE VATS. THERE ARE MORE VATS

there is at least one more row than I recall seeing in that previous chapter way back when. so even more high ends. in addition to the 12 (11 considering Endeavor subsequently fried one) we previously saw

and also I just realized, he did say “this” hospital. meaning he is still in the basement? so these guys are still right under their noses, then? oh god oh god so much to process and all of it is terrible god

GAAAAAAASPPP

MILADY!!!!!

holy shit. you guys. what the fuck. the hell was All Might thinking going to U.A. to pick a student successor when Miruko was right fucking there. like I’m just saying??

and also, fuck me he is getting away

OH MY GOD

SHE FUCKING MURDERED POOR JOHN-KUN JUST LIKE THAT WHAAAAAT. YOU GUYS I CAN’T BELIEVE MIRUKO IS THE NEW MAIN CHARACTER OF BNHA, TIMES ARE WILD

lmao and that’s the end of the chapter. holy shit. all I need is for her to say “I am here!” and I’m set. I leave it in your capable hands. why was she not in charge to begin with. number five hero my ass!! smdh for real though guys lol

#bnha 260 #ujiko daruma #aizawa shouta #present mic #miruko #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #makeste reads bnha #there had better not be any more controversy this week because I am tired of it lol #I just want to enjoy this chapter #those last few pages brought me so much joy #who cares if there are 18 noumus #or 25 or 50 or who even knows how many #it doesn't even matter #miruko will just kick them all #imagine if she'd been the one to teach deku shoot style #he'd be unstoppable #just try and make a comeback afo! #BAM!! KICKED IN THE FACE!! #BAH GOD

[nothingman]

Recently, Profound Lore Records announced a new 12-inch EP from Disma, an American death metal band that’s existed for well over a decade. The band’s frontman Craig Pillard is considered a pioneer of the genre due to his work in Incantation, one of the early innovators in New York City’s death metal scene. He is also considered a fucking Nazi.

Sturmführer’s Ich Kämpfe album cover

Outside of Pillard’s main gig, he has a solo project called Sturmführer, a name derived from the paramilitary rank within the Nazi army that best translates to “assault leader.” Under the Sturmführer name, Pillard has released records that feature swastikas in the artwork and are put out on labels like Satanic Skinhead Propaganda—an imprint that, before closing in 2013, handled records by other metal bands that traffic in overt racism. But by becoming part of the Profound Lore fold, Pillard is no longer just on the cultural fringes. And his involvement there says something striking about modern metal’s ongoing Nazi problem.

Profound Lore, along with labels like Southern Lord, specializes in some of the most progressive, interesting metal being made today. Glance over its discography and you’ll find releases that rarely adhere to one sound but often push boundaries—be it Full Of Hell’s abrasive noise-metal, Krallice’s experimental black metal, or even Dälek’s off-kilter hip-hop. Come March, you’ll also find the new album from Pallbearer, a Georgia metal band with potential to be a huge, Mastodon-style crossover act. If so, it could similarly bring more mainstream exposure to Profound Lore, which only makes the label’s seeming lack of an ethical line all the more troubling.

If Disma were an isolated incident, it’d be easy to chalk up its signing as an outlier. But Profound Lore has, time and again, supported artists lacking any moral compass. After Cobalt kicked out its vocalist, Phil McSorley, for making homophobic and sexist statements on the Facebook page of his other band Recluse, it then welcomed Lord Mantis’ Charlie Fell into the band. Unfortunately, Lord Mantis had released the infamous Death Mask, an album featuring controversial cover art (drawn by the similarly provocative Jef Whitehead) that was labeled as transphobic. When confronted about it in interviews, Fell shrugged it off by saying he sees all people as “laughing, eating, smoking, dick sucking, cum loving, piss-in-the-mouth monkeys.” It seemed Cobalt had merely swapped one ill for another.

Deathkey’s Hammer Of Aryan Terror album cover

But metal’s ongoing problem with bigotry extends well beyond Profound Lore and its roster. Black metal pioneers Mayhem spent this past winter touring with Inquisition, a critical darling who’s also been lumped in with the white power movement. Most of those accusations stem from frontman Jason “Dagon” Weirbach, whose side project, 88MM, boasts a name that alludes to the preferred artillery of Germans in World War II—and even more symbolically, evokes the “88” code employed by neo-Nazis, as a stand-in for “Heil Hitler” (“H” being the eighth letter of the alphabet). 88MM also once released a song titled “14 Showerheads, 1 Gas Tight Door” on the Satanic Skinhead compilation Declaration Of Anti-Semetic Terror, and it once released a split with Satanic Skinhead’s founder, “Antichrist Kramer,” who has a well-documented history of association with openly racist and anti-Semitic bands preaching fascism and ethnic cleansing. Put it all together, and you’d make a reasonable case that—at the very least—Weirbach has a real blind spot when it comes to cultural sensitivity. You might also accuse Weirbach of being a fucking Nazi himself.

Plenty of people did just that in 2014, after Decibel ran an interview with Daniel Gallant, a one-time Canadian skinhead who abandoned the movement and has since worked to expose the tactics used by white power groups. Gallant says that, while driving a tour bus for Inquisition, Weirbach and drummer Thomas “Incubus” Stevens both gushed over his swastika tattoo (which he’s since had removed), with Gallant claiming Stevens even talked about his own beliefs in white supremacy. In a separate interview with Decibel, Weirbach denied he had any Nazi associations—“I’m not a Nazi,” he said flatly—though he had a slightly more muddled response when asked how he would describe his reaction to seeing Gallant’s tattoo, as well as to what it represented:

I can honestly tell you that I never flat-out said I thought it was a horrible thing, or that I was against it, but never did I say I was with it and that I believed in it. What I have always told people is I understand it. I understand that when you look at history and what was happening at the time, whenever you put yourself in everybody else’s shoes—and if you’re smart enough, and you have... maybe common sense is not the word, but you have an understanding of why things happen in history and in humanity the way they do, it doesn’t matter how ugly it is to you or how great. It’s simple physics. It’s nature. Things happen. Earthquakes happen. You know? Bad, good—things happen.

Echoing this “hey, shit and Holocausts happen” attitude, Weirbach similarly shrugged off whether he might be attracting Nazi fans with his music (“[If] they like the music we’re doing, then they like it”), as well as any questions about Kramer:

If I knew he was a white supremacist, truly, would I work with him? Well, there’s a fine line, because even though Inquisition is not a white supremacist band, it gets into the area of, well, here’s a friend who may have evolved into something that is not my business, but now is working for the band. So, for the band, of course, I would not have worked with him. We would not have… it would have been very difficult. It would have affected maybe our friendship or something, because people don’t like being judged, even though ironically we’re talking about everybody judging each other.

Amid all this prevaricating, Weirbach said he also believed Kramer couldn’t be a white supremacist because he had a black friend, defended his signing with the German label No Colours because “it was the only reputable label in the underground willing to sign us,” and claimed that his sampling of Hitler speeches in his music was “neutral,” seeing as, come on, he’d also sampled the line “Hitler is dead.” The No Colours affiliation is notable given that it’s often regarded as a National Socialist black metal label (NSBM, for short), having released records by bands like Absurd, the band responsible for the murder of Sandro Beyer, later putting Beyer’s grave on an album cover and seeing member Hendrik Möbus describe Beyer as a “leftist faggot.” All told, despite his saying “I’m not a Nazi,” the interview did little to clear up the lingering question of whether Weirbach and Inquisition are, in fact, Nazis, or whether they merely flirt with Nazism for shock value like so many other assholes on the internet right now (and, in some cases, in the White House). Because you can say you’re not a Nazi all you like, but repeated actions to the contrary are far more indicative of the truth.

Weirbach’s tourmates in Mayhem have a similar history of harboring some disgusting views, though these have long been given a pass because of the band’s legendary status—and also because it is riddled with clearly insane people. Still, its almost cartoonish extremity doesn’t excuse stuff like drummer Jan Axel Blomberg, better known as Hellhammer, saying this in black metal history book Lords Of Chaos: “I’ll put it this way, we don’t like black people here. Black metal is for white people.” Nor does it give him a pass on his championing Emperor drummer, Bård Guldvik Eithun (known as “Faust”), in the documentary Until The Light Takes Us for killing “a fucking faggot.” Then there’s Varg Vikernes, the poster boy for racist metalheads, who played in Mayhem before he murdered its guitarist Euronymous, and a man who has openly propagated Nazi ideology—and has even been convicted of inciting racial hatred against Jews and Muslims.

Marduk’s Frontschwein album cover

While Vikernes is an extreme example, many of these black metal musicians—as well as their fans—tend to adopt Weirbach’s attitude that adopting Nazi imagery is purely an aesthetic choice, one that comes with the sort of implicit air quote that’s become all the more recognizable beyond the music scene. As Stereogum’s Doug Moore pointed out in a recent column, many of these attitudes read like the defenses of 4chan “edgelords,” whose own spreading of gas chamber and “greedy Jew” GIFs are just their way of being provocative—“shit-posting” the world, hoping to trigger a few normies. For some black metal fans, the offensiveness is just as easily dismissed as part of the package, and if you’re triggered by it, that just means it worked. Moore notes that a recent San Francisco show shut down by protests over Swedish black metal band Marduk—a group that’s demonstrated a two-decades-long fascination with Nazism—was just a blip in an otherwise-unimpeded tour in front of fans who, if they’re not embracing that, tend to rationalize it away. For the most part, those within the black metal community seem to shrug that it’s all just inherent to the art.

Granted, it’s already easy to regard black metal as being a purely fringe interest, appealing to just a select few anyway. It’s intense, jarring music that can also be totally goofy, and it doesn’t garner a quarter of the press that bands like Metallica and Mastodon pull. Still, black metal’s Nazi problems just represent the most radical, unabashed expression of a bigotry that bubbles under even crossover acts within the broader genre. Deafheaven guitarist Kerry McCoy used homophobic slurs on Twitter before his band enjoyed crossover success (which was all swept under the rug once the group became favorites of the press). Even Slayer’s Tom Araya recently went after “snowflakes” while offering up some gay slurs (the brief controversy over which hasn’t seemed to affect its booking a tour alongside the politically charged Lamb Of God).

And when metal musicians do get punished for saying and doing deplorable shit, it’s usually comparably light—and quickly forgotten. Pantera’s Phil Anselmo having a festival appearance by his band Down canceled after he yelled “White power!” and threw up a Nazi salute on stage led to a self-flagellating apology video and a Rolling Stone interview where he tried to refute decades worth of racism accusations, but ultimately did little to damage his current career. Disma was only kicked off the Maryland Deathfest and Chaos In Tejas line-ups after other bands threatened to drop out; meanwhile, it’s promised more live dates this year to back up its Profound Lore release. As for Inquisition, it seems posing next to a swastika flag and working with known white supremacists is fine so long as you give an interview where you say you’re just interested in, like, exploring all the world’s political philosophies.

But at a time when fascism and Nazism aren’t just things kids play with for shock value—when they are, hard as it is to believe, actual growing concerns here in America and abroad—metal bands should no longer get a pass on this stuff. Yes, Motorhead’s Lemmy collected Nazi memorabilia and even David Bowie flirted with fascist imagery. Yet neither of them were releasing songs called “Crush The Jewish Prophet,” nor were they commissioning album artwork from known white supremacists. There’s an important difference between extremism for art’s sake and art that actually promotes extremism. Metal’s tight-knit community would only be strengthened by kicking out those members who are hurting what has become such an increasingly progressive form of music with such ugly and regressive views. And wouldn’t it be nice if they could pick up a record about death, violence, and apocalyptic doom without also worrying they’re supporting a bunch of racists?

via A.V. Club

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[trendingnewsb]

5 Stupid Things We Need To Stop Clicking On

We are living through the final gasps of the Information Age. Experts estimate that 62 percent of all information we now receive is deliberately false, and that includes the percentage and experts I made up at the start of this sentence. The sad truth is, most of you will never have the critical thinking or research skills to know what’s real, and that will only make you more sure about the wrong things your stupid ass believes. The good news is that this article isn’t about that shit. The fake news fight is over, and stupid won. No, this article is about the dumb things we all keep falling for — even you, the genius who chose the right political side and religion.

5

Pointlessly Insane Products Are Not That At All

Last year, Tiffany & Co. started selling the Sterling Silver Tin Can, an empty can that costs $1,000. You’ll notice that this is far more than you’d normally pay for soupless garbage. To be clear, this wasn’t some tin can that once held Prince’s final green beans. It’s only a can. As an artistic statement, it was 50 years stale, and as a money-making scheme, it was somewhere between a portable diarrhea box and that same product without a lid. It’s the kind of idea that would make the other Saved By The Bell writers say, “Look, if you’re not ready to come back to work, take more time off to deal with the death of your son.” The point I’m making is that it’s hard not to comment on Tiffany’s silly can, and that’s more appealing to Tiffany & Co. than when we comment on how the people who mined their products all died of slavery.

“Darling, I was part of many souls transcending penetration to transform a utilitarian men’s room into an installment of signature Tiffany oeuvre.” — this Tiffany copywriter explaining to his wife why there are seven colors of pubic hair in his underpants

Read Next

8 Baffling Poop-Themed Toys Kids Are Lining Up To Buy

And it’s not only tin cans and Wu-Tang albums that are marketed in intentionally strange ways. Food advertisers have figured out that they can get more attention by being ridiculous than by being delicious. Remember when KFC used fried chicken as sandwich bread in the Double Down? Or when Chick-Fil-A announced that their fried chicken hated gay people with the Cajun Titty Jiggler? We all made fun of them, but they absolutely did not care. These are people turning pigeon meat and “deported” foreign nationals into nugget shapes. They’ll take any press they can get.

We need to stop doing this. It’s very possible the only conversation any of us had or will ever have about Dr. Pepper came when they released a special version of their soda for men only. We all went on Twitter to say things like, “Forbidding women from tasting Dr. Pepper Ten will only delay the discovery that it’s made from semen, not stop it completely.” We asked questions like, “Why would you make a soda for men only? Are you trying to find the perfect drink to pair with losing custody of your kids?” Or maybe you simply speculated, “Dr. Pepper Ten sounds like the refreshing treat you reach for when defending an accused rapist you haven’t met.”

SORRY LADIES, OUR CREATIVE DIRECTOR IS STILL DEALING WITH SOME CHILDHOOD TRAUMA INVOLVING PENISES.

Products should make the customer happy, not be so deliberately dumb that the customer hears about them during a Jimmy Kimmel monologue. You shouldn’t make every tenth new Oreo out of cat suppository in the desperate hope that cookie influencers tweet about it. And pizza, you especially need to get your shit together.

In 2012, a Pizza Hut employee happened upon the idea of a hot-dog-stuffed crust, quite by accident, when his manager caught him fucking a pizza and demanded an explanation. This marked the last time there would ever be a non-insane pizza invention. Today, pizza marketing is a series of deranged innovations, like a serial killer’s journey toward becoming the Minotaur. For instance, Pizza Hut created “smart” shoes that place an order for you. Aside from getting the elderly to wonder what they’re going to come up with next, what the fuck good do pizza shoes do anyone? If you have a use for ordering Pizza Hut via shoe, your foot is going to fall off from diabetes long before you get to do it a second time.

And did you know that Domino’s spent millions of dollars promoting something called “carryout insurance?” It’s what it sounds like — a financial guarantee that when your sloppy ass drops a pizza, they give you another one. Aside from getting us to mention how dumb that is, what’s the point? Was there a community of fat idiots eating pizza off the ground and demanding their representatives do something? Let’s say it’s just to set your mind at ease. Let’s pretend you’re thinking about ordering Domino’s, but decide against it because you’re always dropping pizza. Will this convince you? Of course not. You’re not even here. You were taken in the night by mad scientists, and now you’re a lump of brain tissue labelled “HISTORY’S SADDEST FUCK.”

“CARRYOUT INSURANCE!? Hey, boss? Yeah, I just found a loophole that gives me unlimited floor pizza. So what I’m saying is you can kiss my ass.“

4

All Things “Of The Year” Are Arbitrary Decisions Made By Small Teams Of Random Assholes

We are living in the darkest of times. Our current sexiest man alive looks like a rectangle who makes its living hustling milk-drinking contests.

“I’m digesting four gallons of Half & Half. Hi, I’m Blake Shelton, your sexiest man alive.”

When People magazine announced hoedown music standout Blake Shelton as the sexiest man alive while Casper Van Dien was still not dead, it hit like a bomb. Every Twitter account and Safeway express lane had a hot take on it. It wasn’t merely controversial; it was a direct challenge to what vaginal lubrication even meant. What will it do to society if passably handsome NASCAR dads are the new standard of sexy? Do we need to stop doing sit-ups? Will there be enough denim?

What will Casper Van Dien do with this boner?

You know what we should have been doing that whole time? Not giving a shit about how handsome Blake Shelton is. Don’t get me wrong, Blake Shelton is alright. His condoms probably don’t expire, and if he was arrested for sodomizing a dairy cow, you’d think “Him?” But let’s not play games. He’s not the sexiest man alive. At best, he’s “Oklahoma’s Hottest Mostly Ham DNA.” But we should remember that this isn’t some great honor decided by measuring the gonad stimulation of test subjects. “Sexiest Man Alive” is picked by four or five editors desperately trying to hang onto print media jobs, and every now and then one of them is smart enough to say, “What if we trolled everyone?” With all respect to Blake Shelton’s fuckability, if you died trying to teach a prosthetic arm how to give a handjob, the People staff would write your name up on the “Sexiest Man Alive MAYBES” board.

It’s important to keep in mind how meaningless these titles are before we get outraged. Before Donald Trump, Time gave its 2006 “Person of the Year” title to You, as in the second-person pronoun. And in 1938 they gave it to Hitler, the Donald Trump of 1938. These are meaningless choices meant to inspire terrible conversations between uninteresting people. Did you think LaTonya from Fayetteville was chosen as Jet ‘s “Beauty of the Week” because of her winning tits and smile? Wake up. It’s because her face tattoo says “Abortion is Bae.” Please, all of us, we have to stop getting outsmarted by the Jet magazines of the world.

3

It’s Not An Event When Fictional Characters Die

In 1992, DC Comics killed Superman — an invincible ventriloquist with laser eyes, frost breath, and chronosphere-bending flight speed — with a rock monster who was pretty good at punching. Despite it being the third time he had died, the country went into mourning and the story was picked up by the actual news. Which was weird, because if the media wanted to cover upsetting Superman stories, where were they when his girlfriend got turned into a pony and fucked his horse?

I think about this every day. Every day.

Why are we so obsessed with fictional deaths? Most of the time, they’re not even real in the make-believe universe in which they happen. Captain America and Batman die around 20 times a year, each in different combinations of fake-outs, resurrections, and universe reboots. If a dead guy’s best friends own a time machine and the Eye of Agamotto, you can probably hold off on making funeral plans. And if your favorite character dies on The Walking Dead, maybe don’t waste an hour watching Chris Hardwick cry until you see the body.

It should help you relax knowing that most fictional deaths are only abusive pranks, but the “real” ones are about as meaningless.

I mean, you knew there wasn’t going to be any more Firefly. This death cost us maybe two wisecracks.

Remember when Han Solo died? He was a 73-year-old laser gun fighter scheduled to get his own movie in three years. His death was both long overdue and completely inconsequential to the amount of Han Solo you will continue to see on your TV. His father-in-law, Darth Vader, was on screen for about 36 minutes before he died in 1983, and since his death, there have been more Anakin Skywalker stories than anyone could ever want. Anakin Skywalker is the Nicolas Cage of outer space. He stopped making good movies three decades ago, yet he’s still everywhere and radiating inexplicable cosmic energy.

If George R. R. Martin went on TV to announce that a meteor hit Westeros between books and everyone in A Song Of Ice And Fire is gone, how is that different from the world you’re living in now? The guy has clearly wanted to focus more on snacks for about four books. You know what’s sadder than seeing Ned Stark get his head chopped off? Watching some fragile-hearted slob go through the stages of grief in a YouTube video afterwards. Parents, if your child is filming themselves weep over a make-believe death, that’s a bigger failure than if your child is filming themselves pee into a tube sock for Patreon supporters. I mean, you can do whatever you want, but when you cry over fake people whom you can still see every day for as long as you want, you’re only sending a message to the people around you that you’re a dramatic piece of shit. But I know something that will cheer you up!

2

Being Special Is Free

That’s right, I said it.

You’re welcome.

It’s pretty easy to sell someone nothing more than the idea that they’re special or important for actual money. For example, somewhere right now, a Todd is looking through a rack of keychains to see if they have one with his name on it. “I hope they have a Todd,” he might announce as he thumbs through dusty garbage. “They do! And it’s spelled right!” So Todd will buy it, a cute reminder of the worst store in the least interesting part of a city he once visited, and it will never occur to him that an Indonesian factory gambled and won that a completely shitty Todd would one day pay money to remind himself of his own name. This next part is way off-topic, but not even the Indonesians could have foreseen that this keychain would one day be used to frame Todd …

… for Toddslaughter.

Back to the point I was trying to make: We are all susceptible to this crap. Coke had its first sales increase in more than a decade when it introduced the idea of adding the customers’ stupid fucking names to their cans and bottles. And the internet has been haunted by ego-stroking personality quizzes and IQ tests since before we used it to pay girls peeing into tube socks. We are so desperate to be told we’re special that we will suspend all disbelief and critical thinking to hear it. You should know that answering a few simple personality questions does not make you the coolest ninja turtle, and you shouldn’t trust the scores of an IQ test that you watched yourself cheat on which also advertises free Slavic women and four new pounds of dick girth.

One of my favorite examples of this, and favorite things in general, is an online community called Intertel — “An International Society of the Intellectually Gifted.” It’s very difficult to get in. You can only join if you score in the top 1 percent of any self-administered intelligence test and mail in a $10 application fee. You may have considered that this in fact checks to see whether you’re stupid enough to mail in a test with a 98 percent score or less and nothing else. If you get accepted, you then pay a $39 annual fee to be a part of a genius club for people who are very specifically not. What do you get? I’m so glad you asked. For the annual fee, you get unlimited pity and the right to post a photo and bio about your unusually gullible self. It has created an avalanche of unearned ego that looks like a late ’90s Casper Van Dien fan page whose webmaster went mysteriously missing.

Image courtesy of the estate of the Casper Van Dien Fan Page & Genius Community webmaster.

OK, no, but seriously, this next image is a real screenshot from the Inertel (An International Society of the Intellectually Gifted) website. This is a real person who really thinks he’s in the 1 percent of intellectual elites, and this is his real profile.

I didn’t doctor this. This is what an actual genius named BigJim369 pays $39 a year to display. Fuck! This world is magic and you get to live in it!

Another business that exploits your love of yourself on a massive, sprawling scale is the pop-up museum industry. The name implies that there are things to do or learn inside them, but they’re more like oversized photo booths than art galleries. For instance, if you take a trip to the zany, world-famous Museum of Ice Cream, you will learn zero to one things about ice cream and eat ice cream worth $45 less than the entry ticket. What you will do is wait in line to take photos of yourself next to what you’d describe in any other context as “nothing of interest.” So to be clear, we are so self-obsessed that it’s now an effective business model to charge us money to take pictures of ourselves so we can promote you online.

You didn’t fool ME, Museum of Ice Cream. But my family loved it. Five stars.

1

Stop Making It Seem Like There Are Nazis

OK, so the world has enough idiot racists to elect Donald Trump president, but not all of those voters were full white supremacists. Some of them were simply too religious to know when someone is lying or too old to change their mind about politics. And yes, a troubling number of them were Nazis. But in a lot of ways, most things are fine and the world isn’t as awful as you think.

You’re welcome again.

Impossibly shitty people, like the Trump supporters who took that Garfield mug personally, seem like they’re everywhere. A lot of that is our fault — the decent people making fun of them. They use us to amplify their voices, like Han Solo (R.I.P.) convincing a hallway of Stormtroopers that he’s way more people than he actually is. Every few minutes, a website publishes a variation on the article “These Miserable Fucks Said Something Racist About A Thing And Got Annihilated By Twitter.” They’re fun and vaguely heroic, but if you read more than one, you’ll start to see that they all share the same content. It’s the same three or four racist tweets quoted in every article, tweeted by the same three or four racists who “attacked” the Star Wars with the Asian girl and “staged boycotts” of the all-lady Ghostbusters. We need to stop treating these three or four people like they’re a threat to anything other than skewing PornHub’s algorithm to favor mother-son incest.

BREAKING NEWS: Local high school’s least-likable prick still making quite a spectacle out his irrelevant awfulness.

Here’s a reassuring fact: A study of Reddit found that 1 percent of communities were responsible for 74 percent of all conflict. We are taking the intentionally ignorant comments of a Kia’s worth of debate club hobbyists and pretending they’re a tidal wave of hate we must stand together against. The “alt-right” movement is 30 boys too cranky to date and too slow to learn Dungeons & Dragons. Their supporters are a toxic group of gamers who will disappear once they turn 17, and their media outlet is a cable network whose entire audience will be dead in two more flu seasons. All these people want is for the other side to get upset, so if we stop writing thinkpieces about the rise of dapper white nationalism and focus more on how liberals hate suicide cults, we can be rid of them almost immediately.

BREAKING NEWS: C-word who only tweets C-wordy antisemitic things DOES!

Ann Coulter is a good example. She’s the skeletal remains of antique intolerance, and she has about as much cultural influence as Corey Feldman’s band, Oral Thrush and the Yeast 2000s. Has she ever done anything other than hiss wrong things at impatient TV personalities or pretend that clinical antisemitism is antisemitic comedy? She only seems like she is a thing because 10,000 of us dunk on the bitch every time she blames her oral thrush on the Jews. Without all of us explaining to each other how wrong she is, Coulter would just be wandering through Home Depot to see if there are any white employees she can ask about the toilet safety rails. And soon she would be hatching spider eggs in her mouth while her parakeet watched her body rot. “Rawk! The Jews are at it again!” it would repeat to her undiscovered corpse. “The Jews are at it again!”

We all seem to get how dumb it is when the news says “teens” are doing a comically apeshit thing like human centipede parties or detergent eating. Why can’t we use those same giant brains to figure out how one Nazi nerd looking for attention isn’t “the Right”? I know it’s tough to resist trolls, but Kim Kardashian owning all the world’s money should have taught you that there is virtue in shutting the fuck up about some things. We need to stay strong not in the battle against the “alt-right,” but in the battle to ignore them. The next time you see another column about how women won’t date conservative men, leave it alone. Let those dickless Nazis keep writing versions of that article into the empty void until they learn evil causes women to dry up. And the next time someone on your Facebook thread defends their Second Amendment rights after a school shooting, don’t validate their child murder fandom with attention. Move your cursor to the left and click on their mother’s profile. Pose as Blake Shelton, win her moist trust, and quietly destroy that child-murderer’s family. Every one of us can shut up and make a difference.

Seanbaby invented being funny on the Internet. You can follow him on Twitter, or play his hit mobile game Calculords.

Did you realize Casper van Dien was in a Tarzan movie in the 90s?

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