#thought about them again and how they parallel each other again but also how very.... different.. but they sure runners...

[kosmicprlz]

run all you like. mother and son.

[evelynpr]

Might be a hot take as a bkdk and tgck truther here, but I find izuocha endlessly fascinating, beautiful, but also tearfully tragic.

I see their love for each other as something representative of their innocence and naivety when they only knew so little about who they were, and what was to come.

I think the main barrier of their relationship is that its rooted in how they see each other very idealistically, specifically that they're attached to the image of their Best Heroic Selves, and not the deeply selfish, destructive, freaky, and egotistical parts of them. To each other, they need to keep fulfilling that image or else that same person they looked up to would almost die in front of them, and that would be too cruel. Although that hero is still there, that same person they looked up to is not the same now because of...well...everything.

Izuku had barely even talked to girls when he first met her. She was Izuku's first ever real friend (Sorry Kats, everyone and him knows he was terrible), so he saved her in that entrance exam even if it was so dangerous. She gave a new meaning to his derogatory nickname just by being a friend that believed in him. After that, she saved him several more times (Blackwhip and Megaphone are the biggest samples iirc). It makes perfect sense that she is Deku's hero.

Ochako hardly knew what it meant to be a hero when she first got into UA. Just by reaching out to some kid tripping, she made a new friend who would then save her in that exam, then save him again in return. This boy then became someone who was always working so hard to save everyone in trouble, and she realized she wanted to be just like him too. "I want to save people"

But...Deku changes. The weight of One for All is on his shoulders and he needs someone to carry this burden with him. He continues to want to save other people at the expense of himself, still not letting his true selfishness and ego ever show- and it only grows more and more unbearable.

Then...Ochako fell in love with Himiko. Truly, relentlessly, selfishly and devotedly in love with a girl who then dies giving her blood to her- the greatest expression of love Himiko could ever give.

Not that they can't love each other because of this happening (and...so many other things oh god), I'm honestly not sure how to explain it- But them ending up together after losing that innocence and naivety? After Ochako will forever grieve the girl who showed her love in its most beautiful and ugly form? After Izuku changed so fundamentally as a person that the butterflies of a nice girl talking to you doesn't exist anymore? After that simple image of being a hero and being in love has completely changed for them both?

Even so, I believe they still love each other. There is no label I know of that can properly describe them though. They are each other's image of being a hero when it comes to saving people. Aside from Shoto, no one else can grasp the grief of the person you tried to save dying in your hands. They would no doubt try to cope with these losses together, and just try to get better together...but so much has changed. They've changed. The world changed. What are they now? Who are they now?

"What happened...to us?"

[sasukekys]

the homosexuality and romance in naruto and sasuke’s relationship is textually supported inside the story

this is just an expansion of my own old post (rip sasukesun), but panels will be included in this edition. i also took inspiration from my friend @narutouzumakiarchive who so accurately wrote, and i quote, when determining the validity of something in canon you need to look at the internal logic of the world and the values that the author promotes, my post will only show other instances where naruto and sasuke do exactly (to each other) what is established by the manga itself as “love” or “romance” and even “gay”, many of them have already been pointed out by myself or other people in the fandom, but i wanted to put them all together to reinforce how a narrative is built and how an in universe logic is established. sit down cause it’s gonna be long and i will not leave it under a read more because i’m afraid to lose it forever if i do.

haku and zabuza

land of waves is such a well written arc that its presence, ideas, values etc keep showing up for the whole story. it’s the essence of the manga, if i’m being real, and if i were to put all the references here, it would be endless, but for the purpose of this post, i want to point out the implication of romantic feelings in haku and zabuza’s relationship, without any value of judgement whether i find it “problematic”, and how they parallel naruto and sasuke’s.

sasuke sacrificing himself for naruto parallels haku sacrificing himself to zabuza. but it goes beyond it because haku establishes the importance of wanting to protect people who are precious to you, an idea that persists for the entire manga. the same way haku considers zabuza precious to him to the point that he would die to see zabuza’s dream come true, sasuke’s sacrifice implies he feels the same for naruto, sasuke himself implies in his “deathbed” he wants naruto to fulfil his dream. and later in the manga, naruto internalises this thought, he wants to protect sasuke, who is precious to him.

almost 200 chapters later, and we still have land of waves clear references.

and as if that’s not enough, the feeling of acceptance that makes haku so devoted to zabuza is also shared by naruto towards sasuke.

in the arc itself, naruto recognises clearly that what haku felt for zabuza was love, the word he uses denotes feelings of affection, it’s not a mere “care about” the translation here is saying. the devotion, the desire to protect someone who is precious to you, the feelings of acceptance, they all fall under love as a definition, recognised by naruto himself when he calls zabuza out, but it goes beyond that, because kishimoto wrote haku to have romantic feelings for zabuza, something pointed out by many people in this fandom, haku blushes while calling zabuza’s body beautiful. kishimoto draws them in angles where their mouths are aligned. zabuza wishes to go to the same place haku went in the afterlife.

and yet the devotion, the desire to protect someone who is precious to you, the acceptance, all of those aspects that fall under the definition of love in haku and zabuza’s relationship are applied to naruto and sasuke. i guess it’s easy to accept that what they feel for each other is love, but it’s very curious how they parallel two people with implied romantic feelings in every single aspect of their relationship. again, i’m not here to morally judge haku and zabuza’s relationship or kishimoto’s decisions, the age gap isn’t part of naruto and sasuke’s relationship anyway, but i want to follow the internal logic of the manga, it was certainly a choice to add this romantic subtext for zabuza and haku while making naruto and sasuke follow the exact same patterns.

shikaku

shikaku talks about someone rough having a soft spot for the person they love, and shikamaru thinks his father likes to be bossed around by his mother. this is a trope kishimoto is fond of, in his manga mario, he likes that saori is tough but warms up for mario, but inside the naruto manga, the logic is no different in naruto and sasuke’s relationship. sasuke clearly has a soft spot for naruto, naruto is the only one sasuke shows weakness towards, sasuke admits naruto made me him feel at ease, and one of the things that actually got sasuke’s attention in naruto’s behaviour was his prankster gremlin antics, a trait generally rejected by others. when naruto yells at chuunin exams, people think he’s loud and annoying, but sasuke smiles fondly.

naruto also enjoys to be bossed by sasuke, this was shown in war arc, he says sasuke is “pissing him off” for giving orders but he doesn’t really do anything about it, he smiles and agrees on following sasuke’s ideas anyway, like a smitten boyfriend. shikaku says this is love, and again how naruto and sasuke act towards each other fall under what is defined as love by someone else inside the manga.

tayuya

i made a specific post about this one already, but i can’t leave what tayuya says out of this compilation because it’s one of the most interesting ones to me. tayuya doesn’t define love, she defines homosexuality specifically.

in sasuke’s retrieval arc, during tayuya vs shikamaru, tayuya asks if sasuke is that important for them to waste a team for one guy, and says that’s gay, there’s no euphemism or disguise on her words, she says they are homos. shikamaru himself explains at that moment that no, in his case at least, he wants to save sasuke because he is a brother of the leaf and shikamaru trusts his comrades, he doesn’t think he’s wasting his team for one guy, perfectly understandable, but that doesn’t change how tayuya has established a logic inside the narrative: there is a line to cross.

tayuya talks about “wasting a team” for one guy but it’s not the “wasting a team” aspect that is gay, it’s the idea of “going too far” for a guy that’s very important to you, now i wonder who has an entire narrative surrounding this idea, of many people questioning “why would you go that far for one guy?”.

“is that boy sasuke that important to you?” and the answer to naruto is yes, but not because sasuke is a “brother of the leaf”, and then you continue with what tayuya says after… so you are a homo. how naruto acts towards sasuke is established in the narrative of the manga as homosexuality, not only love or romance.

sai and nicknames

when trying to improve his social skills, sai reads a book on the matter. what kishimoto chose to show the readers by the social rules of the naruto universe is that using sufixes like “-kun” expresses distance, an emotional barrier, something that both hinata and sakura use with naruto and sasuke. but using nicknames and terms of endearment help to combat that distance, and it allows you to form an especial and close relationship. sasuke uses a term of endearment with naruto, a special nickname he doesn’t use with anyone else, actually, naruto is the only person to have that with sasuke.

in a flashback, we learn that naruto called sasuke an “usuratonkachi” first, but sasuke kept it and started using it with naruto. through the manga we see that sasuke calls naruto that multiple times, and sometimes it is when naruto is being an “idiot”, but it’s also in endearing moments, the most remarkable one being vote2, after their reconciliation. in the boruto movie, we learn that sasuke has its own definition for usuratonkachi, someone who hates to lose, a very noticeable trait of naruto’s personality, but something endearing to sasuke nonetheless. naruto’s strong will is something sasuke admires.

kishimoto uses a book on social skills to establish another in universe rule, that using nicknames with someone expresses emotional closeness, a special relationship. through the manga, kishimoto portrays sasuke to follow the same rule with naruto, showing that they are close and their relationship is special.

hinata’s confession

hinata confesses her love to naruto during pein’s invasion, in her confession, she explains the reasons for her feelings.

naruto doesn’t say anything about hinata confessing to him, but one arc later he says the same things she said, but to sasuke, basically the same reasons.

hinata to naruto: i nearly went the wrong way, but you showed me the right one / naruto to sasuke: one misstep and i could’ve ended up like you, but my connection with you helped go the right way.

hinata to naruto: i was always chasing you, wanting to overtake you, i just wanted to talk to you, i wanted to be with you / naruto to sasuke: i wanted to talk to you but i didn’t know how to approach it, you made me feel jealous so i made you my rival, but i wanted to be like you, i was always chasing after you.

on vote2, sasuke’s monologue reveals he feels the same about naruto, it’s a direct response to everything naruto has said, he even remembers that very conversation in kage summit, sasuke also adds the loneliness he and naruto were familiar with, but the same feelings of admiration naruto talked about in kage summit are there.

sasuke to naruto: i saw you growing stronger and i reciprocated the rivalry, when you started growing more, i felt jealous, you had a strength i didn’t, you had always walked in front of me.

hinata doesn’t have the same proximity with naruto as naruto and sasuke have with each other, the way she refers at him (the -kun suffix) expresses distance and an emotional barrier, meanwhile the way sasuke refers to naruto expresses a special relationship and closeness, as we can see by the social rules of this universe, and yet, what hinata says to naruto is defined as love. the way naruto and sasuke speak about each other is indicated in the manga as reasons for someone to romantically love one another, but they have a plus that their relationship is seen by the narrative as special, and what they have is mutual.

omoi and shinjuu

another one that has been pointed out by many people in the fandom, i’m not here to exactly discuss shinjuu and its references outside the manga, even though other tumblr uses have done a pretty good job on this. what i’m about to say has already been explained by @narutouzumakiarchive on the same post i linked at the beginning, i just want to compile all the references together and pay attention to the logic built through the entire story.

at the beginning of kage summit, omoi wonders about shinjuu, he specifically uses that word and frames it as romantic, translations are sometimes watered down because omoi says shinjuu (しんじゅう), the furigana is unmistakable, it means double suicide not merely “can’t let me go”, the text that doesn’t say suicide is omitting relevant information. omoi’s thoughts are basically: what if someone is so in love with him they can’t bear to be apart from him, making them propose a lovers suicide if he and the hypothetical person are to separate? omoi wonders about a romantic situation, it is not framed as anything else but romantic.

everybody knows what happens at the end of kage summit right?

the context of the entire arc shows everybody telling naruto to stop going that far for sasuke, to cut sasuke off, and yet naruto has a panic attack over the thought of sasuke dying. when naruto meets sasuke, he tells him the same things hinata said to him, and after everything, naruto proposes a double suicide with sasuke because he can’t bear the idea of existing without him, with this kind of separation. how exactly does that differ from what omoi imagined?

kishimoto throws a random and seemingly comedic and unrelated information at the beginning of the arc, frames it as romantic, and then not so innocently makes naruto repeat the same behaviour towards sasuke at the end of the very same arc. he could’ve chosen anything for omoi to say, and still, coincidentally, what he says fits naruto and sasuke’s relationship perfectly, please someone warn him the things he be writing accidentally.

kushina and minato

able to piss off even people inside the naruto and sasuke pile of shippers itself, what sasuke says about naruto parallels what kushina says about minato and why she fell for him, there are many many narusasu/minakushi parallels, actually, even more after the minato one shot, and it’s not about their personalities or looks, but rather about roles and themes.

kushina tells naruto that she fell for minato because he saved her, the only one who was able to, and he was capable of changing her heart, if those are reasons to make someone fall for another person, what can we say about sasuke that says naruto saved him, the only one who was able to, and was capable of changing his heart?

kishimoto even gives sasuke and kushina the same role of explaining to their son (k) about their fathers, and what they say about naruto and minato is also similar.

(this collage is maoam’s btw, you can check their posts, they also point out a lot of stuff i’m talking about).

kushina about minato: he looked like a sissy and unreliable, he said he wanted to be hokage but there was no way i believed in that / sasuke about naruto: he was always talking about becoming hokage but he was a loser, full of weaknesses, a good for nothing.

kushina about minato: i looked down on him, but i was wrong, he saved me and became a slpendid ninja (and later hokage) / sasuke about naruto: he pulled himself with his own strength and became hokage.

my point here is not even to show how their relationships parallel one another, but rather to talk about how the way naruto and sasuke act towards each other is framed as reasons why people fall in love in this universe, it can be seen as platonic for a reader’s standard, but for the naruto world’s rules, it isn’t, it is romantic.

not giving up

when kakashi wrongly claims that sakura has never given up on sasuke and that she’s only wanted to save him, he associates those feelings with love. this is not the first time kakashi’s judgement on sakura is objectively wrong, in kage summit, sakura was shown to be the same as any other konoha ninja when it comes to sasuke, well any other konoha ninja but one.

sasuke himself acknowledges that naruto was the only one who has never given up on him, not only that but it was naruto who saved him, that’s solely on naruto, nobody else mentioned. despite kakashi being wrong about the person, he also has a definition on love, one that was already used with kushina and minato. saving someone and not giving up on them is framed as love, and it comes out of sasuke’s mouth that only naruto did that for him.

i’ve only talked about the content itself, but in some of those instances kishimoto also uses visual language to get the message through, though that would be for another occasion, i guess.

i wonder how come so many different characters can name what’s love and romance and even homosexuality and have naruto and sasuke meeting every single standard, but people still claim kishimoto wrote it all accidentally because he is, without any proof except for the claim that he is japanese and old and a man, homophobic. i’m sorry, but it’s not “up to the audience” to decide wether naruto and sasuke’s relationship is romantic or platonic. you can disagree all you want and i know people will, but no one has yet provided the textual evidence that shows otherwise. by every metric, the narrative establishes that, in the logic of the naruto universe, what naruto and sasuke have is not only love but romance, and not only romance but homosexual.

[avithenaftali]

October 28, 2022, 7:11 P.M.

For whatever reason I enjoy thinking about Diana Wynne Jones' writing as a whole and picking out unexpected or resonant trends. For example, some things that comes up often is:

She'll fabricate a world (right down to its cosmology), fill it with memorable characters, set one or two short novels in it... and then never touch it again. On to the next one. Rinse and repeat for her entire career.

The concept of multiple/parallel universes appear half a dozen times in different novels/sequences, but always in completely different ways. The multiple worlds of Chrestomanci function very, very differently from the multiple worlds of The Homeward Bounders, which themselves function so different from the Ayewards/Naywards of Deep Secret, or the walls between the worlds in Dark Lord of Derkholm. More importantly, all these approaches to multiverse explicitly contradict each other. There is no larger DWJ multiverse; there is no way to coherently combine any of them, much less all of them. I love her for this. Every book is its own project. Franchising be damned.

With one exception (which is the Dalemark quartet, oddly enough), none of these worlds are sealed-off secondary worlds. Our own Earth appears in all of them, though usually from the 'wrong' end of the telescope. Meaning, it's stuff like reading Charmed Life and assuming you're reading a magical secondary world fantasy for most of the book... up until the point when Janet is pulled into the story due to Gwendolyn's spell. The reader instantly understands that Janet is from our own world, from the 1970s when the book was written. She never makes it home, either. She never sees her parents again. She's a supporting character who becomes permanently stuck in the world of Chrestomanci, as a casualty of Gwendolyn's spells.

It is interesting, though, how there are almost no sealed-off secondary worlds in DWJ's oeuvre.

There are lots of neat things to say about how DWJ did this, and why she'd do it, and the implications in the storytelling. But tonight I'm thinking mostly about how it can be a moment, narratively, that makes you halt and have to recontextualize all these things you thought you knew (or were assuming) about the nature of the story.

In Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed, Urras is obviously the metaphorical capitalistic stand-in planet for our own Earth... up until a moment right near the end, where we realize our own Earth exists in this novel too and is an ecological wasteland due to unchecked climate change.

Urras may be the distorted-mirror, uber-capitalist version of our own world. But it's also a planet with a functional ecosystem. It's a planet where society is careful about maintaining that ecosystem. We're not going to be Urras, says Le Guin. We'll be lucky if we become Urras. To become Urras means we wised up in time to not go extinct.

And suddenly, little subtle moments in the worldbuilding around both Anarres and Urras—their shared attention to their own ecology—come into a different light. All because our own, devastated Earth turns out to be present in the novel too.

And in Howl's Moving Castle, Howl is a magician who fits into the fairy tale landscape of Ingary as naturally as anyone else—until the chapter when he has to go home to retrieve a lost spell, and you realize home is in another world, aka home is our world, aka Howl is fucking Welsh and found his way into Ingary by pure accident. And Ben Sullivan, Ingary's missing royal magician, is no native of Ingary either.

To Sophie, it just means that both magicians travelled to Ingary from the same enigmatic foreign land, which is as strange to her as any spell.

To us readers, it means "oh my god he's Welsh too? Just how much is Wales secretly connected to Ingary? Next thing you'll tell me Ben Sullivan's a rugby player as well—"

[reo-bylerwagon]

a new line in the first shadow confirms byler endgame (at least for me and the people i’ve talked to about it)

this post contains tfs spoilers⚠️

in the scene where patty visits henry in the void, and is holding his hand she was already known to say something like this (quote drawn from a post analysis from @tryingonametaphor regarding creelby and byler parallels):

“if you leave, we can run away and find my mother. we can fight the monster together, you and me.”

now, it changed a little to something along the lines of patty saying they can run away to vegas (yes to find her mother but) will suggested to mike that they stop at vegas on the way back to lighten the mood for him. and there's also this ofc:

the added line is the craziest part of all this though. patty tells henry “we can be superheroes”

superheroes were something henry and patty bonded over in typical nerd-fashion, but it was a way of them reassuring each other. patty reassuring henry that his power can be something good (a “superpower”). this is reminiscent of mike reassuring will that he is a “super spy” in s2 and that this could be a good thing. and henry reassuring patty that all the great superheroes were orphans like her. reminds me of will reminding mike that he is an inspiration to the party in the van.

the line itself “we can be superheroes” is a direct contrast to “you’re my superhero” that mike delivers in his monologue to el (which visually parallels to this creelby scene). patty is referring to her and henry as a team, over just talking out of admiration in hopes that it would be enough to encourage henry. combining this new line with “we can fight the monster together, you and me.” it’s starting to sound a lot like “let’s start a new party, you and me.”

in addition, the line also alludes to “we can be heroes” and we know the subtext there:

as well as this VERY FUCKING SIGNIFICANT QUOTE FROM SHAWN LEVY!!!!

another thought i had while writing this out was how similar “crazy together” is to “we can be superheroes”. walk with me.

mike and will both talk about how they’re seeing things, and feel like they’re going crazy because of them. (will obviously heavily parallels henry)

patty and henry confide in each other about what makes them feel different (they were like spitting out different things like “my mom tried to exorcise me” “my dad doesn’t like me” which eventually led to their conversation about superheroes i mentioned earlier).

henry feels that patty is the only person he can trust to talk about the mind flayer with (before he was whisked away to the lab and put under the care of brenner, but even then, patty still respected henry's abilities and never pushed his limits, like mike with will).

mike and will come to the conclusion that they’ll go crazy together, and patty and henry come to the conclusion that they’re like superheroes. eventually, mike says will is like a superspy, and off of what mike said in 4x04 (asking to be this way again) they’re a team. similarly, patty calls henry’s abilities a superpower, and when encouraging him to leave the lab and come back to her, they’re superheroes.

[kuromori4]

I know this comic was very much about Marc and Nath and I very much don't want to take that away from them, but I definitely see the parallels between Rain-Piercer & Sun-heart and Ladybug & Chat Noir.

Maybe it's obvious, but I enjoy analyzing it!

Sun-Heart clearly parallels Adrien/Chat. Blonde/golden hair, the whole 'Sunshine' aspect? AdriChat's bright and sunny disposition?

Then we have Rain-Piercer. Dark hair, more concerned about the consequences of them revealing? And the reference to all of the rain symbolism between Adrienette/LadyNoir?

Lets' break it down:

So this could be taken one of 2 ways:

1) This might be referring to the final battle with Monarch. It's showing us that this could have happened between then and now, That LB and CN discussed revealing after Monarch was defeated. Though since we know they didn't reveal, I'd say it's more likely it's a potential hint to the future--

2) Lila/New Butterfly is the "Deep Darkness" (Though it could also refer to the council stuff) And this is foreshadowing what could happen once they defeat her.

Now they realize that if they reveal, they would have to give everything up. Stop being LB and CN? Maybe even never see each other again if their only connection remains their time as heroes.

Chat is ready to reveal but Ladybug warns him the consequences of revealing their identities.

If Chat Noir reveals himself to Ladybug, then he won't be allowed to be Chat Noir any more.

I'm guessing the Great-Rain is referencing the Celestial Guardian, or maybe the order of the Guardians or something. Maybe even Ladybug herself, as she's the current Guardian. Considering her parallel's name here is Rain-Piercer and the authority in this story is 'the Great Rain' it could very well be that they mean 'Ladybug' and 'Ladybug as Guardian'.

And the sacred armor is obviously the Miraculous.

But Chat is ready to reveal. He's waited so long. He wants this. Like it says, He'd rather lose his powers than his partner, who's always been by his side.

Now we have Ladybug, convinced by Chat that she wants this too. She decides to go through with it. Renounce her burden (With a passion!)

Interestingly enough, this time it says 'powers of the Great-Sun...' which... they just said it was the Great-Rain, so I'm wondering if this is a mistake, or intentional? I'd have to really listen to the french to pick out exactly what's said. Maybe 'Great-Sun' is intentional and means something. I'll come back to this if I figure it out!

And then of course, we get the happy ending and the much-awaited reveal and kiss! So Chat Noir and Ladybug reveal, and they have their beautiful moment!

But.

This is the re-written version.

In their original draft, they both gave up their powers to be together. Nathaniel thought it was unfair that they should lose everything and not have their happy ending.

This is something fans have been discussing for ages. And there's the whole possibility of Ladybug losing her memories if she renounces her Guardianship, which has also been hinted at in this season already.

So Nathaniel changed the ending to ensure they got to keep their powers and have their happy ending.

So is Nathaniel a parallel to the writers themselves? Changing the lore to ensure that Ladybug and Chat Noir can continue their journey even after an identity reveal?

So then this leaves the question of which version we're going to get by the end? Is this their way of showing us that they can continue the show for 12 seasons AND still give us the big reveal?

I mean, how do you continue a show like this for so many seasons and keep the fandom on the line for that long with no reveal? This could be their way of introducing the idea that the story CAN continue post-reveal!

That's just my thoughts on the matter anyway! I hope you enjoyed my breakdown!

[reingkings]

Why do you ship inhun? Does the ship make sense? I don't kinda see it but I guess there is something between them, I'd really like to know your thoughts about it

Hmm. Interesting question. I do think they “make sense” in a shippable way.

Note that if you’re not into not-entirely-sane ships then it might not appeal to you. However, I can try to answer what appeals to me. I’ll try to put screen caps or links but ngl I’m not gonna try hunting down all of it. Here’s the manifesto:

1. The narrative casting them as character foils

So each character in the show often not only represent themselves, but to some extent the show’s themes. Since before Gi-hun becomes a victor, he is shown to be discongruent with the nature of the games. The first “true” meeting between In-ho and Gi-hun happens to be at this point in S1:

Mind you when this occurs, it’s after the gamemakers deliberately starve the players to incite violence between them. Deoksu/101 just killed a man. This outcome is exactly desired.

In a way this is a microcosm of the rest of their ideological struggle — that being whether or not humans are inherently selfish and cruel.

We later see the theme again during the last fight scene, when Gi-hun reaches his hand out to Sang-woo. Not only is this a moment of ultimate compassion, but for In-ho who we see is an avid lover of the arts. What else does this resemble?

The painting, The Creation of Adam. Aka the creation of man. (Stick with me on this, I promise I’ll explain).

Notice that this shot not only resembles the painting on a superficial level but in spirit. Adam is in repose and God is the one who reaches out, the one making the most effort to make a connection. In-ho’s face isn’t visible but imagine how he, looking down on it, feels at the very moment:

It’s giving new religion. Later on, In-ho will say something along these lines:

Race horses. And yet, besides his brother, at this point Gi-hun is the very first person In-ho takes his mask off for, something he does not do for even the VIPs. This scene also comes after he kills a guard because “when they find out who you are, you die.”

This treatment marks In-ho’s transition into seeing Gi-hun as his only equal (and yes, In-ho is arrogant that’s kind of his appeal, I don’t believe he thinks that highly of the VIPs either).

Another aspect is that in their final scene at Il-nam’s death bed, they are kind of marked at the inheritors of Il-nam’s system.

Gi-hun leaves Il-nam to witness his one failure. In-ho closes Il-Nam’s eyes.

So it’s the end of S1. We don’t know a lot about In-ho. However we can assume a few things. Both he and Gi-hun are both victors and victims of the oppressive system. Both of them went through anguish after their victory (In-ho’s is mostly inferred, but there’s a deleted scene paralleling Gi-hun’s). Both of them failed to save what mattered the most. Both of them can’t move on from the games and returned. They both abandoned everything in their life for this pursuit.

In a way, there is no other person in the world than can understand them more than the other.

And here is where the character foil aspect comes in. Despite their similarities, their character arcs are the opposite. Gi-hun at the beginning was kind but flawed, an impulsive gambler who could steal money from his mother and disappointed his daughter at many turns. In-ho seemingly was a well-loved, upright citizen who made sacrifices for his family.

And yet, of the two the one who became cruel and heartless was In-ho. The one who became more self-less and compassionate was Gi-hun.

How does In-ho react to meeting his polar opposite? It could easily be hatred or disdain. Instead it’s well, my next point.

2. In-ho’s subtextual obsession with Gi-hun

Season 2 within the games is when most of us really saw the ship’s potential but there are many hints beforehand.

I and others have made some posts about In-ho’s wildly inappropriate actions towards Gi-hun even in S1. Why does he have to stuff the bank card in Gi-hun’s mouth, why does he send the invitation through a bouquet of flowers (actually he sends this invitation twice), why does he decide to physically be there when meeting Gi-hun in a limo on his birthday? A day, mind you, that he needs to be prepping for the games. In-ho doesn’t have to be there, he literally talks to Gi-hun through a speaker he could be in a nice hotel room. Somehow, it’s important for him to be there.

Can this be read as anything but a fixation?

Even when he joins the game his sole focus is on Gi-hun. He makes a concerted effort for Gi-hun to like him (playing hero, baring his true wounds, defending him from the ire of other players, even coming up with an flimsy excuse because he slipped up and called Gi-hun by his name). If he wanted to torture Gi-hun, he could easily turn the players against him. According to the director, his goal is:

But in front of our eyes he does shit like this:

He even bullies his guards:

Does that look like a hit to you 😭 I dare anyone to say that a different player would have passed. Especially when In-ho interceded in the first place.

Another victim:

And the looks. so many looks. You’re not behind a camera anymore, In-ho. Gi-hun can see you.

The one that makes me laugh the most is in the last episode of S2. Gi-hun is stressed about the vote, trying to come up with a plan, and In-ho is staring so hard he’s not even blinking, to the point where Gi-hun has to look at him.

And then again. Gi-hun is explaining about the control room upstairs. Meanwhile, In-ho:

He doesn’t even glance up. He just stares at Gi-hun until Gi-hun finally looks at him. Honestly this isn’t even all of them but I don’t have everything saved.

And the ending. Honestly this part is a bit heartwrenching and I think a few of us fans ignore it (I do too), but I’m trying to contextualize canon here. It’s interesting that despite how dangerous Gi-hun is – causing the disruption of the game, killing guards, and aiming to end the games on the whole – In-ho does not kill him. He has plenty of opportunities to. He even shoots his own guards to keep Gi-hun alive (despite Gi-hun in that moment running the rebellion). But he shoots Jung-bae instead and gives Gi-hun this last lingering glance.

Arguably, you can say In-ho does all this because he is sadistic. However, if that were the sole reason, then he has 400+ people he could similarly torture every year. Hell, he could have joined the games any year he wanted, too.

If it’s just an ideological struggle, then Gi-hun lost when he decided to sacrifice the X players for the greater good. Then, we are left to wonder what else he can want with Gi-hun that he has kept him alive.

The fact that the motivations are never stated and are subtext adds a layer to how fans are free to interpret it. Lots of kindling for our fire.

(I’m not necessarily planning to prove if it’s canon in this part, it’s just a treatise on why we see their potential due to this subtext).

3. Gi-hun’s reciprocity

I think if it were just a one-sided fascinating then there would still be shippers but simply not as much. The part that hits with Inhun is that In-ho’s efforts are not necessarily “unrequited.��

In the beginning of Season 2, Gi-hun has no one. He had been isolated for three years. He has no friends. He has no home. Consider this heartwrenching shot:

Gi-hun’s on the phone, calling the only person in the world he has a connection to, and he can’t even say a word to her.

Even before this, he was largely unappreciated. His mother was disappointed in him. His ex-wife resents him. Jung-bae his friend did not help him in his time of need. Sae-byeok was only in his life for a few days, but she was rude to him for a good part of that. Sang-woo – well Sang-woo is complicated. I don’t think he meant everything he said in the fight before the end, but I do think Gi-hun is the last person on earth he wants to meet after his failures. No one really talks to him kindly besides Ali which is more of polite friendliness than looking after him.

So as a #1 Gi-hun fan, it’s really nice to see someone just genuinely seem to want Gi-hun there? Not as a last resort or as an alternative, but the first pick (in a twisted way).

And Gi-hun is so receptive to it? I made a post about this before, but Gihun is starved for affection and I don’t think all that used to being treated gently. Despite knowing In-ho for a short time, he seems so. He just kind of… opens like a flower?

The first time he laughs in this season is over In-ho’s corny last name joke.

The look in that scene in general:

How he reacts to In-ho calling by hist first name:

Or when In-ho confides in him about what happened with his wife:

Or this one, when he’s dealing with the guilt of misleading all the players, and In-ho says this:

But also the moment in mingle where Gi-hun is so worried about In-ho, Jung-bae has to drag him into a room before the timer runs out. He wanted to risk it all I tell you.

And then, when everyone is calling out to him, In-ho only calls out for Gi-hun’s attention. Literally he couldn’t care about the others. He bee-lines to Gi-hun.

Or how he looks when In-ho shoots the guard for him:

Look at his face, and In-ho’s face when he gives In-ho the gun. They’re going to kill me.

4. The versatility

Finally, this is more of a meta point but it’s kind of fun that this ship doesn’t always have to be that serious? We can go from writing about deep at times darker themes of obsession and manipulation and whatnot and then turn around and clown on them for being total losers with a crush (affectionate). Usually, it’s the same person doing it. Like me in this essay. We can also just make AUs with no squid games and still have the freedom with keep the parts we like (be it obsession or devotion or a mutual understanding) and toss out the rest, and they still make sense. They just always make sense (to me).

Honestly there are stuff I had leave out because it would just maybe at tad too long-winded (as if I didn’t talk your ear off lmao).

Again, this is not an argument on whether it’s canon or not, it’s just an explanation of fanon perspective.

[lych33dragoncookie]

Only the masterpieces that survive the fiercest flames earn their place in history.

(Analysis post)

Alright, they absolutely cooked this update. Like, undeniably so. I was admittedly not that huge of a fan of the last 2 beast yeast chapters we got; they had really good ideas, and Mystic Flour is a wonderful character, but... Dark Cacao hasn't really been done enough with for it to feel like it had the amount of weight it could have, and it really doesn't feel like much about him actually changed at all. Combine that with a complete lack of interesting dynamics and you have a lot of very good and genuinely pretty well thought out story concepts with extensive cultural research, executed in a way that feels more like a traditional old-school story that weakens the attachment the audience feels to the components of said story.

Here, though? I have no complaints so far. It was absolutely wild in fact, to the point where I don't think it's gonna happen again (nor am I entirely sure it should ever happen again). This was back to back, non-stop, smack to the face one after the other. The moment the first point of conflict came up, it was just shit happening left and right; even in the mandatory moment of rest where we chill out for a bit, it's revealed that hey, these sandstorms? Yeah the sand is actually ashes. It's the remains of all the people that live here. Whether they died off on their own or were killed by someone else.

And if that wasn't enough, very shortly after;

... It's fucking crack.

So, people die and kill each other here very frequently, and not only are their remains visibly on display, their ashes also become sandstorms that make it near impossible to navigate the land; on top of being something that people snort like cocaine to become more energetic and aggressive.

We started fucking wild, dude. This whole thing is pulling no punches.

Though, I do wanna note; I really, really enjoyed the interactions between Smoked Cheese and Golden Cheese. It shows not only how forgiving she is, but how these two have known each other for an incredibly long time, and know each other well. They're incredibly comfortable around each other, despite it all, and despite how brazen and Very Much Not Strategic the queen here can be. I really, really enjoyed them.

Always fun to see a recovering villain do things for good, but in their own unique way that's still not exactly heroic but definitely effective and, at times, very gratifying.

Though I enjoyed all this, there's one thing I wanna talk about above all else.

The star of the show. Note that every single part was enjoyable, of course, and he wouldn't be half as interesting without Golden Cheese Cookie to serve as a parallel, but they've cooked up something special here.

So far, Burning Spice's extent of onscreen appearance is very, very short, but... I don't think I need to tell you that he's already made an impact and a half.

Christ, that's violent. With the sound effects and everything too, god damn. But, I'd be lying if I said this wasn't a pretty superficial source of judgement for this character. It's very very telling of what kind of person he is now, what he's all about, what he's willing to do, what he likes doing, but...

More than anyone else in recent memory, the devil is in the details. So let's look at those details.

Nothing too much so far, other than how much he absolutely loves destruction, but there's already a trend; namely on "Nothing lasts forever. It's as simple as that", "In the end, everything becomes dust.", and "You, too, shall see that destruction is the only way.". There seems to be an infatuation with the natural process of everything fading away, turning to dust and dying out. An entirely honest one, believing that there is just about nothing else to life. These will be important to keep in mind.

Here, we see a bit of his current relationship with his own immortality. He doesn't seem to mind the idea of losing it, finding something that may eventually take him down, but he still takes great pride in it. These lines, in text, seem somewhat miserable (and trust me, they definitely are), but the voicework in just about every language conveys that they are said in a more neutral, even potentially proudly manner. Again, not much on their own, but...

Here's where we get into the fun part.

This. This is the crux of their character. At the start, him and Golden Cheese cookie were more or less the same. Benevolent royalty, close and personal with their subjects. Beloved, and loving.

And then, they lost it all.

One way or another, their kingdoms were lost, reduced to almost nothing. They were overcome by grief, desperate, unable to cope with their loss. One tried to latch on as hard as possible. Preserve what she could, blindly, replacing the harsh truth of reality with an idealized, constructed world, where no one would ever have to know pain ever again. She shut herself off, and retreated in the safety and peace of a false reality. She would rather have lied to both herself and all her subjects than face reality. And eventually, she had to learn to move on. Let herself and her kingdom heal more naturally, facing reality. The other, meanwhile, was desperate to let go. He detached himself, trying to move past the pain of loss. But, of course, he couldn't force it to happen. No one can. And so with the grief of losing that which he held dear, continuing to be faced with the reality that nothing is forever, over and over, while he endured, the world slowly turning to ash around them again and again... It's no wonder something in there eventually cracked.

What will it take to destroy me. Nothing is forever, and yet, I am.

Nothing is forever. And yet, I am.

With time, misery turned to mania, and in an attempt to overcome their grief, they embraced it, in the worst way possible. A coping mechanism gone horrendously wrong. That destruction, that loss, the inevitability of death... It's not painful, no. It doesn't have to be. It can be thrilling. Exhilarating. A new reason to live. If all you care about turns to dust anyways, if that's really the only logical destination... Why not have some fun with it? Why not embody that inevitable, unstoppable force? Why not become what you fear, so you no longer have to be afraid anymore?

... You know, at least that's what I think is going on here. The next chapter could contradict this reading, but... From what all we have right now, it seems like Golden Cheese and Burning Spice are two completely different paths for the exact same type of pain. They are, in a way, the same, but diverge in almost complete opposite ways where it counts.

Spice is genuinely equal parts absolutely terrifying and absolutely miserable; a balance that is incredibly hard to strike in writing, but always absolutely fascinating and wonderful to observe when it happens. I have to say, the more I found out about them, the more I couldn't keep my eyes off everything they have going on.

I'm loving every little bit of this update. Mad props to the devs for cooking something up here that I am genuinely incredibly invested in, almost to the same degree as White Lily and Dark Enchantress. Banger update. Absolute S tier material.

TL;DR: Burning Spice is terrifying, miserable, and ridiculously cool. Everything about this update was an absolute merciless flurry of consecutive gut-punches. And I loved every second of it.

... Now we sit and wait for Shadow Milk's release next year.

[sideblog-usernametaken]

Ok so Dandadan analysis time because I've been seeing some of the old conversations about it again. So two things about Dandadan (Not the only things but two important ones):

One of the over arcing themes is bodily autonomy

This series is a romcom

Rant below the cut.

A major reason people don't like Dandadan and/or are willing to dismiss it outright is because of the SA scenes. More specifically, a lot of people believe these scenes are fanservice and have no narrative reason to be there. They do have a narrative reason to be there though. These scenes aren't supposed to be fanservice either they're intentionally supposed to be upsetting/unnerving (I won't get into how here because other people have articulated this better than I can, and they will continue to do so as long as this misconception exists).

When people think of "violations of bodily autonomy" or "violations of consent" they usually think of rape or sexual assault. It is the beginner's example to the concept, largely because everyone with common sense agrees that rape and sexual assault are bad so it's easier to point out why they're bad. This also makes it easy place to start a narrative around bodily autonomy.

The very first scene of Dandadan is of a guy trying to coerce Momo into having sex with him even though she clearly doesn't want to. The same episode/chapter directly puts this kind of behavior on par with rape and sexual assault by paralleling the time Momo kicked him to the time she kicks the rapist aliens so hard she breaks their space ship. It's very clear that the narrative's stance is that not only are rapists bad, the people who aren't legally rapists because they technically got "consent" first (through coercion) should be treated with the same level of disdain. This isn't the kind of thing that you write into a series without legitimately thinking about the dynamics of consent and bodily autonomy.

Continuing on: The series also touches on the double standard between male and female victims of sexual assault. Okarun gets laughed at for having his genitals stolen, and Seiko just does not believe Momo got abducted by aliens. This very clearly parallels how in real life people will believe male victims got assaulted, but their assault is also brushed off as not that important or something they "should've enjoyed" or a sign of weakness. Especially if the assaulter was a woman. Meanwhile female victims are usually accused of lying regardless of any evidence they provide. These two things hold constant in Seiko's reactions throughout Dandadan. She literally rides in a space ship but doesn't believe aliens are real, and even when she's helping Okarun she's usually also doing a bit at his expense.

Going even further, Dandadan also branches out into other forms of violations of bodily autonomy that aren't thought about as often. For the sake of the analysis I'm going to do bullet points regarding each character. Fair warning: There will be major spoilers here so if you haven't read the manga keep scrolling until you stop seeing bullet points.

Acro Silky: It's very easy to point out that she was a sex worker, but what I don't see is people talking about the other ways she had to sell her body to keep her and her daughter afloat. She worked in janitorial services (A lot of manual labor) and as a store clerk (A lot of standing). Individually these two jobs are not necessarily coercive, they're not great but they aren't pulling you into something you didn't know about from the start. The thing is though, none of these jobs pay enough by themselves for Acro-Silky to make a living, meaning none of them are properly compensating her for her manual labor. This is an instance of manufactured consent, while she technically agreed to take these jobs, it's clear that she wouldn't be working all of them unless she had to. This is kind of an expansion of the coercion from the guy in the first scene but on a societal level where Acro-Silky wasn't in the position to be able to say "No" and move on. As a result, her freedom is restricted. She can't spend nearly as much time with her daughter as she wants to and she can't afford to get her nice things either. To top it off, any time she did spend with her daughter she spent physically exhausted because of her work.

Mr. Shrimp: Similarly to Acro-Silky, Mr. Shrimp is forced into work he does not want to do because of limited options and the need to support his child. What sets him apart though is that he's a migrant worker and his employers physically abuse him because they can get away with it. This is an exact parallel to how migrant workers are treated in real life. He even goes to work on a farm and it's potrayed as him making an honest living to support his family which is exactly what the majority of migrant workers are trying to do. Mr. Shrimp doesn't technically "have to" work on a dairy farm now, but he chooses to enthusiastically because it's his only option that doesn't require him tk disregard his morals.

Jiji: Jiji is an example of bodily autonomy violations of minors in regards to medicine. This one is a bit more complicated so stick with me here. When the Evil Eye starts possessing Jiji, the adults around him unanimously agree it needs to be exorcised and start preparing for the ritual. When Jiji decides "Hey, actually I want to try to co-exist with him" Seiko is his only adult advocate, and even she turns around on the idea when the Evil Eye has a close call with Momo. This parallels how in real life adults will make decisions for the children in their care regardless of their wishes, and how even the adults trying to be accommodating will still go against the kids' wishes sometimes. It also does a good job of accurately capturing the nature of these disagreements too, because yeah the Evil Eye is a problem so it's understandable why all the adults want to just get rid of it even if Jiji doesn't agree. But Jiji's stance of "Yeah this will be a pain but it's one I want to deal with" is also understandable. Like, imagine instead of an exorcism we're talking about getting an amputation that would be technically helpful but isn't strictly necessary.

Vamola: One of Vamola's initial goals when she's introduced is to find a strong man and have kids with him. This isn't something she actually wants to do but is something she has been obliged to do because she is one of the few survivors of a planetary genocide. She has been marked as her people's only chance at a continued survival because the rest of her people are too old to have children. Her mother and the rest of the surviving Sumerians gave everything they had to get her off planet safely as "the last thing left on Sumer to defend" so she has unfathomable amounts of pressure and survivor's guilt to go out and have kids. She doesn't get to figure out if she wants to have kids or not, that's just something that has already been made up to her and her only choice now is with who. Luckily, the story currently has her in a position where she can have peers, a (comparatively) normal life, and she doesn't have to think of her mother's request for a while. But even if it's not the primary focus in her life right now it's still there.

Rin: At a very young age Rin was forced into the role of caretaker. With a bedridden grandmother, a deceased father, and a mother who had to work long hours to make ends meet, Rin had to learn to be independent fast. She was basically forced to, otherwise her already unstable home life would break apart even further. To make things worse, Rin knows the predicament that she's in and her mother doesn't yet. Rin's mother thinks she "got lucky having such a good kid" and doesn't realize the pressure has gotten bad enough that Rin is already giving up on her passions to take care of her grandmother to give her mother a break. Mostly because Rin knows their family doesn't really have any other options and she doesn't want to place an even larger burden on her mother by adding more grief on top of it. It's essentially the "parent running themselves ragged to support their kid" story we've seen at least twice now but from the perspective of the child.

Zuma: Similar background to Rin where his father died and he took on a caretaker kind of role for his younger brother. Except his brother dies and this absolutely breaks his mother, to the point she commits suicide and tries to take him with her. Zuma is in the position where he has lost both his caretaker and the person he took care of, and he is fully aware of why that happened. This manifests as rebellion and him forming a gang that protects kids at his school from bullying and harrassment. He's becoming a caretaker again, but this time it is an active choice he has made. He doesn't technically have to start his gang or protect anyone, he has an adult taking care of him now and if he wanted to he could spend the rest of his highschool years stepping back and being a kid again. But he doesn't, and society labels him a delinquent for stepping in when the adults who should have didn't. This is another way that Dandadan shows how minors often have their opinions dismissed by adults who believe they know better.

Much shorter less spoilery rant:

Dandadan is a romcom. I have seen too many people complain about basic romcom shenanigans as if it's bad or generic writing instead of being genre conventions. "Ugh, there's a love triangle," Yes romcoms tend to have those. "Ugh, so many girls are into Okarun," Yes, and a lot of guys are into Momo, they both get romantic rivals because it's a romcom. "They keep going back to the romance and I don't like it," It's a romcom there's going to be heavy focus on the romance, you disliking that is a genre preference not a writing issue.

Like, do people not understand the concept of blended genres? Yeah this is a Shonen battle series but it's also one that has decided to be a largely character driven romcom. This is like someone walking into a horror comedy and walking out complaining that there were jokes and the horror would be better without them. The jokes are the point and the horror is a vehicle to get there. If you don't like jokes, go find a pure horror movie to watch.

[alwaysless]

Fellow William analyst, greetings! I hope you are well, I hope you don't mind a question/ask.

I am curious about your thoughts on the lack of reaction we see of Will at the "one life" reveal at the dinner scene, if you haven't already shared your thoughts before! We know Annabel wasn't shocked, but what about Will?

It took me longer to answer than I thought, sorry

I'm not sure I can say anything new, but yes, it's pretty damn suspicious. The composition of the frame stylized as broken glass, makes it easy to draw Will with everyone, and a frame later we see him with other panicking students, so RnF didn't show his reaction quite intentionally.

But I also want to talk about his behavior further. In the next episode, Will doesn't behave the way you expect him to. Given his weak-willed personality, it seems like he should be scared and overwhelmed by the prospect of a survival game (like Morella for example) but he's confused at best, and moreover, confused by everyone else's reactions. He even tries to justify the deans, basically gaslighting the rest of the students.

Will is not afraid, but he does not understand why others are. I have only two possible explanations: either he knew, or he just doesn't care, just like Annabel. Or maybe both.

Maybe he has played these games before. Maybe he doesn't plan to fight for a second life (at least not in Nevermore, again just like Annabel). Maybe because he is somehow connected with the academic staff with all his doll aesthetic, there is no second life for him in general, he just works there. There are many options, but here I would prefer to focus on his parallels with Annabel - two characters whose reactions we don't see in this frame.

This is actually not the only scene where they are absent, contrary to common sense. In episode 6 we see the merit board for the first time. Most of the names on it are blurred, but some can be distinguished. Among them are Lenore, Annabel, Duke, Morella, Ada, Prospero and Will. All of them, except Annabel and Will, are present in the room at this moment.

I wouldn't have paid much attention to this scene if it weren't for Prospero. Why is he there? He doesn't speak a single line, and we haven't been introduced to him as a character yet. His presence here is useless. So maybe the idea really was for all the characters whose names were visible on the board to be in the scene(or at least have already been introduced, like Annabel).

So what about Will? My main problem with shapeshifter characters is that they can be anyone, anywhere, at any point in the story. Especially if they can also create their own copies. He could have already been introduced and we just didn't notice.

Now let's talk about the games these kids love to play so much. We know that Annabel is a talented chess player, and Montresor constantly uses card game slang. But did you know that it was William Wilson from Poe's original story who was a cardsharper? I just think it's such an interesting detail. Nevermore`s Will has never been seen like this, but considering how much of a board game aesthetic this webtoon has, I think it's important to note this.

And finally, there is a similarity that also makes them very different: both Annabel and Will have ribbons as an essential symbol, but it has a completely opposite meaning for each of them. For Annabel, the ribbons are a symbol of madness, fear, and perhaps her golden cage. It appears in her hallucinations after Lenore's fake death, as well as when Ada shows her her main fear.

Will, on the other hand? The ribbons are his weapon. He uses them to tangle other people. Curious, although his spectre is obviously a marionette, he doesn't have a control bar for strings, he controls the strings himself (not always successful but still).

No matter how weak-willed Will is, he's the only one in Annabel's group who isn't influenced by her. She blackmails Montresor, Prospero respects her as a leader and friend, Ada admires and envies her. But she doesn't have anything on Will. In the chess allegory, he will obviously be a pawn (and I`ll write a whole post about it, I swear), but not Annabel's pawn. I have an idea that sooner or later, Montresor will think of using Will to find dirt on Annabel in revenge. After all, given their spectre abilities, it's easier for them to find out lenabel's secret.

So, let's summarize what we found. Absolutely nothing. This post turned out to be longer than I had planned, because I was a little carried away, but I hope you found something interesting for yourself in this stream of thoughts.

Here, take funny little Will everyone. He deserves to be noticed.

[causticsodaa]

Sakura and Suo stopping each other

That’s it. That’s the title of the post.

This probably isn’t intentional and is just me reading too into both of these scenes, but I speculate these particular moments in Chapter(s) 50 and 75 have many similarities + differences at the same time and could parallel each other, or at least show how Suo and Sakura’s relationship has subtly developed over time.

For starters, both of these scenes open with Sakura/Suo looking out for each other amidst their battle, with the other person too pre-occupied to notice their concern.

These scenes also involve someone losing control during their fight (with KEEL being Suo, and Roppo having Kanji almost punching Sakura)

Suo and Kanji are stopped; however, it is Sakura who restrains Suo, while Kanji gains back his self control before he can manage to hit Sakura.

Then we get a few pages of exposition which involves Sakura/Kanji refocusing their priorities (I’m being brief about this because this part isn’t that important right now lol)

It’s also important to note that Sakura’s allies were being overwhelmed before these two moments, causing him to be more alert/distressed:

And we have the obligatory dead wife flashbacks, of course.

The main thing that sets these scenes apart, however, is when Sakura and Suo interfere with each other, and the context behind it.

In KEEL, Sakura stops Suo from losing control, insisting that there are more important things to do rather than focusing on one person (even though Nirei had been hurt)

Though Suo questions Sakura at first, we can see how quickly his thoughts shift when Sakura admits that he’s really mad at himself [for failing as a leader].

We see Suo calming down the more Sakura talks (even though he tries to escape from his grasp in the middle of it). Suo soon rationalizes and agrees with Sakura, even teasing him in classic Suo fashion to deflect from his strong outburst earlier.

Then we get one out of the two meaningful introspections that we’ve received from Suo so far right after:

Keep in mind, most of Suo’s internal dialogue have consisted of one-off quips about the situation around him, with them being enclosed in thought bubbles.

We barely see any sort of meaningful internal dialogue from him otherwise (compared to the other prominent characters such as Nirei, Ume, Tsubaki, Endo, and Sakura who is the MC) This writing choice is probably deliberate in order to keep the mysterious/unknown aspect of his character consistent.

The only other time we see this from Suo is in Noroshi, and his introspection is, once again, about Sakura.

This moment in KEEL is not only important for Nirei and Sakura’s developments, but it is also highly important for Suo; especially because we see two hidden aspects of his character drawn out by Sakura and Nirei. In essence, Chapter 50 main focus is on Suo, a character who is so closed off and ambiguous, and brings him to the limelight (given that the chapters title is literally named ‘Extreme Emotions’, which refers to Suo’s outburst).

In Roppo Ichiza however, things are different. This scene mainly focuses on Sakura, since we constantly see his internal dialogue echo throughout the chapter.

When Kanji gives out his orders, we can see Sakura doubt himself, both internally and externally. Suo, being the observant person he is, probably picked up on this.

So when Kanji yells his cue, Suo immediately rushes to grab Sakura’s hand and drags him to Shizuka, instead of letting him follow Suo himself.

Unlike KEEL, this interaction is very blunt and straightforward. It is a simple one-pager, rather than the multiple paged dedicated to their previous confrontation in the shipyard. Though Sakura protests, Suo merely reassures him of their main objective, and Sakura just lets Suo take him away.

We even see Sakura verbally resisting, while Suo had physically resisted before.

But after Suo says his words, Sakura immediately doubts himself again, wishing that he could do more in this situation.

I believe that this contrasts Suo’s introspection back in Chapter 50. Though Suo looks up to Sakura and even feels that he can never compete with him, Sakura himself doesn’t even think he’s enough [as a person]. It really shows how the other people in Sakura’s life really respect him, while Sakura can’t even respect himself.

In the end, Suo and Sakura look out for each other in times of need, and guide each other when necessary despite resistance; a push and pull relationship.

Also, it’s really cute how Suo and Sakura didn’t even let go of each other in the next chapter. Like Shizuka is right there, what are you guys even doing lol

[lelengerine]

hi again this is the hyuck + serenade anon from earlier

how about r.e.m + hyuck?

͙͘͡★ parallel margins

song prompt. “i woke up from a nap on the train, and you were sitting across from me, sketching something—turns out, it was me, and now you look like you want the ground to swallow you whole.”

pairing. stranger!haechan x artist!reader

tags. somewhat of a train meet-cute, they’re a little awkward but i think its cute :0, gn!reader is used, pretty much it

wc. 1.3k words

notes. hii happy hyuckie day everyone <33 also to anonie, i changed the song to daisy by w2e and ik its different from the one requested but the prompt is still the same >< just didn't really want to promote kiof here after what the whole situation with them. still, i hope u enjoy reading this hehe !! 🩷 likes, reblogs, and feedback are very much welcome!

꒰ m.list | event m.list ꒱

you never really meant to stare.

it just… sort of happens… kinda.

something about public transit makes the world feel muffled—like the space between each person is padded by the hum of the train and the low flicker of station lights outside the window. you’re always tucked in the corner seat, sketchbook open on your lap, pencil smudging your fingertips as you search for something—someone—interesting to draw.

most people are easy to blur into lines and loose shapes. countless of pages in your sketchbook have been filled all kinds of shoes, slouched bags, crumpled up newspapers, but you find there’s something oddly intimate about drawing people specifically.

you’re drawn to the fleeting, the quiet curve of someone’s brow as they scroll through their phone, the weight of exhaustion in the way a student slumps against the window. oddly enough, it soothes you, sketching these stories you’ll never fully know.

people don’t usually notice and that’s part of the appeal.

at least it was… until him.

you notice him first by sound—the shuffle of shoes and the dull thud of a backpack slung down too fast. he slides into the seat across from you like the train belongs to him, like the world does. there’s a practiced ease to it, to him. his uniform matches yours—the same navy blazer, same stitched crest over his chest. 

so he goes to your school, you think.

you’ve never seen him before, but it’s his face that makes your fingers twitch—sharp lines softened by youth, dark hair tousled like he’s just woken up, like sleep still clings to the corners of his lashes, and delicate moles sprinkled on his skin that makes your eyes linger for longer than you’d ever admit—biding the time on the train by connecting them like some constellation in the sky.

you tell yourself you’ll only draw one sketch, but that promise quickly wilts in your throat. 

turns out, you’re a really good liar.

you become familiar with him in pieces—eyelids half-lowered, the crease between his brows when he’s lost in thought, the exact curve of his lower lip when he exhales. and maybe it’s strange, the way you know the dip of his collarbone better than the sound of his voice, but art teaches you how to see things other people miss.

he always sits in the same place and so do you—figures parallel from one another like some unspoken routine. 

you’d always draw him, and he’d always be dozing off in his own world, but for some reason, today, he looks back. it’s not dramatic. no gasp, no double-take. just a quiet locking of eyes—his, round and unreadable. yours, wide and startled mid-sketch like a deer caught in headlights. 

for a second, neither of you move and that’s how you find yourself holding in a breath without even realizing.

his brows raise subtly, but there’s a flicker of something you can’t quite name. you drop your gaze instantly, heart hammering against your ribs like it wants out—fingers fumbling to turn the pages of your sketchbook as you try to close it shut and press your knees together in embarrassment. 

the next day, he doesn’t come.

nor the day after that.

you realize just how much space he occupied in your mornings now, even though his usual seat was currently taken by another person. it felt odd finding another subject to draw after you’ve become used to sketching his face, your hand itching to draw its usual strokes with the vivid memory you have of him, but you suppose it was your fault. 

you got caught after all. it was completely understandable to avoid your presence—you would have done the same after knowing someone was constantly staring at you for the entirety of their train ride.

but then, on a random, soft-lit tuesday, he’s there again and that alone surprises you. he boards like he always does, but this time he doesn’t sit across from you.

no. this time, he sits beside you.

your entire body tenses. his presence is loud, even in the silence. you smell something citrusy, warm—maybe his cologne, maybe his shampoo, maybe both. your eyes dart to the floor before you even register it, suddenly aware of your own heartbeat once more.

“hey.”

you flinch at the sound of his voice—low and a little husky with sleep, but there’s something strangely careful about the way he says it, like he doesn’t want to scare you off.

“you don’t have any beef with me, right?”

you blink, turning to him slowly. “what?”

“you’ve been staring at me all week,” he points out, a lazy grin gracing his lips after gauging your reaction. “thought i did something to piss you off.”

your throat starts drying up the moment you open your mouth to speak. “oh my god, no. i—” an evident crack reaches your voice and you want to melt into the train seat, into the floor, into anywhere but here. “i wasn’t staring like that! i just… i draw people.”

“you draw people?”

you nod, heart thudding painfully against your ribs. “yeah. on the train. usually the quiet ones …pretty ones.”

you regret the words the second they leave your mouth, but he just nods, pondering about it as if your words were something to decipher. “so… you’ve been drawing me?”

there was no point in lying—your silence being enough of a confession. he watches you for a moment, eyes flicking to the sketchbook still clutched in your lap.

“can i see?” he asks, casual, like he’s just asking to borrow a pencil.

“you… want to see the sketches?”

he shrugs, but there’s a glint in his eye now, something playful. “i mean, you’ve been staring at me like i’m a museum exhibit. least you could do is show me the art.”

your fingers hover over the cover, hesitant. it feels like too much—like peeling back your ribs and letting him peek at what’s been quietly blooming underneath all this time. still, you nod, slowly.

with an awkward stiffness in your movement, you flip the pages. one. two. then another. he doesn’t say anything for a while, but you can feel his gaze tracing every line, every shadow, every breath of him you’ve breathed into paper, and it feels like standing naked under a spotlight—raw and trembling, afraid of what he’ll say now that he’s seen you in this way. “you’re really good, you know?”

“...thanks, i try!” he chuckles a little—not because your words were genuine, but because they felt like you were reading a textbook on how to respond to him.

he offers you just a final nod, still browsing at your sketchbook and you think that’s the end of this sudden conversation as the train starts to slow to your stop.

you close the sketchbook without a word, pressing it gently shut like it’s something fragile. he stands when you do, stretching a little, like this is just another morning for him. you, on the other hand, feel like you’ve just handed someone your diary.

before you can stand up from your seat, his voice catches you again—low, but smug in a way that’s new to you who’s only ever seen him being solemn in the morning.

“so,” he says, tilting his head, “what happens if i sit next to you again tomorrow? do i still get drawn?”

you blink, then scoff under your breath. “that depends. you planning to keep talking through the whole sketch or what?”

“depends,” he shoots back, hands casually in his pockets now. “you planning to keep staring like that?”

your face warms, but you roll your eyes to cover it up. “i wasn’t staring. i was studying.”

“right,” he says, grinning now. “for artistic purposes only.”

you’re about to come up with a snarky reply, but the train doors slide open and he nudges your arm gently before stepping out ahead of you.

“my name’s haechan, by the way!” he calls over his shoulder, turning just enough to flash a wink. “i’ll make sure to sit somewhere flattering tomorrow."

perhaps you’ve misjudged him. 

some quiet, pretty boy on the train? him?

not a chance.

you hover for a second at the thought, caught between wanting to groan and downplaying a smile from your lips, before catching up to him and suggesting to walk to campus together.

[ireneaesthetic]

Pointing out little moments and details of scenes that need to be remembered.

"i can show you" scene • episode 1

the first wille’s smile of the season and simon is the one and only reason for it to happen *act surprised*.

he has no rush but takes his time to enjoy simon’s presence, looking from afar first and then approaching him. just having him there is enough to make him This happy.

the casual gestures of fixing the jacket or bumping into the shoulder make me melt - just typical boyfriends things and we absolutely praise them in this house!

wille's flirtatious mood in this whole sequence is the best thing that could've happened to me - to simon too! the "i can show you", the whispering, the head's nod. he's still my fav loser but oh how much he has learned and stepped up the game.

also, i genuinely think not showing them holding hands here with a wider shot is a crime.

such a perfect parallel of the fish scene and they're probably reminded of that too: this time it's wilhelm's bedroom and a foreign place for simon, so he's the curious one - looking around and taking the space in - while wille simply waits for him.

simon's "mysigt" to describe the room, just like wilhelm did. it is another special moment for both of them.

this. this. this!!! claim a s3 moment as your own - this is mine.

to me it is the most seductive and romantic one they've ever shared hands down. it comes straight out of a fanfic.

the tension, the longing, the chemistry, the flirting. there's so much to unpack here: wille's breath is literally vibrating and simon's presence is so intense, he builds up the tension and keeps wilhelm waiting for his next move in the most endearing way - wille is also leaning into his hand at the end. there's no talking, they're barely touching but still filling the room with all the passion and attraction they feel for one another - this is actually insanely scripted and portrayed.

no thoughts head empty just simon's tongue and his hands through wille's hair (he's obsessed, excuse him!).

and it kinda seems like simon is getting pulled closer by the waist or he's pushing himself closer - either way it's hot soo

simon's little leg lift and him pinning wille down on the bed by the wrist right before the cut - they're comfortable and open and so playful with each other. wilhelm's hand that caresses simon's back is very much important too.

simon caressing wille's cheek (he has to return the favor ig) and wilhelm leaning up again when they interrupt the kiss.

these brief moments are the cutest. i love how they stay so close and can't stop tracing each other's features.

the nose rub. the mirrored smiles. they've missed and wanted this for so long and they're taking the most of it.

this whole scene is so passionate and they're both so touchy bc they were clearly waiting for this to happen - during a meeting at the palace might not be the greatest scenario, but the thrill that comes with it is definitely something.

i like the role play throughout the scene sm: wille initiates the first kiss, simon is the one taking the lead next and then it all comes back to wille rolling them over and taking initiative. the neck action is a serious thing for him and idk where his hand would've ended up if they hadn't been interrupted - and we do! love! all of it!

they're laughing over the fact that they were not caring about anything at all but spending quality time with each other. and they deserve it so freaking much.

look at them!!! this is not a subtle look bc they simply do not care anymore. i adore them your honor.

[multifandumbmeg]

Can we take a moment to appreciate how well-written Thunderbolts* was?

First of all, having the characters all meet in the burn-bag facility with the old classic "Locked Room" scenario?? Genius. It's the only way a messy group of people like this would work together, but it also provides the opportunity for them all to talk, which shows us who they all are- their character synopsis if you're unfamiliar (like I was with Ghost for example), their personalities, and their initial relationships to each other. I feel like no other Marvel movie that I can remember has the characters openly acknowledge being aware of each other prior to meeting (except maybe Black Panther to Cap in Civil War, I think?). But it makes perfect sense that they all (except Bob, who was a normie, drug addict not invested in news, and a secluded lab rat for who knows how long) would have heard of each other. Which also means they're coming in with pre-conceived notions about each other and their line of work. Except. Bob. Which means he only picks up on what other people do, and they say about each other. This sets him to get a particularly bad picture of Walker and a particularly positive one of Yelena. The first sin or poor personality trait of hers he's introduced to is her shame room, but obviously he can see her pain and guilt (maybe even feel it) which only makes their bond stronger because he relates.

When I first saw the movie, I thought the start was a bit slow and maybe it should have just begun with the burn-bag infiltration, but after thinking about it I realized why that whole Yelena mission is in there. Not just to show her reckless depression (they could have done that countless ways, if less grandiose than jumping off the world's tallest building) or give her that opening monologue. Not even to blow up the lab. It was all to foreshadow Bob. The lab, the locked back room full of secrets, and of course the guinea pig- I didn't really get this at first since we never see it again. But then I realized the whole reason it's there is god-tier foreshadowing of what Yelena's purpose in this entire film is- to rescue Bob. They had to show the lab at the beginning of the movie because it's not only the location of the final showdown, which only would have made sense to Bob otherwise, but to foreshadow the true villain of the whole affair. Not Bob, trauma.

And the parallels?? I'm just now catching up seeing all the incredible posts people are putting together of the callbacks and parallels to the original avengers and character backstories. Like Bucky showing up to join/save the group by rocking up and shooting the bomb gun which was exactly how he was first introduced as the Winter Soldier. Walker saying "On your left" like he's still trying and failing to be Cap after everything. People have made very convincing arguments about hundreds of tiny allusions tying each Thunderbolt to an original Avenger, as if specifically taking up the mantle of their position in the group.

Obviously I don't have to get into the messaging. Fucking heart-wrenching, beautifully done, and they let the metaphors speak for themselves instead of screaming the answer at the audience like we're a bunch of drooling morons, which damn-near impossible to find in non-indie media these days. The mental illness and general trauma representation in this movie were so damn good. I loved that everyone's sort of got their own brand or archetype of it- just like everyone in the real world reacts differently to trauma. Recklessness, depression, rage, self-isolation and emotional detachment, burying yourself in the glory days, control issues (I'm looking at you Valentina) self-destruction. The gang's all here.

I just wanted to get that out. Respect for the artistry. Respect for them letting us have artistry again for once.

[novelmonger]

I wasn't expecting it to take this long, but after a million distractions, I'm back to going through the LotR audio commentaries and taking note of any interesting tidbits I haven't heard before.

Please enjoy my notes on the RotK design team commentary with Richard Taylor, Tania Rodger, Grant Major, Alan Lee, John Howe, Dan Hennah, and Chris Hennah:

They had to make Deagol's ears out of waterproof gelatin rather than latex because he was going to fall in the water, and the normal latex ears would have come off. I guess they must have done the same any other time a Hobbit got submerged, but they didn't say that.

The fish that Gollum eats at the beginning is made from some kind of edible gelatin so he could actually bite into it. They also had another prop fish that wasn't edible that they gave Andy Serkis to keep at the end XD

The little stone hollow thing where Frodo and Sam are sleeping for their first scene in the movie was a set they built with a removable back wall so they could get a camera in to shoot it from the back as well as the front. Why did I never think of that before?

There were a couple of extra shots they needed of Orthanc in the background to finish up the movie, but they hadn't managed to get the footage from the miniatures (and I guess the miniatures were gone by that point? idk). So they took one of the model collectibles Weta had made and took some photos of it out in the parking lot XD

Whoooooaaaa! Okay, so Alan Lee talks about how, in legends, they say that you have to kill a wizard three times for him to stay dead. And Saruman dies "three times" - first he's stabbed, then he's impaled, then he's drowned. So Saruman is dead dead. Dare I say it? This is...I think this is a better death than the one in the book ._.

They even put carvings on the crossbeams underneath the seats of the chairs in Edoras! You are never ever going to see them, but that was their dedication to making everything feel authentic. That's what sets this apart from so many fantasy movies and shows made these days.

Red in the costumes is meant to suggest royalty. That's why Aragorn, Boromir, Theoden, and Theodred all have red in their costumes - as well as Bilbo and Frodo! You're meant to look at someone wearing red and unconsciously think, "there's something regal about them."

John Howe points out that you probably wouldn't ever reforge a sword like they do with Narsil, at least not in the sense of putting the pieces back together, because it wouldn't be as strong as it was originally. (You could melt it down and start over again, of course.) But, he reminds us, these are the Elves, and it's more of a symbolic thing anyway.

The great hall in Minas Tirith was inspired by Charlemagne's chapel (and Byzantine architecture was one of the main influences on the design of Gondor in general).

The statue of the king in Ithilien was made out of polystyrene, which you would think would be pretty light, but it was so huge it was actually very heavy. They had to transport it to the location in three pieces: the base, the body, and the head. And to lift one on top of each other, they had to rig a sort of pulley system over the limb of a tree, using a four-wheel drive truck to pull it. But they discovered that the first truck wasn't getting enough traction, so they hooked a second truck up to it, and ended up pulling the first truck up into the air along with the statue!

They created fourteen new weapons just to put in the background of the armory in the scene where the Witch-King is getting ready for battle @_@

John Howe said that his inspiration for Minas Morgul was...getting his wisdom teeth pulled??? He describes a metal clamp digging into the perfectly healthy enamel of his tooth to pull it out, and draws a parallel to the metal pieces the orcs fitted to the top of the pristine white parapets, staining and violating them. Um...thanks, I could've done without that visual, John.

I can't believe I never thought about this before, but there's a little wooden roof over the pile of wood for the beacon that Pippin lights. The reasoning behind that is you need some kind of cover to keep the wood more or less dry for when it needs to be lit in an emergency. The beacon will burn away the wooden roof, but it can be replaced easily enough, and it's worth it to be able to quickly light the beacon.

A lot of the saddles they used were ordered from the Indian military, because they had a good, old-fashioned sort of look to them. Then they would add onto the saddles with things that would make them look distinctly Rohirric, rather than Indian.

Alan Lee's daughter worked on some of the figures in the doors of Minas Tirith!

John Howe goes off on this whole tangent about how there's no religion or religious structures in Middle-Earth, and why that might be, but the whole time I was just sitting there going, "...have you never read The Silmarillion????"

Because they had to make over a hundred suits of Gondorian armor, other than the hero suits, they couldn't make each one exactly the right size for the man who would wear it, so the casting department had to only get actors within a certain range of size. They also built the suits of armor with sliding pieces, so they could be somewhat fitted to different sizes.

The horses started out as being part of the art department's responsibility, but as time went on, there were just so many horses they had to keep track of (and the various liveries they would have to be fitted out with) that they had to make a separate horse department to oversee it all.

Because so much of the movie was filmed on-location, in some very remote locations, they had to make a sort of caravan of mobile repair stations that they could take with them. They had all the tools and crew necessary on hand wherever they went so they could repair broken props or ripped costumes, reapply makeup for gore and injuries, take nicks out of the edge of weapons.... It was really like moving an army around!

For the dream where the Evenstar breaks, they made a version of it that was five times bigger than normal, out of a very brittle resin. Then they made an oversized section of the floor and dropped it from a great height so it would completely shatter in a dramatic way like that.

Anduril was John Howe's design. He based it on a sword belonging to a friend of his in Germany, which to him is the ideal sword, the most beautiful sword. He also talked a bit about how Men were taller and bigger in the First and Second Ages, so their swords would have been longer.

John Howe: "Why do people criticize Tolkien for not developing his characters sufficiently? I cannot fathom that kind of criticism. I think it's done by people who don't read between the lines."

Richard Taylor said they had a lot of fun gathering up all the skulls after each take in the Paths of the Dead to put back up at the top so they could be poured down again. Apparently Viggo liked to gather them up and try to throw them at the crew members! "Many hours of skullduggery was to be had," as Richard put it XD

Apparently, they'd made dozens of really finely detailed silicone heads to be lobbed over the wall of Minas Tirith, but then all but one of them were stolen! So they had to quickly put together some crude latex ones to use in the shoot instead (one of which the mayor of Wellington threw). They didn't talk about this, but I'm assuming the one good head that was left is the one that gets a close-up. You have to wonder who out there was sitting around with a bunch of highly realistic latex severed heads in his basement or something....

While most of the siege towers are miniatures or CG, they built the top third of one and put it on tracks so they could move it up against the wall. They built the set with breakable ramparts for when the little drawbridge thing crashes down.

They had the same trouble in Minas Tirith that they did in Helm's Deep, with the battering ram being too heavy for the stunties to lift. But they never actually explained how they got around that problem, if it was the same solution or not :/ All they said was that they had replaceable panels in the doors, in case they were damaged by the battering ram.

In order to make Shelob's webs, they had to heat up two polymers and mix them together to make the stringy, sticky material. In order to mix them, they had to be heated up to 220 degrees C, but if they got up to 228 degrees, they would burst into flame @_@ After they were heated and mixed, they would dribble the mixture on top of a vat of water, where it would cool in spiderweb-like shapes. Then they would lift it out on a frame, and they could carefully place it on the set. One time, the polymers did burst into flame, and they were running out of fire extinguishers to put it out! O.O Eventually, they did call the fire department, who said they'd done everything the fire department would have done. They got the fire put out, but it was a nerve-wracking moment, because the room where they were making the webs was connected to the studio, so it could have been disastrous D:

Bernard Shaw apparently got the idea to do that whole bit where he knocks his sword against the row of spears when he saw the collection of spears all lined up in a row in the art department.

The "oil" that Denethor pours over himself and Faramir is a mixture of glycerin and water. (I always wonder about these things, so I'm really glad they mentioned it.)

When they were filming the pyre scene, they had a silicone dummy for Faramir on the burning pyre. Apparently somebody on the crew brought "David Wenham" a cup of coffee over because they thought he'd fallen asleep on the side of the set, only to discover that it was a dummy! XD

The horse rig they made for close-up work of people on horseback got affectionately nicknamed "the Phony Pony." The first day they brought it on set, Peter Jackson got up on it and "rode" the horse, making the whole crew laugh XD

One of the ideas that Peter Jackson came up with for the mumakil in a brainstorming session (which Richard Taylor says he's still not sure if PJ was serious about or not) was that they could suck up several riders in its trunk and then fire them out like bullets. I'm...really glad they didn't go with that, whether PJ was serious or not <_<

Alan Lee says that the first time he saw the dead mumakil that Weta made for the set, the body was hollow, and some of the crew had set up a TV inside it and were watching a rugby game XD

The last miniature they built for LotR was the Minas Tirith docks where the Corsair ships come in. It kept getting put off until almost the end of the shoot, so they only had five days to put it together! @_@

All of the dead horses are fake, of course, so Weta had to make them all. They were made of lightweight material, so each day you'd see the set dressers just kind of casually carrying in a whole dead horse and then picking one up from the battlefield afterwards like it's no big deal. They had to do a lot of repairs to the dead horses, because the legs and ears kept falling off or getting bent the wrong way XD

The stone Watchers in Cirith Ungol have Maori influence in their design. I wish they'd talked about that in more detail, but it was just mentioned in passing.

They were concerned about the various copies of the One Ring being stolen, so they kept it in a lunchbox that was labeled "Screws."

The scene where Frodo and Sam join the orc convoy was filmed on location up on a mountain, so they had to deal with a whole bunch of extras in extensive prosthetics and armor, which would make them sweat while they were moving around, but then when the camera wasn't rolling, it would be a challenge to keep them warm. The way they did most of the orcs was that they wore a rubber mask and then a helmet, and they would need to take them off at regular intervals so the actors could get some air. So in between takes, after the director called, "Cut!" there would also be a cry of, "Heads off!" That meant the dressers would have to rush into the crowd and quickly take off the extras' helmets and masks XD

Because the crew was committed to not damaging any of the flora and fauna in the places where they were filming, even in the location that became the plains of Mordor that Frodo and Sam struggle across, there were little flowers and moss that they wanted to protect (and it was a national park). So they would lay down carpets on the ground for people to walk on, so they wouldn't damage the plant life. I'm sure that made for a strange sight, Frodo and Sam struggling in tattered clothing over rocks and boulders, surrounded by perfectly ordinary rugs XD

To do the decapitation of the Mouth of Sauron, they had a headless dummy sitting there, and Viggo would swipe his sword where the head should be. Then Weta Digital put in the head afterwards.

The lava in Mount Doom was mostly a miniature (except for the set where Sean and Elijah did their part), made from methyl cellulose and other things to make it look like lava. They set it up on a table that they would tilt so it would flow down around the model boulders made from urethane.

Richard Taylor said that, at that time, no one had really done a very good CG bird, so he was especially pleased at how the eagles turned out.

There were about 400 people working in the art department total, and most of them had never worked in the film industry before! @_@

Ngila Dickson's philosophy for the Elves was that none of their "crowns" or headpieces would go upwards, but would fit close around their heads and then go down. That's one of those things I've subconsciously noticed all these years, but never really thought about before.

Apparently, a little bit of the graphite used on Aragorn's armor in the coronation scene kind of puffed out when he and Arwen go in for their kiss, and got on Arwen's dress D: And some well-meaning person tried to rub it off, but only succeeded in spreading it around further, thus ruining the dress. And most of the female characters only had one copy of each costume, because all except for Eowyn don't see battle and thus don't need different versions with varying amounts of wear and tear. They're just made to wear in one or two scenes of them looking pretty and walking through a room. But alas, that lovely green dress was ruined.

They didn't have much time with Sir Ian Holm, so they only had a week to get a mold of his face and make the old-age prosthetics for the Grey Havens. But then word came down that he didn't want to have prosthetics, so they were to just make him look old with makeup. They were really disappointed, but then on the day, Ian Holm saw the prosthetics sitting off in the corner and asked what it was. When they explained, he said it wasn't true, and insisted on them putting the prosthetics on instead.

One thing that was really impressed upon me during this whole commentary (over all three movies) was just how much love and joy all of the crew had for the project. Sometimes you watch a movie or read a book that really means a lot to you, that's changed your life, and you wonder if the people who made it fully grasp what a beautiful thing they've created. These people know. They were fully aware, from start to finish, that they were making something truly great and worthy of praise. And I think that's beautiful.

[ethereousdelirious]

Publishing a casual request from @fangusfungs ! I am a month late teehee

Okay so, I kind of went insane when I was researching for this oneshot. I TOTALLY FORGOT that Hala takes Guzma under his wing after SuMo/USUM and that made my brain go BRRRR, but it's also entirely NOT what you asked for sooo what I did was write TWO oneshots that are meant to sort of thematically parallel each other

1) Post-canon, Guzma gets sick after babysitting some kids with norovirus, Hala looks after him. This one is more fluffy, which is not at all what you asked for, which is why I put it first, so it's more easily skimmed

2) The actual request! (For my other readers: Nanu "detains" Guzma to keep him from passing on norovirus to the rest of Shady House)

Basically uhhh yeah I thought it would be fun to use Hala and Nanu as narrative tools to explore Guzma's character development pre- and post-canon. And also make Guzma puke a lot 💕

Thank you for the request! I've been a big fan of yours since like 2015 😁 I hope you like the fill(s)!

I

Plumeria had that look in her eye. That squinty, hard look that usually meant she was about to tell Guzma it was his turn to take out the trash, even though everyone in Shady House knew that he was above all that stuff.

But the Shady House days were behind them, and besides, what was there to argue about?

Guzma's stomach lurched, as it had been all morning, and Plumeria's look grew more suspicious.

“Jeeze, Plumes, what?” Guzma looked away from her, to the retreating form of the island challenger they'd just seen off. “You're lookin’ at me like I just stole your wallet.”

She looked at him a moment longer, then shook her head. “Forget it.” She started back to the mansion that had once been Shady House. The hostel thing had been Plumes’ idea, once Hala had explained how squatters’ rights worked. The whole place was barely recognizable now, bright with the fresh coat of paint Hala and Guzma had applied.

Guzma's stomach turned again as he turned to follow her, his heels dragging on the flagstone. “Plumes, what? Don't you hold out on me.”

She stopped suddenly, her hair whipping around her. “Are you feeling okay? I noticed you're looking pale.”

Okay, well, that was pointed— Another cold wave of nausea crashed over Guzma. Oh, she'd just been giving him shit about not washing his hands. He couldn't stop the shudder that ran over him, couldn't stop the nasty pressure through his guts. “Don't worry about— Ulk!” He gagged, knocking shoulders with her as he doubled over. “Fuck—” Another gag, stronger. He turned to the side and just barely missed painting Plumeria's tennis shoes with a long stream of bile. “Hrk—”

With a sigh, Plumeria took him by the arm and moved him down a few steps, pushing down on his shoulders to make him sit.

Guzma folded like a lawn chair, curling his elbows around the backsides of his knees. Pain rippled through his stomach, and the Alolan breeze cooled the sweat on his brow.

“I told you to wash your hands more.” Plumeria smacked the back of his head, though not very hard. “You don't take care of six vomiting kids and not wash your hands before you eat.”

“Man, lay off.” Guzma sighed and pressed his head to his hands. He probably wasn't sick, anyway. Probably just ate a bad malasada or something.

“Don't you go sneaking off anywhere,” Plumeria said sharply. She brought her hand down as if to smack Guzma again, then let it rest on top of his head, fingers pushing through his hair. “And don't you argue with me. I'm calling Hala to pick you up.”

“Plume— Nnk—” Another gag, and a wave of tears to Guzma's eyes. He wiped them away and shut his mouth.

—

Hala came by Charizard, and called another for Guzma, having seen firsthand what the ferry did to him, even on relatively calm waters. Even still, Guzma was swallowing back thick mouthfuls of salt-tinged saliva by the time they touched down in front of Hala's house.

He dismounted roughly, and the painful shock of his feet slamming into the ground had him staggering for the bushes. He dry-gagged into the dirt, fingers curling into the bark of some tree casting a shadow over Hala's house. “Unnngh…” A long stream of saliva dripped onto the roots, and cramps jerked outward through his stomach and deep down into his guts.

“My boy.” Hala's voice came close, though not too close. “Come inside with me.”

“One, uh… Hk— One second, old man.” Guzma stared at the ground, his free arm wrapped tight around his middle. The waistband of his sweatpants, usually loose around his hips, dug into the soft flesh of his belly. He shoved it down, tugging ineffectually at the knotted drawstring when the taut fabric stubbornly stayed put.

Hala made one of his old man noises, a breathy grunt through his nose. “Are you alright?” His feet shuffled in the dirt, getting closer.

With a groan, Guzma forced himself to straighten, though he couldn't quite get his weight off the tree. “I'm not some punk kid, alright? I'm fine.”

Still, he let Hala lead him into the house and sit him down on the couch. The old man lived alone, and split his time between this house and Hau's parents’ place. Kahuna duties must have been slow this week, because he had a bunch of fishing equipment and magazines all over the living room.

Guzma fell onto the couch and leaned forward to hold his stomach, which was starting to cramp like he'd taken a hard kick dead center, right in the softest part of his belly. A glossy fisherman leered up at him from one of Hala's magazines.

“Stay put,” Hala rumbled, after beaming Guzma for a long moment.

Guzma just grunted. A particularly sharp pain shot out from behind his waistband, and he scrabbled at the knot until the ends came loose in his hands. He shoved the waistband down below the irritated bloat of his guts and kept his hand there. Fuck this. Hala obviously had some ideas about babying him, keeping him from crawling off under the porch and dying like a dog…

Hala's heavy tread preceded him by a few songs, his footfalls rattling the pictures on the walls. Usually, he was good about not getting up in Guzma's business. Today, he came up next to him, towering over him on the couch, and held out a thermometer. “Take this.”

Guzma looked around. Before him, Hala's impenetrable bulk. Everywhere else, the rest of the couch and the coffee table boxed him in. Nowhere to go. Golisopod might be able to— “Mmph!” Hala had shoved the thermometer under his tongue.

“It wasn't a request,” Hala said.

Guzma's hand twitched, but he managed to suppress the rude gesture against his belly. Fuck it. If Hala wanted to spend a few days cuddling him, what did he care? Maybe Team Skull had disbanded. Maybe Plumeria had gone her own way. But Guzma was always gonna be Guzma, no matter what. He'd never go soft.

The thermometer beeped. Hala looked at it, then squinted at Guzma. “You have a slight fever. You'd better lie down.”

“Or what?” Guzma managed. He almost wished for the thermometer again, anything to mask the sour taste in his mouth.

Hala raised an eyebrow. “Or you'll be miserable. You could make yourself worse.”

“Whatever. Just show me where, old man.”

A long silence stretched out. Hala seemed to grow larger, somehow, his presence spilling across the living room, his bulk compressing Guzma's chest.

“...Please,” Guzma added sourly.

Hala nodded. “Come. I'll put you in my guest bedroom.”

—

There wasn't much to do in Hala's quiet old house. He brought Guzma a stack of fishing magazines, hauled in an old CRT TV along with a stack of DVR'ed martial arts tournaments on tape. He kept checking in every half hour or so, bringing Guzma water and crackers to try.

Guzma slept a bit, watched shirtless dudes try to kill each other until the grainy TV screen gave him a headache, made an obnoxious number of trips to the bathroom, tried to ignore the mounting pain in his gut.

It got worse and worse, until at last, he curled up on his side, gasping. He'd been sick before and it had never hurt like this, but now the cramps might as well have been claws. He shuddered, fingers digging into the loose fabric of his T-shirt.

After a long, long moment, Hala's booming footfalls grew louder and then stopped, followed by the shuffle of bare feet sliding across hardwood.

“Lift your head,” Hala said, his booming voice softened to a rumble.

Guzma blinked his eyes open. Hala got closer slowly, giving him time to protest. Guzma didn't. The mere notion of doing anything that might jar his stomach was absolutely unthinkable. He wasn't moving.

“Hold still.” Gently, Hala slid a cool hand under Guzma's head and lifted it, then pressed a pill to Guzma's tongue. His hand withdrew, then returned with a water glass.

Guzma swallowed. The pill stuck in his dry throat, and he had to keep swallowing and swallowing, draining the glass though his stomach made constant groans of protest at the intrusion. “What was that?” he mumbled.

“Something for the pain.” Hala stepped back and crossed his arms. “You're pale as a sheet, my boy. Why didn't you ask for help?”

Guzma scoffed.

Hala's expression hardened. “Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. True weakness is refusing to be weak.”

“That… Unh…” Nausea. Deep and urgent. “That doesn't mean anything… old man…” Guzma pressed a hand to his mouth. He had to keep that pill down. His stomach lurched and he drew his knees in tighter, swallowing down a gag with effort. “You can g— Hk! Go.”

“I don't think so.” Hala leaned forward again and sat him up as easily as he might move a child. “There. Put your head between your legs.”

As if he had much choice. Guzma couldn't straighten up if his life depended on it. He closed his eyes and panted, choking on the weak gags forcing their way up his throat. No… no.

Something pressed into his chest. He cracked his eyes open. A trash can. “Just go,” Guzma demanded, his voice shaky.

A warm hand on his back. “I'll be nearby. Call for me if you need something. Do not go without.”

Hala, bafflingly, stroked Guzma's back before shuffling out. Guzma pressed his lips together, to no avail. His stomach gave an almighty lurch, and a hot wave of vomit spilled over his tongue, past his lips, made an awful sound against the bottom of the trash can. His ribs burned with the force of another contraction. He vomited again, this time with a pathetic little cry: “Unh—!”

Head spinning, stomach aching, he fell back against the pillows. The room whirled around him, his sore stomach the only point of stillness.

Steadiness came back to Guzma by degrees, and on its heels, a sensation of total exhaustion. He turned his head toward the door and the room rocked again, warning him against getting up.

“H-Hala?” His voice was nothing but a croaked, his throat burning with the effort to speak. “Hala?”

Booming footsteps again.

Hala came in with hands full, made Guzma rinse his mouth and spit. He pressed a hot water bottle to Guzma's stomach, took the trash can away, mopped the sweat off Guzma's face.

He had a soft white cloth folded in his hand, dampened with warm water. He ran it gently over Guzma's eyebrows and temples and cheeks, soothing away the awkward, sticky feeling of dried sweat on his skin.

Guzma should have killed him for it. He wanted to. Call Masquerain, sneak attack… He was just so tired. “I don't—” Guzma caught Hala's wrist when he tried to pull back, the cloth hanging loose in his hand. “I don't need any of this.”

“No,” Hala agreed. “You don't.”

“M'still big, bad Guzma.”

Astonishingly, Hala smiled and rested a warm hand on Guzma's shoulder. “I know you could tough this out. You probably have before, haven't you?”

“‘Course.”

Hala looked at him for a long moment. “There's no pride in unnecessary suffering, not even your own.”

“Sure, but—”

Hala shook his head. “Rest now. If you need something, call me. If not for your own sake, then for mine.”

“Yours?”

“Because if you vomit in my hallway, I'm the one who has to clean it up.” Hala chuckled and dragged the cloth along Guzma's brow, unsticking some of the hair which had matted there. “I'll come back to check on you.”

He got up slowly, with the stiffness of an old fighter. Guzma opened his mouth, moved by something he didn't even know how to name. “Old man.”

Hala paused in the doorway. “Yes?”

“I— You— You won't make me soft, okay?”

“Of course not.” Hala turned away. “Rest well, Guzma.”

II

Shady House had a rule.

Well, Shady House had a lot of rules, because sometimes Guzma got an idea for a good one, and sometimes he forgot some, and sometimes a little runt was smacking his gum way too loud and he had to instate a “spit that fucking gum out when Guzma tells you to or he'll put you in a headlock and take it” rule.

The rule Plumeria had just brought up was one that came around like clockwork every rainy season: “Any member of Team Skull who pukes must quarantine until Guzma or Plumeria says so.”

All she'd said was, “Quarantine rule,” but that was enough.

Guzma glared at her, fingers clenching around the mop pen he'd been examining. He let go of it and let it clatter into the pile on Plumeria's bed. “I didn't throw up.”

“I'm not stupid, G.” She sat up in her chair and rolled her eyes. “I heard that noise your stomach just made.”

“Maybe I'm hungry.” He'd always had a noisy stomach, loudly declaring hunger or digestion or sickness. Today, it was a queasy churning, but Plumeria didn't have to know that.

She cocked her head at him like a Salazzle on the offensive, like she already did know “Are you hungry? You barely touched your breakfast.”

Aw, shit. And that, she would know; they'd gone down to the corner store together and she'd watched him chuck his musubi at a Raticate not 10 minutes after stealing it. “Look—” Guzma began, but his stomach cut him off with a long, low growl of irritation.

“It's either lunch,” Plumeria said, “or it's quarantine. Pick your poison.”

—

The smell of the malasada shop hit Guzma like a physical attack. He stopped short, not quite able to jerk his arm out of Plumeria's grip. His stomach had been noisy and, okay, queasy, on the walk over. Like it fucking mattered. There was no rule about quarantining for an upset stomach.

Plumeria nearly stumbled when he stopped short. “What?”

“I just remembered, Plumes— You're not the boss here. I'm the fucking boss.” Big, bad Guzma didn't get dragged around by the arm.

“Oh, please, G.” She tightened her grip on his arm, nails digging in. “I'm buying you lunch, not making you clean my shower drain.”

“I don't want it!” Guzma clenched his teeth and swallowed hard, his stomach turning over as the breeze wafted over the smell of frying dough.

“I can afford it.” Her voice had gone sweet and light, just like plumeria flowers. “I just shook down a Grunt for trying to steal my nail polish.”

“Who the hell tried to steal from you?”

“Not the point, G.” Plumeria tugged on his arm. “C'mon. You said you weren't sick, so prove it.”

“I don't have to prove shit!” Again, Guzma tried to shake his arm free, but Plumeria's grip refused to break. “Damn, Plumes.”

She ignored this. “G, you're white as a ghost. If you're not feeling well, just say so.”

“Yeah, right.” Guzma's stomach gave a loud growl, churning up more nausea. He raised his voice to speak over it. “And let all the Grunts think they can walk all over me? Forget it. I'm not sick. I'm not quarantining. I'm not eating lunch.”

The door of the malasada shop opened and shut. The smell of frying dough hit him again, and the heavier scent of cooking meat. It stuck in the back of his throat no matter how much he tried to swallow. He pressed his nose into his sleeve, but it didn't help. His mouth flooded with saliva. “Plumes, let go of me.”

“What, so you can—”

“Let go.”

She relaxed her grip, and he shook his arm free, turning away from the malasada shop.

Too late.

Cold sweat stuck his shirt to his back. He shuddered. A violent gag bent him double. He pushed his hands to his knees and vomited coffee and stomach acid into the grass. “Unnnhhh…”

His vision grayed out for a moment, and his ears roared. When it cleared, he was standing upright, his gaze falling blankly on Plumeria. She had found a payphone half-hidden in the tall grass. She was giving an address.

Guzma spat in the grass and blinked hard. Plumeria… on the phone… Quarantine… What was she— The only word he could get out was “Narc?”

She flipped him off and turned away, clinging to the phone with both hands like he might try to wrestle it from her. Not fuckin’ likely. He was shaking so badly he could barely stand.

When Plumeria was done, she came back over to him and pushed him onto a fallen branch, felt his forehead, checked him over. Her hand felt cool against his skin, which was probably a bad sign. But she was silent, and looked pissy.

Guzma tried his luck. “Plumes?”

“If you ever call me a narc again, I'll have Salazzle scratch your eyes out.

“Damn, it was just a question. What were you doing, anyway?”

She looked at something over his shoulder, then smiled at him, poison-sweet. “Narcing.”

Nanu must have been close by, because the old man was never fast. Even now, he strolled up the path like he was just out for a walk. Cigarette between his lips, Meowth at his heels.

Guzma tried to get up to run, but a sharp jolt of pain through his stomach kept his ass glued to the branch. He glared at Plumeria. “What the fuck did you call him for, huh?”

Nanu must have been close enough to hear, because he took out his handcuffs and let them dangle from his fingers. “To show you what happens to naughty boys who break the rules.”

“Oh, please. You can't cuff me. I haven't done anything wrong.”

“For once,” Nanu said. “Get up.”

Guzma got up. Whatever. His stomach hurt. He'd let Nanu give his stupid old man lecture and then be on his way.

Nanu closed the distance between them and cuffed Guzma before he even realized what was happening. One moment, he was standing with his hands in his pockets, and the next, they were handcuffed together behind his back. “Hey, what the fuck?”

Unhurried, Nanu went over and stubbed out his cigarette in the payphone's change catcher. Whistling, he came back and planted a hand on Guzma's back. “Come on, let's go.”

“Plumes.” Struggling against the force, Guzma turned back to look at her. “When I get back, you're dead.”

She saluted him and turned away.

Nanu gave him a shove, forcing him to walk forward or risk falling on his belly in the damp grass.

“Where do you think you're taking me, huh?” Guzma demanded, trying and failing to jerk away from the pressure of Nanu's hand on his back.

“Well…” Nanu drew in a long breath and let it out slowly. “Plumeria asked me to take you to the urgent care, but I don't much feel like waiting around for eight hours.”

They weren't going all that fast, but Guzma's stomach protested the exertion all the same. He leaned back against Nanu's hand. “Hey, slow down.” Nothing. “I said slow down!”

Nanu slowed down. “What is it?”

“Nothing, damn.” Guzma pulled against the handcuffs. Fuck, he just wanted to cross his arms, apply a little pressure to his stomach. It was really starting to hurt, and his insides were still churning like he needed to throw up. “You know, you can't cuff me unless you're arresting me.”

“You're a flight risk.”

“Get fuckin’ real.”

Nanu smacked the back of Guzma's head. “I'm detaining you.”

“The hell you are! For what?”

“For asking too many stupid questions.”

The walk was quiet after that.

—

Nanu marched Guzma to his house at a speed that Guzma's stomach really did not agree with. The walk had soaked him in cold sweat, and he shivered despite the heavy weight of his hoodie and the hot, humid air.

Worse still, his stomach had really started to churn again the moment Nanu's yard had come into sight. Guzma swallowed hard, with difficulty, and once again leaned back into Nanu's hand.

Nanu staggered back, his sandals sliding in the dirt. “Now what?”

“I, uh—” Guzma swallowed again, then again. He couldn't get another word out before his stomach contracted and forced him over double. Without his hands to brace himself, he staggered forward and would have fallen if Nanu hadn't caught him with an arm to the stomach. His other hand cupped Guzma's forehead, but Guzma barely noticed.

Nanu moved his hand up to Guzma's chest, but the damage had already been done. Guzma gagged violently, hands straining against the cuffs. A thin rush of bile streamed over his lip, making a dark pool in the dirt. He couldn't help but sag against Nanu's arms, though the part of his brain dedicated to self-preservation was screaming at him.

He was being a little bitch. “Get, unh… Get the hell off me.” Nanu backed off and Guzma fell into a squat, balancing on the balls of his feet with his chin to his chest. Fuck, his stomach really hurt.

“And you were just going to walk around like this,” Nanu said, rattling something. He got in close again and started working at the handcuffs. “Imagine if you were in the middle of a battle right now. Plumeria did you a favor.”

The right cuff loosened, then the left. Guzma fell back on his ass, pushing his palms into the dirt once Nanu got out of the way. “And your genius plan was to bring me to your house?”

Nanu lowered down at him, his head framed by gray rain clouds. “Look, every urgent care on the island is already backed up with norovirus cases. Kids on their island challenge, you know.”

Guzma rolled his eyes and spat.

Nanu continued, “So anything I can do to keep your butt out of the hospital is a win. Now get up, you can crash on my couch.”

Easier said than done. Guzma's stomach was aching fiercely. It took him several tries to stand, and even then, it wasn't quite straight. He followed Nanu inside and made for the kitchen.

“What do you think you're doing?” Nanu asked.

“I need water.”

“Then sit the hell down. I'll get it for you.”

Guzma pivoted and went to the living room instead, dropping onto Nanu's couch, which squeaked under his weight. “Get me a beer while you're at it.”

Nanu didn't answer. A cabinet opened and shut, the tap ran. After a moment, Nanu appeared and set a glass of water on the coffee table.

Guzma took it without thanking him, sipping it and swishing to clear the awful taste of vomit from his mouth.

After a moment, Nanu said, “The bathroom's there” and pointed toward a closed door. “I don't have anything worth stealing, so don't bother looking. My stuff’s marked, anyway. Everyone knows better than to fence it.”

Guzma would have rolled his eyes, but another mouthful of water hit the back of his throat and he gagged instead, vomiting everything he'd just drunk all over Nanu's coffee table in a surprisingly violent spray. The force of it made his eyes water, and he couldn't even pretend he'd done it on purpose.

He folded forward and put his head in his hands, breathing shallowly. Fuck, that hurt. Everything hurt, his ribs, his abs, his guts. And now Nanu was probably going to smack him and make him clean up.

“After I just told you where the bathroom is.” Nanu sighed. “Get in there.”

Guzma didn't raise his head. “Huh?”

“Get in the bathroom in case you need to vomit again.”

“You're a real hardass,” Guzma mumbled. After a moment, he hauled himself to his feet and staggered to the bathroom, where he dropped to the floor and curled up with his back pressed to the wall. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of Nanu's muttering to himself while he cleaned up.

Guzma must have nodded off, because the next thing he knew, his neck ached and Nanu was kicking him lightly in the side of the leg. “What.”

Nanu dropped a pillow into his lap, followed shortly by a folded blanket. “I have to go to work.”

Guzma adjusted himself against the wall and rubbed his eyes. His stomach was still twinging, albeit not with the urgent nausea of imminent vomiting. “You're not staying to make sure I don't rob ya?”

“I already told you, there's nothing to steal.” Nanu stepped back and leaned against the doorway. “I put a bucket by the couch if you want to lie down again.”

“Hm.”

“Don't die while I'm out, alright?”

“Whatever.”

Guzma sat back and waited, shivering under the weight of the blanket. He waited for Nanu to slam the door shut, then forced himself up and down the hall. He shouldered his way into Nanu's bedroom, flopped down on the bed, and closed his eyes.

If he was gonna be a hostage, he was doing it his way.