#yeah i. i really don't know how we're expected to survive this

[lunarriviera]

[stills from episode 16, via wowow]

[theresatzu]

Blue Lock characters and the pretty interviewer

Pairings. Blue Lock character x reader

Starring.//Isagi Yoichi//Bachira Meguru //Itoshi Rin//Michael Kaiser//

Tags. fluff//future fic//interview

Isagi Yoichi

ᯓ★ˎˊ˗Nervous mess all the way

ᯓ★ˎˊ˗Stammers when asked questions

ᯓ★ˎˊ˗Keeps stealing glances at you, but it's literally so obvious, it's painful

"So, Isagi-san, what did you think of today's match's outcome?" You asked, turning to him.

Isagi , who had been silently glancing at you, flinched, his eyebrows shooting upwards, cheeks turning an adorable pink.

"Uh... me?" He pointed at himself, looking very much like a dear caught in clear daylight.

"Yes, you." You chuckled.

At your slight laughter, Isagi went even more red.

"Oh... uh, it was great. Yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck, looking anywhere but at you.

When you inclined your head to continue, Isagi 's mind went blank.

He blurted, "I think you're really pretty."

You shot him a confused look.

"UH, I mean, the match went pretty. Pretty well." He poorly corrected himself.

You eyed him amusedly. "Oh? Care to share some of your insight for your adoring fans?"

"My... insight?" Isagi repeated, a little breathless.

Because it was warm. Because he was warm. From the match.

(The match had already concluded three hours prior).

"Uhm... there were some really good... uh... plays." Isagi answered, stealing a glance at you, only to see that you were already looking at him.

His eyes widened, darting away. "And... uh..." What the hell was he even talking about? "Rin had some nice saves."

"Rin?" You tilted your head, "He wasn't in today's match, was he?"

"Oh! Oh." Isagi's lips parted, his eyes flicking from left to right to come up with an answer.

"Uh... I meant... he would have made a few good saves if he were in the game. You know... with uhm..." He faltered.

You nodded at him, beckoning him to continue, eyes attentively set on him. Isagi swallowed arduously.

His throat ran dry. Isagi coughed.

The silence stretched on.

He had to answer, now.

But with what? Rin with... with what?!

You were still looking at him, eyes expectant and so pretty-

"Pretty eyes." Isagi blurted out.

You frowned, confusion on your face. "Pretty eyes?"

Isagi went bright red. He could hear Bachira next to him shaking, doing a poor job of concealing his gleeful cackles at Isagi's predicament.

"Uh... did I say pretty eyes?" Isagi chuckled. It was strained and awkward.

"What I meant to say was... uh... predator's vision? Like when... when your vision of the field becomes really limited, you know?" He finished rather lamely.

"...Yeah." You slowly nodded your head, eyeing him with a mix of befuddlement and concern.

Then you turned to Bachira next to him, and Isagi could breathe a little bit easier. Though, his heartbeat didn't settle down, his cheeks felt like they were on fire.

Keep it together, Isagi. He said to himself. He was a goddamn world class footballer. He didn't do nervosity.

He had faced off Itoshi Rin and survived.

He had led Japan to the World Cup and carved his name in the football world.

He had become the top striker of his generation.

There was no way he was going to start being nervous now.

But he still felt his heart doing a little jump every time you looked at him.

Bachira Meguru

ᯓ★ˎˊ˗ Just sits close to you, his eyes barely leaving you

ᯓ★ˎˊ˗Thinks every question is directed at him

ᯓ★ˎˊ˗Is just one ball of sunshine, especially when your attention is on him

"So... Isagi-san, what is your opinion about how Japan has thus far fared in the World Cup?"

"Oh, well I think--"

"We're doing amazing! Did you see my super special dribble?" Bachira excitedly interjected.

"Dude." Isagi nudged him, an unimpressed expression on his face. "That was my question."

"Oh! Oh." Bachira deflated, sitting back again.

You chuckled. "Don't worry Bachira-san, you'll get the next one."

Bachira's eyes lit up at that, but they dwindled when you directed your attention on Isagi again.

Isagi began talking again. Bachira leaned back in his seat.

He bounced his leg impatiently, Isagi's thorough analysis on Japan's performance fading into the background.

Bachira's eyes flicked to yours, his bottom lip jutting out a little when you actually seemed captivated in Isagi's story.

Bachira eyed the two of you suspiciously, noting that Isagi was also sitting the closest to you.

Pursing his lips, Bachira stood up.

Isagi shot him a sidelong glance, raising an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

"This seat is uncomfortable. Can I sit there?"

Bachira pointed at Isagi.

You let out a snort. "You want to sit on Isagi's lap?"

Isagi guffawed, going bright red. "PR, PR!" He hissed at Bachira. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Move!" Bachira whispered back.

"Wait, what? Wha--" Isagi yelped as Bachira shoved him aside.

With a straight face, Bachira sat down, not even looking at Isagi, who was on the ground, mouth hanging wide open.

"Dude."

Bachira tactfully ignored Isagi, flashing you a bright grin, as if nothing had occurred in the past few seconds.

"You wanted to ask me a question?"

Itoshi Rin

ᯓ★ˎˊ˗ He's really quiet during the interview, like, he'll answer questions, but just the bare minimum.

ᯓ★ˎˊ˗ Avoids eye contact like the plague, but he'll try to steal a look at you the moment your gaze is elsewhere

ᯓ★ˎˊ˗ When he's caught looking, he'll freeze up, scowl fixed on his face. But if you look closely, you can see that the tips of his ears have turned a handsome red

"So, Rin-san, how did you think the match went?"

Rin's face was stoic, looking at the cement wall behind you.

"...It went well."

"You've scored a magnificent goal during the game, how did you pull that off?"

"...Just predicting the game and being in the right position."

Rin sighed, glancing to the side. Looking like he wanted to be anywhere else.

A tense silence fell.

You coughed, forcing a strained smile on your face.

"Rin." Isagi made a face at him. Rin raised an eyebrow.

You chuckled awkwardly, shuffling your cards. Were there any questions left?

With the way Rin had curtly and concisely answered the questions, you had rushed through the interview, with no more inquiries at hand.

It was clear Rin wasn't in the mood to field any questions: clear avoidance of direct eye contact, standoffish demeanour, and closed-off answers.

They were all tell-tale signs that Rin was itching to just leave.

You sighed, heart sinking in your chest.

You had been hoping to hold this interview with Rin since months now, being an avid admirer of his intricate playstyle and his tactics on the field.

However, it seemed that the sentiment wasn't returned.

"Well, I guess we'll wrap it up for today," You said, hiding the disappointment in your voice.

You looked up from your cards to say goodbye to both Isagi and Rin.

Your eyes met teal, irridescent ones.

Rin's eyes were dazed, a soft edge to them. A stark contrast to the cold look in them during the interview.

You tilted your head curiously.

Noticing you looking, Rin's eyebrows rose. His eyes widened for a fraction of a second, a flustered look flashing in them, lips parting slightly.

He looked away, jaw tensed, and the moment was over.

Your eyebrows went high, intrigue welling up.

...Or maybe the sentiment was returned.

It was in the minute details, you assumed.

When Isagi nudged Rin playfully, shooting a knowing grin his way, which maybe meant Rin tolerated you, that was only an assumption.

When Rin's ears turned a lovely red when he looked at you, that was also only an assumption.

But when you shook Rin's hand, and looked him in the eye, that was only confirmation.

Michael Kaiser

ᯓ★ˎˊ˗ Flirts. Charms. Is not professional at all. "Accidentally" lets diminutives slip.

ᯓ★ˎˊ˗ Either answers questions about himself in a cocky manner, or is the one asking you the questions.

"So, Kaiser, in the last match, you managed to pull off a move called the "Magnus Impact", how did you do that?"

"Well..." Kaiser said, a confident quirk to his lips, "It's an unparalleled move of mine, and it paid off." He answered simply.

Then, he shifted, leaning his head on his arm, his eyes shooting to yours. "But what about you? How did you pull off that good look of yours?"

You choked.

"Wha--?" Your eyes went wide, spluttering.

Excuse me?"

Kaiser leaned in, his finger brushing a strand of hair behind your ear, his touch leaving goosebumps on your skin.

"I know that my Magnus Impact is based off on my pure talent. I'm guessing your lovely look is natural, too, no?"

"Oh-- uhm..." You didn't know what to say. "I... guess?"

Kaiser hummed, leaning back in his seat again. "Thought so."

When the proximity between you two lessened, you let out a breath, quickly fixing your eyes on your question paper.

However, unbeknownst to you, Kaiser was still looking at you, eyes roaming over your features, a pensive expression on his face.

"Though, why did you choose to pursue this interview career of yours? You could've easily made the highway, Schätzchen."

"Huh?" Your head shot up from your cards.

"Mhm... lovely smile, natural blush, mesmerising eyes. And above all, a charming personality." Kaiser winked at you.

"Oh... uhm, I--" Didn't know what to answer. "Thanks?"

Kaiser let out a handsome chuckle, pushing the bangs out of his face. "Liebe, no need to thank me for your attractiveness, I'm only calling attention to the objective facts."

Your face went red.

"Though, if I might share my subjective opinion," Kaiser said, voice teetering on low.

"I'd say you're the prettiest girl I've ever met." His voice was barely above a whisper, a teasing edge to it.

The air was punched out of your lungs.

What in the Wattpad was happening?

"Uhm..." You cleared your throat. "While I do appreciate your compliments about my... looks, let's keep it professional, shall we?"

Kaiser smiled slightly, before nodding. "Whatever the lady wants. Fire away any questions you want to ask." The corners of his lips quirked upwards.

You inclined your head, shuffling through your cards.

Kaiser tilted his head,chancing a glance at your cards, an amused undertone to his voice. "Though, only professional ones."

A flush overtook your features.

The rest of the interview went swimmingly.

Kaiser expressed in detailed display his opinion and was consistent in his answers, so it came as no surprise that you could wrap up your interview early.

"Well, that went fast." You said in a surprised tone.

You stuck out your hand. "Thank you so much for your time, Kaiser."

A smile played on Kaiser's lips. "The pleasure was all mine."

You turned around to leave, but fingers gently clasped around your wrist, lightly tugging you back.

You came face to face with Kaiser.

"Oh... hi?"

"Hi." He said softly. "You have some time left?"

You checked your watch. You had a break scheduled now, so yeah.

You nodded.

Kaiser sat back down, gesturing for you to do the same.

Obliging, you retook your seat, a confused look in your eyes.

Kaiser leaned back in his chair.

You eyed him, puzzled.

"Well?" Kaiser tilted one eyebrow. "Don't tell me you don't have any questions for me, miss Journalist."

"...questions?" You repeated.

A handsome grin flitted on Kaiser's lips, he raised his eyebrows, his eyes falling on your cards.

"I... alright, but I'll have to go in an hour." You conceded, not wanting to pass up on this opportunity.

Kaiser tilted his head. "Whatever the lady wants. Fire away any question you have."

Your eyes widened, giving him an inquiring look.

"...unproffesional ones are allowed, too." Kaiser drawled.

Your face went up in flames.

© DON'T COPY MY WORK, PUT IT IN AI OR CHATGPT OR USE IT FOR OTHER NEFARIOUS MEANS

Masterlist

[redr0sewrites]

DabiHawks comfort after a break up? Why have one when you can have both...

Only if you're comfortable, Rose. You deserve so much love and I'm here for you ❤

-B3an

📷 A/n: bean im literally gonna cry ilysm!!!! i love this idea URGH (also to anyone who doesn't know, this was inspired be my recently being cheated on.... yippee for healthy coping?)

📷 Cw: angst to fluff, self indulgent, reader has an ex, cheating (by ex), gn ex, post war (but the lov survives + keigo n touya (and reader) are friends, pre establishd dbhwx relationship

📷 dividers

you had been ignoring your phone for hours now. it had been buzzing practically nonstop, between friends and family all messaging you about your apparent breakup. why your ex had to post about it on social media you didn't know, but the fact that they were already posting about their ex wasn't surprising. you couldn't help but feel hurt, because honestly? it stung. being cheated on wasn't fun, especially with your ex's own damn ex, and even though you had been the one to break it off, the weight of the decision laid heavy on your shoulders.

the repetitive vibrations of your device against your bedside table finally forces you out from beneath your cocoon of blankets. groggy and bleary eyed, you read the caller name blinking on the screen- Keigo. you hadn't replied to anyone's messages, not his, not Mirko's, not Touya's, not even anyone from the league or your family- but now, you felt slightly guilty for doing so. Keigo rarely calls unless he has something important to say, and with that idea in mind you shakily pick up your phone and bring it to your ear.

"hello?"

"y/n!"

Keigo's warm voice reverberates through the phone, filling you with a soothing, fuzzy feeling that almost dulls the ache in your chest. you can hear the faint rush of wind in the background, leading you to believe that he's currently.. flying? or possibly even driving.

"how are you feeling?" he asks, voice so gentle it felt as though he was whispering in your ear. "can't have my favorite birdie all broken hearted, can i?" he teases, and despite yourself, you can feel a small grin creeping up on your features.

"it's certainly something. i just... can't believe they'd cheat, y'know? i mean, i guess no one ever expects it, but..." you trail off, sighing heavily and you can hear a soft clamour in the background as Keigo hums in agreement. a familiar raspy voice grumbles something about being motion sick, and suddenly it's your turn to ask questions.

"Kei... where are you? are you driving? also, is that Touya in the background?"

"oh yeah, about that.." he trails off with an awkward chuckle, and suddenly Keigo yelps, accompanied by the telltale sound of the phone rustling, evidently being snatched from his hands. it wasn't surprising that Touya was accompanying him, especially since they had been seeing eachother. you weren't really sure if it was dating or just a casual thing, but honestly? you were rooting for them- at least they were loyal.

"hey,"

the sound of Touya's deeper voice greets you now, and you blink hard for a second.

"..hi? what's going on?"

you hear scuffles in the background, Keigo grumbling something about surprises and Touya being "no fun"- that was certainly odd.

"we're on our way over," Touya supplies, and before you can even begin to splutter out any complaints, he cuts you off. "and no bargains, hon. we weren't even sure you were gonna answer the phone, so we decided to show up at your door whether you picked up or not."

you gape for a second, confused, but also... grateful?

"what- why?"

"i don't know-" Touya is immediately cut off by Keigo practically wrestling the phone from his grasp, and the fire user lets out an undignified hiss at the apparent swerving of the car. ah, so Keigo was driving. any potential road accidents caused by Touyas less than satisfactory vehicular skills were momentarily avoided... for now.

"anyway," Keigo stresses, clearly hushing an indignant Touya in the background. "what hot stuff means to say is that we're coming over because we care about you. a lot."

"and we didn't want you to be rotting all alone in bed all day!" Touya interjects from the background, and Keigo audibly slams the breaks.

"i swear i will crash this car-"

sniff.

"..y/n?? are you okay?"

you weren't sure when the tears started, but now they came rolling over you in an onslaught of pent up emotions. everything you had been holding back for the past few days for the sake of cordiality suddenly came crashing down as sobs began to wrack your body.

"is she crying?" Touya's alarmed voice can be heard faintly, and you realize you must be on speaker.

"thank you," you choke out between tears, struggling to regain your breathe as hot, wet tears continue streaming down your cheeks. "i'm so sorry for- hic- being s-so, so upset,"

you let out another little hiccup, and Keigo's immediately attempts to soothe you.

"shh, shh, it's okay," he coos, worry evident in his voice. "we're pulling in to your development/apartment complex now, and we picked up some food on the way.. we'll be up in a minute, okay?"

you let out a small whimper of affirmation, trying to calm your tears before their imminent arrival. Touya is uncharacteristically silent in the background, almost.. nervous.

"i'm gonna end the call now honey, okay? i'll see you in just a minute," Keigo mumbles, and you agree.

"ok," you whisper, holding the phone so close to your lips they can hear every syllable. "bye Kei, bye Touya, see you in a few.."

the call disconnects, and you slump back into your mattress, staring at the whirring ceiling fan above. the sudden rush of emotions that had overcome you earlier had all but subsided, and the lump in your throat remained as tears threatened to bubble up again.

it was strange, hearing them be so.. loving. maybe it was just your insecurities speaking, but you had been afraid that your friends wouldn't want to hangout with you anymore- it was so fucking embarrassing to have been cheated on by someone you had defended constantly. they're not that bad, you had said. you don't know them that well, give them a chance! oh how you had eaten your words. the thought of facing anyone had been downright terrifying, but now.. you felt safer, if only a little bit. it was nice to know they cared.

the sound of the doorbell ringing catches your attention, and you stumble out of bed to go greet your guests. only now do you realize how unkempt you look, and that your wearing the same mildly gross pajamas you'd fallen asleep in.

whatever, you think. its too late to change now. besides, neither Keigo nor Touya would be one to judge- their fashion choices were much worse than yours.

the warm smell of takeout greets your nose before you even manage to opwn the door, and the second you do you find yourself practically drowning in a tight hug. Keigo's soothing, familiar scent overwhelms your senses as he practically tackles you into your apartment, while Touya sidesteps the both of you to kick his shoes off to the side. the takeout bags sway in his hands as he watches you both hug with a half smirk, and his eyes flick to your own with almost uncharacteristic softness.

"how're you..." Keigo mumbles against your hair, voice muffled and warped. "missed you s'much, m' gonna fucking kill your ex,"

"thats my line," Touya interjects, and although he doesn't join the hug, he rubs your back with a scarred hand. you let out a breathy giggle at that, and Keigo pulls away from you to take the bags from Touya's hand and proceed towards your kitchen table. you follow the blonde eagerly, only now realizing how long it had been since you had last eaten- or drank anything, for that matter. Touya seems to catch on to this rather quickly, and pours you a glass of water with little haste before joining you at the kitchen table. meanwhile, Keigo unboxes the food, handing you your order.

"wow," you murmur, staring at the food in front of you. "i can't believe you remembered my order- how did you even know?" Keigo chuckles before replying with a lazy smile.

"wasn't me, birdie. that was all hot stuff over there- don't let him fool ya, he's actually a big softie."

Touya shoots Keigo a half hearted glare, and your heart swells in appreciation.

"i can't believe you remembered that, i haven't ordered from here in forever.."

Touya shrugs, trying to brush it off. "eh, y'pick stuff up here and there. i'm just glad you're feeling okay.." he trails off, sitting next to you and Keigo while you begin to eat.

"speaking of that," Keigo murmurs through a mouthful of food, "y/n, why didn't you answer anyone's messages? we were worried sick!"

you wince at the memory, and your cheeks heat as you swallow before replying. unbeknownst to you, Touya kicks Keigo under the table, muttering something about "being inconsiderate."

"sorry," you mutter, and take a deep breath before continuing. "i was just, embarrassed, i guess? i don't know." you trail off, and Keigo looks at you, not with pity, but with gentle affection.

"you know we'd never judge, right? hell, we've all had our relationship struggles but.." he trails off for a second, grabbing Touya's hand before reaching to rest his other over your own. "i'm here for you. we're here for you." he gives Touya a pointed look that he doesn't notice, instead focusing on you and you alone.

"yea," he whispers, "what Kei said. we're here. especially with shit like this."

another small smile creeps its way across your face, and you squeeze Keigo's hand. the melancholy feelings from earlier were ebbing away, slowly becoming replaced with something lighter and more... fluttery.

"i know. and thank you, really. you're both wonderful, i can't even begin to talk about how grateful i am.."

"eh, don't mention it," Touya scoffs, and you for some reason, you notice how nonchalantly he rubs gentle circles over the back of Keigo's hand intertwined with his own. "y'know, killing your ex is still on the table.."

"no!" you interject, which causes them both to giggle. "we are NOT killing my ex!!!"

"what about maiming?"

"Touya!!"

Keigo has nearly collapsed with laughter, and you shoot him a half hearted glare.

"don't you start too," you grumble, and he snickers.

"just a liiiittle maiming?" the blonde hero giggles, and you groan.

"you both are the worst!!"

"that's why you love us~" Touya teases, his eyes glinting with something unreadable. Keigo smiles at you lazily, his laughter finally subsiding.

"yea, i guess i do," you reply, and Touya immediately jumps out of his seat.

"See!!! i told you she'd say it back!" he blurts indignantly, and Keigo groans. "i guess i owe you $20 now," he grumbles, and you blink at them.

"were you.. betting on me saying i love you back?"

"...would you be mad if we said yes?" Keigo replies, and you roll your eyes.

"only you two could come up with something like that."

"i guess you're right on that one, sweetheart," Touya chuckles, taking the $20 bill from Keigo and giving him an unreadable look. "only us."

you raise your fork full of food in the air, your previous worries nearly forgotten.

"a toast to us?" you tease, and Keigo snickers, lifting his forkful of chicken while Touya rolls his eyes before reluctantly following suite.

"to us," you all murmur in unison.

THIS WAS SOOO FUN TO WRITE AND IM GEN CONSIDERING DOING A PT 2 AFYER LIKE A BIT OF A TIMESKIP WHERE READER REALIZES THEYRE CATCHING FEELINGS FOR DBHWKS AND FEELS HORRIBLE SINC THEY THINK THEYRE BEING A BAD FRIEND, BUT THE ENTIRE TIME DBHWKS JUST WANTS THEM TO JOIN THEIR POLY RELATIONSHIP LMAO- AND THEN EVENTUALLY DABIHAWKS ACTUALLY ASKS THE READER TO BE W THEM,,,, WOULD ANYONE BE INTERESTED IN THAT,,,; HEHEHEHEHE

[ririblogsss]

Damian and the strays

ok look we all know the de aged dani (Danny and Dan). But what if we have siblings/ triplets, and I mean what if we take them all the same age (15/16) and make them into the most powerful trio in school . I mean you have 3 good looking individuals all siblings and in the same way, they all excel in different things (Dan-world history, Dani/Ellie- science Sports, Danny physics), but they are all so easy going and charming plus they are all jacked af.

Like tell me if i'm wrong but they would be beloved maybe popular on the downlow until they do something only fentons would risk doing. For example, orchestrating that every monday at 12:30 am the fire alarms would start and lunch would be extended for an hour more. No one can prove it, but none of them have doubts either. The triplets have their own groups but they mainly hang out with each other if you see one the other 2 are close by. 

Anyways i'm thinking that one day they will actually see why the Fenton siblings are observed closely by the teacher and try to make sure they don't cause mayhem.  One guy, a chad of sorts, decided he wanted to pick a fight with Dante, the more violent of the siblings. Chad didn't even finish his first insult before he was slammed through the door by Danny, who was arguably the pacifist of the 3. But the student body kind of got it. The thing is no one expected Dani (preferred name Ellie) to freaking pummel the guy.

No one saw them at school again. 

It went on like this: the trio would move to one school.Would play pranks on the administration and have fun. Then someone would try something on one of them and the other 2 would pummel the person into the ground. The next day they would be gone never to return. They became an urban legend in some of the schools. 

Until they came to Gotham Academy when they tried their pranks a kid would come and stop them. It was getting on their nerves. All their freaking plans down the drain all because of a snobby brat that didn't know how to mind his own.  Eventually they start pranking the kid instead of the school as a revenge for ruining their fun. This leads to an all out prank war between all 4 of them (Dan backstabbed Danny and Ellie first they just followed the lead). 

Soon enough the 3 of them became friends with Damian (they learned his name 4 weeks after the prank war started). The school body was half convinced that Damian and the triplets were actually long lost siblings. I mean they all have black hair, anger issues and green bluish eyes. Damian knew for a fact that he wasn't related to the Fentons; a DNA test concluded this. But that didn't mean that Damian didn't perceive the triplets as family. 

Damian concludes that even if they aren't adopted into the family the Fentons belong. So that's why one day Damian brings Ellie, Danny and Dante to the family reunion. Where every relative and not so relative is there. Damian is showing them around, pointing at things around the house as a mini tour, and people are starting to notice that there are 3 new faces that they have never seen before. 

there are whispers like: ‘really?! AGAIN?!?’ or “WOW im gone for 5 days and he got 3 more”  and even  ‘Damn so black hair, teen and probably sad backstory is the type’

The triplets looked at eachother looked at Damian and smiled like starved piranhas that have just been served a pound of meat and are ready to devore. Damian reflects it with his own devilish smile.

 So all four of them start saying things out of context such as: 

“I'm so glad to be here now” 

“Yeah same we wouldn't have survived that hell of a chamber without you Dames”

“As long as we're no longer hunted for merely existing I don't mind staying for a while”

“Good things there weren't any actual bazookas that could have gone worse”

All four knew that out of context it seemed like the 3 siblings had been hunted and captured by some unknown person and Damian had rescued them and brought them home, but in reality they were just talking about the past paintball match they had earlier that morning. 

So Bruce wanted to know some more but the rhetorical bullet, and asked “Damian… who, who are these kids” Damian proceeded to scoff and say “Why our new family members, truly father, are you incompetent. This is a family reunion hence only family or perceived family is invited” Damian tried to channel his inner 10 year old self whilst trying not to laugh. Danny and Ellie were on the same boat except they made their faces look devastated with tears in their eyes and everything looked pitiful, but on the inside they were laughing their asses off. Dante feigned indifference but he had teary eyes, from trying to stop himself from hitting the floor laughing at the devastated faces around. 

Danny played his act up clearing his throat “we- we can leave if I mean we didn't know, yeah Dami said it was fine but we understand” he purposely made his voice crack to show how ‘hurt’ he was. 

Ellie made herself look small so she could seem self conscious and uncomfortable with the situation. 

Dante solidified them with the small sniffles he let out every few seconds. 

Damian was looking to the ground to avoid being read, because right now he was shaking from laughter, and it would be clear in his face but if he angled himself right (which he did) it looked like he was silently sobbing. Danny put his arm around his shoulder, also looking towards the ground, also shaking from laughter. Dante and Ellie joined in. From an outside perspective it looked like they were extremely upset not being able to be family. 

Bruce panicked seeing his younger child and 3 other kids the same age all begin to cry he just blurted out “NO no that not what i meant Damian I ment their names what are their names, and does Babs have to get involved so we can have documentation”

Damian cleared his tears and looked up at his father trying not to smirk “He is Dante, that one is Dani with an I but she prefers Ellie and that lanky one is Danny” Bruce nodded and went out the room to see if he could get started on the documents. 

Once Bruce was out of the room all 4 of them burst out laughing, falling into a pile some were heard wheezing, others having maniacal laughter. 

Once they finally stopped and looked at the rest of the family all four of them eerily said “he won't ever believe you” And everyone in the room shuddered. This quartet was going to bring wayyyy too much mischief into the family. 

(if you're wondering where jazz is. She's in college living her best life. I mean she is a highly independent person she thrives of off living alone with a clear schedule set)

—

Also i didn't put any specific names for the previous schools or the family members bc I thought it would be better for u guys to decide who witnessed the beginning of the end. 

[rationaliity]

progression | aventurine blurb

loving aventurine was as easy as breathing to you, something incredibly hard for him to grasp. he didn't get it at all. when he first walked into your life, he had this arrogant mask up, another one of his well preserved fabrications to protect himself. he was snarky to you. not necessarily rude, but he wasn't afraid to bare his fangs and show you that he was capable of hurting you if he needed to. he wasn't afraid of hurting anyone. another gamble he was putting his faith in, that he wouldn't be put in a situation where he would have to hurt you.

you loved him during that stage. every sarcastic 'friend' he tacked on to every sentence like it was more of an insult than anything else, every boundary that he crossed of yours, every little lie he spun to keep you at arms length, trying to protect you from his teeth. words hurt less than his bite. and yet, you were there for him even when he was sure he would have pushed you away, and it unnerved him.

" aventurine ~ " you called out from behind him to get his attention, before lightly jogging up to him, standing by his side. not in front of him, but beside him. " i know you might be busy today with business as usual, but i was hoping that you were free this afternoon ? there's this new coffee shop that opened up, and i though- "

" coffee ? sorry to disappoint you, friend, but i am busy this afternoon, " he shook his head, as if dismissing the idea outright entirely.

" oh, that's okay ! i'm still able to say hi right now while we're walking, so that's enough, " you chirped, but he could hear the unmistakable sound of disappointment and sadness in your tone, making the guilt inside of him at being the one who caused your unhappiness eat him alive. but the look on his face didn't change, his walls too big to penetrate.

he did find you at that coffee shop, though. " oh, hello, friend- " he had called out, approaching your table, sitting next to you without even asking. he saw your eyes light up, and for a second he felt the warmth in his chest burst forward, his heart beating against his ribcage. " what good fortune that i was able to finish my tasks a little while ago. i didn't think you would actually come here alone. " there was a hint of confusion in his voice, but it was masked just as quickly as it came.

after this interaction, aventurine got a little awkward with you. what was he expected to say ? what did he do if he wasn't trying to push you away ? he was clumsy with his words, often just silently nodding along as you talked, and sometimes bringing up tiny points. he wasn't good at conversation when it wasn't to serve an agenda. being in survival mode his entire life, he had no idea how to be social, much less to someone as kind as you.

no matter how much he stumbled and fell over his own words, you treated him the same. he approached you cautiously, as if he was afraid that one day you would get sick of him and throw him out of your life permanently. was his personality too much for you to handle ? was he doing something wrong ? he wasn't sure, this was uncharted territory for him. all he could do was throw his dice and hope for the best outcome, something that was so comforting now unnerving. he could bet every single one of his chips, every possession he owned, including his own life, but you ? betting on you felt like one risk he wasn't willing to take.

" hey- i was at this shop a while ago, and i was hoping that you'd want to visit ? with me, of course, " aventurine asked, trying very hard not to look how pretty you looked right now, how your smile made his heart flutter every single time without fail. " i saw something i thought you might like. i wanted to get it for you but i don't know your size. "

" oh ? yeah, i'd love to go with you ! " you agreed immediately, as if everything that you were doing before this was suddenly unimportant. " but you really don't have to pay for me, honestly. i can take care of myself. "

this through him for a loop, and he hid it well, but aventurine had no idea what that meant. did you not want him to pay for you ? or were you just trying to be modest ? it wasn't like he was hungry for money, it was fine on his pockets, and he didn't mind spending if it meant spending on you, of course. besides, what did you want from accompanying him if it wasn't to buy things ? that's what friends were for, right ? it was a mutual beneficial agreement between two people to be friendly with each other to gain something from another, right ?

he was pretty sure that was how it was to be friends, but you challenged all of that. especially when you bought him a drink from a shop. he'd just mentioned it offhanded that he could go for some boba tea, and you had agreed, saying that it would be really good right now. and then you bought him his ? that's not how that was supposed to work, he was sure of it. why would you go out of your way to pay for something for him that you yourself wouldn't even get to enjoy ? he was willing to buy you things to keep you around him, but you didn't need to buy him anything to keep him around.

the possibility that you didn't want anything from him other than his time and himself was confusion, but refreshing.

eventually late night outs became late nights inside, and aventurine found himself in a precarious position, on your couch, your body on the other side, cuddling up against a pillow. the intimacy of the situation felt like it was choking him. and he finally got the courage to ask you the question that plagued him - why ? why did you care ? why did you try so hard ? what was in it for you ? putting your bets on him was a foolish decision that he couldn't rationalize. even he didn't bet on himself.

" because you're worth it, " you shrugged a little, the answer's simplicity wiping everything from him. all of his fears, his confusion, his doubts, just for this moment. right now, he understood. you never pushed him out of his comfort zone, and let your companionship evolve naturally. he didn't even realize he had let you inside of his shell before it was too late. " because you deserve it. "

he thought you were worth it, too. trusting you, putting his faith in you even though you had the ability to hurt him. it was worth it. you were worth it.

[alittlebitofloveliness]

Misogyny in the fandom: let's talk about it

Not gonna lie, the level of interalized or even just blatant misogyny in this fandom is really disheartening sometimes. There is already VERY few female characters in the book, even fewer with speaking roles, and yet I see all of them being hated on in some way. People hate on Cherry for standing up for herself when Dally was harrasing her, and for not seeing Johnny in the hospital, which bullshit to begin with but also, you can't tell me that if the roles were reversed and Cherry sat down behind Dallas and starting talking about how stupid and classless greaser boys are, and Dally threw a coke at her, that the fandom wouldn't love him all the more for it. People hold her to this impossible golden standard, expecting her to literally be perfect instead of a conflicted and grieving teenage girl, when they embrace the flaws and give a lot more grace to much more violent and 'bad' male characters. It's a very 'boys will be boys' and 'girls mature fatser so they should know better' double standard that I really can't stand. Marcia gets a level of the same treatment, with people occasionally calling her vapid or shallow when the book makes it clear she and Two-bit actually really hit it off, and the number she gave him being fake was only Two and Ponyboy's speculation. But I digress. Moving on.

Misogyny and classism intersect when it comes to the few female greaser characters we get a little insight on. So many people LOATHE both Sandy and Sylvia because they're cheaters, but honestly, how is cheating worse than stealing? (And don't pretend they steal because they need to survive Ponyboy makes a point of claiming Two-bit doesn't really need or want half the stuff he shoplifts) How is it worse than jumping little kids? How is it worse than sexually harassing girls? How is it worse than the plethora of immoral or illegal activities the greaser guys partake in? If we're being 100% honest, it isn't. "But-but Sandy cheated on Soda, who really loved her". Yeah, she did. That was shitty of her, I'm not defending that, but she was also a sixteen year old girl in a tough situation she was trying to navigate the best she could. She could have lied and told Soda it was his and trapped him in a marriage raising a kid he definitely couldn't afford if she wanted to- but she didn't. Hell, she told him the truth and he was still ready to do that and she wouldn't let him. I don't think those are the actions of a completely terrible person, I think they're the actions of a scared kid who did some shitty things, but is trying her best and trying to do better. At the VERY least they're the actions of a multifaceted character who deserves the same level of grace and insight afforded to the male characters. (If anyone wants to read more of my thoughts on Sandy and her narrative importance, I have a post here). There's also something to be said about the poor 'greasy' girls facing harsher vitriol than the soc girls, and while part of it is because of Ponyboy's biased narration, it's clear to see that readers very much took his views at face value. Soc girls are 'good girls' and have to be perfect to deserve credit from the fans, but greasy girls are 'trashy' so it's ok for them to be judged and shit on. Spoiler alert: it isn't.

Sylvia is similar to Sandy in that her cheating and 'loose' behaviour earn her a lot of hate, which again, I'm not defending her cheating, but we need to give her the same analysis and benefit of the doubt given to Dally. Dally is NOT a good person. Ponyboy says this and makes it clear plenty of times. He's a hurt character, so we can explien why he is the way he is, but he isn't a GOOD character. he values loyalty, so he never cheated on Sylvia, but it's clear based on how he treats Cherry and casual comments he makes that he doesn't really respect women. I can't imagine Sylvia's experience dating him was one where she felt very adored. Again, not an excuse for cheating, but I can understand WHY she'd try and take back power within a dynamic and a society where she never had any, and I don't want to vilify her for that. She's also a poor woman growing up in the sixties- the book makes it clear life is hard enough for poor guys griowing up at that time, but it was probably equally if not more hard for poor women. I think, like the gang, she does what she had to to survive. If you can understand why the gang does bad things, and still be humans who can be considered good, you can extend the same understanding to Sylvia (and Sandy.) I think people need to also keep in mind that everything we know ABOUT Sylvia (and the rest of the female characters) we know from Ponyboy, a fourteen year old boy who's narration is INCREDIBLY biased and who doesn't have the full details of any of the relationships in the gang. Ponyboy sees Sylvia and Sandy as these terrible, loose women who have hurt people he cares about, so a lot of the fandom does too, but it doesn't change the fact that by doing so you're accepting and embracing Ponyboy's internalized misogyny and making it your own.

Anyway, I don't think I'm articulating this as well as i want to, and i spoke a bit more about this in this reply to one of the posts on the confessions page, but yeah, I just wish people could accept that fact that if they bend over backward to find ways to defend or explain immoral actions from male characters, but refuse to even attempt to do the same for female characters, they've probably internalized a bit of misogyny they should maybe work on.

[sgiandubh]

The influencer

And then, there was this promo interview, which triggered yet another #silly gloating salvo:

[Source: Meg Hughes' TikTok page, https://www.tiktok.com/@meggghughes/video/7492146309391043862?_r=1&_t=ZS-8vVbnzZZ0io]

I will transcribe it verbatim - the only reason I am mentioning it, is because this is a case study in ass-kissing, especially when you consider the broader context.

Meg Hughes (MH): 'I talk so much about your role in this film, because it probably took me a few minutes to realize that that was you on screen, last night...'

Caitriona Balfe (CB): 'Awww, stop it...'

MH: '...you disappeared into that role and that's something I really find with your work, it is fascinating. I just adore seeing you come on my screen and then realizing - oh, my God, that's Caitriona Balfe!'

[CB laughs]

MH: 'And you were fabulous in your role, last night and gave such a beautiful performance, I thought you portrayed loneliness in such an endearing way, it really sat with me so much and I just wanna say I was in awe of it, last night...'

CB: 'Awww, thank you...'

MH: 'But how was the preparation for that role for you and what kind of drew you to it?'

CB: 'Well, I think, you know, kind of what you're saying, on the page that all leaped out at me, uhm, when I read the script. First of all, the whole script was just this very smart take on this great, sort of, spy genre and this kind of thriller has been [thick accent, didn't catch it properly, sorry]. But Inquiline popped at me because there was such depth to her [MH: 'yeah'], that you meet her and she completely upends your expectations. And then, also, there is somebody where you realize there is a whole life that has been lived before. And you get to fill that in for yourself, as an actor and kind of really create this person who, when Heller meets her is so broken, has experienced so much loss, but has found a way of surviving. But also, as she's kind of retreated from the world, she's also doing this really.. what I think is an incredibly heroic thing, which is exposing all of this corruption and kind of trying to... yeah... have some kind of justice or, you know, have some kind of balance in the world, against all these kinds of nefarious actors. Ahem... and I thought that was really beautiful... uh... dichotomy of what somebody sort of represents.'

MH:' As I was watching it, I was like, this is like Charlie Heller, if he made certain choices, in the future. It kind of felt like the road he could have possibly gone down a very lonely, very isolated road. So I find it very interesting, if he took this route. And I think that loneliness would have kind of, sort of, more plotty kind of date for Inquiline?' [Did you understand what she meant? I surely haven't, but that is perhaps just me, here].

CB: 'Yeah, no, I agree. I mean, I think they've both reacted to their situations in very different ways. His drive is for revenge, he really wants to get the people who've done this terrible, terrible thing to him. And whether she felt that in the beginning or not... you know... we don't really know, but I think, for me, I sort of... I think she understands that revenge is not something that will fill you, it's not something that will heal you, that in a way justice is what she is looking for. And I think Charlie is struggling with the difference between these two things, which I think is an interesting question in the movie, as well.'

MH: 'Thank you so much for talking to me, today...'

CB: 'No worries, such a pleasure to meet you...'

MH: '...it was so kind of you, it was so nice...'

CB: 'I mean, I have such fond memories of going and having oysters in Carlingford, with my parents...'

MH:' Oh, no way...'

CB: '... yeah...'

MH:... we're very known for it...'

CB:'...I know'

MH: '...oh, such a surprise, you have to come back...'

CB: ' I will, I will...'

MH: '... we'll have some oysters and chat more about all things film...'

CB: ' Perfect'.

And now, for my thoughts about this nice, but overall forgettable interview. Quite routine, by now, really.

Contrary to what was rather pompously sold by BIF& co, this charming, baby-faced 25 years young woman is not a film critic, nor does she pretend at any moment to be:

[Source: Meg Hughes' Instagram account ]

In her own words, she is 'a film nerd, with a love for the little things in life'. And her listed email address gives away her real profile:

[Source: https://sixteenth.com/]

She is currently affiliated with Sixteenth.com, a subsidiary of The Whalar Group:

Itself a media influencing agency founded in 2015 and based in New York:

[Source: https://whalargroup.com/our-story/]

In other words, Meg Hughes is a young Irish influencer, with a sizeable chunk of the Gen-Z Irish market under her belt. Don't get me wrong, here - there is nothing 'bad', so to speak, about this tiny detail. But, might I add: Roger Ebert was a real film critic. Meg Hughes is monetizing her posts and building her brand, which is something completely different, in a different, perhaps less formal and professional context.

But that makes all the difference, too. Her tone and semantics are more akin to a fan's, than a critic's, even if she doesn't follow C, nor *** (but does follow Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, LOL). And she was dying to let her audience know she was an insider and invited as such to the London premiere: she speaks about what she did 'last night' no less than three times in the space of two meagre paragraphs!

Do you honestly think that someone, whose bread and butter is mainly provided by their social media accounts, would not be ready to take aboard PR's kindly planted suggested compliment?

I think she would, with no qualms (why would she, after all?) and absolutely no idea of the menial Tumblr ensuing drama-drama.

The only thing Meg Hughes is 'channeling' is this:

If you had any doubt about the real origin of the 'organic' compliment, the involuntary evidence is, I think, right here. And laugh as much as you can, for you don't know what we say in Romanian: 'prea mult râs strică, maică' -> too much laughs ain't good for ya, mommie. I'd certainly deplore you choking on it.

PR planted, then used at convenience, for the newbies and the casuals, whose attention span is never superior to five minutes.

Meanwhile, French critics have a different take on The Amateur. But that is another story, for a bit later tonight. I know it pisses many off and I totally intend to oblige. Rest assured, C was not attacked - just completely ignored by all the French major movie critic media outlets, which I think is unfair. But it is what it is. Toodles!

[midnight1nk]

So, this week's episode...

[Spoilers below cut]

OOH, I'm VERY excited to see another Karen episode today! Back to our roots, huh Team. I see you 😌↕️ and still got "SMG4:" prefix in the title there...

also the pattern's shattered but meh *shrugs* who cares about that

Alright, chat, all bets in! Are we getting the arc this time? Let's see...

(the following is my live reaction:)

SMG4 being sponsored by a DC game oh shit, they've really come a long way..... ROGER CRAIG SMITH?! IN MY SMG4 EP?! welp i did not have that in my bingo card

really funny considering some pages of the Sonic x DC crossover are popping up on the same day (my favorite blue guys 💙)

anyway, about the SMG4 Batman signal....

oh... we're really starting off like this, huh

I can already tell this is going to be an emotional episode. god, this really hits heavy with inflation and stuff.

no... please don't tell me....

NO NO NO

"Eviction notice: Indeed, you have been evicted from the premises. Effective immediately, you are to get the actual hell away from this place. You don't have to go home but you can't stay here. Which was home. Geddit?"

ALREADY TRYING TO PISS ME OFF? BC OH BOY IS IT WORKING. YA VERAS LO TE VOY HACER HIJO DE SU—

alright alright, gotta calm down. there's gotta be another way, right?

oh the kids, nooooo

4 PLEASE HELP THEM

just the fact Karen's able to confide with SMG4, wow. Ever since the "We Must Kill Mario" episode, it seems like Karen's been able to trust him in a time of need, especially for her kids.

Sure, 4 and the Crew always get into wacky shenanigans with a side of trauma (like what happened in Puzzle Park) but she still does trust him, which is very sweet to think about. even if she didn't open up the text message, she already knows 4 would be willing to help her if he could

WHAT?

smh 😔 just another day in the SMG4 universe (also 4 absolutely recorded it for a video, he would)

oh wait he did. shoot. well, at least it was considerate of 4 to let her know anyway

ok side note: I find it hilarious that 4 would be sending memes to anyone he knows besides the Crew (he is a meme guardian after all) and Karen be the one to respond with "K". I love that for him.

huh. the Monopoly Man must've really hit rock bottom to be in a homeless shelter rn

DEPRESSO?! you're back, after all this time?

oh hey Mario! still looking for cheese? understandable (i also love cheese)

Mario: "Mmm, free goo." ...don't do that to me, don't say that *IGBP flashbacks*

NOW HOLD UP SHE'S RIGHT, HOW COME THEY CAN'T GET A SERVING TOO?

YEAH GET HIS ASS

oh, never expected the same shot from The Incredibles movie

OH, ARE WE FINALLY GETTING MORE OF HER BACKSTORY? she did say before that she took the job to make a living away from desperate times

AW that's our lovable goofball, willing to help his friends 💙

Oh. not that i expected much anyway. I thought that maybe a tent?

Really nice of Mario to keep his word and not tell the kids yet

Uh. What's all that about? NO NO go back, what was that?

*head in hands* Team, really? did you really have to dig the knife even deeper with the Koopa family moving in, c'mon

OGH BABY KAREN NOOO 😢

she was really this young? oh hun

*pauses and stares at the Team* alright, do tell. who the HELL is this secret organization?

not only has this organization taken advantage of Karen when she was young and vulnerable, but they also had the audacity of not letting her go after she EXPLICITLY told them she quit a long time ago bc of her kids. Seriously, I bet Karen was even picked solely because she was homeless. Their justification would probably be: "she's got nothing left to lose, that's why she chose us. besides, it's not like anyone's going to miss her if she died on the job"

Not that note, there better not be anyone blaming Karen for not seeing this coming bc if it wasn't obvious, she was a stray kitten desperately trying to survive on her own all her life. Ofc she would take the job, how can she not? There was stability, someplace to go. Even if it came with risks. But above all, she had the courage to leave the job for her kids. if that's not a good mother, I don't know what else to say

man, this organization's EVIL evil

THE KIDS (the Team's trying to destroy me /silly)

FAMILYYYY 🥹

oh right, chat, say it with me now (mickey clubhouse style): Oh, Mario!

AY that's pretty good 😄👍

WELCOME TO THE CRIB ✌️

Karen, you're going to tell the truth eventually. It's better now or never

THIS WHOLE SCENE MANNN, IT LEGITIMATELY MADE ME CRY

IT GOT ME. THIS. THIS IS HOW YOU MAKE AN EMOTIONAL YET SILLY EPISODE.

you did it Team. here you go, my stamp of approval ⭐️

SAME MARIO SAME

uh. what.

we did get 4 and Karen as a fighting duo, could we get one with Mario?

welp Monoploy Man owns Amazon now, someone edit the wiki. but that's only in the SMG4 universe. FUCK

y'know, you could've started with that, Mr. Monopoly

WE"RE GOING HOME LET'S GOOOO 🎉

idc what SOME people, LET US HAVE THIS. let them go home 🥹

*record scratch* wait what?

the walkie-talkie? wha....

WHAT? HUH?!

WAIT NONONONO DON'T CUT TO BLACK TEAM TEAM DON'T YOU DARE ROLL THE CREDITS

*flips desk* are you. fuckin. kidding me? they did that? to US? to ME? AAAAAAAA [We'll Be Right Back, after these messages :)]

Uh anyway, congrats to FalconaVasa for your fanart being featured in the end credits🎉 getting some luigi fanart in here, we love to see it :)

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

Nope. I'm still not over that ending. I gotta go and leave the room for a sec. I can't believe we went from emotional to "surprise! it's the start of an arc!!"

TEAM, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? AAAAAAAA. AAAAAAAAA.

Alright, I do have to wrap this review so I'll keep this quick. Without a doubt, we are entering into an arc starring Karen and Mario which can easily be connected to the "We Must Kill Mario" and "The Fight of All Time" episodes. As for the antagonist, we have a couple of choices:

The secret organization—they have been a big turning point in Karen's life and they keep bothering her with jobs she doesn't want to do

Marty—we do still have a hit on him and he still has a grudge against Mario

The father of Karen's kids—Karen mentioned it once in the last episode she starred in and may be associated with the organization itself

or an entirely new villain we don't know about

It can't be Mr Puzzles since (1) he's still in prison, (2) it's too early for that, (3) he doesn't have a personal grudge against Karen. And for those who say it's Shadow Man being part of the organization, I'm going to quote from Anaidon here:

Shadow Man is not canon in the SMG4 universe, and is merely an OC Anaidon puts it in the assigned scenes as an easter egg for fans to find. Ofc there is a chance that the Team could propose their OCs/AUs for future storylines (they are pretty cool). But at this time, after all the planning they've done, it just wouldn't be possible. Side note: if the Team's going to introduce a new villain, they plan several episodes for us to get to know the character before an arc actually happens.

What about Niles? We technically didn't meet him until the Revelations Arc. Or even Wren?

Niles wasn't entirely new, he stemmed from the Genesis arc so we as the audience can keep up with what we already knew. With Wren, we've seen him before WS, whenever Meggy retells it. And, knowing Meggy as a character, we knew Wren was a big influence on her. Now, the argument can be said with Mr Puzzles for him not appearing until the IGBP movie (episode-wise). But even then, he actually appeared until the end of WOTFI 2023 and was the mastermind working behind the scenes. His small appearances ARE his build-up to what his character was like.

When we're dealing with an arc, we have to have our main cast. Karen and Mario, obviously, and for the conflict to make sense, the antagonist has to be related to the two. But I never said there only had to be one antagonist. We could have more than one.

As for Mario, we might have to determine which side he's on. Mario accepted the mission given by whoever talked through the walkie-talkie. Accepted it, with a serious tone. It could be that he was threatened or offered a deal he can't refuse.

Well, here's my mini-theory (yes, cue the intro): when the sounds of the walkie-talkie were going off, it reminded me a lot of the static/standing-by noise Mr Puzzles done before, luring the Crew into the basement "No TV Make Mario Not Okie Dokie" and Mario in "Incredible Game Show Spectacular". Like it was hypnotic. If you really think about it, it's really symbolic at the end of the PV movie, Puzzles making the same noise at his defeat (representing the mind control over the Crew) and 4 smashing his head to stop said noise (representing their freedom). But AGAIN, not saying Puzzles is back for this arc. But I think the walkie-talkie noise was a tool to hypnotize whoever found it in the trash, which happened to be Mario of all people. That's why I'm leaning toward the organization or Marty being the ones behind it. Both of them keep a close eye on Karen and Mario that they have a chance to plant it there. And let's go back to the "We Must Kill Mario" episode, where the first thing we see Mario is when he charges toward the trash bin for a wizard outfit. This isn't the first time either when in "Trash Friends", Mario hides in the dump and is willing to eat trash-made spoiled spaghetti for his own purposes. If anyone would be able to catch on to this, it would be these two antagonists, to hypnotize Mario.

Sorry, got a little sidetracked there. More of my fever talk in there. Ben, you have anything to say?

"Something bad is about to happen." (uh yeah, no shit. still not over what you said last time.) another user: "Brings back such memories when you posted 🔔 and the whole (English) community went crazy thinking it had something to do with SMG4" "Calm down. Yeah, I'm going to do that when the time comes, haha" user: "leave us alone dude" (/silly) ":3"

...sigh. Really, Ben? You really are a menace, my god. Well, too bad I'm bilingual. Anyway, this has been an amazing episode with Karen and the kids. Everything from the voice acting to the animation to the script, oh boy. Team, you really did it. It really hit close to home, such a good story touching a bit of reality there. Like I said time to time again, love is a powerful force that helped the Crew overcome numerous obstacles. Even if it came to a cost, these characters always prevailed.

People have been saying that Karen ended up having no actual consequences by the end of the episode, but honestly, I want this ending. Some people are at risk of losing their homes or who already did. Some parents who suffered a terrible childhood do not want to pass it on to their kids. Some don't get the happy ending Karen and her kids did, but it's one wished for. For Karen, a character who we see working at multiple jobs and caring for her kids, let her have this. This show isn't meant to be realistic in the first place, but it does bring in real topics, and having these characters triumph over their hardships, sparks hope for the people also struggling with it.

If they can, you can too.

Well, that's all from me. Kinda left in charge of production last minute, so I gotta go! Thanks for stopping by, I'll see you all next time, and remember: numbers always go first.

....what's that?

I lost the bet so I owe you all cans of Rizz soda and ideas for my AU? uhhhhhhhh 🏃‍➡️🏃‍➡️🏃‍➡️

[specialagentartemis]

Re. your post on AI with no sources (which I'm going to reblog; but I wanted to note this outside of the tags): I work in higher ed too, in administration. As it happens, my program is having a meeting next week, required by the office for undergrad education, to talk about "what we're going to do about Grade Inflation". *SCREAMING* I've been in this job for 24 years. I've seen past attempts to deal with grade inflation! I've seen past attempts to deal with honors inflation! They haven't figured out a solution YET. But what's especially NOT a solution is pushing it down on all of the individual depts. Because all you'll get in that case is inconsistent amounts of change (if any), and all that happens then is that those depts that DO try to address the issue find their enrollments plummeting. It absolutely HAS to be an across-the-university push all at the same time, or nothing is going to work. But yeah, sure, we'll sit around a table next week and talk about how we can grade more harshly. An idea that, as things stand, is basically asking the instructors to kill their enrollments and thus kill their student evaluations, which are examined by the administration when it comes time to renew their job appointment. I do NOT know the solution to all of this. Because there's all that on the one hand, and there's the "college as commodity" issue that you mentioned on the other hand. How do we get to a point where we can get the students to focus on the learning opportunity in front of them, rather than on the distant post-graduation job market? I just don't know, because the whole mindset is so foreign to me. And I think for a lot of teachers, too (which I am not), there's this same issue of... we weren't the ones in that mindset when we were IN college, so it's very hard to understand it now. It's not hard to understand the *fear*, or the pressure. It's just hard to understand the not-caring at all. Anyway. Just wanted to say: solidarity. This is such a big problem. AI is exacerbating it, making it worse, but the problem really was already there.

oooof yeah. Good luck and I’m really sorry about that :(

as one of the reblogs of my post said: the solution to this is UBI. Unfortunately, the solution to quite a lot of things is UBI.

Because that’s the problem, right? It’s not so much that AI exists, it’s that it makes it exponentially easier to just give up and fall into the attitude that is already pervasive anyway. I’ve never had to talk about great inflation but ugh yeah. If college is a commodity, and you need a good grades, and if college is a business, you need to keep coming and paying for those good grades… you have to revamp basically the entire economy to get out of the hole that’s been dug, both by us and for us!

Like, what, we need “college does not cost thousands of dollars” AND ALSO “4-year college is not a requirement for getting a ‘respectable’ job where you can support yourself and survive comfortably” AND ALSO “community college gets respect and support” AND ALSO “professors shouldn’t be expected to teach, research, and do administrative work all at once, all the time” AND ALSO “get rid of the publish or perish model for real” AND ALSO “teaching and public outreach are institutionally valued” AND ALSO “college professors actually get taught how to teach, like get taught education theory and pedagogy” AND ALSO “not have students’ housing or scholarship depend on their grades” AND ALSO “not have a grade school culture of teaching to the test and standardized tests that instills in you for your entire childhood that grades are everything” BUT THAT WOULD MEAN “not funding grade schools/high schools based on student test scores, just actually funding them all for real” AND ALSO “hiring more teachers” BUT THAT WOULD MEAN “making teaching at a school a task that isn’t horribly thankless and burns people out real fast” BUT THAT WOULD ALSO MEAN “making school not a miserable place to be a child” WITH A SIDE OF “make sure everyone is teaching phonics again for real so from a young age, students learn how to read well and don’t struggle with reading and writing in a way that encourages them to give up and use ChatGPT” AND ALSO “generally having a culture that values learning and knowledge rather than money”… it is all SO MUCH and it will be hard to do and also expensive so nobody with the power to fix it really wants to try that hard to do so!!

and yeah, I definitely think you’re right that because all the professors and TAs are the people who liked school enough to keep doing it forever it’s just, incredibly hard to grok the students who don’t care. But the mess of a culture we’re in makes it all so hard to challenge because it feels like we need to untangle EVERYTHING to fix ANYTHING.

UBI would be a great start though.

[wilhelminyard]

compilation of nice/sweet things the foxes said to neil because even though they're a bunch of assholes who'll insult anyone in their vicinity they all just love him so damn much (part 2) :

ANDREW :

"I'm not here for your entertainment" "but as expected you are talented enough to multitask"

"you are neil josten and I am still the man who said he would keep you alive. I don't care if you use this phone tomorrow. I don't care if you never use it again. but you are going to keep it on you because one day you might need it. on that day you're not going to run. you're going to think about what I promised you and you're going to make the call."

"I'm not afraid of you" "that's why you're so interesting"

DAN :

"don't thank us, remember us. we're your teammates. we're here to help you with whatever you need."

"you've got us now"

"that was perfect. but don't do something that reckless again. we can't replace you. hear me?"

"neil, you can use the girls' shower while we're busy"

MATT :

"just try not to think about it until we get there. you won't do yourself any favorite if you spend the ride stressing out about things you can't change."

"if you don't have anywhere to go, I'll drag you home with me"

KEVIN :

"if you get hurt out there, you do something about it. you take it easy, you have coach pull you, you ask abby for help - I don't care. if you ever say 'I'm fine' about your health again I will make you rue the day you were born"

"neil has no place in riko's games. he is a fox."

"run. it's the only way you'll survive"

"you should be court."

"will you still teach me?" "every night."

"I will watch you. if you want to drink tonight. I won't let you say something you'll regret." "you'll be drunk inside an hour. then who'll stop me?" "I would stop drinking."

"you're not going. do you know what he'll do to you?"

WYMACK :

"why did you pay for stalls coach?" "maybe I knew you'd need them one day"

"neil, if you can't be here say so. abby can take you elsewhere until it's time to leave. get out of here and get some fresh air."

"what can I do?" "I don't know" "when you know, tell me"

"sometimes the world feels so big but then I'm reminded how small it is" "big or small just remember you're not alone in it."

"if riko really was behind it somehow, the blame is all on him. he chose to take out his petty rage on seth. he chose to cross a line. you didn't. you hear me? you didn't. don't ever blame yourself for seth's death. that it too dangerous a road to walk down. you keep your eyes on your own path and keep moving forward"

"neil" "I'm fine" "be fine inside where it's warmer"

"look I know I've always told you all to take your personal problems up with betsy or abby. I've said it's not my place to get into anything outside the court. I hope you've figured out by now I'm just blowing hot air. I'm not real good at being a shoulder, but I do have a working set of ears."

"help me" "let me"

"this doesn't mean anything. I'm still a fox." "of course you are."

NICKY :

"kid you're killing me. why do you always get that deer-in-headlights look when someone does something nice for you?"

"you worry about neil's career. I'll worry about his personal happiness."

"I didn't really get into the gritty details last time because those aren't reallt dan and matt's business, but you're family, so I can tell you."

"there's obsession and there's dysfunction. you can't make exy your end-all be-all. this won't last forever, okay? you'll shine bright, then you'll retire, and then what? you gonna spend the rest of your life at home alone with all your trophies? you can't be just this, neil. this isn't enough to live for."

"thanks for taking one for the team, neil. you're a real friend."

"are we? friends?" "you are going to be the absolute death of me. yeah, kid. we're friends. you're stuck with us, like it or not."

"I only see that look on neil's face when someone tries to do something nice for him, but we all know kevin's as bratty as they come. what did you say, kevin, and do I need to defend neil's honor or what?"

RENEE :

"I am not the girl I once was but the shade of my old life will always existe inside of me. that is what helps me connect with andrew. I am hoping it will help me connect with you."

"I do not know your story. if you've trusted andrew with anything, he hasn't shared the details with me and he never will. but if you are as like us as we first predicted you to be, perhaps one day you can also come to see me as a friend."

"if either andrew or I can help you, please know we are here."

"and you neil? are you all right?"

[ro-bee]

Hi!

Could maybe say something more about your Goat Realm?

What is story of Puppy narinder here?

What heretics look like here and how are they behaviour? (I'm curious about it because I love these beans. I'm all ears to any littlest detail)

How other bishops look like?

And anyway anything. I'm all ears to all ramble!

Drink your water!

HELLOOO

It is time for the goatverse yap section ! Everybody cheers!!

Anyway little disclaimers :

1_ is very work in progress... Unfortunately all my focus is on those two gay furries and not much on the world so I don't have many drawings to show :(

2_ it's heavy... And I mean there are strong themes and stuff (I'm not gonna go in details here) ... You'll see it better when I finish one of my many projects but it will require a lot of time... Like a lot, sorry... Anyway :)

Goat's world is very harsh. Here we live by the philosophy of kill or be killed very often, despite that there are some people that manage to live in piece and tranquility (example: goat's family and people that don't venerate any specific bishops or that venerate Kiran)

The world is ruled by the 5 bishops (these design are still concepts expect our beloved wolf lol)

Four of them command on different regions, Kiran being the god of death rules the purgatory

He doesn't have many followers like his siblings but he prefers it like that, it doesn't really matter to him because people souls would end up to him anyway.

His siblings have more of an evil alineament, they use their godhood for bad often, taking entertainment on their followers pain. Kiran is the opposite and witnessing his followers suffering fills him with sorrow, that's why he always gives his followers a painless death, is the last he can do for them... After all their souls gives him power :)

Anyway I think I already explained kiran's plan here , tldr bro is sad people suffer so he thinks that killing everything is a good solution

A little thing I want to add to kiran's backstory thing (idk):

I think that unfortunately we're not gonna have a ratau in this world, since Kiran's objective is to get rid of pain with putting everyone's soul to rest I think he won't let any previous vessel go away after failing (I'm not doing this because I hate ratau, he's my dad I love him so much)

So goat had no guide in what they were doing

Heretics here are just like regular heretics(?), if you wanted to know more about their design unfortunately I don't have anything with them :( I have some sketches in the comic I'm working on but I need to keep it as a surprise

Most of them are just regular people that want to survive...

Talking about people who want to survive:

Goat wasn't always this fucked up in the head, this whole deal changed them for the worst. Before the crown they lived a normal peaceful life with their family, when they lost everything they were forced to learn how to fight back to survive. So they spent many years running away and fighting back, they felt terrible at first but then it started to feel normal, almost enjoyable. Getting the crowns powers made killing people fun for them so yeah lol this is the evolution of goat going from calm Lyra player to killer machine, they have a loooooot of anger issues lol.

About the bishops... I'm currently drawing them better and they still have no name right now...

Their personality is the opposite of the canon one basically

The leshy is calm less impulsive

The geko is a prudent and a bit coward

The kraken is fearless and violent

The scorpion is ruthless and impulsive

Kiran is their older brother and loves them very much!! the feeling is not very mutual but anyway :)

I need to work a little bit more on them ngl

Aaaand I think this is all? Hmm idk feel free to ask more :)

[barrenclan]

That.....that ended both not how I expected and at the same time...yeah, of course that's what happened, of course thats how it ended. Of course deepdark just. leaves. It doesn't make sense, not to us, not to the cats, not as outsiders, but defiance doesn't make sense to anyone but deepdark. Thats how its always been. It's a whim, but everything defiance does is a whim of his.

Deepdark won. He didn't even have to kill anyone else. He won, so absolutely that there was no point in doing anything else to Barren. He won over Longest-Claws, he won over the cats. And he knows that. Everyone knew that the moment he stepped into the camp. Really, maybe the moment rainhaze came back.

BarrenClan survived with, all things considered, next to no casualties, but...

It's still a tragedy. The tragedy of living. The tragedy of dying while you're still standing, of reaching the edge and teetering there and falling back away from it but you already know. You've seen it. You've been there. You know where the line is, how shallow and narrow and crimson it is, how indiscriminate and cruel and callous and nothing like falling asleep it is. And then you live with that.

You're alive, but... you're not, anymore.

Of course, this was how it was going to end. Death would have been too easy. Dying is easy. Living is harder.

anyway this story has permanently altered my brain chemistry in irrevocable ways and its torn my heart out of my chest and presented it still-beating on a platter and I hope you're proud of yourself (positive and affectionate and loving and life-changing)

I described PATFW as "bittersweet tragedy" more than a year ago, but I'm not entirely sure I'd call it a tragedy anymore... mostly because I don't think I define tragedies the same way other people do. But it's definitely still a story with a great deal of tragedy in it.

Now that we're past "The Death of BarrenClan", I can finally say this is what the story has been exploring all along: how do you keep living after you escape death, not by any action of your own, but through pure random chance? What does the world look like for you after that? How do you heal, live, love? Can you?

[riyangiis]

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED !

your best friend has a big game, you nearly die, something you've been waiting for centuries happens in one of the most unexpected moments.. pretty crazy week, right?

pairing , non-idol!yujin x gn!reader

genre , fluff, you deserve it 😓 also crack 😋

word count , 3.6k

warnings , lowercase intended, not proofread, smau included, highschool!au, near death experience, car accident (that's def not an accident), bullying, swearing, ocs, .. reader is implied to be filo? (BANANA KETCHUP ILY), both of them are down bad, yujin plays basketball cs I don't know how to write football games ✌✌, kissing.. well on the cheek, that's all I think..

[ note: this fic is based on another fic, it is recommended to read that one first! ]

[ see more? ] ─ [ og post ]

you hear endless notifications coming from your phone inside your pocket, that's probably yujin. normally you would check it but the red light is so close to disappearing. why is it even here? there were no cars anyways.

3..

2...

1!

you start making your way to the other side of the road as you stare at the white horizontal lines you're walking on.

you start to lose focus until.. did your headphones just die on you? great.

you start to walk slowly as you remove your headphones and keep them in your bag. you hear multiple people honking at one car that is going faster than what the speed limit is supposed to be.

wait a minute.

is that car going..

towards..

you?

you turn your head to see the speeding car that those people got mad at.

"w-WHAT THE FFUUU-"

you drop your headphones that literally cost a whopping 500 plus a shipping fee out of shock and run like you're sonic the hedgehog and you're running away from sirenhead. i'm not exaggerating.

you hear your headphones get crushed by the car as you stop near a street lamp. did you just survive a car accident? but clearly your headphones didn't and took the fall for you. well shit.

you try to take a look at the driver who literally almost killed you.. he looks familiar doesn't he? you just can't seem to remember who it is. the driver owns a car that looks really expensive though..

wait. is your mind playing tricks on you or is that..

EUNKYUNG'S DAD?? THE ONE WHO MADE YOUR BEST FRIEND'S BULLY???

"shit, gotta tell him about this.." you whisper to yourself and grab your phone out of your pocket. it seems like yujin's worried about you not answering right away.. too clingy for a best friend, but you like it though.

"w.. WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY SURVIVED?!"

the loud voice can be heard around the entire first floor. although, nobody really cares. eunkyung always throws tantrums that what seems like a loud scream, loud enough for others to think that she's getting murdered, is just nothing to the people living with her.

her father sighs and tries to reason with his bratty daughter. "listen I was speeding, even I wouldn't have survived that. that [name] is a fast thinker and just ran away like they're the usain bolt."

"ugh.. they always mess up my plans.. CURSE YOU HAN YUJIN AND [NAME]!!!" eunkyung exits the room to go in her own. her father watches as she goes up the stairs looking infuriated. what did he do to raise the definition of brat? the devil herself? he even got dragged in her shenanigans as well..

"there's no way that happened.."

kyungsoo, jiwon's girlfriend, also known as the better kyung, joined the drama session inside yujin's room. she took another piece of popcorn and tossed it inside her mouth. her other hand was playing with jiwon's hair whose head was laying on kyungsoo's lap. "ew.. lovebirds.." yujin muttered.

"yeah also have you guys heard about jiyeon cheating on hiro with-" the entire group of friends was waiting for kyungsoo to finish her sentence but was met with silence. kyungsoo tried to check the box to get more popcorn, she looked inside the box and saw nothing but crumbs.

"um.. there's no popcorn." yujin raised his eyebrow in confusion. "..can't you at least finish your sentence? we're like waiting for a new episode because the last one left us on a big cliffhanger.." kyungsoo gets off yujin's bed and gets the popcorn box with her.

"yeah.. I'm getting more popcorn, you'll have to guess who the mysterious person is!"

"what the? kyungsoo you can't just-" you get cut off as kyungsoo shut the door on you.. sigh, you look at the bed if there's any other food except for popcorn. guess you'll have to follow her and get more snacks. you get off the bed and walk to the door, "[name], where are you going?"

well.. who else would have a deep voice except for your best friend, yujin? you turn to face him and see a worried look.. "uh.. to the convenience store? to buy some snacks?" he sighs, "[name].. you just survived a car accident. and you're going out again? on your own?" he gets up and grabs your hand to drag you back to his bed.

"what the? yujin-" your sentence gets cut off, again.. when yujin yanks you a little aggresively. you held his waist for support, the both of you end up to be in a.. pretty questionable position for friends? yujin ended up being under you, your faces a little too close to each other.

you didn't move a single inch and just stayed in your position, speechless. you can feel your cheeks burning. the room was filled with nothing but silence, and the air conditioner. he looks into your eyes deeply, then your lips for a little bit.. did he just do the triangle method? lord, this boy makes you go crazy..

yujin hand reaches for your face, is he actually going to.. no way.. it's finally happening, well.. maybe you're just delusional. he just removed the stray hair that's blocking your face, but surely that means something? he looks at you and smiles softly. how could you not fall for him?

you decided to break the silence and say something. "uh.. I should um.. go.." you're still blushing after everything that happened, did he do that on purpose? does he know?

"woah.. that was pretty good for a loser like you, yujin."

"what the heck?" yujin turns to see jiwon awake. "I thought you were asleep?" jiwon chuckles at yujin's reaction when he found out that she was awake and saw the entire thing.

"gosh.. you do all that yet you can't confess to them yet. really man? and for the your question I was never asleep, I just got too comfortable in your bed.." yujin can't seem to say something against her knowing that she's right.. "I'll help you."

your day is so not going great.. first you nearly died in a car accident, and yujin.. is just yujin.. that boy.. you recently just got out of yujin's house and currently going to the nearest convenience store to get more snacks. the sun's almost down, meaning that you'll go back home after a few hours. fortunately, you don't have to go to the other side of the road to get to the convenience store.

you get closer to the store, but you start to hear footsteps behind you. it's probably nothing.. but why is it speeding up? you turn around to see who's the mysterious person behind you.. "WHAT THE FU-"

the person jumps at you for a hug. the both of you fall due to the fact that the hug was unexpected, you fall hard on your butt while the person lets go of you. "ouch... who the heck are you..?" you look up to see.. kyungsoo? what's she doing out here?

"..kyungsoo? why are you here?" she looked at you worriedly, that hug was one of the deadliest ones known to man, surviving death counter: 2.. kyungsoo lends you a hand and helps you get up, "I'm so sorry I didn't think it would end up badly.." she apologizes with a very worried look all over her face and holds both of your hands.

you groan at the pain in your butt, the sidewalk isn't the smoothest or flattest one that you've ever seen. it's very far from that actually.. "ow.. still doesn't answer my question though, why are you here?" you ask again incase she forgets.

"uh.. I noticed that we ran out of cheese powder for the popcorn and sour cream powder for the fries, so I went here to get more! also I noticed that the snacks in my house are running out so I decided to buy them too.."

"I see.. let's go now. the next thing you know the store will close.." kyungsoo holds your hand and walks with you to the convenience store.

.. great. you jinxed it. the both of you stare at the store and watch as the owner closes it. no snacks.. no flavor.. what will you do?

"I.. think I can handle popcorn with no flavor..? don't know about fries though.." kyungsoo breaks the silence, she's still staring and the broken sign with blinking letters. ".. just add salt and mix ketchup and mayo for the sauce?" you answer her, she finally turns to look at you in curiosity.

"you can do that? well, that is a.. rather interesting combination.. but I'll try!"

"WAIT!! it's recommended to use banana ketchup.. yujin already has it, I gave one bottle to him because he was curious.."

"hurry up then!!" kyungsoo starts running away from you, suddenly this turns into a race to see who gets to yujin's house the fastest.

for a pretty short time. the both of you are exhausted and sweating.. this sidewalk is also not the best place to run, what's wrong with this sidewalk? are there no good traits about it?

"wait.. [name].. I.. forgot to ask you something.." kyungsoo pauses a lot to catch her breath and also due to the fact that she's.. really exhausted... "huh? .. what is it?" you on the other half.. it's not that bad compared to kyungsoo. she's not the athletic person, she's very far from that.. you're even convinced that she's the opposite of athletic!

"[name] you.. you.. like yujin.. don't you?"

the sudden question caughts you off guard, you feel your heart beating faster. was it that obvious? or did jiwon give up on keeping her mouth shut and told her about it.. either way, avoiding the question makes it even more obvious, so you just admit it. "uh.. yeah.. was it really that obvious?"

"oh.. not really. jiwon just told me." knew it, that girl can't keep herself from telling her girlfriend everything. one of the reasons why almost no one share their secrets to her. "as expected.. she can't control herself when it comes to secrets.."

kyungsoo turns to look at you and smirks, "you and yujin huh.. I got a feeling that he likes you too.." you look away from her to hide your blushing face and your smile. "hey don't get my hopes up.." she giggles at your embarrassment. "okay okay.. but I'm not wrong though?"

"whatever...."

today's the game.. you kept your promise to yujin when you said that you'll make a whole banner to support him, and also be annoyingly loud. unfortunately, your seatmates are from the other school..

currently the game is going well for yujin's team, you decided to take that opportunity to rub it in your seatmates' faces. behind you are jiwon and kyungsoo, you can hear them giggling by you having a fight with strangers from the other school.

you felt the need to fix yourself and go to the bathroom. you stood up and gave the banner to jiwon and kyungsoo, you walked to the bathroom expecting that no one would be there due to the fact that the entire hallway is empty and not a single noise is heard except the game.

you open the door of the bathroom and was met with the most awful person to ever live in this century, eunkyung. what does she want.. she smirks at your annoyed face, "it seems that you got lucky and survived.." you scoff, you get your phone out to ignore her and attempt to make her irritated.

"so you admit that you did it? try to look menacing all you want but you're just revealing your crimes." nice, now she's the one that's annoyed. ".. w-well, that would've been obvious. don't be stupid.." she stutters at her words, almost speechless about her unintended mistake. that's good.. you need to be more annoying and make her expose herself. she's definitely not the brightest person you've seen in the school.

"get your ass out of my way, I didn't go here to see your disgusting face." eunkyung gets offended and gasps dramatically, "should've made father go faster.. you know what, I should've been there with him so that you'd see this disgusting face during the last moments of your life!" she screams at you without thinking about the consequences, you smirk at the girl's stupidity.

you decided to stop having your fun before eunkyung thinks of another way of killing you. "good luck with that.. also, thank you." she stares at you with the word confused all over her face. you make your way towards the door outside. "..for what?" she asked you genuinely, but you never answer.

".. for everything you said." you whispered to yourself. you exit the bathroom and take your phone out, you smiled to yourself and paused the audio recorder.

you finally returned to your chair, you're lucky that you used that audio recorder after learning from your past attempts of trying to screw up eunkyung's evil plans. "[name]! why did you take so long? did you have gallons of pee or something.." jiwon asks you and gives you your huge banner back. "oh it's.. something happened again, I'll tell you later." you look around the place and catch eunkyung at your left staring at you. you sit on your chair and watch the game, well.. specifically yujin.

"your boyfriend is winning by the way.." kyungsoo whispers in your ear to tease you. "hey, he's not my boyfriend.." although you wish he was.. jiwon giggles and follows her girlfriend with teasing you. "yet!" you roll your eyes at them and continue to watch the game.

yujin gets called for a break and returns to his team. you finally get a close up of what he looks like right now, you can clearly see that he's very.. sweaty. to be honest he looks really handsome like that, but you've seen him like this a few times before and you were trying to keep yourself from giggling like a loser who's madly in love with their crush. okay you take that back you are a loser who's madly in love.. you're real lucky that jiwon and kyungsoo are behind you because you're blushing real bad..

he wipes his face and neck with a towel and looks at you. you notice and look away swiftly in shyness, you can feel your heartbeat speeding up and your face turning pink. you attempt to sneak a glance at him but find that yujin is still staring at you, he starts smiling and waves at you. you smile back awkwardly and give him a thumbs up with both of your hands, he chuckles and finally sits down. lord, this boy really makes you crazy.

you see a girl his age hand him a towel for him to wipe his sweat, he smiles at her the.. same way he did at you. what the heck? maybe you were getting your hopes up too much.. you unconsciously furrow your eyebrows and frown slightly as you watch their interaction. wait, why are you even jealous? it's not like it's your business or that you have the right to.. nevermind.

you stop staring at them to prevent yourself from getting even more jealous. you didn't notice yujin staring at you looking all angry, 'maybe I should do this more.. they look cute like that' he thought to himself. you also didn't notice jiwon and kyungsoo giggling at the both of you.

"you were right.. they look so cute together!" kyungsoo whispers to jiwon, "well.. we were like that before, right?"

"yeah.. I'm glad we could experience it again." kyungsoo lays her head on her girlfriend's shoulder.

yujin gets called again to go back to the court. ricky, that famous senior known for being "young and rich, tall and handsome", comes up to yujin and pats his back, yujin runs to the court and starts playing. whatever they're doing, not like you know much about basketball anyways.

some time passes as the game continues normally, with your school still in the lead and the other school catching up. you stopped screaming and cheering and also have the banner folded, you're spent.. so are your seatmates from the other school, all of you are just watching peacefully. you can hear a couple of people screaming as the game almost draws to an end..

the ball is currently at one of the guys from the other school, 'park, 8' on the back of his jersey. you have to admit, he's kinda cute.. got a few girls screaming for him.. he passes the ball to one of his teammates but one of yujin's teammates, gyuvin, ends up getting the ball. he runs and then passes the ball to yujin quickly.

the time almost runs out as yujin runs to the hoop, the screaming gets even louder.. you watch yujin closely and see how determined he is to score.. 'come on yujin... you can do it.....' you thought to yourself, you held the banner laying on your lap tightly.

yujin decides to shoot the ball at a pretty risky place, the crowd goes silent and watches if the ball gets in the hoop. the players can't do anything but watch it.

'so close...'

'you're running out of time, yujin....'

3..

2..

1..

"3 POINTS, HAN YUJIN SCORES 3 POINTS!!"

the people from your school shout and cheer loudly as the others can't do anything but sigh in defeat.. you stood up from your seat and quickly ran to yujin, both jiwon and kyungsoo watch, still in their seats, as you ran to your best friend. you saw him and jumped into his arms immediately without warning him.

"hey.. that's what I did to them!" kyungsoo told jiwon, she laughed as yujin fell from your sudden attack. "ouch.. what was that for?!" yujin says as he gets up and sits on the floor, you get off of him and help him get up. "you.. you won!! oh my gosh you actually, you actually did it!!" you hug him again, your arms around his waist and your head on top of his shoulder. he reciprocates the hug and smiles widely.

"oh my gosh I actually.. I love you so much.." he says unconsciously while hugging you tighter but you let go of him in shock, both of your hands cover your mouth that's wide open after what he said. yujin realizes and does the same thing.

"I-I'm sorry that was so sudden uh.. you.. don't have to say anything.." both of your faces turn extremely red, yujin slowly backs up from you in embarrassment and fear that you won't like him back. he turns his head away from you while you still stare at him, you run up to him and hug him again.

"I.. I love you too!! you don't know how long I've been waiting for this!!" you smile widely while yujin is still frozen due to your words. he turns his head to look at you all joyful and wraps his arms around your waist. he smiles back at you and stares at you lovingly, you let go of his torso and use both of your hands to hold his cheeks. you can feel them burning and getting hotter as you hold them softly.

you smile and laugh at each other for not knowing what to do, you ended up kissing the both of his cheeks, a lot. yujin giggles and then lays his head on your shoulder after.

"hey yujin!" a familiar voice interrupts the both of you, he turns around to see ricky. "not bad, kid.. seems like you got yourself a partner too." ricky teases his younger teammate and giggles at how yujin's face turns pink and how you still haven't let go of him. "let's celebrate later, ricky's treat!" gyuvin, beside ricky, pops up in the conversation. ricky looks at his friend confused. "hey I never said anything!"

"well too bad, it's on you now!" gyuvin says. the both of them continue bickering until ricky decides to leave the both of you together. and.. you hear another voice behind you again.

"so.. finally confessed to each other?" the both of you turn around to see jiwon and kyungsoo behind you. "you.. you were here all along? at this point you could be a spy.." yujin says to jiwon surprised about how this happened for the second time.. jiwon chuckles, "no. we just got down, kyungsoo was the one who told me about you two." kyungsoo smiles and realizes something. "hey! about what happened inside the bathroom.. I thought you were going to tell us?"

"I don't think I should tell you here.. maybe when we get out?" kyungsoo sighs about how she's going to stay curious.. you feel something on your hands, you look at it and see a new pair of headphones. the headphones that you sacrificed. you then look at yujin, the one who gave them to you.

"what? I promised that I'd give you new ones?" you smiled and kept the box of headphones inside your bag, you held yujin's hand and follow jiwon and kyungsoo as they go outside the court. "so.. what was kyungsoo talking about earlier?" yujin asks you, you get closer to him and whisper to his ear, "eunkyung admitted that she tried to kill me.. I recorded it inside my phone.."

yujin widened his eyes in shock. ".. what do I do with it though?" you ask him quietly. "let's not do something yet.. we need things to go smoothly. this is eunkyung we're talking about.." you nod in understanding.

and now.. your week comes to an end. should take the award for 'the most unexpected and maybe the luckiest week in your life'.. expect the unexpected I guess..?

[ note: THEY'RE HAPPY NOW!! :33 AND KYUNGSOO IS BACK AS WELL!!!! honestly I was rushing to write this and it was harder cs I was planning to make yujin a football player 😓😓 YOU GUYS HAPPY NOW??? 😒😒😒 ]

taglist: @zahraism , @taesansidechick / @jelllijeans , @goldoie / @n-americano

[ruby-red-inky-blue]

Carrie watches Rogue One (again) Pt. 1

okay everyone, let's get back to basics. I am rewatching Rogue One. (Pt 1 because this ran so long it was getting crazy)

Stuff I love:

god, the music, the music! Michael Giachino, you are a king among men. The title music alone??? is so great??? how you think it's regular Star Wars but then it's not, but the music still sounds so quintessentially Star Wars, it's so good

Baby Jyn's casting remains incredible. She is so cute, and she looks so much like Felicity Jones!

Jyn clearly remembering the "everything I do, I do to protect you" and yet not giving that any credence for the first third of the movie is such a good and realistic choice, and it shows her jadedness so well. I wouldn't believe him either, if everyone just kept fucking me over!

Little Jyn's hideout is so cleverly hidden, and really speaks to their preparation in ways that the fact they wait so long to leave the homestead do not. It makes little sense to me how long they are taking to get out of dodge, and that they don't even seem to attempt to have everyone flee together. But that also speaks to how ruthless and prepared her parents were at this point - and how shitty little Jyn's life must have been in the grand scheme of things, even while she had parents who loved her at that point. Her parents are hardened people already - Galen clearly prepared to stall Krennic to let them escape, Lyra choosing to try and take Krennic down with her instead of going quietly, even to stay alive for her child...

Little Jyn with the lamp!!! I will never EVER be over the parallels of Jyn with her little broken lamp and the warm light on her face, and then Jyn with the light on her face in the elevator. It's so neat!

JEDHA. Goddd. It feel so tangible and massive, those eerie statues/mountain ranges in the desert, even Saw's rebels - everything feels so grounded and vivid here, while on Andor, their hideouts often looked like a set to me, especially in S2.

Bodhi trying so hard to look brave will never not get me.

I have yelled about Kafrene so much in the past weeks I have nothing to add except to reiterate this: Cassian didn't need to comfort Tivik. He was, in fact, wasting valuable time in doing so. That's what got me the first time watching, how this act is at the same time so kind and so incredibly callous. Like, how cruel to lie to someone you know you're going to kill - and how kind to take a moment, even in that situation, to make sure that person is not afraid.

I love how defiant and steely Jyn is. I wish they had played that up even more, especially in the beginning of her interview. But I LOVE the steel that comes into her posture and expression the moment they ask about Saw.

"I found it!" and "I find that answer vague and unconvincing" are still so funny

They are so good at establishing Cassian as a very good manipulator and handler with really small things in this script. Like him immediately ceding to Jyn's challenge of "trust goes both ways" - he instantly recognises that she expects him to take it from her and that she plans to be difficult, and recognises that he will lose her trust and possibly her cooperation forever if he does take it from her (even if he'd, you know, survive that). So he just cedes it to her, without another word. It's such a good, calculated risk - because yeah, she might shoot him now, but he needs her to trust him, and stick with him, and he only has until they land to make that happen, and they're all toast if he fails. So it's worth the risk! And he sees that immediately! Even though Kay doesn't! It's so great.

Love that we're letting the camera linger on Draven just long enough to see his sad little head drop before he turns away.

Bodhi meeting Saw my beloved. Where are the gifs of this scene?? Where is this moment in the fandom because it is SO GOOD. He's so scared and so relieved and so annoyed at all the time they're wasting, and you can tell how underneath all that he's genuinely so proud and almost shocked that he actually did it, that he actually defected and made it all the way to the Saw Gerrera. That he did deliver Galen's message, like he promised! I love this man so much he means the world to me. I want to punch whatever Disney clown had him edited out of the thumbnail. Fuck you. Bodhi is such a good character.

"I defected, I came here myself, they didn't capture me!" "I gave it to them, they did not find it!" and that dirty look he manages to give the men who are holding him on his knees, handcuffed! He deserves the world!!! Do you not see that!!!

Gareth Edwards, king of SCALE. The shot of "look, a tie fighter! and holy shit, that Star Destroyer looks massive behind i - holy shit look at the thing behind that!!" This is how you Death Star!!!

Ben Mendelsohn. Krennic is so compelling to watch, in all his small-minded, cringey, petulant, grandstanding glory.

Jyn's flashbacks are so poignant, it never feels like we're wasting time with them.

Jedha City is such a cool design, and again the SCALE with the Star Destroyer towering over the whole city!!

Cassian's friendly little pat of Kay as he walks past him. They're friends!!! Was that so hard!!!

Jedha feels so real, the narrow streets, the bustle, and kids! There are kids, not plot-significant ones, just running around! And the street food vendours and the janky-ass holo projector giving out Bodhi's picture, every metal on screen has patina and rust on it and the stone doesn't look freshly scrubbed, it feels so lived in.

The street ambush on Jedha is filmed so well, it feels really threatening and chaotic.

Jyn, Kay and the grenade he catches remain the funniest thing in the world to me btw.

The Slap is very funny, yeah, but can we talk about Kay's posture when he barely saves the "These are... prisoners." Alan Tudyk really killed even in the smallest moments.

Chirrut going off on those stormtroopers is just a masterclass. I love how he uses his cloak to blind some of them, or kicks dirt in their face, just some really good use of the environment, such a fun fight sequence!

Also, Jiang Wen's delivery on "only dreamers, like this fool" just sends me every time, it's so good <3

we've all yelled about it for many years, but Cassian's pissy little smile in Saw's cave at the guards is still. Very good. Also though I will say this is the first of those rare moments where Cassian really is a bit of a petty bitch - not that it's not earned, he was just manhandled and locked up, but. My guy. You're a spy. I'm sure you expected this might happen. (I still think they played this trait up way too much throughout the show, but. It is in here! Just in little, blink-and-you-miss-it exchanges. I guess one could argue it's something he got better at over time?)

goddd the cross-cutting between Jyn and the Death Star and Galen's hologram is so so good, like this is essentially an exposition dump but you don't even notice because the visuals lare so stunning and Felicity is giving a masterclass performance

also man I will never get over how insanely gorgeous the destruction of Jedha looks, the symmetry, the eclipse, the colours!!! I love how they show all that incredible visual off and then have Krennic go "Oh, it's beautiful", when you realise he's looking at this like you are, like a guy watching a movie in a cinema, it's so good! He sounds so pleasantly surprised, oh look, it's efficient and pretty! It's so awful in how incredibly casual it is, and Ben Mendelsohn's delivery on that line is *chef's kiss*

Bodhi seeing the city blown up :(

Much as I have beef with Whitaker's acting choices in this movie, his very last moments are choice, and "Save the Rebellion! Save the dream!" does haunt me still, it's such a banger of a line.

Chirrut's quiet little "Baze, tell me. All of it? The whole city?" guts me every time. He's been so full of showmanship this whole time, he wasn't entirely serious for a single line of dialogue, and here he's so subdued. It's so fucking sad!!! This movie is so so good about emotional impact on their characters, in a franchise that has a, um... spotty history with that (side-eyeing Leia having to comfort Luke after watching her planet get blown up...).

Honestly we talk so much about the scenes in the shuttle scene from Eadu to Yavin, we don’t talk enough about the one TO Eadu. Bodhi’s little monologue and his moment of recognition for Jyn is so good! We did not deserve Riz Ahmed, he killed this role and nobody ever talks about it. Baze’s cynicism in this scene is so good, this movie just keeps giving you people at different stages of the rage-resignation-devotion cycle of resistance and meet each other at really different points of it is so interesting.

Diego giving a fucking masterclass in the background at his communicator station too with next to no words. Yeah, if you got nothing from this character in this movie, it’s because you weren’t looking at the screen, sorry.

The mirroring of this exchange with the hangar scene later is so juicy, I’ll never be over it. And again, there’s a way to read an allusion to an SA victim’s type struggle in there that I’m not even sure was intentional but it means so much to me. But the way Cassian, very gently but with so much cynicism, immediately says she has no chance because she doesn’t have any concrete evidence and her word won’t be enough, and how it doesn’t matter if he believes her because he’s “not the one you’ve got to convince”… and then, when Chirrut says he does believe her, he dismisses that with a snide “that’s good to know”… yeah.

But crucially, whether intentional or not, the scene isn’t just that. It also works on its face, as political commentary on how the Rebellion is entrenched in allegiances and factions and paranoia and has become too big to act on hunches and that is almost their downfall. Because they will discount a terrible warning and almost throw away what eventually paves the path to victory because that warning comes from a person who isn’t one of them – even before the council does, Cassian, far and away the highest-ranking Alliance member on this shuttle, rejects it out of hand. It might be true but if there isn’t any proof it doesn’t matter. Jyn and Cassian have neatly traded places: First it was him wanting to act and projecting urgency and her being too cautious and not passionate enough about the issue to act, now it’s the other way around.

This whole harping on about proof, and how they’d believe her with proof, and how Cassian lets Jyn believe that they’re going to get her father for that proof is also so crucial for her reaction later to Cassian attempting to shoot Galen. I get how this went over some people’s head, frankly, it’s a little brief to really stick and there’s a whole big action set piece in the middle, but it’s so neat really. It’s not just that he tried to kill her father, it’s that they came all this way for his information and yet Cassian seems so hell-bent on following his orders he almost sabotaged his own mission completely (at least from the POV of someone who fully believes Galen at this point). His orders aren’t just morally wrong at this point, they’re also tactically wrong from Jyn’s point of view – because she believes her father, so she correctly realises destroying the Death Star now is a higher priority than neutralising a potentially interchangeable scientist who may build another threat later.

People bitch about this script so much, and honestly maybe I’ve just seen the movie too often at this point to judge how it flows because I’m so familiar with all the parts of it. But I think the writing is incredibly tight overall – the main arcs are all beautifully rendered and intertwined and reach satisfying conclusions, with no large logical gaps or thematic breaks. Maybe I think so highly of this movie because I care a lot about narrative structure and maybe less about ideal pacing for a blockbuster, because the distribution of time to the individual plots probably is a little weird at times, but that never bothered me. 

Stuff I never noticed before:

just how hardened the Ersos are, even in baby Jyn's earliest flashback on Coruscant!! The expressions on their faces, the way they act around Krennic even here... just this brief scene got me so intrigued I am finally picking Catalyst back up again.

Cassian all but admits he (or at least the Alliance) are responsible for Tivik! He tells Jyn "He has just gone missing, his sister will be looking for him". Not "His sister is looking for him and has told us he's gone missing." He fully admits he doesn't know this from her, he is warning Jyn that stuff may get hairy between him and Tivik's sister. I never caught that before lol

Questions:

Does Krennic believe Galen about Lyra being dead? I could read it either way, I wonder what Mendo believed when he played it.

I always thought it was odd that Jyn went with "Saw will be pissed if you kill me because I'm Galen's daughter" instead of "because he raised me". I guess it's her being cagey about her own connection to Saw? But it's such a gamble, she can't even be sure if Tubes knows who Galen is!

Quibbles & Complaints section:

I will say, Jyn getting liberated from Wobani is edited pretty choppily. There are a lot of cuts and they don't quite line up, it is a bit annoying to watch. But always worth it for the queen of my heart bashing Melshi in the face with a shovel. He really doesn't deserve it, but it's still glorious.

The Yavin hangar looks somehow less real than almost all the other sets, and I cannot place my finger on why. Maybe the weirdly uniform way the vines grow on the pillars. It's much better in the later shots, so maybe it's the lighting, too.

This is so nitpicky, but Diego's line read on "When was the last time you were in contact with your father?" always bothered me - he's shaking his head in the middle of the sentence, and it feels so inorganic to what he's saying? It's not a sarcastic question, or a leading one, and even if it was the headshake would go at the end - and it messes with the vocal delivery, too. Again, this is so so nitpicky, but in my perfect world they would have done another take on that lol

Some of Felicity's earlier reads on that scene also feel like they were dubbed over in post, or were mixed differently than the shots of everyone else - they are kind of off in cadence or volume for how far away she is from Cassian and the face she's making. I think some of these WERE re-shot, and you can tell. Again, super nitpicky, but I think the movie lost some people right here and they decided "oh this isn't good" - it's not super bad, but there's a weird uncanny feel about it.

It's kind of annoying how the conversation keeps switching and switching, Mothma and Cassian and Draven all finishing each other's sentences, and the way they're positioned around the table makes it really difficult to tell who Felicity is emoting at sometimes. Much as I love Cassian in this scene, I feel like maybe Draven and Mothma should have done the talking here, and switched off at a more organic point. I love that Mothma gets to talk a good deal, and I do love to joke about her and Draven being an item or otherwise weirdly in sync, but it is odd that they are literally talking like they are reading off the same script here. Or Cassian could have done the talking, and Draven watched from the shadows, looking progressively unhappy with the orders Mothma is giving to Cassian and Jyn, and then go after them on the airfield and give his conflicting orders. I feel like that would have felt far more natural than the weird "I get a line, you get a line" thing they're doing - and also we could have cut less, because. Boy.

The whole scene feels very choppy, it's so needlessly cut together for a stationary conversation. Again, I know why - they changed a lot of the dialogue in the reshoots, but. Idk. Just redo the whole scene. These really short shots are a little odd, like for example earlier when Mothma is talking the camera keeps jumping to different distances away from her, but it's a stationary camera every time, it feels strange on a subconscious level.

Forest Whitaker overdid it. There, I said it. I thought he was stellar in Andor (all script-based issues aside), but in Rogue One, he's... a bit much. Like, give us 20 percent less and it'd be perfect.

Bor Gullet my detested. This scene is so goofy and tonally off, and it would have been such an easy fix to remove it! Just have Whitaker re-record one line and have him say "lock him up" instead. Riz Ahmed doesn't even need to FILM anything new, he can do voiceover over the fucking phone if he needs to because they already had the bag over Bodhi's head. Bodhi still has reason to panic - he defected, he did what he was told, why are they locking him up? Does this mean they don't believe him? Where are they taking him? Then you cut the Bor Gullet nonsense and boom. All done. Maybe you can imply he did get, you know, conventionally tortured, but even if you don't - Bodhi in the catatonic state he is in when Cassian, Chirrut and Baze find him is perfectly sensible without that. He thought they don't believe him, he thought it was all too late, he thought he would never get out of this place again, he's a civilian, that would fuck him up! And he saw his city blown up with heretofore unknown weapon power, he has plenty of reason to be off kilter for the rest of the movie!

They really had something with only showing Tarkin from behind with his reflection in the glass!! Why didn't they stick to that!!! Like, does he look shockingly decent for what it is? Yes, but the dead shark eyes are horrifying, and I think his mouth isn't moving right, either.

For the first thirty minutes, Felicity's performance doesn't really click for me - at least not when she's speaking, there's something so prim and soft-spoken in the way she talks even in the first few scenes in Jedha City that seems kind of at odds with the character. I feel like Jyn doesn't quite lock in until Saw's rebels throw the first grenade (which seems fitting lol).

It's a little goofy how Saw's rebels swarm the transport going "Kyber! Kyber!" and nothing else. Like if they were speaking a foreign language and all we understood was kyber, that'd be fine, but make it complete sentences! I have a feeling maybe this was also added later, because people missed the (admittedly extremely brief) glimpse of a kyber crystal in one of the tubes they're taking out.

Cassian's "cracking" the door lock on Saw's cell is so dumb and funny, like the man just wiggles a wrench in there, that simply cannot be how that works lol

[lamardeuse]

well. shit. the Kenny interview just made me realize this may be really happening, huh? if it's real, here's the thing:

Tim Minear is not special. There have been so many TV powers that be, whether creators or showrunners or networks, who have been fundamentally incapable of guessing the ingredients in the secret sauce, the magic stored in this creative endeavour they've been entrusted with - even if they played a hefty part in making it. I'm sure all of us could name a dozen shows like this: shows we loved where that magic gets lost when TPTB think the format needs a "shakeup" or the program needs a "broader appeal". Sometimes it's a reaction to something happening behind the scenes, such as an actor asking for what they consider to be too much money or a Black woman knowing her worth and having the audacity to ask for better treatment (yeah, I'm talking about more than one show). They decide that they know better than the audience what the audience wants, enjoys or expects from the show. And nine times out of ten, it backfires.

911's special sauce is, first and foremost, that its core cast is incredibly fucking talented and - more than that - beyond happy to work together, in a way I haven't seen on many TV shows. There seem to be no prima donnas on that cast, and the #1 and #2 on the call sheet lead by example when they have every right by Hollywood custom to put up their feet and demand star treatment. I defy you to find an actress of Angela Bassett's calibre, experience, and status who would go through that whole cruise ship filming ordeal, but she did it. Krause puts himself through the same longass overnight shoots the rest of the cast does. The show itself is not great art, it's basically a high concept soap opera that only works because the writers have created loveable characters and the actors make you root for them no matter how silly the plots get. And because everybody lives and nobody dies.

If we wanted to watch a show where people die on the regular, we have a hundred other options. But this is one of the reasons we tune in to this show. We LIKE the stakes being low, we like our escapist nonsense, we're good with it.

One of the pitfalls of being in charge of a TV show, it seems, is you get to the point where you think you're making Great Art, and worst of all that you're smarter than the audience. Tim decided the audience (and who knows, maybe the actors) needed a lesson, needed to know after seven and a half seasons of keeping everyone intact that people could actually die. But here's the thing: we're not fucking stupid. We know all of this shit everyone survives could have killed them several times over in the real world, or on a TV show that was based in reality. But 911 has never been based in the real world, and we don't care.

Tim could have been happy that he and the other writers and cast and crew had created a show where the audience was able to suspend its disbelief to a frankly ridiculous extent because they loved the characters and actors that much, but instead he decided he was making a different show after seven and a half years. And if this is real and Bobby is really dead - and right now it seems like the only way it might not be real is if Tim hasn't told the actors what he's planning for the finale - I can't help but wonder if the secret sauce is gone forever.

Fuck.

[lilywily143]

Broken Visit

I realize I'm really predictable, aren't I? (Is this a spoiler to my comic if it's the same as every comic I have made?)

And with this meme, the post is at the 30 image max

Door opens

Uzi: You better be trying your BEST to fix him!!!

Door Closes

Khan: God, I wasn't expecting her to be yelling...

N: Hello?

K: Hi, N. I heard you got hurt.. I wanted to visit.

N: Th-thank you...

Nori: I'm here too.

SD- N: Thanks, heh

K: ....so, what exactly happened?

N: If you wanna talk about it?

SD-N: It's nothing bad... And I'm sure they'll fix me up.

Look of: He's lying through his teeth, ain't he?

S L A M

Help me.

U: They say the disassembly drones can't be covered by insurance. We'd have to pay in FULL. It would be $48,000!

K: Oh god Are 5 LED's meant to be that expensive?

U: They... No.. They're his functional eyes.

K + N: THOSE ARE HIS EYES?!

N: Are they not going to fix me....?

U: I'll help you with this honey, I just need to walk with them.

K: I'll try to help too.

N: I-I genuinely cannot tell who you are, sir. But please please stay. I don't wanna be alone any longer.

K: I-I can stay..

N: Th-thank you...

U: Okay mom. You. Me. Let's scream at a manager.

SD-N: Mrs. Nori? She's here?

N: Yeah. Don't worry Nathan. We're getting you fixed.

CLOSE

Pat pat

K: .... I have a question for you.

N: Yeah?

K: Aren't you able to regenerate?

K: or did it break today? or

N: no no no no

N: NO I DON'T WANNA REGENERATE

ican'tican'tican'tican'tican'tican'tican'tican'tican'tican'tican'tican't

K: I'm sorry for asking! Please stop using your claws!

....

N: i'm sorry Mister Khan... I just... That was a Solver ability.... and it...

N: It re-required me to eat drones.

N: I hate HARE that I only survived my fight with that thing was because of the suffering of others... I'm supposed to be so much more broken...

K: N... You're not meant to be broken. You are meant to be healthy and fixed.

N: THROUGH CANNABILISM?!?

K: wince Look... You weren't in a good scenario. You can't blame your past fully on yourself.

N: But... How much of my actions can I blame on the solver until I'm just the victim..?

K: Oh my robo-god. You were a victim! You did bad things because you were a victim. It happens a lot. Some people don't take responsibility because of that. But you're taking too much responsibility.

K: I know it's hard to find a... balance in this situation. But I know you will figure it out. And anything you put on yourself? I wish you gain the compassion you need to forgive your actions. Because I do. I hope this is helpful. I'm not a therapist. I can't forgive myself that easily either.

N: Thank you.... for... everything...

[he got fixed at this point]