#〓 ◟ ( arc. ) ↬ we meet ourselves time & time again .

[slightlytoastedbagel]

Yuka Shiraishi. btw.

[yumeka-sxf]

As if the season 3 announcement several hours ago wasn't exciting enough, now we have one hell of a new chapter 😭

It's just one tragic event after another...Martha can't bring herself to confess to Henry (and regrets it later), her letter gets censored so she's left waiting in vain to see him, she's basically forced to join the front lines or be killed, meanwhile Henry is struggling to figure out his own feelings but then has a total breakdown when he thinks Martha's dead, gets beaten up and thrown in jail, then is coerced by his father into marrying someone else. Gosh, these two just can't catch a break 😓

But my favorite part of this chapter is young Donovan Desmond's speech. What he says here so perfectly conveys the overall conflict of Spy x Family and sets him up as the ideal antagonist.

The series has shown us over and over how people are indeed liars, but it's also shown us time and time again how amongst all the lies, mostly through the Forgers, that people can still come to understand each other. Donovan's view is one of hopelessness - that true understanding can never be attained and human beings will always wage war, and while the series doesn't downright portray this as false, it does show that there is hope...that, even though people will never stop committing atrocities, at the very least, a middle ground of peace can be found even amongst those who lie to survive.

Donovan believes that we can never know the true intentions of others because we ourselves are hiding our own true intentions...the Forgers are hiding their true intentions, but in spite of that, they've come to love and understand each other. Like Twilight said when he first met Donovan, he won't ever stop trying to understand others and will always try to meet them "in the middle" if he can. Again, this is why Donovan is shaping up to be a great "final boss" who challenges the hopeful message the series has advocated so far. Another example of how, even though this arc seemingly has nothing to do with the Forgers, Endo still ties it back to them and the story overall.

Now the question for the next chapter is...who saved Martha? Also, judging by Henry's reaction when he first sees Martha in the present time (pictured below, chapter 72 during the bus hijacking arc), it doesn't seem like he had thought she was dead at that point. So he must have found out somehow before this that she had survived.

We'll have to wait until next time to find out! Even as the series hits chapter 100, Endo isn't done with this tragic love story just yet 😅

[amxrany]

!! CHAPTER 7 / DIASOMNIA ARC SPOILERS !!

Hey guys I'm awake and well now let's continue (Rook's Dream):

We find ourselves in Savanclaw where we find Savanaclaw Rook and I honestly love him here he looks like a dog I left outside in the rain by accident (affectionate)

Now everone's confused as to why Rook's in Savanaclaw, but then Rook drops the bomb that Vil is in RSA and everyone's like "WHAT?!"

Stop Rook is literally just being the biggest neigevil oshi cuz he just wants Vil and Neige to be besties 😭. He's so open about it too like he's literally geeking about their interviews together to the point that he's squeezing Grim and Epel cuz he got too excited (he's so fr for that honestly). But then Sebek snaps and Rook apologizes because no one in Savanaclaw is a neigevil fan as well :((

But Ortho encourages Rook by wanting to visit his room so that they can learn about Neige and Vil. Grim questions the decision, but that's like the only way they can break Rook out of the dream, and now Rook's just murmuring to himself and how he will introduce them to Vil and Neige

Once they're near Rook's room he literally told them not to barge into his room and the gang did exactly what they're not supposed to do

AND OH MY GOD ROOK'S ROOM IS JUST????

(pov: you're in a neigevil oshi competition but your opponent is rook hunt)

SEBEK THOUGHT THIS WAS A RITUAL ROOM FOR A SECOND AND ROOK IS CURRENTLY LOSING IT 😭😭😭. Apparently Rook has been hiding his hyperfixation for THREE YEARS and he can't just let the group go...until they watch DVDs of neigevil interactions

This went on for five hours and Rook was gushing, sobbing and crying over it, Silver actually slept for the first time in the realm of dreams because of this 💀. Before the group leaves, Epel couldn't help but ask Rook if he still remembers what happened during VDC, an d Rook mentions that he remembers that Vil and Neige performed "Yahoo, Yahoo" together.

The group meets again with Idia, and they're discussing the events of Book 5, and how the entire incident during VDC might have been the root cause for Rook's dream to turn out like this. Because in this dream, Rook never transfers to Pomefiore because Vil was never in NRC to begin with. Rook was most likely haunted by that incident because he trusted Vil so much, that he'd rather have Vil and Neige be friends instead of rivals to prevent the whole overblot situation

SO NOW THE GANG IS THINKING OF A WAY TO WAKE UP ROOK BY PERFORMING ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL

(I REALLY WANT TO SEE THE WHOLE THING YA'LL TO WHOEVER HAS A LINK TO THE RHYTHMIC PLS SEND IT TO MEEEEEE)

But their positions are the following: Vil - Epel Jamil - Ortho Epel - Sebek Kalim - Yuu Ace - Grim Deuce - Silver

Basically Epel had to teach the others the entire choreography of Absolutely Beautiful and he said it's fine if they don't perfect it because in the original they weren't able to perfect it as well. But then everything suddenly goes blurry and we get dream Vil and dream Neige suddenly performing "Yahoo, Yahoo", and now Rook is back to being an oshi again.

But Epel wasn't having it, he points out to Rook that the real Vil looks more sinister and had a more sharper look to him and that he was more poisonous and beautiful. That's when Epel told Rook that he was a far worse traitor back when he voted for RSA if he tells the words that Vil wanted to hear to the fakes.

That wakes Rook up, he remembers everything now because he was wondering why he cried during their Absolutely Beautiful performance. Idia then gives Rook the "invite" to join them as well. Rook changes clothes and fights

Btw I just wanna show you guys his groovy here because it's that special to me

Idia was laughing because he now has a video of Sebek dancing and Sebek is just yelling at him that he won't forgive him if he showed it to anyone.

Surprisingly Rook mastered thew magical girl transformation faster than the gang, but they're learning. Rook also tags along with the gang to save the last person, Vil

AND WE'RE DONE WITH ROOK'S DREAM, JESUS CHRIST IT GOES FROM UNSERIOUS TO SERIOUS IT'S FUNNY. But I'm covering Vil's dream last, see you then!

Next: Vil's Dream Previous: Epel's Dream

[republicsglory]

i think the faeries of cookie run kingdom in general are a waste and that's really sad </3

okay, face it. faeries are already a banger concept, and kingdom's twist on them is really unique! and very ironic — fae are often depicted to be allergic to silvers. really fun spin on it.

but god..... head in hands.... what did you DOOOOOOOO. it's no secret that the beast yeast arc was (and still is) a mess. but i think it's really sad how these sick ass concepts just.. get executed so poorly??

the thing is, in the 3rd anniversary, devsisters was trying to bite off more than they could chew. the introduction of the beasts was sudden, they felt pretty shoehorned in. i COULD say shadow milk is exempt from this — he's got some decent foreshadowing! can't say the others have it going for them...

okay, sure, introduce the beasts. introduce the faerie kingdom with them. these two things of course go hand in hand. BUT HOLD YOUR HORSES WITH THE BEASTS???

it's okay for crk to introduce new nations! but the faerie kingdom was out of the BLUE. nothing leading to it whatsoever. how are we supposed to deduce anything from what, white lily's prologue asset?

it's very possible to introduce a new nation and do it right. dare i say the créme republic? there were previous mentions and hints to it ingame, making its introduction decent. see — if executed correctly enough, the faerie kingdom may not have needed too much of that.

let's say.. i dunno... two beast yeast episodes are equal to two days of odyssey. in two days of odyssey past ch1, that'd give us enough about the créme republic and time to learn about it! the good parts, and the gritty. BUT in the 3rd anniversary they were obviously trying to make it a little TOO big...

it'd have been nice to see those two episodes focus around the faerie kingdom, its traditions, its denizens and general environment and culture. there could've been problems without too much of a big bad, hell we could've had an almost beast escape. but then again, it WAS the anniversary, but was releasing lily not enough?

now don't get me wrong here — shadow milk had a spectacular introduction! he kind of saved the story i can't lie LOL but was his releasing from the seal..necessary so soon? of course, we'd just be delaying the inevitable, but it'd be nice to just..explore our surroundings a little first.

most information on faeriewood and the silver kingdom are in the LIMITED artbook </3 which kinda. sucks.

we should've also had time to meet the characters more. elder faerie dying is chill with me, nice to know devsisters aren't afraid to kill someone permanently. the problem is, his death was notably supposed to have impact. but like most people felt nothing... because elder faerie is more or less a plot device. give him a character, traits we can attach ourselves to!

there's a Lot more i could rant about actually, but my wrist hurts and i'm tired. i've posted stuff about the silver knights before. just had to let some of this out. tldr the faerie kingdom and faeries are a cool concept but dear god they were executed AWFULLY

[reashot]

Nice to Mate You Jaune

Mama Arc: Honey, look. My friend Summer and her daughters is coming over to visit. Say hi to them.

Jaune: Oh hi. Mrs. Summers nice to meet you.

Summer: Well hi to you too. (He is so handsome 😍) You must be the famous Jaune Arc I keep hearing about. I want to introduce you to my two daughter.

The blonde is the oldest. Her name is Yang.

Yang: What's up, and nice to meet a fellow Blondie. *shakes hand*

Jaune: Nice to meet you too... (Don't look down at her chest.)

Yang: You know it's okay to stare...

Summer: And my youngest and definitely the cutest. Ruby!

Ruby: 👀 Staring silently at Jaune 👀

Summer: I'm sorry. She's a bit shy and as you clearly see she takes after her mother. She's a wolf faunus like me.

Jaune: I can see that. Nice to meet you Ruby and your mother is right you really are cute...

Ruby: (He thinks I'm cute🥰)

*wags her fluffy bushy tail*

Summer: *sniff around* (Oh Ruby, you're so adorable. First time meeting a cute boy and you're already thinking about mating with him. You're letting out so much pheromone if any wolf faunus around they will tackle you to the ground and forcibly mate with you.)

Jaune, now that we fully introduced ourselves. How about you show us where your father is?

Jaune: Oh, of course he is usually at his study. Come on I'll show you around.

Ruby: *hugs Jaune's arm* I-I'm sorry... *blush*

Jaune: I-it's okay. *blush*

Yang: Looks like someone like you. 🤭

Summer: I'm sorry Jaune, but can you let Ruby hold you like that for a while?

Jaune: Yes! O-of course. Ruby you can hold me as much as you want.

Ruby:

Summer: See. I told you that my Ruby will be perfect for your Jaune.

Mama Arc: Oh my Oum. You're right sum-sum they're so cute together. Hey, you think she's okay with giving us grandchildren?

Summer: *sniffs again* Oh, I don't think it would be a problem. (Damn Ruby, you're practically signaling to the whole town you want to mate... And you swaying your hip like you want to be violently bred doesn't help. At this rate you going to end up giving me grandchildren before the night is over.)

Arc Family's Study

Mama Arc: Honey. I brought Summer and the rest of her family.

Papa Arc: Ah so nice to meet you again Summer. To bad your husband can't join us.

Summer: Oh you know how Tai is. He's just overprotective when it's comes to Ruby.

Papa Arc: Then how did he take it. This arrangement of ours?

Summer: Eh.... 😬

Papa Arc: That Bad?

Summer: He threatened to kill the entire Arc family's bloodline if we go through with this.

Papa Arc: Ha, ha. Oh. I say let him try not the first time anyone tried to kill us. But seeing all of you are here. So how did you managed to convince him?

Summer: Let's just say I had help from a little bird.

Rose-Xiaolong's house. 🏠

Tai: Let me out of here!!! My beautiful daughter is about to be stolen from me!

Qrow: Melodramatic much? Ruby just going to a matchmaking date with the Arc's family brat. It's not like she's going to get hitched right away.

Tai: Shut up traitor! You don't know that. My daughter is so incredibly cute and beautiful. Any boy would immediately propose to her on sight. Heck I would if she wasn't mine!

Qrow: Okay... I didn't need to know that. *takes a swig* Oh I should have brought something stronger.

Back to the Arc's family residence

Papa Arc: No doubt it must be hard to convince him. And I believe we haven't been introduced yet, little lady.

Yang: Yang's the name and puntification is my game. Nice to meet you Mr. Arc and thank you for letting us inside your lovely home. Don't mind me I'm just chaperoning my cute little sister. But I guess she doesn't need me now with you around, right Blondie?*poke*

Jaune: *clear throat* I'm not sure how I supposed to feel about that. But Dad I want to introduce you to Ruby.

Ruby: ..... *hugs Jaune tighter*

Papa Arc: So this cute lil cub is Ruby I keep hearing about? Nice to meet you little girl.

Ruby: .....

Summer: *psst* Ruby say something.... Oh my Oum...

Ruby: ....

Summer: (Oh no she's gone into heat. I gotta do something before she pounced on Jaune. But what to do? Oh darn it. Desperate times call for desperate measure.) Hey Jaune, try calling her a good girl.

Jaune: Calling her what?

Summer: Good girl. Now do it. It's what I do to "calm" her down. And don't forget to rub her head while you do it.

Jaune: Uh, okay... *rubs her head* Good girl, Ruby you're such a good girl.

Ruby: 🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇 *fell down on the floor*

Jaune: Oh no, Ruby are you okay?!

Ruby: *glomp Jaune*

Jaune: *blush* Wow. I guess you're okay now...

Ruby: I am, when I'm with you... *rest on Jaune's chest*

Jaune: Take as much time as you want Ruby. I'm not going anywhere....

Ruby: *rubs her scent all over Jaune*

Jaune: Ruby. Did you smell something?

Ruby: (It's my musk. It means I'm ready to mate with you.) No Jaune I didn't smell anything.

Jaune: I see. It smells nice though.

Mama Arc: Aww... See Honey. I told you that Ruby girl is perfect for our boy.

Papa Arc: Well there is no doubt that Ruby is perfect for Jaune, but I have to reject Ruby's engagement with Jaune.

*record scratch*

Summer: WHAT!!!

Mama Arc: Honey... Please tell me the reason why you don't want Ruby for our son? *twitchy eyes*

Papa Arc: Well, just look at her hips. *grabs Ruby her hips and shake her around*

She can maybe give around 2-3 children Max. Not to mention her small hips means pregnancy can be especially difficult.

Ruby: *pained howl*

Jaune: Stop it dad, you're hurting her!

Summer: You reject my darling Ruby just because she has a small hips *resisting the urge to kill*

Papa Arc: I'm afraid so. But it's not that I don't like Ruby. Not at all. But she's not the right fit for my Jaune. (in more ways than one)

Summer: I'll kill you!!!

Mama Arc: Wait stop sum-sum he's my husband!

Summer: Let me at 'im! He dare make up an obvious lie just because he doesn't want his son to be with Ruby.

Mama Arc: It's not a lie Sum. It's the truth. An Arc especially a male heir are expected to have as many children as he can. For that they make sure to pair him up with the most suitable woman.

Summer: Wait, doesn't that mean you too?

Mama Arc: Yes I'm afraid so. Me and my husband's marriage were arranged. by our own parents. That's why I wanted Jaune to at least have a choice in choosing his own partner. And why I want it to be the daughter of my best friend. That's why I made that promise with you all those years ago.

Jaune: Wait, Mom what promise are you guys talking about?

Mama Arc: *sigh* It's going to be a surprise but I guess the wolf is out of the bag now... It's a promise your mom and Ruby's mom make that if we have both have children we're going to set them up with each other. To you know. To deepen our friendship and our family's bond.

Jaune: *gasp* Ruby! Did you know about this?!

Ruby: N-no. My mom told that I would meet a boy and if I like him. I can ask him to be my mate...

Jaune: Do you want me to be your mate?

Ruby: *nods*

Jaune: I'm honored, thank you for choosing me. *rubs her head*

Ruby: *purr*

Summer: OMG OTP. Arc! You better let my Ruby have your boy!

Papa Arc: Sorry Summer but the answer is no. And an Arc never go back on their promise... But how about your other daughter?

Summer: You mean Yang?

Papa Arc: She's perfect to be an Arc's Bride don't you think?

*pick up and shakes Yang around*

This the golden ratio of Birthing Hips. Just look at her, she can pump out a dozen or more kids without any difficulty. (Not to mention she can probably take Jaune's full length, Sorry Sum, but I'm doing this for Ruby's sake too.)

Yang: What?

Summer: You have got to be kidding. I wanted Ruby x Jaune. Just look at them they're clearly perfect with each other.

Papa Arc: I can't deny that. They do look rather good with each other. But remember I had an arranged marriage. And I love my wife very much. Maybe Yang and Jaune can come to love one another too. Look at it this way you both can still keep your promise together by marrying Jaune to Yang. (And this way I won't be responsible if Jaune split Ruby in half.)

Summer: But my ship?...

Yang: Uh look. It's not that I think that Jaune isn't good looking at all. But I don't want to steal Jaune away from my sister... (And I don't like the way she is looking at me right now.)

Ruby: *growl* (Mate about to be stolen. Must kill potential rival.)

Jaune: Ruby why are you growling like that. You're not thinking about killing your own sister so you can have me all for yourself right? Because I will be very cross with you if you do.

Ruby:

No of course not Jaune, what makes you think that. (Note to self. Make sure it looks like an accident.)

Yang: Wow relax sis. I'm not gonna steal yo' man.

Ruby: (You better not😠)

Yang: Besides we are not "pearfect"🍐 for each other.

Jaune: You could say we're not "meat" 🥩 to be...

Yang: Gods I want you inside me right now, so you can put your babies inside me... Oh crap.

Ruby:

[briebysabs]

I have to talk about Misha I’ve been holding this for so long. I am not defending him, everything he’s done is fucked up. I just want people to understand him better and idk how coherent this will be but HSVDVXHSBSJJDF

Bc if you hate him, totally justified. But I don’t want Misha to ever be simplified to the jealous crazy younger brother. Yes he is technically that but one thing about mochijun characters is that most of the time, you can always dig further into their psyche. And I feel like not enough people do that with Misha. I haven’t made an in-depth Misha discussion until now mostly bc I’m a potato. He isn’t 2-dimensional and he fits perfectly in the themes of vnc. Misha cannot be saved, he is a hopeless character, he bears Luna’s Mark while using the Book he is doomed. You can say he was doomed the second he entered the story. His brotherly love for Vanitas is twisted. He is the embodiment of tragic. Everything that led him to this point was not his fault. The only thing he chose was to follow Luna and join their clan bc he would’ve died otherwise. Luna and Vanitas are the only good things he ever had.

We all know his backstory. So of course losing both would make him snap. And on top of all this he’s being manipulated by Teacher. Who fucking knows the lies or orders Teacher has been feeding him. All this when he’s like 12....13 at most.

And let’s approach the vanoé situation. We know the depth of vanoé’s relationship and even though Misha might’ve observed from afar, he doesn’t have that context. To be fair he probably wouldn’t care but point is, he sees Noé as some random guy. And again, let’s withdraw ourselves a bit and see things from the outside. How much time has passed since chapter 1? How long has Vanitas and Noé actually known each other? We know that a couple weeks passed since the end of the Gevaudan arc. We know that a week passed after Vanoé got kicked outta Ruthven’s study. If there are any other mini time skips I’m forgetting pls lemme know. But let’s be honest, they’ve known each other for two months. If we wanna push it, three. Of course how long you know a person doesn’t solely decide how close you get to them. You can know someone for two weeks but depending wtf goes on in that time frame, they can become your ride or die. But let’s use Misha’s logic for a minute.

You’ve known Vanitas longer, both of you went through hell under Dr. Moreau. You have the same Mark, you’re gonna suffer the same fate. And from how you see it, he chose a man he met by chance a few months ago, over you. Someone who will never truly get it. He is putting his life in the hands of a stranger over yours. You finally meet again after all this time, and the brother who you believed puts you above everything, points a gun at you. Yeah, Misha fucked up. But that will hurt anybody.

Misha challenges their relationship. He questions how much it even makes sense. It’s not only “how can you chose Noé over me?” But also “How can you kill Father but not him?” Is he more important than us?? And that’s a valid question. Messed up but understandable to ask. Noé has protected Vanitas and has been pretty helpful. But Vanitas doesn’t need him to survive. Noé isn’t essential for this suicide mission he’s on either. Misha cannot understand what Noé brings to Vanitas’ life.

Misha was so dependent on Vanitas that he couldn’t fathom his brother not feeling the same. Vanitas loves Misha, no matter how strained or corrupted that bond has become. But he is not emotionally capable to stay with him. And he is allowed to feel that way. And Misha is allowed to scream and wail and be broken about it. In conclusion, Misha is an amazing addition to the narrative, I love him a lot. But I also love Vincent from ph so that explains quite a bit doesn’t it?

[writingonjorvik]

Ok, but like. Of course the Garnok fight is going to be disappointing. It's why I'm so much more interested theorizing about what happens after. It is a kids' game, no one here thinks Garnok is going to win, we can write the outline ourselves at this point how it's going to go.

I'm not saying that it's going to be bad, I think that's an unfair set up for the devs. It will be, I truly believe, the best that they can do. But SSO alone is going on 13, and the franchise will be over 20 by the time the Garnok fight comes out. Obviously, the community as a whole hasn't been playing that long, but the expectation of the story is still exceedingly high because of that history. It is just not going to happen that this story beat lives up to 20+ years of expectations. And it's another reason why this arc needs to end sooner rather than later as to avoid adding yet more fuel to that rising expectation. I'm not even talking on a narrative level, on a tech level with the low tech friendly limits the team has put on themselves, the bar is too high to be perfectly cleared. And I don't think anyone genuinely expects a perfect vault.

What I hope that means though in regards to the Garnok fight and the next story arc is that the team doesn't pivot. I think the worst thing SSO could do at this point is start undermining themselves with "oh, you can't guess where we're going" story pivots. Particularly in the last few years, I think the story has thrown way too many pieces in to try to keep the plot from being predictable and that's a rookie mistake. It will absolutely destroy any sense of satisfaction in the Garnok arc's ending, whether or not it meets expectation, on the basis of what? No one guesses right?

It's a kids' game. Of course the grown ups in the crowd can see the writing on the wall. Of course teenagers with a base interest in storytelling can see with writing on the wall. Hold goddamn course. Predictable isn't a bad thing, but an incoherent story is. There is still room for surprise here, but it's not going to be huge "wow, shocker" moments this late in the game. And, again, that's what the next story arc can do once the Garnok story is no longer there to limit the plot.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Funny how just 5 years later it's finally downing on me that Louis can get his tongue cut– that if he does, he'll *never* speak again. And how much he probably thinks about all the times everyone told him they wished he'd shut up, how annoying he was, how his jokes are stupid, his singing sucks, etcetera etcetera. Not just him, I wonder how guilty everyone feels about saying all that stuff.

For the others, does he resent them? And for him, are they glad? Is there a part in all of them that think 'finally'?

And it's taken me this long to try and assimilate just how absolutely horrifying the situation actually is. we don't know how they did it but we can imagine, and it's not pretty. It's mutilation- pure torture. I know it's a videogame or whatever but everytime I think of Louis in that cell, dried blood running down his mouth and all the way down his chest, I feel sick, genuinely sick.

I was reading one of your old fics yesterday and it got me thinking, that's why Im rambling here on your asks. But yeah, no-tongue Louis should be non existent and considered a crime or something

Oh yeah, it's rough. It's brutal. I hate it.

I've only let Louis get captured a handful of times in all the years I've played TFS because 1. I'm clouis trash and I need them to be happy together in the end no matter the cost, and 2. I cannot handle Louis in the cells, I can't. He's my favorite character in all of TWDG, I don't want that to happen to him especially when I know I have the power to prevent it.

To be honest, I tend to pretend that outcome just doesn't exist. If I ignore it, it can't hurt me haha.

Don't get me wrong, I like a dose of angst in my fiction. I like tragedies. I like symbolic downfalls. I like recovery arcs. There's a lot of potential with the route where Louis isn't saved and he loses his tongue...

...But Louis is in a special category of characters where I'm like, "No, fuck you, he gets to survive and be happy! He gets to be understood! He gets to be loved!"

I think a lot of feelings come from it being a consequence of choice, too, y'know? Louis losing his tongue is only one outcome, one you can prevent. It all depends on who you save at the end of ep2. It's on you, and you can try to be like "noooo shut up, it's actually Louis' fault he got his tongue cut out because he wouldn't shut up!" when it's your fault he got taken in the first place, like... that's the game. Your choices have consequences and you can deny or justify them all you want... but in the end, you did it. You started the butterfly effect with your decision.

I also think this is why people get heated in fandom debates because "how could you NOT save Louis knowing he gets his tongue cut out, you monster!?"

I dunno, how can you not save Violet knowing that you'll find her blind on the beach? You monster?

Both outcomes are bad, it's just up to the player on which they feel is "better" or "worse."

We justify it to ourselves. We defend our choices. But that makes the choice all the more powerful, no? I save Louis knowing what fate Violet will meet. I trust AJ knowing Tenn will die on the bridge. I save Louis every time because in a game series where most of my favorite characters don't get happy endings [because they're fucking dead], I'll do everything I can to make sure Louis gets one.

I can handle an outcome with blinded Violet. As bad as it sounds, I can stomach that. I can find some hope in a recovery arc for her, and I can deal with her and Clementine having a rockier relationship after everything that happened on the boat. I can take comfort in the idea that Violet's going to survive with the help of people who care about her.

I can live with Tenn's death. It sucks, it hurts, it's bullshit... but I can live with it.

I can't handle Louis losing his tongue. There is no stomaching that for me, y'know? He's such a crucial part of Clementine and AJ's story for me that I can't fathom her not saving him in that moment during the raid, just as I can't fathom Louis without his tongue.

[itsclydebitches]

Let's tally things up, folks!

Ruby's entire depression arc is "resolved" by a one sentence exchange wherein she just... decides she's better now? 'Is this the message?' Ruby asks, on her knees in front of a not at all subtle broken piece of glass. 'That I'm just supposed to give up?' and then literally the next moment she sees Crescent Rose, the weapon she's been flinching from because it represents all the failures she hasn't actually grappled with this season, and decides that depression and suicidal ideation are for losers. Let's go fight a randomly evolved cat!

The group still doesn't care about Ruby's Volume-long struggle. What are you talking about, evil kitty? Ruby's never been confused, or weak, or feeling like she's broken. We're oblivious to all that. That's why we follow her, because we can easily ignore everything that's going on in her life and instead just focus on ourselves. Didn't she have a breakdown a couple of hours ago about having to lead all the time? Should we really be announcing the moment she steps out of the tree that we expect her to be in charge again? ... nah, it's fine!

I guess the overall message is that any and every horrific act is excusable because you're just being yourself? Sorry we doomed a Kingdom and have actively helped Salem in trying to take over the world. The horrors we've enacted are good things though because it means we're being ourselves.

Ruby is conveniently the only Ascended who retains all her memories. Can't have the protagonist undergoing any kind of actual change, after all.

Neo throws herself into the tree despite that going against every iota of her characterization. Will we ever see her again? Who knows.

Is the blacksmith lady Alyx? I still have no idea.

Jaune is made young again, because of course he is. Love that they act like this is some curse he's suffered from - "It's been so long..." - and not an actual life lived across several decades. If I got stuck somewhere for twenty-ish years and then someone tried to magic me back to my 18 year old self I'd be like wtf? No? I'm not a teenager??? Will the show ever acknowledge that Jaune is actually an old man in a de-aged body now? I doubt it, considering this plot-line had no impact on his personality, skill, or outlook.

Also love that the brothers' story is treated like this wonderful tale of growth and exploration. The blacksmith is going on about how amazing it is that you don't know what you'll get when you create something, tone all fond for the demi-gods that have left her world to toy with new ones, and I just wanted one of the characters to start screaming about all the horrors they've caused. They killed an entire population in one fell swoop and have cursed two individuals for funsies, with the entirety of Remanent permanently under threat of annihilation if they don't meet the Gods' ambiguous standards of unity. Oscar didn't fall into the void because if Ozpin had been there he would have gone feral and attacked the blacksmith with his bare hands.

We're heading back to Remnant and Ruby still doesn't know that Jaune killed Penny! Ruby didn't even get her sword back. Or consider her in the tree therapy session. Why was killing her off necessary again? Oh yeah, Jaune angst🙃

We got a "when you're needed" from the blacksmith, so expect that time-skip in Volume 10. Can't wait to see how much important stuff the story skips over...

Also, this is so minor in the grand scheme of everything else, but I YELLED when Summer admitted that she'd lied about the mission. For nine Volumes these characters have been dragging Ozpin for every problem under the sun including, in Volume 7, for the mysterious disappearance of Summer, only for it to turn out that she LIED about where she was going and on whose orders, setting him up to take the fall when she doesn't come back. Who's going to have Qrow apologize to Ozpin for blaming him for years? Who's going to have Ruby unpack that her whole family is made up of liars and she was foolish to think that anyone, including Ozpin, could survive this war with a completely clean record? Hell, who's going to have Ruby simply tell anyone - including her sister - what she now knows about her mother's death? Not the RT writers, I'd wager.

Especially when they gave us a scene of Summer leaving on what she recognizes may be a suicide mission and leaves a token of affection for one daughter but not the other. Summer is Yang's mom too! Yeeeeeaaah the story is really bad about actually writing that.

Overall this Volume just feels like a colossal waste to me. The story ignored most of what was set up in Volume 8, introduced a world it didn't have time to flesh out, threw in an unnecessarily shocking story line about the hero trying to kill herself, 100% dismissed the ramifications of that, reset everyone so that none of the characters have to actually grow or change, and has now implied that all the plot important stuff - the Atlesians' survival in the desert, trying to ally with Theodore, Salem's next attack on Remnant, the development of most of our B Team, etc. - has occurred off screen.

The only thing this Volume accomplished was getting the bees together, which was something we should have had years ago. That admission hasn't changed their dynamic in any way, or introduced new conflicts (remember, no one cares about Ruby's breakdown, including her correct accusation that Yang has cared more about her girlfriend than her struggling little sister). It's just... there, not queerbaiting anymore, thankfully, but that feels like a very low bar to meet.

2+ months later and all I'm feeling is

[tabithatwo]

there's a reason that so many people are intensely anxious about whether yellowjackets decides to keep classifying jackie and shauna a "vague teen-girl homoerotic-ish friendship" or to follow through and cement what that type of relationship actually is and actually means. and i've seen a lot of conversation about why it doesn't matter and if it doesn't matter to you, then i'm so happy for you (and jealous of you L O L) but if you're curious to understand WHY it matters fucking DEEPLY to so many people, gather around and buckle up while i attempt to explain it

first let me tell you why we're all acting like animals with lesbian-television induced zoochosis as we wait for 2.02: all signs point to this episode being the big one for jackie in particular (and for jackie and shauna as a relationship), so there's an assumption that the teased makeup scene is in this episode. that scene is what a lot hinges on.

(if you are on board with the narrative arc and already set on the make or break moment of that scene, you can skip ahead to NOW MY FINAL ACTUAL POINT a few paragraphs down)

there's been a distinct narrative arc ramping up to a big reveal (i already have very strange and mixed feelings about sexuality being used a reveal, but for a character like shauna, in a show intentionally meant to capture the tricks we play on ourselves in our minds, i would be absolutely on board with it) that said, the moment is now.

since the pilot, we've been on this journey of shauna's sexuality. sex is central to her character in a way that it isn't to any of the others. we meet her in 2021 masturbating on her daughter's bed, she goes on to have an affair with adam, we explore her boredom in her sex life with jeff, we see it improve post affair/murder. in 96 she has sex with jeff in the pilot, she grapples with the results of that sex for the rest of the season, she's quickly on board with the orgy/murder/shroom fest. (there's more to her and sexuality - rabbits representing her and jackie etc, but that's another post for another time.) suffice to say, sexuality is central to shauna.

in 2.01 shauna's sexuality is again central and even more explicitly sapphic/jackie central. "the thought of you with someone else always scared me. but it also turned me on. someone else's tongue in your mouth. their smell on you. I used to think that made me some kind of pervert." this show is smart. it's thoughtful. that's why we love it. giving us this line in 2.01, after showing shauna watch him with only one other person in the entire show (jackie in 1.01) is not an accident.

likewise, "say it" used in 2.01 by hallucination/ghost jackie, paralleling shauna's "say it" in 1.01 (asking jeff to say he loved her) is not accidental.

(gifs from 2.01 from @yellowjacketsgifs)

this show is very thoughtfully and intentionally weaving the jackie shauna romantic, sexual, obsessive love threads. i'm not going to go into exploring every moment between them that is sapphic (there are plenty of threads doing that, most people who follow me have seen it and understand it, i'm operating on the assumption that the people interested in this post understand that already).

2.01 gives us adult shauna referencing sexual arousal related to jackie. it then shows her being fucked by jeff in front of a painting of herself that is disfigured and decaying. and finally, we get the confirmation that shauna is cannibalizing jackie in 96 (leading to jackie's own disfiguration and decay). we've been led to understand shauna as a sexually driven and deviant character, and a lingering almost-reveal in 96 to jackie's corpse/hallucination/ghost hangs over us.

if this confession doesn't happen, if they walk back the gay, if they refuse to cement the realness of their romantic, sexual love in this moment, it's hard to understand why they'd build this perfect narrative arc just to ignore it and go on to cement it with something else later. anything is possible, but it really lends itself to a forever vague depiction. confession may be too narrow of a word, but what it encapsulates to me is something that you cannot ignore even if you want to - an i love you, a kiss, an i wanted you and i couldn't have you. (even the beginning of one of these, followed by an interruption that delays this heightened narrative arc would mean not losing hope.)

there have been constant interviews with the writers walking the gay back and forth, acknowledging and dismissing it in the same breath, and if that's happening to mask a reveal coming at the peak of this arc, then that makes sense. but if that's the language being used and no reveal is coming, it feels that this is the language we will always get for them.

NOW MY FINAL ACTUAL POINT- it fucking matters if they keep it vague. yes, that's how it goes in a lot of real life relationships like this. yes, it's common for young sapphics to have these relationships and never call them what they are. but that's the very fucking point i'm making.

these "friendships" do not happen to straight girls. i've seen some people say "i'm a lesbian, but even i had platonic friendships like this." and to that i say, i also didn't understand that straight girls don't do this shit for a long time. but they don't. there is no homoerotic tension in a friendship between two heterosexuals.

but women are told time and time again that there is. that everyone thinks girls are pretty. that all female friendship is just intense like that. that it's a part of growing up. and it's gaslighting. it's a thing we tell young girls to keep them in a box, to force them into comphet, to push their feelings down and away, to not rock the boat. it runs so deep we don't always realize we're doing it.

saying it's fine because there are cemented canon lesbians in the show is a cop out. and i understand the urge to say it - we're used to taking the scraps we can get from lesbian media and saying thank you. we don't bite the hand that feeds us, because not much food is coming. and i'm thrilled that i'm watching acknowledged lesbians on my screen, that i get to see their relationships. i love tai and van and tai and simone. but that doesn't fix this. saying be happy with what you got doesn't make sense here. this isn't a situation where jackie and shauna read as straight and viewers are trying to mash them together with no cause. if you think that, i really don't know what show you're watching. it's clear, it's intentional, it's direct.

and so many sapphic women have been constantly told, both in media and in their real lives, that what they had or have with women was less real because it was complicated. was less real because comphet or bisexuality or confusion existed along side it. was less real because they don't look or seem gay. because they never called it what it was. because they were young.

that, in media, it's enough to watch two girls engage in sapphic love without ever calling it that. without showing the audience what it was explicitly. masking it the same way society does and allowing for room to argue that it was platonic. that, in real life, it's enough to experiment. to think quietly about your attraction to women. to smother it, because every woman feels that way.

shauna is the pinnacle of comphet. everything about her screams it. and that's never an accident in creating a character. it includes nuanced and intense depictions. to pretend that it isn't possible for a show this smart to cement the reality of their relationship, while allowing shauna to retain the repression that comes with it as a characters is silly.

they can call it what it is in a million ways. and they are tight-roping the line so very carefully, leaving a small scrap of doubt. if they don't tip it over that line, it's intentionally holding shauna and jackie, both as individuals and together, in the purgatory hell that so many women who see themselves in these character have had to claw their way out of.

and the prospect of that from a show that you love, a show that knows how to depict lesbianism and sapphic love when it wants to, a show that is intentionally curating this entire dynamic in jackie and shauna, is painful.

[mikuyuuss]

I just went to the kny premiere and this is my OOTD.

Since my hair is partially dyed pink, I went for a Mitsuri inspired look. I braided my hair, wore her shirt (that I got from the swordsmith premiere) and wore all her colors (pink white jacket, green skirt, and flower patterned socks.) Also close up of my pink hair below.

I got this idea when me and my friend were window shopping for clothes. We were talking abt which clothes the kny characters would wear and which ones our oc would wear too, so that's how we thought of doing some casual cosplay during the priemere.

My friend went for a subtle Tengen look, with a simple black outfit, since Tengen doesnt wear a haori. He also wore some jewelry as an homage to Tengens flashiness. He also loves Zenitsu so ofc he wore a Zenitsu bag.

The theater has less people and wasn't as lively as the Swordsmith premiere, probably cuz we went at the wrong time, but hey, more room for us to be unhinged without disrupting anyone tho haha. (I was sad not to see any cosplayers, we intended to bring our cosplayer friend too, but she was busy)

There was a display so we took lots of pictures. We even made sure to stand next to our fictional crushes, me with Giyuu and my friend with Tengen.

Anyways here's what I thought abt the movie so far

-first of all I LOVE IT. I have no idea how much I miss seeing the rest of the characters so much. The Hashira Training arc is an arc that I really adore, bc it's one of the few moments where we get to see the characters slow down a bit. My friend says he finds it to be the most boring arc, but idk, with all the action in KNY I dig for some "boringness" once in awhile. Also we were joking abt how this arc is like the "school festival arc" or "beach episode" of KNY, again, one of the reasons to love this arc.

-I Never thought much about Sanemi and Obanai's dynamic before. I just know they are a besties, but this filler really made me interested in them! Snake breathing and Wind breathing visuals were just sooo cool!!

-Have I mention that I miss the cast so much, but also I find myself foaming at the mouth everytime I see Giyuu 💀🤣 I noticed that there seems to be a sad piano music that's playing when he was trying to leave the meeting (I wonder if that is his ost) meanwhile my friend is foaming at the mouth everytime he sees Tengen.

-I feel bad for anyone in the butterfly estate who had to sleep next to Zenitsu and Inosuke. XD

-Also it's so nice to see some Kanao and Shinobu moment! Shinobu looks extra gorgeous I noticed. They really yassified her this season, and I'm not complaining. Also I like how even after Giyuu left, Shinobu tried her best to include him when they were discussing the pillar training. I wish they didnt cut it short though, I wanna know what they talk about Giyuu behind close doors so bad lol.

-Mitsuri's "Tanjiro speech" was so well executed and adorable, and just when I thought it couldn't get more expressive in the manga, then they even added her ost, and it was just perfect! Kanahana knock it out of the park with this one too! Even if there weren't alot of people watching. I did hear some giggles in this scene (including ourselves)

-Overall, it was a very satisfying watch. I really enjoy this arc for being some of the slower moments before the storm that is the final arc, and I think they managed to nail that! All the little things such as the filler of Tamayo being informed about Shinobu helping her, and some scenes that were rearranged, made the flow of the story go more smoothly.

-Also yes the op really slaps.

Speaking of our cosplayer friend that we mentioned before, after we were done with movie, it's almost as if there was some fate or foreshadowing going on bc we did end up stumbling upon her (though not in cosplay) and we ended up going back to take better pictures with her in it!

[briansastro10]

Day 2: Roommates 9 Days of Lancaster

it was Ruby's third year in college, and it has been three years since Ruby live in dormitory. One holiday, Yang decided to come and visit Ruby to see how's she's doing and find out something rather revealing to her.

Yang: YOU DID WHAT?!!!

Ruby: *Guiltily* Nothing! Why are you so mad?!!

Yang paced back and forth, her emotions swirling with a mix of concern and frustration. She felt relieved that Ruby hadn't gotten involved with the boy roommate living next door, but at the same time, anger brewed within her. Yang was frustrated that Ruby hadn't taken any initiative to get to know him or make any friends at all.

Yang: Ruby, it's been three years, and you haven't even said a word to the guy next door? You need to come out of your shell. Making friends is important, especially during college.

Ruby sulks, disliking the idea of meeting her roommate.

Yang: *Grin Slyly* Come on, Ruby! It's time to meet your mysterious neighbor. You can't hide in your shell forever!

Ruby's eyes widen with disbelief and anxiety.

Ruby: *pleadingly* Yang, please! I'm not ready for this. Can't we find another way? I don't want to embarrass myself or make things awkward.

Yang knocks on the door.

Yang: Hello!

There was no respond

Yang Knocks the door again

Yang: Hello.. Is anybody home other than my sister?

There was another second of silence. The door creaks open slightly, revealing a tall man peering out with a timid expression. He speaks softly, his voice reflecting his own shyness.

Jaune: *softly* Um, who's there?

Yang steps forward, pulling Ruby gently alongside her. She takes the lead in introducing them.

Yang: *smiling* Hi there! I'm Yang, and this is my little sister Ruby. We thought it was about time we properly introduced ourselves to our neighbor. Nice to meet you!

Ruby shyly steps forward, her cheeks turning bright red.

Ruby: *awkwardly* H-hi, I'm Ruby. Nice to meet you.

Jaune's shy demeanor matches Ruby's, and he offers a small smile in return.

Jaune: *Waved Awkwardly* Hi…

The conversation then died.

Yang: So!… What's your name?

Jaune: *His face flushed up* O-Oh I… I'm Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you both.

Ruby shyly murmurs her own introduction, her face turning bright red. She struggles to find something to say, feeling overwhelmed by the situation.

Ruby: *whispering* H-Hi, I'm Ruby. It's… nice to meet you, Jaune.

They were both flustered and their anxiety are noticeable.

Jaune:*Awkwardly* Hi...

Ruby: Hi....

The awkward silence hangs in the air again as both Ruby and Jaune stand there, sweating unsure of what to say next. Yang, growing increasingly frustrated.

Yang: *In her head* Face palming and hitting herself to an imaginary wall Forget intention, These two are hopeless!!

[coraniaid]

The thing I always forget about Bad Girls before I rewatch it is just how ridiculously plot heavy it is. I don't think it's the best episode of the season -- I don't think it's even the best episode of the season so far -- but it is an almost relentless progression of memorable and/or pivotal scenes.

In the space of just under forty minutes:

We meet Buffy's new Watcher and learn a lot more about the Watcher's Council. Wesley is not (to put it mildly) a very admirable character this season, but he works really well as a way of telling us more about Buffy and Faith and Giles.

Buffy drowns! Again! (Okay, she's only faking it this time, so this is only a metaphorical death and resurrection this time.)

There's a whole mini arc of Buffy flirting with Faith with the idea of embracing Faith being the Slayer and enjoying being the Slayer, even at the expense of her school work and her friendships and respect for the law and for people who aren't Faith Slayers.

We meet a brand new vampire cult (with a ridiculously bad name), find out their long-dead leader isn't quite dead after all, and that he used to be a rival of the Mayor, whose own plans advance considerably this episode.

A lot of this feels like it could easily have been spread out over several episodes, and maybe in a later season of the show it would have been. As it is, we're still in a not quite fully serialized era of the show: the events of previous episodes like Revelations and Helpless are mentioned briefly, sure, but a lot of the long term character work is left only implied.

We can assume that (after Amends), Faith and Buffy managed to patch their post-Revelations relationship up a little bit (and Faith is at least going on patrol with the rest of the gang at the start of The Zeppo). We can guess that Buffy has forgiven Giles for the events of Helpless (perhaps helped, in part, by whatever heroic thing he did at the end of The Zeppo that we never got to see). And presumably Buffy's lingering resentment about the Cruciamentum factors into her attitude toward Wesley and her decision to be a bit more like Faith and care less about following the rules. But none of this is actually ever made explicit on the show itself.

The show is still trying to be as self-contained as it can be, even with all the past events it's built on, and the result is an episode in which a lot has to happen at once. It's maybe a little rushed, is what I'm saying. And even when the episode finishes, the story it tells isn't quite over.

Because I forgot one thing:

Faith kills a man.

It's okay though, she definitely doesn't care and this won't have any long-term consequences for the rest of the season.

(Balthazar himself really is a pretty forgetable character though, let's not kid ourselves about that.)

[mattoidmeerkat]

as the number #1 brain parasites truther on here, i'm curious on your feelings about the upcoming bobby plot. do u trust that they're gonna do right by our boy? or do u think it's possible the brain parasites might strike again? 😭

obviously i'm sooooooo excited to get more bobby lore, but there's just a tiny little part of me that's scared we might end up getting some bullshit ass story that's entirely ooc for bobby. ik he's been safe so far w/ the characterization, but idk man. i always get a little anxious when i hear a character's getting new lore drops

Not sure how I feel about that title. 😅️

I have been unhappy with a Bobby arc before. This was at the end of Season 5 after we had seen him struggle with being there for everyone, clearly heading to a breaking point, and then the resolution of his arc was basically a footnote in Eddie's storyline. (With Athena's visible concerns just being forgotten about completely.) This was the first time I was really disappointed in a storyline involving Athena and/or Bobby. (Sure, never dealing with any of his injuries considering his past has always been annoying, but this felt different.) I told myself it was the end of the season, and they just ran out of time to address Bobby's arc properly. The episode still annoys me, but I've made my peace with it because it left enough space for us to fill in the gabs. (There are some amazing writers out there who wrote their takes on how Bathena managed to go from 5x18 to 6x01, and I'm so grateful!)

Then Season 6 aired and that just felt very thought through. The setup for the Tanya storyline was great and 6x03 amazing. While focused on Athena, the story still showed and developed her relationship with Bobby as well. Hoover (my beloved) then also helped explore their new dynamic as empty nesters. We got episodes like What's Your Fantasy? showing us how comfortably they'd settled into their empty nest leading into the Wendall arc (that we all wished had been set up earlier for more emotional impact of his death) which really showed us how far those two have come together and individually. (Athena's approach to addiction and AA in Season 4 vs. attending a meeting with Bobby; Bobby trying to keep Athena out of his AA life vs. inviting her into his this part of his world)

The back half of Season 6 showed us even more of their development and growth. The blind faith in Recovery? Excellent. The adorableness and sexiness of Mixed Feeling? Perfect. The bitter-sweet anniversary in Love is in the Air? What an amazing way to show us how far they've come. Pay it Forward? *chef's kiss* We saw them really grow into a deep, stable relationship where they enjoyed spending time together not only around others but especially finally also just by themselves.

And then 7x01 happened. Abandon 'Ships. What a fitting title. This episode was no comparison to 5x18 because back then the end of the season productions stress and time constraints played a big role. None of that really applied here. They came off the longest hiatus ever. The actor's strike was still going on when the writers came back. It was the beginning of the season. There really was no other explanation for what they did with Athena, then they actively and purposely decided to put a plot they wanted to tell (Athena's increasingly erratic behavior confusing Bobby for what I assume was the laughs?) above who the characters were at that point in time. And that really struck me. This was the old showrunner coming in and just not caring about the previous episode(s) and season(s).

So now we are here, looking forward to (or bracing ourselves for?) this new Bobby arc at the end of an extremely condensed season, with them still filming much later than usual. With a showrunner who under much better circumstances just recently has shown that he will blatantly ignore established timelines and character development when it stands in the way of the particular story he wants to tell. (And I'm not saying he's not entitled to do that. It's his show.) So I'm setting my hopes and expectations very, very low. Because I'd rather be positively surprised by a brilliant continuation of Bobby's character arc than be deeply disappointed by another case of the brain parasites.

[noegrets]

What do you dislike about Yoshio? I stopped keeping up a long time ago (around Bell Tree Express) and for the anime, much earlier, I just now later anime originals were usually not great, with a few nice exceptions...

In super short: we don't like his episodes because he ignores established characterization to be able to make jokes, and his jokes are extremely juvenile. He seems to think old people are inherently funny, he seems to think scatological humor is the height of comedy, and that having characters wildly gesticulate or dance is a sure recipe for hilarity. It's a type of humor that, beyond being extremely juvenile, also reads to us as mocking and mean-spirited, as the targets of his humor are portrayed as laughable, vapid, stupid, gay, and/or old. Which is gross and we don't want to pollute ourselves with this stuff. So, since all of his episodes are anyway out-of-character excursions mostly just to make fun of old people, we decided to skip them entirely.

Our first incident with this guy's writing does not even come from Detective Conan, but from Digimon 02. I don't know how familiar you are with it, but the first arc's plotline is about Ken, a child genius in the real world becoming an evil dictator in the digital world. He doesn't understand that he's not simply playing a videogame, and when he finally realizes the truth, there are serious repercussions for Ken that he now has to face. And then there is an absolutely heartbreaking episode about Ken's trauma about the death of his older brother and how he has been in the role of replacing his dead older brother, which has been unaddressed and festering and at the core of all of his problems.

And sandwiched right between the episode where Ken found out after fucking around for the whole first half of the series, and the trauma backstory episode, there is an episode that was written by this guy (although we didn't learn that tidbit until much later). We pre-emptively apologize for making you read this. The episode is about the main heroes accidentally walking in on an old tortoise digimon who was enjoying a piss. The tortoise is so mad about being interrupted in its joyful piss that it chases the kids for the whole episode. Antics ensue. And whenever the tortoise thinks it's safe to piss, the kids witness it again, restarting the cycle. Eventually the tortoise gets to piss again alone.

We were rewatching Digimon 02 after many years, and when we got to this episode, we stopped. The next day, we just said, …why don't we watch something else.

The first episode he contributed to Detective Conan is the "Tokyo Barls Collection" (episode 943). The entire episode exists solely because of an extended pun between garuzu (transliteration of the English word "girls") and "ba" (Japanese for "old") - what if there was an idol group, consisting of all old ladies, and they were the baruzu? That's the joke. That extremely stretched out pun that barely even counts as a pun. During the episode, we meet the four old ladies, who are all just recolored copies of like, Wendy Oldbag from the Ace Attorney series, and they do dancing antics and are so so so funny because they are so so so old. Kogoro and Conan are also in the episode, but they both act extremely out of character, and they just get to be the vehicle by which we meet these old ladies so we can laugh about how they dance even though they are old.

In the next episode written by this guy (episode 955), the Detective Boys stumble into a village where everyone is dressed in bug mascot costumes, and they participate in a human bug-catching contest, and… weren't we watching a mystery murder series? When we came around again to this episode on our rewatch, we knew we didn't want to see it again, and this time, we went to the wiki to learn some context for this off-the-wall incongruous zaniness, and that's when we realized this bug episode was written by this guy, who is the same guy who wrote the Tokyo Barls… and the pissing tortoise in Digimon 02. And certain episodes of Lupin III red jacket, and we would have to do a whole rewatch of the series to be sure (we do plan to), but in our hazy memories, we have a feeling that our least favorite episodes were written by him. In our opinion, the Lupin III red jacket series has a quality that wildly fluctuates between supremely excellent and absolute shit, and it would only make sense if the absolute shit was contributed by this guy.

So yeah, this information freed us: this man's writing has been our nemesis for our whole lives, and now that we can simply check who was the writer of a certain Detective Conan episode and see it was him, we can decide we don't want to see it. We are in charge of our own destiny. Never again will we be tormented by this man's weird obsessions.

Continuing in our rewatch of Detective Conan, we made it into kind of a game to not check beforehand, but, if we're watching an episode and either of us has the inkling that it's by that guy, we stop and check. And so far we've been right almost every single time, and often within the first 3 minutes. We almost admire the stylistic consistency, except we hate it. For example, we start watching an episode (976), and Kogoro has been hired to find a lost pet armadillo. Ding! Armadillo mentioned. To puerile sensibilities, armadillo is a funny word and a non-standard pet. So we raise our eyebrows. In the next minute, Kogoro searches for the armadillo in the fish market of Tokyo, and insinuates that the armadillo was butchered and sold as tuna, and the fishmongers blast him out of the market with a hose. Ding! Racist joke about foreign meat, and Kogoro is out-of-character, because for all of his vices, Kogoro's greatest skill is being polite and copacetic. Kogoro proceeds to make this same faux pas a few more times, getting blasted out of the market again and again, learning nothing from the experience. Ding! Slapstick comedy and mindless repetition. Defeated, Kogoro decides to leave the fish market and calls a taxi. The taxi driver learns that he's the great Sleeping Kogoro, and turns around in the seat to ask Kogoro if he will marry him, as the car swerves wildly through the highway - but he meant to be present as his wedding, not as the groom. Ding! Homophobic joke, plus more slapstick comedy. By this point we have more than enough evidence, and we stopped watching. This is how episodes with this guy go.

Nobody make this into a drinking game or you'll need to go through the entire Black Organization before the commercial break.

Only in one case did we watch the whole episode and then only at the very end, when people started dancing, we realized it was his work (episode 1119). Though, even the wiki mentions that this episode is unusually sedate and serious for this guy's writing. Maybe he's improving. Maybe people are stepping him to save the show before he kills it. Who knows. Though, it's not like it's a good episode or anything we would particularly want to praise or even rewatch, just one that didn't cross a line for us.

We do want to say that we actually really enjoy a lot of the anime original episodes in Detective Conan, and a big part of why we started doing our ongoing series of anime episode reviews was to talk about the anime original episodes and how some of them are among our top favorite episodes. Some surpass the canon material, in our opinion. After all, the anime is largely responsible for Takagi, Shiratori, Chiba, Azusa, about half of Kogoro, most of Eri as a likeable character and not a nasty appendage of Kogoro, Eri's prosecutor rival Reiko who remains anime-original but is really cool, Fumimaro (or as we call him, "squirrel cop"), and Yuya "Eyebrows" Kazami. So don't let this one guy, who only came in around 2019, cast a shadow over all the good anime-original episodes. There is still plenty of good about the anime series. We still just skip anything that we realize is by this guy.

[reashot]

Thank you to everyone for helping me reach 30 followers. To celebrate the occasion. Here's team RWBY meeting their future children with Jaune...

_____________________________________________

Team RWBY and Jaune suddenly found themselves in an empty expanse of whiteness. There's nothing in here except for the five of them. All of them are confused at how they managed to end up here. Everyone except for Jaune that is.

Jaune: Oh no, I'm here again.

Ruby: Where are we? 😵

Blake: There's nothing here but the color white.

Yang: No sh** Blake! Hey Weiss! Did you send us here? We're in your color after all.

Weiss: What! Just because we're in a white place doesn't mean I'm responsible for it. Honestly Yang are you really this daft?

Jaune: Uh... Everyone. I can't tell you where we are, but I've been here before.

Weiss: I knew it! Every time there's something wrong it's always you that causes it!

Ruby: Hey leave him alone. It's not his fault he keeps attracting trouble where ever he goes. 🤬

Blake: Ruby... That's going too far.

Yang: Look it doesn't matter whose fault this is. Right now we need to find a way to get out of here.

Dragonslayer

Suddenly someone appears out from out of nowhere. That someone a large man much older than them encased in a golden suit of armor from head to toe. Carrying with him a large greatsword that are as tall as he is.

Yang: Holy Oum! That guy is huge!

Blake: And he is in a golden suit of armor?... That's kinda tacky.

Ruby: Oh. He have a greatsword. That's so cool. Hey do you think he will let me see it? 😋

Weiss: Ruby will you please stop drooling at every weapons you see! Jaune, if we die. I blame you.

Jaune: That's fair. Everyone get ready. Here he comes!

??? : Excuse me. May I ask you all something. Where exactly am I?

Yang: Eh, that's what we are also trying to figure out unfortunately.

??? : I see. It seems we all found ourselves trapped here.

Jaune: Say. Who are you exactly?

??? : My name is Aurum Arc, son of Jaune Arc and knight captain of the Arc Knights.

Everyone: WHAT!!!

Aurum: Ah. You must have misheard me. I repeat again. My name is Aurum Arc, son of...

Jaune: Wa-wa-wait just a moment. Did you said you're my son?

Aurum: Father?... But, that can't be...

Yang: Wait you have a son? Way to go Vomit boy!

Aurum: Mother? Why do you look so young...

Ruby: Jaune and Yang have a child together! 😦

Blake: But that can't be. He looks so much older than they are, how is it even possible?

Weiss: Can someone please explain what is going on right now?!

Yang: Wait are you really my son? Are you like from the future or something?

Aurum: I guess that closest explanation we are going to get, but yes my mother's name is Yang Arc. Are you her, are you really my mother?

Yang: Well my last name isn't Arc, but yes I'm Yang. Yang Xiao Long.

Aurum: Then I apologize for my insolence, honored mother.

Yang: Wow so polite. You sure you're my kid?

Weiss: Also do a paternity check there's no way he could be Jaune's son.

Jaune: Hey! I could so totally be this guy's father.

Blake: Somehow I doubt that Jaune.

Aurum: Rest assure. There is no doubt that Jaune Arc is my father. After all Both my father and mother love each other very much.

Ruby: Jaune and Yang have a child together... No! I refuse to believe it! Jaune and me are supposed to be together. Where is my child with Jaune?! 😫

Lancaster

???: Mom!!!! *tackles Ruby to the ground* 🥰

Ruby: Who the heck are you?! 😮

???: It's me mom. It's Scarlett. 😊

A teenage girl around their age then stand up to greet them. She has long dark red hair, deep blue eyes and wearing black dress with red hood.

Blake: I take it you also came from the future?

Scarlett: Yup. My name is Scarlett and I'm Ruby Rose's daughter. Nice to meet you all. 😚

Ruby: So I do have a child in the future... But if it's not with Jaune then... I'm sure you must be good kid and I will love you and your father in the future. But right now I just want to be alone. 😞

Scarlett: But Mom. Dad- I mean Jaune is your husband. 🤨

Ruby: What?! Then forget everything I just said. I love you and Jaune so, so much! It's so nice to meet you Scarlett. 🤗

Scarlett: Ooh we need to take a selfie together. I wish my big brother are here to see this.

Blake: Wait if she's also Jaune's daughter. Then that means?.. *stares at Jaune* Do you want to explain yourself Jaune?

Weiss: *stares at Jaune* Disgusting...

Yang: *stares at Jaune* Wow. The two of us? I got to hand it to you vomit boy. I never thought of you as a player.

Ruby: Jaune. How could you. You already have me. Why do you have to go after Yang too! 😡

Jaune: Oh c'mon. I didn't do anything!

Knightshade

As everyone around Jaune accuses him of being an adulterer. Someone comes up from behind him and gives him a hug. That someone is a little girl much younger than they are. The girl is a cat faunus but what most surprising is that the girl looks exactly like.. .

Jaune: Blake...

Blake: Oh no, don't tell me she's my children.

Yang: What the hell Arc are you three timing us?!

Weiss: I say we neuter him right now before he impregnate half of remnant.

Ruby: Not before he unload on me first you don't. Then afterward we can neuter Jaune. 😖

Jaune: Can we please don't treat me like I'm a tomcat. Or at least hold on to that idea until we figures out what is going on.

??? : Daddy I'm scared. Why are the mean old ladies screaming at you?

Jaune: Are you okay?

??? : I'm scared daddy. I want my mommy.

Jaune: Blake can you help me with calming our "daughter" down?

Blake: I guess, I have no choice. Can you tell me your name little one? Mommy seems to have forget.

??? : It's Dusk, mommy. So please don't forget it again.

Blake: Of course Dusk. Forgive mommy please. I seems to have gone forgeful in my old days.

Dusk: I forgive you mommy. We all forget things sometimes. And daddy? If daddy did something to make the old ladies angry please say you're sorry to them. That's what you always told me.

Jaune: I will Dusk *kiss forehead* I swear I will make things right. I'm your dad after all I will make you proud.

Blake: (Wow he's so good with kids. No wonder he can't stop making them. )

Dusk: I know you will daddy. You are my hero after all. And daddy when are you and mommy going to give me a little brother or sister?

Everyone: 😳

Jaune: Ah, ha, ha... Le-let's ma-maybe not talk about that for a while okay. At least not in here...

Weiss: Yes, tell us all about it Jaune...

Yang: *smash fists* Yes let's have a long talk. With my Ember Celica and your crotch.

Ruby: This is all your fault for not picking me in the first place Jaune. 👹

Scarlett: Shouldn't we intervene or something? 🤔

Aurum: I don't think it's our place to help our father out.

Scarlett: I guess so, but if our dad happens to die in here. Don't you think we will disappear after? 🤓

Aurum: That is... Actually a good point. Come let's help our father out.

White knight

But just moment before Jaune are about to be castrated. Another person suddenly appears this time he looks almost exactly like Jaune. But whiter in appearance. He is not as old as the knight but still slightly older than Jaune and the rest.

Weiss: Let me guess he's my son?

Yang: Look at you catching on quick.

Weiss: It's a simple process of elimination Xiao Long.

Blake: Let's hope this is the last "surprise" we will be getting. I don't think we can handle this anymore.

Ruby: (He looks kinda like Jaune. But I feel something wrong here. 🤨)

Aurum: Get Ready.

Scarlett: Ready for what? 😕

Jaune: Oh hi. I guess you're my son too. My name is Jaune, Jaune Arc. It's simple...

??? : And roll of the tongue. Ladies love it. It's nice to see you Father... It's been so long. So long. Since...

Weiss: Well. Now that we are getting acquintaced. I guess this makes me your future mother...

??? : YOU!!!

Weiss: Uh, excuse me?!

??? : I have spent years dreaming of this moment, I've rehearsed everything I ever wanted to say to you, every words. To make you understand what you did to me and your family. But now... I realize I don't need you to understand everything. In fact. I don't need you at all.

Jaune: Don't you threaten your mother. I mean, your future mother. You know what I mean. I want you to apologize to your mother. I know you didn't mean that. Let's apologize together, okay.

??? : You. I will deal with you later. But right now I'm going to kill this bitch once and for all.

He then push Jaune away in order to put his hands around Weiss's neck and start choking her. Jaune and everyone else then start running towards Weiss to help her. But then the man pulls out the same sword Weiss have and used the same semblance to put some distance between them.

??? : Don't you dare stop me from killing this whore. Or else I will not be responsible for what I will do next.

Jaune: But that's insane. You could erase yourself out of existence by doing so.

??? : Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha... Oh father. So naive. Don't you think I didn't know that. But thank you for worrying about me father. But nothing would make me happier.

With a wave of his sword he summons a Dragon like Grimm from the ground. Preparing to do battle with everyone in the void dimension.

_____________________________________________

And that's the end. I might continue this if it gain enough traction. Also you can ask each of the future children a question if you want just leave a message.