#AND THEN IT MAKES US LOSE SPEECH FOR A WHILE TOO. DUDE

[sanitizarium]

man i fucking hate it when we get overstimulated and one of our brain guys goes Ah! I can help :) and makes it worse. girl who do you think you are. explode

[musicalmoritz]

Funniest headcanons?

Okay wow I have so many crack headcanons so prepare yourself. Take every negative thing I’ve ever said abt fanon and throw it out the window, this is about to get so unserious

• Hanako is a fudanshi. This applies to the whole Toilet Gang (except Nene would be called a fujoshi), they’ve got a little book club. Hanako is the most insane about it tho

• Aoi and Akane are a himejoshi/himedanshi couple

• Lemon and Akane smoke weed together on a regular basis (throw back to the time I looked up “slang words for marijuana” for my Terukaneaoi fic and ended up sounding like Skyler White)

• I feel like an average conversation between the Toilet Gang is the most insufferable, out of pocket middle school humor you’ve ever heard in your life. Those four make South Park look like a kids show

• Akane has a random lock of Aoi’s hair on a shelf in his room

• Since the Minamoto father is absent and the mother is dead, Tiara just kind of assumes Teru and Akane are her parents. Instead of correcting her on this, Akane decides to be the dad who stepped up

• Akane is one of those filmbros who does NOT play abt Pulp Fiction (me) (that’s the second time I’ve mentioned that movie in relation to Akane today)

• He’s also the type to ask you to name three Nirvana songs if he catches you wearing one of their shirts and if you even so much as think about saying Smells Like Teen Spirit, he’ll shoot you in the head

• Hanako is lowkey mad Kou and Mitsuba started dating without him

• In the TBHK universe, Mei is the one who drew the Miku Binder Thomas Jefferson image

• Nene writes reader insert fan fiction

• She’s also a BookTok girlie (not one of the really bad ones, just cringy. As in she would unironically love the book boyfriend audio)

• Sakura is rly into disturbing movies and they make Natsuhiko watch them with them just to make him nauseous

• Hanako and Kou jokingly flirt with each other and it makes Mitsuba and Nene genuinely mad. Like Hanako can ruin Mitsuba’s day with a single “I can take your man”

• Yk that one image of Cheryl Blossom wearing an “I ❤️ Boys” shirt? Teru owns that shirt

• Akane is the type of dude to raise his hand during a class discussion and say “I’d like to play the Devil’s Advocate”

• Aoi flirts with waitresses very poorly and it gives Nene severe secondhand embarrassment

• Once a week, Natsuhiko challenges Teru to a fight. She loses every single time

• Nene has one of those traumatic hamster death stories

• Mitsuba’s hair is dyed so whenever he’s being particularly annoying, Tsukasa tells him his roots are showing

• Kou and Nene have had one of those awkward “I have a crush on someone🤭 And it’s someone you know veryyyy well👀” moments

• Sumire used to climb to the highest places she could find to get Hakubo’s attention, and it gave him a mini heart attack each time

• OG Mei had a fursona. It was a dragon

• Yk in Spongebob when Squidward was confirmed to be the most miserable person in all of the Bikini Bottom?? In the TBHK universe that’s Akane except it’s for all of Japan

• Teru has given the “I’m vengeance, I am the knight” speech while exorcizing supernaturals AT LEAST once

• The Minamotos frequently watch Cinderella together bcuz Tiara is obsessed with it, to the point that it’s become Teru and Kou’s favorite movie as well. Teru drags his friends to watch it with him too but Kou refuses to admit he likes it

• Kou chews with his mouth open

• Mitsuba has cheesy romantic fantasies about Kou the same way Nene does about her crushes (I credit this one to one of my TikTok mutuals @/mads)

• Natsuhiko has an ASMR account (just like they do in the Monster Nursery au)

• Tiara doesn’t quite understand the premise of being gay or coming out so every day she congratulates Kou on being bi

• Kou straight up lies to Tiara about things, it’s an older sibling canon event. Teru does the same to Kou. For example I once told my sister you could dilute chocolate milk into regular milk by pouring water in it. And she believed me.

• Despite the fact that Kou’s been friends with them for many years, Teru regularly forgets Yokoo and Satou’s names

• Aoi and Nene’s mothers have a bet on when the two of them will reveal they’re secretly dating

• Mei is one of those ppl who’s allergic to almost everything. You order a plate of shrimp beside her and before it even hits the table she’s like “Keep that FAR away from me”

• Kako was homophobic until meeting Akane. A “I don’t support that lifestyle” kind of homophobe. Before meeting Akane’s baseball bat

• It’s okay tho he supports his bisexual son now!! He goes to pride parades and everything

• Mirai braids Akane’s hair when she’s bored

• Tsuchigomori has never felt the touch of a man

• If you say one bad word about Teru around Kou, you better be prepared for a full monologue. Stan Twitter wishes they could be as dedicated as Kou (Yokoo: I want to kms / Kou: Wait until the next student council election we can’t lose votes)

• To avoid tarnishing her popular girl image by coming off as rude, whenever Aoi wants to leave a conversation with someone she doesn’t like she pretends to faint

• Mitsuba breaks up with Kou every other day

• When Aoi and Nene are having trouble communicating their feelings verbally, they find a wrestling ring and box their feelings out

• Aoi and Nene apply to every job together, they are a package deal

• Kou is the designated bug killer for the Toilet Gang

• Yako can talk to other foxes. But only foxes, no other animals so the power isn’t all that exciting

• Natsuhiko hasn’t picked up on Mitsuba being gay yet so he keeps offering to set him up with girls

• Sakura has been involved in at least (1) unethical psychology experiment in the past. They administered those shocks for Milgram with a completely straight face

• The hands in Mitsuba’s boundary reflect his feelings so every time Kou comes to visit, they jump around him like overexcited dogs

• Tsukasa had a very intense Alvin and the Chipmunks phase

Okay I have homework that’s due in like 2 hours so I’m gonna have to end it there. I hope my terrible sense of humor amused some of you

[jkrockin]

Wait what guy who hadn't read Atlas Shrugged?

I was pretty sure I'd told this story here, but a cursory search suggests that I have not. Okay let's gooooo

Many moons ago, I worked in an emergency services call centre. I worked nights- I could get regular shifts, it paid well, and I am a huge freak, just like everyone else who works nights in a call centre. It is a lifestyle that attracts freaks. Some of my coworkers weren't full-time creatures of the night, but students or whoever who picked up occasional nights for the extra money, and one of them was Libertarian Shithead, who we'll call LS for short.

LS was a twentysomething white dude who wore a lot of name brand surfwear and designer sunglasses. I assume his parents were rich. LS loved nothing better than recreational arguing. Unfortunately, he wasn't very good at it; he had some of the most dogshit opinions I've ever encountered in the wild, and was terrible at defending them. He'd say some crap about how Gattaca-type eugenics is Fine, Actually, because if you let people make designer babies, the ~*Free Market will decide what traits are desirable! Racism and colourism and ableism and sexism and intersexism won't affect those choices at all! And I'd get mad, because I have principles to speak of, and we'd get into it, and WITHOUT FAIL, we'd get maybe halfway into an actual discussion about whatever horseshit garbage he was on tonight, and the second he thought he was losing, he'd say "oh, well. I'm an ~*Objectivist, so you can't really understand my perspective unless you've read Ayn Rand." Then he'd sigh, and change the subject.

At the time I had not read any Ayn Rand. Being fundamentally powered by spite, I withstood maybe three weeks of this shit before I pirated an epub of Atlas Shrugged, put it on my e-reader, and proceeded to slam through it at supersonic speed so I could finally get to finish an argument with this terrible boy.

Anon, I fucking hated Atlas Shrugged. The book is bad. It's way too long, every single character is an unbelievable douche, the prose sucks. Ayn Rand wants to fuck a train so so so badly, but the prose is so turgid I couldn't even get invested in how much she wants to fuck a train. And the core of the matter, the politics I was there to understand, are, y'know. Objectivist. Eye-bleedingly selfish and capitalistic, expressed in amazingly childish and blinkered terms. Even the bits where it seems like the shithead capitalist dudes want to fuck each other are too mired in the scunge of Rand's terrible views to be enjoyable.

But I read the fucking thing! I powered through it with only quite minimal complaining! I finished the book on the train to work, and when I saw that LS was on that night, I plonked myself in a seat by him, and metaphorically cracked my knuckles, ready to fuckin' party. In a perfect world, I would have been cool enough to have waited for the perfect mid-argument moment to drop, but I didn't. I think I lasted exactly until we were both off a call at the same time, and then leaned in as close as the desk dividers would let me, and said "So I finished Atlas Shrugged. I have some thoughts."

I cannot overstate how quickly it became obvious that LS had not read the book. For a hot second I thought maybe it had just been a while and the fine details had escaped him, but no; he didn't know who half the characters were, or key points of the plot, or even know any of the stuff in the John Galt speech, i.e. the big juggernaut of Here's How Objectivism Works near the end of the book about Objectivism that this fucking guy hypothetically based his Objectivist views on. It took me maybe five minutes, in between calls, to realise this, and another five for him to admit he hadn't actually read any Ayn Rand. He'd read her Wikipedia page.

ANYWAY I didn't speak to him for like a month after that, and I don't think either of us lost out there!

[genolover]

So I read @aughtpunk 's cotl forgiveness au in like 2 days and now I'm hyperfocusing on it. I just keep thinking of cute little things. Particularly between Shaun and kallamar. Aughtpunk probably shouldn't read this.

Like they have regular are-we-still-engaged chess matches. The first time kallamar wins, they regretfully tell the others the engagement is off. Most everyone is like, you were engaged?? How?? Since when?????? The next day they're engaged again. It great and not at all confusing. Pretty soon no one is sure if the engagement is even real or not. Don't ask kallamar, he's not 100% sure either. Like they play games to see who's responsible for the flowers or menu decisions but is it real? Half the group is sure it isn't until it's the night before the wedding and Holy shit this is actually happening wtf and Shaun is just so disappointed in them. Kallamar is too, right my love? Kallamar is like, yeah, I can't believe they doubted the seriousness of this situation. Internally he's screaming. Shaun also didn't think it was that serious but over time he got sick of people shit talking kallamar to his face so he was like, now I gotta marry him in the biggest most amazing wedding ever. I just gotta.

I also just like the idea that they would use games to settle most disagreements. They watch eachothers strategies and moods to figure out how serious they need to be. If it's a lighthearted thing then they joke the whole time and whoever wins, wins. Gg. If it's something more important to one than the other then they give a good game but let that person win since clearly this is a significant matter. If it's an important matter to both, they use the game as something of a distraction. I can't kill you for not understanding exactly where I'm coming from by magically reading my mind if I'm too busy trying to figure out if the move you just made is even legal. By the end of the match, whomever wins, it comes out as more of a compromise.

They do have this problem where if they don't have a clear goal for a game, it can escalate into terrible ends. Like Shaun makes a flirty double entendre about calamari, kallamar says something gross about cannibalism, suddenly its 3 am, they're in the kitchen with heket who is waaaay too happy about cooking some of her brother's flesh with the intention of giving it to his ex-fiancee to eat (shaun being grossed out by cannibalism made him lose), and questioning all of their life choices.

Oh and after wedding thought. Shaun asks narinder for a life flower (that what I've been calling them in my head). Narinder is grossed out but Shaun gives this whole speech about how they aren't gonna use it now, he just wants to show kallamar that he did notice that he wasnt sure how serious he was about the wedding but he is very serious about wanting to have this life together with him and growing their family together. Narinder does reluctantly give him a flower. Little while later kallamar asks for the same thing. His explanation is a little more based in logic. They've talked about children before and he's probably gonna be the one carrying them so it just makes sense for him to have the flower. Everyone is like aww they're gonna present these flowers to eachother and it's gonna be cute or something. Meanwhile kallamar is confirming that he and his husband aren't needed for anything else tonight and maybe the flower might work if brewed into a tea but eh it's better to not chance it and just. Fucking. Eats it. Right there. Infront of God (poor jake) and everybody. Did his husband see that? No, of course not. That would prevent any miscommunication drama. It's like, dude, did you guys plan on that or...? And kallamar is like, we've had some of the most important discussions about this already, I fail to see why we can't start trying now. And then he leaves to go spend his wedding with Shaun in private and now the whole family has no idea what to do with themselves. They did not need this information.

I also have thoughts for their kids. First set is twins. They are cute. They look like normal lambs just tinted blue. At first. They actually have tendrils they hide amongst their wool. They're also good at team hunting. If you see the both of them, it's safe. If you only see one, it's a distraction, turn around, you are being ambushed.

These are just fun little thoughts I had. Feel free to ignore me.

[jadedvibes]

Always (IV)

Summary: Bucky realized he could lose you for good, so he caught a red-eye flight to make sure that wasn’t possible.

Pairing: best friend!Bucky x reader

Warnings: lots of fluffy feels, very minor angst with the happiest ending, vague allusions to future sensuality, swearing, pet names.

Word Count: 2.7k

A/N: Thank you to all that followed along on this little mini-series! Angst isn’t my strong suit, so that's why I really appreciated all your support while I gave it a try! Hope ya'll enjoy this final part ♡

Series Masterlist

Like, comment, and/or reblog to put a giant smile on my face ♡

After getting off the phone with you, Bucky had a revelation. He realized that the longer he was away from you, the worse off things could be. He felt you slipping through the cracks. And he sat there for a long while imagining what it would be like if you met some “Mr. Right” tomorrow. 

His heart constricted at the thought of you moving forward with someone else, while his soul still belonged to you. The thought of having to spend the rest of his life pretending that he was happy for you, seeing you fall for some schmuck that didn’t deserve you – he just couldn’t do it. 

He refused to truly let you go. He knew he’d never love another as completely as he loved you. The thought of being with someone else made him feel sick, and that had to mean something. You said you didn’t know whether it was too late to be with him, but Bucky decided that it wasn’t. 

It wasn’t too late, it would never be too late, because you belonged with him. He just needed you to see that. 

Taking a deep, steadying breath, he picked up his phone and called Steve as he completed a quick booking of a plane ticket on his laptop. His mind was on autopilot, he only knew that he needed to get to you. 

Steve groaned into the phone, sounding like he’d just woken up. “What’s wrong?” 

“Hey buddy…best pal. I need a ride to the airport.”

“Dude it’s nearly midnight,'' Steve grumbled. 

“I know but listen, I’ve gotta go see my girl, and time is of the essence. You’re right around the corner.”

“Shit, is Y/N okay?” Steve inquired, his voice laced with concern. 

Bucky bit back a smile, his other best friend knew exactly who his girl was. Why’d it have to take him so long to realize it? It didn’t matter, he knew it now. 

“She’s fine, don’t worry. I just really need to see her, I’ll explain on the way,” he huffed out, haphazardly throwing clothes into a duffel bag. 

Bucky heard Steve shuffling with his keys, heading out of his door and into his car. 

“Fine, but I'm the best man at the wedding. And this is going into my speech, and I’m also throwing in all the fun details you kept from her. Like when you beat up that prick that stood her up at Freshman Formal.” Steve started his car.

“She doesn’t need to know about that and he threw the first punch.”

“He sucked, but you didn’t have to go all Brooklyn brawler on his ass.”

Bucky sighed, that guy hurt your feelings and he didn’t regret what he did for a second. “Agree to disagree. Are you here yet?”

“Just pulling up.”

“Great, you can annoy me on the way while I try to figure out what I’m going to do.”

┈┈┈┈┈・・

His tongue took no prisoners as it swiped through your lips. Uninhibited need pulsating off of him as he kissed you with so much intensity and adoration. You met his passion, everything finally making sense for the first time in a month. He was all you needed, he would always be everything you needed. 

His grip on your face tightened as he tilted your head, deepening the kiss as he walked you backwards, until your body met the wall. “Tell me it’s not too late for us, honey,” he whispered before kissing you again. 

“Mm, it’s not,” you murmured against his lips, hands falling to his firm chest. 

Bucky pulled back to meet your gaze, relief written all over his features.

“Yeah?” he grinned. 

Snaking your arms around his neck, you pecked his lips before looking into his hopeful deep blue eyes. “Yeah, B. I never should’ve left.” 

“I never should have let you go,” he shook his head.

“I was gonna call and tell yo–” He gently trailed kisses down your jaw, to your neck, before slowly returning to your lips, savoring your taste. You melted into him, desire and longing overtaking both of your senses. A mutual dream actualized. 

“Marry me,” he suddenly blurted out, a soft smirk on his lips.

Raising your eyebrows in surprise, “B! Not before I date you,” you giggled.

“Oh alright, later then,” he chuckled under his breath, his eyes alight with amusement. He was only sort of joking, although deep down he would’ve been more than happy if you agreed. 

“Can I take you out on a date?”

“Right now?” You looked at him, taking in the faint dark circles under his eyes. If his brain was anything like yours, and you knew that it was, he hadn’t slept much if at all on his trip over.

“Why don’t you go upstairs and get in bed, or take a shower, whatever you want. I’ll whip up a couple omelettes and then we can take a nap?” you offered, knowing that you both needed just that.

“Omelettes don’t count as our first date, right? Because I sort of have plans for that.” 

You playfully rolled your eyes at your silly best friend. “No, B. Go settle in, I’ll be up soon.”

“Okay, honey,” he nodded, realizing he could use the rest. Adrenaline had kept him up, and he needed to come down. “I’ll go put my stuff upstairs and grab a quick shower. But I think I’ll pop over a few doors down to grab us that chamomile latte you’re always telling me about. I think we could both use a comforting drink before a nap,” he smiled. 

“Sounds perfect,” you beamed. He always remembered the little things you loved; he made it so easy to fall in love with him. 

┈┈┈┈┈・・

The two of you happily ate at your breakfast bar, sipping your drinks and sitting close to one another. It had been a long time since you’d felt so at peace. 

“I think this has been the longest I’ve gone without seeing you in person in four years,” Bucky sighed. “It sucked,” he bumped his shoulder against yours. 

You smiled at him, it really did. In fact, that was an understatement. You briefly thought about discussing how rough it was being apart from him, but you had a much better question to ask.

“Soo does this make you my boyfriend?” you grinned. The thought making your heart race because it sounded so foreign, yet it felt entirely right. 

Bucky tilted his head, biting his lip as he looked at you. “Could be fiancé, honey. Just say the word. I quit my job, and I think I’d make an excellent house husband.”

You let out a laugh, taking in his exaggerated serious expression. He was kidding, but when you smiled like that, he felt how easily he could spend the rest of his life making you laugh. It’d be as easy as breathing. 

Because he could, he tilted your chin up and kissed you, just a little to hold him over for a short while. 

Sighing into the kiss, your lips ghosted over his before you remembered what he said. “Wait, you didn’t actually quit did you?” you asked to be sure. 

“Dad was pissed,” he closed the distance and bit your lip. “But now I can focus on being a good house boyfriend for you.”

“B,” you pulled back so that you could look at him. “I don’t want you to give up the family business.”

“I don’t mind,” he shrugged because he really didn’t. As long as he had you, nothing else mattered. 

“Well hopefully you can apologize and get your job back because I want to move back. Plus, I know I would make the perfect housewife,” you smirked. 

Bucky shook his head, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “So you are marrying me then?” 

“Wait, I meant– I just meant I want to move back to New York.” 

Bucky grinned, he wasn’t expecting that. “Why don’t you move in with me?” he asked casually. 

You furrowed your brows. “Because we’ve been dating for like two minutes…” 

“C’mon, I have the space. Maybe, you could keep this place that way. We’d be able to visit your family whenever you want.” 

“Hmm, that's a compelling offer,” you nodded. That would simplify your life a whole lot; his loft was spacious and terrific, and that way you wouldn’t have to move all over again. You’d be able to stay at your job and go back to him easily once you found a solid place to transfer to. 

There was also the fact that he was your person, had been for a long while, and taking this next step felt natural. Moving in with Bucky was jumping ahead a few steps, but you knew him, better than yourself sometimes – it would be a fun adventure. 

“Think about it, I heard living in sin is the new thing,” he kissed your temple before getting up and clearing the dishes. 

You blinked in surprise, your minor internal debate tabled for a moment. “We haven’t even sinned yet!”

“There’s still time,” he winked. 

┈┈┈┈┈・・

Your eyes roamed over his strong arms that were wrapped tightly around you, holding you to him. The long nap was much needed, the cuddling and the passionate kisses were an excellent bonus. 

Throughout the years you had taken many naps with Bucky. Sometimes it was easier to take power naps in between classes and during stressful times together, no one having to inconveniently go back to their place. But this time it was so different.

The way he held you, the way he looked at you, like you were the most beautiful person in the world. How he could convey such emotion through a simple look, you couldn’t comprehend. He wondered how you managed to do the same when your brilliant eyes gazed at him with immeasurable love and admiration. 

You could tell he was restraining himself from pursuing more, but your best friend/boyfriend was nothing if not respectful, and you thought about what it would be like to live with him. Waking up beside him every day, getting to kiss him, and move onto that sinning he mentioned. It would become so addicting, just as his soft touches and sweetness had already become.

Before you could picture it some more, Bucky shifted towards you, rolling onto his side and facing you in his sleep. He looked so peaceful. 

You took in his handsome features and reveled in the warmth permeating off his body – you could get used to all of it. 

“I love you, honey,” he mumbled before unconsciously pulling you closer. 

You closed your eyes and realized that your mind was made up. You were moving in with him, and this would be your new normal soon. You just had to find the right time to tell him. 

┈┈┈┈┈・・

You felt your heart flutter when Bucky looked down at you. Squeezing your hand, he gave you a broad, charming smile. “Are you still with me, honey?” 

“Hmm?” you bit your lip as you met his gaze. 

Bucky let out a laugh. “I asked if you wanted to grab a coffee before heading back.” 

“Oh, yeah that sounds great,” you wrapped your free hand around his bicep. “Sorry, I still can’t believe we’re doing this,” you admitted. 

“I still can’t believe you agreed,” he beamed, his brain not fully caught up with the fact that you were his. He was treating this like a first date, and he was doing his best to woo you. 

He’d taken you out for a late lunch, a short stop at a little bookstore he knew you’d love, and another pit stop at a local ice cream shop that reminded him of a similar one you used to go to together. You told him that the date felt reminiscent of your usual hangouts, which you really appreciated, and he conceded with – “Yes, but this time it’s even more special because I get to hold your hand.”

He’d spent a good chunk of his flight researching the best places to take you in your area. Before you told him you were hoping to move back, he had already planned a day to show you how comfortable he was with moving for you. Because no matter where you lived, he’d be fine as long as you were together. 

As you stood in line to get coffee, Bucky took your hand in his and kissed the back of it. Pesky butterflies fluttered in your stomach as you allowed yourself to get swept up in him. The guy that your heart knew it needed somehow truly wanted you too. 

After ordering, he lead you to a seat at the coffee bar. Helping you hop up onto the bar stool before sitting beside you. 

“Seems like someone really wants this date to keep going, huh B?” you teased. At every point that you thought the date was over, he suggested going somewhere else close by to extend it. 

A faint blush crept up his face. “Can you blame me?” he brushed his thumb along your cheekbone. “I missed you so much, and I really can’t believe this is happening. So excuse me for wanting this first date to be the very best,” he grumbled playfully. 

You shook your head with a grin. “I really really missed you too. So much that I applied for a transfer and have been looking into work back near you.”

“Wow,” he smiled, you really were coming back to him. The barista called out his name, and he left to bring over your drinks before he could tell you how happy he was.  

You took the opportunity to check your email because the New York office requested additional documents to go along with your transfer request earlier in the day and you wanted to ensure it went through okay. 

Tears filled your eyes when instead of further follow up information, you read that somehow the transfer for your exact position had been accepted. The chances of this happening so quickly was practically out of the question, and you could only silently thank the divine source that intervened to make it possible. 

“Hey,” Bucky quickly set down the coffees once he saw your emotional expression. “Honey, what’s wrong?” he gently grabbed your free hand, his blue eyes brimming with concern.

“You’re officially getting a new roommate,” you sniffled before smiling. 

Bucky’s breath hitched in his throat. “You’re moving in?” 

You nodded your head enthusiastically, shocked and thrilled by the news. “I got the transfer.”

Without warning, he pressed his lips to yours, kissing you madly right there in the coffee shop. 

Your brain went foggy as your tongue moved along with his – time standing still, or passing by in a blur, you couldn’t really tell. 

“I love you so damn much, honey,” he finally mumbled against your lips when the need for air became too strong. 

“I know,” you smiled, exhaling a breath. “I’ll always love you, B,” you tugged him back towards you, connecting your lips again. Feeling him smile into the kiss, you couldn’t help but grin as you kissed him deeply. 

From stressful late library sessions, to all-nighters and warm bonfires, Bucky was your truest constant. 

In time your best friend turned boyfriend would become your fiancé then husband; sooner than you expected and to the surprise of no one. You’d hear new stories about the ways Bucky quietly watched out for you in college from Steve and Sam, the best men at your wedding. Reaffirming the way he silently loved you through all of his actions – and you loved him all the more for it. 

He’d hear stories from Natasha and Wanda, your maids of honor, about all the times they knew you only had eyes for him, a fact you hadn’t realized was so obvious.

Somehow in the end your wish upon that star came true, and you were beyond grateful that you let yourself believe in it. Because now you couldn’t imagine a reality in which you weren't happily married to your best friend – where the love you shared was ever present and built upon the strongest foundation, where it would never waver, no matter the circumstance.

The end. 

[randomnameless]

It's crazy how SoV preluded 3H by making one of the protags have a tremendously contradictory mindset of humanity being better off without gods, while also relying on those same gods to fulfill their goals, the hypocrisy of which goes completely unadressed throughout the game; truly masterful foreshadowing

Who directed FE15?

lol

I've recently tried to think about this "gods BaD" shift in more doylist terms - especially since I've finally played a Squenix game recently and...

FE13 was the FE series last ditch effort, it will either work or end up as the F-Zero series, FE13 worked and FE14 followed suit.

Lolcalisation aside, FE14 had a nice plot and I engaging characters - to some people but not me, different tastes and all - but FE14 and FE13 were still FE games, as in part of the old FE series, aka a niche series. Adding dating sim/interpersonal relationship through avatars might have helped a bit, and yet, imo, it was still the "niche" FE series.

Comes FE15 where we basically have a remake, and can't add the interpersonal thing because Alm isn't an avatar (even if the game spends a lot of time praising his oranges) - how to make the game work? Sure, some weirdo fans of the FE series will buy it, and it was never supposed to sell as much as FE13/14, but if it was a 1:1 remake or just with minor adjustments? It might bomb like the Archanea remakes, and good luck coming after that - will they need another "FE13" to reignite the sales or??

And here I thought about it : FE15 was retconned with the "GoDs BaD" spiel, to make this game more in-tune with what I'd call "traditional" JRPGs where the protagonists often defy a corrupt church and "divine" being.

("Traditional" imo being the Squenix way, because while I didn't play all entries of this series, the Tales series never striked me as being particularly as, uh, vindicative against organised religion, maybe save for Symphonia 1 - Abyss' Church really wishes to help the people even if it is corrupted from within by some dude who doesn't want to let the world die and played by the big bad, Xillia has no church, ditto for Zestiria and Phantasia had Mint and... that's it? - compare this to Squenix's Triangle Strategy and Hyzante being comically EvIl and without any redeeming traits/points when all of the other major parties of the conflict have "token good NPCs" as forced as they are in the game, to make it very clear that they might have done questionnable things like invading and slaughtering civilians from a foreign nation who welcomed them at their wedding, but at least they have "MoRaLs" unlike those bozos in their desert...)

And this "let's make FE mainstream by kicking gods" mentality completely runs at odds with the rest of the FE franchise, and while I know RD basically ends like this bcs "uwu Ike defeated a GoD with the help of another who used the lead of that game as a soul jar and granted him exclusive powers to put her sister to sleep" the morale of RD's story - as seen in the perfect ending but in Ike's speech to Yune itself - is that everyone can and should try to live together, asking Gods not the fuck out to let Humanity alone, but to believe in them just like humans believe in gods.

So FE15 ends as this big, uh, mismatched clash of narrative directions - being a remake it cannot stray too far from the source material and Archanea verse : Dragons and Humans can live together (even if it means dragons must sacrifice part of themselves to do so because fuck them I guess) and dragons can help humans just like humans can, uh, not be asses and not target them because their ears are pointy or when they are weakened...

And we had the new Squenix direction where GoDs BaD and HuMaNiTy fuck yeah, which leads to FE15's hypocrisy : please trust and rely on us Gods/dragons and kindly help us when we're in deep shit, and at the same time "HuMaNiTy FuCk YeAh".

Interestingly, the Squenix direction loses in the post game campaign (the one where we discover Thabes) but is reintroduced in the official (tm) timeline, depicting basically how BaD Duma is and how much of a chad Rudy was, before his very tragic (bring the onions!) death.

But yeah, I agree anon, FE15 was crazy foreshadowing and I guess is part of the reason why Tru Piss has this message "Humanity doesn't need Gods" targeted at... Rhea, aka a Nabatean (while Supreme Leader got there thanks to Sothis' powers!!) because the "Humanity Fuck Yeah" narrative is a staple of Squenix JRPGS, and if FE has to become mainstream, I guess to some devs, it has to copy what sells.

That would also explain why FE16 went so off the rails and forgot the tradition FE series message about coexistence, because what the fuck do you mean by "Humanity doesn't need Nabateans", after parroting for the entire game "Nabateans are to blame for the irrational world we live in" and blame "Nabatean blood" for everything wrong in Fodlan, without ever acknowledging the "evilness that lurks in the heart of men" (who aren't called Dimitri) ?

In a series that, albeit hazaphardly at times (FE8's manaketes feel forced in the lore! and the less is said about Nowi/Panne in FE13 the better we are), tried to push the "coexistence between all inhabitants of the land is the key to peace!" card - this Squenix direction feels all kind of wrong, especially when friendship with the divine beings (dragons) have been a staple of the franchise (Y!Tiki's number of alts, imo, is telling : for better or worse, Y!Tiki is, along with Marth, the figure of the franchise. She is a dragon, and she's a kid who wants to make friends. Sure it brings the loli crowd, but all those dragon children in the different games? They are a direct throwback to Y!Tiki!).

In a nutshell, I'd say the first crack was FE10's writing that made things seem like the Hero defeated a goddess and its subsequent wanking.

But I agree with you anon, FE15's change in direction and retcons were absolutely gunning for that Squenix "GoDs BaD" while keeping the "traditional" FE message which resulted in hypocrisy that showed in the writing but I guess no one really paid attention because FE15 has other issues too (I didn't before happening on FE16... even if I remember wondering why the fuck the game kept on hammering how BaD Duma was when we had people being asses right and left on their own).

FE Fodlan completely ignored the "we can coexist" message - save for subtext you can have where the optional lords who win the war and aren't Supreme Leader can have half/quarter-nabatean heirs through Flayn but her heritage is never ever mentionned in the ending cards - by completely shitting/ignoring the local dragons, they're blamed for everything wrong and don't get their voice to the chapter.

Masterful writing lol

I can't wait for the next game, let it be a remake (pls not Jugdral!!) or a new entry (Engage was developped alongside Fodlan, not after!) to see if IS will continue with the Squenix developments or return to their roots, even if they seem milquetoast, of "humans and lizards can hold hands".

---

NGL anon, during 2020/2021 and the daily "Supreme Leader was right though" threads in SF, I kind of realised that what I took for granted, aka "coexistence between humans and dragons!" being the message of FE in general, wasn't, even in what used to be the most serious board/thing.

FE as a series came to the West through FE7 where Dragons and Humans were at war, but ultimately the cast learns that dragons aren't evil incarnate and the best ending reveals that the big bad went mad because his dragon wife was killed and he tried to reunite with their dragon-human children he hid away for their safety.

So it was kind of surprising to see long-time, or at least not "Fodlan introduced" members of SF parroting the "well they can't live together" by buying the most ludicrous headcanon/fanon arguments you'd find in other series like "different lifespans" - this argument is pretty much non existent in the FE series, and I've never seen it opposed to Miccy's rule in Daien when, as a Heron Branded, she will outlive her citizens, or what, are we supposed to believe that Myrrh shouldn't interact with humans and remain in her forest because she will outlive humans, or is too "different" from them thus wouldn't have the same considerations?

FE13/14 brought the fandom wars of "new fans" vs "old fans", but FE Fodlan? Brought "casual JRPG gamer" vs "FE gamer" which usually boils down to "Supreme Leader fans" vs "everyone else".

Sure, we had the religion hate boner because the dragons in Fodlan verse made a "Church" with catholic imagery which is a deadly sin to some - but the "dragon blood is indeed the reason why everything sucks in the world" being parroted? "Dragons cannot have power over humans because of the sheer inbalance"? What, are you implying Nergal was forced by Aenir to mate with her twice or what? Ninian was oppressing Pherae in the endings where she marries Eliwood, and humans were finally liberated when she died?

Kana is, by nature, someone who will oppress humans because they're part dragon and their blood will bring strife to the world?

So unless IS doesn't fully commit to one narrative - because yes, for all of its flak, FE Fodlan still takes time, when it remembers, to portray Nabateans in a relative positive light when it comes to them as characters and in the general background, it's just that, they're never given a voice when it comes to discussing about the plot - we're bound to have this hypocrisy :

Dragons BaD bcs Humanity Fuck Yeah

and

Dragons and Humanity can coexist and make babies for scalies/monsterfuckers out there because acceptance/diversity is a way for peace.

[ganeshkfp]

To the anon that sent me an ask about asking my thoughts about the tv show, Im so sorry but something happened and I think it got deleted 😭 But dw I would still answer it here-

So this would be a critism post and I want to make it clear that everyone is free to reblog and comment their thoughts freely, while being kind. Critism is valid and its not rude, but any bad comments or hateful remarks to any actor, especially child actors, would be deleted. I dont like blocking so dont make me please!

Okay to start, I would be so honest and say I did not find the show successful and I did not like it. I would explain all the reasons, but did it make me feel nostalgia a bit? Yes it did. Did it make me cry at the end? Yes :) I would add pros at the end. But first:

Cgi was really bad, I mean that claiming scene would be a laughing stock in a few years. Chimera? Nope- Medusa's hair also looked better in that movie in 2010. Also they avoided showing Grover's legs so much, also didn't even show us riptide's change...They got 15M per episode and if these are the results, then it is a problem. Background of Percy and Ares's fight- so so greenscreen. I wish Disney can take things seriously.

Lighting was so dark, especially for the lighting thief. Which was such a humor filled book and it was way too colorful. Why make it all so dark and lifeless?

Also humor? Way too low for pjo. "But we are not reading Percy's mind!" Yet, there were so many jokes in the books that could have been add, but they didn't. Yes there are some good jokes (pinecone fate) but to the standart, I expected to laugh way more. Its pjo!

Changes? Well to be honest I am a person who keeps book and show separate, I dont think they are the same at all. So I dont complain about the changes at much. But most of the changes were pointless to me and so many things left unsaid. I wish they didn't make Gabe way too soft. Children's show, yes. But then again, what would you do for later seasons if they cant even show Crusty's dead. Sally's real reason to marry Gabe never get explained, why? 4 pearls, why? Missing deadline? Totally pointless. Not mentioning Riptide's name? Chiron might have say it. Love tunnel? Now its a long one. Rick explained they couldn't do spiders and its hilarious, you gotta do sea monsters man- And instead of a chance to see an actual comedy: live on Olympus and Annabeth losing her shit. We get to see such a early scene of Percabeth drama. Why changing one of the funniest scene in the books to drama? You needed more edits for view or smt? Hephaestus falling over to the speech of friendship was nothing but cringe to me. Moving on, Thalia's acting to Annabeth. Why she is not nice to her and Annabeth had to earn her love. The point was Thalia to remember Jason and taking Annabeth under her wings immediatly bcs of it. Medusa's scene- Instead of us laughing to trio's silly behaviours and falling to her trap like little kids would, we get to hear a monster-hero talk. Yay another speech! Ovid's side of the story also bothered me. Greek mythology, why adding Ovid? Just us to sympatize with Medusa. Lotus Casino scene- We could have watch them have fun and going crazy but noo- they had do add more drama with Hermes. Did not see the point of his appearing either. Why is he there? I wanted to see them being children...And wanted to see the magic of the place!

Now if I move to characters, Percy's I know it all side is just annoying and adds no suspense to the viewers. What's the point if he knows everything already? "But his mom taught him!" But guys, remember, the whole point of pjo was: us to learn with Percy! We were learning the Greek myths with Percy, who is new to the world. They go somewhere and Percy immediatly: "You are Crusty, my mom told stories about you!" 😑 What a relief then! You tell us. Percy's sudden bravery at the end? Dude, he has 5 books for that.

Annabeth turning to a stoic child soldier? Suddenly goody-two shoes? Where are her emotions? Her fears? Her flaws? Her fricking love of architecture? She doesnt need to know everything to be smart girl. She had ADHD, she is 12! Ofc she was supposed to fall in traps. We should have watch her blushing as Luke talks, getting all wet by Percy in the toilet, she was supposed to our little girl. She is not just a badass queen yet, please. Give her personality back. Why she only smiled once at the end of the series? And not having a childhood, not even watched a movie? You guys cant be serious- She grew up in chb! She picked up strawberries, she played games and she watched movies when she was little, remember? She was not in legion... She is one of the most emotional characters, should we remind this to Rick and writers? She cries, she has feeling! Dam she was crying when they left Cerberus! She was a trouble-maker, she stole clothes, remember? Her portrayal was awful...

And about the Gods- Just..."He is trying to make them look awful at the beginning" Then why the hell it was only Athena? Almost turning her to second Zeus- Are you kidding me? You make her suddenly a child killer, when in the books she was nothing like that. Why making her worse, when other gods(Poseidon, Hermes, Hephaestus,Dionysus,Ares,Hades) seem way more human and nicer? You cant tell me he tries to make them worse when they are portrayed like that! No sir- Hephaestus is nice enough to release Percy after a friendship speech. Poseidon is suddenly a perfect dad, he is not sorry that Percy is born. Ares is just a dumb twitter bully, where in the books he was threating them to no end. And fricking Hades?! I am sorry but Hades like that- He should have been scary. But no, he is just a lonely cool guy. I thought he softened after Nico. Cant wait for the development now...

Other than that, one of my most important things: vibe. Sorry...Like I said, it was way too boring for pjo. Even that horrible movies had more vibe! Gimme the vibe!

Pacing? Has a problem and I hope they fix it. Episodes being too short? Also another issue.

Now for the chb, I was hoping to see more activity. Why the camp is not full of noisy kids running around, playing hide and seek like in the books, training wild around the areas, camfire and silly songs? Where are our children screaming and being ADHD demigods? Instead they play chess in the cabin- Please, give more life to chb.

Finally, for the things I liked:

Riptide song!!! That song is my favourite thing in the whole show- Like its soo good.

Seeing Sally's struggle to raise Percy. Also a plus for me. Because I was curious. Also adding Poseidon to the scene was okay. I loved that parts.

Young Percy did awesome and he was such a good actor :)

Percy's dreams were good, I loved seeing them. Congrats! Andd, child accurate cast. It was important. But I wish they hurry so then we wont have it anymore 😭

That was it! Like I said, I find it a bad show, as a fan of 12 years. I waited this for so many years. I was dreaming this. But sorry, bad show is a bad show. At least it did give me some nostalgia and it did make me cry at the end :) I hope they improve because it would suck if they get a cancel before season 5. The bad thing is, I feel they knew we pjo fandom wanted a show for years. And they knew we would eat the crumbs. Its just not fair, you know. They would like it anyway, type. They are not taking it as seriously as they should. With that budget, look at other shows with that budget. I know, its still a kids' show. But I dont think its an excuse for them to upset the fans who waited this long...

Thanks for the ask anon! And like I said, feel free to add your thoughts :)

[revserrayyu]

Real quick Wardance thoughts [part 1]

**SPOILERS** for the majority of the event up until the winner is decided. That sounds like a whole lot to cover all at once but I’m not gonna delve too deep into anything like I have a habit of doing during main story quests. I thought the event was good and there were many moments I enjoyed, but I’ll admit that I skimmed through the bulk of it, so just take this as a quick speed run of random thoughts I had while finishing the whole thing last week.

So please tell me I’m not the only one who noticed that they finally fixed Oleg’s mouth now when he speaks?? No longer can I tease him about being a telepath. He had actual mouth movement this time!

Geppie is such a good boy. I sorta figured we would be facing a losing battle against him as Luka since he’s the literal definition of a tank, but it was of sweet of him to give us a chance to travel to the Xianzhou regardless of how this fight ended. Yeah it makes sense he can’t really put his Captain duties on hold just to travel to a whole other world, but the nice gesture is still appreciated.

I’m so happy that parts of this mission were voiced as it allows us to hear some of our old Belobogian friends again, such as Natasha, Bronya, Lynx, etc. (It’s just my luck that Serval nor Seele, who are no doubt my two favorites from this place, get not one single line throughout the entire story.. but I digress.)

I gotta survive off crumbs of just mere mentions of these favorites instead. It was fun hearing Bronya trying to intimidate Seele’s speech though.

They teased us with Owlbert appearing in the main 2.5 story by Hoolay suddenly stirring up chaos, but it’s nice to actually hear our reliable host in game, even if only from a puppet. Perhaps we can see the real bird one day. Playable Owlbert when, Hoyo?

Now.. how exactly does our boy Luka know what Cocolia looked like? He’s been in the Underground his whole life and madam had (unfortunately) ceased to exist by the time he had the chance to visit the Overworld. Heck, Luka wasn’t even around during the main Belobog story, since he was doing Wildfire work somewhere else. I can imagine that maybe Seele or others told Luka about her (for whatever reason, I dunno), or perhaps he caught sight of a portrait in the museum, though he’s not too keen on visiting the Overworld in the first place, if his voiceline about the place is anything to go by. Oh well, it was just a real accurate and powerful hallucination anyways.

Poor Owlbert. Can’t even be spared from an angry, defeated Topaz despite her love of animals.

Actually Topaz, the term is “going all in,” as Aventurine likes to say. Haha, I tease, but it makes sense that our gambler went total boss mode in Penacony then.

Luka and Sushang are the same kind of silly and stupid. It’s delightful.

I am holding every tiny fact about Seele carefully in my hands and cherishing it fondly. And if Luka knows this, does that mean was he around when it happened? Surely he had teased her about it. Dude is lucky he’s still alive and well.

First we spoke a *Nameless profanity* in Penacony, and now there’s a *Xianzhou profanity.* I love it. Where’s the one for Belobog? And can we please hear Seele say it? If we could get someone to just say "fuck" once, it better come from her.

Ah.. a lack of censorship would make Boothill more enjoyable for me too, but I understand why we have it. At least the anger towards Owlbert is on brand.

Boothill certainly wasn’t messing around during this match huh. The loss really put Luka’s head in a bad place though. I forget exactly how his arm was repaired, either IPC assistance or something else, but dang, wouldn’t this have been a wonderful opportunity to bring in our lovable mechanic Serval into the story to fix his arm instead? Huh, Hoyo? (shh, I’m just missing her. leave me be.)

There was this on random npc standing on the railing overlooking the arena who had an abundance of confidence that I just found humorous, especially with us mentioning Acheron’s habit of getting lost.

The whole scene with Margie inside Luka’s mind was so rough. His companion quest was sad enough already, did we really need to experience heartbreak again??

Luka, please.. no. Who taught you about rizz?? Was it Argenti? That dude can charm almost everyone, even plants.

Tee-hee, hiiii Yukong~ Wonderful to see you again, madam. I know I’m skipping on so many other things, but this mission was longer than I had expected, so it’s safe to say that I haven’t any clear memories what was happening right now. Something about a disguised borisin with a robot partaking in the tournament. But our favorite pilot is also here now. So that’s all I cared about, clearly.

I know it was sweet of Hook to come along on trip and support her fellow Mole member in the tournament but it is so odd not seeing Clara at Svarog’s side. Surely our friendly robot could’ve watched over two kids as once. (it’s fine though because I did a random ten pull on the standard banner while completing this mission and got myself E1 Clara. so at least she’s safe.)

Rappa mention! I can’t wait til we learn more abut her. (Saw quick leaks of her combat already and it’s quite a sight. They keep upping the ult animations for sure.)

While I was completely fine with the idea of us taking out all of Yanqing’s 99 barriers during the fight, I was surprised to see the cutscene switch up and have the two finalists really partake in hand to hand combat instead.

At first I thought, “yeah, fire. That makes sense for Luka,” until I remembered this dude is a physical character and fire is only part of his design. I assume he can still use flames with his mechanical arm, but he’s just using his regular one at the moment, not the big red one he wields during actual combat. I dunno how this man’s arm works exactly, but it was still a cool shot and an expert dodge by Yanqing.

Speaking of our young man, he did so well during this cutscene! Was not expecting him to be so skilled with throwing hands either, so to be evenly matched with Luka, who mainly uses his fists for fighting, is impressive nonetheless. Yanqing did of course give the victory to Luka though, which is fine.

Aawwhh.. and what if we all cried?

That’s all for now. There is gonna be a second part only because the Yaoqing trio shows up at the very end and I have many feelings about them but overall, this was some good stuff for Luka. Maybe he’ll show up in the main story one day aside from all this optional stuff.

[paralyze-fic]

Paralyze.

Side Story; Shinso Hitoshi [Special Chapter]

|This chapter contains canon events of reader's past|

|Alternative ending with Hitoshi as love interest|

-,-,-,-,-,-,

It all started during my first day at kindergarten, I was the youngest one there. Everybody was four already, while I was still three and a half.

At first, nobody talked to me, and I was too shy to try and befriend anyone, so I was lonely during the first week there. But...

A purple-haired boy approached me at the beginning of the second week.

He had purple eyes too and his pupils were white, he scared me a bit at first, but when he smiled and told me he loved cats, I only chuckled and hugged him.

That boy was Shinso Hitoshi, whom I began calling Shi-chan after two months of knowing each other.

And then, Shi-chan developed his quirk, and I just stared at him happily, but I was also jealous.

Of him and the rest.

I was quirkless still, but I wasn't bothered, I was still three years old, and I had to wait patiently a few more months until my birthday arrived.

But I was quirkless even after I was five.

My parents kept cheering me on, saying I will have a quirk, and I'll be the best hero. The Invincible Hero. Shi-chan said so too, while he also explained to me how his parents thought his quirk was villainous.

I comforted him about that, saying that I would love to have his quirk. A brainwashing quirk... The society should be grateful. Shi-chan wants to be a Hero, not a villain, everyone should be happy about that, right?

The next year was the same, I was six... and still quirkless. With each passing day, I could notice how my parents were losing hope about me having a quirk. But Hitoshi didn't.

And because of that, he tried to train me. I told him what my parents' quirks were, and we tried together.

Enhance my muscles with my own energy. Make a person freeze completely on the spot as if they were asleep.

But nothing happened.

And by my seventh birthday, the next day, I had already accepted reality.

"I'm quirkless, Shi-chan..." was the thing I whispered to my only friend, sitting down beside him, "I can't be a hero with you... sorry." By the moment I finished my little speech, the tears had filled my eyes and wanted to run down my face.

He tried to say something, but I just hugged him and hid in his neck.

"Look, the quirkless loser and the villain freak!" I flinched at the yell directed our way. I never bothered learning his name, but I just know that he's the biggest asshole here. And he was only twelve.

I only looked away and Shi-chan was about to tell them something, but I stopped him.

My hand held his and we heard the dude's voice again, "And they're gay too! Faggots!"

I swallowed and stared down at the ground, biting my tongue so I wouldn't say anything disrespectful. For now, they left us alone and walked away, and soon the bell rang, so we walked to our classroom.

The whole class I spent it looking down at my desk, holding in my tears at the thought of my quirkless self.

The break began again and I walked to the bathroom, I wanted to wash my face a bit, so the redness of my eyes and nose would go away. But he was there when I walked in.

His friends were here too.

"Oh, if it isn't the quirkless loser." His friends laughed and he walked up to me, I just backed away, trapping myself with the wall behind me.

I saw his palms generating electricity and I could just stare at his arm.

His arm swung back, ready to punch me and I could only whisper, "Don't hurt me..."

Right as his fist was about to collide with my face, his arm tensed and he yelled in pain, gripping his forearm tightly. His friends came up to me and I kept mumbling the same thing over and over. "Don't hurt me..." they yelled too and ran out dragging their "leader" with them.

I sighed in relief and closed my eyes for a bit, but I suddenly thought, why did they run away screaming and gripping their arms?

I ignored that and opened my eyes.

And I got scared.

"I can't see!" I screamed, sliding down to the bathroom wall and rubbing my eyes, but the blackness wasn't going away. "Help me!!"

I kept screaming for a bit more until the bathroom door opened and Shi-chan's voice echoed.

"(M/n), what's wrong-?!" He abruptly stopped his question, and I felt him holding my shoulders tight. "What happened... to your... eyes?" I shook my head side to side and I felt tears falling down my cheeks.

"I don't know! Shi-chan... I can't see anything... I only see black. Help me, Shi-chan..."

What I remember from that time was Hitoshi taking me to the infirmary and then the principal came too, they ended up calling my parents, both came here with the twins, they were only a year old.

Such cute babies... but I couldn't see them at the moment.

Well, it turns out... I had my quirk.

My mother explained to me that this was her drawback. She went temporarily blind. I had to explain what had happened and how I went blind, which also made my parents worry about me being bullied. But it was fine, this was the first time they tried to physically hurt me, and they couldn't do it.

And that was the day when my quirk manifested. I was blind for two days.

//////

During Middle School, Shi-chan was being targeted again about his quirk, I always hated how they treated him. He has a brainwashing quirk!

That's fucking awesome!

So every time those assholes told him something about it, I would scare them away and then try to comfort Shi-chan.

"I'd like to know why they say that about your quirk, I mean, it would be really bad if you were a villain, so they should be grateful you want to be a hero, right?" Hitoshi smiled at me, but there were still some whispers about us, and how he had brainwashed me into being his friend.

But that's the thing! Shi-chan never used his quirk on me! Not even by mistake!

I even asked him to do it many times, but he refused every time.

And yes, while Hitoshi was being judged by his quirk, everybody around me was saying that I was invincible. Something that made me more insecure about myself.

Because even if I am so-called "invincible", my quirk could kill people, and... It did.

There was a time when I couldn't completely control my quirk yet. I was thirteen, and I was walking back home from school when I heard a woman trying to scream.

Her voice could only be described when somebody tries to cover your mouth, so I wanted to help her. I didn't know how, I was a still kid, but I needed to help her, nobody else was doing anything.

So I called the cops, explaining the situation, they told me to not get involved but the woman spotted me, and cried at me.

The man saw me and threw her to the ground behind him, stomping towards me with a furious face.

He tried to grab me, but I held his wrists above my head. The strength I had wasn't enough, but I was not going to go down and leave that poor woman all on her own, so I struggled to push him off of me.

I could hear the sirens in the distance, and that made me hold on longer. The man was mad, like extremely mad, but didn't try to run away, he was glancing back at the woman, who was still on the ground, shaking and crying. I noticed her legs, and both of her thighs were bleeding with deep wounds and the blood wasn't stopping.

I have to help her! She will bleed to death!

I gritted my teeth and pushed the man back, stepping forward and keeping my eyes on his arms, but my quirk wasn't activating.

Why?!

I growled and pushed him hard, he fell on his butt and tried to get up again.

But he screamed in pain.

Those kinds of screams occurred when my quirk was too aggressive, and I tried to stop it, but the man gripped his t-shirt, where his heart was and stared right into my eyes.

I clearly saw how he stopped struggling and fell backwards, a blank stare in his eyes.

And I saw white.

The woman was exclaiming "Thank you" towards me repeatedly, but I couldn't think of anything else.

Did I...?

The police and an ambulance arrived, the woman was taken to the hospital and I was kept there for interrogation, but they had to call my parents first.

After dreadful hours of waiting and answering questions, the forensic confirmed that the man had died from a heart attack. But she found it weird because apparently, he had been a healthy man his whole life.

His heart stopped abruptly, and the muscles ripped. As if it exploded.

Then I had to explain how my quirk worked.

I was declared innocent, but the thought... the knowledge of having killed a person wouldn't leave my mind.

For a year I had to go to therapy, but even if I was okay now, every now and then I would remember that event.

And the only way to forget about it was to be with Hitoshi.

A year went by, and our last year of Middle School arrived. It was at this moment, that I realized...

I wasn't straight, or not completely at least.

I had liked girls in past years, but I never tried to ask them out. I was too shy, and I still am.

But, Hitoshi made me realize I liked boys too.

He just suddenly seemed so freaking cute and then so fucking hot.

I was really confused, so that day when I came home from school, the twins tried to get me to play with them for a bit, but I made up an excuse about homework, and went up to my room.

On my laptop, I wrote on the search bar 'I like girls but boys too, what is it'. And lots of results popped up.

My entire night was spent in front of my laptop screen, and I got the answer to my question was... bisexuality.

Maybe... or maybe I just liked Hitoshi and not other boys.

But no, even if I liked Hitoshi already, I caught myself staring at some boys from my class and on the streets quite often. So I wasn't just Hitoshi-sexual, I was bisexual.

It was hard. To accept it. And to live with it.

The day I told my parents, they were like 'Oh, so you like boys too, that's good, you know what you like, we don't mind.' And that was such a relief, but only they knew about my sexual orientation.

Months flew by and it was the day of the U.A.'s entrance exam.

We both passed the written one, but not the practical one. And we ended up in 1-C, General Studies.

After the first week of class, the news about 1-A being under a villain attack reached our ears. I was kind of grateful that I wasn't in the Hero Course because my quirk doesn't really work with big groups of people.

And Ectoplasm sensei announced the Sports Festival coming up. He said something about having an opportunity to become heroes, we could be transferred to the Hero Course depending on our results.

And Shi-chan and I made a training schedule for it.

During said training, I had gone blind many times, but just the white blindness, so after a few hours of talking and bickering, I was back to normal.

And the Sports Festival arrived.

I managed to come in first place by the end of it, and Hitoshi ran to hug me when I stepped down from the podium.

Who would have thought I wouldn't be happy about my win?

The principal wanted to talk with me, and he told me about the internship and my possible transfer. Hitoshi got mad -I think- when I told him.

And he used his quirk on me for the first time.

After school, I went to the teachers' lounge and gave my hero name to Midnight sensei, who accepted it and let me go home. I walked out of U.A. and I stared up at the sunny sky. I tried to think about how to make Hitoshi talk to me again, and I remembered something.

I still owed him an ice cream.

So with a little of an improvised plan, I went to my house to change and walked out to buy him ice cream. I bought two ice cream tubs, one with his favourite flavour and one with mine.

On my way to his house, I felt my heart racing, I hadn't been this nervous since I realized I liked Hitoshi. And until today, even if I told myself I would ignore those feelings, they didn't go away. They just got stronger. And that's why I couldn't handle the thought of Hitoshi being mad at me.

I stopped in front of his house and hesitantly rang the bell, his mother opened the door, smiling brightly when she saw me. And she invited me in.

"Hitoshi is in his room, he seemed a bit sad and bothered, did something happen, honey? Did you two fight?" I smiled reassuringly at her while taking off my shoes.

"Not really," her smile changed to a sympathetic one and she placed her hand on my shoulder.

"It's about the Sports Festival, isn't it?" I just looked down, nodding, "Hitoshi wasn't like those other boys, wanting to be heroes and help people, but when he met you, he changed. Being a hero was the only thing he talked about..." She caressed my hair making me stare at her, "But he always said he would be a hero with you, (M/n)."

"We'll become heroes together, and we'll be the best heroes!" Hitoshi's childish voice rang inside my head.

"Can I go talk with him?" She nodded with her sweet smile.

"Of course you can, sweetie, this is your house too."

I went up the stairs quickly and I stopped in front of his door, taking out my phone before even knocking on his door.

I pressed the call button on his contact. He didn't pick up the first four times, but I called him a fifth, and last, time.

"What?" His voice was muffled and tired as if he had just woken up, but Hitoshi usually had that kind of voice and he had trouble sleeping for too long, that's why he had those deep and dark eye bags.

"Can we talk?" He groaned and I heard him shuffling around, probably turning on his bed.

"Why would we talk?" I looked at the bag I was holding, and I lowered my phone, hanging up. "Wha-?!" I heard him gasping past the door and I had to contain a laugh at the thought of his shocked face.

"Because I've got you the ice cream I promised to buy you," and after some seconds, his rapid footsteps echoed inside his room, the door opening quickly and abruptly.

Hitoshi only stared at me surprised, before a pink blush painted his cheeks and he turned around, walking in and leaving the door open, signalling me to enter his room.

I followed him and closed the door behind me, setting the ice cream down on his bedside table as he sat down on his bed. Hitoshi's purple eyes looked up at me, his eyebags darker than usual, and his eyes slightly red and puffy.

Had he been crying?

I bit down on the tip of my tongue at the mere thought of him crying, and it was probably about me getting into the hero course without him.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone for the rest of the day, didn't I?" I glanced away for a second but immediately turned back to look at him again.

"I couldn't stay away from you knowing that you were angry at me," he sighed patting his bed, beside him, and I sat down next to him.

"I wasn't... angry at you..." I stared at his profile, Hitoshi was looking down and to the side, playing with his fingers. "I was angry... at myself."

"Why-?"

"Because I'm not as strong as you, (M/n), that's why!" His scream made me flinch.

Hitoshi placed his elbows on top of his thighs and lowered his head, covering his face with his palms. After long seconds, I realized what he said.

And that made me flustered.

"You are stronger than me, Shi-chan." I hugged his waist and rested my forehead on his shoulder, his body tensed, "You were the one who would stand up for me when people made fun of me because I was quirkless, and you always motivated me to have hope even when my quirk didn't manifest." I squeezed him slightly, "I am who I am thanks to you, Hitoshi. I wouldn't have this ambition if you weren't there."

Hitoshi shifted a bit, but I didn't bother to move, and then I felt his arms around my shoulders.

"You idiot, how can you say those things so easily?" His fingers played with my hair, and I instantly relaxed, loosening my grip on him.

"Because I love you, Shi-chan."

Hitoshi flinched and I wondered what made him react that way until...

Did I just confess?! I am such an idiot! Now he's gonna hate me, great.

I wanted to back away from him, but he held me closer to his body, and my heart was beating rapidly. It was racing like crazy.

"Shi...-chan...?" I asked slowly, and his hands moved to hold my face up, making me face him. Which made me blink and look away in embarrassment. Hitoshi smiled at me, a red blush painting his cheeks. And for an instant... I relied on my instincts.

Gripping his waist tight and leaning forward, I pressed my lips against his in an innocent peck.

Hitoshi tensed but his body relaxed again as I hugged him and held his body against mine. My mind was racing and I couldn't process what was happening, I just knew that unstoppable shivers ran down my spine as I felt Hitoshi's chapped lips brushing on mine.

We stayed like that for what felt like hours, and we pulled back my mind was dizzy, and I was painting slightly. Even if we didn't make out at all.

"(M/n), you got... something to tell me?"

And I finally realized the situation.

My eyes opened wide and I almost choked with my own saliva, I was suddenly shaking and I felt like I was about to faint. What did I just do? I kissed Hitoshi. My best friend, who also is my crush.

I wanna die. I'm gonna die from embarrassment. Can I dig a hole in the ground and never come out of it? I wanna go home and hide for the rest of eternity.

But Hitoshi's cold palms cupped my cheeks, making me lose my train of thought and look up at him. His eyes were bright and his tiny smile looked cute on his face. It made me want to kiss him again.

"I l-lo..." I hesitated and Hitoshi caressed my cheek with one hand, the other one going up to play with my (h/c) hair. That relaxed me, and I finished as I stared into his eyes, "I love you, Shi-chan."

Hitoshi smiled at me with a darker blush on his cheeks and he leaned in to plant a kiss on the tip of my nose.

So cute.

"I love you too, (M/n)." I stared into his purple eyes for a minute, and his blush got worse, averting his gaze from my (e/c) eyes.

"So, this means you're my boyfriend now?" Hitoshi nodded and hid his face in the crook of my neck. A big smile appeared on my face as I laid back on the bed, pulling Hitoshi on top of me and I kissed the top of his head, caressing the skin of his lower back.

This is... what happiness feels like, right?

Or is this the feeling of having a reciprocated love?

Either one, I couldn't have wished for a different outcome. Because I finally had Hitoshi with me, and I couldn't be happier right now.

[soul-wanderer]

06x15//What Are You Willing To Lose - weekly recap

I don’t think I can cover everything in this recap, because man, there’s so much happening in this episode and I have a whole lot of feelings and thoughts about certain plots, but let’s try to get to it (aka almost one week later because man, that ep was a lot, and then I got sick, hence the slight delay, so consider this a refresher after the break between eps):

- Andy telling Ross “I can’t afford to lose you” - can we talk about this, please? Can we? This still hits me right in the feels a week later, and I don’t think I’m gonna be over that anytime soon, thanks for asking

- Ross being genuinely surprised that Andy and Maya did not tell anyone else about the photos (apart from Carina) and that they’re on her side - that moment just had it all, and I love that they have them sticking together instead of them tearing each other apart. Ross clearly did not expect that, probably didn’t think she’d ever deserve this type of loyalty, but Andy and Maya still show up for her, and my god, am I here for this. And Andy is totally right that they need someone like Ross in a position like that.

- Andy and Travis both trying to be a good friend to the other, and it’s just the silliest and cutest thing, and I’m here for that friendship, too  (especially because “hos over bros”), especially the scene in the end where Travis is there for Andy

- I’m gonna try to keep the Theo as captain recap short, but let’s just say: He was rightfully upset about the house being a trap for both the people living there and his team. It’s his job to keep the team and everyone else safe and out of burning buildings alive, and that job was made impossibly harder when he figured out what was going on. It’s not his job to be empathetic or to counsel anyone at the height of an emergency, BUT we see him backpedal one moment later, when he sees how desperate this woman is and IMMEDIATELY softens and tells her they were gonna do their best, before going back to work and that’s really all that needs to be said about this situation. Same with him having to make the decision to leave Warren behind - Ross was right there and watching him, and he cannot possibly risk more lives to save the life of one team member (+ it’s protocol, too), even if the mere idea of leaving someone behind hurts. He would have made the call, and he would have been right about it, too

- Ross owning her “mistake” in front of a bunch of dudes and giving a goddamn fantastic speech while she is at it. Man, that episode really gave us all of that. I mean: “You know, in the short time that I have been here, I have seen this union look the other way when sloppy firefighters who should have retired years ago made fatal mistakes on the job. I've seen it allow a serial sexual harasser retire with full pension instead of face discipline. And this is where you want to draw the line? [...] No, I am pro-union! I am anti a system that has a million things wrong with it. [...] I fought to drag this department kicking and screaming into the 21st century, to make your jobs safer and better", they really gave us that and I love it

- Maya being cute on her date with Carina, that’s all. That smile is gonna kill us all one day, and it’s gonna be a fucking fantastic death

- I will never, ever forgive the editors/producers for making these goddamn awful cuts between Maya and Carina in the shower and a man fucking dying in a burning house. I mean, what the hell? That was a downright horrible decision.

- Andy. My goodness, Andy. And her trauma. Like, finally? They’re finally acknowledging that trauma doesn’t simply disappear? Thank goodness. Thanks to whoever remembered. And thank you for the portrayal of such raw and heartbreaking emotions when Andy told Warren, “You fell through the roof”, that just about wrecked me in a million different ways, but in a good way, so thank you for that

- Ross telling Theo he did the right thing. Thank you for that, too. And I guess Jack confirming that wasn’t too bad either.

- And they acknowledged Carina’s trauma too, and the contrast was so beautifully portrayed. Carina wants them to be okay. She wants their marriage to be okay. But it isn’t. And she can’t pretend, and she realizes that and realizes they got more work ahead of them. And Maya just...acknowledges Carina’s pain and is there for her. It’s heartbreakingly beautiful, that’s all. Now, let’s hope Carina finally accepts some professional help as well.

- Sullivan being an ass. Honestly, will there ever be a week where I don’t have to type this out? I can only hope so, because that man is getting on my nerves, badly.

- Theo and Vic are not communicating well right now. That doesn’t make them toxic, that doesn’t mean their relationship is about to end, this doesn’t mean that they’re awful human beings. It just means they’re both fighting their own battles and they suck at talking and they’re being human and sometimes relationships just are like that, okay? They’ve been through so much and they’ve come so far, this will not be their breaking point (or at least not forever)

- last but not least: I am not here for them trying to create fake drama between Theo, Vic and Travis via that “old friend” they introduced. They need to stop recycling that storyline in Shondaland, before I flip some tables, seriously.

[card-manor]

The girls arriving to the Devildom

|| assuming different timelines

Alice

Mad, frustrated and confused, but none of that really mattered in that moment-

“Send me back!”

“We can’t do that, you’ve agreed to join the exchange-“

“No no! I left a fire on!”

Alice is sent back to her study for just long enough to turn off the bunsen burner and shut off all the power from the main breaker, just in case. Before she can throw together a bag, she’s pulled back to the Devildom.

Now without having to worry about her house burning down, Alice can stand still long enough to listen to the welcome speech and simmer in her rage.

She mulls over the injustice of it all for a few days, anger coming to a boiling point when yet again she gets not-so-passive aggressively slammed into her locker between classes.

Fucking isekai ass program

But, despite her better judgement, she finds herself obsessing over her classes- now 4 chapters deep into her alchemy textbook before the first week is over. Entirely new fields of science were hers to explore, undiluted and unregulated chemicals readily available

If nothing else, she was going to have f-u-n this year

Carmafe

Resigned but can’t deny the excitement bubbling underneath. Or maybe it’s hysteria, it’s a little hard to tell.

She listens to the prepared speech, only growing a little reluctant when calling Mammon and hearing him swear up a storm over having to keep watch over her. He comes to lead her back to the dorms, but she hesitantly raises her hand, unsure of the protocol. Amused, Lord Diavolo beckons her to speak.

“If I may be so bold, could I be returned to the human realm for a bit? There are some things I need to handle if I’m going to be away for so long, but I only need 4 hours.”

Lord Diavolo initially denies her request, but Carmafe has experience in diplomacy. She argues her point for a few minutes and it impresses (or amuses) Lord Diavolo enough that he allows her to return for 2 hours. She catches sight of the men with gloves standing next to each other, one indifferent, one irate, and knew this was going to be a one time request so she better make it account.

Having recently completed her final job, and since she hadn’t accepted any new contracts yet, it only took 30 minutes for Carmafe to set up an automated message saying she would be unavailable for the foreseeable future and set up a mailing list for her return.

The next 30 minutes were a mass phone call to her 4 friends, telling them she would be MIA for a while and asking them to take care of her house while she was gone. Since she wasn’t allowed to tell them about the exchange program, 25 of those 30 minutes were spent reassuring them that she wasn’t actually going to just off herself and call it a one year vacation.

She uses the last hour to cram as much as she can into her suitcase. Bottles of body soap, toothbrushes, toothpase, first aid supplies, essentials. Near the end, 3 sets of clothes, hoodies, and her favorite novel for comfort. Right as she zips up the suitcase and straightens up, she’s back in the devildom with her audience of 8.

“Thank you for the honor, I’m excited to start the school year..”

Danny

Tries to jump out of the window

LISTEN, she came out of an unexpected sleep only to be surrounded by 7 super tall and buff men in a meeting hall she doesnt recognize? Absolutely not, this is how you lose your organs.

She doesn’t make it far, getting yanked back down to the ground by a dude with gloves and dark red eyes. “Lord Diavolo” gets Lucifer to drop her, and after giving Danny a minute to get oriented, goes through the whole “exchange program” spiel.

The knowledge that everyone and everything here would be capable and willing to kill her was not lost on Danny, but she has to admit, the concept of a demon school and magic was far too enticing to worry over the logistics for too long.

Annoys Mammon on the walk to the House Of Lamentation by openly staring at everything and trying to touch every plant on the walk over, accumulating 10 cuts and scrapes by the time they’re through the gate.

Excitement is quickly shot down when she walks into her room and realizes she only has 2 uniforms, a toothbrush, some toothpaste, and the clothes on her back to her name.

Rose

Gaslighting 101 and “Cook and clean for 7 messy guys? No paycheck? No thanks!”

“I never signed the agreement.”

“Yes, you did.”

“No I didn’t.”

“You quite literally did.”

“That’s not how I write my signature.”

Honestly unsure what to make of her situation, but ultimately decides to roll with it. Flirts with Asmo, and has to keep the smirk off her face when he’s surprised that his powers don’t work on her.

Super grateful to see that her bedroom door has double locks but already has plans to install a full security system and tinkers with the phone that was given to her.

Roxanne

Pure confusion, but not about to fight her way out of this.

Puts up the least amount of fight but has a sense of wonder and intrigue at the prospect of magic and returning to school.

Doesn’t let Mammon abandon her when levi starts demanding money, she sees his plan coming a mile away and sneaks off to her room before either man can realize she’s gone.

School! School…. School.

In the silence of her room, the reality of her situation threatens to overwhelm her and instead of lingering on her anxiety, Roxie starts to reorganize and take inventory of her borrowed room. Thankfully, they seem to forget she’s in the house and no one calls her down to dinner.

[makima-s-most-smile]

Trigun Maximum 1 (Part 2)

*me rushing after the bookclub timeline* My brain does not work in summer heat!

*continues to waffle about the smallest details* And I will only get worse, nyehehehe

Trigun Ultimate: 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4 Trigun Maximum: 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1, 7.2, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 9.1, 9.2, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 10.5

Chapter 03: Bravo Girls!

Meryl!

Uh… Neither can a man?!? Karen, what kind of sexist logic do you have there? 

Everyone should be capable and independent, that’s how you avoid landing in abusive situations. (It also does not mean that you shouldn’t rely on people. That’s how communities work.) Knowing your worth and loving yourself is the key here.

Those who know, know -_-

This is the first time that Meryl got any lifesign from Vash for about 2,5 years. She must have thought he died until now. No wonder she is near tears. Her friend is alive! She must feel so relieved! Boyo survived whatever the fifth moon incident has been!

Oh, I immediately dislike Mr. Keele. Keele = Kill, did anyone else zoom in on the phonetic similarities?

Again! Mr. Keele is a tradesman! An Assassin! I didn’t imagine it! Somebody tell me that I didn’t imagine it when I said that Wolfwood literally advertises he’s a trained killer in Ultimate 2! Karen gives Meryl all the hints! “Yeah, I would not want to be there, even if I was you, with Mr. Keele being a killer. Y’know, the ex-elite-military-dude.” We see the penny drop on Meryl’s face!

This has to be one of the bigger cities, since it was build around a ship. But it looks so small. Like 1.000 people, maybe 2000 max. I read somewhere that like 20 Million humans of 100 Million survived the fall (correct me if I remember that incorrectly). But with such small settlements… I cannot believe that. There was surely a second Great Dying in the aftermath, but this… this is so small. And it is a big, well-established city. If Vash is able to run around without people realising who he is, there need to be more people for that anonymity. Big cities offer anonymity, small communities do not!

I like this shot of Vash. He looks like he is Batman, all brooding and watchful. Through that establishing shot, we, as readers, aren’t really surprised when Keele is busted immediately. How exactly, besides Vash being careful, I don’t know. Is it the body language? The way he carries himself and his weapons? Does he hear them talking at the reception desk?

I like this whole scene. Vash is not naive. He knows of the dangers, he knows he is still hunted down, even without the bounty.

Keele is ruthless! To get to his target, he is willing to kill innocents. The woman in the car is an innocent bystander. Vash needs to shield her with his body. While the other assassins until now also killed people, they didn’t use them to get to Vash. That’s a key difference and makes Keele so much more coldblooded.

How much pain tolerance has he? He is smiling and joking after it. Yes, he is showing pain, but he is more obsessed with making everything seem less dire. Of course, Wolfwood sees through it and gets help. I am not sure, he may even carry Vash, since it is highly stupid to let Vash lay there in the open with a fucking hitman on the lose. I wonder how Wolfwood feels when being confronted with that kind of hit man. While we know that Wolfwood is able to “easily” kill, he does not seem like a person who would use innocents to get to his target. He is too direct and honest for that. You could also use the word too ethical, but that is… *looks at the killer for hire part* Well, even professionals have standards?

I love Meryl’s cool speech, but… Keele was hired by her boss. Her boss would have known that Keele is a hit man. Even Karen commented on it. What does that say about her organisation as a whole? I want consequences for it! Be it structural changes or anything, but we never get any. Please, if you have something like this in the story, Nightow, please, do something with it. What are the consequences about this for Meryl and her job, what are the consequences for Milly? Do they report this? It would be in character for both of them! And if they don’t… SHOW IT TO US! PLEASE! What is their reasoning then!

I’d say, Keele is not without logic, but it is not insurance logic. It is the logic that the state works with in “The minority-report”. The idea of a self fulfilling prophecy is also present here, too. Though, it is unethical from the perspective that it infringes on the human’s agency. Another little thing that is important for me (and most likely for Meryl, too) is that Vash is not the disaster! Things happen to and around Vash, but he is not the one who decides to go bat-shit crazy, he runs, he flees and most importantly, he keeps the casualties low! There is no intent there! She would have put that in her reports! Keele didn’t care, her boss didn’t care. 

Can you punish someone for something he doesn’t do? It would be punishing his existence. 

Keele goes to threaten Meryl with a gun, intending to kill her. He is not only a hit man, he is a murderer. His reasoning is greed and covering his own tracks. You could say, in this chapter, he is somewhat the antithesis to Vash. Vash brings destruction without intent and does his best to avoid it. Keele kills for personal gain without care for anyone other than himself. Who is worse? The answer is easy, but somehow from a purely capitalistic view the insurance agency came to another result.

Meryl thinking back to what Karen said, but I don’t think she thinks about herself in that position. She thinks about Vash and how he is thrown into life threatening situations again and again (at least that is my interpretation) and how he cannot be happy like that. His smiling picture contrasts what they have been through together. Yes, it is a shitty position that Meryl finds herself in, but she chooses to stay at Vash’s side. And damn, that’s fucking nice of her. She is his friend. She is brave. And she has ethics!

Milly to the rescue! I love the whole framing of that pic. Her smile and then the close up that shows it is an angry one!

It’s subtle, but does Meryl help Keele to fly by tripping him? Her position changes so much from the former page. She looks so completely unimpressed by Keele. Also, isn’t it nice that people other than Vash get panty shots, too?

WHY?! You smoked Vash out! You followed him! You literally got into a life threatening situation! Why don’t you go to him? AHHHHHHHHHH

Gosh, Wolfwood is so petty. Yes, he keeps Vash’s ethical standground and does not kill his fellow hitman, but Vash never said something against torture… And I didn't get why his face is so bloody, I thought that was the sauce, but no, he skitted on his face due to Milly's hit. Dayumm.

Meryl’s reasoning reads so weird. She used the vacation to look for him, but now she says that they will deal with him through work… Is it her being shy? And Keele never got busted… Nothing changed at her workplace even though it did something so unethical. I… really don’t like this plotpoint.

Chapter 04: Hero returns

Knives! My second best worstie! New readers still don’t get to know his face! Though, this is a memory from Vash. His brother is distorted to a monstrous being, inhuman with crazy eyes and a smile with so many teeth, it is a threat. Knives is not human, but Vash, his brother, is not human, too. 

“Forgetting brings too much sorrow, remembering brings everlasting pain.” That’s grief and it makes Vash's whole being. Sure, if you forget the person you lost, your pain may be gone, but you also lose what made you you. But now, every memory is tainted with the loss. Time should heal those wounds, pain becomes bearable and now painful memories become bittersweet. But I don’t think Vash ever reached that point. Rem is still a sore spot for him, he can’t even talk about her, but she haunts every step. Every scar on his body is a sacrifice to her godhood. Vash is less his own person and more a priest to her existence. While I am sad for Vash, I also feel for Rem. If she was able to know how her son idolises her to his own detriment, she would despair.

Vash having nightmares due to trauma, confirmed.

Damn, that contrast. Wolfwood, the black smudge, between all that white space and all the coffins hanging over his head. We already know that he deals with death at this point, being a gun ho gun and all that shebang, but it also evokes something claustrophobic in me. Wolfwood watching as more and more coffins -corpses- pile up, ready to crush him under their weight. And he just stands and stares.

Wolfwood, the town gossip. “Thank heaven you asked! It’s a long story, though it is kinda a short one! Anyway-” 

Eh, the town going all Montaque and Capulet, just without the lovers and more sexual assault. Kinda sad, but that is greed working. The planet truly brings out the worst of humanity. And Vash is still able to be sad about it. Because he knows humanity can be better. And Wolfwood is his bitter, contemptuous self, not without reason. I don’t see him saying that as misanthropy, though. Wolfwood said in his introduction chapter that he has an orphanage to care about. While Vash cares about the whole of humanity, Wolfwood cares for his smaller circle and he needs to stay alive to do so. He cannot allow himself the risk. 

And damn, Vash just plainly calling him out for having secrets and Wolfwood again, not denying it and just falling silent. They know. And it hurts.

Brad!

He is 17. Why do 17 year olds in manga either look kawaii or like the worst Jojo-delinquents

His hair reminds me so much of Ryu (or Josuke mixed with Jotaro)

Damn, Brad, you are such an arrogant arsehole here. Oh, yes, the people who are trying their best to survive daily on a planet that is unable to really accommodate their needs are not the nicest around… Dude, you are living at a place that guarantees that your basic needs are taken care of. Brad lived with a priviledge that other people literally would die for. I know Brad will grow on me, but damn, his introduction is always… I wanna kick him! At least you are not as bad as ‘98 Brad.

What conversation? The one about plants? The one about having to kill to protect your close ones? Are you trying to make him understand that you, Wolfwood, need to stay alive to keep the orphanage going? Or the one about you hiding stuff? Are you going to confess? Why you are here, Wolfwood? What is it? It is open to interpretation.

But I love this! This shows what a truly honest and open dude Wolfwood truly is. Yes, he goes so easily on the defensive and, damn, he speaks in absolutes and thus can be seen as condescending. But he reaches out to Vash again and again. He literally runs after him to talk! He tries to go by Vash’s rules. He didn’t kill anyone with his fucking machine gun cross, because Vash asked him to, and that is a feat in on itself.

Oh! There is a new coat in the suitcase, too! Didn’t see that in the first readthrough.

Brad: “I don’t think we have a choice, do we? Lost technology for lost technology.” I read this in my first readthrough as Vash trading stuff with the colony, most likely because I still had the scene with Kaite in my head, where Vash just pulls out a radio in the form of a pen. But now it reads as Brad putting Vash down as a plant and dehumanising him.

No! Vash, you are the fucking gun! Yes, you have dangerous powers, but you did not pull the trigger! I know it feels like it! And damn, your body must feel foreign and hostile to you, but you did not chose this, the responsibility lies not on you, however much you put it onto yourself.

“We have no choice but to depend on him”

“The only one who cannot flee or surrender, who will even return from the dead is that nice man right there.”

Damn, that hurts. I know the doctor has a better relationship with Vash than Brad has, but it reads like they are only using him and that only because there is no other option. It mirrors how Vash treats himself.

Brad struggles with Vash seemingly being immortal and inhuman. His hissy fit kinda fits what is brewing in Wolfwood. But with the Docs explanation of Brad being a fucking brat that has a temper trantrum because his age mate Jessica has a puppy crush on Vash... He is just a fucking hormonal teenager. Brad the brat. And that makes Vash’s bout of hating his plantness immediately less dire. I love Doc. (I wanted to write like, but my hands wrote love, so love it is.)

Wolfwood can never eat in peace part two electric boogaloo. He looks so cute, squatting down and just eating XD. It is one of my favourite Wolfwood panels. He just looks so innocent and curious. Annnnd… the softness is immediately gone with his scowl returning. Interesting, how Wolfwood takes the police/army force intervening as something that can go either way and not something purely positive. We don’t see much of them in the manga anyway, so how much power do they truly have? Not enough, considering Knives is scheming in the background with the whole of the gun-ho-guns.

Also, Brad, just go away with your prejudice. I’d like to see how you would have come out living not in a safe space but a world in which you can be shot just for looking stupid.

Kinda hypocritical of Wolfwood. He wants to go away and not interfere. While that is a choice, it is a passive one. His action is nonaction. But nonaction is also an action. He wants to avoid having to make this decision of life and death. But that also tells us, the readers, that while Wolfwood is capable of doing so, he hates taking a life, he hates this part of life and himself. 

And his decision is to decide which conflict he interferes with, because his main goal is to keep the orphanage afloat. Wolfwood has to decide for himself who is worth saving and who is not. No wonder he calls himself a demon. But it is also very human.

He does not have the capacity to help everyone and if he dies here, the orphanage would suffer. His life is worth something for that very cause. While Wolfwood is right that you cannot not make a choice, he doesn’t seem to completely understand it, either. Surely, he breaks the choice down to kill or let live, but there are myriads of other choices that have to be decided before it comes to this. His choice right here is not to kill or to kill, but avoid interfering so he does not risk his own life at the detriment of the orphanage.

And Vash is… Not understanding Wolfwood or humanity. From Vash’s perspective every life is important. He cannot fathom that for some people some lives are more important than others and that alienates him from humanity. From his position it seems unimaginable for him that he does not jump into the fray to rescue the hostages. And it reads a bit patronising or judgemental that other people are unable to do so. It reads like: I can do it, why can't you? Wolfwood has a point, but Vash slaps it away by telling him it is just talk. Vash is not human here, he is far from it.

For me, this also opens up another question. Is Vash using this unconsciously to avoid Knives? By concentrating on helping the locals, he gets distracted again and again from their real goal, smoking out Knives. While Vash said that he wants to kill Knives, it goes against his ideals. Rem also died for Knives, not only humanity. And Vash still loves him, even though Knives did something unmentionable to him. Considering that Vash is also latently suicidal… is there an unconscious hope that he could die before having to meet Knives? It also makes his position of I can do it, why can't humanity do it, kinda sad. He can't imagine people wanting to live and considering staying alive a priority. 

I… just love this very interaction. It feels a bit jarring that they had such an intense argument just a page ago and now they are back to silly nillies.

Chapter 05: Dancing revolvers

Hehehehe, Baby Vash immediately wanting to eat the geranium. Geraniums are also used to repel mosquitos. How does Zazie feel about them? Do the plants smell of geraniums? Imagine Zazie meeting Knives and having to retch.

Interestingly, I mostly found geranium meaning protection and warding off evil, even as a promise to meet at a specific place. Only after a deeper search did I find the meaning of determination. Rem’s face in that scene. She takes strength from that meaning, her own determination to leave behind something or start anew. The woman has a deeply seated regret or two.

We learn later what this exactly means, but Luraude not losing a drop of sweat… HINTS! It looks like he was controlled somehow.

Vash, that can kill a person… A pacifist, you are…

Then why are you bleeding from the mouth?!

I love the framing of Vash’s shooting scene and the aftermath. How his training comes to fruition and how much of his fighting is like high level mathematics. We also don’t know why the storage is shown in the aftermath until we get the resolution of them having been shot open. 

Chapter 06: Sin

I love that framing. It shows the sin and the grief that follows it. It doesn’t show the act, it shows the victims! That makes it much more poignant for me. It is about how innocent people are forced into such situations, how much loss there is from ONE wrong act. 

And while it makes a full circle back to Wolfwood’s words and gives them much needed human context, it also opens up the idea of Wolfwood being a victim that had to take up arms, too. His expression is also important. There is no: “Gotcha! Spikey! There is not his angry stubbornness or this neutral, stoic facade that normally accompanies him trying to make Vash understand. It is just absolute sadness and, maybe (I am really bad with faces) apathy by helplessness. I like that we get a callback to the scene a few chapters beforehand, because this close up tells us a whole different story and frames Wolfwood’s position much more as a position made by need and not by want. As much as Vash cried in that scene, Wolfwood looks like someone who wants to cry, too, but has no tears left.

Wolfwood says that Vash is foolish and stubborn. He looks kinda like a devil, enjoying Vash’s plightful situation. Could it be misguided care for Vash’s survival, because Wolfwood himself had to learn the hard way how to survive? Or does he want confirmation that Vash is someone who reacts and thus is in the end human? There is the hint that there is more to Wolfwood joining Vash’s travels. Our man is sus.

There are other questions that I have as a reader. How often does Vash regret the outcome of these situations? Does he only regret those where he couldn’t save everyone? Or in which people choose to be greedy? How does he keep up his hope towards humanity after those situations? Every life is holy for him, so the life of the murderer and the life of the daughter has to be on the same level. Doesn’t how we fill our life’s make a difference? Vash needs to say no to this due to all encompassing love for humanity. And that makes him inhuman. 

I love how the panelling kinda says two completely different things. By lowering his gun, Vash takes a step back and lets the father decide how to punish his daughter’s murderer. Framing Knives in the middle could be read as Vash’s own acceptance of his hypocrisy. If he is willing to kill Knives for what he did, why should he stop the father. But it also shows Vash’s inner fight for me. He lowers the gun, while we are presented with Knives’s portrait. Vash is unsure if he even can kill Knives.

You can’t save everyone, but you should at least try. And Vash acts upon it. Not putting the father in danger by using his gun, but by trying to save the rapist with only his hands. It is about not burdening the father with being a killer. And… it is an end that makes Vash keep up his promise, but it also feels hollow. The girl was tortured to death and her killer lives. It is unfair. The father’s grief won’t lessen, he may even feel like a failure. And everything about this is just sad.

Another point for Vash being decidedly inhuman and separated from humanity. How would I feel if I saw my family that I put under my protection tear themselves apart. I look down from far above and their scuffles would seem so menial to me and I still lose family members to it, other grief and take more lives in revenge. But also, if everyone is your family, no one is. Family is that important because it is our in-group. But an in-group automatically has an out-group. Vash is ripping himself apart with his point of view.

Yeah, I would also yawn if my boo bombs up my holding cell and gets me with his cool bike. As if Vash expected Wolfwood to come to his rescue.

I like this little tidbit of Wolfwood showing empathy to the father and offering him an escape. Our boy is a softie! Even though he immediately grows defensive when Vash calls him out on it.

I also like Wolfwood stressing to Vash that Vash’s luck will someday run out. And Vash knows it. Vash knows he has been lucky til now. Wolfwood means it in a Vash’s life or the other person’s. Wolfwood wants Vash to chose his own life.

Annnnd Luraude was a puppet and no one knew. Even Vash with his supersenses didn’t sniff or hear him out. 

And I lov…hate… love… Legato. I mean, it is a planet full of bdsm-gear-wearing cowboys shooting each other up and he walks up like from a HIM concert all in a fucking iron maiden. Damn.

[feekins]

on to Trigun vol 2!!! and right off the bat, we have a lot of translation discrepancies - so here are those and some of my other thoughts and things as I re-read ch 1-2

(NOTE: I'm reading the Dark Horse [physical] and Overhaul [online] translations side-by-side)

(Dark Horse on left, Overhaul on right)

more translation weirdness and confusing speech bubbles, what with Dark Horse making it seem like it's just Vash begging in this panel, while in the Overhaul, it's clear that there's some back-and-forth between Vash and the shoemaker. yes, it's a little thing, but now I understand this exchange better.

then, just a few pages later, while Vash is lounging on that bench, Dark Horse has him going "The sky looks like the deep blue sea" whereas in the Overhaul, it's "You can really lose yourself in that blue sky..." 🤨

another instance of super-perceptive Milly! for some reason, though, Dark Horse has her going like "Just now, Vash looked so seriously sad..."

a subtle difference, but an important one, I think...

...and then, there's how Vash talks about Knives a page or so later. in Dark Horse, it's "The one thing that has kept living for so long..." but in the Overhaul, it's "It's the one thing that has kept me living for so long." like. dude. there's a difference. 😑

(Dark Horse on top, Overhaul on bottom)

😑

BUT THEN!!! WE HAVE LEGATO'S COIN COLLECTION!!!!! OH MAN, OH BOY 😈

and more translation weirdness right at the end of ch1. Dark Horse has Legato saying "Did you think it was the drunken rambling of an old man?" which. always confused me. until the Overhaul cleared it up for me with "Did you think it was just the drunken ramblings of your old man?"

then, right at the beginning of ch2, when the sheriff is explaining why, in his mind, Vash isn't innocent, Dark Horse has him saying "Listen, we have witness testimony that places him at the shoe store. He was also closest when the husband's body was found" which?????????? so, once again, the Overhaul makes MUCH MORE SENSE, saying "He's also the last person who saw the deceased alive and in one piece."

then there's this weird little discrepancy at the beginning of Vash's flashback with Rem. Dark Horse has bby!Vash saying "It's just you...you and me, Rem" while the Overhaul has "It's just...us and you, Rem." W H Y.

and THEN! the explanation for how the Fall started! Dark Horse is all vague at one point like "The program started acting strange, plotting a new course and sending orders through the neural network to all of the ships" which uhhhhh what program? 😑 so ty, Overhaul, for the much more clear "An unknown program started infecting the fleet's neural network, making the ships' AI stop responding as it changed the course."

and...ugh. I could go on and on, but I feel like I'm spending way too much time describing Dark Horse's weird translation shit SO ANYWAY

👀

I.......y'know what, 🤷

perceptive Milly again!!!!!

...that tristamp scene with Vash and Rollo... 🥺

[tailsrevane]

[book review] the farthest shore by ursula k. le guin (1972)

ok like, i know i kinda related to the presence of a caste of eunuchs in the previous book in ways that probably weren’t intentional on the author’s part and i don’t want to make this a pattern or anything but like… arren.

arren.

you know that genre of youtube videos that are just titled like “[character] being relatable for [x] minutes”? well, this babygirlified subby mess of a boy (who is destined to become king of all the isles i guess???) is variously described as “a gentle messenger for bad news” & “that girlish lad of yours”??? the latter comes when a bunch of patrons in a tavern ask ged if arren can sing, and after arren obliges they remark, “that’s a queer music.” and like, YEAH my dudes??? you asked a fucking subby femboy to sing??? if the music weren’t queer i would worry that something was wrong??? (yes, they’re not using “queer” in that context, but shut up, let me have this.)

anyway, this “girlish lad” meets his hero and IMMEDIATELY tries to become his sub ("as he had made his act of submission he forgot himself") and when fleeing the scene of that embarrassment turns into a boy disaster lesbian (“forgetting courtly farewells he hurried to the doorway, awkward, radiant, obedient.”) he later gets captured by slavers & chained up on a ship, there’s a curious comment about his soul not rebelling against the notion of slavery??? but anyway, ged rescues him which is pretty badass, and he later dreams about still being held captive. we’re meant to understand through context clues that these dreams are scary & unpleasant, but he never EXPLICITLY SAYS they are?

again, please don’t take this too seriously, i’m taking a character who was definitely intentionally written in some ways that appeal to me and reading WAY TOO MUCH INTO other things that were clearly NOT intended, but yeah i’m having a lot of fun with this and i love this character now, thank you for your time i will not be taking any questions.

so yeah, that was a big part of my enjoyment of the book, no lie, but like let’s just pivot i guess to the actual main action of the book and say that holy shit, this is one of the most original fantasy novels i’ve ever read??? we begin with arren bringing ged & the masters of roke the terrifying news that the power of magic has begun to fade from the outlying lands of earthsea. it turns out that they’ve been getting similar reports from other outlying lands, and arren’s report is sort of the straw that breaks the camel’s back, because whatever is happening is spreading. the archmage decides that he’s going to investigate this himself, and the only companion he’ll bring with him on this dangerous quest is arren himself.

they have some adventures while they’re investigating this that i already relayed some of, but the deeper they probe into what’s going on the scarier it gets? they find lands where not just magic, but all arts have begun to fade, as people grow obsessed with the promise of immortality promised to them by what we increasingly realize is a sorcerer who rivals archmage ged’s power. and like, it starts to sound like we’re basically dealing with a situation where ged is the most powerful servant of life & this other guy is the most powerful servant of death, and in a way that is kind of exactly what’s happening? but that makes it sound really simple & boring, which, nah! like, there’s just so much interesting characterization & worldbuilding around this, like, this is ursula k. motherfucking le guin we’re talking about, y’all! i don’t know that she really knows how to do “simple & boring.”

things escalate to the point where we find out that this evil power has even caused dragons to lose the power of speech??? arren & ged are tested in ways that are terrifyingly existential, and almost lose themselves several times, but it’s that thing where seeing these characters at their worst & most vulnerable actually helps emphasize how fucking strong they both are when they come out the other side of it still themselves?

this is exactly the same kind of “huge (in a good way), but also small (in a good way)” story le guin told in the a wizard of earthsea, and also tombs of atuan even though that one was harder for me to get into. the world faces existential threats that are mirrored in the personal threats the characters themselves grapple with, and the story is made so rich & meaningful because of this.

i’m looking forward to getting to the next book, because i know le guin is very frustrated with how male-dominated her first trilogy was, and the farthest shore is actually pretty easily the worst offender in this regard? but like, please please please don’t skip it as a result if you’re remotely interested in these books, because there’s so much good stuff in here. i’m just saying, i’m excited to get to the books where le guin feels like she rectified some of the issues she had with the original trilogy.

s-rank

[llycaons]

ep24 (pt 1): jgs stopppp for real stoppp

the first 1/3rd of this episode dragged a bit but the rest had such juicy character conversations between wwx and important people to him that it was a really good time

see! he can be tactful! he's very polite in addressing this overstep, and he doesn't even give jgs an answer. he just says 'we should leave it up to my sister, who's actually the one getting married'

*sprays water on him* YOU'RE NOTHING

why did jc look at wwx while saying this. it was deliberate. I've never noticed before. wtf

this was kind of funny. jgy says some vague pleasantries about how all the clans are struggling and everyone's like 'oh fuck...this guy is on to something' and lxc is looking all pleased

jgy looks so intense all the time it freaks me out. also. HIS GRANDMA?? jgs's mom??!!! damn I don't remember this

they love this angle

ohhh wwx remembering jfm teaching him to shoot arrows so kindly...he breaks in a big smile immediately after this. it all hurts

this is jc, destroying the herald of the wens above the door of lotus pier's entrance hall. it might be the first time we see him use zidian, and he is SEETHING in anger. that means something!

it's so pretty in there and there is so much space! I have this sense of it as very minimalist but it's really not, it's just restrained and reserved, like it's inhabitant. and very spacious

lwj's first stab at defiance. he doesn't want to copy the rules, he wants to help wwx. but lqr seems to see him as a lost cause, or near enough to be dangerous to lwj. lxc is sent instead, the more objective one, the politician

to his credit, I can see this speech inspiring people who lose a lot to the wens. wwx is looking a little dead-eyed to me, but jyl is proud!

ohh background jumpscare

I like how his turmoil is expressed here. and his dark brown eyes are so beautiful

I've seen posts like 'it's not the lan clan rules' fault that the sects are corrupt' but I think it's disingenuous to act like they don't play ANY role in lwj's decisions or his mistakes. they're clearly source of internal conflict for him, and a significant amount of his character growth rests on elevating himself to a state in which he can make his own moral decisions based on his own judgement rather than obeying authority without question

okay I know he's doing his best to lead and improve his men but look at his face in the first expression. SO angry and contemptuous

he's stressed and alone, and jyl clearly is trying to pick up his slack, and it's not fair this happened to him, but. dude. you gotta be nicer to your guys. I can't believe more people didn't quit after this treatment

in fairness wwx did say he'd help and then left to go drinking without explaining why he's so tired and unmotivated and unable to help, and that obviously doesn't look very good to jc, but jc also handles it really immaturely too

while jyl extends compassion and understanding for the difficulties wwx is having, jc rejects any attempt to sympathize with wwx. when asked to consider his feelings, he instead insists that his are the priority. he's such a strict thinker, no flexibility or tolerance for nuance at all. he sees wwx as a spoiled kid who slacks off and leaves jc with all the work, which is pretty incredible (in a bad way) when you think about how dedicated wwx was to jyl and jc after the massacre and the war. it's a little more forgivable pre-sunshot when wwx goofed off a lot, but post sunshot? after ALL that? he may be struggling with a lot of responsibility, but like, dude

but yeah, SUCH a selfless character 🙄

edit: oh jgs and jgy had a really annoying conversation earlier on that I didn't screencap but it SUCKED. that's where the title comes from

[mcheang]

Shadow and Bone S2 E4 recap

Spoiler alert

Oh, they did a recasting for Vasily who now has dark hair, unlike his parents. Alina dislikes Vasily but offers to lead the Grisha since the Lanstovs want a Second Army commander loyal to them and she is Nikolai’s fiancée. Mal is against this as making her General will put an even bigger target on her back but Alina wants to protect the Grisha. Vasily manages to learn about Malina since they were having a moment in a hallway rather than a room. Genya still looks beautiful to me. Her and Kirigan’s scars do not make them ugly. Frankly I’m more worried about Baghra’s finger and Genya’s right eye. Seriously Kirigan, you could have chosen a lighter punishment for your mother! Imprisonment was enough! Baghra seems to care about Genya now. Aleksander calls out Baghra for protesting his plans because she made him this way. Baghra finally gives up on him. I have my doubts about Vladim. It looks like he wants Baghra’s power. And the bone crushing scene was horrifying. David warns Alina and she imprisons him after Nadia informs her that Kirigan keeps his close. Honestly, if that was obvious, he would make a horrible choice for spy. David refuses to teach Alina merzost but warns her about the tether. Nina knows Pekka cannot free Matthias and warns Kaz. Kaz has released a fake firepox that will be blamed on Pekka and threatens his son Alby. Wow, we actually got the Pekka showdown in Crooked Kingdom without the Jurda yet…

Pekka loses the respect of his men

Mal wants to find the special blade that might kill nichevo’ya. I’m not gonna say the name cos then I have to repeat it and it’s long. Anyway, Tolya and Zoya will go to the Crows to hire them for the job. Unless the blade was made with merzost, it will be useless. Vasily did his research and has Mal arrested for desertion. Dude, if you’re going to seduce Alina, don’t arrest her boyfriend! He is an idiot. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Jesper and Wylan kiss! 😄 now where are Ivan and Fedyor? Kaz kicks Inej out of the Crows after she made him worry with a detour. She is a free woman. Seriously, Nikolai giving Alina her ring has more chemistry than Malina. Alina starts getting worried about Mal’s absence, but no one is as concerned as she is. Oh, the siege and storm ending is here too. Only it’s at an engagement party rather than Nikolai’s birthday. And it’s still Vasily’s fault. Honestly, if he actually becomes king, Fjerda will crush him. I doubt even Kirigan could have reined him in if he were still General. Vasily dies and I’m not sure if the king still lives. Kirigan lures Alina away with an illusion so she will be away from the fighting and her head does some weird glowy thing. To Adrik, she must look unstable. While the invasion happens, Baghra takes advantage and frees herself and Genya, who heals her missing finger. (Seriously Kirigan, fixing her finger would have been better than figs!) Genya sees her reflection and destroys the Alkemi’s workstation in a fit of rage. You know the Darkling confrontation at the end, his S&S speech would work if Mal had been frightened of Alina’s power. But here it seems out of place. And considering book Alina had grown used to her imaginary Darkling, the offer to rule suited the book better than the show. It looks lika Nadia and Adrik are the only members of the Second Army who survived the engagement party. I don’t count Tamar and Alina since Tamar isn’t loyal to the second army, she’s loyal to Alina, and Alina wants to retire once the Fold is gone.

This certainly was a combo of endings from Crooked Kingdom and Siege and Storm. Looks like we get the Ruin and Rising arc next. This was too crammed, considering Alina’s relationship with the Darkling. His speech at the end is so out of place.

Well I can say this for Tatiana, she does love Nikolai, I think. I actually prefer book Baghra. I have not forgotten that Baghra only gave partial truths to Alina when Anastas was to blame for the Fold, and that she tried to kill Mal. The fact that Baghra gives up on her son now makes me unhappy. If you’re responsible for how he came to be, you don’t give up, you try to save him. Poor Tolya. None of his friends like poetry Pekka is a villain for sure but he does love his son and while I think it is good he knows his son is alive, I find that having Alby witness his arrest is too cruel.

Ooh, is David back under Kirigan’s power now?